Steph is due anyday!

That is like the biggest news ever!

Hey everyone!

Just seeing if any of us are using this blog anymore.... (crickets) hmmm... Well there is some news to share. Mike and Michelle sold their house and are super happy! My birthday is coming on March 8th. Erin went to Iceland recently. What else...

Tuesday evening dive

Mike and I did a dive (scuba) in Lake Erie off the Holiday! We dove on the wreck known as the "Algeria". It lies just off the shore north of the Brown's Stadium. It's not very deep.....maybe 40 feet....so it was good as a refresher dive for me. We needed flashlights because it gets dark so quickly now and having them made it easier for us to keep track of each other. It was a GREAT dive...a WONDERFUL boat ride...and the city skyline after dark was AWESOME with the full moon above. I hope we get to dive more often next summer.

My mom is in the Great Lakes somewhere

Mama is sailing around in the Great Lakes and I hope she and John are okay and prepared for the rainy weather coming their way. I went to her house and the mailbox had another big ball of moist mail bulging out of it. Let me tell you, Mama and John get an impressive amount of mail. My/her kitties were just fine but needed some brushing. Lump likes to be brushed backwards and forwards, so I did that until he did the bite-and-dash, and then I moved on to Chad. I also gave them a whole can of Fancy Feast out of guilt for them being in the house alone, and then worried as I drove away that maybe they would eat too much of it and barf on a nice carpet. So Mama, if I don't hear from you within the next couple days I'll go over again on Sunday and make sure all the carpets are okay. Also, this may make John happy: I noticed when I was walking out to the car that the sealant you guys put sown on the cuts in the driveway concrete were repelling water quite well. Hee hee.
Anyway, everyone pray to grandma, I think our family's unofficial patron saint (St. Mommy, if you will) that Mama and John are having a fabulous time sailing around our beloved Great Lakes. Love you all!

So my mother

There is an article in the New York Times Magazine that sounds like my mother in 30 years or so. It's about a father who is easily impressed, though that sounds negative. He find excitement in the little things in life. There's a blurb below. Mom is a bit more worldly than this blurb sounds, but it's still funny.

Guys’ Night Out
By JONATHAN GOLDSTEIN
Published: March 11, 2007

... After about five minutes, we came to a Middle Eastern restaurant, which, to be honest, was more of a cafeteria. ...
“What kind of rice is this?” he asked.
“White,” I said.
“I’ll have to ask your mother to buy some.”

Washington DC pics

Vietnam War Memoral.Korean War Memorial.

The Cremation of Sam McGee

I remember reading this in school way back when. Its a great poem by Robert Service. I wanted to put the video right here, but I cant. You can go see it here on YouTube. I thought of you, my dear family, cause of Aunt Jan who likes these cold weather stories. I thought maybe he had lots of cool pictures, but it just starts that way. You don't need any computer special-ness as far as I know.

There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.

Northern Lights

**UPDATE!** I saw them! And they looked JUST like this picture, though it was pitch black behind them. And what I saw the other day was actually pretty cool when I thought about it more. Then last night I went on a tour where they took all of us foreigners outside the city. It was so cold and windy. (I was vaguely reminded of when I go skiing when sometimes I kinda start thinking "maybe I could just watch the skiing from the lodge.") It was really great to see how it would slowly develop, kind of like a nuclear-dust-cloud (eek), and get brighter, then spread, then transfer a little more and fade out. Very cool. Of course, I immediately called mom when I got home.
***

Not that this compares to reproducing, but I got a glimse of the Northern Lights finally. I say glimpse cause it could have easily been mistaken for haze or pollution.

I stole this picture off the internet in particular cause it was that color and that texture. It was not as extensive as this picture though.

I'm going to go on a tour one night this week, hoping to get a better look by leaving the city and its lights.

I'm in Iceland again by the way.

Jaycee Alexis

Baby girl!

Jaycee Alexis was born at 2pm on 12-30-06!
9 pounds 15 ounces
22 inches long

Michelle won't talk to me. For the first two hours after the birth, she would just throw things at me and scream "Whiskey!"

We're having a baby tomarrow!

Michelle's getting induced tomarrow morning at 7am! Send good thoughts and any spare gaurdian angels over to her.

Holy ****!
I'm having another one?!

West Side Cleveland Christmas

I'm posting pics for the family that wasn't here and for those who were so they can relive good times. See above for a group shot. See below for a glimpse of the stockings (only one was left un-claimed), teaching Logan to use a view-finder, Kyle and Gen with Amazing Allyson.

Christmas morning con't.

I'm not sure if I got posted before so at the risk of repeating myself...Christmas morning here will consist of food and stockings and fun. We will have bacon and sausage, rolls and cookies, kielasi and quiche. Also orange juice, coffee and tea if you want it. I promise not to show any home movies. Hope you all can make it!

Happy Birthday Mike!

Is today the new baby's b-day too?