October 31, 2006
Well, it's only 7:30, but things are definitely winding down here. We only had maybe 40 trick- or-treaters during about an hour and a half - it seemed slow to me, compared to Bowman St. The kids went out with Larry (who, bless him, got home early from work). They hit about 4 blocks and came home with a pretty good supply of sugar. A minister lives across the street and has a tent set up in his front yard offering respite for adults - a place to sit, hotdogs, a movie playing for the kids - nice. Attached are some photos of the kids in their costumes (with our neighbor Phillip) and with the pumpkins they help carve over the weekend and at Alana's party at school (Phillip is in that photo too). Hope your holiday was nice.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Thursday, October 26, 2006
New haircuts
October 26, 2006
Both kids got haircuts today (Caleb got a trim and Alana went quite a bit shorter); then this evening they were rocking out in the living room with Larry to Cheap Trick's Surrender, plus some Prince and Boomtown Rats.
Monday, September 25, 2006
Welcome to Suburbia
September 25, 2006
I can't believe this - a neighbor, who I've never met or spoken to, just asked me not to walk on her lawn because it makes her dog go "crazy." I only walked up on her grass because the mail truck was coming, and there's no sidewalks in this sub-division. But more to the point, her dog always goes crazy when I walk by with Roxy, whether or not I walk up on her grass. I guess I could avoid her house altogether, and walk around the block in the other direction, but that seems a bit extreme. I have to say, that's the nastiest reception I've gotten here - mostly people have been fairly friendly (although what they say about us behind our backs is another story I'm sure).
I can't believe this - a neighbor, who I've never met or spoken to, just asked me not to walk on her lawn because it makes her dog go "crazy." I only walked up on her grass because the mail truck was coming, and there's no sidewalks in this sub-division. But more to the point, her dog always goes crazy when I walk by with Roxy, whether or not I walk up on her grass. I guess I could avoid her house altogether, and walk around the block in the other direction, but that seems a bit extreme. I have to say, that's the nastiest reception I've gotten here - mostly people have been fairly friendly (although what they say about us behind our backs is another story I'm sure).
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Addendum
August 29, 2006
We enjoyed the State Fair, but it seems Caleb picked up a wicked case of food poisoning (as traditional as the 4-H exhibits - I still have clear memories of my own county fair food poisoning back in the day). He started barfing around 9 a.m. and kept it up pretty steadily until around 3 pm. Then he took a nap and seems fairly recovered now (around 5 p.m.) I felt so bad for him - he said, several times, "I don't like this day at all." It was awful to watch, but he's bouncing back quickly, now that the worst is over.
Interesting: we ate all the same foods . . . Larry says the hotdog we shared is the likely culprit - my system could have handled the bacteria that would have made Caleb so sick.
We enjoyed the State Fair, but it seems Caleb picked up a wicked case of food poisoning (as traditional as the 4-H exhibits - I still have clear memories of my own county fair food poisoning back in the day). He started barfing around 9 a.m. and kept it up pretty steadily until around 3 pm. Then he took a nap and seems fairly recovered now (around 5 p.m.) I felt so bad for him - he said, several times, "I don't like this day at all." It was awful to watch, but he's bouncing back quickly, now that the worst is over.
Interesting: we ate all the same foods . . . Larry says the hotdog we shared is the likely culprit - my system could have handled the bacteria that would have made Caleb so sick.
Settling in
August 29, 2006
I found my favorite salad dressing and my favorite salsa (after frustrating searches), but could not find my favorite kind of wine (Chenin Blanc) even after visiting four local wine and spirit shoppes. I as ready to despair until I discovered Liquor City (I'm not kidding, that's really the name). It's a large discount liquor store (small warehouse, really) near where Larry works (everything is near where Larry works). Among other things, they have the largest selection of wine I've ever seen. And they had at least three kinds of Chenin Blanc (it's arranged by country and region, not by types of wine).
I'm also happy because Larry ran a cable up from the basement so I can watch cable on my TV in the kitchen. I know that's pathetic, but I spend so much time in the kitchen, I've always had a TV there. In Philly I was perfectly happy to watch the networks, which came in fine with "rabbit ears," but here I could literally only get one channel (not even PBS!) So now I'm wired for 80 channels, just in time for the (inevitably disappointing) fall TV season .. . . (I think Larry was pretty proud of his Tool Time act too).
Other than those highlights, it's just the same old same old - being a domestic goddess and job searching in my spare time.
Hope all is well with you.
I found my favorite salad dressing and my favorite salsa (after frustrating searches), but could not find my favorite kind of wine (Chenin Blanc) even after visiting four local wine and spirit shoppes. I as ready to despair until I discovered Liquor City (I'm not kidding, that's really the name). It's a large discount liquor store (small warehouse, really) near where Larry works (everything is near where Larry works). Among other things, they have the largest selection of wine I've ever seen. And they had at least three kinds of Chenin Blanc (it's arranged by country and region, not by types of wine).
I'm also happy because Larry ran a cable up from the basement so I can watch cable on my TV in the kitchen. I know that's pathetic, but I spend so much time in the kitchen, I've always had a TV there. In Philly I was perfectly happy to watch the networks, which came in fine with "rabbit ears," but here I could literally only get one channel (not even PBS!) So now I'm wired for 80 channels, just in time for the (inevitably disappointing) fall TV season .. . . (I think Larry was pretty proud of his Tool Time act too).
Other than those highlights, it's just the same old same old - being a domestic goddess and job searching in my spare time.
Hope all is well with you.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Ramblings
August 28, 2006
Dear family and friends,
I feel like I'm terribly overdue for an update and especially, I feel like I'm behind on photos. I'm sending a bunch with this email - probably too many. If you have trouble seeing all the photos, let me know, and I'll resend them in smaller batches.
I feel like the summer has flown by. Caleb finished YMCA camp last week. He had a blast. He starts school (first grade!) on Wednesday, September 6th. Alana starts daycare at the YMCA on September 5th.
Today we went to the much-vaunted NY State Fair, which is held just east of Syracuse. I took the kids on the shuttle bus from one of the strip malls near our house. We spent several hours at the fair and only scratched the surface of all there is to do, but we saw cows and horses and chickens, and we saw a small shark show, and watched a guy carve wood with a chain saw. Maybe the highlight was right after we arrived - we watched a terrific street perfomer who picked Caleb as his assistant - Caleb rode on his shoulders while he rode a unicycle! Seriously!The kids have had tons of fun in August, with friends and family (Larry's parents and son, Matthew) visiting. I didn't get photos of many of the things we did, but we took a lot of pictures at an amusement park in Rochester called Sea Breeze. That was great fun - we played in the water park section for a couple of hours, then ate lunch and went over to the rides side. I got adorable photos of Alana riding the kiddie rides, plus a few of Matt and Caleb doing older kid stuff. The park offers an observer ticket, which costs about a third what a participant ticket cost - since I got the obsever ticket I was in a good position to take pictures!
We're all enjoying our house and yard. Alana loves the little wading pool stationed out in the yard and frequently can be found in her "birthday suit" splashing around in it (like many kids her age, she shucks her clothes frequently while we're home). The picture of her in the bath tub is her "taking a picture" (with her cup) of her favorite bath toys - Dora, Boots and Diego.Lately, Caleb is obsessed with card games. We've played a lot of War, and his latest favorite is a simplified version of Rummy called Scat or 31. He's very good at these games, though he isn't always a good sport about losing. He's recently discovered Pokemon cards (which involve trading and "battlling" with a complicated point system). Unfortunately, he missed the sign-up deadline for local soccer, so he'll have to wait for next year to participate.
I'm sure there's more news, but it's late and I want to get this sent. Hope all is well with you and you're having a good summer.
Best, Danielle
Dear family and friends,
I feel like I'm terribly overdue for an update and especially, I feel like I'm behind on photos. I'm sending a bunch with this email - probably too many. If you have trouble seeing all the photos, let me know, and I'll resend them in smaller batches.
I feel like the summer has flown by. Caleb finished YMCA camp last week. He had a blast. He starts school (first grade!) on Wednesday, September 6th. Alana starts daycare at the YMCA on September 5th.
Today we went to the much-vaunted NY State Fair, which is held just east of Syracuse. I took the kids on the shuttle bus from one of the strip malls near our house. We spent several hours at the fair and only scratched the surface of all there is to do, but we saw cows and horses and chickens, and we saw a small shark show, and watched a guy carve wood with a chain saw. Maybe the highlight was right after we arrived - we watched a terrific street perfomer who picked Caleb as his assistant - Caleb rode on his shoulders while he rode a unicycle! Seriously!The kids have had tons of fun in August, with friends and family (Larry's parents and son, Matthew) visiting. I didn't get photos of many of the things we did, but we took a lot of pictures at an amusement park in Rochester called Sea Breeze. That was great fun - we played in the water park section for a couple of hours, then ate lunch and went over to the rides side. I got adorable photos of Alana riding the kiddie rides, plus a few of Matt and Caleb doing older kid stuff. The park offers an observer ticket, which costs about a third what a participant ticket cost - since I got the obsever ticket I was in a good position to take pictures!
We're all enjoying our house and yard. Alana loves the little wading pool stationed out in the yard and frequently can be found in her "birthday suit" splashing around in it (like many kids her age, she shucks her clothes frequently while we're home). The picture of her in the bath tub is her "taking a picture" (with her cup) of her favorite bath toys - Dora, Boots and Diego.Lately, Caleb is obsessed with card games. We've played a lot of War, and his latest favorite is a simplified version of Rummy called Scat or 31. He's very good at these games, though he isn't always a good sport about losing. He's recently discovered Pokemon cards (which involve trading and "battlling" with a complicated point system). Unfortunately, he missed the sign-up deadline for local soccer, so he'll have to wait for next year to participate.
I'm sure there's more news, but it's late and I want to get this sent. Hope all is well with you and you're having a good summer.
Best, Danielle
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Grandparents visit
August 26, 2006
Well, I made it through another week. Larry's parents arrived Wednesday evening. They're leaving tomorrow (Monday) and dropping Matt at his house on their way home. It's always nice to have company, but it's a lot of extra work - more laundry, more shopping, more cooking and cleaning up.
Larry was off Friday and we all went up to the Thousand Islands area, right across from Cananda, and took the boat shuttle over to Boldt Castle (on one of the islands). It was a nice trip - the kids enjoyed it and so did the adults, and the weather was perfect. It rained all day Saturday, but today (Sunday) we went into downtown Syracuse (Clinton Square) to the Latin America festival (Syracuse is called the city of festivals - there's one almost every weekend). We heard some good music and ate some very authentic Spanish food and bought beaded bracelets. We left just as the rain was moving in. It was a very nice outing.
I still haven't heard from the University re that research job, except to hear that they're still deciding. I wish it was over, one way or the other. Last week I sent in my resume to another job, at the medical university, but haven't heard anything at all from that one yet. The best news, or at least the development that I'm most optimistic about, is that I met a woman who works in the personnel office at the University. She was very friendly and gave me her card and offered to bring me in to meet with a recruiter. I don't know that anything will come of it, but it's always nice to connect with someone who's actually in a position to help! I'm calling her first thing Monday and setting up an appointment.
Caleb just has one more week of camp left, and starts school Sept 6; Alana will start daycare that same day. I thought about delaying her start, since I haven't got a job yet, but I think it will be better for her to start with the other kids and get settled and into the routine. She watches way too much TV (though it's mostly PBS shows) and she's gotten way too used to having her own way. Her daycare will only cost a little more than Caleb's summer camp, so it shouldn't be too much of a strain money-wise. I feel discouraged when I think about the financial situation - I hate not earning my own money. But I just keep thinking - "it's temporary . . ."I keep busy and keep looking for a job and the time goes by . . . before you know it, it'll be winter and we'll just be trying to stay sane until spring (just kidding, sort of).
Enough for now. More soon - hopefully good news!
Well, I made it through another week. Larry's parents arrived Wednesday evening. They're leaving tomorrow (Monday) and dropping Matt at his house on their way home. It's always nice to have company, but it's a lot of extra work - more laundry, more shopping, more cooking and cleaning up.
Larry was off Friday and we all went up to the Thousand Islands area, right across from Cananda, and took the boat shuttle over to Boldt Castle (on one of the islands). It was a nice trip - the kids enjoyed it and so did the adults, and the weather was perfect. It rained all day Saturday, but today (Sunday) we went into downtown Syracuse (Clinton Square) to the Latin America festival (Syracuse is called the city of festivals - there's one almost every weekend). We heard some good music and ate some very authentic Spanish food and bought beaded bracelets. We left just as the rain was moving in. It was a very nice outing.
I still haven't heard from the University re that research job, except to hear that they're still deciding. I wish it was over, one way or the other. Last week I sent in my resume to another job, at the medical university, but haven't heard anything at all from that one yet. The best news, or at least the development that I'm most optimistic about, is that I met a woman who works in the personnel office at the University. She was very friendly and gave me her card and offered to bring me in to meet with a recruiter. I don't know that anything will come of it, but it's always nice to connect with someone who's actually in a position to help! I'm calling her first thing Monday and setting up an appointment.
Caleb just has one more week of camp left, and starts school Sept 6; Alana will start daycare that same day. I thought about delaying her start, since I haven't got a job yet, but I think it will be better for her to start with the other kids and get settled and into the routine. She watches way too much TV (though it's mostly PBS shows) and she's gotten way too used to having her own way. Her daycare will only cost a little more than Caleb's summer camp, so it shouldn't be too much of a strain money-wise. I feel discouraged when I think about the financial situation - I hate not earning my own money. But I just keep thinking - "it's temporary . . ."I keep busy and keep looking for a job and the time goes by . . . before you know it, it'll be winter and we'll just be trying to stay sane until spring (just kidding, sort of).
Enough for now. More soon - hopefully good news!
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