Anderson/Hatgidakis/Nelson/Metcalf: Newsletter
Old news: January 2004
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Amanda
1/31/04
It's been cold here too, 20's and low 30's. We got Tristen's furniture last night, and got most the room set up, we will send pictures as soon as it is done. Teghan had her first official night in the big girl bed, AKA Tristen's old bed, Teghan's new bed, and she did very well, other than she got up this morning and left her room and went into Tristens room, all before I got up. Tristen had a friend spend the night last night, Mable, the Girl Scout Leader's daughter. Our water heater is leaking, that's no fun. However, we have a warranty to cover stuff like that. I am hoping it's bad enough that they have to replace the whole thing, all for $40 cost, that would be nice.
Karen
1/30/04
Still winter here! We got another 2 inches of snow overnight. It was SLICK this morning. I slid most of the way to school. Not much improvment this afternoon. More snow to come this week-end. Still prefer this weather to hot and humid in summer, but a little break would be nice.
Grandma
1/29/04
Brrr!! Not much warming going on here either, may get up to 3 today, but I haven't checked. Seems like it takes a long time to warm up the house. Texas weather sounds pretty good. Enjoyed the snow days because Liv and Linz were here and they took me home for supper with them one night. Tristen, your room looks so pretty, has your bed got there yet? Teghan will have a new room also. Great pictures, Linz. Livy's chair hasn't melted yet. Hope the snow stays in Sioux City and not much of it. Feel better soon, Gary. Sean came for lunch and stocked my woodbox, so guess I need to see if I can get a fire going. Hope you are all staying warm and cozy.
Karen
1/29/04
Snowing again, should only be about an inch, but it's coming down now. Still bitter, bitter cold! Yesterday our "high" was -2.
Tristen -- I love your room -- looks so pretty. Did you get your new bed yet? What is Teghan going to do with her room? Erika registered for middle school yesterday. She is getting excited about going. Emily is registering today for next years classes.
Lindsey
1/29/04
I just sent in some more pictures that I took at Grandma's on one of our snow days!
Gary
1/28/04
Here's an FYI: If any of you have heard good things about this upper-respiratory flu that's going around, and you're thinking maybe you'd like to give it a try -- my advice would be, don't. After I finished the round of drugs my doctor prescribed a week ago, the same old sore throat, cough and congestion started to come right back. So I called the doc, who prescribed a different antibiotic which I just picked up: 68 bucks for six little pills.... That, plus the previous drugs, plus one office visit and one emergency room visit, makes this one of the more expensive illnesses I've ever had. Bleah!! The doctor said if these latest pills don't knock it out, I'm to see him again so he can prescribe something stronger. I blame George Bush.
Amanda
1/28/04
I havent seen the movie House of Sand and Fog but I have read the book. The book was great, can't wait to see the movie.
Gary, can you look at Netflix to see if they have an ETA for House of Sand and Fog? Blockbuster.com just says not available for rent, but no date.
Same for Netflix. They list it, but show "Unknown" for release date. --Gary
Gary
1/28/04
Man, the Oscars are really coming up fast! The ceremony is a whole month earlier this year: February 29. The nominations were announced yesterday, and Lord of the Rings leads the pack with 11; Master and Commander is right behind with 10, Seabiscuit and Cold Mountain have 7 each, then Mystic River with 6, Pirates of the Caribbean with 5, and Lost in Translation, The Last Samurai, and City of God with 4 nominations each.
Anyway, our oscar ballot is ready! So, sometime within the next three weeks, get in there and VOTE! Let's see if we can take the trophy away from Sam this year. :-)
Paul
1/28/04
Hey Amanda and Ryan, I don't think you miss snow as much as you realize.
I will be glad to send you some if your Texas weather (which sounds pretty good to me) will allow it into the state...
Since the snow hit, Sunday night, I have been taking calls, leading my guys around Lincoln, cleaning parking lots and city streets (with the help of 4 other managers taking turns). I'm tired, this white stuff can be a real nuisance too.
HOWEVER!! If you guys and girls would like to see it, c'mon up, I'll leave the light on, miss you
Paul sent this note in yesterday but for some reason it only showed up in my mailbox this morning. Sorry about that! --Gary
Gary
1/28/04
Hey, the big storm that hit us two days ago was the lead story on CNN today. Why today? Because today it hit New York! :-)
Heads up for a new email virus making the rounds. It will look like it is from someone you know (for example, "ganderson1@unl.edu") and the subject line will be gibberish ("XKZMNGUS" or something) and it will have an attachment. As always, don't open the attachment -- just trash the email. If you open the email by mistake it won't harm you; but if you open the attachment, it will! Be careful out there!
Amanda
1/28/04
That picture of Olivia is great! I could see that like in a ski magazine or something. Nice camera Linz, and a great subject.
Right you are. I forgot to acknowledge the picture on the front page: Lindsey did indeed take it, and sent it in yesterday. Thanks, Lindsey! --Gary
Gary
1/27/04
The snow guys finally got here around 3 and cleared the snow from around my car. I went out after they were done and spent an hour chipping the 1/8" of ice off the windows. Man! What a mess! Those of you with garages and/or Texas climates missed all that....
New pix from Emily on the photos page and new pix from Amanda & Ryan on the projects page. Thanks everybody!
Lindsey
1/27/04
I just took some pictures outside when Livy was playing outside and just sent them into you Gary so they should be posted soon. I can't believe how deep some of our drifts are! I wish you guys were here too Amandas' but right now I wouldn't mind some of that Texas weather! Well we are going over to Grandma's today when my Dad gets home so we wil probably get over there about 12:30ish I think I don't have a clock here by me but talk to everyone later!
Your pix are up right now, Lindsey -- thanks! --Gary
Gary
1/27/04
University classes resumed today, but I'm taking another snow day myself. When I looked out the back door and saw my car buried up past the bumpers and covered with a foot of snow (and me with no snow shovel), I thought, "....no." The landlord's snow-crew is usually johnny-on-the-spot, but this time they haven't arrived yet. I'm not going out til they get here and blaze a trail...
Emily
1/27/04
Well we all got another day off too. They announced we would have a late start last night, but mom said we could stay home all day. They also had to cancel my mayor's youth commission meeting. We ended up with a little over 12 inches, and they're saying we could get more on thursday!!
Donna
1/27/04
Ah, snow day # 2. I love it. I am getting a little cabin fever--I haven't left the house since Saturday. Linz, if you go to Grandma's give me a call or email. Maybe I'll stop over. Remember the last snow day we decorated Grandma's Christmas tree? That was fun. A few people made it in to work and said the interstate was in good shape--but they cancelled the buses so I wasn't about to try driving. They still haven't plowed my street yet.
Grandma
1/27/04
I think the snow has stopped at last, Steady snowfall through yesterday, and the weatherman I listened to said 13 inches more or less in Lincoln. I believe him as the 12 inch ruler Linz put in the snow out the back door went in over her hand. Sunny so far today but COLD, my thermomenter is still below 0. So far no snow plows past here however I did see one on "Y," a bus route. Got a paper this morning, none yesterday or no mailman. Guess the parks were full of people sledding etc. yesterday and probably more so today. I swept part of the deck this morning to help Penny out, and it is beautiful in the backyard, there are redeeming facts for a snow storm especially for someone like me who only has to look at it. Gary, I believe Karen's "Santa Fe" is their new car. Right?? Snow shoveling seems to bring out the best in people.
Karen
1/27/04
The Santa Fe is our new car. Very impressed with how well it handles in the snow. Amanda, the snow is great, and the days off are nice now. We were to have an extra day off in two weeks, but now we will have to go and possible an extra day at the end of school! And it is cold, cold, cold!! Brent was out shoveling the drive way for almost an hour in -10 temps at 6:30 this morning. So there are some advantages to Texas living :)
Marsha -- Erika is done with her bunnysitting. The neighbors were traveling about 100 miles away and got stuck in an even bigger storm. So half of the family is still there, but the Dad made it home late Sunday and is taking over -- I think she misses it.
I figured out the Santa Fe thing the minute after I posted my note. D'oh! --Gary
Amanda
1/27/04
You guys suck. That's all there is to it. Lots of snow, AND 2 days off! Man, I wish we were there. Enjoy it. We would go sledding, take naps, drink hot chocolate all that good stuff. Tristen is mad about it too. You guys got the good kind of snow. I talked to my friend Amber in Washington and they are getting like 6-8 inches on top of the 12 inches they already had and will be getting more in a day or two. It has snowed NONSTOP since they moved there. School is always cancelled there, I don't see how educated children come out of that region.
Karen
1/27/04
We now have at least 12 1/2 inches. It blew a lot yesterday and we have some drifts that are about 5 feet next to the house. It's a two hour late start now, but wouldn't be too surprised if they cancel. Anyway, we are letting Emily and Erika take the whole day off. Between the snow and the nasty cold temp (-5, wind chill of -30 at 6:30 am) I am not taking them. Plus the fact that Brent is taking the Santa Fe to work. The truck did not perform at all well yesterday and is staying in the garage until the streets are plowed.
We finally got our street plowed at 4 yesterday afternoon, never had to wait that long before. But they left about 3 feet of snow at the end of the driveway and the truck was buried up to its bumper. Brent was still at work so I went out to see if I could get a little of it cleaned up. I didn't get far before two of our neighbors came by with a snow plow and asked "if it would be OK with me if they did it?" they didn't have to ask twice. Brent came home as they were finishing and was able to get the truck in the garage. Now we are thinking maybe we should invest in a snowplow. That is a MAJOR concession for Brent.
I meant to ask yesterday: What's the "Santa Fe"? I keep thinking train, but that's got to be wrong... --Gary
Marsha
1/26/04
Once again, you got all the snow and we got the leftovers...about 4-6 inches for us and NO SNOW DAY! Darn! It was kind of slick, but we still got around to school and work and Anna's basketball game, the LOFAC team is now 4 and 1, a fun team to watch. Erika, are you still bunnysitting?
Lindsey
1/26/04
Well Donna we get another snow day tomorrow! We were on our way home and saw I think 8 cars that were stuck and on the way to Grandma's this morning we saw 6 so that equals up to 14 cars total all day that just I saw! Crazy crazy! But anyways they already announced that schools were closed at like 8:00?? How weird is that? They usually don't announce until AT LEAST 10:30. Anyways, we were on the way home and we were in our neighborhood not 3 houses away from ours and our neighbor across the street's car gets stuck so we have to go around to another street and ANOTHER person is stuck so we have to go even farther around to get home! Geesh! But on our deck out back the drift is probably up to my thighs! We haven't had snow like this forever! Anyways glad to get another snow day!
Donna
1/26/04
I just went out again at 4:00 to shovel my driveway. The first time I just cleared off the sidewalks and a path for the mailman. A neighbor was out with his snowblower and he started working on the huge drifts in front of my garage. They were so high he couldn't get through, so he grabbed his shovel and started working on it. My next door neighbor then came over and the three of us got it shoveled in about 10 minutes. Was that ever nice. I was only outside for 20 minutes maybe half an hour and by the time I came in my fingers were numb. I had to wait to unbutton my coat. The neighbor with the snowblower was just going up and down our block helping people. I just looked outside a few minutes ago and saw him helping someone pull a car out of a drift in the street. Nice guy.
I have at least 10 inches of snow. The weatherman says we could get up to 14 inches total. I really hope it stops soon. And I really, really hope the Gallup buses won't be running tomorrow. I will be very surprised if Lincoln schools are open tomorrow.
Amanda
1/26/04
I go to the omahachannel.com site for Nebraska news, and when I saw the weather I looked there. And Donna, Ryan would have had to go in. Offutt closed, but "mission essential" personnel still have to go, and Ryan always head to still go in. Especially since they knew we lived a few blocks away on base. It snowed a little here today. For like 5 minutes.
Donna
1/26/04
I'm starting to wonder if we may get 2 snow days out of this since the snow's expected to fall till 9 tonight. I'm going out now to shovel the driveway--this will be the third time in 2 days. I wouldn't mind if it'd stop snowing.
There was a 21 year old that died last night in a car accident on the overpass in front of Gallup in Omaha last night due to icy roads.
Ryan, OAB had a 2 hour late start this morning so if you were still here, you could have slept in.
Karen
1/26/04
Well Brent made it to work, had to take the Santa Fe. Haven't seen a snow plow down our street yet. It's still snowing, we are thinking maybe a late start for tomorrow too..... How much snow did you get in Lincoln?
Lindsey
1/26/04
Snow Day for us! It's still coming down really hard and Dad said it will probably be snowing all day and he also said its almost like a snow storm out there because of the winds and temperatures and snow! I'm just trying to stay warm all day! I'm hoping for another snow day tomorrow and Dad even said it may be possible and usually he says we'll never have one! Keep your fingers crossed!
Emily
1/26/04
Hey Everybody, well dad tried to go to work today, he got to the end of the block and had to call us to help him get the truck unstuck! Dad and our neighbor finally got it going again, then it got stuck at the next corner! But we finally got home, and dont think dad will be going in today either.
Karen
1/26/04
Snow day for Sioux City too!!! I got a call from the principal last night about 9:30 telling me there was a two hour late start (which means no preschool). This morning about 7:30 they cancelled all schools. It started to snow about 9 yesterday morning and never did stop, in fact it's still coming down. We set a record for the most snow in one day -- 8 1/2 inches.
See photos! --Gary
Amanda
1/26/04
No school today for you guys! Now I really miss the snow! I could totally go for a snow day. Enjoy!!
How did y'all find that out down in TX? They don't announced NE/IA/MN school closings on your TV stations, do they?? But you are right (for NE, anyway) -- no school for Lincoln Public (which means a snow day for Lindsey and Olivia and Donna) and, even more rare, no school for the University, which means a snow day for ME. Woo-hoo! :-) --Gary
Amanda
1/25/04
Hey everybody, its 70 here! Tristen has been outside in the sandbox in a t shirt all day. But, I miss the snow a little.
Gary
1/25/04
It has been snowing lightly here all day too, but we've gotten less than an inch. Emily, those are all good courses -- you'll have fun with 'em! Hey Erika, did you feed the rabbits yet?????
Emily
1/25/04
Hey Everybody, its really cold here, and has been snowing since about 8. We've already got about 4 inches, and its still snowing!!
I got my learners permit yesterday, and I think i am probably going to take drivers ed this summer. I've also started to sign up for classes for next year, Im not sure but will probably be taking geometry, physics, spanish 2, world history, english, and some electives i havent decided on yet.
Gary
1/24/04
Awfully busy down in Texas lately! Here's another project.
Erika
1/23/04
Grandma I was the best flute, I'm the only flute. So yeah it was kind of a solo.
Erika
1/23/04
I've got a first job!!!!! I'm taking care of our neighbors rabbit when they are gone Witch will be Sat. Sun. and maybe Mon.. I just have to feed once a day and give it food and water twice a day, oh yeah I have to get their mail and newspaper. I still don't know how much money I will get Yet!!!!!!!!!!
Karen
1/23/04
Geez, Gary that's a lot of drugs, glad they are helping though.... Not cheap to get sick :) Feels like a spring day here today, up to 55, but cold and snow to come by Sunday -- looks like Minnesota is already getting hit with it. Today was my first day of preschool on my own. The teacher is on a cruise for the next two weeks. Did have a mother helping out, good thing. They were crazy!! Oh well, have the week-end to recover.
Grandma
1/23/04
Erika, I wish I could have heard your Band Concert. You look like the best flute player there, was that your solo? You do your share of solo's, and that is so neat. Congratulations!! Gary, what kind of meds are you on now?
I'm done with the steroids as of today -- which is good, because that was the single most bitter pill I've ever tasted. One second on the tongue and you're tasting it for hours after. It's good that you hid Penny's in her food.... For the next week I'm taking an antibiotic (don't remember the drug names), a decongestant cough syrup, and also I've got to use this little inhaler a couple of times a day. After just one day on this regime, I'm nearly back to 100%. Now all I've got to do is pay for everything -- this was one expensive virus! --Gary
Amanda
1/22/04
Yes the ceiling is blue, dark blue with silver "splatter" type on top. We did that when we moved in, before we moved in actually, while the room was empty.
Karen
1/22/04
Olivia - totally agree with you in your letter to Bush! Are you going to mail it to him?
Ryan & Amanda -- shelves look very nice, makes me think where we could put some up -- is Ryan available??
Gary -- hope you are feeling better, geez taking dog medicine, does that mean you were sick as a dog? Glad it helped, nothing worse than a sore throat.
We didn't watch the State of the Union address either, figured I didn't need the aggravation. Going to a band concert soon at Erika's school, review to follow......
Had one more doc app't this afternoon, which explains my late posting of these notes. Three more medicines to take -- human ones! And the review has been posted: check it out!--Gary
Donna
1/22/04
Some people here were on a conference call with the Gallup office in Germany this morning and were told that their news is reporting that Osama has been captured. CNN hasn't mentioned it yet so who knows what's going.
Grandma
1/22/04
Everyone seems to be keeping busy, making January fly by. Hope all the flu infected are well on the way to recovery. Really nice job with the bookshelves, makes me want to find a spot for some. Cold has moved back in for a day or so but not much chance for moisture. Couldn't bring myself to watch "State of the Union" address, first time for a long time, but he raises my blood pressure. Did watch some interesting news guys discussing it tho'. An interesting year ahead, hope we make it.
Donna
1/22/04
Amanda and Ryan, I love the shelves. The look really nice. Is the ceiling painted blue? I love bookshelves of any kind. I always think they make a room look better--especially when they're filled with books.
Amanda
1/21/04
Gary, you really must not have watched the state of the union, or you may not be broadcasting your steroid use. Bush made a "yelling" plea to owners and coaches to end steroid use among players. It was goofy. Them steroids are nice though, for medicinal purposes. I have been on them once or twice for my lungs after an asthma attack. Cathy was on them when her arthritis acted up really bad and said she felt better than she had since her arthritis came about.
They sure did the trick for me, and quick. Someone here at work was on them for something (they seem to be prescribed for everything!), and they were warned about the addictive "euphoria" side effects. She said she was full of full of energy and incredibly productive that week. Penny also seems much happier. :-) --Gary
Gary
1/21/04
Quick story about my past few days: This blasted cold/flu/whatever that I picked up a few weeks ago (after breathing in the germs from three airports and a convention with tens of thousands of people from all over the country) is almost gone, but still hanging on. The only thing making this different from the normal cold/flu/whatever story is the fact that a few nights ago it took me to the emergency room! The other symptoms were receding, but the sore throat seemed to be getting worse. And after going to bed on Monday night, I realized I was having trouble breathing. My throat was swollen to the point that I had to hold my head funny to get an air passage. Am I being a wimp and I'm just imagining this, I wondered, or do I really have a problem here? So at 2 a.m. I called Ask-A-Nurse (a great service, by the way) and described the whole deal. She said the rule of thumb was, any time you're having trouble breathing, or trouble swallowing a sip of water or your own saliva (which I was), you should see somebody pronto. So I got dressed and drove to the hospital. The doc checked for strepthroat (negative) and concluded it was just a viral infection; but my throat was indeed very inflamed and swollen. So he gave me a shot of steroids to reduce the swelling, and home I went -- feeling much better! Today, the throat is 100% normal, but I'm to take the steroids (in pill form) for the next five days. Still coughing, but that's going away too. And by the way, the steroid pills are exactly the same medicine (though different dosage) that the vet prescribed for Penny's recent problems. Now, Grandma and Donna thought this was very amusing; but the fact is, I'm not taking dog medicine -- Penny was taking people medicine!
New stuff on the projects page!
Amanda
1/21/04
Could anyone else feel the great divide in the state of the union address last night? Whew. And I hadn't caught Howard Dean's WWF announcement, I mean speech Monday night, but I saw clips of it last night, uh, OK whatever. And Olivia, I thought Bush was talking about you when he said he got a letter from a girl in Lincoln, but then he said a 2 year old wrote it and I knew it wasn't you. Also, Ryan & I noticed this, and I am hoping someone in the media, or a democrat talks about the fact that the military members that were invited, the ones who had served in Iraq, seemed less than enthused about being there, and or the speech. I think it shows low morale. There were about 6-7 of them there, all low ranking (like Ryan) and maybe one or two were bored and happened to look unenthused, but all of them? I don't think so, I think that is a sign. You would think some busy body worker for the president would notice their attitudes being caught on camera and send them a message to perk up, pretend to support Bush, or leave immediately. It was bad PR, for anyone who noticed.
I couldn't locate the article just now, but within the past few days I read that morale in the military is at an all-time low right now -- army downsizing plus the war in Iraq is stretching (and stressing) the army everywhere; and promised pay raises and VA benefits have not materialized. Of course, it could also have just been that being ordered to listen to a boring Bush speech meant those soldiers were missing "American Idol." My Bush-boycott continues, so I didn't watch the big liar speech. "American Idol" was good, though! --Gary
Donna
1/20/04
Well, that settles it. I won't be voting for Bush now. Olivia, you're right, it's not about the money, style and clothes. It is about the glory! And hey, I don't like his laugh either. Thanks for opening my eyes and telling it like it is.
Gary
1/19/04
Just as long as you vote for a Democrat! Speaking of which, our Leader just lost another supporter today: Lindsey and Olivia were over at Grandma's today, so I dropped over in the afternoon to say hello (no school for them, no work for me today). When the talk turned to politics, Livy said she hopes Bush doesn't get re-elected this year. You may remember she wrote him a letter last June 13, and it seems he hasn't taken the time to respond. We discussed some of Bush's other shortcomings, and Livy then wrote this letter, which she gave me permission to print here:
Dear Mr. George Walker Bush,
I wrote you a letter 1 year ago. But guess who didn't write back yet. Good guess, YOU! You shouldn't be a presedint. Think of it, if you had 1,000,000 dollars what would you do with it? Would you give it to charitee & the bank? Or would you spend it on your house? You've also got to do something about that laugh. "Hehehehehehe." It's too heheheing! You don't diserve to be president! It's not about the money & style & clothes. It's about the glory & you have to win Fare & Square!
Couldn't agree more, Livy! Rock the vote!
BTW, sorry I've been so low-profile here recently. I've been sick for the past 5-6 days (flu-ish, cough, sore throat, etc). It's on the way out now, I hope!
Karen
1/19/04
Wow, Amanda you have been busy. I went to a couple of those cookie meetings too. Some people get way too involved in it!
Marsha - I made that pound cake of yours from the recipe page. Delicious!! We have also been into big, soft pretzels. Get them frozen and pop them in the micro, yum, yum.
Anyone at all interested in the caucus tonight? We are all sick of hearing about it around here. Be glad when it's over. Not even sure who I would vote for.
Amanda
1/19/04
Today is my last day off before school starts. Ryan & Tristen are home for the holiday as well. I have to go into work tonight I guess. I didn't get everything accomplished that I wanted to while I was off, but pretty close, and I still have today. Even Ryan has cranked out a few projects, one, some bookshelves, I will be sending in a picture of. We watched movies over these last 2 weeks, POTC, Finding Nemo, and Seabiscuit, we never watch that many movies, so that was a little vacation. We ordered Tristen's new bedroom set, so now we have to real quick like tear her room apart and paint it (and I have to make a set of sheets magically turn into curtains, Donna??), and set her bed up in Teghan's room, because it will be hers now. I went to the cookie manager meeting yesterday. Yikes, it's like a high stakes big business game. I'm a little nervous. Really, it sounds like school will be the best place for me. I'm taking Spanish 2, Walking (last PE credit), Intro to Criminal Justice, Politics of the Middle East, and Politics of Western Europe. I hope it's a nice semester like last semester. 15 hours, and by the end of the sememster I will be at 90, senior status! Woohoo! Tristen had fun at her slumber party; they did facials, hand wax, foot massage (that she told everyone smelled like onions), decorated cupcakes, and watched a movie until 1 AM when they finally crashed. The next day we had a girl scout thing that taught the girls about disabilities. They used crutches, wheelchairs, tried to talk with big marshmallows in their mouth, had a special speaker(s) who was blind and uses a seeing eye dog (she actually works at my school). It was a neat day. Teghan got 2 year pictures taken last night. It did not go well, when that kid makes up her mind about doing something, that's it. So, we only got 3 pictures. We are ready to do our taxes, but the website we have used the last 2 years won't be ready until Thursday. Anyhow, weekends on this page are usually slow, so I thought I would update. :)
Donna
1/19/04
Happy Birthday, Marsha!
Ryan, Amanda, Tristen and Teghan
1/18/04
Happy Birthday Marsha!
Paul, Lori, Lindsey, and Olivia
1/17/04
Happy Birthday Marsha!
Grandma
1/17/04
Happy Birthday, Marsha!!
Nelson's
1/17/04
Happy Birthday Marsha!!
Amanda
1/16/04
Tristen is going to her first birthday slumber party tonight. It is for her friend Reyna. They were in the same class in kindergarten and now still in 1st grade. Tristen is very excited, the first thing she said this morning when she got out of bed was, "I can't wait for tonight." They are going to do manicures, pedicures, facials, and decorate cupcakes. Lots of girl stuff she said. Reyna lives only 2 blocks from us (actually on the street where we almost bought a house, before we found this one). Tomorrow she has to come home a little early because we have a girl scout thing to do from 10-1:30. So that will be interesting if she gets little sleep. :)
Karen
1/15/04
Mmm, Girl Scout cookies ... can't wait. Hey, Gary when are the SD details coming? Must have been a rough trip, two days and no report :) First day of second semester for the kids today. Emily has two new classes, into to dance and art. Hate to complain about the Democrats, but geez! Since we are in Iowa and the caucus is on Monday we have been getting 5 - 7 calls a day and the mailbox is overflowing with ads!!! Apparently the politicians didn't include themselves in the "no call".
As a matter of fact, political calls are specifically excluded from the "no-call" legislation. Politicians don't play by the same rules as the rest of us! As for San Diego, I'll get something up tonight or tomorrow. Been busy since I got back! --Gary
Amanda
1/15/04
The magazine subscription money does not come directly to our troop. It goes to our council, the people in charge in our area. We honestly won't see a dime of it. We got our money by giving them names of people to hit up for the magazines ($3 per each 10 names and addresses). If it is cheaper to renew or subscribe by other means, by all means do it that way. Save the money for cookie time. :) :)
Marsha
1/14/04
San Diego in January....some people have all the luck! We have had a pretty mild month, no snow for several weeks and people are craving it. I made that chicken once, after I mounted the chicken on the beer can, carried it so carefully to the grill and placed it on the grill, the darn bird fell over and beer was shooting like a fountain all over the hot coals.
Amanda
1/14/04
I will check tomorrow to see if that money goes to our troop or just to Girl Scouts. I will let you know.
Donna
1/14/04
Welcome Back Gary! I missed the website.
Amanda, I just saw my first Girl Scout cookie order yesterday, so it's good to know I need to wait.
What about magazine subscriptions? I got a sweet message from Tristen last week and there's one listed in her note that I was thinking about renewing anyway, but it's a little higher ordering it from her. Let me know if it helps her troop and I'll get it from her instead.
Karen
1/14/04
Welcome back Gary! Good to have the web page running again. Emily, Erika and I all have the day off, teacher inservice. Looking forward to a lazy day.
Amanda -- I really like our new faucet, mostly I like that it doesn't leak anymore. It was getting pretty nasty under the sink. I was the cookie troop manager for a few years too. Not very difficult, just a pain to store all those cookies until they are picked up. Somewhere I have a picture of Emily and Erika surrounded by 100's of boxes of cookies....
Emily and Erika's aunt Marcia calls that chicken "Beer in the butt chicken." They have a funny story about that, they were staying with her when Brent was in the hospital and she made some, but the cats found it on the counter while it was cooling. So they all ended up with pizza that night.
Paul
1/14/04
Welcome back Gary, hope the trip was fun, even though it was a work trip. John and Marsha, the recipe Amanda is talking about came from the Grill book you sent me for Christmas. It is great, thanks. Was hoping to wear the tee shirt for the playoffs, but oh well, maybe next year! Thanks again everyone...
Gary
1/13/04
Thanks. San Diego was very nice. Amazing to see leafy trees and flowers everywhere. Weather was perfect every day. Lots of great food and some interesting sights. Longer report follows -- I'm going to bed!
Amanda
1/12/04
I know Gary isn't home yet, but I'll post something so that when he gets back to his most important job (Webmaster) there will be some fresh news. We got new tires on the Grand Am. Nice timing, right after an 1800 mile trip, right? Could have used them before. They ride nice. Ryan keeps admiring them. They are just tires. We also put in a new faucet on our kitchen sink, man we love it. Ours has been showing signs of failure and leaking, so we got it over with and installed the new one. I was excited to do dishes. That never happens. Karen, how do you like yours? Today I bought books for school. Oh, I am tired of that cost. It's as much as tuition for a class! I bought Ryan's book too, he is taking Trigonometry, YIKES! Dad & Linz~ we made that beer chicken. It was good. We used Misty's on it for the rub, and the taller beer can, 16 oz maybe, and it never did boil over. You guys ought to put the recipe on the recipe page. I have heard it called different things, my favorite is drunk chicken. Oh, and if you have seen girl scouts selling cookies, do not buy, I repeat, do not buy. Tristen will be selling from February 13-22. I will email again like we did with the nuts. She will call this time too. We were just learning with the nut sale. Oh, and I guess I signed up to be the cookie manager for our troop, I don't like the sounds of that. Anyhow, Gary hope your trip was good, we miss the webpage!
Sean
1/8/04
Grandma, I had your vegetable soup tonight, it was great!
Lindsey
1/8/04
Glad all your stuff got back OK Metcalfs'! Have fun on your trip Gary!
Thanks! --Gary
Karen
1/8/04
Gary, have a good trip and enjoy the warmer weather. We will miss the web page :)
Thanks! The trip is getting just a wee bit weird, though: The person with whom I was going to the conference spent his Christmas break in Portland, OR, and planned to come back to Lincoln yesterday. But, if you've seen the weather lately, you know that Portland is almost shut down thanks to a freak ice storm. The Portland airport cancelled all flights yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and he's not sure how soon he can get a flight after that. So it looks like I'll be doing the trip solo. I told him on the phone this morning it would be silly to finagle a flight to San Diego just to catch the tail-end of it; so he'll probably just fly back to Lincoln, when he can. He's lived in Nebraska most of his life, yet he says he's never seen an ice storm like this one -- he scraped an inch and a half of ice off their car yesterday.... Hopefully in a few days all this will be funny. Room service with a warm ocean breeze coming through my window will help! :-)
--Gary
Grandma
1/8/04
Glad to see that Christmas caught up with the Metcalf's in good shape. Getting back to more seasonal temp's, but not exactly warm, snow may begin a melt down this weekend. Gary, have a fine time in California.
Thanks, will do! Starting tomorrow there will be no updates to this website (newsletter, reviews, etc) till I get back next week. See you then! --Gary
Amanda
1/8/04
OK, Since no one has written in 2 days I'll give it a go. We got our UPS boxes Tuesday night, and NOTHING was broken. Even the margarita glasses grandma, and that was what I was worried about the most. It was fun unpacking, it was like Christmas for us, since we don't really get to use or do anything with our stuff in Lincoln since it has to be packed up. Tristen is back to school, and glad. Homework already the first day, and she was excited for it. Lots of stuff to do before I go back to school on the 20th, I have been busy, busy trying to get it all accomplished.
Gary
1/6/04
A while back I mentioned a contest being run by MoveOn.org, asking people to submit original 30-second TV spots which tell the truth about George Bush. Over 1500 TV spots were received, and they have been narrowed down to 15 finalists -- the winner(s) of which will be aired sometime in the future. But you can view all 15 of them now, at www.bushin30seconds.org. It requires you to have Quicktime installed, which I know most or all of you do. Check 'em out -- they're great!
Amanda
1/6/04
I just checked the weather, and it appears we left just in time. -7 in Lincoln, brr. Granted it is only 12 here right now, but -7, I think not. And is today the last day of Christmas stuff on the front page? I am Christmased out. Tristen goes back to school today, and Teghan to daycare, where she will start transitioning to the 2 year old room. I am hoping to get the UPS boxes today, we all have forgotten what we got for Christmas.
Yeah, today is the Feast of Epiphany, the 12th day of Christmas, so tomorrow's page will be plain vanilla. And yes, it is WAY cold here: -8 on my drive into work this morning. This is making San Diego look better and better! --Gary
Grandma
1/5/04
Glad the Metcalf's got home okay, and missed the weather, Still bitter cold tomorrow. Sure did enjoy their visit, and didn't it go fast?? Nice the Nelson's were able to come for a visit while they were here also. Good to see everyone.
Gary
1/5/04
Here's a good article on the Nebraska coaching situation. Let's make 2004 the year we get rid of George Bush AND Steve Pederson!
Lindsey
1/5/04
Hey everybody! Hard to get going this morning and get back into routine. It was COLD this morning. Amandas--we do have the old maid cards that we will get back to you, the silverware we haven't found unless you can think of anywhere else it might be. Glad you guys got home safely. Talk to everyone later.
Karen
1/5/04
Why are you going to San Diego? Lucky you....
There's a conference out there that I and another person from my office will be attending. I've driven through San Diego once, on a day-trip to Tijuana (just across the border in Mexico), but I've never spent any time in SD. So this should be fun. Leaving 7:30 am on Friday, and getting back about 6 pm on Tuesday. --Gary
Gary
1/5/04
Yup, actual temp. And I agree, I still prefer this to the heat/humidity of summer!
Hey, speaking of heat and cold, guess where I will be spending this upcoming weekend? I'll be spending five days in San Diego, where the weather on Saturday will be sunny with a high of 72. I'll dip my toe in the ocean for y'all! :-)
Karen
1/5/04
Temperature was -37, not just the wind chill? Yikes!!!
Gary
1/5/04
This morning my thermometer said -2, and I think right now it's up to 1 (one). And I got an email this morning from my friend in Colorado who said their temperature this morning was -37! Yow!
Karen
1/5/04
Brrrr, cold, cold here today. Maybe a high of 4 today!! But still better than 100 + and humid!! Everyone back to work and school today, tough to get going this morning. Glad to hear the Metcalfs are home safe, we wondered if you would get nasty weather on the drive.
Amanda
1/5/04
Home at last. We got home yesterday at about 3 in the afternoon. It was a less than desirable drive for the first few hours, through snow, high winds and then sleet that made our windshield a sheet of ice. Once we reached Concordia Kansas it died off a bit. We are glad to be home. Tristen & Teghan and I are home today, Ryan is back to work though. Tomorrow for Tristen. Cold here. 19 right now. But no snow of course. We had a great time in Lincoln, rushed as usual. Left a few things of course, Ryan thinks he may have left his little USB storage device at grandmas maybe?? A 3 inch plastic thingy with a necklace type string on it. Teghans silverware. And the old maid cards, we can't live without those, we gotta hear Teghan sing Happy Birthday when she sees the happy face card!
Lindsey
1/4/04
Had a great time with Metcalf's here. Gary I can try to send you those pictures. Kind of quiet without Tristen and Teghan here! Can't wait to see you guys again soon. Had a good New Year's over at Grandma's. Then had a nice dinner on Friday night. Metcalf's were here and Sean and Grandma came over. Dad made Beer Chicken and that was really good. Then played cards for a while and then me and Amanda took Grandma home and went to WalMart at 12:30 AM which was very scary and we don't recommend it! :) Hope everyone has a good New Year!
Amanda
1/3/04
Today is our last day here, and now snow???? We are hoping to leave early Sunday morning, like 4 AM-ish. We had a great time. It was rushed and go go go, but isn't that vacation? Seems so to me!
Gary
1/3/04
New Year's Eve at Grandma's house included lots of games (where Livy made us all laugh with "Uranus and Neptune" and "Let's go to Jim's"), lots of food (including ice cream sundaes at midnight), and horns and party hats. Teghan almost made it to midnight; and Tristen did see the old year out, thanks to an earlier nap. Lots of fun! :-)
Weather has been weirdly warm here too, up until today -- with some snow possible this afternoon.
Karen
1/3/04
Been quiet on the web page lately, must be having fun in Lincoln. We had a nice New Years Eve. Watched a couple of movies and played cards. Don't think any of us made it until midnight though. Had a near record high of 56 yesterday, today we are to be only in the 20's and snow, and a "high" on Monday of 8. Going to make it even harder to go back to work and school. Metcalfs -- have a safe trip home :)
Donna
1/1/04
Happy New Year!!!
Ryan, Amanda & Tristen
1/1/04
Happy New Year!
Gary
1/1/04
Happy 2004 everyone!
Lindsey took some great pictures last night, which she transferred to my Palm Pilot -- but when I linked to my computer this morning, instead of being copied to the computer the pix were erased instead. Could you email them to me, Lindsey?? Sorry!