Erich just got home from work.
Me: I kind of feel like taking a walk.
Erich: I kind of do too! All in favor say "aye."
Pause as we each look at each other, waiting for the inevitable punchline.
Both in unison: YOU!
Seriously, we crack ourselves up.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Friday Five: 9/18
Fantastic! A sensitive-topic-for-me Friday Five on a day when I'm already feeling down in the dumps. What fun!
1. If there was one thing about your body you could change, what would it be?
I have to pick one? Okay, I wish my body were more fit.
2. Would you rather lose 10lbs or 10 points off your IQ?
Um, duh. Who would pick to lower their IQ? Unless they were truly worried about being underweight, which is a pretty fictional idea to me. Anyway, I would rather lose 10 pounds... or 40.
3. When you look in the mirror, are you happy with what you see?
Sometimes. It usually depends on if it's a full-length mirror or not.
4. Have you ever dyed your hair?
Yes. I'm currently going back to my roots.
5. How often do you weigh yourself?
Now that I'm pregnant and outweigh my husband, never. I allow myself to be weighed at the OB's office. In the past, it was far too often, up to 2-3 times a day. Hopefully in my postpartum life I can find balance and go to once a week or so.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Land of Port: Columbia River Gorge, Part 1
Friday morning before Labor Day, Erich and I arose at the ungodly hour of 5:30am to catch our 8:00 flight out of Chicago to Portland, OR. Yes, I'm aware I will have to be up all the time during the night and early morning in just a few months. No need to remind me!
Anyway, because Erich had been up late doing homework, we didn't get a lot of sleep and I worried we wouldn't have a very good day as a result. After a four-hour flight, we landed in Portland and had our rental car by 11am. My desire for a nap soon faded as I took a look at my surroundings. The huge trees and mountainous landscape captivated me, a first-time visitor to the Pacific Northwest.
With nothing much else to do, we embarked upon a scenic drive of the Columbia River Gorge as prescribed by National Geographic Traveler. We stopped first in the town of Troutdale, just outside of Portland, where I, sadly, did not take any pictures. We had lunch at the General Store, a cute little shop with a lunch counter; we sat outside. My lunch was AMAZING! Happiness is a delicious meal eaten outdoors, and this experience definitely qualified. I had salmon chowder (fresh and delicious!) and a salad (freshest of fresh greens, juicy-sweet tomatoes and raw mushrooms; so, so good).
After lunch, it was back on the road to Crown Point, a GORGEous (get it? get it?) and crowded overlook. Crown Point features Vista House, built in 1918:
And for the real scenery:
I was really starting to think I wouldn't mind living in or near Portland. But then I was reminded of the downside to the area when I saw this car:
This guy wanted Hillary AND Obama for president. Ew.
Anyway, because Erich had been up late doing homework, we didn't get a lot of sleep and I worried we wouldn't have a very good day as a result. After a four-hour flight, we landed in Portland and had our rental car by 11am. My desire for a nap soon faded as I took a look at my surroundings. The huge trees and mountainous landscape captivated me, a first-time visitor to the Pacific Northwest.
With nothing much else to do, we embarked upon a scenic drive of the Columbia River Gorge as prescribed by National Geographic Traveler. We stopped first in the town of Troutdale, just outside of Portland, where I, sadly, did not take any pictures. We had lunch at the General Store, a cute little shop with a lunch counter; we sat outside. My lunch was AMAZING! Happiness is a delicious meal eaten outdoors, and this experience definitely qualified. I had salmon chowder (fresh and delicious!) and a salad (freshest of fresh greens, juicy-sweet tomatoes and raw mushrooms; so, so good).
After lunch, it was back on the road to Crown Point, a GORGEous (get it? get it?) and crowded overlook. Crown Point features Vista House, built in 1918:
And for the real scenery:
I was really starting to think I wouldn't mind living in or near Portland. But then I was reminded of the downside to the area when I saw this car:
This guy wanted Hillary AND Obama for president. Ew.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Wegan Wanderings: Crop Dusting
Before Erich and I left for home after our weekend in Wegan, the family heard a loud noise that took us out to the front porch.
Can you see it? Don't worry, it's coming closer.
Panning left; it's making its way back around.
It's a crop-dusting plane! Making its way right over the church.
Can you see it? Don't worry, it's coming closer.
Panning left; it's making its way back around.
It's a crop-dusting plane! Making its way right over the church.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Funny Email Fwd
I know email forwards aren't particularly original or interesting blog material, but I really like this one. And it's my blog and I can do what I want.
This one is a little different... Two Different Versions! Two Different Morals!
OLD VERSION:
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the ant is warm and well-fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!
MODERN VERSION:
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well-fed while others are cold and starving.
CBS, NBC , PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast.
How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.'
Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, 'We shall overcome.' Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.
Nancy Pelosi & John Kerry exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.
Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer.
The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government.
The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it.
The ant has disappeared in the snow.
The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote in 2010.
This one is a little different... Two Different Versions! Two Different Morals!
OLD VERSION:
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the ant is warm and well-fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!
MODERN VERSION:
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well-fed while others are cold and starving.
CBS, NBC , PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast.
How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.'
Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, 'We shall overcome.' Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.
Nancy Pelosi & John Kerry exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.
Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer.
The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government.
The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it.
The ant has disappeared in the snow.
The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote in 2010.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Wegan Wanderings: Obey the Signs
I really want to get to blogging about our recent trip to Portland, but I simply must finish Wegan first.
After we drove through Starve Hollow, we continued on to Seymour, hometown of John Mellencamp, and the largest town in the area. Andrew goes to the Lutheran high school in Seymour, and it's the home of the Walmart, so we went to do a little shopping. All loaded into the family van, FIL drove us past Andrew's school then decided to find an alternate way home through areas they hadn't discovered yet. I always love an adventure full of discovery, so I was all for this plan.
Unfortunately, Jackson county had experienced record rainfall and flooding the week before, so this tampered with the plan. We were northeast and needed to be southwest, and we went westward from the school. We could never get more than a block south before encountering a "Road Closed" sign. Hoping to pass the flood zone, FIL continued west.
As the minutes ticked past and the younger brothers got more and more disgruntled, FIL turned around and headed back east, hoping to take the first available street south in an effort to get back into Seymour and main roads. Each one was closed. Finally, getting fed up, he drove around a sign to try our luck at the puddles. The first attempt took us through manageable puddles until we got to one that looked far too deep. So we gave up and went back north.
The adventure was starting to get a little too long for ALL of our tastes.
We came upon another road with a car coming northward past a Road Closed sign. If he made it through, so might we! We drove over a few puddles: no problem. When we came upon one of indeterminate depth, FIL got out to test the depth. We had come too far to give up now! The water went just above his feet, so he drove through. The van made quite the wake, and we all held our breath, hoping we wouldn't stall out in the middle of the puddle. Oh, did I mention we were almost out of gas?
Success! That is, until we came to the big mama of all puddles. FIL got out to test again, and I finally did the smart thing and pulled out my camera:
Hmm. Almost knee-deep and not quite at the halfway point. No thanks!
We eventually ended up exactly where we started and took the highway bridge over the river and the flooding and took the main route back home. So much for the adventure. But we did get to see a lot of Jackson County farmland, complete with flooding and ruined soybean crops! It became an extremely hilarious joke after a while to point out where the water level had been on the corn. Heh heh.
When the parents came up a few weeks ago to drop Michael off at college, FIL informed us that he had eventually learned that even if we had gotten past all the huge puddles, we would have had to have turned around anyway, since there's only one way over the river: the highway bridge we did indeed end up taking.
What should have been a 30 minute drive took closer to three hours. I was hungry for food and the van was in need of gas, so it was hard to laugh about it at the time. But within a few hours and days we could well appreciate the humor.
After we drove through Starve Hollow, we continued on to Seymour, hometown of John Mellencamp, and the largest town in the area. Andrew goes to the Lutheran high school in Seymour, and it's the home of the Walmart, so we went to do a little shopping. All loaded into the family van, FIL drove us past Andrew's school then decided to find an alternate way home through areas they hadn't discovered yet. I always love an adventure full of discovery, so I was all for this plan.
Unfortunately, Jackson county had experienced record rainfall and flooding the week before, so this tampered with the plan. We were northeast and needed to be southwest, and we went westward from the school. We could never get more than a block south before encountering a "Road Closed" sign. Hoping to pass the flood zone, FIL continued west.
As the minutes ticked past and the younger brothers got more and more disgruntled, FIL turned around and headed back east, hoping to take the first available street south in an effort to get back into Seymour and main roads. Each one was closed. Finally, getting fed up, he drove around a sign to try our luck at the puddles. The first attempt took us through manageable puddles until we got to one that looked far too deep. So we gave up and went back north.
The adventure was starting to get a little too long for ALL of our tastes.
We came upon another road with a car coming northward past a Road Closed sign. If he made it through, so might we! We drove over a few puddles: no problem. When we came upon one of indeterminate depth, FIL got out to test the depth. We had come too far to give up now! The water went just above his feet, so he drove through. The van made quite the wake, and we all held our breath, hoping we wouldn't stall out in the middle of the puddle. Oh, did I mention we were almost out of gas?
Success! That is, until we came to the big mama of all puddles. FIL got out to test again, and I finally did the smart thing and pulled out my camera:
Hmm. Almost knee-deep and not quite at the halfway point. No thanks!
We eventually ended up exactly where we started and took the highway bridge over the river and the flooding and took the main route back home. So much for the adventure. But we did get to see a lot of Jackson County farmland, complete with flooding and ruined soybean crops! It became an extremely hilarious joke after a while to point out where the water level had been on the corn. Heh heh.
When the parents came up a few weeks ago to drop Michael off at college, FIL informed us that he had eventually learned that even if we had gotten past all the huge puddles, we would have had to have turned around anyway, since there's only one way over the river: the highway bridge we did indeed end up taking.
What should have been a 30 minute drive took closer to three hours. I was hungry for food and the van was in need of gas, so it was hard to laugh about it at the time. But within a few hours and days we could well appreciate the humor.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Wegan Wanderings: Starve Hollow
A few weeks ago, Erich and I finally had a chance to travel down to Jackson County, Indiana, where his father has been installed as pastor of a small congregation. It was a beautiful weekend in a beautiful area. We drove up to a state park, Starve Hollow, which affords gorgeous views of the surrounding areas.
Somewhere around here is Wegan, which is basically a spot on the map with a church and a parsonage--the in-laws' new abode.
And here we are standing in front of it. Erich looks great as always, and it's a good face picture for me. But I was 17 weeks pregnant at the time, which makes me look just generically big in my frontal region. Awkward!
Brothers! It's so fun to walk behind the three of them walking in a line. They have the same walk! Brothers are funny like that.
MIL and FIL. I don't think I've ever seen them as happy as they have been in this new location. Can you blame them?As we were standing around, Erich liked something about the way the wind was blowing my unkempt hair, so he wanted to do a little photo shoot:
I'll have to work on my modeling skills... or NOT.
As we drove through the park, this was the typical view off the side of the road. Unfortunately, it was difficult to capture just how steep it really is.
This is a view of Brownstown, the nearest town that's slightly more than a smudge on the map.
And here's a bird.
This is a view of Brownstown, the nearest town that's slightly more than a smudge on the map.
And here's a bird.Friday, August 28, 2009
Duck Parade
Every day around five o'clock, a bunch of ducks walk from the lake across the street to the creek behind our house.
They're totally looking both ways before crossing:
Waddle, waddle.Oh no! A car's coming!
(I apologize for my ungraceful cinematography.)
The rest of them trek onwards.
This was about a week ago. We've had a lot of rain since then, so the lawn has gotten pretty long. I noticed today that the grass is flattened on the ducks' route! Ducks are cute. They're waaaayyyy better to have around than those honking Canada geese. Oh, how I loathe you, Canada geese.
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