they are blessed

MYS's wedding was lovely. the location was absolutely beautiful and even though it was new mexico, the temps were only in the low 70s. it rained a little before the ceremony, to dust everything off, then the sun came out and the ceremony proceeded in a little meadow surrounded by aspen and pines. afterwards we all gathered inside the lodge and ate, danced, and talked. it rained some more.

she's such a sweetheart and i'm so happy for them both. their friends came from all over, including germany, and relatives came from far and wide. it was just a grand affair and a wonderful mix of people.

i wish them a life-time of happiness, joyful surprises, success, sexy nights, comfortable living, and love.

great family!

MOS and his family were supposed to come up for the weekend a couple of weeks ago. then they all got the flu. oh yeah, i remember that -- young kids mean everyone's sick a lot of the time.

about the time of the cancellation we got the news that MYS and his fiancee were coming up for a couple of days on their way to a seminar she was going to. YAY! we hadn't seen them in x-months and it was great news.

older son, younger son, and the rest of us all got together one afternoon. it was great to have everyone in one place and i just wish we all lived in the same area so we could do that more often.

love them all!!!

let's move

where should you raise your kids? there are always a number of factors to consider, but if health and well-being are number one with you, move to new hampshire.

yep, new hampshire is first, minnesota second and vermont third. nebraska is 9th, washington state 11th, south dakota 26th, okahoma 44th, and new mexico 46th.

how can kansas be 13th, texas be 34th, and oklahoma be 44th?

doesn't necessarily make sense, but interesting anyhow. and i always thought new hampshire looked like it'd be a neat place to live.

Ph.D. time!

MYS has finally gotten a date to defend his thesis: august 10. i'm not real clear on the difference between a thesis and dissertation in his field; maybe it doesn't matter. regardless, he's nearing the end of the tunnel.

we'll be attending his defense and i'm excited to see if i can understand anything he says. i've been able to follow along, over the years, as he has explained things to me, but still, since neither physics nor astronomy were ever a big part of my education, it could be a little foggy.

regardless, one huge CONGRATULATIONS to him on seeing a payoff for all his hard work -- may i present the-soon-to-be Dr. Yirak!

heading on out ...

life just keeps bouncing right along. the grandson is four months old now. the grandaughter is two and a half years old. MYS is probably going to defend his thesis in july and we will be going to observe and cheer.MOS is going to start flying again, one of these days, for a job they're certifying. i just can't remember what state it's in. the husband keeps coming up with innovative and helpful ideas at his volunteer job (is he excellent or what). and my job continues to be challenging and full of new things.

no stasis here. and sometimes there's not much down-time. but keeping busy and active keeps your brain dusted and that's always a good thing.

young home weekend

the husband and i went down to MOS's house yesterday. they were celebrating MOS's and his wife's birthdays -- they're one day apart. her parents joined in, along with her sister, and we all had a party!

the grandchildren are growing and growing -- grandaughter is a 2 1/2 yr old pretty little sweetie and grandson is a 3-month old handsome lad. the grandaughter is somewhat stubborn and *ahem* i don't know where she gets that. i'm sure she'll grow up to be beautiful and smart-as-a-whip. and the grandson seems to be laid-back, yet he can hold his own. i'm going to love watching them grow up!

the in-laws and sister are warm and enjoyable people, and i feel so lucky about that. considering all the people i've ever known and/or worked with, there are some real wackos out there.

we are truly blessed.

a new baby!!

on tuesday, december 15, adam jeffrey was born. he was 8 lb. 15 oz., with dark hair and eyebrows, and a very quiet demeanor. he's been a very good baby with his only demands being to be fed and to be held.

big sister is happy around, and interested in, little brother and all is well. paternal grandparents stayed with the family for five days and maternal grandparents are visiting today.

it will be interesting to see who adam ends up looking like -- ava's looks seemed to change so much from day one, just like babies tend to do. she is a pretty and absolutely darling little kid and with such good-looking parents, i expect adam will be a little heartbreaker.

however it turns out, everyone is healthy and happy. a good start to any type of endeavor!

it was great!

i'm going to try to bring you up-to-date on the lovely places around here a person can go, to enjoy themselves, without all the glitter and bright lights that usually come with a vacation. all 6 of us were able to arrange our schedules to get together, almost like old times!

this summer's trip took us to a place close-by the northern loop of the cascade mountains. we rented this little number:

this next picture shows the view from one of the back windows (a huge, 2 stories-of-windows type of house) -- there's a shallow river out there just beyond the grass and rocks:

the interior of the house was gorgeous and comfortably decorated -- with three bedrooms and two full baths and all the utensils, towels, etc. we needed:

this is the view of the back of the house at sunset:

and this is a view of one of the dramatic sunsets over the mountains:


and this is the view of one of the little up-the-mountain trails you can drive up and see forever:

isn't it all beautiful?! and don't even suggest i'm being paid to advertise for this. are you kidding? who would take money to say this is beautiful when you can see for yourself that it is. at any rate, if you think you'd like to know more about this place, e-mail me and i will let you know how to find the particulars.

it takes a family, friend, village to watch out for oldsters

i forgot to credit my bro with catching the woods picture problem. thanks, larry, for watching out for me!

and the beat goes on...

watching someone die has got to be a pretty horrible experience. i know my brother, who was a train engineer or conductor or (apologies) whatever his exact title was, saw accidents as they were played out -- people driving into the path of the train, for instance.

i don't believe he ever saw people deliberately getting on the tracks, like these people have, but no matter how it happens any of those memories must be awful.

my bro retired last month and is going to be playing now -- kayaking and biking with his new foldable kayak and foldable bike. he got a degree in anthropology way back when and is planning on taking up the offer from universities nowadays where they let oldsters take classes for only about $25. major deal!! and this time around it can be mainly for fun! although for my bro anthro was always fun.

i hope you have much fun with your retirement, bob!!! love you!!!

passages

today is my mother's birthday. she was born in august 1926 and died in january 1988. i am five months older than she was when she died.

i have things i need to talk with her about. still.

and a good time was had by all ...

there's nothing quite like getting together with family. since My Younger Son lives in new york and is busy with grad school, and My Older Son lives in everett but is busy with his job and family, getting everyone together for more than two days can be impossible. BUT -- we all got together last week and enjoyed five days on the other side of the mountains!

we stayed at a new, two-story log cabin which was situated right next to a small river west of mazama. with mountains surrounding us and being 7 miles from the nearest grocery store (but just two blocks from a grass landing strip), we felt secluded and mercifully free from the noisy kids, barking dogs, and drunken adults one might find at other vacation places.

we weren't completely free from pests, though -- in fact, we'd forgotten how very annoying it is when flies are around. to say nothing of wasps, mosquitoes, and other buggy things. so i mostly stayed indoors, especially since the temps got into the high 90s and low 100s.

it was fun to go wade in the river, but really, who needs flies?! i'm just glad we live on this side of the mountains and don't have to put up with them.

the grandaughter was adorable, of course, and a side trip into winthrop was fun. i hope we can get together again next year, or the following year at the latest. being with good people is one of life's greatest joys!!!

faster and faster and faster ....

wow -- there's no time for anything anymore. the husband ordered something for the park, but it's probably going to arrive while we're gone. i ordered something for me to wear while we're gone, but they screwed around and didn't get it shipped 'til yesterday so it's probably going to arrive while we're gone. there's a very important person who's coming to visit our workplace, but that person is going to arrive while we're gone. not that my being gone matters to my workplace, but still ....

we -- both kids, spouse, grandaughter, and us -- are going to head over the mountains to a vacation home by a river/creek/stream and spend about 5 days. we're looking forward to having a lot of fun!! the only problem is that it's supposed to be about 100* while we're there. shit. hot temps and i don't get along. but we're bringing portable air conditioners, so maybe it won't be too bad. and with all the right people there, it can't help but be good!!

and right in the middle of getting ready for our trip, a friend is having her open house (to her new condo) and i'm supposed to bring food and a gift. ppppthththth! i have no idea when i'm going to get the food ready, but the gift hasn't been gotten yet.

one of these days things will slow down.