7th Arrondissement

Dan & G stayed in the 7th Arrondissement at the Hotel Muguet, a small hotel on a quiet street adjacent to Les Invalides. It was within walking distance to the Eiffel Tower and was close to the Metro, which G quickly mastered.

The Hotel Muguet
Walking distance to the Eiffel Tower
Their Metro stop: Ecole Militaire
Across from the hotel

Parisians

Contrary to the American stereotype of the French as rude and condescending, Dan & G found Parisians to be helpful, friendly and tolerant of their attempts at conversing in the language.

Dan with a Parisienne who good-naturedly answered his "Ou est l'Hotel Muguet?"

Fimmvörðuháls

In this video, you can see how close Dan & G were to the volcano. They did not have a rogue guide who was freelancing -- there were at least 20 jeeps at the volcano while they were there. Believe it or not, the Icelandic government was allowing this -- the police checked the guide's papers before they left the road for the glacier field. Although Dan & G called me from the glacier, needless to say I am glad I did not understand at the time what that meant! If it had erupted while they were there, if the lava didn't kill them, the flood from the melting glacier would have ...

Nostalgia

I don't have any pictures from my trip, but here's a photo from the past that my cousin Rick sent to my dad while I was visiting. That poncho I'm stylin' was hand-knit for me in Girl Scout colors by my grandmother Victoria, and was my pride and joy!

My dad with my cousins Rick & Marty, my brother Michael, me and my cousin Betsy, circa 1970

G Versus the Volcano

There are lots of pictures from Dan & G's trip to Paris and Iceland, but here are the most spectacular ... the intense, grueling ride across rocky terrain, glacier and lava field is one that they won't soon forget! (Article on volcano tourism here)

G at the Fimmvörðuháls volcano
It was spectacular while they were there

Spring Break

I'm heading out East today and Dan & G leave tomorrow. In 14 years, Dan's been away on business and G's been away to various things, but I've never spent a night apart from both of them at the same time. Happy Easter and Chag Pesach Sameach to all!

Dan & G at State. She had a good tournament, but not the one she was hoping for. Thanks to all you well-wishers!

Happy Birthday!

G had a quiet birthday after her music lesson and second semester school conference. Grandpa made her favorite spaghetti, because it was too cold and windy to grill.
Birthday Girl with Dad and Grandpa

Cheesecake Shot

G made her own birthday "cake" -- mini cheesecakes, which she loves.
Birthday Girl!

State Tournament

Congratulations to everyone on the Forensics team who qualified for State! G will be traveling with the team to Neenah next weekend to compete in the Informative category.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to all March babies, including my daughter and husband!

Eyjafjallajökull

AP photo

It's less than 2 weeks until Dan & G's trip to Paris and Reykjavik. They woke up to the exciting news that a volcano had erupted in Iceland. Volcanoes and geothermal energy are why G wanted to do the side trip to Iceland in the first place. The volcanic activity is a two-edged sword: While seeing an active volcano would be amazing (the area is on their itinerary), they are hoping that it does not prevent their flight from getting into the country. Keep your fingers crossed for them!

Spring!

Yesterday it broke 60 here and was beautiful and clear. It's supposed to continue until the weekend, when we are in for some snow. It is March in Wisconsin ...

Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me

Not much has been happening here, so I thought I'd post this picture of my dad with Paula Poundstone. She was playing The Strand and somehow his Library Friends group was involved with her book signing. He found her to be "hospitable, gracious and funny." (I was going to allude here to certain incidents in her past, but will just let it go ...)

Happy Birthday Dan!

G making Darn Good Chocolate Cake for Dan's ??th

G and the Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday Maike!

Maike turned 11 yesterday. As usual, G made her an Alpo and Milkbone birthday cake.
And as usual, Maike gobbled it down.

Forensics

Forensics season is well under way. G has been doing well with an Informative speech comparing the ship Titanic with its Greek mythological origins. She's also quite happy to be able to see her former Maestra Lindsay, who has been working at the meets.



G with Lindsay and other teammates

Happy Valentine's Day

Easy Living

G using her laptop in her new papasan, with Luna close by

ChWiistmas

We all took turns playing various Wii games. (There's a great picture of Rich, but he would not be happy if I posted it!)

My mom doing Wii Fit!

Hats Off to Hats On

What is Christmas without Holiday Head Gear?

Christmas in PA

We spent Christmas in Pennsylvania with my mom and dad. My cousin Rich came up from the Tidewater area to be with us. We did Chinese and Thai food again on Christmas Day (two years in a row -- guess that makes it a tradition) and generally just hung out.

Matching jammies for Christmas

New designation for Rich & G: "1C1R"

Merry Little Christmas

One of the playlists on my iPod is called "Merry Little Christmas." I am collecting as many covers of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" as I can find, because to me of all of the seasonal songs it has the widest range of interpretation. Dan and G think I am nuts, but Joe helped me out tonight and gave me seven more, bringing my total to 15*. Of course Judy Garland's version is first on the list, with James Taylor's right behind it, because I prefer my Little Christmas melancholy.

*For enquiring minds: Judy Garland, James Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Linda Ronstadt, Carpenters, Amy Grant, Shawn Colvin, Gloria Estefan, Carly Simon, Julianne Hough, Kenny G, Kenny Loggins, Michael Bolton and Neil Diamond. I would love to add Chrissie Hynde's and The Muppets' versions, as well as any of the old crooners like Andy Williams and Perry Como, as well as any really dreadful versions (since I already have a few of those).

Christmas Tree - Phase Two

The tree is up at Grandpa's! It was a little challenging though. Half a string of lights that were toward the top of the tree went out after all of them had been strung on. Dan got them working, but it required a lot of futzing around. The needles on this tree are really sharp, so we had to be really careful as we hung the ornaments. G continued her tradition of wearing the tree skirt as a skirt while decorating. It's a lot shorter now than it used to be!

Christmas Tree - Phase One

Usually G and Grandpa go to a nursery to pick out a tree, but this year we decided to put up one of the trees from here on the farm because we have so many. G, Dan, Joe, Maike and I went out this morning to cut one that G has had her eye on for a few weeks. It was fairly warm out and we had a chain saw, so it was relatively easy. The tree has to thaw out before we can put it up inside.

Snow Dog

Maike loves snow. She's rolls in it and flips it and tries to catch it. Here she is waiting for G to throw a snowball into the air.

Snow Play

Snow Day

10:30 a.m. today

Laptop

We got G a laptop for Christmas, but gave it to her early because of the amount of work she has due between now and Christmas break. We are already finding her all around the house, working (or playing!) away on it.

Cookie Walk

G and I pulled ourselves out of bed this morning to be at the head of the line at the annual cookie walk at a nearby Catholic church. Although it was flurrying, there was no ice on the roads and in the parking lot as in the past two years. The bells were chiming as we got out of our car into the swirling flakes. As G said, it was something you'd expect in a movie. We came home with 5 pounds of cookies -- heavy on the Chocolate Crinkles for G, Peanut Butter Blossoms for D, Russian Tea Cakes for Grandpa and Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies for me.

First Snow

12.03.09 @ 4:30 p.m.

Thriving

There's a small space underneath the exterior phone box where we plant alyssum every year. This year the chickens (before the fox ate them) kept digging the area up, so they didn't do very well. Then it was dry and whatever was left died. However, some time during October, a few plants emerged and now they are thriving. It's pretty amazing, since everything else has just about died off. I'm hoping they make it to December.

In a Fog

7:30 a.m.

Glee

Though my family has suspected it for weeks, today I am coming out as a full-blown *Gleek*! Drove them crazy over the weekend with YouTubing my favorite songs, so I broke down today and did a massive download from iTunes, so I can go back on the down-low with my obsession! (Very un-Kurt of me!)

Shift Change

These sunbeams are known by many names, including Jacob's Ladder and Rays of Buddha, but the technical term for them is "crepuscular rays," because they tend to occur at dawn and dusk. When I was little, I asked my great-grandmother what they were. She told me it was the light created by Angels changing shifts. (Makes total sense if you are Catholic and living in a Pennsylvania steel town.) Whenever I see them in the middle of the day, as I did today, I always wonder what in the world is going on -- like maybe the Day Shift Angels need reinforcements.

Award

It's not too often I post a picture of myself here, but I had a really great moment this past week. Educators at G's school nominated me for a community service award that is sponsored annually by a local business. There was a big shindig at the arts center and each nominee was given his or her moment in the spotlight. Though I didn't win the top award, I was incredibly honored to have been recognized for the activities I have been involved in over the past two years. Thanks THK and AH for putting my name forward!

Chula Vista

Last weekend we took a minibreak and went to the Chula Vista Resort in the Dells. Not as big as the Kalahari, but we liked it and would go back. Kind of struck out at outlet shopping and didn't get too far on Christmas shopping when we stopped in Madison. We did however enjoy lunch at Casa de Lara and walking around State Street.

Happy Halloween

G recently became hooked on NCIS, which is in almost constant rotation on the USA Network. So when she went Trick or Treating with Cha and Mara last night, it's no surprise that she dressed up as NCIS Forensic Specialist Abby Sciuto!