Perfect Valentine's Gift

I can't believe it! The blizzard gave me an opportunity to find the perfect Valentine's gift for your dad. I made him a delicious supper on Valentine's eve, made a homemade devil's food cake with cream cheese frosting, and helping him shovel out the driveway. He seemed really happy about it all, so even if we don't do anything else today (the roads are all closed), we had a really nice time together.

You should see Rusty and Meridth's car. It is parked where we always park the extra car, on the side of the driveway, out of the way of the garage door, and the right side and front are literally buried by a huge snow drift. The snow on the engine hood is taller than the roof of the car. I'll have dad bring his camera home from GM so we can get a picture for you. It is still quite windy today, so clean up effort are hampered by continuous drifting. I could really get used to this no-school stuff.

Hope to hear from you all!
Claudia

Remember Nicholas Graham?

It's the weirdest thing. When I got home from school yesterday there was a Christmas card in the mail from Nicholas Graham. The way it was addressed looked as if he had started to address it, but then finished it later because he didn't have our address. It turns out he had written the card at Christmas, but then sent it when he got home from his mission on February first. Yes, you heard me right--a mission. Inside the card was a picture of him, and one of those form letters that he would have sent to 150 people.

Anyway, in the form letter he was talking about his mission, and it was the strangest thing--he started out serving his mission in the Boise, Idaho area, but finished his mission in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida mission. As I recall, the same kind of thing happened to his brother--he started out in South Korea, and ended up in Texas. Weird! It kind of makes you wonder what happened. Isn't he your age Betsey?

So, just in case anyone wants to contact him, his email is nickguitarguy1@gmail.com and his home address is 8174 North Road in Severn, Maryland 21144. He has told me on several occasions that he has wonderful memories of spending time in our home, and really loves the way all our family has always accepted him, and treated him kindly.

On another unrelated note, I will briefly mention this because I know in his modesty Karl would never say anything, but Ed and I just received a letter inviting us to honor Karl's academic prowess at the Founder's Day celebration and reception on March 24th. Way to go, Karl!

All my love,
Claudia

I COOL TOO!!!

This was about two years ago. I had my hair pretty long this year, but cut it for some interview stuff. I wish i wouldn't have, but emily thinks I'm handsome :)

So Karl...

What book did you decide to read for your class? Inquiring minds want to know!
betsey

Ya mean ya wan' me ta take pichas?!?

Hair's gettin' long.

-Rusty

Ambition Fatigue

I donno if I'm the only one who gets this way, but I'm getting a bit sick of trying so damn hard to achieve stuff. It's like everyday I've got to do the whole academic fencing thing in my classes, puting forth the herculean effort to always stay ahead of the curve, to always be able to back up my points with half a dozen examples, both historic and contemporary, all for what? So I can eventually be too embarassed to tell people I work for the FBI? Why am I trying to do something that is (by my perspective) so ambitious? Especially when I recognize that I don't even like the competitive aspects; that I could be happy with a simpler profession.

And I would be (will be?) embarassed to tell people I'm a Special Agent for the "Bureau." I already get a little sheepish telling people that it's my goal. Hell, I'll probably get the business from you guys for mentioning it. Anyway, it's ambition fatigue. I just get sick of trying so hard. Anybody else get this way? How do you guys deal with it?

On a semi-related note, I've been mulling over the fact that my ten-year high school reunion is in only two years. In a lot of ways (and trust me, I wouldn't get caught dead telling this to anybody but you guys. Feel lucky.) I'm that "nerd-made-good." But I really would rather just be a nerd. Margie, Ryan, did you guys go to your ten-years? Are you planning to Betsey? I just feel like I don't know how to relate to "Decatur-ness" anymore. I haven't been back all that much. Which reminds me of one last whiner-point I wanted to make. Ready for a pity-party? I was looking at the early-earlier posts and saw the pictures of Thanksgiving and realized that I hadn't been home for Thanksgiving since Clinton was in the Whitehouse. It was Thanksgiving 1998 in fact. I miss you guys, and while my rambling lifestyle has had it's advantages, there are drawbacks too, and I sometimes wonder why I bother.

Anyway, the picture above is by a contemporary of Gustav Klimt called Egon Schiele. (Turns out Klimt refused to trade artwork with the guy cos he thought Schiele was far better.) He was Austrian, turn of the last century, hung aroud Vienna. The guy draws hands like a champ, and I skillfully chose a painting that fails to demonstrate this. Rats. I love the angles that he uses to portray the human form. It's brutal in a way. Speaking of brutal, that's a good word to describe Schiele's nudes. They're almost pornographic and can only be recommended with caution and prudence. It was the high days of Freud, so that's the school. Y'know, reacting to the stuffy Victorians. Klimt was the same way. Anyway, I love this particular painting and I've got some more I might post later. The second painting is quite uncharacteristic of its creator's style. John Singer Sargeant is widely regarded as the greatest American portraitist ever (Meridth says that Burt Silverman would give him a run for his money, but I like Sargeant.) He got paid a lot of money in the early 1900's to make ugly old people look good and he certainly didn't love doing it, but he really produced some fantastic portraits. This picture however is a personal favorate because it portrays an Austrian cemetary in Tyrol, not all that far from where I spent half my mission. The graveyards do look remarkably like this with gnarled crosses and little shrines. Catholicism may have a lot of dirty priests, but I'll be damned if they weren't responsible for some of the greatest art ever, even if, as in this case, indirectly. Things to notice here, or stuff I loved: the color palette, the impressionistic background, the textures and angles, it's almost proto-abstract. Art is cool. Believe it.

Help me!

I have to pick a book from this list to review for my stress management class. What should i pick?

Self-Help Stress Management

_ 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women by Gail McMeekin
_ The Art of Happiness by Dalai Lama
_ The Art of Serenity: The Path to a Joyful Life in the Best and Worst of Times by T. B. Karasu
_ The Book for People Who Do Too Much by B.T. Greive
_ Breakaway Laughter: how to lighten up—despite it all by N. Crockett
_ Breakout Creativity by Rick Crandall
_ Calming Your Anxious Mind by J. Brantley
_ Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness by J. Kabat-Zinn
_ The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Managing Stress by Jeff Davidson
_ Cool Cats, Calm Kids: Relaxation and Stress Management for Young People by Williams
_ The Cortisol Connection: Why Stress Makes you Fat and Ruins Your Health by S. Talbott
_ Destructive Emotions by Dalai Lama
_ Eliminating Stress, Finding Inner Peace by B. Weiss
_ The End of Stress as We Know It by B. McEwen
_ Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway by S. Jeffers
_ Fighting Invisible Tigers: A Stress Management Guide for Teens by E. Hipp
_ From Panic to Power by L. Bassett
_ Full Catastrophe Living by Kabat-Zinn
_ Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen
_ The Heart of the Buddha’s Teachings: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation
_ by Thich Nhat Hanh
_ How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by D. Carnegie
_ I’d Kill for a Cookie: A Simple Six-Week Plan to Conquer Stress Eating by Susan Mitchell
_ Making Stress Work for You by H. Graham
_ Man and His Symbols by Jung
_ Man’s Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy by V. Frankl
_ Mind Your Heart by A. Casey
_ The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hahn
_ More Hot Stuff to Help Kids Chill Out: The Anger and Stress Management Book by J. Wilde
_ Nasty People: How to Stop Being Hurt by Them Without Becoming One of Them by J. Carter
_ Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh
_ Perfectionism: What’s Bad About Being Too Good? By M. Adderholdt-Elliott
_ Relaxation Response by H. Benson
_ The Simple Living Guide by J. Luhrs
_ Stress Less by D. Colbert
_ Stressed-Out Girls: Help them Thrive in the Age of Pressure by Cohen-Sandler
_ Stress Management: A Comprehensive Guide to Wellness by E. Charlesworth
_ Stress Management: Psychological Foundations by S. Auerbach
_ Stress Management for Dummies by A. Elkin
_ Time Management from the Inside Out by J. Morgenstern
_ A Whack on the Side of the Head by Roger von Oech
_ Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers by R. Sapolsky
_ The Wheel of Life by Kubler-Ross
_ The Worry Cure by R. Leahy
_ You Want Me to Work with Who? By J. Jansen
_ Your Erroneous Zones by Wayne Dyer

Resilient Personalities

_ Dreams from my Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by B. Obama
_ It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Live by L. Armstrong
_ My Path to Tibet by S. Tenberken
_ NOW: No Opportunity Wasted by Phil Keoghan
_ Night by Elie Weisel

Sports Psychology

_ Mental Edge: Maximize Your Sports Potential with the Mind-Body Connection by K. Baum
_ Golf is Not a Game of Perfect by Bob Rotella
_ In Pursuit of Excellence: How to Win in Sport and Life through Mental Training by Terry Orlick
_ Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior by Phil Jackson
_ The Sport Psychology Handbook: A Complete Guide to Today's Best Mental Training Techniques by Shane Murphy
_ Mental Training for Peak Performance by Steven Ungerleider
_ Body Mind Mastery: Creating Success in Sport and Life by Dan Millman

Who?!?!

So I figured you'd all get a kick out of this shot of Brandon. He was messing with my Photobooth and snapped this crazy shot of himself. It doesn't even look like him. But I guess that's the point.

It's been a while since I've logged an entry but you are all keeping me entertained and I'm appreciative. We were in Erie this past weekend for Papa's memorial service. It was a nice service. They opened the pulpit just like testimony meeting and people got up and shared memories. Papa had been an algebra teacher and football coach in the small community of Harborcreek for 50 years. He was a strict teacher that instilled a healthy-level of fear in his student yet also seemed to garner a generous amount of respect from the community. He even had Brandon's mom in class in the early sixties and I think that might have been how Nana and Papa originally met. Nana was a widow with three daughters all in early high school. Brandon's real grandfather passed away suddenly at 36 and Nana was left to take care of the girls. She did a great job but I'm sure was grateful for the companionship that Papa provided for nearly 40 years. He'll be missed.

Anyway. The service made me think about impact. The church was full and I guess you could say at 80 year's old he had made an impact in other's lives. I wonder who will be at my funeral? I wonder what they'll say? "Boy did she manage that Ceilings Project gracefully." "That ad strategy and plan was top-notch." Probably. But would it be true? Or better yet does it mean any thing? Who really cares? Not looking for any real answers, just thinking out loud.

Alright. I need to run. Lilly's home and needs to be taken out. I need to head to the gym and then hopefully do a little work. A fun little Wednesday night, you could say.

I love and miss you all
-M

sorry, another car post

i just wanted to throw another one up there. i heard that pontiac was going to rebadge this new holden commodore as the new pontiac G8. this car is the bee's knees. i think i'm more excited about this car than the astra, but i'm not sure. i'd bet this car will be in the low 30k price range, and i'll be saving my pennies now. hot diggity dog. the is one handsome car, but what makes me more excited is the little clip they had on abc showing a glimpse of the front end of this car badged as the pontiac and it was even more impressive. link to said video can be seen here click me . way way excited. ok, thats it. i just had to tell someone. i've already showed all the guys at work.

oh, on a side note. ashley has been in a cheerleading camp all week. we are very excited for her performance during the half-time of Ogden High's next basketball game. today casey and ashley went with her to practice and chloe had a blast playing around with the girls. unfortunately, ashley has finally come to the age where she is embarrased to have her parents around. she was giving casey the stink eye the whole time. teenagers, you give them an inch, they swim all over you. (name that quote). ok have fun all

-ryan

Castro, the crashmobile, and a yearning desire

Seeing Ryan's car post got me to thinking about cars... my first car specifically, a 1988 GMC Sierra 1500 (mine in the same sense that the tracker was marjorie's). Beautiful red paint, the way it would die when you tried to punch it through an intersection, leaving you somewhere in the middle with cars barreling down on you, the fact that it didn't start in temperatures under 20. Even with all this i still love that truck and would love to have it back. I looked for a picture of one on the internet typing "gmc sierra 1988 red 1500" into a google image search and down the line I got a picture of Fidel Castro. Maybe Fidel has the same longing for a 1988 GMC Sierra like I do. Maybe he's so lucky to have one himself. Maybe he's got mine!! All these thoughts about old cars reminded me of the crashmobile and her better looking younger sister the white wagon. How about the Ford Crown Victoria. Why did you ever sell that ryan? Man dad has had a lot of cars.

dude. this car is bad to the bone. i just found out that saturn is rebadging the opel astra. from what i gather it will come with an optional 260 hp turbo 4 cylinder (from the sky/solstice?). mmmmm tasty.

that is all

-ryan

BEARD UPDATE!!!

On impulse I shaved off the beard, keeping a pair of long bushy chops. Meridth is excited to see my gizzard again. It had been awhile. I realize that you might not in fact be excessivly interested about my facial hair growth, but in my delusional world, your daily lives center around my shaving habits. So enjoy the pic of my clean neck-meats!
-Rusty

What are your plans for the V-Day?

Happy Monday everyone! I was just wondering what everyone is planning on doing for their Valentines Day Celebrations (aka Casey's birthday FYI). Does anyone have any surprises for their spouse/significant other? I tried to surprise Richard by getting him a CD of one of his favorite bands (Gypsy Kings), but he arrived home first, got the mail, and Amazon.com had the portion of the invoice where it says what is inside exposed...so Richard knows what I got him. Bummer. Anyway, we are also going to celebrate this Saturday night by going to this nice restaurant called AOC, which is a tapas place. Richard was taken there by a law firm when he was interviewing and really liked it. Then we are going to a movie. Pretty standard. Anyone have an romantic tricks up their sleeves?

Dad is on board.

Just so you know, I am writing this for Dad. I think he still has his spelling phobia. Honestly, when he has to write emails for work, he sits there with his dictionary, because he wants to be sure he has it right.

Anyway, he loves all your comments! He hasn't read everything yet, but he is so happy that you guys are all staying in touch and sharing your experiences. I think this is the greatest gift that children can give their parents--that they all get along and like each other; that they care about each other and want to be a part of their lives and families.

It is a frigid Saturday afternoon, pre-Superbowl. Dad is working on his office above the pool (finally). Sometimes I worry about his crazy ideas, but then, when he gets done, it all turns out so cool. I know that you will all appreciate his office when next you visit Indiana. Who knows when that will be? I sure miss you all.

As per usual, I am sitting in the kitchen grading papers. Only seven more years before I retire. I just signed my letter of intent to return to FWCS for the next school year, so I guess I need to find a better way to interest the students in mathematics. Hey, Margie, that book that you wrote about in Betsey's book club blog sounds like it could be useful in helping me to discover how to motivate my students. I'll have to go back and look for the title.

Speaking of books, I just ordered a book from the NPR bookstore called "This I Believe". It is a compilation of the broadcasts by the same name, and I am going to use them in school for our reading time during homeroom. Am I wrong to believe that seventh graders need a small dose of reality to help them prepare for the future? I have always said, "If you can't be immature when you're twelve, when can you be immature?" How much immaturity should I let them get away with? Anyway, I do love those broadcasts, and want to write one someday--maybe this summer.

Well, I should get back to my grading. Dad says to tell you all he loves you. (What, no sarcastic barbs?) Call anytime. We love hearing from you.

Mom and Dad

You guys heard about these shennanigans yet? It seems a couple of greasy artist-type marketrs advertising for the "Aqua Team Hunger Force" movie placed several lightboards with this na'er-do-well on them a few weeks ago. I thought it was a fairly weak stab at guerrilla marketing, but apparently someone mistook them for an explosive devise and a whole hulabaloo has arisen. Charges have been filed. 9/11 was invoked. Yuck. Terrorism at its silliest. Anyway, read all about it on CNN. (After all, CNN's parent company is behind it all.)