Birthday Pup

Maike turned 10 yesterday. It has been a harsh winter and she is really starting to show her age. As you can tell from her expression from the various pictures on this blog, she is a good dog and a smart one too. When we got her, that was difficult for me to believe. It was obvious early on that she was never going to be "my dog." She and I flunked not one but two puppy kindergarten classes because I could not assert Alphaness. While she still regards much of what I say as optional, she loves my kid with such intensity that all the other stuff stopped mattering to me a long time ago. She is just the best.

G made an Alpo Chop House Prime Rib cake with Milk Bone garnish for Maike

Winter Break

G had Friday off, so we went to the Milwaukee Public Museum to see the Titanic exhibit and IMAX film. On the way into the exhibit, a docent gave each of us a passenger profile that we could check against the survivor list at the end of the tour. G and I pulled women in first class (mine even stayed in one of two grand suites), while Dan got a man in third class. You can probably guess who made it and who didn't. The underwater technology used to bring the artifacts up and make the movie was truly incredible (and no doubt extremely expensive), so the trip was worthwhile just for that. We hadn't been to the rest of the museum in a while, and that was fun too.

Posing because they have to

Ring of Fire, one of G's favorite subjects

Tagged

Dan & G have been going to the indoor rock wall most Sundays. Sometimes Jamie & Becca go too. They all passed their Belaying class this weekend and got their green tags. Now they can climb any of the walls, not just the ones with autobelay. Next step: Trying it outdoors ...

Chili

Dan and I were invited to a Valentine's Day wine & chocolate tasting. While the hosts set up the four flights, we were asked to bring something chocolate-based as well. I decided to go with a savory dish because I figured most other people would bring sweets/desserts. After some Internet research I decided to go with chili, then looked at various recipes. G and Dan helped me put it together. It turned out awesome! You can find the recipe here. Next time we make it I will probably use less brown sugar in the spice mix and leave all of the seeds in the jalapeños.


Chopping in tandem



Ready to go

Happy Valentine's Day

Mud Season

It's not always so beautiful here ...

Toys in the Attic

For the past 10 years, my friend Dawn has periodically, and with great relish, posed the question, "How's that attic coming?" For the first time, I can't wait for her to ask, because thanks to Dan's cousin Graham, it will be DONE! We've been lucky enough to have him while he's home for a few months before he heads back to Alaska. He's done all the fine woodwork that's been unfinished lo these many years -- doors, windows, windowbox, trim. We've had several plans for the room, but at this point it is going to be a Wii/slumber party room for G and her friends to hang out. Yay to Graham for taking this on!



G & Graham and some of his handiwork

Rosy-Fingered Dawn

7:04 a.m.










I haven't posted in a while because there hasn't been much going on. We've had several weeks of subzero/single digit temperatures, so we've been pretty much housebound. G got braces, so she's not letting me photograph her. The Forensics tournament season started, so we are both busy with that. We're still here, just not doing anything interesting.

You Scream

When Life sucks, what's better than homemade ice cream?

Firing the Cuisinart up for the first time

Premier batch

Happy New Year

We're trying to get back into the swing of things after a Christmas break of unprecedented length (two weeks plus a snow day). One way we tried to ease the transition is by trying to spend all the gift cards we got, because several of the stores we got them for have been appearing on "companies that might not make it through 2009" lists. It's been fun splurging on less-than-practical things we might not otherwise have gotten.

Cartographia, a history of maps

Ice cream maker!

Christmas Dinner

We (actually, I) worried about what to do about Christmas dinner. Thankfully, the Chinese place near my dad's was open Christmas Day. We got carryout and took it up to my mom. We had the dining room in her wing all to ourselves. It was a much nicer Christmas than we'd anticipated.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a little bittersweet because Dan, G and I were split up. They went and spent Christmas Eve with my mom; my dad and I went to a gathering that my family and I have been attending for over 30 years. While it was nice to see old friends, especially since it had been seven years since I'd been home at Christmas, it was surprisingly hard to have us all apart. My dad and I did get to see my mom late on Christmas Eve, but Dan & G were long gone and in bed by the time we got home. The one bright spot was that I got my dad to myself for significant portions of the evening.

Christmas in PA

Trim a Tree

Every year for the past 10 years after G gets home from school on the second Friday before Christmas, she and Grandpa go and get a Christmas tree. Some years it takes longer to find one than others. This year G found a Balsam fir she liked fairly quickly, which was a good thing since the temperature was in the single digits. They started to put it up on Sunday (another tradition), but G was not feeling well, so the decorating part was postponed until today (a snow day). As always, it is the nicest tree yet!

Tree trimming

Finishing touches (you can see the Winter Storm Coverage in the background)

Tree 2008

No Cards Again This Year

People ask about our photo Christmas cards ... no, you haven't been stricken from our list, we just haven't done one in several years. We did them until they weren't fun any more (2003). Now I try to send a "real" email out to people around the holidays, but I don't know that I will even get around to that this year. Here are a few from Christmases Past.

2000: My favorite because G was so excited to dress up like presents since it was her idea

1998: Our best concept, perfectly executed by our 2-year-old

1989: My favorite pre-G card because my aptly named Argos sat like a good puppy through the whole shoot

1993: Card on the left was mailed to the bulk of the list; card on the right was sent to a few who would appreciate the humor

Merrily on High

The 7th & 8th grade Band, Choir & Orchestra Christmas concert was last night. The happy surprise was it was entertaining and just a tad over an hour. The 7th grade trombone section rocked (especially on "A Cambridge Carol")!

Long Night Moon

4:08 p.m. on 12.11

Update:

6:52 a.m. on 12.12

Cookie Walk

For the past 10 years, on the first Saturday in December, G and I have headed out at 7:45 a.m. to a local Catholic church so we can be some of the first people to go through their annual Cookie Walk. We've braved bad weather in the past, but this year the roads were still covered with two to four inches of snow we got over night. (Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to drive, let alone in snow, so this gives you an idea of how dedicated we are to this tradition!) There are tables and tables of every kind of cookie you can think of -- they give you a container and a plastic glove and let you pick what you want. G's favorite are the Chocolate Crinkles and mine are the Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies, and we get multiple versions of them. We came back with just under six pounds of cookies. We're taking bets on how long you think these will last!

Food Drive

From Thursday's local paper

Parting Shot

The last thing we do before we leave my folks' house is take a picture of them with G. This one from Thanksgiving break is a little more poignant, because right after we left my mom fell again and is back in rehab (duration unknown). (Thanks to all for your calls and emails of support.)