Livy
3/31/07
Hey everybody! Wow, that rain was really big! We got hail, thunderstorm, our lights even flickered there for a minute, and my t.v. even went out! But it got back on in a few minutes and everything is alright now, but our deck was pouring with hail. It looked like snow because there was so much!!!

Could be some Senatorial fireworks on Thursday: Gonzales' recently-fired aide Kyle Sampson will be testifying that day and, unlike that other aide Monica somebody who says she has nothing to hide but is pleading the Fifth anyway (?!?), Sampson has signalled he will tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Sampson spoke with Gonzales about 20 times a day on average, and at the very least he is expected to contradict Gonzales' claim that he had no discussions on or knowledge of the attorney firings. He could also link Rove and Miers to the whole deal. Sampson's lawyer said yesterday, "Kyle plans to testify fully, truthfully, and publicly... [and] has decided to trust the Congress and the process." Or in other words, "I am not going to be the fall guy." I hate to be away from the TV and internet that day, but I will be. Dang! I hope my hotel gets MSNBC so I can check in with Olbermann. :-)

Of all the declared candidates (I still think Gore will run), Edwards is the best; though his numbers have been low. Maybe this will push them higher.

One of the Democratic members of the panel yesterday slipped (?) and called Gore "Mr. President." :-) --Gary

Yeah, I want to see this. It's a surprise hit -- doing great box office by word of mouth. The basic story is true (a small band of 300 Greeks pitted against a vastly larger invading Persian army, and their sacrifice saved Western civilization -- one of the great turning points in history), but I understand a lot of liberties are taken with the story, to make it more "interesting." But hey, that's what movies do! :-) Thanks for the review, Lindsey! --Gary

I know we might expect the Bush people to just ignore Congress the way they have done for the past six years -- Bush said last night in so many words that none of his people will testify -- but an actual subpoena sort of changes things. "Subpoena" is from the Latin sub poena, "under pain." Which in the old days meant: if you don't obey this, we will cause you to feel pain. It isn't a request, it is an order; and your options are to obey it, or be arrested. The Congress has its own enforcement officials to make the arrests. So unless Bush plans to go "all in" and declare himself a dictator above the law, his toadies Rove and Miers will have to show up and testify.

(The photo above was Photoshopped [not by me] like our "fakes"; hopefully someday soon it will really happen...)

The parallels with Watergate are becoming more and more pronounced. You know all those thousands and thousands of emails from the Department of Justice that have been released over the past several days? While a few juicy tidbits have already been discovered in them, I read just today that someone noticed the emails between November 15 and December 4 are missing. Hmmmmm. The attorneys were fired on December 7th, but the original plan was for the firings to take place on November 15. So the discussions and emails that took place in that 18-day gap would be rather interesting.... Remember Nixon's tape recorder and the 18-minute gap? :-)

This is getting good....

The first Star Trek movie in over five years is still on track. The eleventh movie in the series has the working title "Star Trek XI" (what else??) and is set in the early days when the young Kirk and Spock meet at Starfleet Academy. At one time Matt Damon was being spoken of to take on the role of Kirk, but that's an unknown now and there's no official word on casting. Paramount is hoping to pump new life into the franchise after the most recent movie ("Star Trek: Nemesis") and most recent TV series ("Star Trek: Enterprise") both bombed. Release date: December 25, 2008.

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Amanda
3/14/07
Tristen is feeling just fine since her teeth extraction. She was pretty much normal yesterday. They went to grandmas in the morning where I hear they were outside all day & cleaning house. Then they went to Lindsey & Olivia's for the afternoon where they played outside all afternoon. Then we came home & cleaned up the yard & got extremely muddy.. But, they ended the day with their favorite dinner: breakfast. Ryan comes home late tomorrow night. We are ready for it. It's been about 5 years since he has traveled & this is an easy trip compared to others he has taken, but little Miss Teghan is not used to him leaving, she misses him!

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Lindsey
3/13/07
Here's the camera I got last week. Still trying to figure out all the extras on it but I love it!

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Lindsey
3/13/07
Well we got my room mostly done! Just a few more decorative things to hang up on the wall. I really like it a lot! Got some pictures too.

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Lindsey
3/13/07
Sorry everyone, Livy's email address is actually Livygrl901@windstream.net

Sorry for the confusion!

All fixed now on the contact page. --Gary

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Emily
3/12/07
It is really nice here too, I think it got into the 70s this afternoon, and all of the snow is melting! I don't even know when our spring break is, but I think it only ends up being a 3 day weekend, we never get much of a spring break.
Hope Tristen is doing well without her teeth, that is no fun! Are the braces coming up anytime soon??
I also made an electronics purchase this weekend. I have been wanting a laptop for awhile, and decided to buy one on Saturday since I will need one next year and I should be getting a refund check from taxes soon. We got it hooked up to wireless internet last night, and I am really enjoying it now!

Lucky you! --Gary

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Amanda
3/12/07
Ryan went to Erie, Pennsylvania today until Thursday night. That is where GE Transportation is based out of. Leadership training or something...
Tristen went to the Orthodontist a few weeks back to look into the future. He first recommended to pull 4 baby teeth to make room for the permanents that are coming in. It will make for less work for braces later... It went well. She is a champ. She's in bed now, dreaming of all the money the tooth fairy will leave her tonight!

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Lindsey
3/12/07
Spring Break!! Woohoo! Beautiful weather today for it too. Haven't done much today. Went to the mall for a little bit to help someone find a birthday present and then me and Livy got lunch and went and got our nails done. Then came home and took Max and Ceaser on a walk. Now I'm just cleaning all my furniture. We painted my room this weekend. It's red! I'll get pictures. I also bought a new digital camera this week. It's Sony Cybershot, I'll get a picture of that too. Other than that, not much else planned for this week. T&t are coming over tomorrow for a little bit.

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Livy
3/12/07
Hey everybody! I am glad that it is spring break. It seemed like forever for Friday to get over. Just in my 7th period, which is history for me. I had Kylie spend the night Saturday night, and we went to the mall before that and we had fun there. I don't know what I am going to do today though. Probably just hang out around the house, watch t.v. and play on the computer. I got my new e-mail set up, well I got it to be the same adress, but I got it set up again only instead of msn.com it's windstream.net and that is the only change. So the one that Lindsey put down is wrong now, because I changed it. Just bacause then I can remember it better. Well I'll talk to you all later!!!
P.S. Tristen, I sent you back an e-mail.

So, Livy, what is your email address now...? I already have you with windstream.net on the contact page. If that's not right, please let me know and I'll change it. --Gary

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Karen
3/12/07
Amanda, I must be out of the loop -- why is Ryan going to Erie, and Tristen needs to have 4 teeth pulled?

And is this Erie, PA, or some other Erie? --Gary

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Amanda
3/12/07
Ryan left for Erie this morning. Early... We were in trouble with daylight savings time. We couldn't get to sleep & couple that with being busy all day & not getting anything done we were up WAY late. We went to bed at about 12:30 & Ryan's alarm went off at 3:30... His flight took off from Omaha at 6:05, yikes!
Tristen gets her 4 teeth pulled this afternoon. So, we will have a nice quiet evening at home after that. She requested spagettios for dinner, yuck..
It's spring break for T & t, so nice timing while Ryan is gone. It could be a long week in that aspect.

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Karen
3/10/07
Amanda, Ryan -- your house looks nice, anxious to see it all for myself :) Bet it's nice to finally be in your own house. Good to have the week-end come -- this is the first 5 day week I've had for awhile. Had a nice day yesterday and melted lots of snow, but still a long way to go. Hard to believe just a week ago it was so nasty. Emily was able to get out of jury duty -- until June. She really isn't looking forward to having to go. Erika and Brent are planning to go to a basketball game this afternoon. The NAIA tournments are in town. Read some the newsletters from last year -- Emily was in Houston and Brent was in the hospital.....

Also Amanda in London and snow days in Lincoln and Sioux City. --Gary

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Amanda
3/9/07
And, isn't it a 2 hour change??

No. Just one hour. Officially, when it's 1:59 AM Sunday morning, one minute later the clock reads 3 AM, not 2. --Gary

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Gary
3/9/07
One more thing: Daylight Saving Time begins Saturday night (technically Sunday morning), so set your clocks ahead and be prepared to lose an hour. It comes three weeks earlier this year, by order of the Senate; and because this is a recent enactment, some older computers may not make the change automatically. Be sure to check yours!

As if that wasn't confusion enough, there may be some local confusion (Lincoln/Omaha) as well. This morning on an Omaha channel, I heard the news-talk bunnies get it completely wrong -- telling people to set their clocks back, and how much they enjoyed getting that extra hour of sleep... Yeesh!

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Gary
3/9/07
Yeah, this quiz is a toughie. I put the thing together, and I still got four wrong when I tried it just now... :-)

Feels like spring out there today. Snow is almost gone, it's already 47 degrees (at 9 am) and is supposed to be very near 70 by Tuesday.

The contact page has been updated with Paul/Lori/Lindsey/Olivia'a new email addresses, and with the Metcalf's new everything. Amanda and Ryan, thanks for the new pictures!

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Lindsey
3/9/07
The front page makes me crave a box of chocolates!

And I only knew which one was the caramel one...I didn't even try the others :-)

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Amanda
3/9/07
Grr.. I would be so mad at the person who lost that lid! That's a Whitman's fauxpaux! And I thought the middle guy was called like the Flying Dutchman.. Oh, wait that's Spongebob...

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Lindsey
3/6/07
We have new email addresses!

Lindsey: Linzrae89@windstream.net
Olivia: livy901@windstream.net
Paul: Paul655@windstream.net
Lori: landerson526@windstream.net

Start e-mailing us here!
BTW, my parents still have their work addresses which they check regularly.

I'll be updating the contact page soon, with this and the new Metcalf info. --Gary

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Gary
3/6/07
Fox Noise Channel strikes again. These pathetic lying weasels ought to be jailed right alongside Scooter...

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Amanda
3/6/07
We got our stuff! It came about 9:00 yesterday. It was two old guys & we got nervous that we would never get it all moved in. But, luckily 2 more younger guys came. It still took until about 2:30. But, we have our stuff! My mom came over & helped unpack the kitchen. That took forever. Then we emptied out the living room & arranged the furniture. During all this Lindsey & Olivia made a Juice Stop run for us. Ryan set up our computer desk & Teghan's room. Tristen's is already set up from her getting new furniture on day 1, now it's just a disaster from boxes getting piled in there. Our dining room table was covered in stuff but we decided to clear it off so that we could eat our first home cooked meal here. It was the best tasting spagetti. Ryan & I had to take another day of vacation on Monday to receive the truck & I am taking today off too to work some more on the house. Then that's it, we have to get back to normal. Hopefully pictures soon!

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Erika
3/5/07
We just got our box from Minneapolis! Thank you, I love gummy worms, and Cocoa really likes the tissue paper!

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Emily
3/3/07
Thanks everybody for the super cool Lincoln box. Those oatmeal cookies are my favorite! And, I love the additions Teghan made to my card, & I love the cat Tristen drew in the card, it looks like TJ. Thanks again, we appreciate it!
P.S. I love the candy salad! & The bunny ears kit kat bar was too cute, I've never seen those!

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Erika
3/3/07
We just got our box from Lincoln, I love candy salad! So thanks to everybody for thinking of us.

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Amanda
3/2/07
Well, they said we will get our truck tomorrow (Saturday), but it will depend on the weather. It's nasty out there right now, so we will see. But, we did get some things done today that would have gotten pushed to the side or crammed in sometime. We hung all the blinds in the house & I made the dreaded grocery trip. And Tristen made it to a birthday party! So, other than not sitting on anything comfortable for 3 days, we are OK. Ryan said about the seating issue, "its like some sick joke, or something, not being able to sit!" All we have is the floor, stairs or two wooden stools that are at the kitchen island. We will live in our couch here soon!

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Samantha
3/2/07
Oh yeah!! I know my candy! I got them all right!! Congrats on your Oscar wins Gary and Lindsey.

Thanks, Sam. Until the last 15 minutes of the show, I thought you had the Oscar won! --Gary

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Amanda
3/2/07
Nope..... No moving truck..... Still no stuff..... 3 days off of work, and no stuff to unpack. Well, not technically, we have had stuff from grandmas & blinds to hang, but that can only get a person so far... We are hoping they will come tomorrow, but honestly, its not looking so good. Apparantly Omaha is near a "state of emergency" and getting more snow now/tonight. This is lovely! Why did we move back to Nebraska??? Did we once say we LOVED & MISSED the snow?

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Karen
3/2/07
Fun front page today, I got 13 right and Em got 11, that's a subject I know all too well :) We are still digging out! Must have gotten about 12 inches and more to come today. The prinicipal called me last night about 6 to tell me to stay home today. It's nasty out -- Brent went out this morning about 7 to clear the driveway so he could get to the office. I went out at 9 to do the rest and the sidewalk. Geez! It was tough -- the snow is higher than the blower so it took a long time. The front steps are completely covered. I was going to shovel those out, but the shovel was by the back door and buried and impossible to get out. The back door had a drift about 3 feet high so we have been using the front door. Still lots of cancellations and no travel recommended. In fact all the highways in and out of SC were closed yesterday. Marsha, did you guys actually get a snow day? Poor kids never get a day off up there. I wish I had gotten to the grocery store before the storm hit. So is the moving van coming today?

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Emily
3/1/07

We get another snow day tomorrow! Actually SC public schools already had the day off, but St. Paul's closed for tomorrow. EVERYTHING else is closed tonight & tomorrow too, even Wal Mart closed! It has been years since we have had an actual snow day that cancelled school all day. I think we have about 8 inches so far, and its still snowing, and supposed to keep snowing for most of tomorrow.
Congrats to Gary & Lindsey on the Oscar wins! We enjoyed watching the Oscars on Sunday, espcially knowing we had a late start for the next morning. We've only had 2 regular school days all week! But, I am hoping this is the last of the snow for this winter.

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Marsha
3/1/07

Big snow day here too (At Last!!) I left work at 11 and Anna stayed home, it is 6 p.m. and still really coming down. Congrats Gary, but I was sure pulling for Sam! Livi, I liked your Penny poem and picture too :)! What a huge snow storm to spread from Lincoln to MPLS and beyond all at once! I am cooking up a storm as well (I need something to do!)

Pretty much over here in Lincoln, with maybe 6-8" on the ground and clear skies above. Still snowing in Omaha, and I just heard school has been cancelled there for tomorrow too. (Another snow day for Donna...?) Lincoln no doubt will be back in session. It's supposed to snow in Minneapolis all day tomorrow and into Saturday. Enjoy your snow day(s); hope you've got a good supply of food and movies! --Gary

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Karen
3/1/07

Everything in the city is closing! Brent just called -- technically not closing City Hall, but recommending everyone go home ASAP. So he should be home soon. We can almost see a block, lots of snow and blowing.

Snow here has stopped, I think, but the wind has picked up and is blowing the snow everywhere. This storm is walloping Minneapolis, though: Supposed to continue snowing there for the next 48 hours...! --Gary

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Amanda
3/1/07

Yeah... A snow day... Nice.... On a day we were supposed to be moving in! The truck with all of our household goods that has been in storage since May was supposed to come to the new house at 9:30 am, from OMAHA. So, needless to say, we ain't getting it today. Not the end of the world, we have enough to keep us busy, but we SURE want that stuff! I was going to let the girls skip school today anyway, so it was nice to not have to use an absence. But, Ryan & I are using vacation time for this, and we aren't getting any unpacking done.. Argh... But, pessimism aside, we LOVE the house. We stayed here last night. We feel HOME.

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Karen
3/1/07

Well, we now have a snow day -- just cancelled school for all us. Brent just left for the office, so we'll soon find out how the roads are. So Donna, I assume you will be home today too. The recipe is not mine, saw it on some food channel show. Made it on Sunday and we all really liked it.

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Gary
3/1/07

Latest news (7:30 am): With snow coming down at more than an inch an hour, they just now closed Interstate 80 between Lincoln and Omaha.

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Karen
3/1/07

So far, we have a two hour late start. I am keeping the kids home and hoping that the day will canceled for me. We have maybe 3 inches and it's really coming down (and a layer of ice underneath). Emily and Erika already have Friday off for conferences -- so another long week-end for them.

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Gary
3/1/07

If you get cabin fever today and run out of things to do, try a game of Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

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Gary
3/1/07

Whoa...! Thought I was in trouble there for a second. Just now (6:50 am) I was sitting here at the computer when I heard a loud POP! outside and at that second my power went off. Luckily, it came back on a few seconds later... But I think maybe some wires snapped or a transformer blew...? I looked out the window, now that it's daylight, and it's almost a whiteout out there. Quite a storm!

P.S. After typing the above, I discovered that my internet connection was gone, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to post this....

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Gary
3/1/07

Yay! Snow day! Lincoln schools, Omaha schools, and -- most importantly -- the University of Nebraska, all closed today! :-)

Looks like this same storm stretches all the way north. What's happening in Sioux City and Minneapolis?

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