Of Warts And Other Things

So we had yet another visit with Dr. Hendrick yesterday. He has been the kid's doc since KyKy was little. We've been lucky I guess. In the last 13 years I don't know how many times we've switched insurance because of jobs etc., but Dr. H. remains. We used to schedule appointments early in the morning becasue he is such a Chatty Cathy that he would be running 45 minutes late by the afternoon. Yesterday he came in, chatted a bit (of course) and then got down to the business of freezing those blasted warts. For some reason The Madster decided to stand up during the procedure, so by the end the pain was getting to her and she felt a little light-headed. That's o.k. just more time to talk with Dr. H until she feels better. We scheduled another appointment for two weeks from now to have the hunormous wart on her thumb treated again. Yeah the same one that was ripped off today playing kickball with the neighborhood kids tonight. I forgot to ask if she saved the thing after it got torn off. The Madster left her mark at the clinic yesterday, literally, by writing down some of her memorized lines of Macbeth on a little chalkboard in the exam room. Dr. H was duly impressed.

Tomorrow we go to St. Peter for the big nursing wing-ding. I honestly don't know when the last time we were all in the crapmobile together. It may have been for our fabulous haircuts. Sheesh we are a pathetic family. We don't do anything together.

I feel like I need to say a word about our youngest-you know what's her name, who didn't take an exciting trip to China or an exciting trip to the doctor to get warts removed. That's right! 'Nika. You know how toddlers will sometimes be holding on to something and suddenly just hand it to you? They just give it. Then they'll pick something else up and give it to you. Give. Give. Give. There is a residual form of this behavior that has hung on in our youngest. I swear she is the most generous child I have ever met. Ever. If she was starving and was given two M&Ms she would turn around and say to you, "Want one?" Again, she must get this from her mother, because as I have noted earlier in this blog, I am the most selfish person I know. The rest of the family, being as evil as we are, constantly take advantage of this generosity. "'Nika could you do this?" "'Nika could you get me that?" "Sure," is the invariable answer. I suppose we'll ruin her and she'll grow up to be a lesbian terrorist or something, hopefully a generous lesbian terrorist. But this trait is what make her so endearing and why we love her more than the other two. Kidding! Kidding! You all know we love the dogs the best.

OK You Ravenous Beasts

Since you can't seem to get enough of our mundane family life, there's more stuff for you to devour. Below (above?) is the Madster's excellent story, and if you click on the picture link to the left, you will see that KyKy has started to post some of the pics from her China trip. For all of you waiting for bike porn, hold on. Just remember that the anticipation is the exciting part. I will try my best to post more often. The pressure is almost too much to bear. Of course it would help if other family members would keep you updated once in a while.

The Madster's Voyageur Diary

This is a school assignment. It is a diary I made up of a girl who lived around 1800. She lived in a big family and was very adventurous. She didn't know how to spell, so please don't think I have horrible spelling.


Voyageur National Park


This here is a journal from 1804 to 1805. From what we can gather, it belonged to Annemarie Isabelle Gerard, a female voyageur who loved adventure. But in those days there were no female voyageurs, so she had to disguise herself as a man. We found these few 8 pages (which we believe had more entries) in the bottom of a old voyageur birch bark canoe in 1945,along with a much longer journal, which is on the left. Sadly, the other journal had no name, with pieces ripped that looked like were the names should be. The only clue we have is to who this person is, is the initials, “CPG”. Experts say this journal belonged to a relative of Annemarie, or at least a person in her brigade. These diaries are antiques, so please don’t touch!


Voyageur National Park



Quebec, Canada
April 3, 1804

Bonjour, je sui femmes heureux! My name is annemarie isabelle gerard, da 2nd old of pierre and gereldine gerard. I am tie for 7th child wif my twin broder, andre we like 2 pod in pees there is 13 of we yuny gerards, wif 5 of girl- marguerite, 20 , moi, 16, anna, 12, clarise, 10, papillona, 8, delia, 6, claire 3 of month- and 6 of boy.- phillipe, 23, jacques, 18, andre, 16, charles, 10, gabriel, 7, paul, 4- We troupeau gerard anna,phillipe
andre,gabriel and me from papooose us father have 4 ago year then he marri moi mere detape, gereldine, who huusband did dy an emediatli find me fader. snag hem by da nek and use hem for a huusband and a fader. She is smell like da spoiled cabage in bad buter. He is very quiet man at home keep hemself to hem, and don;t talk much. I blabber tu much, so i tell yu somting else.I love da open of forest, and advencher, so i run away to be voyager, and not be cuped up in da howse, wif 23 child and huusband dat like hees gun dat kill da ducks maguerite is stuk wif dat kind of da life i dion’t want it. I don’t want to be da slav of da drunken brut! Mon dieu! I tink dat andre will keep mi secret, and teach mi to be a man. I can finaly lern to spit! Only da family won’t now i wil kep secret from phillipe, jacques an pap, who also is voyager now to hunt duck an der. Adieu!





dis is the der i kill for super

Montreal, Canada
April 23, 1804

Mon Dieu! Mi hands are so swolen they is as beeg as mi heed an por mi body, it is all of endolori andre is no much better. Mon Dieu, as i was saying! Today we left Montreal a crowd was all of us cheering! it feel as if dey were cheering for moi i was goeng to bow, buut, i was sweating as if a were da pig, even afder 9 stroks! Mon Dieu! I am such the wimp! andre did better for he don boy work- not dat i did eny- buut i was weak. When i was about not to bear it eny longer and i was about toooo die, we stopped. Thanks of the god we had da pork an da corn for diner it was da nasty food-was it da food?- i ever had in me stomach, to witch i had olmost emptyed on mi plate i was so da hungery, i did enheiled it befor i reaslize what i did just eten. andre sayed that my face look like i have eten gereldines perfume. -Mon Dieu, did i look dat bad?- Inow have the new male name, Henri Pierre. Uhhh, i em to sick to my estomac!












Dandilions


Near St. Anne’s
May 1, 1804


I did not feel eny better then last entri is a voyager life dat hard? mi hands is cru and da blooted look phillipe say the will feel fin afder a few weks. Mon Dieu! I can not wait dat long for my hand s will fall of by than and be flooting raund the st. lowrence river. Mon Dieu!- what do i ceep riting dat word!?- we have stop at some cadlic church name st. anne. pretti niseeglise. Everi person give a donation and give a lettle preyer for da safe trip. andre an moi skroungeed for da coin, put dem in da lettle box, den we bot nelt an us prey. I preyed for papa and phillipe and jacques and andre and me. I preyed for everibodi at home -ecept for gereldine whose i hoped to sufocated in her purfume, sorri god- i also preyed for reel food.- mabyegereldine is a merchant femme, but she can kook up da storm




Lake Nipissing-i tink-
June 29, 1804

mi preyers were usless. apapa is dead. Us all were thropw out of the boat in da midle of da storm it was cold an whet and thunder an litning crique over we’s boat i felt scared , wif da ominus clouds cracling over we’s heeds. i feel small an helpless. den it cam. Da wave. Da vague. it push us over da boat an in to da churning waters of da lake nipissing. phillipe and jacques and andre and moi ecaped wif bruses and 1 brocen toe and 2 srain ancles. papa drowned. 4 out of da 12 , 1/4 -i went to skool- died, mi fader 1 of dem. it is to hard to talk about it. i felt horible.Now i don’t have or now my bialogikal parents! Mon Dieu! They is buring da dead 1’s temoraryly. I can not wach! i moost not cri! i am a man! i moost be a man. i-i m-moost not sh-sho m-mi true identiti! M-m-m-i.....




mi faders brocen blade

Grande Portage
August 10, 1804
Grande Portage!
reel peeple! Reel places! REEL FOOD! It smell like reeel food, not flee riden da pork and corn! I have live on dat for too long! Mon Dieu! girls have been wincing at me ever sice mi got of da canoo Mon Dieu!
They like moi! they LIKE moi! Merchant! A Rendevous is in a coople of da ours. i tink i mit go adieu!
.....
MON DIEU!
Gereldine has remarryed! 2 month afder her ofer huusband have died! Por claire! she will never now her reeel fader!
AHHHHHHHHHHH!
.....
i nevr tasted booooooze befor! i lov it! it tasti!-hic!- i have mi first fite todey! wif-hic!- phillipe!-hic!- mi i is sor and-hic!- blac!mon dew!god fod and-hic!- god lafs!
i dased wif andre everiwon laffing and-hic!-drunc i so drunc i can t rite!-hic!- mon dew! i go to -hic!- slep now! adeeu! -hic!-
















mi beeeeutiful wine!
In the middle of nowhere
August 29, 1804

Had mi first portage todey mon dieu! those pacs way about da ton! jocques spraned hes ancle . he can still padle doe. and gess what, gereldine had a baby not just the baby, but twins!TWINS! There is now 13 mouth to feed! An when we get back 15! 15! the babies is a da boy and da girl. Jean and Gabriella! Mon Dieu! Can da life get eny da wors!












da babies

A cabin in Boringland
December 25, 1804

Crismas is here in alesageland. When we cleened up the canoo, i foound a bunch of papers. i piced dem up and what do yu tink thay were? Mi fader’s diari wif the initials “CPG:! MI DECISED FADERS DIARY, Mei he rest in da peece!
MON DIEU!
I had been reeding hes diari in some parts were jus plain a lesage and digusting, such as pierre-named afcer papa- my nephew-in-laws, who is such da total brat, while papa go on on how strong and smart and corage for the 2 year-old boy.Mon Dieu! All he is is a fat of a lettle boy with red hares and da frecles alwais screching dat angelice, hes 1-year-old sester-who is such the total angel- has more den everiting he has. All i tink is that he does et becase she is get some attenton, an he es not geting enof. He alwai had a puurple lolipop wif hem. Strangest of times. But enyway, I founded dis pasage dated May 18 ,1804 za dey zat da brigade left da Montreal. He talk how i run away da dey befor we left, and how he feel terible about fiting wif me da dey befor about marrying a cleck wif lots of money. i did never reelize dat i have hurt hem. pauvre papa! and da.........



Mon Dieu! i founded a papsage da dey befor papa die. et say “Henri Pierre and i had a lettle talk on da familyes back home. He had told me of hes sweethart, gereldine-o.k., i have lie becase he is mi fader for sakes of da god!- and i told hem of mi beutifuul gereldine-gross!-. i now it es bad to lie , but she es not zat god looken and steenks like da cow in da hog fat _wey to go papa, may you rest in da gods peece!-. And wile us were talk, Henri reminded mi of my pretty annemarie-WHAT?- he has da same chine and i’s, and da meories floded back about zat fite. Ohhh, iam sorry aneemarie” I forgiven yu papa! Ohhh papa!





Grande Portage
April 3, 1805

CIVILIZATON! DA STREETS! DA STORES! DA CARAGES! DA HORSES!
DA FOOD!
It is been exact 1 yeer sise i lef for Grande Portage wif andre,phillipe,jacques and pap, mey he rest in da peece. Meny tings have changed. Moi run away, we leeving for Grande Portage, da new fader, da twins. Papa dieing. All en 1 yeer Mon Dieu! phillipe and jacques have dues to be da paid. papa did two, but hes die, so i don’t now what thier go to do a bout it. I have ripped a ll the names from hes diary so noone weill notise it wes hys. andre and moi is going back to da home to reunite wif old freinds and da famili, den take anna,gabriel,lis and Delia to live gy our wages. It could hapens. Bahh! i alreedi feel sick wif civilzaton. i crave da river, da trees and da forest. I moost live da life of da voyager! Mon Dieu! It has only been 3 minets and i wants to get bac on da canoo and paddle to Grande Portage. It call to me. But now i moost fly. Adieu!

And Tears Came To My Eyes

Yes, yes I know, I haven't been updating everyone and your online concern has me overwhelmed. I work so hard to come up with some snarky post (sniff,sniff), and then the well goes dry, so I don't write (uncontrollable weeping). Maybe all the time spent breaking my new Brooks saddle has affected my thinking, being where my brain is located and all. I figured everyone but Neil would be yawning over my miles. So go ahead, blame the bike, but beware the SS Deathstar. 125 miles on the bike Friday through Sunday including a 52 mile ride on Sunday. Time for you folks to get off the couch and into the saddle.

I took the girls out a couple of times in the past week, and they're always asking if we can take off on a ride. This is a good thing cuz the goal is to get them to a level of fitness so we can pile the bikes in the Crapmobile and head out to some trails outside the city.

On Tuesday, we went to the painless dentist. KyKy and I had fillings put in and The Madster had some sealant put on her teeth. The last time I had a filling, they either clubbed me on the head or liquored me up or something to mask the pain, but I don't remember since it was so long ago. This time it was not what I would describe as a pleasant experience, but considering that they were drilling a hole in my head, it wasn't too bad. The only downside is that now I have to wear my tinfoil hat all the time. I'm sure that some kind of mind-control device was implanted and I can't let the aliens (or the gov'mint) tell me what to. I think they want me to stop riding my bike. Today I take The Madster to the doc to get some warts frozen off. Delicious. This is the second time we've had to do this. They came off once and returned bigger and better than ever. I too knew the heartbreak of warts as a child so I feel her pain. 'Nika survived the ear piercing, but maybe we should get this raging 105 fever and loss of hearing checked out sometime. And finally in medical news, Psycho the dog got into the garbage on Saturday night and proceeded to barf all over the house while we slept. Stupid dog.

The Madster wrote yet another masterpiece for school. It's the journal of a young girl who disguises herself as a boy and runs off to be a voyageur. I'll get it posted, but I think I'll need to fiddle around with the formatting to get it to look right. The Madster also landed a part in the school play - Macbeth(?) by some guy named Shakespeare I guess. She is neglecting everything else to learn her lines.

The girls all got their report cards back. Man, they must have their mom's brains. I never got marks like that.

The Other (Younger) Half is still plugging away at school and the Massage Parlour. She has a 2 week break or so between the end of the school term and the beginning of her internship. It will be a well deserved rest. On Thursday we are all heading down to St. Peter for her induction in to some nursing society, Delta-Delta-Delta-23-Ski-doo. If there are paddle involved spankings as a part of the initiation, I'll blog about it.

Another Saturday Come And Gone

Not much happening around here, except for maybe, oh, the second greatest thing that has happened to me in my life (the first was meeting and marrying The Other [Younger] Half). Ok, Ok make that the fourth, since I have to include the births of my 3 children. The fourth greatest thing in my life happened to me last night. I finally picked up my new bike. For you geeks it's a 56cm Surly Cross Check with a Shimano 105 drive train, including a 36 spoke DuraAce rear hub, Brooks Flyer saddle and Crank Bros. Candies Pedals. Everything on the bike is pretty much black, silver or white (even the rims for the wheels are black, sweeet), so when I picked it up from the shop that built it up for me, the owner called it the "Death Star." After a bit of initial tweeking last night, today I took SS Death Star out on her maiden voyage. It was better than......almost anything I can think of. This morning I did the tour of Minneapolis, following the trails around the city, 42 miles in all. This is the longest continuous ride I have ever done. It was unbelievable. After 39 miles of riding I ended up on the Midtown Greenway in Minneapolis and I put the hammer down and punched it up to 20mph on my little cycle computer. It took so little effort, even after all that riding. My butt even cooperated. You have to understand, a Brooks saddle is basically a thick piece of leather streched over a frame. No padding. At all. Once you get the saddle to conform to your butt shape, you can go forever. The problem can be the break-in period. Suffice it to say that I am posting this sitting down with absolutely no pain at all. I can't wait to get out tomorrow. I may even post some pictures over on Picassa of all my bikes. Just look for the album labled "Bike Porn."

The kids spent last night at the Evil Grandmother and Dreadful Man's house. So it was just The Other (Younger) Half and me. Friday evening. Alone. We spent a wild night of her doing homework and me watching "Red Green" on the teevee until I fell asleep. We're just like a couple of newlyweds we are.

Today, after she got done rubbing Nekkid people at the Massage Parlour, The Other (Younger) Half took the girls out for a little girls day out. 'Nika got her ears pierced and not one tear was shed. Our little baby is growing up. This is the same child who could not get to sleep because her "foot hurt." We found out the solution to this intractable foot pain was to put a damp paper towel on her foot when she went back to bed. This child doesn't have just a low threshold for pain, I think she has a negative threshold, if that's possible. KyKy had her ears double pierced today. I have no problem with that, ear piercing I mean. But if she comes home with a railroad spike driven through her head because that is what all the cool kids are doing, I guess I might have second thoughts about her getting that second piercing in her ear. Slippery slope and all. This leaves me as the only holdout to having holes poked in my body. The Madster has pierced ears as does The Other (Younger) Half. TO(Y)H even has a little diamond stud in her nose. She didn't listen to me when I told her that it was farm animals in this country that traditionally have holes poked through their noses. Oh well. Next time you are looking for our family, just look for the mutilated group with all the bling hanging from their sensory organs.

The Evening Nooz And A Brush With Celebrity

Well I was right about the hyperventilating news readers last night. Snowstorm leads our coverage! I generally watch the 9pm local news because I'm an old man and I want to get to bed early. This hour long program has to be one of the lamest on the planet. The first half hour is devoted to local events plus stupid stories from around the country from network affiliates. That second group of stories drives me nuts. I don't care about the fire department in Peoria rescuing a dog from a sewer drain, or the little old lady who drove her Cadillac through a storefront in Phoenix. But what's really annoying is the news readers adding their inane concern comments at the end of a piece.

Anchor 1:
"....and that's when the Space Shuttle tipped over and landed on Mr. Klupford's foot, bruising it quite badly."

Anchor 2:
"Wow, I bet that caught him by surprise. Let's hope that he's alright."

The second half of the show is devoted to American Idol recaps I think. I only know this from the teases they sprinkle throughout the first half of the show. I turn it off after the weather.

So last night they lead the show with the big snowstorm that is on its way. I think they were all holding paper bags off camera in case their hyperventilating left them incapacitated. Since it wasn't snowing in the metro last night, they had to do a live remote from Owatanna showing the snow falling. The horror! Snow falling in April. So last night I wake up at 3:30 and look out the window. No snow. It had started by the time I got up at 6:00. Big deal. It's snow.

Last evening The Other (Younger) Half went to a book reading/signing/dog and pony show. The author was Anne Lamott, our favorite. As it turns out, a friend of ours in California is a friend of Ms. Lamott. When our friend found out that The Other (Younger) Half was going, she emailed Ms. Lamott who said she would be happy to reserve some seats at the event. She left a phone number. The Other (Younger) Half left a message on the phone saying there would be 6 or 7 people there. When The Other (Younger) Half arrived at the store, the line apparently went to the Iowa border. (I guess some people were standing in the snow around Owatanna) So when Ms. Lamott appeared, she saw the empty reserved seats and asked, "Where's my friend Tacy and her friends?" Pretty cool. I'll try and get The Other (Younger) Half to fill in some details. I do know that she did not ask Ms. Lamott the most important question, "Does she read this blog?"

What Is Normal Anyway?

We are starting to get back into a routine at the Stocking household. The girls are back in school catching up on the days they missed. KyKy is still trying to adjust to her Pre-China sleep schedule, somewhat successfully. The Other (Younger) Half is running around in the evenings doing school related stuff, and I am trying to hold down the fort at the Test Equipment World Domination Headquarters. Has everyone done their taxes yet? Our personal taxes were done a while back, but I get to deal with all the payroll, sales and use taxes for the bidnesses, here and at the Massage Parlour. Payroll taxes are a mess. Even the high tech accounting programs don't do a very good job of setting things up to get payroll to run smoothly. Because Jon is an owner, his are figured one way. Mine, as the sole employee, are different. Our HSAs are treated like health insurance premiums, but our program did not set them up correctly for 2006. Our accountant, who is a great guy by the way, doesn't even deal with payroll stuff. He has another service figure it out for him. When I was complaining to him how complicated this is, he laughed and said, "That's why I don't do them." The past couple of weeks have been filled with calls and emails to 2 different accountants, software customer service and a local so called "expert" on the program we use. I still don't know if they are being figured out correctly. Don't worry, we are still making payments to the gov'mint, and nobody I'm getting advice from goes on rants about the unconstitutional nature of the income tax. I just don't know if we're paying the right amount. Stay tuned till April of '08.

The weather? Anything but normal. After a cold (I'm talking teens) and windy weekend, we are expecting a couple of inches of snow in the next 24 hours. When I get home I'll have to pop some popcorn and watch the people on the teevee get all apopleptic about the snow. The civil defense severe weather sirens went off today for about 10 seconds. People in Maplewood must be getting twitchy about the weather or something. That or the Russkies are bombing us back to the stone age. If I have to get the snowblower out, I'll give you a full report. I know that's why you read this trash.

He's Up!

Happy Easter to our faithful reader(s)

It's Sunday evening and we're getting back to the old grind here at the Stocking household after a couple of weeks of upheaval. The kids have been out of school for 2 week travelling around. Now since it is Sunday evening, there are the requisite tears shed over homework that has not been finished yet. KyKy is really feeling the effects of jet lag, and will need a resurrection of her own tomorrow morning. The Other (Younger) Half has some kind of break from school, what it actually amounts to I can't tell. She doesn't have to spend as much time in the classroom this term, but she is attending some seminars or something. I don't know. We're counting down the 8 months she has left. Then she'll trade her screwy school schedule for a screwy hospital schedule. At least she'll get paid.

Spelling.

I have just found out that I have been calling Aunt Ann's work Tint Tots. That is not correct, it is TINY TOTS. Sorry

My Wife Makes Me Stupid

And not just stupid in love, which I am. With her. My wife, I mean. You can ignore all the metaphysical musings from the last post. KyKy came home today, 24 hours earlier than we expected. So if you take that 29 hours subtract 24 and add 16 you get 21. I have no idea what the significance of that number is. As it turns out, The Other (Younger) Half had KyKy's return marked on the wrong day, Saturday the 7th. Maybe it was reasoned that since KyKy was scheduled to leave Friday at 10:00am on a 16 hour journey, she would be here on a Saturday. Enter the magic of the International Date Line. She left Friday morning, travelled 16 hours and returned, drumroll please, Friday afternoon. We just kept looking at that calendar with Saturday the 7th marked as her return date. It's funny how untruths, when reinforced often, can become accepted by those who are not thinking clearly. Take WMDs in Iraq for example. . . . (Sorry, I couldn't resist). Whatever. She's home now and we are all one big happy family again. Simply loverly.

Plus she brought presents home from China.

Good Friday

Holiest time of the year. 'Nuff said.

In the world of the profane it is "Not So Great Friday." Jon closed up the shop today, so I get to lounge around home. That is a good thing, but..... at 11:00 am it was 21 stinking degrees outside and very windy. I was really hoping to take the kids biking today, but it's far too blustery for that. Arrrrgh. Not the pirate "Arrrrrrgh." The frustrated "Arrrrgh." In the end, I suppose this is a good thing becasue before she left to go rub nekkid people at the massage parlour, The Other (Younger) Half gave us a list of things to be done around the house. So far, I've done dishes, a load of laundry and vacuumed. "I'm helping mommy!" is what I excitedly tell anyone within earshot. The girls have been cleaning their rooms. There's still a bunch of stuff to do, and the girls have a boatload of homework to get done before Monday. I really want to put a dent in all this today because tomorrow is KyKy's big homecoming and Sunday is Easter.

Kent called this morning to say that KyKy's flight was delayed for an hour and a half, but they would probably hold the connecting flight in Tokyo. This is what I don't understand. He called us about 29 hours, real time, before KyKy was due to arrive in our fair city. According to NWA, the total flight time plus layover is 16 hours. So she gets on the plane for her 16 hour journey and it takes 29 hours? How is it that 16 hours of flying equals 29 hours back here? Is there some wierd time warp between here and Shanghai? Do thing happen faster on the plane so that 29 hours are compressed into 16? I tell you what, if that's the case, The Other (Younger) Half would be buying weekly tickets to cram in some extra hours into her week. I realize you all think I'm retarded to begin with, but maybe this wrinkle in the space time continuum explains my slowness to pick up on things.

My last full day...

Today was my last full day in China. I am really excited to go home,but I am so sad to leave. I have learned so much and seen so many things. This is one trip I will not forget. Last night I was up really late packing, so this morning I slept in until 9:30. By that time everyone had left and it was just me and Jessica. At 11:15 Jessica and I left for Jessamyn and Emma's school. I went to have lunch with Jessie and got a personal tour of the school. I also got to see Emma a few times in the lunch room. After Jessie had left for class, Aunt Ann and I went to my dress fitting. I love my dress! When we went Judy did not have it all the way finished so she would be able to make some changes before I left. I can't wait to show it to you when I get home. Luckily it didn't take too long. When we where done Uncle Kent came to get us and we went kite shopping. In China kites are a really big thing. On a really nice day you will see kites everywhere. I thought it might be a good idea to get one to bring home. After much bargaining we got some kites. When we got back home it was only minutes before Jessie and Emma Came home. Then we went on a bike ride with Uncle Kent down and around the neighborhood and down by a little village. On the way home we where riding behind a woman and an old lady yelled out that some foreigners where following her! When we got home time was filledup with homework and packing until dinner. For diner we went to my favorite restaurant The Four Seasons Rural Restaurant. They have the best beans. On the way home we danced to the Wizard of Oz and laughed until we all fell over. Now we are all sitting at home and relaxing before tomorrow. The next time I write will probably be from home. I miss you all and can't wait to see you.
Love
Kysa

Day 9? or 10?...

I have been looking at a calender and I might have been putting the wrong numbers for each day. I tried to get on the blog to check but this computer will not let me. Hopefully I am right. Since I am a little behind on my writing this was what I did yesterday, Wednesday.
Yesterday was a fun day. Uncle Kent and Aunt Ann are having a bed made for them out in the country. And today they went out to look at it to see if any adjustments needed to be made. On the way there we took a country road so I would be able to see what the country looks like in China. Since I am so used to seeing the city, this was a nice change. My favorite parts of China are the little alleys and the country villages. This country road reminded me a lot of what I saw in the city but this time is was in the country. People selling fruit, restaurants, laundry hanging out to dry, pool tables everywhere, and bike repair shops. This little village also had a lot of lumber to sell. It was a recycled wood. There was also a junkyard full of doors. Sadly I never got out to take any pictures. I should have though. In this village they even had a tiny amusement park. When we got to the work shop we found out that the bed was too small. Uncle Kent couldn't fit on it. While they tried to work everything out I went and looked around. The guy who owns the place also had an antique area. It was really fun to look through the stuff in there.When we where done getting the bed figured out we went to Emma's soccer games. At Emma and Jessie's school only the middle school and up can be on a soccer team. But the fifth graders have little teams of their own. And every so often have a day when they play against the other schools. These are not the normal length games. They are about 1 minutes each and are so the kids who like soccer are able to play. For a while Uncle Kent, Aunt Ann and I went and watched. I got some really cool photos of Emma with the ball. After that Aunt Ann and I went to the Pearl Market. This is a market where there is a whole floor that is for jewelry. They had some funky stuff there. It was really fun. After that we came back home. When we got back Jessie needed help with her math homework so the two of us work together on it. It was fun to do together, but her math teacher gave her too much! I figure this is a way to help me with my math too, and I don't have to turn it in! After all the homework was done we all went out to eat at this Korean restaurant. At this restaurant you cook the food at your own table. My favorite where the mushrooms! After dinner we stopped at this store to see birds nests. In China there is a certain type of birds nest that are delicacies. This bird spits up this gunk and forms a nest with it. And people pay lots of money to have some. I think fried chicken bones are my limit. On the way to the car Jessie, Emma, Uncle Kent and I danced to the Wizard of OZ.

The rest of day 8...

I can't remember where I left off but I think I was telling you about the dress. After we left the fabric market, Aunt Ann, Jessica and I walked down a little side road. This road is one that you would typically see in China. It was a residential road. Let me set the picture. A long road, you can't see the end because there are so many twists and turns. Numbers all over the white and dirty walls. People sitting, selling, walking or doing laundry. Pink underwear hanging from a line drying. Farther down are some sheets.The smell of cooking fish and rice is everywhere. That is only a little description of what I saw. I did take lots of photos though so I will have lots to show you. I was curious about the numbers all over the walls. Jessica told me that the numbers where the numbers of people selling things or people who could fix your bike. It was like the yellow pages on a white wall. After we came out of that road we when down a wider but even more crowded road that had food everywhere. Stalls and stalls of food lined the road. And everyone everywhere was eating and buying the food. Right when we came out onto the street we saw this huge vertical skewer with meat stacked one on top of the other. All down the street where colors and the smell of food. If you really want to see the real China that is where to go. We walked around there for a bit and after a while started to get hungry.So we went to a restaurant that sold bao zi. The veggie ones where my favorite. After that we walked around a bit more but started to get tiered so we headed home. For dinner that night Uncle Kent made some Chinese food. It was delicious.

Day 9...

Tuesday was a very long day! But a fun one. After I woke up Aunt Ann, Jessica, and I went down to the fabric market to pick up Uncle Kent's shirts and to pick out fabric for me. Aunt Ann thought it would be really fun to get a Chinese style dress for me before I leave. I loved the idea so we started looking for some fabric. When you are at a fabric store it is tricky to get your dress made. The reason is that all the shop owners have an agreement that if you buy fabric from someone else they will not make you a dress. Only will they make you a dress if it is out of their fabric. After three people we finally found some beautiful fabric.The only problem is that the shop owner would not make the dress for us at the price we wanted. We decided it was best to buy the fabric and go on to Judy. Judy is one of the only shop owners that will take your cloth and make you a dress. The only problem was that she was gone when we went to ask her. Since we only had three days left to get this done in before I left for home, we waited. And waited and waited. After 45 minutes she finally came. She had just come back from picking up another clients clothes. Judy does not make the clothes herself, but has workers who do it for her.Finally she was ready to help us. After much measuring and corrections. The dress was ready to be sent out. I have decided this will be the dress I will wear to graduation in June. I forgot all about describing the fabric. It is a dark purple cloth with green and lighter purple fireworks on it. The inside lining will be a light lime green to match the fireworks. An interesting thing I learned was that in china girls of certain ages have certain colors to wear. All pastel for my age group. But not for me, if I am going to wear purple it will be dark. I nee to go I will finish writing later.

Day 8...

I am sorry that these entries have been a little late but it is hard to sit down at a computer without falling asleep. The only time I am able to sit down and write is right before bed. Starting on Monday Aunt Ann did not have to work because this week is her Spring Break. So Monday morning came and we had the whole day to do whatever. Do you remember when I went on a walk to the river side and saw all the city lighted up at night? Aunt Ann and I decided that we would go to the other side of the river during the day time. All these last two weeks we have had great weather for photos. But to day ws our yuck day. Everything was covered in mist and haze. Even with all that we decided to brave the weather and take a look. When we got there there was nit much to look at! We could barley see the other side. We shrugged our shoulders and said we tried, and moved on to Nan Jing road. This road is the biggest shopping road in Shanghai. Everything there is more look at stuff than buying stuff.It is a great road to walk down. At night it would be even better because all the signs and lights would be on. It is a fun road to walk down and look around. After a while Aunt Ann and I started to get really hungry. Since I had never tried Dim Sum before that is what we decide to do. At first I thought Dim sum was a type of food, but it isn't. It is a way of eating. When you have Dim Sum you order many, many different foods. Instead of getting a normal serving size you get one or two of a certain thing. Say you order bao zi. When the waiter gives you the bao zi there is only one bowdza for each person at your table. That way you can try many different things and not get too full too fast. It was delicious. I even tried fried chicken bone! I advise you not to try it. It is very chewy and crunchy. Like you are chewing on bones and tendons. Yum? After that we went to a market and bargained some more, my favorite.And after a few hours we headed on home. That night everyone was all tiered. A long day of work, walking and school wore everyone out.

The Great Twin Cities Child Exchange

There are days when I can't keep track of my own family. The kids are on Spring Break from school this week, and no we did not let them go down to South Padre Island to audition for "Girls Gone Wild." Yesterday evening: The Other (Younger) Half at school, The Madster and 'Nika to the Y with the neighbors for swimming and general goofing off. Last night: 'Nika at home, The Madster overnight at the neighbor's house. Today: 'Nika at the Dreadful Man and Evil Grandmother's house (not my names for them), The Madster off to the Bakery with neighbors, The Other (Younger) Half running around fulfilling school nursing requirements. This evening: Me, The Madster, 'Nika and hopefully The Other (Younger) Half at DM and EG's house for dinner. Tonight: 'Nika at home with two cousins for sleep over, The Madster overnight at DM and EG's. KyKy still on loan to China. Got that?

Naturally because of all the running around, there was no biking today. It doesn't matter. It's rainy with the possibility of snow. Bleh.

Day 7...

Well as of yesterday I have been gone for a whole week. It seems much longer. I have been doing so much in such a little time that it is as if I have been here for weeks and weeks. I also am still confuzzled about the dates and time. I am still waking up every morning at about 6. I try and force my self to sleep more but I am always to excited to get going. The last time I wrote I had just finished my big day in Beijing. Yesterday,Sunday, after waking up and having breakfast at the hotel,
(It was the best.I tried some new food that many people in China eat for breakfast.)Uncle Kent and Aunt Ann explained the Forbidden City to me. For those of you who do not know the Forbidden City is where the Emperors of China lived. And when they say the Forbidden CITY they are not joking! It is huge, and literally is a city. I am sure that the Emperors did not even know about most of the rooms in the city.Anyway, no one was allowed into the inner parts of the city unless you where a Unic,Concubine or the Emperor.The Forbidden City has many layers. The outer layers or courts would be the places where the servants and live stock lived. In the inner courts would be the living area of the Emperor and his personal servants,concubines and unics. From here the Emperor ruled his country, never leaving and few ever entering. Some interesting facts about the Forbidden City and the Emperor are,1. All his food needed to be tested before he ate the food. 2. There are 3 bridges(I think) in the Forbidden City going over a river. The Emperor is the only one who can go down the middle bridge. Everyone else has to go on the others. 3. All the doors in the City have thresholds that are raised so that the evil spirits who fly along the ground can't get through. 4. The royal color of the Emperor is yellow.5.On the doors are gold balls. Each row has 9 because 9 is one of the luckiest numbers. Finally,there is a Starbucks in the middle of the Forbidden City. Yes, no joke. In the middle of the City is a building that looks like all the others, but inside it is a Starbucks and a gift shop.Ever since I came to China I have been looking forward to going to the Forbidden City. When we got there I was a little disappointed. Everything there was so new looking, and perfect. The farther back we got the paint was older and faded. I liked that much better because it looked more authentic. Something I really liked was that there were stones on the pavement that looked like the originals. They where old and rough. It was really cool sitting there and imagining that Emperors used to walk on these same stones. We didn't have enough time to go and look at all the artifacts that they had in the museum areas. Sadly while we where there some of the bigger buildings where under construction so I was not able to get pictures of those. Some day I would like to go back. Also while we where at the Forbidden City we saw some tourists from other parts of China, and they where wearing their traditional clothes. They where so beautiful. One woman was wearing a while slip,and over it where strings of white and blue beads all around her slip. It was a skirt of beads. After we left the Forbidden City Jessie, Emma, and Uncle Kent went back to the hotel to swim, and Aunt Ann and I went to the Silk market again to look around. After that we had to drive out to the airport. We wanted to take the train back to Shanghai but Jessie and Emma had school today, and if we had taken the train we would not have gotten back in time for them to get to school. Our plane was supposed to leave at 6:00pm but we didn't get on the plane until 7:30. Then we sat on the plane until 8:30, and didn't get home until 10:00pm, when we where supposed to get back at 8:30! I don't remembered if I told you this or not but in China there are not lines, you budge. We stood up early to get in line and suddenly out of nowhere a huge family comes up and stands right in front of me and starts pushing me back. But when it was time to board I shoved them right back and only let one of them in front of me. I was not about to give them my long earned spot. Most of the people on our plane had never ridden one before. You could tell because they where very loud and forgot to put their seat belts on, and stood up while the plane was landing. A good thing to know if you ever go to China is that when you are on the plane let most of the people out before you. Everyone shoves and pushes like crazy to be the first ones off. That wraps up my trip the Beijing. It was lots of fun and I got tons of photos, I can't wait to come home and show them all to you. I miss you all very much!
xoxoxoxoxox
Kysa

The rest of day 6...

As we were riding up the mountain to the Great Wall I was to antsy to sit in my seat. The sky was blue, the sky was clear, and I had a camera. I was so worried that it was all too god to be true and that by the time I got to the top it would all be gone. And when we got to the top I saw a better sight. There was hardly anyone there! I had a great opportunity for photos without people and a blue sky, a photographers dream!At the top of the Great Wall we remembered that it was Grandma's birthday, so we quick got out Uncle Kent's cell phone and sang a very loud Happy Birthday from the Great Wall of China. For the next two hours we walked and walked. And I took tons of photos. After taking so many there is a hope that some will turn out. On the way back to the car we stopped at a few vendors. I had something I really thought Maddie and Anika might like so we went through three vendors until we got the price we wanted. I won't tell you what I got because it is supposed to be a surprise. After another hour and a half of driving we where finally back to our hotel in Beijing. We swam and swam until dinner. For dinner we went out to a restaurant that serves roast duck. To get there you have to go through the silk market. The silk market is a market in side huge building and on each floor you can buy something different. One floor is clothes another bags and so on. Walking through the market all you hear is vendors yelling laydee laydee how much you want, or I remember you I have a good price. A vendor even said that she remembered us, we had never seen her before. When we got to the restaurant we where able to see the cook cut up the duck right at our table. When we ate the duck we first dunked the duck into soy sauce, and then put it onto a thin rice pancake. Then we added onions,and cucumbers. Then we wrapped it up like a burrito and ate it all up. It was delicious. I had never tasted duck before so this was my first time. And that is what our only full day in Beijing was like. I will write about day seven soon.
Lots of love,
Kysa

The rest of day 5 and most of day 6...

Here I am back from Beijing and super tiered. After I left you last, all the Kedl's and myself finished up our packing for Beijing. Somehow we narrowed everything down so that we each had a bag. Jessie and I decided to pack together and we packed way to much. I don't know if told you but instead of flying to Beijing we took the train. I have never ridden a real train before so this was all new to me. I loved it! The train ride was a 12 hour ride, from 7pm to 7am. In our room we had four bunks and a little table. All of us girls shared the one room, since there wasn't enough room for Uncle Kent he had to share a room with some other people. Since the train took off so late we where not able to see the city in daylight. But we did get to see all the city lights which was just as nice. I finally peeled my eyes away form the window when we left the city because there was no light to see by.After that train ride I am convinced it is the best type of travel. In the morning I was able to wake-up in time to see some of the country side before we got to the city. It was really interesting passing all of the villages in the train. They are so much different from the city. All of the houses are built together and in rows and the fields are to the sides. We also saw a lot of graves but the side of the train. When we got to the train station there where so many people. After we found our driver we stopped quickly at the hotel to drop off our bags and then from there we left for the Great Wall. After a two hour drive we arrived. Before you even get to the Great Wall entrance you have to go up a steep hill trough half of the vendors. There are many different places to enter the wall, we entered at the Mu Tian Yu enterance.It is quite an experience having people yell at you to buy there Great Wall shirts. After we got through the entrance we went through another round of vendors to get to the chair lift. Since I am a photographer I love good light and no people in my scenery. And that is just what I got at the Great Wall!

April Is The Cruelest Month

No foolin'. The Other (Younger) Half rang in April Fools Day by doing an all night shadowing shift at the U of M Hospital. She hates working all night long. Yesterday was cool and rainy and there are more showers on the way today. Instead of running to the mall to buy needless crap, The Madster and 'Nika and I watched old M*A*S*H* re-runs yesterday while the rain fell outside. Good teevee writing stands the test of time and the first few seasons of M*A*S*H* with Larry Gelbart producing are gold. In the evening they played the game Life. They get to the end of the game and don't even bother to count up the money. For them it's about naming the kids and grandkids and creating the family tree. They have notebooks filled with their families.

The trip to NC has yet to be blogged about yet, although I have photographic evidence that they really did go there. I spent part of the morning downloading pictures from the girls cameras, tossing away about 5 dozen shots of their face-making, self-portraits. I'll threaten to not feed them if they don't write about this trip soon. We can post some of those pics too. Suzy, please email The Other (Younger) Half as to whether you want a picture of your nose hairs posted on the internets.

KyKy called from China this morning sounding very, very tired. They had just gotten back from Beijing. We are expecting details in the next few days.

Back To The Grind

My plan worked, partly. I put out the siren call of bikes being ready, and two of my children showed up the next day. I picked them up at the airport, hugs and smooches all around. They still are going to have to fill you in on their adventures since they couldn't figure out how to blog from Suzy's computer. They went to North Carolina and I didn't even get a lousy t-shirt. I actually got a very nice t-shirt saying "I'd rather be biking." Sweet.

So they get in on Thursday morning, we go out for a quick breakfast, and I head off to work. When I get back from work, the kids are at home, The Other (Younger) Half has gone to school, and the kids are planning to go to the school talent show with the neighbors. I opted out because I had a headache (work related). Our children did not participate in the show. It's not that they don't have talent, they do from The Other (Younger) Half. It's just that things have been so hectic that we didn't even think about doing something for the show. Now if they were to showcase any talent inherited from their father, it would consist of sitting on the stage in a comfy chair with the teevee clicker in one hand.

This is what I'm talking about when I say were back to the grind. I'm at work, The Other (Younger) Half is out late at school and the kids are running off to some thing or another. I'm feeling like we all need a vacation together where we can do nothing. That's my favorite kind of vacation.

I should have worn my new t-shirt today. Rain. Rain. Rain. Same for tomorrow I guess. Biking will be difficult until KyKy gets back from China. The Madster and 'Nika aren't at the point of being left by themselves for hours at a time while I'm gone. Let's see... "KyKy your bike is ready for riding!" Maybe that'll get her home sooner.

Day Five...

Finally Friday is here. I can't tell if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Today we are leaving for Beijing, yaaaa, but since it is already Friday this means that I only have a week left. Even though it is only 2 in the afternoon I am exhausted. After running, sorry hopping, around the whole morning I need a rest. I said in my last entry that I was going to Tiny Tots,(Ann's work)to help with the Easter party. This morning Emma,Jessie and I woke up bright and early,8:00, to get ready. When you get to Tint Tots from the street you need to enter a door and go down a little ally that is only for Tiny Tots. This ally is a white wall between the two other houses on either side of TT. In China there is barbed wire everywhere. To add more protection the old owner put barbed wire at the top of the very tall white wall in the alley. Since it was so ugly the people at TT decided to paint it pink.So now the Kedl's call the wire the "Barbie Wire". Anyway, we were trying to decorate the barbie wire with eggs, but we couldn't reach that high,so we just put it on the surrounding trees. At 10, the first class, the pony class, went out on their egg hunt. Then Jessie,Emma and I dressed in out bunny ears and plastic noses with yellow teeth, went up and hid some more eggs in their class room. After the kids had gone back up stairs we followed them and hopped around a bit. When we tried to get close some of the younger kids cried out and backed up. I think we really reached out to those kids. For an hour we hopped and skipped around to 6 different classes. Now we are all back home packing our clothes for our night in Beijing. I will write as soon as I can.

oxoxoxoxoxo
Kysa

Day four...

After being so busy today was a nice day. Today Jessie, Emma and I all stayed at home and did nothing. After Jessie and Emma slept in, I woke up at 6 again, we all got dressed and went over to Lexie's house, a friend of Jessie's who lives in their compound,and asked of she wanted to come out and play badminton. After awhile we decided to go swimming but it was only 10 in the morning, so we decided to wait after lunch. for lunch we had noodles, big surprise, and I was able to try bowdza. Bowdza is a dumpling filled with veggies and meat. I am now addicted. After lunch was swimming, then going home to relax and do nothing. When uncle Kent and aunt Ann came home we all went to the movie store and out to eat. Here in China you can't go to blockbuster, but you can go to the movie store and get movies for really really cheap. Ya our favorite. That was my exciting day at home. Tomorrow I will be going to work with aunt Ann and Jessie, and Emma to go and help with the Easter egg hunt. Then at dinner time we will be going to Beijing, on a train, over night!I might not be able to wrote for a few days but when I do I will have lots to say.

Much love,
Kysa

Days two, and three. Oppps...

Sorry it has taken me so long to write but between trying to catch up on sleep and having an amazing time with my amazing cousins I haven't had time to write much. Right now I am sitting in Jessie's room listening to fireworks go off.It was really cool because on the way home from dinner I looked out the window and up in the sky were little pinpoints of light, they were lanterns. It was fun just sitting there watching the lights go higher and farther. While we where coming up the drive we found a lantern laying in the middle of the street right outside the Kedl's house. It is huge and pink. When I last wrote I was about to go and eat lunch with my cousin Jessie. I had a great time. Let me tell you that the food at SCIS is much better then what we get at our schools. After having lunch with Jessie I went back home and Jessica, there I.E, and I went to the market. First we went to a fruit market. And dad you will be very happy to hear this, we rode the city bus. It was lots of fun.Here the city bus system is much different. The bus stops are much farther apart, you can't get anything like a transfer(you pay for each bus),there are t.v's on every bus,and you don't put your money in a slot you give it to a lady who gives you your ticket. When we got to the market before getting to the fruit we had to pass through the meat market. That was a very interesting experience!Everything stunk and ws very dark.All of it was in a big building. There was a big light walkway where cars could drive through, and off to the sides were little and very dark alleys where most of the meat was. Most, no all of the meat sitting out in the open and there was even a whole torso hanging from a hook. It was really interesting, but didn't smell that great. After we got through there we arrived at the fruit market. Sadly all it turned out to be was a place where companies come to get there fruit. As we walked in I raised my camera to take a picture and some guy started posing. It was awkward! After that Jessica and I went to a flower market, which smelled much better. As we walked up the steps the smells of the flowers wafted out of the door. After we got home uncle Kent cooked a very delicious dinner of fish, rice, beans and pork. It was great. The next day, yesterday was Wednesday. On Wednesday Emma stayed home to keep me company. Jessie was going to also , but she had a project she had to finish for the dragon term. After walking Jessie to the bus stop Emma, Ann and I all went to work. When we got there Emma and I went out for a walk around the block. On the way we stopped and got a traditional breakfast food called dabing. It was delicious and very sweet. On the walk I was able to take some photos of everyday life for people in China. That is one of the things I like taking pictures of best. After we got back and Ann had gotten some work done. The three of us went out and rode another city bus. This time it was better. It was a double decker! Emma and I were lucky enough to get the seats in the very first row. It was the wierdest feeling being at the very top of a moving bus. Sadly we only got to ride it for two stops. After that we went to the flower market and for the first time I heard someone speaking spanish. It made me feel right at home. That night for dinner we went to a really good resturant on the water front. Afterwards we went out and walked on the pier.And looking across the water at Pushi, (we where on the Pudong side)we could see all the buildings lighted up and shinning on the water. And sailing across the water where all these lighted up boats. I keept trying to take some photos of the boats but they where moving to fast. I will write more in a minute.
Lots of x's and o's!

I'm Soooooo Lonely

My family has been gone since Saturday, so it's gotten pretty quiet around here. I'm just knocking around the house all by myself. Tonight was a special night though. Pyscho and Stupid got dressed up in the girls clothes and we had a lovely tea party. Clotted cream, scones, the whole works. Afterwords we were joined by my imaginary friend Bob for a game of Bridge. Bob had to fill in for Lucy the rabbit because she is still out canoodling with her city cousins. Everything was just smashing until Psycho and Stupid got into a fight about a hand that was played and Pyscho started biting Stupid. (See photo) That was the end of that. Psycho and Stupid were banished to the basement, Bob disappeared and I went outside to collect the rabbit before the family gets home. Naw, I'm not lonely.

Despite my delusional behavior, I do have enough sense to remember a sure fire way to get everyone back here, even though they may be having fun all across the globe. Ahem,

Kids, your bikes are ready for riding.

What A Day Already

Woke up this morning to cool temps, gray skies and intermittent rain. I didn't ride because I'm a big sissy. Bleh. I got to work today and the phone was actually ringing. This is somewhat unusual because most of our work is done over the internets and the emails. One of the calls was from Jon telling me he would be late because Clary's father had passed away in the Dominican Republic last night. He was busy making arrangements to get Clary and her mom on a plane to the D.R. today. No fun. Our condolences go out to Clary, Jon and their family.

So the phone rings again. A potential customer from Sweden is asking about a sale that Jon has been working on. I don't really know how to help the guy because Jon is constantly making these deals, and to keep me updated on all of the details would be nearly impossible. I'm just a dumb hillbilly from Springvale Township, and the angles he is working are obtuse beyond my comprehension. So I take a message and tell the guy that people in other parts of the US think I talk funny because I grew up surrounded by Swedes. I still say Minnesooooota. He thought that was funny.

Next we have an eBay sale that has the shipping address listed as California USA, Victoria 91706 Australia. Make up your minds people. There's a bit of difference in shipping costs.

Next, a vendor calls needing our State Sales Tax Exemption Certificate. I can do that, except Jon needs to sign it because his name is on it. They also want to fax an invoice, but the machine is out of paper. Our fax machine is some dinosaur that Jon picked up somewhere that's missing pieces all over the place. It also seems to dial random disconnected numbers every once in a while, just for fun. In an engineering marvel, Jon rigged up a tray to catch the incoming faxes from falling to the floor, but it also blocks access to the paper loading tray. I managed to load the paper without destroying the machine.

Jon also has some units to get ready for shipping from a big sale yesterday.

All of this and more was just this morning after 3 weeks of sloooooow sales.

I've hardly had time to drink my coffee.

I've Got A Secret

And I'm going to tell you faithful reader(s) what it is. It's a super-duper, double top-secret secret. On Saturday March 24th, we took KyKy to the airport for her big trip to China. Unbeknownst to The Madster and 'Nika, The Other (Younger) Half had purchased 3 tickets to Asheville NC. Why Asheville? Suzy, a dear friend of The Other (Younger) Half lives there. Suzy loves the girls, the girls love Suzy, Tacy loves Suzy and Suzy loves Tacy. One big love fest, but you wouldn't know it from reading this blog. Despite my pleading, begging and otherwise nagging, nobody has posted anything from NC. Maybe it's still a secret and I just blew it. What I can tell you is that when The Other (Younger) Half presented the boarding passes to the girls, you could have taken their pictures for the dictionary definition of dumbfounded - eyes wide open, mouths agape, speechless. Then I had to leave as they went through security. That's it. That's the secret

So I've been home here alone since Saturday night. It's been a while since I've spent this much time without my family so I'm a little rusty at this single living thing. If you're reading this Other (Younger) Half, and I have no reason to believe you are since you're not posting, I have some questions for you concerning the household:

1) Despite me being the only one at home the bathrooms still stink. Why is this? Please advise.

2) I put KyKy's rabbit outside to play with her city cousins a couple of days ago. How do I get her back inside?

3) When the dogs are done licking the dishes clean, where do I put them?

4) The bananas are getting brown spots on them. Can they still be touched with bare hands or should I call the fire department? I know you won't be back until Thursday, but if they can't be eaten, can you bring me some for breakfast tomorrow? Thanks.

That's all for now dear. I hope your having a good time down there

Day one again...

AS I was saying the food was wonderful.I don't think I will be able to go home and eat take Chinese take out ever again! We had rice cakes, the best pork and green beans, chiken soup, muchrooms, and lots of other good things that I don't remember what they were called. I would like to say I am becomeing and expert with chop sticks but that remains to be seen.I learned another interesting thing while we were out to eat. Normally in the U.S.A when people have Chinese food they always have rice with i, but in China when you are eating eating at a fancy resturant you don't. When you order rice it is always at the end of a meal, and if you do it is because you are still hungry and that the fod was not that good. So when we tried to order the rice the waiters looked at us like we were crazy. Also when you are in China, you can smoke everyewhere;resturants, stores, everywhere. It gets really anoying when someone does it while you are in a small market and there is nowhere for the smoke to go. After the resturant we went home, I fell asleep right away. This morrning I woke up again at 6. After I went to the bus stop with Jessie and Emma Kent and I went to the store to get some food for to night. The minute you walk in the music is loud and there is color everywhere. And everyone lines up in huge lines just to get the fresh eggs from the country. The escalators are also hard to get used to. Instead of steps that move it is just flat and at a slant so it is very hard to heep you balance. In China the food is also a lot less. Some of the veggies we bought were only .75 cents (in American money).I also saw tons of fish and squid.Have you ever wondered how it is possible to have so many flavors of toothpaste? Well while we were at the market we saw rows and rows of different toothpast.Since the store is so close to the Kedl's house Kent and I walked home. Right now I am sitting here tuype this up. In a little while I will go to have lunch with Jessie at her school. I was going to spend the day there, but that is against the rules. After I get home Jessica,their I.E, is going to show me the fruit market and the best part is that we will take the bus. I will have to hold on to my camera for dear life because the bus is where every one has something stolen. I have to go I will write later.

Day one...

Right now I have been having some problems with the blog. As I said in my last entry everything on the web page is written in characters. It is pure luck that I was able to find my way back here. The other problem is that whenever I want to see what someone else has written, the computer says it can not open up the page.Anything that is written while I am gone I will not be able to read, I will try to figure it out. I am not sure where I left off the other day so I will start with the plane ride. The most I can say is that it was very long! Uncle Kent and I were lucky enough to get the seats in the very first row, this way we had a little extra room to move around in. The down side was we were two feet away from the huge tv screen. So with the combination of the glowing tv, the cramped space, and the hard seats I managed to not sleep a wink. But the excitement of seeing my cousins again made it all worth while. While we were on the plane I was also able to experience plane food for the first time since my long ago trip to California. What I will say about the food is that, airplane food and airplanes do not go well together. And I will leave it at that and let your imagination do the rest. After a 12 hour flight we arrived in Japan late, so Uncle Kent and I ran to our next plane just makeing it in time. Then we had another 2 and a half hour flight to China. Getting through everything at the airport wasn't too bad. It took us and hour or maybe a little more to finally get out into China. Seeing Jessie and Emma again for the first time in almost three months there was lots of running, hugging and screaming. One of the many new things I have learned is that in China car horns are used constantly, and taxi drivers are very fast. After we got home Jessie and I were up untill 12 talking. After I went to bed I slep really hard,just not very long. I woke up at 6 am. The reason I woke up ws because I thought I heard my alarm going off,(it sounds like birds) then I realized it wasn't getting any louder and figured out it was the birds outside my window. Yesterday I managed to stay up the whole day with a little help from my friend caffine. After I wne to the bus stop with Jessie and Emma I came back to there house and Ann Kent and I all left for work. After we dropped Kent off I went with Ann to work and hung out with her. After alittle bit we went out to lunch. While we were there I found out that in China it is rude if the waiter does not stand next to your table untill you order. It can get very awkward. After lunch went out to a market and walked around for a while just looking. I saw my first stray dog, they are everywhere in China. I also got to see Ann bargin with a shop owner over the price of a fancy paint brush. The lady wanted it for 325 RMB but Ann said only 90 RMB. She did get it for her price but she wasn't sure if it was was too expensive because the lady was not sad enough about the final price. you know you have a really good price if the owner is about ready to cry over the final price. After that we headed home and we all went out to eat. This was my first real chinese meal, and it was delicious. I am going to take a break and finish writting about my first day later. Sorry for any errors, I can't find the spell check.
xoxoxoxox
Kysa

Here I am!

Hello everyone! Here I am in China. I need to keep telling this to my self because I still can't believe I am in China. Everything here is, so much. I know that is such a lame description, but that's what it is.Everywhere you look there is construction. And there are apartments and condos in rows. All of them with clothes blowing on the railings. And bikers everywhere! In Minneapolis there is only one lane for the bikers, here there are three rows of bikers in the lane. Did you know that the Worlds Fair will be here, in I think 2010? On the way to Ann's work we drove past the sight. What used to be buildings is now nothing. I need to go now. I am going out with Ann to do some errands and I have my camera...I just wanted everyone to know I arrived safely, i will write more later about the plane ride and all my (exciting?)adventures. Can't wait to hear from everyone. Lots of love, Kysa
P.S. Sorry for any spelling errors but everything here is written in characters and I can't find the spell check.

So This Guy Goes To The Airport. . . .

And loses his family. I'll let them fill you in on the details.

Do I need a title?

Well dad I did pick up the poop! I know all our readers were very concerned about this issues so I thought I better get to it. Just a little going away present. I have successfully finished up my work at school so I can have a nice spring break. Tomorrow I leave for China and I still have a ton to finish up. And yes I will post lots and lots! Talk to you later...

Our Dull Family

To our faithful reader(s):
Sorry about the dearth of posts here, but you need to understand our family is pretty much a crashing bore. We get home, eat, do homework, watch a little teevee and go to bed. If anyone is interested, I could go on and on about the chores that need to get done around the house. These are not getting done lately. Here's and example. This week KyKy is responsible for picking up the deposits made by the dogs in the back yard. She is neglecting this despite my constant nagging. I don't understand why. Where's the joy? Maybe she's saving it for one big happy dookie fest at the end of the week. That or she's waiting for that grassless mudhole of a back yard to dry up. I can't guarantee it, but if my lazy family members will do some posting in the next few days, we could have some fun news for you all.

On the climate change front, I rode my bike to work 4 times this week and 3 times last week. That's 182 miles I didn't drive and fill your lungs with exhaust. You're welcome. You'd think Al Gore would send me a medal or something.

Don't Like The Weather? Blame Me

Yes, that's right, it's my fault. Snowstorms? My fault. Wind? That's me. Icky drizzle? Me again. Thunderstorms this afternoon? Let's wait and see, but you'll know why. Yesterday on my bike, I fought through the wind, with gusts up to 26 mph, both to and from work. This morning it was a miserable drizzle, plus wind. Like I said before, I don't think God likes me and is trying to annoy me with the weather. I suppose there is some unconfessed sin in my life that is the cause of all this, but I'm too lazy to do an "inventory" to figure it out. Also, it would take too long. I'm waiting for some blanket amnesty to clear this all up, but for now you'll just have to bear with me.

Not everything is bad though. At work we get deliveries from FedEx, my former employer, fairly frequently. The last two times our delivery courier, Ron, has stopped in he's had a manager with him on a check-ride. They are grading him on his "Best Practices," the standard routine that some pointy-headed engineers have deemed must be followed at each stop. Lock your truck. Use the grab bar entering and exiting the vehicle. Carry the keyring on your pinky finger so you don't have to dig for it. Shoe your tracker in the DADS unit while getting into your seat. Grab your seatbelt while simultaneously putting the keys in the ignition and starting the truck. There's so much more, not even connected to driving. Demerits for not following set routine. I knew plenty of couriers who would smoke their routes every day without these helpful suggestions. But rules are rules. FedEx always had that big brother mentality, your manager could look at your route trace and start grilling you about why you took too long at any one stop. How about chatting up the customers?

My experience there wasn't all bad. I loved the people I worked with. Our station was such a mishmash of races, political views, ages, sexual orientations, all working together to get the job done. I remember one summer day I was in a downtown elevator drenched in sweat after humping some stupid delivery to the customer (on time). A woman got in the elevator, took one look at me and asked, "Do you like your job?" I told her I could do without the stress, but I really, really liked the people I worked with. She got this wistful look and said, "That's so nice." It's all moot now. In their infinite wisdom, the bean counters and engineers have concluded that MICA is redundant and they will be closing the best damn station in the system come September.

Fast-forward to today. Now I sit at a desk at the lowest stress job I've ever had, except maybe for the bookstore. My worries here? Telling Jon we need to quit buying junk and selling the stuff we have. I also get to drink coffee all day long. But I wouldn't trade my FedEx days for nuthin.
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And Now A Word From Our Sponsor

If anyone among you living in the lower 48 states needs a tire for your car, get thee to Venburg Tire on highway 61 in Maplewood. I'm serious. I brought in the tire that has been flat twice now thinking it was ruined, but Paul at Venburg looked at it and said that it might be able to be fixed, but he wouldn't know until they had a look on the inside. Sure enough, when I called later in the day, he said they had reinforced the first patch job and fixed another hole. Total cost $13. This is the same outfit I brought the car to a few years ago because of a vibrating sound coming from the front wheels. I was thinking it was old worn out tires, and I told Paul I thought I needed at new set. He looked at them, felt around, stood up and said, "No you don't." He just made a lifelong customer. What I needed was front bearings. I've gone there with crappy cars saying I need tires that are appropriate for this piece of junk, and they never tried to sell me up on something I didn't need. Why didn't I go there in the first place with my flat tire? They moved. At first, when I couldn't find them, I thought they might have gone out of business. "What a stinkin' shame," I thought to myself, "The last honest business in America bit the dust." (Except for Northern Test Equipment of course) Fortunately for me, and for you, they moved across highway 61 to brand new shiny digs, except for the big 80's vintage console t.v. in the waiting area. They brought that over from the old shop. This new place is a fitting reward for doing right by their customers. Now if I wake up tomorrow morning and the tire is flat again, you can forget everything I just said.

The Other (Younger) Half's brother Kent (Improved - now with hair!) stopped by from China this evening. It's always fun to have either of her brothers and their families come and visit. Lots of laughs. Sadly, he left the rest of his family in Shanghai this time. We'll catch up with them when they are all back this summer. KyKy is lucky enough to be leaving on Saturday to go stay with them for two weeks. That's part of the reason Kent is back in town - he'll be escorting her back there. I don't know what that says about me, Kent comes all the way back from China to get KyKy safely to her destination. I, on the other hand, cannot be pulled away from Maplewood to be with her on a Metro Transit bus ride. In any case, make sure you bug KyKy about blogging her trip, right here on Whaddup With Us, your first source for news of the Stocking family.

An Uneventful Weekend

Friday evening the girls were out late with The Evil Grandmother and Dreadful Man (The Other [Younger] Half's parents, and they came up with those names themselves I'll have you know). Saturday morning we all went our separate ways. KyKy and The Madster went with their church youth group to volunteer at Sharing and Caring Hands, a shelter/transitional housing organization on the outskirts of downtown. 'Nika went with The Other (Younger) Half to her massage parlour, er, studio, whatever. I went biking with the TCBC. We all met up again around noon at which point KyKy left to go hang out with one of her school chums. I picked her up about at about 3:30 and then we all piled into the crapmobile to go up to Jon, Clary and the kids' place for a little get together. We had to cut that short, due to the late evening the girls had on Friday. This was not a popular decision, but a necessary one. We'll save exhaustion for this summer. Today, I got up to do another TCBC ride and the female contingent (except for the one dog - Stupid) chilled out at home because, despite our best efforts as parents to get them in bed on time the night before, there were still tired, crabby children in the house. I went to church in the afternoon. In a rather morbid coincidence, I took the #5 and #10 busses to get there. A week and a half ago there was a shooting on the #5 and last week on the #10 a fight resulted in a guy getting pushed off the bus, hitting his head on the pavement, and dying from those injuries. There was nothing as dramatic tonight, although I took the #4 home and there was a poor soul who was drunk after downing a half a bottle of Listerene. Actually it was the cheap Target brand equivalent. Even the chronic alcoholics are thrifty in this town I guess. The lowlight of the weekend was discovering the tire on the Taurus is flat again, after it was supposedly fixed. I guess it's time to stick a crowbar in my wallet and buy another tire for the blasted car. It makes me angry thinking about all the bike swag I could buy with this money being wasted on this vehicle. Sigh.

I Didn't Ride Today

It was 21 degrees outside this morning. We got a little bit of snow and there were ice patches on the roads. Plus I think God doesn't like me sometimes. I swear every time I commute the wind changes to blow into my face. Yesterday afternoon on my homeward trek it was a 10-15 mph out of the south, and I work north and west from where we live. In the morning it was 5-10 mph out of the north. See the pattern? On top of all that, and my legs were tired after 140 miles of riding in 6 days. I tried to get some sympathy from The Other (Younger) Half, and she told me that everyone knows that after a two week layoff, one shouldn't ride 5 out of 6 days. There needs to be some recovery time. "But I'm special," I protested. "Yes, you are special," was her reply. I think the specialness I was speaking of was not the same specialness that was on her mind. And not in a good way. She used to supervise group homes for the developmentally disabled.

Life...

Well, life so far has been pretty quiet here in the 'hood. I rode the city bus the first time without my parents and that was tons of fun. I am looking forward to riding it again. It is nice to know that I have some way to get around independently. The only problem now is, after riding the bus once, I want to ride it everywhere by myself. But being undereducated as I am, and knowing practically nothing about riding a bus, I would probably lose myself within minutes. Hopefully I will be able to ride the city bus to high school now. Since I am going to Southwest I will have to provide my own transportation, so I will end up biking or riding the city bus. I have always wanted to ride my bike to school so I am looking forward to the fall.

Speaking of high school, on Tuesday night everyone went to Southest for registration. We had some quality family time in the hot stuffy gym. We all felt very left out as everyone around us was waving at friends they knew from thier neighborhoods. But since we come from the 'hood, we knew no one. So to make it look like we knew people we waved our hands frantically at the bleachers on the other side of the gym. Just kidding we are not that pathetic. I did see a few friends from school though. It is nice to know that I will not be the only one from Emerson going to Southwest. I now have some idea of how rigorous this program will be. As I walked in to get my registration form, they handed me a book on how to study in the IB program. Gulp!

To anyone who wants to hear about Emereson, I have some interesting news. First, each kid in our Spanish class has to write a 10 chapter book in Spanish, somewhat like the Magic Tree House books are set up. Does anyone have any good book ideas? Secondly, some of the Emerson student council representatives went to the City Wide meeting today. For those of you who don't know what City Wide is, it is a meeting of all the city's student councils coming together and talking about how we can influence our school community as leaders. Well, we had to create a board showing all of the community projects we have done so far this year. Emerson won first place for the second year in a row! Some of the projects we have accomplished so far are; raising money to send two girls this year to Washington DC for a leadership conference, food drive (2000 items) for St. Mary's shelter, a coat drive (400 items) to St. Mary's, working with kindergartners to read in Spanish, sent Christmas baskets to homeless children, we will be sending Mother's Day baskets to the mothers of those children, we got student picture ID's in place for the middle school students, we want to work with the Heiffer project, and we want to send some money to Sudan (probably women and children support), and lastly we want to organize a park clean-up again at Loring park (the park a block away from school). The final news is that Bill Green, the superintendent of the Minneapolis public schools, is coming to talk to Emerson tonight about his vision for Minneapolis public schools. I am going with a friend because I have some concerns that I want to look in to . When I get home I will tell you if anything interesting has happened.

Go Lakers

No, not that stupid basketball team that resides in a locale that has no lakes. I'm talking about the Minneapolis Southwest High School Lakers. Last night we took KyKy over to the school to get her registered for her freshman classes in the International Baccelaureate program. Hundreds of people were in the 1940's era gym, that because it's a 1940's era gym, felt like it was about 80 degrees. KyKy has her schedule filled out and there are two things I'm personally excited about for her. Since she's been in a Spanish Immersion school, she gets to start out in level 3 Spanish. She also signed up for orchestra, which is totally cool. She's been taking viola lessons for years now and is getting pretty good. I can't wait to see how being a part of a bigger group will expand her horizons. This whole program is pretty impressive. There are kids from 30 different middle schools in this freshman class. To add to our fun last night, the Taurus got a flat on the way to the school. Blasted cars. It's going to sit in the garage for a couple of days cuz I'm riding to work. In a nice gesture, no less than two fine citizens of Minneapolis flagged me down to warn me of the flat - one even ran out of her car at a stop light to give me a heads up.

In related school note, 'Nika's Ella Fizgerald history board was deemed good enough to be displayed prominently in the hallway by the school office. Better Ella than Eddie Murphy.

So This Guy Wakes Up At 2 A.M.......

And what does he do? He blogs of course. Never mind the time stamp at the bottom of the post, it's now 2:30, and I'm having one of my periodic insomnia attacks. There's so much to worry about - this endless war, Jon possibly blowing up a $30,000 instrument right before I left work yesterday, The Other (Younger) Half miserable with her mucus filled head. . . . .Oh who am I kidding, it's probably the cavity. The streak is over. I'll survive I guess. I'm just going to have to put my head down and power through this crisis, although that $3500 Pegoretti stainless steel bike frame with the Jackson Pollack-like paint job could be the balm that soothes this troubled soul. But I can't do that. People might get the impression that I'm selfish if I buy that while 'Nika goes without orthodontia and ends up with teeth growing out of the side of her head. Ok, here's a confession. I'm the most selfish person I know, so I'd come up with some stupid rationalization and buy the thing. Now there's something to keep you awake at night. Oh well. Chin up, muster on old boy. I'll just fill my head with all the things I'm grateful for in my life even if it doesn't include that Pegoretti frame. Stiff upper lip and all.

Oh The Humanity!

I have a cavity. This is the third one I've ever had in my life. I think the last one I had filled was probably 28 years ago. I haven't been to the dentist in 3 years, and the time before that was 12 years, and before that it was high school. Oh well, it was a pretty good run. But I'm not the only one with problems. In one month our dentist recommends that 4 out of 5 Stockings get teeth filled. Also, Dr K. wants me to come back in 3 months for another cleaning. She said something about the ph in my mouth not creating cavities but producing calculus. Funny, when I was in school my brain never produced any calculus, why should my mouth start now? (Insert rimshot) Thank-you, thank-you and please no comments about cavities in my brain.

Make sure you ask The Other (Younger) Half why her next appointment is going to take an hour and mine will only take a half hour.

Dentist!

We have a group dental appointment today on Monday, our favorite day of the week. Lotso running around to make the appointments because KyKy still has babysitting and viola. I love Mondays. I can't wait to hear that 'Nika will need braces just like her sisters - that orthodontist needs to make her boat payments ya know. Not until we get on a better dental plan or win the lottery, honey. We need to get a bigger family discount. The Other (Younger) Half is pulling up gimpy with the old sinus infection, sore throat combo that has been visiting our family all winter. Except me! I guess isolating myself in a hermetically sealed room and not picking up anything without a kleenex in my hand to protect me is really paying off. Hat tip to Howard Hughes for those healthy living choices.

Update: Daughter Not Shot On Bus

Finally, I got out on my bike today. 28 miles with the nerds from the TCBC. It's been 2 weeks because of the weather and my sore back. It was very, very nice. Popped up into the 40's today, and it will be even warmer tomorrow.

KyKy made it home yesterday without incident. The only reason I bring this up is that after yesterday's post, I sat down at lunch to read the paper and I saw on the front page of the B section that someone had been shot on a bus the night before. Great. It happend on the notorious #5 bus which runs from Brookdale to Mall of America and passes 2 blocks from our house on Chicago Ave. I've taken it a bunch of times at 1 in the morning when I worked at the hospital. One rollicking good time. It really didn't concern me all that much, but I was afraid that everyone else who knew I was sending my daughter home on Metro Transit would freak out. As it turns out KyKy took the bus (#18 and #21) home with one of her friends and they were joined for the ride by a 7th grader who is also on student council. No problems whatsoever. When I talked to her about taking the bus, she said she had been looking forward to it. Yessssssss.

Ahhhh Friday

The girls and I had a very late night last night. We went to see the Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company's production of The Mikado. Extremely well done and very entertaining. I only recognized one song from the Simpsons though. Too bad they didn't do Pirates of Penzance, which was featured on a whole episode once. It would have made it even more entertaining. It's a good thing that we went on a Thursday night since we didn't get home until 11:15 or so. The girls will have to limp through the day at school I guess.

Next time you see KyKy, ask about her big bus adventure. President KyKy has to lead a student council meeting today after school, and there is no one who is able to pick her up afterwards. I suppose I could leave work early to get her, or she might be able to catch a ride with a friend, but this is more interesting. The girls and I have taken MetroTransit to get around on occasion, but this would be the first solo ride for KyKy. I wouldn't go as far as to say this is a nudging her out of the nest moment, but I'd really like to see her do it for a few reasons. First, she'll experience that feeling of independence that comes with mobility. Second, she'll hopefully build a habit of getting around on her own without mumsy and daddums having to drive her everywhere. (Related to that, she ain't getting a car from us.) Third, we live in the city fer cryin out loud. There are a lot of places that we can get to easily by bus, bike or foot. I know too many people who drive everywhere. I'm trying to get out of the habit myself, and I'd like to teach the girls the same thing. I left her this morning with a map and instructions. Let's see if she goes for it.

Get this......

You are going to die dad(old man)! If he thinks we smell bad, you should be around when he cuts the cheese! The windows literally fog up, and he's the president of the " Fart it loud, fart it proud" club. And he is deffintely is proud of it! The worst part of it is that it lingers in your nostrils for about forever, ( that is until 'Nika brings the "Febreez" out) So, in short my dad is a smelly liar, and that is all I have to say.

P.S.(And that they smell real bad.)

2 Down 1 To Go

Two school projects are finished. KyKy finished her history fair project on Vincent Van Gogh at 1 this morning. It's super-keen looking. The fold out poster board background was painted like an impressionist painting. Tonight 'Nika finished her project on Ella Fitzgerald for Black History Month. Yeah we all know it was last month, don't ask me why it's due tomorrow. She originally was going to do it on Eddie Murphy. Meh. I like Ella much better, and Billie Holiday better than Ella. Billie's life would be a bit too depressing for a 4th grader I think.
That leaves The Other (Younger) Half's project. The big push this term is community nursing. I'm not even sure what she is doing for her project, although I've heard her mumbling something about fixing this avian flu thing once and for all. Never one to think small.

Agree Or Disagree. Has The Muse Descended?

It occured to me tonight that my oldest, well all of my daughters really, will have a distinct advantage over some of their peers when it comes to finding a husband if they choose to marry. What could this be, given that they already have brains, talent, good looks, senses of humor and great personalities? Flatulence. All three are members of the "Fart it Loud Fart it Proud" brigade. At least they are when they are at home. I know I was duly impressed by The Other (Younger) Half's abilities when we were dating, and she had guys proposing to her left and right. I suppose the downside would be that it might attract more of the frat-boy contingent, which is one type of beau I would definitely disapprove. Thankfully, up to this point they've avoided the whole "boyfriend" or "going steady" scene. Maybe they need to fart more at school.

Waiting For The Muse

Have had a couple of crappy days. When I try and post something, it come out as a cranky, whiny rant. Can't have that. No one is interested.

Taking deep cleansing breaths.

Thinking calm blue ocean.

You Would Think After 43 Years......

I grew up with 3 sister. I have 3 daughters. I've been around chicks all my life. So why don't days like today make any sense to me? A little history: at this point in our family's life, I'm the only one who is not in school, as opposed to 10 years ago when I was the only one in school. Today, I was only one in the family who was not openly weeping at some point in the day. The common factor, aside from gender, is school. Everyone has projects, papers, take-home tests. Everyone was despondent to the point of tears. Not me! I was happy all day! Here's what I can't figure out. I've spent more time in school than anyone in this family, and I don't remember crying once, even when profs would tell me that my work was the stinkiest piece of crap they had ever had the displeasure of reading. Made their nose hairs burn. I always believed that education was a good in and of itself. After observing the trials the rest of my family is going through, I'm beginning to wonder about that. Any suggestions posted in the comment section woud be greatly appreciated.

In other news: Big shout out to Mom and Dad who celebrated birthdays this weekend. March 3rd and March 4th 19....... Let's just say they were born when Roosevelt was president, and no I am not talking about Teddy Roosevelt.

Stylin'

We all piled into the family crapmobile (2000 Chevy Venture - never buy a GM product) and headed up to the lovely, scenic Brooklyn Park to get our hair cut. This always turns into an ordeal. We have a friend who cuts our hair at her house, and she does a terrific job. During the week she works at a shi shi downtown salon. She has cut our hair for years, and she does a terrific job. The problem? We left at about 1:30. We got home at 9:30. That's 8 long hours to pay a lot of money to get our hair cut, though she does a terrific job. With our insane schedules, it's really, really hard to justify taking 8 hours to do this, even though we look terrific. But I have to say, we are lookin' gooooood. People have commented how I now look like Brad Pitt, except much fatter. The Other (Younger) Half opted for the Brittany Spears doo, complete with tattoo. Why do I even know about that?

Speaking of shi shi, we are all very proud off KyKy getting into the IB program at Minneapolis Southwest High School. It's the toniest H.S. in all of Minneapolis. I went with her to the open houses at Southwest and Minneapolis South. Both are very impressive schools, and KyKy has a lot of friends at South, so the decision was not going to be an easy one for her. After we visited both schools, I sat her down for a heart to heart. I really wanted her to know 1) that I supported her, no matter what her decision would be and 2) what my feelings were about the whole matter because this decision could set the course for the rest of her life. Having a diploma from one of these schools may determine the college she gets into, which in turn could open (or close) doors for her life's work. So this is what I told her. Minneapolis Southwest has much cooler school colors - purple and white, and a waaay cooler nickname - "The Lakers." I don't think I'm being modest when I say that I might have just tipped the scales in Southwest's favor. I was a philosophy major at The U of M, so I think I know what constitutes a convincing argument.

High School

Guess what! You never will. I am...
What's that you said? You think I just got my acceptance letter from the High School of my choice? Well that part may be right but you will never guess the second half. I am...
What did you say? Oh, so you think I got into Southwest do you! Well I didn't, I got into Southwest! So ha, I knew you never would have guessed.
Well that's my big news of the day. I received a some what wet letter congratulating me on being admitted to the Southwest International Baccalaureate program! Fondly know as IB. Before, High School was something happening next fall. But now that I know I will be going to Southwest, everything seems so permanent. I am very excited, I can't wait to tell everyone!

GO LAKERS!

Mr. Plow, That's My Name, That Name Again Is Mr. Plow

Up at 7am for more snowblowing. I think we got more than a foot this time. There are some new and exciting pictures on Picasa. The kids are off from school today, but not because of the snow. They had the day scheduled off already. I find it quite amusing that every time we get a 5 inch snowfall, they ask if school will call a snow day. Now that we've just had two snowfalls that would have closed school, they didn't get to take advantage of them. One fell on a weekend, the other on a release day.

Gotta get up to work now. Rest easy. The world of used test equipment will not collapse.

Storm Update - No Hamburgers!

I made it home from work without much problem. It was slow driving, but no major incidencts. Ok, please beware, I feel a rant comming on. I need to confess that people who drive any type of big 4 wheel drive vehicle in the city piss me off. What makes me angry is that they get stupider once they get behind the wheel of that machine. I want to remind my reader(s) that simply because you can accelerate better with your 4 wheel drive does not mean you can STOP better with your 4 wheel drive. So quit tailgating, speeding, changing lanes quickly and drive like a rational, reasonable human being. I just want to add that I find it interesting that there are so many SUVs on the road here in the city, when in reality, I can think of 3 or maybe 4 times in the last 22 years I've lived here that I would have found having this type of vehicle useful. Note: when advertising these things, the auto makers show them on mountain roads blasting through snowdrifts, or full of mud after tearing up some off-road track, or on some high mountain top. Let me remind you 4 wheel drive owners, we have no mountains, unpaved roads, and the snowplows are out pretty quickly after a big "snow event." You don't need one of these in the city. End of rant.

It's after 11:30 pm and the snow is still coming down. I got home from work early, fired up the snow blower and cleaned up around our house and the neighbor's place. Speaking of the neighbors, say a little prayer for our next door neighbor Sherry's dad. He just had surgery to remove a brain tumor. Although the surgery was successful, the prognosis is not great. It's an aggressive type of cancer.

The blissful evening of enjoying the winter storm snuggled into our humble abode was only half realized. The Madster and 'Nika went sledding with a friend tonight. They got home late. I rented a couple of movies, but there were only 3 of us to enjoy them. We didn't have hamburgers tonight because: 1) Madster and 'Nika were gone over the dinner hour. 2) The Other (Younger) Half was complaining about having to spend 12 hours today taking an online test and couldn't be bothered to cook dinner. Piffle. I came home from work, cleared snow, and after running a couple of errands, spent some tense minutes watching the weather people on the teevee trying not to soil themselves over this winter storm. Talk about stress. I only wish I had a 12 hour test to take.

I called Jon tonight and told him that more likely than not, I would show up for work tomorrow. Somebody has to be there to make the coffee.

I Love Winter

1) I get to go home early today. The snow is coming down pretty hard, so I want to avoid rush hour, and I want to be able to get through the alley and into the garage before it is impassable. The old Taurus just doesn't have the clearance to get throught much snow. This is reason 1467 not to own a stupid SUV - got to get home before I get stuck.

2) Big snowstorms are best enjoyed from the comforts of one's own home. There's nothing like sitting in your comfy chair watching the snow fall with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. Bonus points for snow after dark when you live in the city. The snow is illuminated by the street lights and the background noise of city life is dampened by the snow.

Looks like hamburgers tonight.