you have to smile and cheer

i haven't paid much (none) attention to this gangnam craze thats whipping around right now, but you just have to pay attention to a high school or college band. i mean, the infectious enthusiasm and sense of fun is just awfully hard to beat. and here, to the beat of the drums, is finally gangnam-style band music and a couple of shows!! yay!!! yaaaaaaayyyy!!!

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!

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!

pink gloves and breast cancer

oh! this is very cool!

thank you My Younger Son for letting me know about this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEdVfyt-mLw

let's play

the daughter-in-law and grandaughter came up friday afternoon and spent the weekend -- it was great! just us girls (husband spent the days at work) doing things and relaxing and taking it easy.

My Older Son was camping with friends but she just wasn't up to that busy and do-without activity. we went to hovander park in ferndale and climbed the tower, walked through the garden, and peeked in the windows of a lovely old house.

later the husband and i took grandaughter and went to the marina to look at boats. then we went to marine park and played with the whale tail and various other whale parts immortalized forever in black-and-white metal and cemented into the ground. it was great fun -- yay, weekend!!

could be helpful

remember how you used to be able to call information and get a phone number? and before that you could even get the address with the phone number?

then they started charging for that information and i quit using the service.

now google has that service for free. if you call 800.466.4411 and tell them the city and state, then the business you want, they will connect you. and there's no charge, other than your regular cell minutes.

google rocks! eventually they will suck like microsoft, but until then .... yay, google!!

all the news...

wow -- there's so much to get caught up on ....

one of our little group went to the hospital two weeks ago doubled over in pain. they thought it was appendicitis, then something else, then decided at last that it was diverticulitis. and they operated.

he finally got to come back to work for three hours today. he lost 25 pounds and wasn't overweight to begin with. it was good to see him back and hopefully he will progress just as quickly as he expects to. then in about a month, if he's in good shape, they have to operate again!! that surgery will allow them to dispense with the bag he has to wear now. we're all hoping that it proceeds as a textbook case and that he's back to normal in no time!

in the meantime, for the rest of us, a high fiber diet is the key to staying away from that condition.

in other news my recently-retired big boss came by the other day. she looked great!! but -- the rascal was wearing blue jeans!! sure, rub our noses in it, missy ....

and, to my surprise, i worked 25 hours overtime last payperiod (80 hrs + 25). i was so busy i didn't even realize it was that much. it has been just grueling lately, trying to complete deadlines, attending to insistent visitors, trying to accommodate the new big boss, and keeping up with my changing duties. it's been exhausting. and even though a new break-in period like this comes with confusion and change, all too often the big guys forget how much they depend on the little guys, thus they can easily over-look that the little guys are being worn down to the nubbins. hey, pay attention....

one final note -- we got to see the grandaughter and her parents last weekend!! it was an especially nice treat because our son announced they're expecting another baby! joy abounds!!