Anderson/Hatgidakis/Nelson/Metcalf: Newsletter

Old news: June 2005

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Donna
6/30/05
Hey Emily, I just noticed your newsletter item--how could I have missed it? Okay first of all, do you want a curfew for teens? Do you think you should maybe argue about doing away with curfews instead? What time is yours in SC? How long has there been one and what made the city decide it was needed in the first place? I don't even know if Lincoln has a curfew.
I love the idea of painting the bathroom crisp white--that will feel clean and spacious. And the blue accents will be really pretty. You should make it celestial.
What a busy, fun summer you're having. Way cool to be in a parade float. But this isn't your first time, is it?
I want to see Cinderella Man. I think it looks really good. I saw the biography of the person this movie is about a few weeks ago. What a great story. Madagascar--maybe. WW and the Chocolate Factory? No thanks. Looks too creepy to me. I don't think I want to see Hotel Rwanda. It sounds too sad.

Amanda
6/30/05
OK, we will be hitting the road at about 5:15 in the AM on Thursday the 30th! This is us, signing off! See you in Nebraska!
Livy
6/29/05
Hey evrybody! Anna, Linz, and me, we all went up to North 40 golf. My dad drove us up there, then we walked back. It didn't take that long because we skipped a hole or 2. But it was fun. I almost won a free game on the last hole, I just hit it a LITTLE to far. Before we left North 40, we had nachos, cheesey fries, and pop. But on the way back, you always have to walk on the far side of the grass so you don't get ran over or something. We knew it would be a strech getting home, so we took a shortcut in the woods behind everyone's backyards. Home finally, then I ate ice cream, then we listened to music for a couple of minutes, then played some deadly games of Pacman! Then we watched Lindsey's dance recital tapes, more games of Pacman, then when they went tanning, I played more games of Pacman. I didn't know we could fit that much into one day! Talk to you all later!!!!
Amanda
6/29/05
Very cool ad... We should be there in about 24 hours!
Gary
6/29/05
MoveOn.org has a good TV spot they're going to be running soon, and it features Chuck Hagel, Amanda's new boss. :-) Check it out here.
Livy
6/29/05
Hey everybody! I can't wait till you guys come down. We are going to have lots of fun! But I'm not going to be there the 3rd and for the 4th for an hour or 2. It's because Linz, my mom, my dad, and me, we will all work at a firework stand making around $8 an hour. It is by one of Lindsey's dances, and a mini golf course. Then we might watch a couple of fireworks there, my grandma got a $50 firework for free because my mom's cousin is who were working for. It's huge, and it will be soo pretty at the end, it's called "A Bad Mother," with explosions on the front with the mom and babies crying and such.

Hope you guys have a GREAT trip here! Talk to you all later!
Nelsons
6/29/05

Have a great trip Metcalfs!!
Emily
6/29/05
This was a long newsletter month. A lot going on I guess.
Mom is painting the bathroom today, its not going so great, so you might have to wait awhile for some pictures! We decided to just paint everything, walls and trim, a crisp white. Then Dad got a nice navy blue shower curtain while he was working on the shower surround last weekend, so we are just going to get navy blue accent pieces. We went shopping for some yesterday, and I think it will all look really nice. Then we will finally be done with the painting/re-modeling projects for awhile!
I had a Teen Court session last night, it was kind of a let-down. I was supposed to be prosecuting a gang related minor in possession case (which would have been a lot more intresting than the basic shoplifting/curfew cases we ALWAYS get) but they never showed up. So the gang kids got an arrest warrant and I just got a curfew case. But, next month after we do our session our director for Teen Court wants me to be one of the people in a group that is going to be working on getting a uniform curfew for the 5 areas around Sioux City. My committee in Mayors Youth Commission has been talking about doing something like this for awhile, but decided Teen Court would be a better group to work on it since we are already pretty busy with all our lobbying stuff, but I am on both so hopefully it doesn't get too hectic! :) But, anyway, there are about 5 small communities surrounding Sioux City that all kind of run into eachother, but they all have different curfews for different days and different ages. And lately we have been getting SOO many curfew cases in Teen Court beacuse nobody know the curfew for the city they are in beacuse they are all different, it is just really confusing. So, that should be intresting to see if we can get something going on that.
Then on Friday I and about 20 or so other people from Mayor's Youth Commission are going to be riding a float and passing out beads for the Mardi Gras parade on the Riverfront that we have each year, so that should be fun. Then Saturday is Saturday in the Park. Dad and Erika have gone every year, but this is going to be my first year going. It should be a lot of fun!
I started to watch Bush's speech last night, but I couldn't get into it and had better things to do! I agree it sounded like the same thing he has been saying for the past few years, Iraq & 9/11.
It sound like everyone in Lincoln is having a nice time, I'm sure it will only get better when Metcalfs go down tomorrow!
Too bad you can't drive yet, Anna. I know down here you have to have your permit for like 6-9 months before you can take Drivers Ed. and get your license and I just made it, like by only a few weeks I think.
I haven't seen Cinderella Man yet, but I think Mom, Erika, and I are planning on going to see a movie sometime soon. We were thinking about Madagascar, has anyone seen it?? I think it looks like a good one. I want to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when it comes out too, I love the old one! And Gary, I still think you guys need to see Hotel Rwanda, it was great. Maybe that would be something you guys could do sometime in Lincoln, although it might not be great for Teghan and proably Tristen too.
Olivia, I can't believe Bush hasn't responded to you!!! Haven't you already written him twice?!! I sure hope he writes you back soon!!
Livy
6/29/05
Hey everybody! I saw most of the monkey's (Bush) speech last night, only I kind of started getting bored about the first 3 minutes that we saw. I even wrote down a whole page of the bad things he has done, and I even through in a few bad names (thats when my dad said that I was starting to get mad). ;) In about 2 or 3 months it will be 4 years that I've been waiting for my letter back from Bush, and I know that it did NOT get lost in the mail and never got it. I just asked ONE question and explained why and he didn't even care! We all thought this democratic ladie at the end of the speech should be president because she had some good reasons for kicking Bush out of the seat. To put on top of all of that, I'm going to try and send it into the newspaper, because I know that Bush will probly read the paper some mornings. I know that Bush would NEVER right back to a 10 year old kid, not even a 7 year old! But I shall try! Talk to you all later!!

The democratic lady Livy mentioned was California's 8th District (San Francisco) Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. --Gary

Gary
6/29/05
Hey, "War of the Worlds" opens today. I've seen three reviews of it already this morning, and they're all glowing. (And not just from the radioactivity.) Definitely the big movie of the summer.

And speaking of movies, anyone want to see the Ron Howard/Russell Crowe movie "Cinderella Man" -- for free? I understand that even though the reviews for it have been great, very few people are going to see it. So -- in an attempt to get people to see it and start some positive word-of-mouth -- starting last Friday, they're offering a Money-Back Guarantee: Anyone who goes to "Cinderella Man" can ask for, and get, their full ticket price back after the show, no questions asked. That's supposed to be an across-the-board policy, but I suppose it would be smart to check with your local theater first.

Gary
6/29/05
Wow, what a month for the newsletter! By far our longest and most active one yet. Two birthdays; school ending for everybody; new cats in Sioux City; dance classes, dance camp, dance recitals, swimming, track meets, and soccer camp; remodeling and room re-arranging projects; two murdered fish; "Who Am I" #10; the Miss Niceness Award; internships offered and accepted; car trouble and Grandma's Ride With a Stranger; Pete & the June bugs; Teghan's first trip to the dentist; Lindsey at the Ice Cream Club; Sean's apartment essay; the Melting Pot (which is good even if you're not a cheesey person); Tristen's lost Gameboy and Ryan's lost (and found) wallet; and Karen, Emily, Erika, Anna, Ryan, Amanda, Tristen, and Teghan all coming to Lincoln! I say again, what a month! :-)

I saw only a little of Bush's sermon last night. As someone wrote on the internet this morning, "I didn't watch his speech because I saw one about two years ago." I understand he connected Iraq to 9/11 five or six times last night, even though that connection -- like the mythical WMDs -- has been shown again and again to be false. Lying to Congress and the people is an impeachable offense. Why is this monkey-in-a-suit being given a free ride?

Anna
6/28/05
Hello everybody! Amanda- I can't drive yet because I couldn't get a time to take my test because I had to wait so many months after I got my permit so it hasn't been long enough for me to take my test yet. Having fun though and can't wait to see you guys!
Lindsey
6/28/05
Hey everyone! Today we didn't do much. We went over to Grandma's today about 2 and then me and Anna went and shopped at Gordmans for a while. Then we ate dinner at Grandmas (Taco Salad) which was good, but for dessert she made two home-made pies, a coconut one and then a chocolate one! Then later Gary took us over to the Dairy Store and got ice cream and we brought some home for Grandma. Later me and Liv and Anna went to the new park for a little bit and then came back. Then we got picked up about 10ish. Not sure what the plans are for tomorrow yet. Can't wait to see you guys!
Gary
6/28/05
Sad news for all us fans of Ken Burns' Civil War documentary series: Shelby Foote died yesterday. If you haven't seen that series, you should.
Amanda
6/28/05
Ryan should be getting his duplicate drivers license from UPS today, as it was overnighted yesterday. And as luck would have it, his was FOUND! Someone found the drivers license, military ID & social security card and took it to the base visitors center (the building right off of all bases). He got a call from the visitors center this morning & went and got it. SO, with that recent bout of good luck, I hope our bad luck is over! Tristen finished up swimming lessons today & I finished up my class. I took my last test this morning! So, Anna, have you at least visited Grandma?? Can you drive yet, or no license? I'm not sure what Minnesota laws are. Cuz Linz car is just sitting there, right? Wouldn't that be nice if you could drive? We have not started the packing procedures yet, gonna get to that tomorrow. We work best if we do it all in one day. SO not looking forward to the drive. We checked out the DaVinci Code on CD for Ryan's truck & for the car I got Bill Clinton's My Life. That should make the drive better.
Livy
6/28/05
Gary, the King Kong movie you told everyone about was cool! But theres dinasure creatures and a giant monkey, I don't quite get the theme. What was that creature with the giant arm that grabbed the ladie? Karen, the doorbell thing was freaky, once it was my birthday and I invited all of my friends over and we were all in the basment wathing t.v. on the big screen. Then we heard a flash of lighting and we saw a shadow of a suit and a hat in the window so we all ran upstairs and locked the doors. Amanda, we got the pictures too, they were soooo cute! It's good that Ryan is getting new ID stuff. Last night Anna, Linz, and I were watching Miss Congeniality 2 Armed and Fabulous. I didn't see the whole thing, but what I saw was good! One of my favorite lines was when Sandra said "I don't get why I couldn't be Tina," but if you don't get it, well you kind of have to see the movie, or it's in some commershals. Talk to you all later!!!

Livy, the theme of the movie is this: Some people go to this far-off island to make a movie because they have heard rumors about strange things there and they want to capture them on film. When they get there, they discover not only a giant ape -- that's King Kong, and that is his arm you see grabbing the lady (her name in the movie is Ann Darrow) -- but they also find dinosaurs and other scary stuff. Then one of the guys (played by Jack Black) thinks it would be a good idea to capture King Kong and take him back to New York so other people could see him. But guess what happens....? Want to go see it with me??? It opens in 169 days! :-) --Gary

Gary
6/28/05
Creepy! Ghosts in the storm, ringing doorbells.... I didn't hear the storm last night, but I saw the evidence of it on my drive to work this morning: Several limbs down, and lots of leaves and twigs left in piles by rain run-off.

Hey, if you missed the "King Kong" trailer last night, you can see it here. It's way cool -- can't wait for this one!

Karen
6/28/05
Emily, Erika and I were singing "You're just like me" all day yesterday :) We may have to rent the video, just to get the next line. Amanda -- thanks for the pictures -- they are great! Boy did we have a big storm last night. Started to thunder, lightning and then rain about 3 this morning. The weirdest thing was the doorbell kept ringing, after about 3 times we got up to check on it. No one there, think maybe the lightning set it off. Ended up getting over and 1 1/2 of rain.
Donna
6/28/05
Anna, I'll have to trust that you really are here since I haven't seen you yet! Hope you're having fun. Actually you must be here because when I talked to your mom Sunday, she sounded extremely happy. I think I know why now. ;-)

So Teghan still thinks she's a princess, huh? I heard she can only bring one princess dress and she's having a hard time deciding which one it will be. Everyone sing along with me..."you're just like me...I'm just like you..."

Anna
6/27/05
I had a good car ride down here. We haven't done too much, just hanging out. Can't wait to see everybody!!
Lindsey
6/27/05
Hey Amanda I don't think Livy was there when we found the 40 dollars because I think it was the week I went up to watch Tristen when you and Ryan had work because I know it was just us that went to Applebee's. Can't wait to see you guys and I hope all of Ryan's stuff gets worked out. Anna's here so don't worry!
Emily
6/27/05
Amanda, we got your newsletter today. It was fun to read, and the pictures were great. I think my favorite of all of them has to be the one of Teghan holding the flower. Erika especially loved the one of Tristen in her dance outfit, she had to put it in a magnetic frame we got from our studio and stick it on the fridge right away!
Amanda
6/27/05
Ryan never did find his ID's. But all morning he has been working on replacing them. He got his military ID first thing this morning (couldn't get very far on base without it). Then he has been on the phone with the DMV in Lincoln & faxing them stuff all morning. His mom is going this afternoon to get it & overnight it, otherwise it wouldn't get here in time. He has a nice mom. :) Social Security card will be a little easier & not so pressing timewise. We do need to alert the credit bureaus though to put a fraud alert on his social security number. The thing that sucks about all the leg work he is doing for the 2 ID's is that he has to do it all over again in a month or so. He got a new military ID this morning, but it is basically expired on July 1st when he sews on his new rank! E-6 (Tech Sgt) on Friday!! And his drivers license expires in October, but he will renew it while he is in Lincoln (because you can do it 90 days early, thank goodness). Such is life. But, at least things are going OK, for now. No bad luck today. My rear view mirror is reattached.
I take my last online test tomorrow, and that is my last test in college!!!!!
Tristen had a good day at swimming lessons. She swam the length of the pool twice! (That equals one standard lap) Deep end and everything! She was exhausted. But her teacher & I were so proud of her. And she was proud of herself! Her self esteem is sky high right now...
Teghan is a fish in the pool. She can jump off the top step of the ladder and really no one has to catch her. If she goes under water she is pretty much fine with it. And she can dunk her head. She is proud of herself too!
Donna~ July 4th... Not sure. Thinking about going out to Metcalfs. We have had two 4th of July's here, where there is a strict law against blowing off fireworks and Ryan is going crazy. Out at his parents house he can do just about anything, so he is itching to go there. The 5th-- no plans. And the 8th-- no plans... YET! :) :) All I know for now is Thursday 30th-- out to dinner with Metcalfs for Steph's birthday-- Saturday 2nd-- Ryan's 10 year reunion at 6 PM in Lincoln. Those are the only things that are set in stone. I wouldn't mind going to farmers market that first Saturday (2nd) if it all works out.
Where is Anna? Can we at least get a report from Olivia? Hey Livy, sorry you lost that $20, but remember when we found $40!!! That makes up for losing $20, right? And Ryan did not lose any money (he only had $1 in there :)) and no lost credit cards...
Karen
6/27/05
We did have water when we got home, in fact it was all finished and looking very nice. Brent was pretty tired out though. He worked long and hard to fix it. Guess it was a good thing we weren't around. Hoping to get the bathroom painted this week, then all of the big projects should be done for a long time!!
We all had a fun time in Lincoln. On the way home we stopped at the outlet mall near Omaha. Boy, what a waste of time! I seem to remember stopping there a few years ago and it was great. Now about 1/3 of the stores are empty and the ones that are there weren't too interesting. And if that wasn't bad enough, there was some kind of "Nascar" show in the parking lot, so it was hot and NOISY!!
Ryan-- did you get your drivers license? I don't think I would want to risk driving that much without my license. Glad to hear that Anna got to Lincoln OK.
Emily
6/27/05
I didn't do anything to my tattoo, I think mine might have faded faster beacuse it was on my shoulder and my shirt might have rubbed against it.
Gary, we were reading the Summer Activities list a few days ago, there have been a lot of additions, its getting pretty big! But, we were thinking we should start crossing off or taking off the items after we have done them, just to see how many we actually get done.

Yeah, I plan to do that. Once something is "done" I will mark it in some way. What's the point of a list if you can't cross things off it? :-) --Gary

Later: Check the summer list again, Emily. I have ruled out Erika's recent item as an example. (Though I'm sure that's not the only time it will happen this summer!) --Gary

Donna
6/27/05
Karen, Emily, Erika, thanks for coming down this weekend! It was a lot of fun. Did you have water when you got home?

Anna, I talked to your mom last night. She wanted me to tell you your letter(s) came in the mail Saturday!

Gary, did you know ABC is doing a 6 hour mini-series on Rome this week?

Amanda, do you have any plans yet for the 4th? And what about the 5th? I'm toying with the idea of taking the 5th off or maybe the following Friday but I want to take a day when you guys will be around.

Yeah, the series is called "Empire" and starts tomorrow night. I hope it's good! Though I just heard that Bush is going to make an address tomorrow night to try and pump up his sagging approval rating by telling us how important the war in Iraq is. I can almost guarantee he will bump "Empire".... Grrrr! --Gary

Gary
6/27/05
To everyone who has either lost a wallet or has a fading tattoo, I hope things work out for you. :-) Just a reminder, if you're looking forward to "King Kong" this December, that the preview will be aired tonight for the first time -- at one minute before the 8:00 o'clock hour. It will be on NBC and several other channels. This is such a big deal that even the teaser has a teaser; and here it is!

I understand that Anna is now in Lincoln, but I haven't heard a peep out of her. Can anyone report on her whereabouts? :-)

Interesting review, Erika!

Supposed to be 95 here again and humid. Global warming, anyone...?

Erika
6/27/05
Emily I think you did something wierd to your tattoo, Because mine is still on! Lindsey did your tattoo fade or stay on??? Ryan I hope you can find all your I.D. thingeys!!!!
Emily
6/26/05
It does sound like Metcalfs aren't having the greatest of luck, hopefully everything gets better before your trip!
Livy, I'm surprised your tattoo is still on, mine has pretty much all faded off already!! The guy did say it would last 7-10 days, and I didn't scrub mine off, I'm angry!!
Livy
6/26/05
Hey everybody! Ryan, have you found the rest of your stuff to your wallet? Because if you didn't, you could just use your Mulder ID. I think that should cover it! Did you have any $ or credit cards in there? Because once a long long time ago, I had a purse and in my billfold I had $20 in it and I left it there and never found it again. Hope you find your wallet soon. Talk to you later!!!!
Livy
6/26/05
Hey everybody! Amanda, sorry about all of your bad luck. Hope that was the last of it, I wouldn't want to lose my wallet, or an $80 Game Boy. Tell Tristen that I hope she finds it soon, or even finds it. I hope Ryan finds the rest of the stuff inside his wallet too. My tattoo is still lasting from the Farmer's Market, but I'm not surprised, he said it was supposed to last 7 to 10 days, unless you scrub it in the shower/bath.
Amanda
6/26/05
Sounds like a fun 2 days. Wish we were there. We have been busy ourselves. Tristen started swimming lessons on Thursday. It is really only 4 days of lessons. They are going well. It is just her & one other girl and her teacher is her dance teacher. The other girl is younger & less advanced, so that is hurting Tristen a bit. On Friday she had lessons again & then at 2 we went to Castaway Cove, the waterpark here, for a birthday party for Tristen's friend Caleb. Her & her pack of 4 friends (Kennedy, Miami & Amanda) were gone the whole day, we barely saw them. Teghan & I did our own thing in the little kid area & then Ryan came when he got off work at 5 & we stayed until about 7:30. We thought of Linz & Livy while we were there. Saturday we took Pete to the vet for his last round of shots for awhile. Then we went to the pool on base where Tristen & I worked for 2 hours in the deep end (5 ft, but to her, that's deep). She made some serious progress! She was exhausted and proud of herself. Now we just need to keep her in the "deep" water to keep her going on it. Then we stopped at the gas station on the way home to get some snacks & went home. As soon as we got home Ryan realized he didn't have his wallet. So we started to head out the door to retrace our steps (because he was pretty sure he left it on top of the car at the gas station) when someone called & said they had it. We got directions to his house & then went back to where he found it because the pictures fell out of it. We found the pictures fairly quickly & then headed to pick up the wallet. The people were very nice & Ryan was very appreciative. However, there was one part to Ryan's wallet that had not been found, a little insert deal that held his driver's license, military ID & social security card. We went back to the scene & drove around in circles while Ryan walked the area for almost 3 hours to no avail. Oh, and to add to the drama-- I was driving with no rear view mirror, it fell off at the pool! It got so hot sitting in the sun at the parking lot that it finally gave. There is not much we can do about it until Monday, so for now Ryan is just wallowing in depression, and fearing identity theft. And the question mark hangs over us leaving on Thursday with Ryan having no driver's license. Oh, and did we write in last week about Tristen losing her Game Boy? Yup, $80 down the drain, and if you add in the price of the game $30, we are out lots of money. She just got it for her birthday! However, she is not totally to blame. We are not really mad at her. It was here on a Sunday & I personally saw Teghan playing it. Tristen had a neighbor friend over that day.... And we didn't go anywhere with it, so it should have been in her room, or in Teghan's. On that Friday we top to bottom cleaned out their rooms. I'm talking through toy boxes, closets, dresser drawers, everything. And it never turned up. We asked the neighbor friend about it & the neighbor parents. Still nothing. I'm telling you, we are running into a bout of bad luck lately! So, hopefully we can still leave on Thursday, that is Ryan's sister Stephenie's birthday & we were all planning on going out to dinner that night!
Livy
6/25/05
Hey everybody! I just got my hair cut! My mom cut off about 4 or 5 inches and it's weird, I've never had this hair style before. Also, Linz put my hair up in a bun with 2 blue chopsticks. This morning we all went to the Farmer's Market and Erika, Emily, Linz, and me, we all got airbrush tattoos! I got a blue and black dolphin on my arm. Then I spent the rest of the day with Donna, going shopping, to her house, playing with Mojo and stuff. I was going to help her spread mulch, but it was too hot, so we did other stuff. It was very fun. My mom and dad are picking up Anna/Linda :) and they should be home around 7:30. This is reporter Livy signing off for Saturday ;-)
Emily
6/25/05
Hey everybody! We had a great time in Lincoln this weekend! We ended up getting home right about 4, after stopping at the Outlets mall in Omaha. We just stayed around Grandma's on Friday and did some shopping. Then we went to Farmer's Market bright and early this morning. We all had a great time there eating beaver tails and getting tattooed! Then we did some more shopping and a delicious nacho buffet.
Gary
6/24/05
Quiet on the old newsletter page! Why? Well, maybe it's because two of our most regular reporters -- Emily and Olivia -- have both been busy. Karen, Emily, and Erika arrived here in Lincoln this morning around 10:30, and after lunch (and in spite of the heat) we set out on a shopping trip: Grandma, Karen, Donna, and Emily in one direction, and Olivia, Erika, and me in another. I don't know where all the first car went, but we first hit Gateway, then PetCo, then to my place to check my mailbox (and a quick computer game session). Then back to Grandma's for a few games of Facts in Five and -- dusting off an old favorite -- Password. Then a great spaghetti dinner thanks to Grandma, where Olivia ate more than all the rest of us put together! (Just kidding, Livy!) Then Paul, Lori, and Lindsey arrived (Lindsey having just gotten off work) to pick up Olivia. (Paul and Lori are heading north tomorrow morning to pick up Anna.) A few more games, and then we watched Emily and Erika's recital tape, which was excellent. And then, after a long day, to bed. Tomorrow early: Farmer's Market.
Lindsey
6/23/05
Amanda me and Anna were JUST talking about it actually last night when we saw it and we wondered about it but didn't say anything....

The spa sounds fun and it's nice for you to do that especially before you start your big internship! Can't wait to see you guys!

Emily
6/23/05
Amanda, I thought the exact same thing when I looked at the front page today too! Sounds like you had a fun day.
Too bad we are going to be a day late for the ice cream social, we are all looking forward to tomorrow!!
Amanda
6/23/05
So who is the park named after? Who are the McAdams? It should have been named Anderson park.
Yesterday I had a nice day. Tristen spent the night with Kennedy so I didn't have her to worry about in the AM & Ryan took Teghan to daycare for a day of "drop in" care. I had a 9 AM appointment at Brook Street Day Spa http://www.brookstdayspa.com/ to use a gift certificate I got for Valentine's Day. So I did the Getaway package, which included an hour massage (that I actually didn't fully enjoy, it hurt the middle of my back & is still sore today) a facial, a pedicure & manicure with parrafin. Then I got a haircut (that I don't like-- I have had one bad haircut after another, and its short! So it will be while until I am happy again!). But the point is, I had head to toe pampering! And after rereading what I just typed it sounds like I had a bad experience, I did not, it really was great. Very calm & relaxing & it felt great! They served me lunch, a roast beef, turkey & ham on croissant with provolone, lettuce, tomato, onion & cream cheese, and a salad & cheesecake! I didn't get out of there until about 3! Then I ran some errands kid free, which is always a plus. But today we are back to normal & now we are under a week til we come! We can't wait!!
Gary, where did you get today's background for the front page? I'm not sure if it is quite legal...

Ooops. When I put the page together, I just grabbed a leafy background -- which I assumed at the time was common old (and legal) maple leaves. But I looked at it again earlier this morning, and thought uh-oh... but by that time I figured everyone had seen it, so what the hey. DISCLAIMER FOR HOMELAND SECURITY and any other governmental agencies monitoring this page: We do not promote nor condone the use of controlled substances -- unlike your coke-sniffing boss George Jr. --Gary

Donna
6/23/05
Hey, the mayor is dedicating the park by Mom's house (official name McAdam's Park) today at 5:30 with an ice cream social after.
Mom, did you know they took the bricks from McAdam's house and used them for the new entrance at Sunken Garden's? That's a nice place for them.
Olivia, maybe you should go tonight and let the mayor know how unfair it is to only let the really little kids play on the equipment. I'm sure she'll listen to you!
Gary
6/23/05
On the Downing Street Memo again: It's clear now why the governmental bodies are ignoring it -- they're too busy. The Supreme Court has been busy with a case concerning some homeowners in Connecticut whose homes were in a spot that the city wanted to sell to a private developer for a hotel. The Court this morning sided with the city, ruling that local governments may seize people's homes for private economic development. More good work, Supremes! And of course the House and Senate are busy, too -- they're working on important things like taking away funding from PBS, and yet another flag-burning amendment. So naturally nobody has time to look into whether Bush lied to Congress and started an illegal war of aggression. ...Though I don't know what the media's excuse is...

Sorry, just venting a little! :-) Hot enough for ya?

Emily
6/22/05
Gary, I think your idea sounds good. I'm not sure about everyone else, but just hanging arouund Grandma's and maybe doing a little shopping Friday and Farmer's Market Saturday morning sounds good to me! It has been REALLY hot here too, upper 90s all week! I'm hoping it cools down a little soon.
Lindsey
6/22/05
I'm not trying to miss you guys, if I have to work I have to work.....

Anyways I might be over Friday and Saturday night but I'll figure it out later. Can't wait to see you Anna!!

Livy
6/22/05
Hey Everybody! Yesturday when Gary, Donna, Grandma, my dad, Linz, and me, we were all out side kind of talking before we got in our cars to leave. When all of sudden, we hear this huge screech. We looked up and a big halk flew over our heads! Behind were a stock of birds pestering him flying tree to tree while the halk isn't doing anything. I bet the halk ate a baby bird from one of the birds pestering him, but the birds were mean to him! I didn't get any pictures of him, but Lindsey did, and it was cool. Gary, your right, it is like an oven down here! Have you guys dicided yet if your wanting to go to the Zoo, or the Farmer's Market?
Gary
6/22/05
Emily, a Saturday morning trip to Farmers Market wouldn't be too bad, I'm thinking, but an afternoon trip to the zoo... well, right now (at 1 pm) it's like an oven out there. If you want to see roasting animals, let's go to a BBQ place and peek into the kitchen. And hey, I made up a new supply of Facts in Five sheets, too! :-) Plus we have lots of other games around, and I'll probably have a new game or two by the time you get here.

By the way -- speaking of the heat -- it may be 95 out there today, but think on this: today the days start getting shorter! And the first Nebraska football game is only 73 days away.

Emily
6/22/05
Donna, we're not sure what we are going to do. We didn't get much feedback on either one, Farmer's Market or Zoo, so we thought we would just stay around Grandma's and see if we could all get something together. But, either way I'm sure it will be fun. Its looking like it will be pretty hot too, so thoes might not be the best places to go. I made up some new Facts in Five sheets and Erika and I have been playing a lot of those games, so that would be fun to do. And, I'm sure we would be up for a small shopping trip too.
Gary
6/22/05
Okay, Molly Ivins' column, which Donna found in this morning's paper, can also be read here. It's good! I also found an earlier column of hers which does a nice job of explaining the background and significance of the Downing Street Memos; it's worth reading, too. Thanks, Donna!
Donna
6/22/05
Hey Anna, what a surprise! It will be fun having you here all Summer long! Too bad Karen's will just miss seeing you this weekend. Darn it.
Emily and Erika, what do you guys want to do the most--zoo or Farmer's Market? What about a trip to Eyes of the World? That's always fun!
Erika, your room looks beautiful! I love the paint color.
Donna
6/22/05
Hey, there's a really good article by Molly Ivins in today's paper about the Downing Street Memos. She's wondering the same thing--why isn't this making the news.

I'm looking for an online version of the article. Stand by. --Gary

Emily
6/22/05
Well, now it sounds like Lindsey is the one trying to miss us! :) How long are you planning on staying Anna, and how are you getting back??
Lindsey
6/21/05
We were over at Grandma's tonight and we were all outside (Gma, Donna, Gary, me, Liv, and my Dad) and all of a sudden heard a SCREECHING noise and looked up and there was a hawk flying low and all these birds were flying around it and it was crazy but it was so cool because it was flying RIGHT above us. Also tonight I talked to Teghan and Amanda for a while. Tristen wasn't there so I couldn't talk to her but Teghan chatted up a storm! Everything from swimming with Pete to Trick or Treating..??...:) But can't wait to see everybody!
Lindsey
6/21/05
Well since pretty much everybody knows now, this Saturday my Mom and Dad are driving up to get Anna for the summer! I can't go because I'm working and Livy is going to be at Grandma's while Karen's are here. But they are shooting to leave around 6ish and are meeting in Northview (I think that's the name) and then coming back to our house that night and should be home around 9:30ish. So Anna will be here this weekend!! And in 9 more days Metcalf's will be here! Fun summer is about to start!

The actual name is Northfield, Lindsey. --Gary

Gary
6/21/05
Car Update: Just now heard from the car guys, who told me the problem is a blown MAP sensor. (MAP = Manifold Absolute Pressure, as I'm sure you all knew already.) This defective sensor was giving conflicting messages to the car's computer. Repairs will be done this afternoon, and I should get out of there for less than $300, they tell me. And part of that was for the tow, for which I will be reimbursed by my insurance company. Not bad. Could be worse. Knock wood.

P.S. Cool room, Erika! Though I think you should have left the hole as a conversation piece! :-)

Erika
6/21/05
My room is all done! I really like it! Here are some before and after pictures of it.
Amanda
6/21/05
Oh Gary, back to the cell phone. Yes, the phone was handy in the office, but if you had a cell you would have had access to all those numbers, all pre-programmed into the phone. But wait, my palm has that too. Do you use the address book feature? Sean has had the same phone number for years now... So, how is the car?

Yeah, the fact that neither of us had Sean's number was just a housekeeping issue; I should have had it in my Palm, but didn't. (But do now!) Haven't heard yet about the car, which is making me a bit antsy. I still hope it's a minor thing, but the longer it takes.... On the other hand, they were pretty busy when I brought the car in yesterday, so maybe they haven't really gotten to it. --Gary

Amanda
6/21/05
I doubt it before Christmas. This trip will be enough, we will be tired of the Lincolnites!! Actually, Christmas we are not sure about either, just because so many things are up in the air, jobs, etc.
Emily
6/21/05
Cute pictures of Cesear, we can't wait to see the new park!
Amanda, we were wondering if you guys were going to be in Lincoln again before Christmas, or if it would be better to bring down T&T's presents when we come to your party??
Lindsey
6/20/05
Amanda~your review of The Notebook was exactly what I thought! I love that movie, so much that we bought it and I've watched it a lot since. Same here I didn't cry but it was touching..:)
Gary
6/20/05
Oh also, Amanda, about your review of "Sky Captain": I didn't like it much either, so your rating sounds about right. But I can comment on the "look" of the movie. This was the first "live-action" movie ever made where the entire thing was done with computer graphics. Not just some of the scenes: all of them. The only "real" things in the movie were the actors and their clothing. Everything else was created on a computer. So when you see someone getting into a car, in real-life the actor was filmed against a green-screen, pretending to open a door and sitting down on a chair. This gave the director complete freedom to make it look however he wanted. It's something we'll probably see a lot more of in movies to come. So as a "practice" piece to demonstrate the technology, this movie was interesting; but as a movie-movie, it wasn't great. And your statement about not knowing when to be impressed (if I may paraphrase) was interesting, because I had a similar reaction: Knowing that it was all computer-generated, I found that none of it really impressed me, because, hey -- they did it in a computer. Cool computer graphics is kind of a two-edged sword....
Karen
6/20/05
Amanda, we are NOT trying to avoid you. We just got this idea on Saturday and went with it. We will be down sometime before you head back to Texas :)
Gary
6/20/05
I hope it's only bad gas. That is sure what it seems like to me. I mean, it was running fine, I fill up, and it dies. So if this can be fixed by siphoning out the tank and filling up again, yay! But with my luck, nay. And I agree that cellphones are great to have along in an emergency situation, but it wouldn't have helped here -- we were right in the parking lot of the doctor's office, so we went inside and made all the calls we needed to on their phone. We thought of Sean and Paul first, but neither one of us had Sean's number, and when I called Paul I got his machine. And then the non-psychotic killer guy came along and solved the problem.
Amanda
6/20/05
Gary, I am with Karen on the license number/psychotic killer thing... What the heck! YOU NEED a cell phone! You could have called Dad or Sean I bet!!!! Sean especially, since you were right downtown. Sheesh people... So, was it bad gas? I have a friend who got bad gas once & it did the same thing. Turns out, when the truck was there pumping the gas into the ground it was pouring down rain & too much water got mixed in with the gas. So, lots of people got bad gas. ANYWAY!! It is hot here as well. In the 100's by Wednesday. Argh. So Nelsons, are you trying to miss us? You are going to Lincoln 6 days before we get there, what gives??
Emily
6/20/05
Me, Mom, and Erika were all thinking that we would really like to go to the Children's Zoo when we come down, so if it would be better for everyone to go on Saturday instead of doing Farmer's Market (if you guys even want to go to the zoo:) we wouldn't mind doing that instead. Also, since I know some of you guys have been going to Farmer's Market a lot lately and were getting kind of tired with it. But, just a suggestion. We are all getting excited about it, can't wait til we come!!
Gary & Grandma, sounds like you guys had a fun morning!:) It is definitaly starting to feel like summer here too, supposed to be in the upper 90s all week! Erika and I have been outside most of the day so far and a lot this weekend too, so we are both sunburned. But, it is fun to be able to get and do stuff in the summer!
We are going to be doing a garage sale in a few weeks, Erika and I both had a lot of stuff from cleaning out our rooms that we needed to get rid of, and a neighbor came around the other day wanting to do a block garage sale. So, we are going to that, it should be fun.
Can't wait to see everyone, only 4 more days!!!
Karen
6/20/05
OK, Gary, you memorized the license number "in case he was a psychotic killer," but you let her go with him anyway????? So what is wrong with the car, bad gas? It's hot here too, already up to 90. Emily and Erika are out cleaning Brents truck (one of his fathers day presents). As they have said we are planning a trip to Lincoln on Friday, just this morning they thought it would be fun to go to the zoo, so that may happen. Erika's room is finished, she is still unpacking a few things.

If this had happened in almost any other city than good ol' Lincoln NE, I might have advised against it. But he seemed OK to me; and Mom later told me that not only was he real chatty, but it turns out he also really hates Bush. So I guess I sensed in him a kindred spirit. :-) Looking forward to seeing you this weekend. I will most likely miss the Friday zoo trip, but I'll be around Friday evening! --Gary

Gary
6/20/05
Okay, here's my day so far: Mom had a doc app't first thing this morning, so I drove her there; and while she was inside I drove a few blocks away to fill up my gas tank. Came back and was waiting in the parking lot. After a little while I decided to drive around the block just to cool off (already hot here at 9 am...), so I started the car and backed out. And the car died. Started it up again and drove a few feet--and it died again. The pattern was, the car ran completely normally -- gauges all looked good, etc -- as long as I was revving it and giving it gas; but the minute I let up the pedal to idle, the engine would immediately die. So I called in for a tow. The bank was going to be one of my stops later this morning, which meant at the moment I had very little cash on me; and between the two of us, we didn't have enough cash for Mom to take a cab home. So we hadn't quite figured out how to get her home by the time the tow truck arrived. At this moment a guy came out of the doctor's office to get into his own car, but came over to chat when he saw the tow truck. When he learned that Mom needed a ride, he kindly offered one. So I memorized his license number and hoped he wasn't a psychotic killer, and rode the tow truck to the repair shop, then walked to my office. Haven't heard from the repair guys yet, but I'm hoping it's a minor thing as my money all seems to be spoken for just now. Oh yeah, and Mom got home ok.... :-) How was your morning??
Emily & Erika
6/20/05
Hi everybody! We are looking forward to our Lincoln trip. We were thinking about taking a trip to the Children's zoo (I miss the lion head garbage can, it is soo cool! -Erika) We would proably have to go Friday afternoon since we want to do Farmers Market Saturday. Would anyone else be intrested??
Can't wait to see everyone!!
Lindsey
6/19/05
Well to get the story straight, I haven't been working overtime. A girl at my work that also works at Brown Bagger's got hurt and couldn't come to work for a while so I volunteered to take some extra hours since she coulnd't work. But my job is going pretty good and I really like it!
Livy
6/19/05
Hey everybody! We had REAL Father's Day! We had a big dinner. I helped my dad make cheesburgers and hamburgers on the grill. We also had hotdogs, salad, and other stuff. Grandma Anderson, Grandma Megrue, uncle Dan, uncle Doug, Grandpa Megrue, my mom, my dad, Tasha, Brittney, Sheila, and me all came to my house to have this dinner. But Lindsey didn't come because she was working overtime till closing because my mom's nail person, she ownes the Ice Cream Club and her two daughters work there too. One of them cut a little part of their finger off on the meat slisser and she can't scoop ice cream and such. I feel really bad for her and her finger! Only 10 more days till you Metcalfs come down!!!
Livy
6/19/05
Hey Gary, we have had some problems with our computer. It freezes up, it takes forever to put DSL on, then get on the internet. (Thats why I couldn't do the answers to the Who am I's.) When it freezes up, we restart it, and that takes so long, you could fall asleep! Also sometimes when I'm on it, it just stops for about 5 minutes, then just suddeny appers again. Have any suggestions? And don't even get me started on pop-ups!

I don't know, Livy. Could be a virus. We will set up a time for me to come over and I can take a look at it. --Gary

Livy
6/19/05
Today me and Dad put up Ceaser's pool, and he dunked his nose in it, then scraches the bottom, and then drinks it! He also stands in the water while he drinks. It was funny and I got pictures of it. This morning I woke up at about 7 and made my parents coffee and got the newspaper, and watched the very begging of Hitch in the kitchen before they woke up! Then I went down to the computer room and got on the webpage. Amanda, did you hear Teghan talking to my dad, she said she was bringing down chacolate milk for her and Grandpa to drink. Only, don't tell Teghan this, but Grandpa doesn't like milk! :) I also thought it was cute when she was going to bring him a chip from the reasturant! Just a couple of more days until my room is finished! Only, this time I'm not going to waste my breath trying to pull my bed with a rope! ;-) Talk to you all later!!!
Livy
6/19/05
Hey everybody! Hey Gary, our computer has been acting up and it's really geeting on our nerves. When we get on the internet to check the webpage, we have to hook it up to DSL and that takes like 10 minutes. Then if the computer freezes up or doesn't work, we have to restart it, and that takes forever too. Sometimes when I'm on the website writting a story or something, it freezes it up and I have to write it all over again, and sometimes I have to do it like the next day or so because it says it's not responding. Thats why I didn't get to do my Who am I's. We think it's a virus but we can't get rid of it! But we should have a virus by now, we've had it for a while. Do you have any suggestions? Oh, I'm almost done with my room, but now it's just empy since we moved all of my furniture into my parent's room, and in the hallway. But it's kind of hard to get through with my stuff there. All thats left there is my bed and my stuff on the walls, and my t.v., but my mom didn't shampoo my carpet the other day, she was busy. I took some pictures with my digital camera of what it looked like when it was moving stuff around, and I'll get some pictures of it when I'm done.
Happy Father's Day!!!!!
Emily
6/19/05
Hey everybody! We are planning on coming down for a visit Friday morning/afternoon, and stay over so we can go to Farmers Market, then leave Saturday afternoon/evening. We can't wait it should be fun! We are still planning on coming down another day for Amanda's thing if nothing comes up down here.
I don't think Erika will be going down to Lincoln for a week, we will just come down for the few days I mentioned. We just thought it would be too hectic for everyone if we ALL went down and stayed at the same time.
Livy, I got a "Lucky Bamboo" last time I went to Eyes of the World too, we named it Bambi. It has grown A LOT since I got it!
We are finishing up Erika's room today, just some touch-up painting and moving furniture back in. I'm sure Erika will get some pictures in tomorrow. It looks really nice!
Happy Father's Day!!

Ah, so THAT'S the Bambi on your Who Am I answers! :-) See you soon! --Gary

Livy
6/19/05
Hey everybody! For you people who don't know the story about "Teghan Target Emergancy Pants," here it is. Once, Linz, Teghan, Donna, Tristen, Grandma, Amanda, and me, we all went to Eyes of the World and we all were looking around. Right when we got there, Teghan went to the bathroom on the floor! So the ladie at the counter asked Amanda if she wanted some paper towels to clean it up and Amanda said no. Lindsey thought Teghan would be emberassed so she fed her MnM's. Then Amanda, Teghan, and Lindz took the car and went to Grandma's but they didn't have a key. So they went to Target to buy a new outfit. Lindz sat in the car feeding Teghan still, while Amanda went to buy a new outfit. So then it comes back to Donna, Grandma, Tristen, and me. We were waiting at Eyes of the World for an hour and a half waiting for Amanda to come back with the car! So the people there were like, why aren't they leaving and stuff because they didn't know Amanda took the car, so we were embaressed too. That was the story about Target Emergancy Pants. I also put a thing or two on the Summer list for when you guys come down. Talk to you all later!!!
Lindsey
6/18/05
I was looking at the summer activities and Amanda and Tristen--Juice Stop is a given!! We'll have to go there definatley more than once I hope ;)! Gary, I don't remember putting watch recital tapes... maybe somebody else did? Looks like we have a lot planned! Hey Erika are you still planning on staying a week? I also added something to the list too!

The recital tapes item came in on June 15, Lindsey, and has your name on it. Does somebody else remember sending it in? --Gary

Livy
6/18/05
Hey everybody! We went to the Farmer's Market today and I bought some cool stuff! I even got a spongebob cookie. Then we went to Eyes of the World! I bought a bamboo and a tiny vase and put some gravel and water in it, and the best part about it is that it is lucky bamboo! On the front of the vase it has a pink glitery leaf and I'm going to put that on my new desk by my laptop (if I get one). Today I was at Grandma's and Donna's house witch has a pretty bathroom so I didn't go home at all so it was a good day for my mom to shampoo the carpet since it takes about a day or two for it to soak in. So I'll probly sleep with Linz or in the living room. Also me and Donna went shopping and we each got a cookie at the cookie company!
Erika
6/18/05
We took some hot dogs to the cats this afternoon and 3 of them came back (Napoleon, Debbie, and TJ) but Tina and CJ are still missing!
Livy
6/18/05
Gary, if you get some pictures of Ceaser today or something, they are not mine. Lindsey sent her pictures in instead of mine, she didn't download my memory on my camera to the computer and send them to you. I got different pictures then her and I got more and if you still want mine, I'll probly be at Grandma's tonight, I don'r know. But it depends what time your coming, because me and Lindz went with Donna and Grandma to the Farmer's Market this morning.

I did get Lindsey's pictures and they will go up on Tuesday. (I'll explain the delay to everyone then!) When I get your pictures, I will put them up too. I can help you with it tonight, if you're there. --Gary

Erika
6/18/05
Hi everyone today I went out out to just check on the babies this morning And I shook thier food dish and this HUGE cat tried to attack me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was thier Mommy! We are almost positive it was thier mommy because it looked just like Little Debbie only about 3x bigger! Now we can't find them anywhere and when ever I use to call them they would come right to me we think the mommy took them!!!!!!!!! A few days ago two of them tried to attack Emily!!!! So she is not so sad that they left, I think she was mean to them because whenever I use to hold them they would just purr and Purr and Love me !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I MISS THEM :( IF YOU SEE THEM CALL ME!!!!!!!!!!
Emily and Erika
6/18/05
We just added some things to the Summer Activity list, it looks like everyone taking a trip down there will have a lot of fun!!
What kind of party are you guys planning for Teghan??
Livy
6/17/05
Hey guys! A couple of days ago, I got some pictures of Ceaser in sunglasses when we were on our way to Grandma's and it was cute. He didn't even try to take them off! He would just smile and have us smell his afull breath. But I also got a couple of pictures of him with the sunglasses on his head and on the last one he sneezed so it looks like he's angry! I'm sending those pictures to Gary to put on the website. Don't forget to look at the website on the first day of summer! The other day, me Lindz, Grandma, and Ceaser went up to the park and I went on the equipment to take some pictures and I'll send those to Gary also. As I said, don't look at the sighn by the playground, "children age 2-5 may play on the equipment." Can't wait till you guys come down!!
Gary
6/17/05
Hey, howsabout some Friday afternoon movie news for the weekend?

  • For all the Kong fans out there (surely I'm not the only one?), the highly-anticipated "King Kong" trailer will be shown for the first time on Monday, June 27, at 7:59 p.m. on NBC (after "Fear Factor"). It will also be shown at exactly the same time on all the other channels Universal owns -- SCI-FI, USA, Bravo, MSNBC, and CNBC, to name the big ones. The trailer will start showing up in movie theaters (and online) within a few days after that.
  • And speaking of trailers, there's already a trailer for the "Da Vinci Code" movie -- even though the movie isn't coming out until May 19, 2006. (I've put that on the countdown page!) The trailer doesn't show any scenes from the movie at all -- just some computer-graphical stuff (though it's pretty cool). The movie is directed by Ron Howard, written by the screenwriter who did "A Beautiful Mind," and it stars Tom Hanks. You'll find the trailer and more current info on the official movie site.
  • And speaking of Tom Hanks, he has just acquired the movie rights to Mark ("Deep Throat") Felt's upcoming book; so a new Watergate movie is on the horizon.
  • And speaking of on the horizon, work has begun on three more movies of interest: "National Treasure 2" and "The Simpsons Movie" (no release date announced yet, and those may not be the official titles) and "Spider-Man 3" (summer of 2007).

    See you at the movies!

    Emily
    6/17/05
    Sounds like your room will look nice, Livy, hopefully Oreo won't keep you up anymore! I can't believe you are getting your own mini-frige, but you might want to ask Erika about the down-sides of having food in your room first... :)
    I haven't seen "Hitch" yet, but it looks like a good one to rent sometime. Did anyone watch the new "30 Days" TV show on Wednesday night?? I did, and I thought it was pretty good, very intresting. Morgan Spurlock (The guy from "Super Size Me") and his girlfriend are in it. Just like eating McDonalds for a month they try to live a different way for a month. In this episode (I think this was the first one out) they both had to live working minimum wage jobs and see how they could get by, they hit a lot of snags throughout the month and didn't quite make it, but I thought it was very good. It is going to be a series so I will definitely be watching for the next ones.
    We got the first and second coats of paint on Erika's room last night, it is looking really nice. We went out shopping this morning and she got some curtains that will look nice in there too, it should just be a few more days for her room to be done!
    Livy, I'm sure you will pick out a great dog, but I think you should get a little Bull dog!! I wish we could get one!
    Livy
    6/17/05
    I don't know Amanda, maby Ceaser will like Pete, he liked Sasha when he first met her. But I think it kind of depends how fisty he is. Since Ceaser is a little old, he might not be as playfull, but I don't think he'll fight with a puppy. I just don't know. Plus, my mom said we might be getting a mini Ceaser. Ceaser comes in 3 sizes. Toy (a little smaller than Ceaser is now), medium (what Ceaser is), or large (a bit bigger than Ceaser). But we don't quite know yet. Before we were thinking of a toy Ceaser, we were thinking of a beagle but we don't know what kind of dog yet. They are all maby's. Talk to you all later!!!
    Amanda
    6/17/05
    Tristen & I had our Girl Scout Zoo day yesterday. It was a good time. It was hot as all get out, but fun. Us and 17 other girls and 7 other adults left in 4 SUV's at about 7:30 AM. After a stop for gas & another stop for bathrooms we were there. We broke into 4 groups & explored. We met back up for lunch & then more exploring in the afternoon. Then we went to eat at Pappsitas, a good mexican restaurant. We got home at about 9:30 last night & Tristen & I both took lukewarm showers & did the foot massager! It was a nice time, and we are glad it is over. Now we can focus on our trip to Lincoln, which is 13 days away! And Olivia~ I would go for the border collie, and yes, definitely a female. I bet if Ceaser & Pete ever meet, Ceaser will not like Pete too much.
    Livy
    6/17/05
    I'm almost done rearanging my room. All I need to do left is to move my bed and my dressers. But I'm asking my dad to move my bed because I tied a rope on the bunk-bed and then I pulled the rope, but it didn't even move a quarter of an inch. My parents said that we are going to shampoo my carpet and clean and dust while we're at it. My mom also said we're doing it this weekend and maby a little tonight. I also have to remember to leave room for my new desk, and my new mini-fridge! I'm putting my mini-fridge right by my bed so I can always reach over and grab a soda. On my desk I'm wanting to put a laptob on it so I can play games, and do my homework. I also wrote a review about Hitch and you can read it if you haven't seen it yet.
    Livy
    6/16/05
    My dad is still thinking about that dog more. We don't know what it might be yet but we're not getting it this weekend, but it will be soon. We are baisicly getting another dog for Ceaser. Because whenever we are busy Ceaser is all alone and even on the weekends when we don't have work or school we sometimes are busy and Ceaser needs a friend at this age. At home he doesn't really chase squirrles or anything because he's bored and wants a day off and if we got another dog, the new dog can do it so Ceaser can relax. Talk to you all later!!!!!
    Livy
    6/16/05
    Hey Gary, are you going to make it to Grandma's today? If you do, I'll be leaving around 6 or 6:30. Hope you can make it!
    I lost a couple of my playground pictures but me and Grandma went up there and I took some more pictures. Only, one of them has a little kid in it because she was running to her parents from going down the slide. ;)
    Gary
    6/16/05
    Well, Democrats with backbone may be in low supply, but they are not extinct! Congressman John Conyers (Representative from Michigan, who was also very vocal about the voting "irregularities" last November until Kerry just gave up) is holding hearings, starting today, on the Downing Street Memo. This is a recently-surfaced document which proves that the U.S. and Great Britain had secretly agreed to invade Iraq in the summer of 2002, long before Bush got the consent of the Congress to invade. It further proves that facts (about WMDs, for example) were distorted to get Congress to consent, and that plans for the invasion of Iraq were in place as far back as 2001, perhaps even before 9/11. I made the Downing Street Memo the cool site a while back, but here it is again in case you missed it. The memo was discovered by the Times of London last month, but the American press and TV news has been totally ignoring the story, so far. It has been getting attention mostly by internet news sources, like this one. Anyway, Conyers has put a letter on Bush's desk (signed by himself and 88 other members of Congress) demanding an explanation; and at the hearing today he will produce a petition with a million signatures on it (including mine!) with the same message. I say again,
    Livy
    6/16/05
    Hey everybody! I couldn't get to sleep last night because my hampster Oreo, she kept running in her NOISY wheel and once we tried putting cooking oil on it, but she just liked licking it instead of running on it. The cooking oil is supposed to not let you hear it when they run, but since she ate it, it was noisy again. So last night and today I've been rearanging my room and I set Oreo's cage by the t.v. so she's clear across the room by my closet and I won't hear her. I've done a lot to my room and the most important thing that I can't move is my bunk-bed! So I'm going to ask my dad to help me move it. I'm also getting a new desk for my room and it's going to be sitting right below a window so I can look out when I'm sitting there. I might ask my parents if they could get me a labtop for it. But if they say no, then I'll just save up for it.
    Emily
    6/16/05
    Well, the painting has finally begun in Erika's room! The wall is all repaired, and should look back to normal after the paint is on. We are also going to paint my closet today, so my room will be completely finished today. Erika has been taking lots of fun before pictures with the wall torn apart, so I'm sure she will get those posted as soon as all the painting is done. Mom also went out shopping yesterday and got us a bunch of little things to finish the accessorizing in our rooms, so they are really looking nice!
    Be sure to keep us posted on your research, Olivia! I'm sure you will pick out the perfect dog to be friends with Ceaser, I can't wait to see him!
    -What is the whole "Teghan Emergency Pants" episode you guys are talking about?? It sure doesn't sound like any fun for Teghan! :)

    I was wondering that, too! --Gary

    Lindsey
    6/15/05
    O man I was just thinking about the Target Emergency! Poor kid, she had no idea what was going on. I remember her feeling so bad in the car so I gave her M&M's!

    I got my hair cut today and highlighted so it't pretty short and it's definatley lighter. I'll try to get a picture or something.

    I also got pictures of the balloons you guys sent to Dad and then we have a couple of Ceaser when we were goin to Gma's and I put a pair of my sunglasses on him in the car and he actually kept them on and let us take pictures!

    Livy
    6/15/05
    Hey everybody! I'm thinking a lot more strongly about that dog I told you guys about awile ago. Only, It probly won't be the Todo dog off Wizard Of Oz, it's probly going to be something els. It might be a border collie, or german shepard, or possibly another american excimo. I don't quite know yet. But My dad told me when I was in my room rearanging it, and he said we probly will get a buddy for Ceaser since he's all alone when we have school or work or something. He also told me I'll have to do some reaserch on what type of dog Ceaser wouldn't get in a fight with and won't be lonely. But I'm thinking it will be a girl because Sasha is a girl and so was penny, and he never fought with them. But we probly will get the shot for the girl dog not to have puppies just like we did for Ceaser. Talk to you all later!
    Livy
    6/15/05
    Hey everybody, I just put on a review for the Melting Pot on the review page, I think it's very perservasive and I think you'll want to go after you read it because it's all good!
    Amanda
    6/15/05
    Grandma~ I just ordered something & I had it shipped to your house, so if you see something with my name on it, that's why. The order said it would take 2 weeks to ship & I need it in Nebraska, so I didn't want to risk it, in case it didn't get here in time. Also, do you have an extra key for us? The reason I ask is that Tristen & I just got done talking about the Target Emergency Pants episode, & Teghan said, "don't do that, don't put a target on my pants." Good times, good times.
    Gary
    6/15/05
    You melting pot guys are making me hungry! Yum. I definitely AM a cheesey person.

    Hey, in case it slipped through the cracks for some of you, remember that you can get to the "Summer Activities" page by going to the calendar page and clicking on the yellow bar at the top. (Or click here.) There have been a few more additions since the last time you looked, probably; and I have started putting the name of the person(s) who suggested it next to the suggestion. No one should get bored this summer!

    Livy
    6/15/05
    Amanda, your right, we were there a long time, we ate for about 3 hours! We left the house about 6 and we started to eat about 7 because it took an hour to get there. Then we got home about 11:30 so I didn't get to sleep till about 12 then I woke up about 8:15 in the morning. I also like the balloons you sent Dad, over the hill, and OH NO, the big 5 0! Tell Tristen and Teghan that I got some pictures of the new park up by Grandma's ok? I'm going to send them to Gary so he can put them on the computer. Only, when you get here, try not to look at the sighn, it says "children ages 2-5 can play on the playground" but I don't care, I went on it to get some pictures and I didn't get caught or anything. Talk to ya later!
    Donna
    6/15/05
    Emily, your room looks beautiful! I especially like the furniture. You did a great job painting them. Can't wait to see Erika's.
    Lindsey
    6/15/05
    I wrote a review on The Melting Pot but here is the website if anyone wanted to look at it and I think their menu is on it and they are very big into wines, so there was like 5 pages of just wines, but they had very good food. We had a pretty good time. I definatley want to go back when the mall is open and go shopping there!
    Emily
    6/15/05
    Well, my room is finally done. I'm glad its over! It looks like Erika's room will take a little longer, its a good thing she is having fun camping out in the living room! But, it should look really nice once we're done.
    The Who Am I was fun. I can't believe I got them all right! There were a few people I was sure I got wrong.
    I just got back from Mayor's Youth Commission a few hours ago. We are still working on the Beer Keg Registration bill. It didn't get through the Senate last year, so now we are working on trying to get just the county to adopt it. On July 19, me and I think 3 other people along with our directors are going to be going to the County Board of Supervisors to give another presentation about Keg Reg. (kinda like what we did for school board and some other presentations we did at the schools)But, we are just going to try and get the county to adopt it now then try to get it through Senate proably next year. But, it should be a neat experience - I don't get to talk much now that Debate is over! :)
    That sound like a fun resturant, Livy. I liked the "Search and Rescue" spoon. Erika couldn't believe you weren't much of a "Cheesy person"!!
    Emily
    6/15/05
    My room is pretty much finished now, I love it!! Here are some pictures of what is looks like so far...
    Amanda
    6/15/05
    Olivia~ I have never been there, but dad told me that's where you guys want to take us for my late birthday dinner. It sounds great! I looked at the website, but after hearing your description, I really want to go. The dessert sounds the best! It must have been 24 hours, you guys were there forever!
    Livy
    6/15/05
    Amanda, have you ever been to the Melting Pot? We went last night for Dad's birthday and it was good. Also on the way there (it was in Omaha) I watched Hitch so far and it was good, and Dad got to rent it for free because it was his b-day! But at the Melting Pot, we had 4 courses! The first course was a cheese fondue and we had 2 burners at our table and so we had two cheese's and 2 of everything els, but I didn't really like the cheese because I'm not a cheesey person. On the side for the cheese that you could dip in was bread and some cut up apples. The second course was just a little salad but I didn't have any. The 3rd course was seafood, but I didn't have any seafood because I had steak and chicken. The sides were vegetables for the seafood. For the finally, dessert! In one pot we had the flaming turtle with nuts, and the other we had hershey's chocolate and we had strawberries, bannanas, marshmellows, apples, and brownies to dip in! But if you wanted to have a private dinner, you could have a booth with one burner and fancy curtins. Also, you aren't rushed, it seems like a 24 hour resturant because they don't care when you get finished like saying "Oh, were closing soon" or anything like that. So if you brought Tristen or Teghan, they could just have steak or chicken or both like I had. Sean and Lindsey tried an apple in one of the cheeses and Lindsey's started to drip. Lindsey also had to use the S&R spoon (Search and Rescue, like if one of your foods fell in the pot).
    Gary
    6/15/05
    Hey Erika, enjoy your living-room camp-out! And that was a good catch about Tristen, "Hawk" and Hawkettes. I did not get that, and I bet you're right! :-)

    I found an interesting site this morning. It's a little movie of a "rollercoaster" in Germany. I put that in quotes because it's not a true coaster but rather a coaster-type car which moves, by gravity, from the top of a mountain to the bottom. Then at the bottom you get on a chairlift and go back to the top of the mountain for another ride. The movie puts you in the rider's seat for the whole trip, around 5 minutes! The page is in German, but the text says it is the longest coaster in the Alps, with a track length of 2.8 kilometers (1.75 miles) and the vertical distance from top to bottom is 650 meters (2153 feet). Looks like quite a trip, and must be beautiful in the winter when everything is snow-covered. Click here, and have patience with the download if you have a slower connection.

    Karen
    6/15/05
    Fun Who Am I game! Guess we all know each other a little too well :)
    Emily's room is all done and looking very nice. (Hope to have pictures this afternoon.) She is just about to go to a Mayors Youth Meeting. Erika's room is not coming along nearly as well. We took all the furniture out yesterday. I knew that there a problem with some mold in a few spots (yes, we have an old house with problems). I took the bleach and was cleaning when I noticed some soft spots in the wall and decided Brent had better check it out before I did anything else. When he got home he got the crow bar and took off the baseboards and a small portion of the wall. No real bad damage, mostly just some loose plaster. So now she has half the baseboards off and a hole in the wall. I will make yet another trip to Lowes for plaster. So we will be a few days longer in getting her room re-painted. In the meantime she is camped out in the livingroom, and seems to be enjoying that.
    Erika
    6/15/05
    Hey Tristen is the reason that your code name is Hawk on the Who Am I Because you are a Hawket?
    Gary
    6/15/05
    You guys are getting too good at this game... four perfect scores on our 10th Who Am I! Congrats to Emily, Karen, John, and Amanda, and thanks to everybody for playing!
    Livy
    6/14/05
    Amanda, just saw the pictures of Tristen, Teghan, Sasha, and Pete. Can't wait till you guys come down. My favorite one is when Teghan held up her Rock'n out hand!


    Happy 50th birthday Dad!

    Anna
    6/14/05
    Hey Uncle Paul, are you going to do anything fun for your birthday??
    Tristen & Teghan
    6/14/05

    Happy Birthday Grandpa!
    Ryan & Amanda
    6/14/05

    Happy Birthday Dad!!!
    Emily
    6/14/05
    The painting is FINALLY done in my room!! It was a lot of work, but it looks really nice now. I will try to get some pictures in later today or tomorrow. I still have to move all my stuff back in, and get my furniture moved around, and we want to get a new rug that matches better, and we will paint my closet white when we get the paint out for Erika's room, but the worst is over!
    I can't wait to see the "Who Am I" answers!! I think I did ok, but I'm sure I missed a few that I wasn't so sure on.
    Gary
    6/14/05
    Hmmm, the cool site should be set up to open directly on that bio page... doesn't it for everyone? If not, follow Donna's instructions to get to the page of interest. And I thought the same thing about Teghan's dance class -- not to mention how professional Tristen looked as instructor! :-)

    Last chance, Who-Am-I-ers! Anna, Amanda, Donna, Emily, Erika, John, Karen, Lindsey, Marsha, and Sam are already on board; but if you others want a chance to play, get your answers in today. I will post the results first thing tomorrow. Here's a preview: there is at least one perfect score....

    Donna
    6/14/05
    Nice cool site today. Did you know that if you go to teams then communications you'll find Paul's bio? Very nice.

    Sean, nice job on your paper. I wish you would have included pictures.

    Great pictures of Erika, Emily, Tristen and Teghan. I may be prejudiced but it looked to me like Teghan was the only one in her dance class that knew what she was doing. ;-)

    Donna
    6/13/05

    Happy Birthday Paul!
    Lori, Lindsey, and Olivia
    6/13/05

    Happy Birthday Paul/Dad!
    Hatgidakis Family
    6/13/05

    Happy Birthday Paul!!!!!!
    Grandma
    6/13/05

    Happy Birthday, Paul!!
    Karen
    6/13/05
    The painting is going slow! We put on the first coat and it didn't look too great, so started a second hoping for better results. Got not even half way around the room when we ran out of paint. So we had to go out and get another gallon. Taking the afternoon off and will go at it again this evening.
    Sean, great report! I enjoyed reading it, seems like I've been to your apartment :)
    I see that the verdict is about to be read on Michael Jackson. I'm betting he gets off.....
    Nelsons
    6/13/05

    Happy 50th Birthday Paul!!
    Amanda
    6/13/05
    Hey, Olivia, speaking of dogs eating things, we wanted to let you know Sasha is still normal. She eats these Jumbone things -- have you ever tried them for Ceasar? Sasha goes crazy for them. She LOVES them. We might be bringing both the dogs in July, what do you think of that?
    Amanda
    6/13/05
    I just broke the news to Tristen that I would not be working in the capital, but she was OK with it because I showed her Hagel's website & we went to the Teachers & Students Link & then Children's Corner. She thought it was very cool, that she would be spending lots of time there & that "my teacher should know about this."
    Amanda
    6/13/05
    Well, I just accepted the internship with Hagel's office! I called this morning to talk to the guy I had been talking to & come to find out he is in the Washington DC office this week, so they gave me the number to call there! So, I called the DC office to accept my internship, already that is much cooler!
    Emily
    6/13/05
    Well, we've started painting the walls in my room. We just got done with the first coat, it doesn't look too bad, but we will have to do at least one more coat. But, we should be done with it tonight and I will move my stuff in tomorrow.

    We usually have someone professional taping our recitals too, but we didn't this year. So, we got lots of pictures and video of it. Erika and I have already watched it way too many times! But, its fun to re-watch it!

    Your apartment sounds really nice, Sean!

    Gary
    6/13/05
    Busy weekend for the old webpage! A whole lot of "Who Am I" entries came in -- from Anna, Donna, Emily, Erika, John, Karen, Lindsey, Marsha, and Sam, so if you weren't named here, we're waitin'!

    Also, Sean sent in the paper he did for his writing class (which you'll find on the projects page; thanks, Sean!).

    And yet more: Amanda sent in a bunch of photos she and Ryan had taken recently -- so many I had to put them on a separate page. The original photo page still has Emily and Erika's recital pictures; the new photo page has all the recent ones from Texas. They're great!

    Oh also, the contact page has been updated with Sean's new address.

    Whew!

    Lindsey
    6/12/05
    Well we got to go see Sean's place today after I got off work and it really is a nice place Sean and I really like all the furniture you've made and it's a nice place! Nice garage and I like your sound system in your car even though I couldn't hear too well for a few minutes after :)!

    At our recital we can't video tape or take pictures but we bought the DVD of it so we can see all my dances on it when everyone's here. I'll try to get all my pictures on when they come, the photography studio hasn't got them all done yet but I think I'll have 5 different pictures so I'm excited to see how they turned out.

    Teghan your dance class looked so fun! I bet you'll have fun dancin'! And Miss Tristen the little helper you looked so cool teaching, I wish you would come teach one of my classes :)!

    Sean
    6/12/05
    For an assignment in my writing class, we needed to evaluate a product, place, event, or service. Since I had just recently moved into my apartment I chose to evaluate it. So here it is. I know there are parts that could be better, but it was good enough for me with a pile of Art History homework that needed to be done! However, I still managed a 97% on the paper.

    Enjoy and learn about my apartment!

    Gary
    6/12/05
    Amanda sent in a whole flood of photos today. To get them all up I'll be making a temporary second (and maybe third) photo-page to display them. But I'll have to do that from my office computer on Monday. So check back Monday for more photos! Just wanted to let you all know they were coming (and Amanda that I got them).
    Karen
    6/12/05
    The recital went very well. Emily and Erika each did a wonderful job :) We did tape the reshersal and the recital -- so we will be sure to bring it the next time we are in Lincoln. Today we went out for an excellent brunch. Then the girls and I started to prep Ema's room for painting. Hit a bit of a snag with her wallpaper border. Took all three of us over three hours to get it all off. So we are now a bit behind our schedule. I'll still try to paint the trim tonight. Amanda, I don't have any advice to give, I'm sure either one would be a great experience, like Donna I kind of think the one who asked first would be the top choice. I sent my Who Am I answers in this morning. Not really sure how I did, wasn't very confident with most of my answers.
    Anna
    6/12/05
    Hey everyone! You guys recital looked like fun. I can't wait until I come down. Me and Sam put in our guesses for the Who am I. Nothing else new just another nice day!
    Emily and Erika
    6/11/05
    We just got back from the recital, it went really well!! We got tons of pictures, here are just a few of them. We also taped the rehearsal and recital and those came out really well too! We had a great time!
    Lindsey
    6/11/05
    Had my last day of dance camp today. It was pretty good. The guy for hip hop that came and taught us is coming back in August to set the piece for us and that one you really get a workout but it was fun we went out in the parking lot and they brought the stereo and speakers out so we could do it out there. Then my ballet and pointe teacher for fun today instead of doing pointe (so we could get a break from that) we did something different. If any of you know the Broadway show Fossie (not sure of the spelling), well he was in the orignal Broadway cast of that and so he taught us part of the Fossie dance for the Liza Minelli movie Bye Bye Blackbird so that was fun. Then we learned a couple other dances in jazz. We also had a body conditioning class and the instructor for that actually works at Lincoln Racquet which is like a Prarie Life Center type of thing but she competes in comething like a dance aerobics and she is like 5th in the World and 2nd in the Nation for her sport so that was fun but you really get a workout there! But all in all it was a fun camp and there were a lot of great teachers from around the country and it was cool to get to work with them.

    I did the Who Am I tonight at Grandma's and me and Donna compared answers and Donna I believe it was me who beat you...:)! Then we called Anna and talked to her for a while. We also watched the two Spiderman movies which was Livy's idea to do but for some reason Livy didn't show up....out spending the night somewhere....!

    Getting close for Metcalf's to come, can't wait!!!

    Emily
    6/10/05
    Well, I just sent in my "Who Am I" guesses. I thought it was hard! I only knew a few for sure.
    Livy, sounds like Gary is a good dance teacher! :) Hope you have fun taking Hip Hop next year!
    Amanda
    6/10/05
    Donna~ You hit the nail on the head with the waiting thing. That was another pro & con I had. The lady who runs Buetler's office was one of the first people I spoke with & she told me then that she didn't think they would have any work to do because they would be out of session, but that I should forward my resume anyway and she would ask her boss, the senator. She got back to me in a few weeks with a response. Hagel's office took awhile longer, and part of that can be explained. I spoke with the guy who does internships & he told me to forward my resume. He goes through all the resumes & places interns (there are two different types of interns, paid & unpaid) but then he has to wait for approval. I'm not sure who approves, whether it is Hagel himself, or a higher up in the chain worker. But either way, I got an email addressed to all Hagel Lincoln intership applicants in April (recipients were hidden so I don't know how many were contending) that he was waiting for approval for his recommendations. While this irks me a little that it took so long, I also thought maybe it could be because Hagel has more of a reputation on the line, he can't just be hiring anyone, paid or not.
    Argh! See why I can't decide, just when I think I have the right answer I stuggle with more why & why nots!! :) Welcome to the real world, right?
    Livy
    6/10/05
    Donna, still up for Spiderman night? It's goona' be a blast! What time are you getting there? Oh and Gary, that was Donna that told me to put that you tried to teach me but your toupee kept falling off! Right Donna, :)

    Livy, I'm trying to keep my toupee a secret!! Thanks for telling everybody! --Gary

    Gary
    6/10/05
    Okay, "Who Am I? #10" is ready for you. Have fun!
    Emily and Erika
    6/10/05
    We just got back from the dress rehearsal, it went really well! These are just some pictures of us in our costumes, since the professional ones won't be in for awhile. But, the rehearsal was lots of fun and we can't wait for the recital tomorrow!!
    Livy
    6/10/05
    Hey everybody! Teghan, how was the dentist? Great pictures. I think I might do Hip-Hop at True Dance with Lindz this year. She already taught me half of her Hip-Hop dance and she's on competition and it was kind of easy. But her song is Let me see you 1 2 step and that is fast and I can't do it that fast, but I got the moves down! Oh I almost forgot, Gary tried to teach me but whenever he went into the splits or bent down or something, his toupee kept falling off!!! :-) Talk to you all later.

    Hey, Livy, that hurts...right here.... :-) Seriously, all I need is better glue! --Gary

    Donna
    6/10/05
    Amanda, I would go with Hagel too. It will look better on your resume and what's more, think of all the good you could do--telling him and 'his people' all the things the Republicans are doing wrong. That could be fun. The only bad part is they rudely waited till the last minute to contact you and you already told Beutler you'd intern with him. But hey, it's not like they're paying you.
    Cute pictures of Teghen at the dentist!
    Erika and Emily, good luck at the recital tomorrow! Break a leg.;-)
    Anna
    6/10/05
    Hey everyone! I am now on summer break! I am very happy. It has been hot here and I was outside yesterday and it was so nice. I am not sure yet about all the details about coming down. I can't wait though!
    Amanda
    6/10/05
    Nope, hours the same, 15 a week, pretty much based on what is good for me & fitting with their hours (8-5ish M-F).
    Lindsey
    6/10/05
    Way to go on your first trip to the dentist Teghan! Yeah I was wondering how you liked you're dancing lessons? I have my last day of dance camp tomorrow! Amanda~would your hours change depending on which internship you take? Alright well I'm going to go take a nap because I'm tired!
    Gary
    6/10/05
    Great pictures, Teghan, and great teeth!

    I will have the next phase of "Who Am I" ready by tomorrow. So check back if you want to work on your guesses over the weekend. (Of course, for you people who are out of school now, every day is weekend, eh?) Some people's answers are totally obvious -- like mine, as usual -- but others will be tough. Should be a good game. Thanks for playing along, everybody!

    Amanda
    6/10/05
    Teghan had her first dentist visit today! She LOVED it! She was all prepared ahead of time. She was teaching Tristen about cavity bugs. Tristen & I had our cleanings first so that Teghan could get used to it. The dental hygienist & the dentist (pictured with Teghan) have young girls about the same age as T & t, so they are very good with them. These pictures were taken by the hygienist & the dentist just sent them to me.
    Amanda
    6/10/05
    Olivi~ Pete does like normal food too. ANYTHING. We buy him Iams puppy formula & he eats it. But he goes CRAZY for Sasha's ol' dog chow. We have to put Pete in his kennel while we feed Sasha & then Pete is crying to come out. He is a GIANT baby. He likes cat food, but Zoe likes his puppy food too. As soon as all of their 3 different foods are gone we are buying one good food & they will all share. It is too stressful keeping it all separate!
    Emily
    6/10/05
    Livy, that puppy sounds really cute, I hope you get him!
    The painting is FINALLY done!! (until we do my room on Sunday) I am still really stiff and sore and sunburned from it! Hopefully that doesn't affect my dancing too much. This year we have the rehersals and recitals on different days, so that will make it all a lot easier and less hectic! We have the rehersal at about 3 today. We got the digital camera and video recorder out today all ready. We won't get our group and individual pictures in til middle of July. So, we will be sure to send in lots of pictures from rehersal and the recital, and bring down the tapes next time we come down!
    Gary
    6/10/05
    Wow, what a dilemma: TWO cool job offers! :-) I think I may have occasionally made my feelings known here about the Republican Party, so you might be surprised to hear me say I'd probably go with Hagel. If the other factors were all equal (i.e., all those other pros and cons you mentioned), I would opt for Hagel for the single reason that his name will look better on your resume. Hagel is definitely moving right now, and may even participate in a Presidential race before Tristen is old enough to vote. For a chance to see the working life of a U.S. senator from the inside, I think even I could put aside my antipathy for his party affiliation. (And it helps, as you mentioned, that he is left-leaning.) And working with constituent services (rather than the whole range with Beutler) couldn't help but be really interesting. So, without addressing those other factors (like the Capitol building!), I -- and this may be the only time I will ever say these words -- would go with Hagel!
    Amanda
    6/10/05
    OK, I just got an offer for an internship with Chuck Hagel's Lincoln office. Now I have a dilemma. Any advice would be great. I already have secured an internship with Senator Buetler in the Unicameral. A few pros there: 1. Democrat 2. Got a better feeling from his people over the phone (I didn't get a bad feeling from Hagel's at all, it is hard to do this all from the phone & decide which one is best). Cons: 1. state senator (which is still a pro, but when you are passing about a resume & letter of recommendation the bigger the name the better), 2. unicameral is not in session, so there will be less action. Hagel pros: US Senator, 2. left leaning Republican. Cons: 1. Republican. 2. Working in the federal building, not the capital, which Tristen was really looking forward to :) :). Another difference, which I don't classify as a pro or con, the Hagel office in Lincoln deals mainly with constituent services & the Buetler office will deal with a range of things from legislative to constituent, etc. ANY advice would be great!!!!
    Livy
    6/10/05
    Amanda, cute and gross story about Pete. But doesn't Pete like normal food like dog food instead of june bugs or Sasha's hair? My mom said a ladie from work has a dog and she had puppies and is selling them for free! I asked My mom if we could get one so Ceaser could have a friend and she said that my dad is MABY thinking of getting another dog. Another bonus is that the dogs look like Todo off Wizard of Oz! But if you want to hear a hair related (Pete eating Sasha's clump of hair) story then read this. My friend Kylie, she has a girl dog like Todo and she named it Effie and is only a few months old. One time she said that her dog ran over to her cat Logan (about a year old) and bit a clump of her hair off of his tail and Logan ran into the bathroom! Effie is smaller than Logan and still ran away. I still think that story is better than the bad flushing sound one, I miss that bata!
    Gary
    6/10/05
    So then the only unknown quantities at the moment are Donna, Lori, Sean, and Zachary. If I hear from some (or all!) of you today, I could have the profiles up for the weekend.... (Oh, and I just remembered Lori's out of town, I think.)

    I have to say from what I've heard I think Jackson is guilty. But we all know that guilty and famous/guilty are not the same things. I'm about 60-40 thinking he'll do time; but the longer the deliberation goes on, the more I think he won't.

    Oh, back on the "Who Am I" game: It may interest you to know that with our 16 (so far) voters, Thin Mints and Samoas are leading the pack and running neck and neck! :-)

    Karen
    6/10/05
    Emily finished painting her furniture last night -- looks really nice. We will probably start on her room on Sunday. I'll be so glad when all of the home projects are done and the house can return to normal. Erika picked out her paint this week, a pale lavender. Today she and Emily have dress reshersal for their dance recital and then the recital is tomorrow. I liked the Who Am I questions this time, Gary don't wait for Brents answers, he has again declined the offer :)
    Anxious to see the answers and begin guessing. Teghan how is dance class going? Amanda, that story about Pete, GROSS!!!! Anna, I didn't know that you were going to Lincoln this summer. How are you getting there? The kitties are still around, getting friendlier. The neighbor boys are also taking care of them. I am hoping for the Michael Jackson verdict today -- tired of hearing about him -- I predict that he will get off. He couldn't handle jail time.
    Gary
    6/9/05
    Okay, we've had to add several new staff members here at the "Who Am I" Central Headquarters to handle the responses that are pouring in; but we're still waiting for Brent, Donna, Grandma, Lori, Sean, and Zachary. I know your schedules are busy, but really, is anything more important than this game? I don't think so. So please put everything else on hold and play "Who Am I"!
    Anna
    6/8/05
    Well tomorrow is my last day! I am looking forward to summer. I don't really have much planned other then coming down. I can take my L test this month! Not to much else new here. We had a big storm and trees are down all over and I guess it was huge, but I slept right threw it, which is weird for me to do. I liked that Who Am I and Gary I was nice and Mom and Dad and Sam did it because I asked them to.

    How nice of you! Thanks! :-) --Gary

    Emily
    6/8/05
    Donna, I just kind of run the meeting. I take and read the minutes and call the motions just kind of keep everything moving along. We did have pictures taken of Executive Council, but its not on the website.
    I just got in from painting all of mine and Erika's furniture, there is still a few things I need to paint, but I will do that after dance tonight. I was out there sanding and painting from about 11 to 4! But, it was nice out so I didn't mind too much. The furniture just has a white base coat on, but it is already looking a lot nicer! I will finish putting on the base coat on all the furniture when I get back from dance, then I will paint the colors on tomorrow.
    Amanda
    6/8/05
    So, dumb animal story for the day: Last night Pete came in from a night outside & puked. It looked weird (other than normal grossness), it looked liked shells or something. Ryan cleaned it up & figured out what it was: tons of june bugs! We noticed him chasing them the other night, apparently he likes to eat them. He eats anything! The other day I was brushing Sasha & noticed Pete eating the hairballs that came off of the brush. Like I said, dumb animal story for the day!

    Eewwwwww! Livy, you want to comment on this one...? :-) --Gary

    Gary
    6/8/05
    Attendez-vous! I have beefed up the "Summer in Lincoln" page by adding a calendar (based on Amanda's recent note, which is there as well), so once anyone has a date for some activity let me know and I'll plug it into the calendar. Also, I've put a permanent link to the "Summer" page on the calendar page so it will be easier to get to.
    Donna
    6/8/05
    Hey Anna, congratulations on earning Miss Niceness and for lettering in track! That's pretty cool!
    Donna
    6/8/05
    Emily, that is very impressive! So what does an administrative services director do? I think they should have a picture of you beside your name.
    Emily
    6/8/05
    Well, it was fun looking around the cool-site! I actually hadn't looked at it for awhile since they haven't been very good at updating it. (There were still a few things I noticed that hadn't been updated for awhile.) Thanx for putting it up Gary!
    I agree some of the "Who Am I" questions were kinda hard, should be fun to see what everyone said!
    I am going to start painting mine and Erika's furniture today, should be fun, I can't wait til everything is all done!
    I have my last Jazz class before the summer tonight! Erika has her last class tomorrow, then dress rehearsal is Friday and the recital is Saturday. Should be fun!
    Gary
    6/8/05
    The Who Am I game is moving right along. So far Amanda, Anna, Emily, Erika, Gary, Karen, Lindsey, Olivia, Paul, Samantha, Teghan, and Tristen have sent in their answers. If your name wasn't listed, let's get busy! :-)

    There are a few housekeeping items, though: 1) Sam, you left out one question, the one about a book you want to read. Send me that in an email, and I will add it. (Remember you can make up a title if you want!) And 2) Livy, you need to think up a new code name unless you want Donna to know who you were. (Livy accidentally let it slip last night.)

    Lindsey
    6/7/05
    I did the Who Am I! Some of the questions are hard like the president name and the thing I have that no one else does. But I'm done. I made it through another day of dance camp! I'm getting really sore though! I worked again today and I'm working tomorrow but then not for a while I think.
    Anna
    6/7/05
    Hey everyone! I have been SO busy and I am still in school until Thursday. It is very hot here. I have had A LOT of meets these past two weeks. The week before last I had three and last week I had two. But yesterday I had my Track banquet. Everyone got some kinda of award and I got Miss Niceness. I also lettered in Track so I can put that one my jacket. I will it though and all the seniors that are graduating tonight. I had two finals today. But the rest of the week sould be really easy and fun. I cant wait until the summer and when I come. I think I am coming down in the middle of July. Well now that school will be out soon I will be writing in more! Hope everyones having a fun summer already!

    Hey, Miss Niceness, be nice and tell your family members to do the new Who Am I! :-) --Gary

    Gary
    6/7/05
    The Who Am I count is now up to eight!
    Donna
    6/7/05
    Emily--and the other 5 whoever you are--how did you finish the Who Am I so fast? Some of them are really tough.
    Amanda, I think Michael Jackson is definitely guilty. I think he'll serve time.
    The list looks great so far. We'll be busy--I don't know how I'll find time to work. ;-)
    Teghan, how was dance class? I hope you write us all about it!
    Gary
    6/7/05
    Hey, we got a game goin' here! :-) The Who Am I has only been up for a few hours, and already we've got six players! Some very interesting answers so far, too....
    Emily
    6/7/05
    Well, I just sent in my "Who Am I" answers, can't wait til we get to see them! Should be fun!
    I didn't think Anna was coming either -- when??
    Amanda
    6/7/05
    When is Anna coming? And for how long?
    Lindsey
    6/6/05
    I think Teghan is gonna have a blast at dance! Tristen I had hip hop today and we did a routine and I really like it too. My dance teacher (one of them) is named Ms. Sherri too, how weird!
    Amanda
    6/6/05
    Oh, and anyone else think we would have a Jackson verdict by now? I sure did, but I guess that is because the Peterson one came so quickly... I think Jackson is guilty of something, but I'm not sure they will convict.
    Amanda
    6/6/05
    Tristen had dance camp today. It was just an hour, but they are learning fun little extras that they haven't yet gotten to in the normal year. They did a hip hop routine today, it is her first hip hop experience. Some Romeo song. Teghan is going to try dance tomorrow. The class after Tristen's is the LITTLE girls & Ms Sherri told me to let Teghan stay tomorrow & try it for free. She is very excited, they have been pulling out all of Tristen's old leotards & things to get ready!
    Lindsey
    6/6/05
    Man I'm getting excited for this summer looking at the list! I was just thinking about the Henry Doorley zoo today and I think we should go when Anna's here because I think she mentioned wanting to go so we should get a caravan of people that want to go and head up there for the day. The farmer's market definitley and hopefully Teghan can get her balloon a little faster this time! Swimming sounds fun (it was so hot here today). I'll try to think of some more stuff we could add to the list. I had my first day of dance camp today and man it was a workout! 6 hours of dancing with a half hour break! Then I went to work straight after for 3 hours. I have that until Saturday but then I'm done for the summer for sure!
    Emily
    6/6/05
    Livy, it was sad about Doodly and Dory, we miss them. There weren't any teeth marks or scratches on them that we saw. But, we always used to see Nicky and Cocoa up on the fish shelf with their face in the water! And the fish were only a few weeks old, so I don't think they died of old age. That is an odd fish story about your beta, I hate having to hear that bad flushing sound too!
    The list for Metcalfs looks like fun! I would like to go to Farmers Market too, so if we do come up sometime this summer I think we are going to try and stay over so we can go.
    I can't wait for the new "Who Am I" they are always fun!
    Erika and I have been cleaning out our rooms and getting everything ready to paint them! I got all of my paint things a few days ago, so I'm thinking on Wednesday or somewhere around there I will start paintng my furniture then we will do my room next week once we're done with dance stuff. I'm excited about it I think it will look nice! Erika still isn't completely sure about what she wants to do but we are going to try and do her stuff as soon as we're done with my room. So, that should keep us busy for a while. We are also going to do the bathroom sometime.
    Gary
    6/6/05
    Okay, I have a list running for summer activities as Amanda suggested in the note below. If anyone wants to add to it, please make your suggestions on that page and they will be added to the list. (I just now added the last four items myself!)

    Also, I started putting together another "Who Am I" -- should be ready tomorrow!

    Amanda
    6/6/05
    We would like to start a running list of stuff we want to do while we are in Nebraska. It doesn't have to all get done while we are there, but we all like lists so much! :) So, webmaster, can you whip us up something? One list where we have stuff & then maybe a concurrent one where others can post suggestions? I will send in our list... Also, I think we need a new Who Am I? School is out for everyone (Anna?) and a new game would be fun....

    Check back this afternoon. I'll have something ready after lunch! --Gary

    Donna
    6/6/05
    The new floors look great! I wish they were in my house. Nice to have a job like that done.
    Erika, that is so sad about your fish! They were great looking fish and they will be missed. Do you really think the cats are responsible? I hope Olivia is right, they both got a disease--a short, painless disease.
    Tristen, congratulations on being in the top 10% of your soccor team!!! That is so cool! And the limo ride looked like it was a lot of fun!
    Gary
    6/6/05
    Erika, I think maybe you should let Olivia defend your cats at the trial. In her note below, she did a good job of establishing reasonable doubt! And she would have the jury in tears with that "bad flushing sound" speech. :-)
    Emily
    6/5/05
    The kitchen and bathroom floors are finally finished!! We are still planning on re-painting and putting in a new tub surround and stuff this summer, so the bathroom isn't completely finished yet...

    See the projects page. Looks good, guys! --Gary

    Livy
    6/5/05
    Marsha, how are the baby bunnies you told me about on the phone the other day? Nice chattin' with ya! Have a great summer.
    P.S. Tristen Great job on the soccor tournament!!! Have a great summer!
    Olivia
    6/5/05
    Erika, sad news about Snickerdoodle-Bob and Dory. But maby it wasn't the cats, maby one of them had a disease and the other one caught it while you were sleeping. But it depends, were there teeth marks or scratches on them? Were the cats sleeping in the living room with the fish? But they also could of died of old age if you've had them for a long time. But if you want to hear an odd fish story, then read this. One time I had a red bata, and one night when I was sleeping it jumped out of it's tank and hit the wall and slid down! The next morning my mom had to scrape it off the wall and we all got to hear that bad flushing sound again. Thats why I have a loyal cute dog that doesn't like fish (to eat). Good luck in your trial? Again sorry about your Snickerdoodle-Bob and Dory.
    Erika
    6/5/05
    About the murder trial for Cocoa and Nicky Emily will defend Nicky because shes already murdered our beloved gold fish Angle senior. I will defend Cocoa because she has a semi cleaner record.

    I don't know, it sounds like both cats are guilty. I think the court should confine them both to a bowl and let any future fish go free! :-) --Gary

    Gary
    6/4/05
    That is some sad news, Erika.... Do you still have the warranty? And if C & N are charged with murder, will Emily be defending them?? :-)

    (Good review, by the way!)

    Erika
    6/4/05
    I have some unfortunate news so brace yourself, today when I woke up I went to the living room then I saw it. In the fishbowl Snickerdoodle-Bob and Dory laying there upsidedown floating at the top of the fishbowl DEAD!! :( They had a peaceful funeral we will miss them especially Cocoa and Nicky (who may be facing murder charges in the future.)
    Grandpa, Grandma, Linz, and Liv
    6/4/05

    Congratulations Tristen!
    Lindsey
    6/4/05

    Wow Tristen Congratulations! That is soooo cool! You are quite the soccer player!
    Amanda
    6/3/05
    Tristen finished up soccer camp today. She had a BLAST! She went every day this week from 9-3. It was hot most days & she loved every minute of it. She was in the same group as one of her Ladybug teammates, and she had the same coach as last year. This camp is put on by the head coach of the women's soccer team at my school, Midwestern State University. I didn't get any pictures this year, but attached is something VERY cool. They gave out awards at the end of the camp today. There were about 100 girls there, and they had about 10 or 15 who were given the All Star Award. They are chosen because of the their skill level & attitude, among other things. Tristen was an All Star!!!! She was so excited. Her friend Amanda (who was not in her group, but they scrimmaged all week & got to spend lots of time together-they go to school together, same class together since kindergarten) was also chosen.
    Anyhow, attached is her certificate. She is WORE out. It was a long week, but she had a blast.

    See it on the recent photos page. --Gary

    Lindsey
    6/3/05
    Well Dad talked to the DMV and insurance people today and I guess you don't even need to log your hours that you drive, a parent just has to sign and say that they've witnessed them driving 50 hours and usually with insurance if you take Driver's Ed then you get it cheaper but I guess who we have doesn't but what they do is if you're on honor roll, then you get cheaper insurance which I thought was kinda cool. They said they do that because you can take Driver's Ed and still not be a very good driver but if you're motivated enough to keep your grades up and make honor roll then you're more clear of a thinker or something so I think that's what we're going to do and I bet what I would learn in Driver's Ed I will/have learned from my Dad so in December (or I can take the test 60 days in advance) I'll just have to do the test with the DMV and I should be set!
    Emily
    6/3/05
    Looks like the girls had a fun time on the limo ride and lock in!
    The floor people came about 9 this morning and are still working should be done in a few hours, we will be sure to send in lots of before and after pictures! They already look a lot better!
    Amanda
    6/3/05
    Go to this webpage for just a small peek at our Lock-in night! The website is our Service Unit website (all the troops in Iowa Park) and it is updated often with news, photos, etc. Enjoy!!!!

    Wow, looks like a wild limo-ride! --Gary

    Lindsey
    6/2/05
    I just don't like disecting animals, I guess it's a personal choice. I got home from work a little bit ago. I got a lot of extra hours this week which is really good.

    So I was all signed up for Driver's Ed and I had work tonight so Dad was going to go to the orientation for me and he got there and like all the driving labs were filled up except like 6:15 or something so he just dropped the whole class all together. But he was talking to someone and I could either go to another school or I could do this alphadavid thing (probably spelled that wrong) where I just have to log 50 hours of driving with a parent so Dad just thought that would be better because I've already driven over 50 hours I'm sure so he was going to call the insurance company and see how they looked at that but we thought that might be better because he said if I did the labs then I would sit in the back because I'm pretty comfortable driving now and there's people who have never driven and then what I would learn in class I've already learned from Dad (Amanda and Sean you know from learning with Dad) and so then I wouldn't have to have a set up schedule, I could drive whenever it works for us. And my Dad said right now if I took the test I could probably pass it but this way I'll just log my hours and then in December go to the DMV take the 10 minutes driving test and the vision test and be done so I hope this way works out!

    Emily
    6/2/05
    Lindsey, Thats weird that you haven't done any dissections in Biology espcially if it is advanced. I was glad I got in the advanced Bio 2 class this year beacuse we got to do a lot of dissections in there, like the cats and cadaver. I thought it was a good thing to do because it helps you to learn the anatomical terminology a lot better I thought. Just different courses I guess. I remember last year when we did the fetal pig I was the only one that would work on the brain so I got extra credit! :)

    Well, me and Mom just got back from looking at paint samples and stuff for my room. I got a bedspread a few days ago it has thick yellow, blue, purple, pink, and orange strips, and I think I am going to do my room in those colors. I'm thinking I will paint all the walls a pale yellow then paint all my furniture with the colors of the bedspread, except for the yellow. Then get curtains in blue and yellow. I think it will look nice, I think we are going to start it once dance stuff is done with, so it should be fun!

    Lindsey
    6/2/05
    It's Biology D so it's advanced so we did more experiments than disections and I don't know I'm just not into all that disecting stuff. Actually a lot of people didn't do it...
    Emily
    6/2/05
    I had my last 3 finals today, and school is offically out for summer!!
    Erika and I had our dance pictures last night, it was fun. I think all our pictures should come out nice, I can't wait until we get them! Erika goes to her class tonight, but I don't have it at all this week. We only have like 1 or 2 more weeks of classes until the recital, It seems like this year really went by fast! I'm not sure yet, but I think I might be taking some more classes at a different studio just for the summer. So, I am hoping that all works out.
    Tristen, good luck on your dance team, I'm sure you will have lots of fun!! It sounds like you will be pretty busy with all your activities this summer!
    Lindsey, I can't believe you took Bio 1 all year and didn't have to dissect anything!!! We did about 10 dissections my first year of Bio, they are fun -- you should have tried it!
    Lindsey
    6/2/05
    I AM OFFICIALLY OUT OF SCHOOL!!!!!!!!
    Amanda
    6/2/05
    Yeah, we have watched those movies over the last 2 weeks, I just never got around to typing them all up. Ryan also watched 2 movies that I did not. Some Resident Evil Apocalypse deal & then some Blade 2 thing. Whatev... :) Linz! I can't believe you didn't disect the pigs! I think if I remember anything from 9th grade it will be me breaking the little piggy jaw because none of the GUYS (we are talking football playing macho guys) in my group would do it! How cool to be out of school! Tristen is in day 4 of soccer camp. She is LOVING it, more than last year if that is possible! She is coming home with chants & a suntan. She fell asleep the other night at 7:30! Tomorrow is the last day of it. She has gone since Monday, 9-3. Next week she has a dance camp. Her studio's competition team is called the Strutters, but you don't try out until junior high-ish age. Well, this camp is called Mini-Strutters and her dance teacher invited about 20 girls. So Tristen is very excited for that. She goes M-Th for an hour each day. Then she is going to do some swimming lessons (with her dance teacher actually, she has a pool at home & does them there) at the end of the month. She also wants to go to the second week of soccer camp, but we aren't so sure. Teghan says she misses Tristen! I will tell the Templeton story soon, but I'm still not comfortable telling it, I want to wait until the problem is combatted. eww... I started a class yesterday, it's an internet class. Public Policy & Management or something. I don't know, it's some upper level Political Science elective, just taking it for the hours. I am SO done with this college deal! :) Ryan is taking an online Humanities class, the one I just took actually. Anyhow, that is our news of the hour.
    Karen
    6/2/05
    Amanda, Wow, impressive reviews! I think you may have made a new record for most reviews in a day :) We have been wanting to see In Good Company, but it's been out the last two times we went. I tried to watch the Aviator on Monday. It just didn't do it for me and I stopped about an hour into it.
    Donna
    6/2/05
    Nice job, Amanda! Congratulations!
    Karen
    6/2/05
    Thanks for all the birthday greetings. I had a very nice day, first day of summer vacation, although I did go back to school. There was a baby shower for one of the teachers, had lunch at school (salad bar, not a "school lunch") and then to a tea shop for cake. Emily and Erika had their dance pictures last night, wasn't nearly as crazy and disorganized as usual. Then home for pizza and 4 layer red cake. So all in all a very nice day. Still waitiing for the new floors. Brent took the quarter rounds off in the bathroom and the vinyl curled up and had to be removed, then he discovered yet another layer under that. So that was more work than we thought we would need to do. But it's all done (and ugly) now. Should be having someone come to measure the doors this week yet. Then I think maybe all of our major home repairs will be done for the year! The kitties are still around, Emily and Erika have been taking good care of them. They are fun to watch.
    Lindsey
    6/1/05
    My pottery final was like 50 questions about stuff I'll never need to know so it was pointless and I was done in 15 minutes so I had an hour to spare! In my biology class (it was optional) they were disecting baby pigs and it was disgusting and I didn't participate. I have my last two finals tomorrow, Geometry and English, and then I am DONE!!!
    Gary
    6/1/05
    Yesterday Amanda sent in a link to their local paper's website with an article on Midwestern State University's honor roll students. We couldn't get the link to work right, so here's the text. The article below was followed by three lists of names, with Amanda's under "Dean's Honor Roll." Well done!
    Midwestern State University recognized 768 honor students for the Spring 2005 semester. The President's Honor Roll included 272 students, the Provost's Honor Roll included 201 students and the Dean's Honor Roll included 295 students.

    To make the President's Honor Roll, a student must complete a semester schedule of at least 12 hours with no grade lower than an A (4.0).

    To make the Vice President's Honor Roll, a student must complete a semester schedule of at least 12 hours with a grade point average of 3.75 to 3.99 and no grade lower than a C.

    To make the Dean's Honor Roll, a student must complete a semester of at least 12 hours with a grade point average of 3.5 to 3.74 and no grade lower than a C.

    Gary
    6/1/05
    That's all true. I've read that Felt did do some questionable things regarding war protesters. I really doubt if there's anyone in Washington -- past, present, and future -- with totally clean hands. But he was instrumental in putting an end to the Nixon administration, an administration I would rank either 1st or 2nd in abuse of power in all American history. (Bush of course is the other one, and I haven't decided yet which is the worst...)

    And yes, Diane Sawyer was a Nixon staffer. On the other side of the aisle, you may not know that Hillary Clinton was a young lawyer on the Impeachment Inquiry committee back in 1974!

    And hey, I just got back from an interesting trip: I and about a dozen others hand-delivered a petition to Jeff Fortenberry's office in the Cornhusker Hotel. (Fortenberry is the Congressman for this district, and a Republican.) The petitition, with nearly 500 signatures, calls for Fortenberry to denounce Tom DeLay and take steps to get him removed from office. Fortenberry wasn't there (we had no appointment), but he is in town, and his aide promised to put the petition in his hand this afternoon and give him the gist of our remarks. We all got to say what we wanted, and I pointed out it is public record that Fortenberry has accepted at least $10,000 from DeLay, and has voted with DeLay 87 out of 88 times. Someone else asked if Fortenberry plans to return that money; and the aide said, "Well, that money came in long before this other stuff [waving her hands] ever happened." It wasn't confrontational in any way, and she was very pleasant and diplomatic. But it felt good to meet some other like-minded people! :-)

    Donna
    6/1/05
    I was reading in the paper today that people had wondered if maybe Diane Sawyer was Deep Throat. I knew she was a republican and at one time a speech writer, but I didn't know she was on Nixon's staff during Watergate. I wish I could have seen her talking about it this AM on GMA. I don't understand how anyone could view Felt as a traitor. But he was no saint either. I also read that he served time for authorizing warrantless searches in the 70's. I'm guessing this was after Watergate.
    Emily
    6/1/05
    I just got home from my Geometry final at like 9:30, it was really hard!! But, I think I did ok. I go back at 11:30 until 1 for English, but that one shouldn't be too bad.
    Gary, I can't believe someone stole your sticker!! You should make more and start selling them!

    But the thing is, I don't know if someone stole it because they loved it and wanted to put it on their car, or because they hated it and threw it away! I suspect it's the second one, though I'd like to believe it's the first one. I can say a couple of times people have pulled up behind me at a stoplight, and in the mirror I could see them pointing down at the magnet and then laughing and giving me a thumbs-up. :-) --Gary

    Gary
    6/1/05
    So now we know who Woodward's anonymous source was for the Watergate story. G. Gordon Liddy and Pat Buchanan were on CNN last night, and Buchanan again plus Chuck Colson were on the Today show this morning, and it was just like being back in the '70s: These guys were all calling Mark Felt things like "hypocrite" and "traitor," and Buchanan accused Felt of "bringing down an enormously popular president." Sheesh. These three haven't for one minute in the past 28 years considered the fact that Woodward & Bernstein (and Felt) were merely reporting what the Nixon White House did, not doing the thing themselves. Buchanan was a mere speechwriter at the time and was not indicted, but Liddy and Colson were; and they -- along with 12 or 13 others in the White House inner circle -- all served time in prison.

    In a related story (re: criminals in the White House), somebody stole my "Impeach Bush" magnet last night!

    I noticed it was gone when I got in my car this morning. So I'll be making a new one. And bigger! :-)

    Donna
    6/1/05
    Linz, just curious, what kind of final do you have for Pottery? ;-)
    Ryan, Amanda, Tristen & Teghan
    6/1/05

    Happy Birthday Karen!
    Donna
    6/1/05

    Happy Birthday, Karen!