jennanddave.com

This has been a truly astonishing day. Mostly for Dave. He's been burning the candle at both ends, as he is wont to do during the semester. He's so tired his eyes are all puffed up. This morning he came along for moral support for Henry's 6 year check-up, knowing that there'd probably be a flu shot involved. What we didn't bargain for was that the whole appointment would take as long as it did. Over an hour. Not necessarily a problem except Henry's appt was scheduled for 9:20, and Dave, in his endless optimism for the speed of the health care system, scheduled an appointment at work for 10. He missed it. He didn't, however, miss the complete melt down Henry had over getting his shot. He was handling it well until the actual needle surfaced, after which it was every man for himself. I had to pick him up, lay him on the table, and physically restrain him, both of his flailing legs, and both of his hands which were trying to protect his exposed thigh area from the needle. It was completely unexpected. It was also very loud because he was screaming at the top of his lungs, his uvula visibly vibrating at the back of his throat. Holly was crying. Dave was astonished. I was laughing, because what else could I do? I understood Henry's reaction, but I also understand his ability to take things from zero to five thousand in under three seconds on the drama scale. As soon as the needle came out, he stopped, said in a totally normal voice "Oh! It doesn't hurt anymore!", then proceeded to sob big tears that splatted on the floor all around him. Meanwhile, he soothed his pain with a doctor-sanctioned lollipop, then got dropped off at school. Dave screeched out of the school parking lot (figuratively, not literally) and high-tailed it to work, where, upon arrival, he asked me to hand him his stack of tests that he needed to grade. Thus was born the realization that they had never made it into the car, that in fact they'd never made it past the roof of the car which is where Dave put them so he could buckle Holly into her car seat when we were leaving the house earlier in the morning. Holly and I then spent the next forty-five minutes retracing our steps with no luck. With all of this going on, Dave had to submit a brochure for printing and finish up a talk he's giving this afternoon at Susquehanna University, all before 12:20, which is when he needed to hit the road. Fortunately, when he got home, he checked his email and saw that a teacher at the local high school had written to say a former student had found the stack and had given them to her. Talk about great!

Dave's having a very rough day. I'm worried for him. If ever a guy needed a beer...

Posted by Jenn at 01:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

- Hanging by the pool. At least for the first week of Henry's summer vacation. Then it got cold and sometimes rainy so we moved back inside.

- Strawberry picking, followed by strawberry jam making and canning, followed by strawberry-jam-on-toast eating.

- We went to Dave's parents' house for Father's Day. Dave made his dad a seafood boil. I dove into it like it was Mother's Day. My man's a seafood boil master.

- Henry and I got Dave a bulk box of Jiffy Pop popcorn because he loves it and it's mysteriously difficult to get in this here neck of the woods. I thought he'd either love it or laugh and set it aside. He was speechless with glee. Then he "stirred the pot". I was happy.

- As of the first official day of Henry's summer vacation, we got back to a slightly more civilized schedule: 8:30-9PM bedtime, followed by 8:30-9AM wakeup. Momma's happy. Daddy's late for work every day.

- Fabric shopping, thanks to the aforementioned cold/rainy weather, followed by sewing. The score so far: Holly: four dresses, one pair of Minnie Mouse summer jammies. Henry: two pairs of pants. Jenn: nothing. Dave: who's Dave?

- Eating raspberries from the bushes that Dave got me for Mother's Day two years ago. We planted them right next to our driveway which means every time we go anywhere in the car, Holly and I make a prolonged pitstop to fuel up both coming and going. Over the last three days I managed to gather enough to make a batch of raspberry preserves. They'll be a most welcome taste of summer when we're in the throes of winter.

- Hanging out with friends that we don't get to see as much of during the rest of the year.

- Losing a tooth. Henry lost his first tooth last Thursday while eating a hot dog. We didn't even know it was loose. When Henry spit it out Dave thought the tooth was pasta. Then he figured out what it was and flipped out. Pictures were taken. Four days later I noticed his other front tooth was loose. It came out last night. Henry now has neither of his front teeth. Saying it's super cute is a major understatement.

- Parades! Fireworks! Candy! Marshmallows! Fireflys! Music in the Park! Cicadas! Grilling! Bees!

- It's all good...

Posted by Jenn at 02:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today is one of those days where I woke up, dressed myself in layers because our house was cold, made my way outside, felt the humidity, shed the layers, came back in and immediately wanted to turn on the AC. Ahhh, spring!

Holly and I came down with some sort of stomach bug Tuesday night. The worst was over by yesterday morning. Holly had bounced back by yesterday afternoon, whereas today I'm still shuffling around, tired and weak from the lack of food and the lingering horror of the whole experience. I had an egg and toast this morning. They were delicious. Speaking of this morning, Dave let me sleep in until 10. On a school day, no less. It felt as decadent as a candlelit lobster dinner on a private yacht in the Caribbean. The man loves me, perhaps almost as much as I love him.

Next week on Thursday I'm having my tonsils taken out. Between recovering from that and this latest bout with the stomach bug, I'm going to be 100% ready for swimsuit season.

Posted by Jenn at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Dave has a very exciting spring ahead of him. He's going to start keeping bees at our friend's family's orchard. This is something he's been interested in doing and has talked about off and on since we moved into a single family house with a yard. I, however, have had no desire to share my backyard space with a bunch of bees; the squirrels and stray cats are bad enough. (Btw, for future reference, don't make the mistake of googling "bee's nest". It'll give you the heebie-jeebies for life. Unless you're Dave, who probably won't be bothered in the least, but to whom I can at least say "SEE? SEE? ARGH!" because they would totally forgo the nice, wood hive for, say, our attic. Or our bedroom, most likely settling in next to my side of the bed.) (I have a problem with bees, especially large groups of them.)

Today he placed an order for two sets of package bees, which will be ready to be picked up in May. He used a gift card he got for Christmas from my Grandma for part of the payment. He told me it really took the sting out of the cost. Ba-dum-bum-ching!

And just like that, the onslaught of bad bee jokes begins.

Posted by Jenn at 02:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

You want some unsolicited advice? Don't read any version of those "There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A/Some _______" books the day after you've had the stomach flu. It's not pleasant. Henry picked out "There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves!" last night as his bedtime book and it was tough-going, especially since it came so quickly on the heels of my first real meal since Friday night. Clearly, the child hates me.

Last night Holly was hacking and coughing up a storm and had a runny nose, and this morning she woke up with more of the same. Poor girl. She's been too uncomfortable to nap today, so she's been whimpering and coughing and generally sounding sad.

Dave sent an email about forty minutes ago saying he's starting to feel funky and that he might be home a bit early today. Poor guy. I hope it's not what it most likely is.

Henry and I, thankfully, are feeling all right. We've been playing and running errands, making a doll for Holly, as well as baking up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. It's been a quiet day of convalescing. Or getting sicker. Depending on which one of the four of us you are.

Posted by Jenn at 03:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Remember New Year's Eve? A few night's ago? That would be the night when I was ready to go to bed by 10 but Henry was determined to make it to midnight and really experience what it's like to start the new year off with a bang. How did he manage to stay awake that whole time? Why, by talking, of course! Non-stop. It was partly my fault. At 9PM we watched the movie "Deck the Halls" which is about a guy who decorates the heck out of his house with lights, and the neighbor who can't stand him. It's a cute movie. Knowing Henry's love of outdoor holiday illumination I thought he'd get a kick out of it. To say he was inspired would be putting it mildly. Once the movie was over, he talked until 11:30 about what we should do with our house and what music we should synchronize the lights to, etc. etc, ad infinitum until we finally told him he needed to rest his voice because he'd talked himself into coughing fits. Half an hour later we rang in the New Year, hustled Henry off to bed, and then went to sleep ourselves.

The next morning Henry was up around 7, thus proving that staying up late does not a late morning guarantee.

Yesterday morning, however, Henry slept until 9:30, and he would have gone longer if I hadn't stuck my head in his room to make sure he was still alive. I took a nice leisurely shower, got down the Christmas boxes, cleaned up a bit, got Holly out of bed, we had a nice, quiet breakfast, and played for a bit, all before Henry even cracked an eyelid. Too bad Dave had to get up at 5AM for a day trip to Ohio. He would've really enjoyed the morning, too.

Henry and I took down most of the Christmas decorations during Holly's morning nap yesterday. I was stuffing the last string of garland back into its tube when I happened to notice Henry watching most dejectedly. I asked him if he was sad the holidays were over and he nodded his head glumly. I have to say, I'm sad they're over, too, but I'm looking forward to seeing what's coming in the new year, just the same.

Posted by Jenn at 03:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Holly spent the last thirty minutes howling at me over: milk, wanting to go play outside, reading a book, the general misery of her life. So this morning, her nap time got moved up by about an hour. They have a way of letting you know when they need sleep, as unpleasant as their chosen mode of communication can sometimes be. Meanwhile, we've been waking up to temperatures in the 20's, which following on the heels of a week in the mid-60's to 70's has been a bit of a slap in the butt. I feel a bit like howling myself.

A few weeks ago Chasing Cheerios wrote a post about hotprints.com, an online photo printing service that allows you to order four free photo books every month. All you have to pay for is shipping. The company is able to do this by putting a few pages of adverts in the middle of the book; they are their own pages and can be easily removed. Last month I ordered three books with photos from our trip to Florida, one for us, one for my parents, and one for my Aunt and Uncle. They came out great. Our copy is well-loved by a certain Miss Holly who pulls it out from her bookshelf at least once a day. I'll be ordering a few more and thought I would put the word out for anyone who might be interested.

On a side note, Dave has unofficially taken up the NaBloPoMo challenge and is posting on his Cool Science page. Put the pressure on him to keep it up by checking it out!

Posted by Jenn at 08:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Yesterday evening we went to the circus. Dave and I, unbeknownst to each other, picked up free admission tickets for the kids from a local coffee shop, set them aside, them completely forgot about them. I recall thinking that I should mark it on the calendar, however, that's apparently as far as I got.

Yesterday after lunch, Dave called me up and said "So, I was at the coffee shop and I picked up a free admission ticket for a circus that's coming to town." I said I had as well, and that I had marked the date on the calendar. To which Dave replied "It's tonight!" Only Dave and I can plan an outing weeks in advance and still manage to have it be completely spontaneous.

The circus was small, billed as "Old-fashioned". When we got into the tent and saw how small the ring was, and what the bleacher seating consisted of, Dave was worried about what we'd gotten ourselves into whereas I was all "This is going to be awesome." It was awesome, too. There was a trapeze artist, a balancing act, clowns (Henry's favorite), a woman who hula'd 50 hoops at once, a camel called
"Lawrence of Arabia" (which Henry and Dave went for a ride on during the intermission), goats. I'm forgetting some of the acts, but the whole show was a blast. It was also stinking hot. The four of us sucked down many sno-cones, just to stay cool. One of us also had cotton candy and popcorn. And another one of us had a hot dog. I'm not sure how he passed up the corn dogs. Henry came home sporting an amazing pink cotton candy mustache.

Posted by Jenn at 09:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

What better way to follow up a Mother's Day post than one about Father's Day?

I asked Dave what he wanted to do for Father's Day and he said "Go to Perkins for breakfast." My man dreams big. Actually he does dream big because the reason he wanted to go to Perkins was to indulge in one of those ridiculously huge breakfast platters that feature lots of eggs, hash browns, pancakes, and kielbasa, and indulge he did. Six hours later he told me with great pride that he had eaten every bite of it. Henry daintily nibbled on pancakes with rainbow sprinkles after drowning them in every kind of syrup on the table, and devoured lots of bacon. Holly ate a ridiculous quantity of food, but I'm saving the subject of what she eats for a separate post altogether because seriously, you would not believe what and how much she eats.

After Perkins we retreated back to the homestead so Holly and Dave could sleep off their breakfasts, then after a bit of waffling about what to do for the rest of the day, ended up heading to Knoebel's, which, I have to confess, is what I was secretly hoping we'd do all along because Father's Day is all about mom's, right? We had a great time. Henry rode lots of rides, bounced his heart out, and swam around in the ball pit. Holly and Dave went down a big slide together and then she took each us for a spin in a car. Dave is convinced she's going to be the one who's a daredevil, willing to go on anything with him, but I have to say, we can't rule Henry out just yet. Whereas Holly is definitely showing signs of being more impulsive, Henry's more cerebral about his decisions with respect to what he'll go on, but when he feels comfortable with it, he's ready and willing. Dave won a clownfish doll at the frog toss game, which made up for our utter failure to get a blue bear with the claw game at Perkins, a disappointment that was so great it reduced Henry to sobs. We also ate. A lot.

We came home exhausted, dusty, and happy, all signs of a very good day.

Posted by Jenn at 09:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

dave: It's amazing how well they anthropomorphize the robots in WALL-E.
me: You say this after seeing "Cars"?
dave: Well, in "Cars" they had teeth and mouths but in WALL-E they don't. So it's kind of amazing how by the end of the movie I'm like "Wow, Eve is kind of hot.".
me: ! ...Eve is kind of hot?
dave: *laughs*
me: This is so going on the blog.
dave: Hey, I knew what I was in for when I put it out there.
henry: I'm having "Booger King" for dinner! Hahahahahahahaha!

Posted by Jenn at 09:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, the thing that's keeping Dave from losing his mind lately, given the strenuous nature of this semester, is the fail blog. He checks it often throughout the day so he can have a laugh. Naturally his current life's ambition is actually being on the fail blog, so he's submitted this picture: http://cheezburger.com/View.aspx?aid=2874103808

I think you're supposed to be able to vote, the more thumbsdown the better.

Posted by Jenn at 09:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Dave asked me to get him a vest for Christmas this year. I think this one just screams "Dave". It's very science-y. Don't you think he'd love it? Maybe so much that he'd never ever take it off, ever again?

Posted by Jenn at 03:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Today is Dave's birthday. Should I tell you how old he is? I would never divulge such information, especially since he's so sensitive about getting older. I told my grandmother the other day how grumpy Dave gets around his birthday, and how I personally think that it's better to keep adding onto your age because if you're not, you're most likely dead. She agreed, and since with age comes wisdom, that must mean I'm right.

This morning while Henry was at school, I labored over Dave's cake. Then after preschool, I labored over the frosting. Then I put the two together and voila! A birthday cake! Also somewhere in there I wrapped some presents, fought with Henry over birthday cards, stealthily put candles on the cake without Henry seeing, then sent him up to bed for disobeying me. Lots of times. All in a row. Which means the gift Henry's giving Dave is the gift of having a better attitude for Daddy than he did for Mommy because of all of the good sleep he's getting right now. Bah.

Happy Birthday Dave! Bet you can't wait to get home!

Posted by Jenn at 03:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Dave put a new post up on his Cool Science page about one of his madcap beach adventures which almost got him into big trouble, not only with nature, but also with me.

Posted by Jenn at 08:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Henry and I haven't seen Dave since approximately 9 o'clock last night.

Have you seen him?

Posted by Jenn at 02:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My towel is on the right. Yours is on the left.

STOP USING MY TOWEL!

Posted by Jenn at 02:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

I should probably get this for Dave, huh?

Posted by Jenn at 05:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Dave got up at 6AM today to go play field hockey with a bunch of ladies. I'm guessing it was the "bunch of ladies" part that inspired him enough to get out of bed so inhumanly early, on a Saturday of all days.

Back when I first met Dave he was big into ice hockey. He may trip up stairs, but on the ice, he's smooth, like, ummm, ice? After we had lived in Central PA long enough to get the lay of the land, Dave started looking for a team to join. Unfortunately he had a minor stroke of bad luck in terms of timing. He happend to find a potential team the year the NHL went on strike, which meant all of the professional players were dropping down into the minor leagues, and the minor league players were dropping into the local teams, thus, the local team Dave found took itself very seriously and they played really hard. And Dave wasn't so much looking to win as he was looking to have a good time playing hockey. He never went back.

Enter Megan, stage left. Last month she joined a field hockey team that had just started up and although it's mostly women, apparently a few rival teams had recruited at least one guy for the intimidation factor and Megan, remembering Dave's love of ice hockey, told him he should come out and play sometime to see if he likes it. After giving it a lot of thought, Dave decided to give it a try. He has noted on more than one occassion how funny he thinks it is that Megan thought of him when they decided they needed someone intimidating on the field. He is the Southern Gentleman after all.

So far he's liking it. He was up late last night boiling his mouth guard and practicing how to manipulate the hockey stick. Next week's game is at a slightly more humane hour, so Henry and I may tag along to cheer him on. Although everyone wears sweatpants, I think they should make Dave wear a skirt for a more authentic field hockey experience.

Posted by Jenn at 03:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today is Dave's birthday. He's *mmmfffff* years old. He's a bit senstive about turning a year older so if you see him tell him how handsome, smart, talented, and young he is. Oh, and sing "Happy Birthday" as loud as you can.

Dave's parents, my parents, and I chipped in and got Dave something he really wanted. I ordered it a few weeks ago thinking it would take a little while to get here, but two days later there it was, lurking behind our boxwoods. I thought and thought and thought about where to hide it, then I remembered it's Dave, that although he showers everyday, I could still hide it in the tub and he wouldn't notice it. So I hid it in the garage, with a few boxes tossed haphazardly over it to camoflauge it. I thought you'd like to try and guess what it is, so I took a picture of it hidden. I should warn you this picture is not for the faint of heart because our garage is a complete nightmare and also should not be taken as an indication of how we keep our house. Okay, here goes:

Did you find it?

Here's a hint: it's a smoker!

We had some friends over yesterday to help us celebrate Dave getting older so he christened his new smoker by smoking up some pork roast for everyone. Notice in the picture above how you can actually see him saying "Ooooooooo!" as he lifts the lid up? Also, he smelled really good all day, like hickory.

Because he always gets what he asks for, I also got him two Heinecken mini-kegs, something he's been pining away for since he saw Adrian's earlier in September.

He also got the cake his mom used to make for him when he was a kid. It's pineapple and amazing.

True story: last night while he was having another helping of cake, he confessed to me that he purposely didn't offer any cake for our guests to take home because he didn't want to share any more of it. It's his birthday, he can hoard if he wants to. I think his friends will forgive him.

Posted by Jenn at 03:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Conversation Dave had with himself while giving Henry sips of iced water from a big plastic cup he was holding:

dave: "Let's see...at Henry's last doctor's appointment, he weighed 30 pounds...I weigh 180 pounds*...okay...so, imagine this cup six times bigger than it is. That's how big it is to Henry."

me: *blink-blink*

* to fend off any grumpiness that will no doubt come from my announcing to the internet how much Dave weighs, I'll fess up to my weight: 112 lbs**.

**158

Posted by Jenn at 07:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Am I allowed to direct the spotlight to Dave's blog? Because he wrote a really good post today. What are you waiting for? Go read it!

Speaking of CNN, there's a headline on the front page right now that reads "Queen joins Virginia's party" which immediately begs the question, "Is she wearing her New Jersey?"

Posted by Jenn at 03:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Like the Phoenix arising from the ashes, Dave's Cool Science page has been brought back to life. He thought a weblog format would encourage him to post more often because he wouldn't have to upload and download and upload again. Soooo...go check it out! And leave a comment!

Yesterday afternoon I was watching WCVB's five o'clock news and they mentioned that the North Shore Toys for Tots program hasn't been getting nearly enough donations for the number of needy kids in the area. Before having Henry I would have thought "Dave and I should go out and buy some toys," but that would be the end of it. Having a kid has, in some sense, made me see beyond the end of my own nose. It also seems to have made me more prone to sobbing uncontrollably over anything even remotely sappy and emotional (Megan had to collect me in a bucket and carry me, sloshing, home to Dave after we saw Brokeback Mountain. Also, thank god they don't make phone ads the way they used to.), but that's another story.

They ran the same news item this evening, only this time the reporter walked into a room that was designated for gifts for boys ages 9-11 and there were only a few toys sitting on a counter; the rest of the room was empty. That pretty much did it for me. As soon as we finished dinner, the three of us got in the car and headed over to Toysrus. There's something to be said for running around a toy store with no list and no idea what kids in the age group you're buying for like. It was basically like shopping for ourselves. We ended up with a cart full of stuff we both wanted. Dave picked out a toy that asks you twenty questions and tries to figure out what you're thinking of. Apparently it works (Dave tested it thoroughly. He's a scientist you know.). I picked out some Spongebob stuff. And Lego's! Wow are there lots of Lego's kits now. It ain't just a box full of colored bricks anymore.

It was a great way to spend the evening.

Posted by Jenn at 09:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

David here. I wanted to relate last night's tragic adventure. Last night, Jenn insisted (quite forcefully) that I go straight out to Best Buy and buy an HDTV. I protested with great sincerity, but she shoved me out the door with a clear mandate. Dreaming of hundreds of thousands of pixels I dutifully went to the local Best Buy. I was certain I would soon be cramming the HPLC3760N LCD TV in the car. Yup, I'd done my internet research and this little beaut with unusually deep blacks, builtin HD tuner, lots of ports, and a well rounded picture quality was my idea of a perfect entry-level HDTV that would make us happy for many years to come. Remember that : HDTV = happiness (this will come up again).

I ask the first sales person,"Can you comment on the performance of this HP? I'm thinking of it for watching DVDs mainly". He says,"For DVD's you gotta go BluRay" and whisks me off to the store BluRay demo. "This 1080p setup", he utters in an oddly husky voice getting very serious and solemn,"would come to about $3300, and you don't want to get stuck with those 720 line TVs."

No good - I stared at HDTVs until the next sales person came around. There were about 10 of them and in turn each of them asked me if I needed help and in turn I asked each one about my beloved HP3760N. "To be honest", pipes the next one,"it's overpriced and no better than those generics", and he leers insultingly at the generic TVs.

I'm clinging to the memory of the fast 6 ms refresh time, the 176 degree viewing angle, and the digital comb filter when I realize I'm really not asking the right question. I say to the third one,"can you compare this HP screen to this smaller samsung screen?". "Sure!", she exclaims joyously,"the Samsung is better!". I helplessly mutter something, but she carries on,"it's down to Sony and Samsung now - that's what you want to look at, esp. for DVDs".

I consider this nugget of advice when approached by the next one who says,"Yeah stick with Samsung or Sony because you know they're putting good parts inside" and then I see him go off and talk a pair of eager customers out of a plasma HDTV that was (gasp) not a Sony or Samsung - and he went to good lengths to assure them that despite how good it looked, they would be disappointed unless they went with (yes, you guessed it) "Samsung or Sony". (we'll call it S&S for short from now on)

I started working through the remainder of the sales teens. Each of them had the party line down, proclaiming that S&S were the best and I should steer clear even of Best Buy's own generic brand. I expressed my interest over and over in the HP and in turn each of them looked at me as if,"you aren't geek enough to deserve an HDTV". I went to MIT - I memorized every line in Ghostbusters - I *AM* geek enough, the thoughts fill my head like a thousand interdimensional Enterprises in episode 11 of TNG season 7. "If you can't buy a 1080p TV, you might as well not buy.", another one comments.

And just like the guys who were talked out of a 50" Plasma TV, I give up and I realize - they're all right. The standard wars are bloody and fierce and unresolved and who knows what will be obsolete in a couple of years; the TV's have too many weaknesses like pixelation, bad blacks, ghosting, shimmering, burn-in, etc. In fact after I spent an hour training my eyes on them I realized that most HDTV's are pretty crappy, even the S&S ones. I could see the flaws, shimmers and outlines and realized it - it's all a scam. In geek speak, HDTV != happiness. I can't wait to go home and hug my warm CRT.

Posted by Dave at 07:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Maybe from the title of this everybody thought it would be Jenn but it's me, Dave, interloping again. So in preparation for a mid-life crisis, which is still some time off but which will involve copious machine tools like my very own Bridgeport , I started to get a very serious case of nostalgia. I huddled over the google screen and madly started typing in names of long lost friends/acquaintances from high school and college. Somehow the internet revolution has passed over pretty much everybody I knew in school, which is a bizaare mystery to me. Or I was such a huge nerd I didn't really know as many people as I thought I did... Well let's try not to think about that. Sure, I could probably go to one of those pay sites to look up class-mates, but that lacks the adrenaline rush of actually pulling off a successful google search.

I didn't strike out entirely. There's Catherine Marie Charlton , who is a cool and talented musician who I went to high school with and stayed in touch with and that's been great, and one or two others who may want to stay anonymous so I'll grant them that. But here's the thing - get with it people. There are these things called web pages that you can create online! Just imagine. Seriously get in touch. Oh, how to find me? Try google.

Posted by Dave at 08:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

I'm hijacking the blog for a bit. Jenn's had her time in the limelight and now that I'm on leave for the semester, maybe I can opine for a bit and keep up the family honor. Let's see...

...went back to Bucknell for a few days to tie up loose ends. That was cool. Stopped in at the Blanchard annual reunion in Springfield and that was a lot of fun too. Now we're sipping coffee in new england and remain incredibly addicted to the world's hardest game of solitaire. Jenn noticed that Bucknell's women's crew will be rowing in the Head of the Charles this fall and we are already making plans to be there to hoot and holler for the Bison. For example, Henry has a nice bright orange shirt that should really make us look like over-obsessed parents.

So I'm actually a little depressed about Steve Irwin's death. He represented science and nature terrifically to anybody who can stand a few "crikey's" and was an effective role model in the natural sciences. I'm guessing he was (and still is) to the current generation what Mr. Wizard was to mine. Yes, I'm a massive nerd.

Posted by Dave at 04:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Today is all about Dave. This means he gets to do whatever he wants. Do you know what he's doing right now? He's at work. This comes as a surprise to, well, probably not anyone who knows him. This is not to say he hasn't had a great 1st Father's Day up til now. This morning Henry and I surprised him with breakfast in bed consisting of: orange juice, coffee, scrambled eggs (with mushrooms, cheese, ham, and turkey), and Coco Puffs. He got two cards, one from Henry and one from Flash. Then, because he has to act like a total dad on Father's Day, he proceeded to mow the lawn. For lunch we went out to Skeeters Pit BBQ and sat on their deck which overlooks the mighty Susquehanna. The food was amazing. Henry was great. He was totally enthralled by his Brown Bear, Brown Bear book and was obliviously devastating the ladies with his good looks. We were content to hang out on the deck for a while until a woman at a neighboring table starting asking someone on the other end of her cell phone if her doctor had inserted drainage tubes or not, etc., etc. Nothing kills a meal like that, let me tell you. Dave was glad it happened after we'd finished eating. We came home and piled into Henry's bedroom (the only room with A/C) and hung out until he got his crank on, then Dave gave him a bottle and put him down for a nap. Now Dave's at work and I'm here with the dog sweating out the 90+ degree weather. I foresee ice cream in our future.

Posted by Jenn at 03:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Reason why the spackling job in living room (two years in progress) won't get finished before Henry's born despite Dave's best intentions: click for answer.

Posted by Jenn at 10:47 AM | Permalink

Here's a picture of Dave's birthday cake for the benefit of
those family members who have been actively harassing me for one:



Her grass skirt is green frosting with green shredded coconut on top, her
"coconuts" are Little Debbie Pecan Swirls, her grass skirt belt is made up
of little flower birthday candle holders, and the rest is pure hula girl moxie.
I'll post more pictures from Dave's birthday later this week.

Posted by Jenn at 10:30 AM | Permalink