Cold Spaghetti

COLD SPAGHETTI HAS MOVED!

2008-11-05T15:30:00.002-06:00

AS OF JULY 2008, COLD SPAGHETTI HAS MOVED HERE!

www.coldspaghetti.org/blog

PLEASE FIX YOUR LINKS AND VISIT US AT OUR NEW HOME!

Trying it on, so to speak.

2008-07-02T22:53:00.003-05:00

I'm not quite done with this one, but I thought I'd try out that one. Needs work. Learning curve still rising ahead. But liking the possibilities.

Whaddya think?

Letters wanted!

2008-07-02T10:52:00.004-05:00

One of the unique architectural pieces of New Orleans are street tiles that line city corners. Entergy has been tearing up these corners during maintenance of city services and in many places, is destroying or paving over these tiles. In April, the Vice President of Gas Operations for Entergy wrote to the local paper to say that they were being replaced, but nothing has happened. Please write to Entergy -- even those who aren't in New Orleans! -- and ask them to repair or replace the historic street tiles they destroy and/or damage through careless street work. This is my letter, mailed to the corporate headquarters in New Orleans (I'd have sent via email, too, but can't find contact email addresses.) Please help protect and preserve New Orleans' heritage!

****

Entergy Corporation
639 Loyola Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70113

ATTN: Mr. Rusty Burroughs
Vice President
Gas Operations
Entergy New Orleans, Inc.

Dear Mr. Burroughs,

I was so thrilled to read your April 25th, 2008 response to the Times-Picayune editorial written by Chris Rose addressing the destruction of historic tile letters that uniquely mark the streets of New Orleans. In your letter, you specifically addressed the destroyed tiles at the corner of Pine and Birch and wrote that, “those tiles will be replaced, and were in the process of being replaced before the article was written by Mr. Rose.”

As you know, more than a month has passed since that editorial and your published response. To date, there has been no change to this corner. I am writing you to implore you to keep to your word and see that those tiles are restored or if given no other option, replaced. It is a shame that your subcontractors left you with the responsibility of fixing their mistakes, but your letter gave me confidence that you had the leadership and character required to make it right.

Now, more than ever, it is the responsibility of the citizens and businesses of New Orleans to work together to keep the heritage and history of our city alive. This letter is fulfilling my duty as a citizen to see that our unique legacies are protected. I look forward to seeing your obligations to our city and citizens carried out and your word fulfilled.

Respectfully,

H

CC: Rod West, President & CEO, Entergy New Orleans, Inc.
E. Renae Conley - President & CEO, Entergy Louisiana, LLC
J. Wayne Leonard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Entergy Corporation
Mark T. Savoff, Executive Vice President, Operations

Bonjour!

2008-06-30T12:12:00.004-05:00

Will's Summer Camp is a series of four 2-week sessions. At the end of each session is an afternoon performance from each class. Last Friday was the first. Will's class, the 4-year olds, sang "Bonjour" to open the show to a standing-room-only crowd.

Will walked in hand-in-hand with the little girl on the right. He left hand-in-hand with the little girl on the left.
Will was pretty animated before the song started. But when the singing began, his little mouth barely opened. He completely clammed up. Later that day, he sang the song for us (with hand motions). Although he had the tune, it seems like he is not quite sure what the words are and that this is the reason for his hesitation. It must have made him feel uncomfortable? Since Paul and I won't begin our French until the fall, we can't help him out too much. His teacher will send home word-sheets next session so that we can help him a bit more.

But he is rolling with it pretty well, all things considered.
When they were finished (45 seconds after the song began), we filed out into the hallway to let other parents take our spots to see their kids perform. Lucky us, because we got to follow Will back to his classroom and get this cute shot:
Which Will quickly altered to our amusement:

Concerns over 'the perfect gift for Paul' are forever erased

2008-06-29T21:21:00.003-05:00

Apparently, wombats are popular in more than one New Orleans household. Thanks to a local wombat-fan's post, we found this wonderful website.

With a wombat giftstore. Paul will never be short of silly t-shirts again.

Put my picture beside the angry face.

2008-06-27T09:45:00.005-05:00

In Kate's classroom, there is a poster with drawings of faces reflecting different feelings, a face drawn in a frown to be sad, a face with furrowed brows for angry, a face with squinted eyes and wavy mouth for frustrated and so on. As part of their daily activities, the kids use Polaroids of themselves and place them beside the face that matches how they are feeling. The exercise helps them identify what they are feeling, normalize it within the context that we all sometimes feel this way, and then give occasion for discussing how to deal with these emotions.

I am doing my best to be an adult and deal with my emotions in a rational way, but I admit that I do not always succeed in this effort. I've said it before, by definition, I am just Too Much. I love too much, believe too much, trust too much, and give too much. And when I get burned, I feel angry, disappointed, frustrated, and hopeless -- and, characteristically, I feel all those things too much. And now, although I've named everything I am feeling, I still don't feel any better. It's no wonder that Kate does this exercise everyday in school and still throws things when angry. Right now, throwing something (preferably at someone) would make me feel better, too. Mental note: remember how hard this is next time the kids try to destroy each other.

Yesterday, we got notification from Humana (our current health insurance provider) that the family insurance plan we requested had been denied -- or, at least, parts of it had. Plans were offered to Paul and Will, but not to Kate and I. This is after spending more than an hour, during the bedtime rodeo!, on the phone with a nurse representative going over 10 years of medical history for all 4 of us, including Every Single claim for a doctor's visit or a prescription. Looking back on my notes for the week, I see that I've spent about 12 hours on health insurance research, phone calls, and applications. And now we have to do it again.

I can almost see how they might deny me. I have allergies, my BMI puts me in the "overweight" category and I have a prescription for acne treatment. Definitely an insurance risk, me. But Kate? She's 2 and has had maybe 2 prescriptions in her life (one for thrush, one for her ear infection earlier in the year). It makes me feel better to say that they are women hating and leave it at that.

Today, Paul began to pursue getting our life insurance policies in order. So this morning, I spent 54 minutes on the phone giving medical history which will influence both IF we can actually get life insurance for me and HOW MUCH it will be when we do. One of the questions was if I had ever been denied health insurance. Following up this invasive interview, which included a 10 minute line of questioning about the fact that I see a dermatologist for the acne that I've had since puberty, someone will call me within the next 2 days to schedule a blood draw, urinanalysis, and height/weight check. For life insurance.

What the whole experience has shown me, for one, is that I do not ever want to see a physician ever again for anything. That preventative care is a BAD IDEA if you want to coverage for anything. Want or need a prescription? Steal it or cross a border. In short, the smart thing to do is to avoid the medical establishment all together, because anything you do can and will be held against you.

University of Michigan, the source of my graduate training, recently had articles about health insurance in it's School of Public Health alumni magazine. Several of our illustrious faculty discussed the insurance industry and how it's not that bad, it actually works well, and it keeps costs relatively low. I remember reading it thinking that maybe the arsenic in the city's water supply had gone up dramatically or perhaps the legalization of marijuana had finally been passed. Academics are the most famous Mr. In-Between-ers on the planet, being completely unable to commit to a solid 'yes' or 'no' on any topic, so it makes sense that someone would try to balance out arguments against the way insurance companies work. But I also noted that the faculty who were the most supportive of the current system were also consultants to big insurance companies.

Deep breaths. Deep breaths.

I know this is suppose to help, but all I really want to do is find someone to call a douchebag. Ah, it felt better just to type the word.

Gratitude.

2008-06-26T21:59:00.001-05:00

Thank you, Robin.

It's Tough to be Four.

2008-06-25T23:33:00.006-05:00

Lately, things have been hard for Will. He has a sister who is a "crazy monkey" (his words) and adores him to the annoying level of copying EveryThingHeDoes. He just started at a new school where his teacher and a ton of the students speak French most of the time. He misses his friends at his old school. And his parents NEVER feed him hamburgers. Or let him stay up all night.So it's understandable that tonight, during the bedtime lament that has become the standard in the past week, Will became upset. SO UPSET that I was not only declaring it bedtime, but also time for teeth brushing, that he would say terrible things. To me. His Mother. Really terrible things.

And this is where I had my Big Moment. All those words and threats rolled off me as cool and clean as water and I got down to meet him eye to eye and said in a most natural and pleasant voice:

"It's okay, Will. I know that you love me and you don't mean those things. And it's okay, because no matter what you say or what you do, I will always love you more than anything in the world. In fact, I love you SO MUCH that I am making you go to bed, even if it means you will be mad at me, because I know that you need rest to have a good day tomorrow and I want you to have a good day. And I love you SO MUCH that I want your teeth to be healthy, so I make you brush them, even when it makes you so angry that you don't want to cooperate with me. So it's okay to be mad at me. Because I love you."

Then, just in an instant, everything changed. All that stuff about love being the salve for anger? Apparently it's on the mark. Will's angry tears dried up and, much to my surprise, his mouth opened for the toothbrush. He even went to bed without too much more fuss. (Okay, he whistled and woke Kate up, which lost him TV privileges tomorrow, but compared to what was in the works 15 minutes earlier, this was nothing.)

Mommy got the GOAL! tonight, but will have to ice her knees and rest for tomorrow; because we will not be having hamburgers for dinner.

On the way to school

2008-06-25T12:25:00.002-05:00

"Daddy, can we go to the place that's spelled W - O - W ? I love their cheeseburgers. They are soooo good, I think I like them, too!"

Latch on to the affirmative

2008-06-25T11:12:00.003-05:00

Challenges abound here in Cold Spaghetti headquarters, but we're trying to focus on the positive.

Take for example, the other day, when the tire tread on Paul's truck separated while he was on the Causeway. Now it could have happened when he was in the middle of the longest bridge in the world, but instead it happened close enough that he could see land. Paul and Truck could have very easily been thrown into Lake Ponchatrain, or smacked into the lake by another driver, but instead, he managed to get the car under control at 25 mph and drive it jerking and bouncing off the bridge and to the Goodyear a quarter mile inland.

We are so happy about his living through the situation above that the $600 repair bill isn't a bother at all.

Updates

2008-06-23T21:48:00.004-05:00

-- We're moving (the website, not us) although it may take a little bit of time to get set up and functional. I figure since I'm working out a whole new way of operating in terms of photography, word processing (no more MS Word!), spreadsheets (no more Excel!), and all the other random things that connected me to my past work, photography and otherwise (stuff like the bibliography of my prospectus/first part of my dissertation, which was done in Endnote)... I may as well just go for it and do the jump. The website has been there for a year, hosted and ready, so hey... one more thing to use to procrastinate.

-- The Dean's Office Communications Department looked over the photos from the trip and are selecting which they will use. So soon I will be free to get everything else viewable. Of course they want some of the best work and I am not really sure what kind of rights I'll retain for future use (still working this out). I'm waiting to talk about the trip when I have photos to tell the story... and also in the hopes that my travel notebook will show up. I'm trying not to think about it's current 'lost' status, as it is just one more thing to contribute to that nausea that won't go away.

-- The guy who laid the tile, the one we trusted so implicitly in ways we have never, ever trusted anyone before, never called us back. Despite our several messages and despite his own sister calling him on our behalf. What else can we assume, except that he ripped us off? Going down this road is worrisome, considering we gave him our key and unfettered access to our empty home. Being trusting was a very expensive mistake.

-- We have some ideas for how we might salvage part of the poor tile... but need some professional input to really feel good about it. We're just not sure. We were so hopeful that this guy would come around and want to make it right that we have tried to let it go a little in our minds just to recover enough to keep working.

-- In the meantime, we ordered some wooden closet pieces. They arrived, we installed. Last night, we HUNG CLOTHES IN A CLOSET. We haven't done this since before Thanksgiving! Granted, the closet has no doors and only has room for a small amount of shoes (we'll do seasonal rotation like we do with clothes), but! still! A closet!

-- Countertops for the laundry area/utility sink and master bath vanity will be installed either tomorrow afternoon or Wednesday morning. Paul finished the plumbing prep yesterday and just painted the primer around the install area. This means that we may have a BATHROOM SINK and a UTILITY SINK by as early as tomorrow night!

-- Will is miserable at his new school. He misses his friends (several of whom, surprisingly, won't be moving on to other schools this fall) and I think is struggling with a strict activity schedule. It doesn't help that we pick up Kate after Will. When Will walks into Abeona each afternoon to get his sister, it is like Norm walking into Cheers. The kids line up to greet and embrace him, some of the hugs lasting several minutes and including kisses and whispers. I'm not sure that he's totally miserable all day in school (he's told us that he talks silly with 'the boy in the soccer shirt') and certainly his teacher seems to think he's fine... but when he is out of school, he is clear that he is not interesting in going back.

-- Paul went to infectious disease last week for the 3-weeks of (ahem) that we've been dealing with since he swam in the Amazon. Not that I am drawing any conclusions by pointing that out; in all likelihood I had as much exposure to the very same river water in the shower as he did swimming and showering. Still, the garlic treatment held it aside while we were on the road and the 2 cycles of z-packs didn't make a dent in curing it so he went in for tougher stuff. Ironically, the vote was giardia... the same stuff we were concerned that Will had... and they started him on treatment. It started working quickly, so maybe it's a match? No confirmation yet on the exact bacteria he had/has, but I'm really happy he is finally feeling better.

-- Between insurance phone calls, house stuff, reduced school hours, and getting everything set up from the Peru work, I have not been able to follow-up with anything for my dissertation. I'm feeling defeated, dumb, and un-engaged. I feel like writing some stupid survey, going door-to-door, and analyzing it with statistics that I can make say whatever I want. Isn't that what public health is, anyway? (Okay, so maybe I'm feeling sort of grumpy, too.)

-- Paul's job... and all our health, life, and whatever other insurance one carries for wellness and security... ends on FRIDAY. Currently, we have no plan for any of the above.

-- Will is out of school for three weeks in August. Kate has the first week of school off for Abeona, which is NOT one of the three weeks in August that Will has off. There is a distinct possibility that we may have kids at home for an entire month. We have no idea what we are going to do.

-- Paul is sporting a painful crick in his neck, I have stress ezema popping out on my left hand and have bit off all of my nails. Not that the stress is getting to us or anything.

UPDATE: The International Health Newsletter for the Summer just came out, with a really nice blurb about me being recognized as a Schweitzer Fellow (this project is actually going better than planned at the moment) and has bouyed my spirits a bit... thanks INHL! (sniff, sniff)

Learning Curve

2008-06-20T15:37:00.003-05:00

The computer is great, working, and all is fine here. Photo workflow is still working out kinks. Particularly regarding blogger, which may be a past-tense experience shortly.

Most of the focus has been on the Peru work, which was (mostly) reviewed yesterday by the editor, which is why I haven't been able to focus much on new photographs of the kids or anything else with learning the new system.

I need to figure out a good photograph workflow. Here are the needs: something where I can quickly scan and weed out photographs (finder seems fine here); something that will let me create an archive file to have around short term for blog-entries and then upload to our archive -- AND -- will see photos after I've done edits from Photoshop (iphoto is breaking down for me on that last part). Also, I made a mistake by not shooting everything RAW and am not sure how to incorporate current shots and future RAW conversion in this workflow...

And I can't figure out a smooth way to get photos from iphoto to blogger, which is why I haven't blogged in a few days. This may be the straw that breaks my back and forces me to move out from blogger to one of the URLs I've been holding for a year. Time to download wordpress...?

Introducing!

2008-06-18T14:59:00.002-05:00

The newest member of our family. The Imac. It's a big exciting day! Almost making me forget about the interviews I'm suppose to be doing had my three months of work not suddenly evaporated. (Really, I'll get over it and back on the bandwagon by Monday. I just need a little bit of time.)

Here is Paul, with our newborn, fresh out of it's shipped-from-Shanghai box. Paul is looking for the power button:

The monitor is massive, the keyboard and mouse are all trendy and slick, and I keep using words like "sexy" to describe the whole experience. Then Paul noticed boingboing had a post on objectum-sexuals and now I'm officially not using that word anymore in reference to my computer. As long as it doesn't cry out in the middle of the night, stick it's toes up my nose during cuddle time, or whine about wanting hamburgers for dinner, this big hulk of a thing could quickly become the household favorite. (Sorry, kids.)

Reminding us of the many ways women rock

2008-06-17T22:27:00.007-05:00

I consider myself to have been a pretty darn good pregnant woman. I generally did all the stuff one is suppose to do and held a reputation for being good natured and easy going. This is despite spending virtually all of my second trimesters of both pregnancies in hot Central American and South American (respectively) summers with no A/C. (And for the first pregnancy, spotty running water and electricity.)

My caveat to all of that is to say that it's hard to complain about discomfort when you work in remote clinics, the kind that are miles and miles by dirt road away from advanced medical care, and see women peddling bicycles uphill, in active labor, to deliver their babies without anesthetic... it just puts it all in perspective.

And then there is my friend Robin. Robin, who is in the third trimester with her second baby and just ran a half marathon. No, scratch that, ANOTHER half marathon. Not to be confused with the triathlons she competed in during her second trimester. Oh, and did I mention that she did it in Dhaka, where it is about 345 degrees out with 170% humidity during the coolest part of the day? The Asian version of Runner's World even published an article she wrote about running in Dhaka, which features her running while 24 weeks pregnant. Go Robin!

Marion Barry, patron saint of the Jeffersons

2008-06-17T21:39:00.003-05:00

From the T-P:

Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, announced Tuesday that he will run for a 10th term in office...

Get out!

...even as he faces a Dec. 2 political corruption trial in what he called an "overly zealous" prosecution based on "false factual allegations."

If the "allegations" are based on facts, then doesn't that mean that they, by definition are not false? Oh, wait. I'm a scientist. I think way too logically to understand law.

Actually, regardless of your point of reference, the whole article is hilarious. I'm placing a bet that before this whole thing is over, he'll be quoted saying, "I'll be goddamn. Bitch set me up."

The nicest part of TAing the Peru class?

2008-06-17T10:14:00.004-05:00

Extended time with graduate students who aren't interested in PhDs and are still idealistic, upbeat, and full of romance over the belief that public health can make a difference. Sometimes I feel that being cleared to graduate with a PhD happens once all the love and enthusiasm for the field has been beaten out of you... slowly... until you can barely articulate what it is you are doing, why it matters, and why you matter.

Since returning, my contact at the church (where I'm suppose to be holding interviews, starting tomorrow) has disappeared and the pastor is not responding to email or phone calls. I'm feeling awkward, uncertain, and frustrated, and in general... just feeling like this darn thing is never going to happen. It's not that I can't figure out a next step, it's just that the steps themselves are grating on me.

Which is why this resonated with me today:

Will's Graduation

2008-06-16T15:03:00.005-05:00

This morning, Paul and I dropped Will off for his Alliance France summer camp, the first step in his transition to Kindergarten, which happens the day after Labor Day.

Which means that last Friday was his last day at Abeona.
While we were in Peru, Emmy took Will and the other kids moving to 'big school' to lunch at the sushi place across the street from the school, Ninja. She kindly sent us an email about how great the kids were at lunch at how much they enjoyed it; Will tells us regularly how much he loves "shush-she." A few days later, the school had a ceremony for the kids graduating from pre-school, but Will wasn't there. So on Friday, the school held another little ceremony for Will.

First, the twos and preschoolers lined up with flowers and streamers waving. Then, they sang "You are my Sunshine" (note: one of the teachers, a professional musician/singer, would sing this to the kids at naptime and I forever hear her voice in this song). Then Will and Emmy came hand and hand down the ramp (yup, that ramp that Paul mobilized in construction). At the end, she read a certificate written just for Will about his special talents -- all the ones that she has so lovingly taught us to see and appreciate beyond what we would have otherwise seen -- and gave Will a huge hug.
But it didn't end there. As if I, the woman who cried at the end of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (they were so patriotic at the end) and, more recently, over Herbie: Fully Loaded (Dad, seriously, let her race!) and don't even get me started on how weepy I get over Oreo commericals!.. as if I need more reason to cry over such a simple and sweet sentiment. Emmy then whips out a certificate for me -- me?! -- to thank me for 'having shared and captured so many ordinary and extraordinary moments through your photographs'. Totally caught me off guard.

Paul and I are still at odds with all the changes this summer. Our family at school has been the source of so much strength and goodness through these difficult few years. It feels like something very special is ending and will never be the same again; the whole world changing with the growth of our children and shifting of our lives.

The Beach.

2008-06-15T23:15:00.002-05:00

It was a little windy, the surf was rough, under current strong, and jellyfish out in force (Paul, Will, and PapPap all got stung)... but the kids loved it!
We went to Gulf Shores -- paying the $5 to park and use the area of beach protected by the State Park, rather than the crowded public beach. Nice bathrooms, showers, a lifeguard stand (with vinegar spray bottles), and snack shack with shaded tables. Worth the drive from NOLA!

It's the thought that counts.

2008-06-14T16:18:00.004-05:00

M: "So, Will, tomorrow is Father's Day. Should we do something special for Daddy?"

W: "YEAH."

M: "Do you have any ideas on what we could do?"

W: "I KNOW. We could build a T-Rex and all the dinosaurs that aren't alive anymore out of wood and then give Daddy a button that he could push and allllll the dinosaurs would open up their mouths and go 'ROOOOOAAAAAARRRRR.'"

M: "Wow. Well, what about for PapPap?"

W: "What kind of stuff does he like?"

M: "I don't know, what do you think he likes?"

W: (thoughtfully) "Ummmm... probably he'd like something small. Like a Pterodactyl."

Peru, the trip, the work... The Start.

2008-06-12T23:32:00.003-05:00

We've been back in the States a week and I'm still figuring out how to write about our three weeks in Peru. Part of the issue is that my trusty notebook, with all my travel notes and thoughts, went AWOL about a day after we arrived home. Another issue is the nature of the work... I'm unsure of some of the ownership details of the photographs I took and feel that if I put them online before the Magazine has chosen which they are using that I could get in a sticky situation. The third issue is workflow, which does not exist. This issue relates to how we store photographs, how I process them, and the tools I use to do all of the above. Paul has a great storage system arranged for us... it just takes me hours to use it because my little 'puter can't handle much, doesn't have much in terms of software, and has display problems. The new baby has been ordered, so that last issue should be somewhat fixed in another week or so. Until then, all I'm really doing is cropping photos and trying to organize them.

Some lessons learned about photography gigs:

-- They get harder when the gig is everyday for 3 weeks. It's hard to keep up with the volume, keep equipment ready and waiting, and stay fresh. (That said, I totally loved every minute.)

-- Make sure your cameras have the same time/date set. I didn't do this and because we used two cameras, putting the photos in a chronological order is an ongoing nightmare. Combined with how S.L.O.W. it is to do anything with the photos from my computer, it is a real time-sink... but completely necessary.

-- I was up late every night emptying memory cards, checking back-ups to make sure everything was safe, trying to upload backup copies to our home network, and checking that equipment was charged and ready for the next day. These things all sound easy, but were actually very difficult when you've been up since 3:30am (we had many days that started before 5am)... the bottom line is that Paul was my saving grace for everything. As always. The perfect partner for all of the work of the trip.

-- Anytime you find yourself asking whether you should take something, the answer is YES. Every Darn Time we asked, 'should we take the tripod?' or 'should we take the flash?' or said 'maybe we should only take one camera'... every single time we went with the pesky thought, we regretted it. Bottom line: haul it all.

-- I am ready for a battery pack. Bring on the weight.

-- Although we were in many situations where pick-pockets are plentiful, crime goes unchecked, and poverty and desperation are high... I never, ever felt myself to be more at risk because of my camera(s). Yes, we watched ourselves. Yes, we were smart. Yes, we traveled in groups and always had guides who knew the community. But in the end, I actually think that having the GEAR made me/us more conspicuous. The cameras stood out so much that theft would have been obvious. Better to slink away with a pocket camera than a several pound beast with a wide angle lens attached. Plus, I typically had conversations with those I photographed and explained who I was, what I was doing, and what it was for -- this opened a ton of doors for us. While there were some who requested I not photograph, more often than not, people not only were happy to be photographed but offered suggestions and help.

-- If I ever do this again, I will approach it completely differently. I didn't fully grasp how to handle both roles (teaching assistant AND photographer/photojournalist) until the end of the class. It took a few days of doing both to see what worked and what didn't.

If I could leverage this type of photography within public heath work on a regular basis... wow. Even thinking about it is overwhelming.

Fish market pictures are up. There is a short description there, too...

If you get it, you'll love it

2008-06-12T23:00:00.004-05:00

I learned of these gems through a few of the feminist websites I troll. Clever and way funny, all of them...

...on how yogurt ads are targeted to women (it's the only food acceptable for us disgusting females to eat)

...on wedding shows and the promotion of women as selfish children (even by, or maybe especially by, We!)

...on the political wooing of women's votes (we're all free now, considering we were all in for Hillary, since she is a woman, too)

I'm surfing around while waiting for pictures to load on Smugmug. More trip pictures really are coming soon...

We did it.

2008-06-11T15:23:00.003-05:00

I had to call in the order to get the discounted Creative Suite ($299, normally priced at $599 with academic discount) and the free Ipod Touch that came with the order (toy for Paul, hooray!) Since those two discounts were only available with the purchase of a new computer, we went new instead of refurb. It's rare for us to buy anything new, so it felt very odd. And stressful.

But it's done. We're about to be proud Apple parents. Phew.

8 Years

2008-06-10T15:36:00.002-05:00

1 wedding.
0 honeymoons.
9 addresses.
2 Master degrees.
2 bouts of unemployment.
50, then
20, then
10, now
5 (?) pinball machines.
4 Michigan winters.
2 kids.
3 houses.
5 countries.
3 continents.
(almost) 1 PhD.
4 promotions.
1 cat on a farm,
1 cat in the back, and
1 cat at our feet.
1 Natural Disaster, followed by
1 Big Flood, followed by
2 months of wandering.
Thousands of really bad jokes that always make me laugh.
1 really good Anniversary gift, followed by
7 years of none.
Hundreds of diapers.
Countless nights with no sleep.
A ton of family dramas.
Many celebrations.
A million happy memories, with
A billion more to come.

Happy Anniversary, Pancho!

Conspiracy.

2008-06-09T12:57:00.003-05:00

I am beginning to feel that the Universe is conspiring to keep me away from my photographs. This weekend, we took the kids on a spur-of-the-moment getaway to the beach at Gulf Shores... using my parents' house as a base. On their computer, I was able to see some of the photos from the end of the trip that hadn't been deleted from one of the memory cards. It was a shock to see how different they looked on a decent monitor (as opposed to my laptop) and I vowed not to touch them until I could view them decently.

Paul was going to let me view and organize this afternoon on his computer, but for some reason the thing is off the home network and I can't get to the archive. He's only gone for an hour or so in a meeting, so it was my one window of opportunity. There are still many pictures I haven't seen yet, myself. I'll petition him to let me borrow one of his four (yes, four, apparently, developers need an entire wall of monitors to work -- genius requires desktop space, I guess) monitors and hook it up to my laptop tonight.

The exciting news is that we're resigned to (FINALLY) get an Apple (no, it probably won't be a new-hotness, nor will it be a laptop -- my 6 year old $500 workhorse is doing fine). This desktop would be mine to primarily use for photo and video stuff and I'm thrilled. It's a heck of a big move for us to consider this within the scope of us loosing $5000-$6000 on the shitty tile job and with the expenses hitting us in the next few months, but we're reaching critical mass and something is going to give if we don't move forward a bit. I'm excited about the upgrade but dreading moving to another machine, since I've used this one for years with no need of re-boot or cleaning. (What can I say? When Paul fixes up a machine, it WORKS.)

Moving on to other conspiracies... Michael Stipe no longer puts our children to sleep on car rides. Granted, they WERE calm and quiet and on the way to sleep when Paul reached back and put his hand on Will's leg, so there is a chance that this disturbance interfered with the typical results. Last night, 2 of the 2.5 hours drive from Mobile to NOLA was spent with cranky kids driving us crazy.

That last step is a doozy

2008-06-06T09:25:00.005-05:00

In the past, re-entering the United States after weeks abroad has not went well for us. When we returned from the first Honduras trip, Paul was hospitalized with some malaria-ish condition (they couldn't get blood at the right time to confirm diagnosis), I was stung by a yellow jacket and had an allergic reaction which made me cough so hard I popped out a few ribs and was bed ridden for two weeks, and Paul was laid off from his job. When we returned from Peru two years ago, we found that we had been victims of identity theft (an HR employee at Paul's company -- he is now in federal prison) and our car was dead.

Not withstanding the fact that Spirit Airlines SUCKS, we managed to get back in one piece yesterday -- with ALL our luggage and ALL our delicate ceramics unbroken. We enjoyed a wonderful homecoming with the kids, who we picked up from school on the way back from the airport. Then we got home. And the shoe dropped.

The tile was laid in our bathroom while we were gone... we decided to hire someone on great recommendation rather than have Paul and I try to do this when we got back. We were sure his workman ship would live up to our expectations.

It didn't. We are very disappointed.

The bottom line is that substantial portions will need to be redone.

We're working on figuring out the next steps there. We're also working on 800 other things, including getting settled back into our still-disaster-construction-zone house, planning how to spend the weekend re-connecting with our kids, processing the 4000+ photographs taken on the trip, and trying to adjust back to our actual jobs. Thankfully, I planned to NOT start interviews for my study until week after next... it will take that long to get organized.

Details on the trip and pictures posted soon.