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I watched Enterprise last night, the season p...
September 27, 2001 by Adam in Adam
I watched Enterprise last night, the season premier of the new Star Trek show. I was quite pleased. I loved the feel of the show, first stepping out into the wide universe. Not nearly as clean and polished as the other Star Trek shows. The special effects were top notch, and the story was interesting. Liked the new captain too. Not as cool as Farscape, but up there in my book.
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Yesterday, Sam came up to me after work and s...
September 27, 2001 by Adam in Sam
Yesterday, Sam came up to me after work and said:
"Dad, I want to show you the truck!"
"The truck?"
"In the craft room. You have to go quietly."
We proceeded to sneak into the craft room, where Sam opened a cabinet and whispered "See?" It was the truck I had bought him for Christmas, which Jamie had hidden away. Sam, being the sneaky monkey that he is, found it immediately. I quickly hid it in another location and I'm hoping that he'll forget all about it in a few months.
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This morning I switched over to a new ISP for...
September 27, 2001 by Adam in Family
This morning I switched over to a new ISP for DSL access. Believe it or not, I had about 5 minutes of downtime and am up and running now. Yeah!
The family is doing well. After work yesterday, I carried Sam around in a cardboard box, pretending he was "Captain Brainstorm" and the box was his rocket. I did that until dinner, then we went swimming while Jamie visited with Victoria. Afterwards, Sam and I watched the season premiere of Enterprise until he announced he wanted to go to sleep.
Also, note that Seraph & Robbie have a new e-mail address of isacortez@earthlink.net.
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Isa's slowly getting the hang of crawling, bu...
September 26, 2001 by Seraph in Cortez
Isa's slowly getting the hang of crawling, but I still think she'd rather be running! Robbie and Isa had a play date with Sam today while Jamie got her hair cut. They played Star Wars, Legos and several games of hide-and-seek! My back is feeling much better. Thank you for all the calls and e-mails.
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Sam had a wonderful time at the coast
September 25, 2001 by Adam in Sam
 Sam had a wonderful time at the coast. There were lots of people to play with, and everyone laughed at his jokes.
Sam's been going through a growth spurt, I think. Last night, he ate a huge amount of food. Every time he'd stuff something down, in a few more minutes he'd be hungry again. He's also been much more polite lately. There's a lot of "Please may I"'s, which are pretty hard to resist.
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A very quiet weekend visit to the coast
September 24, 2001 by Adam in Family
 A very quiet weekend visit to the coast. Jamie, Sam, and I headed up Friday and I took Sam to the aquarium. We had a good time going through the tubes, touching sea anemonies, and watching sea lions playing. Saturday was shopping, mostly getting things for Sam's upcoming birthday and Christmas, though I picked up a robe for Jamie's birthday too.
We puttered around on the beach most of Sunday, and I headed back with Brant, Wendy, and Steve in the afternoon. Jamie and Sam should be home by the time I return from work today.
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Sam came in to our bed this morning and dropp...
September 21, 2001 by Adam in Sam
Sam came in to our bed this morning and dropped his binkies on the mattress. He told Jamie, "See mom. That's gravity."
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Hi, I actually talked with Sadie yesterday mo...
September 20, 2001 by Sue in Wielesek
Hi, I actually talked with Sadie yesterday morning. She was calling on a calling card, which ran out all too quickly. She is now staying with a family whose father works for Botswana Power. There's a grown up daughter, a hired girl,
a dad and a younger daughter. I don't know about the Mom.
She sounded happy and excited. She said she wanted to stay a second semester; I did the usual Mom-Mantra of "It's your decision." That's what I always say when I don't like the decision.
I want again to say thanks to all the family and friends who sent messages and welcomed me back. Once, when I was going through hard times, I got a fortune in a fortune cookie which said, "You are protected by the silent love around you." (I assume they have the equivalent of English majors writing those fortunes.) It's not a bad fortune to remember from time to time, so thanks again.
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Nothing too exciting these days
September 20, 2001 by Adam in Family
Nothing too exciting these days. Jamie's birthday was yesterday, but we're pretending that it's not until this weekend. She left soon after I got home, then returned close to 9 o'clock. I balanced a votive candle on a cupcake and sung her happy birthday.
Tomorrow we leave for the coast, and I'm starting to get excited. I'm also seeing an eye doctor today for my ongoing eye irritation problem. It's a lot better, but I've learned to see the doctor whenever anything's remotely wrong.
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I finished up Arcanum, and have hit a bit of ...
September 20, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Games
I finished up Arcanum, and have hit a bit of a lull. Not that I really have much free time to play these days. What I really should do is start extracting myself from Everquest. To be nice to the people who helped me so much, I should give back some of the assorted loot that I've been given. Unfortunately, that's a bit time consuming, so it may take awhile.
Nothing really exciting game-wise is on the horizion. I may pick up the Diablo expansion, Max Payne, or do some non-gaming things with my computer. My network connection may be down for awhile, but hopefully I'll start getting my DSL issue resolved today. Sigh.
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Milestone Moment! Today Isabell crawled
September 20, 2001 by Seraph in Cortez
Milestone Moment! Today Isabell crawled. She's still shakey at it, and prefers to scoot and pull herself up, but we're getting there!
Ahh.. the miricle of drugs! I've spent Monday and Tuesday pretty much on my back while my back muscles were spasming away. It reminded me far to much of labor, but with no end in sight. The doctor gave my some meds though and the relief has been tremendous. An added bonus is that it's dopeing up Isa some too! It certianly helps with teething!
A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Jamie!!!! We love you!!
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Sadie called this morning at 4 am
September 19, 2001 by Adam in Family
Sadie called this morning at 4 am. She basically said, "Hi, it's Sadie. Tell everyone I love them." She was so quick that I couldn't get to the phone in time. Sigh.
I'm also working hard to get a new ISP. Lots of hassle. It looks like The Pond closing is also affecting lots of others in the family. Please e-mail me if you have good suggestions as to an ISP. I'm trying to stay local, but haven't found a good one yet.
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Jamie's been working hard for the first part ...
September 19, 2001 by Adam in Sam
Jamie's been working hard for the first part of this week, doing Tiny Tots and preschool things. I've been watching Sam in the evenings, and it's been great fun. I think he was a little sick for a few days, as he tended to whine a bit more than usual. It's been better, which makes him more fun to be around. He's also going to bed at 8 pm, which is wonderful. I've even had some time to relax in the evenings.
Sam's imagination is amazing. Last night, he was Max, not Sam. Sam was off for a walk in the forest, where he was captured by spiders and put in a cave. We had to drive off to Borders to rescue him and take him back. I think he got the idea from my stories about the Hobbit. Nice to know he's absorbing fine literature already.
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When I had dinner at my mom's house on Sunday...
September 19, 2001 by Adam in Jenny
 When I had dinner at my mom's house on Sunday, I got a peek at baby Jordan. He's getting pretty big, and starting to look around at everything. Jenny says that he's only up once to eat through the night, and is actually a pretty quiet kid. All these things make me hopeful of having a second one some day.
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We got a new letter from Sadie
September 19, 2001 by Adam in Sadie & Greg
We got a new letter from Sadie. It's addressed:
The K.W.M.B.C. Family
And on the back is:
Yeah, you all have to get together to read this, so nya, nya, nya - S.
(Editor: I guess she hasn't learned about the Internet yet.)
The rest of the letter continues:
 Every day breaks and rebuilds me, and it's only the sheer pain of monotony that pulls days into weeks in some accelerated generalization of Kanye. "Very big. China" The joke we would roll around when no words or logic could encapsulate an experience. But if I could distill my daily experience to the first two hours of daybreak, it would describe the making of the fire. Gosa Molelo. The alarm dreams that I used to sleep through but now anticipate at 5:58 every morning. Wake for ten guilty minutes, hoping to hear the pata pata of bed shoes bringing wood and matches, and hearing none. Pull on Dick's old wool sweater, one arm above manufactured fabric at a time, or pulled into my sleeping bag before fresh air hits my skin. Sandal straps crusted with God knows I can't tell browns apart, and wash hands with last night's saline. Then balancing sticky contacts on a finger tip, tilting at candle light to make sure the 123 lines up so my eyes don't tickle with backwards plastic all day. Pull up the door so it doesn't scrape, scrape it closed. Look for wood - yesterday from our stick fence and straw from the thatched roof. I wish I knew how real women warm water without tearing down the house. The first week I brought a big box of matches so when the fire sputtered out there wasn't any fumbling in the house, perhaps waking the old women and the fucking rooster. (Editor: there goes our family-friendly rating)
I can't explain without succumbing to the actual monotony of the task, and had it not hurt, had I never cried in my life until my body was black and lungs coated with mogobe soot, I'd pass it over. Instead, I'd disect the pit latrine with its glossy shelled cockroaches and pretty pattern of flies that make flowers like my bedroom wallpaper before Martha Stewart. But the real shit is in the work outside of laminated living and matching green enamel.
 So I start the fire with sticks and ends of yesterday's successes. The most important thing is fanning so hard it goes dead 'cept the gwoosh gwoosh sounds of oxygen and fuel. Last weeks mistake was not enough panting. I took the plastic bucket top and waved it a bit, but molelo needs good hard slaps. And don't look at the sun 'till the fire's steady, because once I forgot my carbon tears and lost the whole fire on account of the sky. The it's smoke and cold all over again. But the smoke in my skin and the clouds that are too perfect for personification bring reference for the rest of my day. I don't envy the sleeping grandmother on the sitting room floor, sinking through a chicken coop patress and aching ten babies full. In sleep I can't own the memory of morning. I can't stick my flag in and claim the elusive time which could pass easy like old family jokes about China.
I wish I could really explain the chalky yellow paint or the way it drips on concrete, the way dirt brings out age and fingertips on fair skin, or the sunburnt exhaustion that is freeze framed and catalogued without cross references for translation. I wish I could write you volumes of untranslated beat haikus straight out of my diseased dog Lazarus, written on soot stained hands and copied to the margins of my journal pages. Rain on corrogated roofs. Desert at the edge of water. The nights that are too beautiful and grotesque for our native tongue. I am still trying to fail every day until I let go of my access and bullshit and the things I didn't
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We had dinner for my mom on Sunday
September 18, 2001 by Adam in Family
 We had dinner for my mom on Sunday. It was good to get everyone together and hear strange tales of her airplane ride over to England. Glad to have her back.
The week has gone well. I've been watching Sam at night, as Jamie has full evenings every night this week. She rescheduled her Tiny Tots orientations to this week, unfortunately leaving her busy on her birthday. We're going to pretend it didn't really happen and instead celebrate this weekend.
We're heading to the coast on Friday. I get to go the the Newport aquarium and see it the first time with the new fish tubes. Then it's to a place on the coast with all of Jamie's family. Should be quite the adventure.
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Sam's sense of humor is improving
September 18, 2001 by Adam in Sam
Sam's sense of humor is improving. Tonight, we had this little discussion:
"Dad, I want to tell you something."
"What?"
(burp)
How he timed it so perfectly, we'll never know.
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Home at last
September 17, 2001 by Sue in Wielesek
Home at last. I slept at the Heathrow Airport Friday night to be sure I got the flight on Saturday morning. Police were everywhere, and our carry on luggage was hand searched.
The flight, scheduled for 8:40 a.m., left at about 1:00 p.m.
When we landed at LA, someone on the plane started singing God Bless America - the rest of us joined in.
I had to stay overnight at the Sheraton in L.A. The glitz was a contrast to the reality of the last few days.
All the kids and grandkids were over for dinner tonight. Dad called from Meg and Dick's - tired but safely home.
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Sam's been going through a phase lately
September 16, 2001 by Adam in Sam
 Sam's been going through a phase lately. Lots of whining. I keep assuring myself that it's normal and try to correct him:
"Why don't you ask 'could you please get me a cracker?'"
So far, it only sort of works.
Sam started preschool last week. He's really enjoying it.
"Gonna go, mom?"
"Yep."
"Will you pick me up after story time?"
"Yep."
"Okay, goodbye."
He's really enjoying the new sandbox. He had me bury him today while we were playing.
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When you move in to an old house, it's expect...
September 16, 2001 by Adam in Adam
 When you move in to an old house, it's expected that you'll find assorted knick knacks left over from the previous owners. We found a box of unopened Halloween toys, assorted building supplies, paint for every room, and the like. What I didn't expect was what I found yesterday: a rocket launcher.
It's homemade, a PVC pipe outfitted with an ignition system and a model rocket fitted into the tube. I imagine you'd hold it on your shoulder, make sure no one is behind you, and push the button. Crazy. Not sure if I'm really going to try it out, or if I'll just trash it to remove temptation.
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Mom just called! She's in LA, as suspected
September 16, 2001 by Adam in Family
Mom just called! She's in LA, as suspected. She has a flight out tomorrow morning and should be in Portland at 10:27 am. We're crossing our fingers. Hopefully we'll see her soon.
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As Adam mentioned, Mom may be stuck in LA for...
September 15, 2001 by Seraph in Cortez
 As Adam mentioned, Mom may be stuck in LA for awhile. On the work frount this is very frusterating. As Adam said LA is worse than London, perticularly because I could almost reach Mom in London. I guess a few more days of holding down the fort won't be to bad. Althougth if I hear one more time that I need to go to law school I think I'll just point to these last few weeks for the reason I shouldn't!
I'm still not sure if we're going to go down to the Celebration today. The parade was fun this morning. I think all the kidos (and grown ups alike) enjoyed a little laughter (dancing pigs, cows, and chickens) after such a difficult week.
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Sam and I took the "Batmobile" (his big strol...
September 15, 2001 by Adam in Family
 Sam and I took the "Batmobile" (his big stroller) down to the library. We met up with Seraph, Robbie, Honni, Isabell, Jenny, Destin, and Jordan and watched the parade. It was more subdued than last year. Lots of flags and patriotism, though some people marching for peace as well. Sam loved it, especially all the costumes.
The web site was down for a few hours this morning. I also found out that The Pond is cutting off my account at the end of the month. Evidently they're dropping DSL customers. Very frustrating and extremely bad timing. I wrote them a nasty letter and will no longer recommend them to people. The rumor is that they've been bought out by Earthlink.
Dick called this morning. My mom's flying into LA as we speak, but the airline to Portland has been cancelled. She may be stuck in LA for a couple of days - far worse than being stuck in London. I'll post more as I find things out from Dick.
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I don't think tomarrow can come fast enough f...
September 14, 2001 by Seraph in Cortez
 I don't think tomarrow can come fast enough for me. Now that I'm working for Mom my days become terribly empty without her presence. Also I think Isa is starting to miss her! We are heading down to the vigil on the mall tonight at 7pm, and to the Celebration Parade tomarrow morning. If anyone wants to get together and go as a group let me know. I'm feeling the need to go out and show my support, and help out, where ever I may be needed.
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It is days like this that I am thankful that ...
September 14, 2001 by Adam in Family
It is days like this that I am thankful that I put together this little web site. Reading the messages from Sadie and my mom, in places far away, brought tears to my eyes.
This week started out grim, burying Frank, and trying to work with an empty place on our team. The next day, waking up to disaster, strengthened the sense of unreality. I've been going through the motions at work, coding away in strange computer languages.
My family has been my strength. Coming home to Jamie and Sam is the highlight of my day. It seems a reaffirmation of life when little Sam and I play with tricky Legos together. Visiting and talking to my sisters, parents, and other hangers on, has been so helpful these last few days. Love you all.
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here i am in gabarone, after the most incread...
September 14, 2001 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg
 here i am in gabarone, after the most increadible month. if i could hold these stars in my hands and send them, sweeping constilations and planets at a time, you know i would. my mother brought me into my room this morning and we held each other and she prayed for me, in setswana and english and i know you would have cried at least as much as i did. its hard to leave candlelight conversations, mogobe (think cream of wheat morning noon and night at various viscosities), and the most increadible language teachers, all either under three or over fifty and with glittering eyes that show a sense of the world untouched by what we might consider to be absolute poverty. i am at a strange edge, jumping into the small town research on monday, excited but in love with my place in kanye, and feeling more than I ever havehave, all at once and overlapping- that dumb adjustment curve they sent was not scaled right- \i do all that every day. yesterday was one of the most difficult days yet, for I had the delight to receive a few letters (thank you thank you thank you) and got to call home, all on top of finally hearing the news and watching cnn for a terrifying moment or two. i want to be with you so much, to hunker like the welsh should and touch all of you on the shoulder, just to remember my own place as well as yours. But I'm not alone here, and you are not alone there, and everything has a way of working out... so i hope. please send on letters, though i can't get them frequently, i'll write nevertheless and love you all the more. kisses to Noah.
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Dear Family and friends,
I am scheduled to...
September 14, 2001 by Sue in Wielesek
Dear Family and friends,
I am scheduled to leave GB tomorrow morning at 8:50 a.m. on flight 933, arrive in Los Angeles at noon, and arrive into Portland at 4:09 p.m.. I'm going into the airport this afternoon. If flights are leaving as scheduled, I'll try to find a room, but if things look at all dicey, I'll stay at the airport.
Dad is scheduled to leave Sunday at 11:40 on UA 921, getting into Washington Dulles at 2:40 p.m., taking UA 7568, leaving Dulles at 5:15 p.m. and arriving Philadelphia at 6:15 p.m.
Mary and another couple are going over on the car ferry very early on Sunday morning, and Mary has arranged for a cab to take him directly to the airport.
Meg, I mailed a box with Dad's cane (he bought another one in Liverpool) and souvenirs to your house. Dad can take out his stuff and then would you send it on.
We have stretched out our last bit of cash, and each have about รบ100 in cash, so we should be okay.
Mary is taking very good care of us. One of her friends will take Dad around to see 'masculine' things tomorrow, as Mary has to work.
Bembridge is such a lovely peaceable village that it is hard to imagine anything so terrible could happen.
As I said earlier, Dad figured out that there was something wrong and the plane was landing earlier than it should. The
pilot did not give us any information prior to landing, and I assumed there was something wrong with our plane. I want you to know that there is a barf bag somewhere in the London Heathrow garbage system on which I wrote that I loved you all. You all mean more to me than all the tea in England. Love, Sue/om
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Hi everybody
September 14, 2001 by Sue in Wielesek
Hi everybody. I am at last mastering the internet by kind tuition from sue
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As a response to Adam's posting I called Sara...
September 14, 2001 by Seraph in Cortez
As a response to Adam's posting I called Sara Spettel's family here in Eugene. They said she was doing fine. If anyone else talks to Sadie please let her know. It feels like there continues to be someone I forgot to make sure is accounted for. Right now I just can't wait until Mom gets back. I hope she said a really good good-byr to everyone in England, because it might be a long time before I let her out of my sight again!
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Hi, I wish I could see your faces
September 13, 2001 by Sue in Wielesek
Hi, I wish I could see your faces. People here are subdued and sympathetic. Several people on the train yesterday offered kind words, and one woman said we could stay with her. I'm glad to hear that everyone we know is fine, but so many have lost so much.
Don't know if you heard that Steve Berkenfeld, Karen's husband, avoided the devastation even though he had been heading for a meeting at the WTC. Kathy, his sister in law in Franklin, saw the news and reached him on his cell phone. He in turn was able to reach the person he was going to meet, who was on the subway on his way to work.
We were very lucky to get a room the first night, but when we were rebooked Saturday and Sunday, we knew we needed to get hunkered in for a day or two. The trip down from London, by tube, express train, slow train, and boat, was pretty grueling, but Dad held up like a champ. I don't know whether Dick mentioned this, but Dad figured out long before anyone else that something was wrong - they had asked us to lower our blinds so people could see the movie, but of course, Dad noticed when the plane dropped to a lower altitude, and then figured out that the sun was in the wrong place.
I hope Jamie's dad got in safe and sound. I appreciate all the efforts everyone made to locate us. Mary is taking very good care of us. She has made arrangements for Dad to get straight to the airport on Sunday morning.
I can't wait to see you all,
Love, Sue/om
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At 4:00 am, I heard the phone ring
September 13, 2001 by Adam in Family
At 4:00 am, I heard the phone ring. It was Sadie, calling from the other side of the world. She wanted to let us know that she was fine and I told her that everyone was okay on our end. Evidently the people in her program and their families were okay too.
The only person she hadn't heard about was her friend Sara. She goes to school in New York, though I'm not sure how to reach her.
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we were relieved to hear that Sue was still i...
September 12, 2001 by Robbie in Cortez
we were relieved to hear that Sue was still in England and we can't wait until they are back home. Seraph was contacted by Pitzer college and told her that the students on the foreign programs were worried about their parents. Seraph sent a message to Sadie saying that everything is O.K. here. Hopefully we will hear from Sadie soon. We can only pray for those in New York City, the airplane victims, and the victims of the Pentagon.
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My family is starting to ask about my new com...
September 12, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
My family is starting to ask about my new computer case. I've put together a page in the case mod section of the site, detailing my progress. I'll update it periodically when I can. You can take a peek at the Fossil case here.
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7:10 am
Back at work
September 12, 2001 by Adam in Family
7:10 am
Back at work. Supposedly, my mom gets on a plane home today. Not sure if it will really happen, but we're hopeful. No word on Jamie's dad yet, other than he's still in Nebraska.
8:10 am
Got an e-mail from Dick. My mom's flight today was cancelled, so it will probably be a few more days before she can head back.
10:50 am
Dick called. My mom and grandfather are safe and staying with Mary Steane. My mom flies back Saturday, going to LA then Portland. Bill has to wait until Sunday when he'll fly into Philadelphia. Glad to know there's finally a plan.
4:50 pm
Just updating to let everyone know that there aren't any updates. Quiet day at work - hard to get anything done. I'll probably take Sam swimming and give Jamie a little quiet time.
8:00 pm
Went swimming with Sam. Jamie mentioned at dinner that her dad called and was flying back on Saturday. It looks like everyone is accounted for and soon to be home.
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Adam's keeping everyone abreast of the chaos ...
September 11, 2001 by Seraph in Cortez
Adam's keeping everyone abreast of the chaos on the family page, and I don't have much to add. Our church is having a prayer service tonight at 7:00pm for anyone interested. Robbie, Isa and I will probably go. Adam and Jenny were talking about getting everyone together tonight, I'll call people between 4 and 5 if I don't hear anything sooner.
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8:30 am
We just got news of the terrorist at...
September 11, 2001 by Adam in Family
 8:30 am
We just got news of the terrorist attacks to the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. My mom is in the air today, returning from London and heading towards Washington. They're redirecting all international airplane travel to Canada, so we're hoping she's headed there. I'll keep everyone updated.
9:00 am
Finished talking to Jenny, Seraph, Dick, and my dad. We're not sure about my mom's flight, but a web lookup seems to point to United Airlines flight #1. Our guess is that she's headed to Canada, though they're talking about closing those down as well. Hopefully it will be after incoming flights land.
We're also worrying about Sadie in Botswana and thinking about pulling her back to the United States as soon as we can. My dad's talking to the Pitzer college people to find out what's happening. Since she's in such a backwater, she may be hard to reach.
9:10 am
Finished talking to Dick. It looks like my mom is on the ground in England. The plane was either delayed, or they turned around and landed. They're going to make a decision within an hour about how to get them back. Jamie called, shaken about the news.
9:30 am
Just talked to my dad, who contacted the Pitzer folks. They're contacting all their student leaders, so Sadie should know what's going on fairly soon. They don't plan on pulling anyone out yet. I think they're waiting for the State Department to issue warnings.
9:40 am
Dick called. My mom is booked for a flight home tomorrow, though no one knows if they'll be allowing international flights by then.
10:25 am
Dick called. Meg is trying to reach my mom in England, with no success so far.
1:00 pm
Dick left a message. The people my mom was staying with have called, but have been unable to reach my mom. Phones and e-mail are proving unreliable, but we hope to hear from her soon.
3:05 pm
ABC news is showing pictures of bombing in Afghanistan. Not sure who's doing it or why. No word on my mom yet.
3:15 pm
Dick left a message. One of the Marys from England called after she got through to the airport. My mom's airplane was in the air when the attack hit, so they turned it around and landed it. Now they're working on getting hotels for everyone. The phone lines from the airport are jammed, so that's probably why we haven't heard anything.
4:00 pm
Heading home. I think our family is going to try to get together tonight. No word so far on where we'll meet. Jamie has a meeting tonight, though I'm not sure how many will attend.
4:40 pm
More updates. Judy's building was evacuated in Portland due to a bomb threat. Sam and I are meeting with family at Papa's Pizza at 6 pm. Jamie remembered that her dad was supposed to fly back from Omaha today. No word on him.
7:20 pm
Back from pizza. Dick stayed faithfully by the phone, but everyone else was there. It was nice to visit, if only for a bit.
8:00 pm
Cousin Mary called. My mom is sleeping in a hotel in London, and will try to fly out tomorrow. Jamie's dad is still in Nebraska, as today's flight was cancelled. Hopefully we'll know more tomorrow.
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We had a good, productive weekend
September 10, 2001 by Adam in Family
We had a good, productive weekend. I put together a sandbox for Sam and did some miscellaneous home repairs. I worked on the computer case with my dad. Everyone seemed in good spirits.
I'm going to be heading off to a memorial service for Frank shortly. Sam should be in his first day of preschool already, while Jamie works out beneath my feet (in the basement gym).
All the various world travellers are in my thoughts. Yayoe returned from Hawaii. My mom and grandfather are in England. Sadie is in Botswana, still learning the language. I wish you all well.
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Robbie and Isa had a close call last Wednesday
September 09, 2001 by Seraph in Cortez
Robbie and Isa had a close call last Wednesday. While stopped at a light they had a semi truck pull up beside them, but the brakes on the trailer failed and the truck nearly lost its load ( a large back hoe) on to our car. Some chains and debris hit our car and dented up the drivers side doors and broke out the window on the back door. Some glass got into Isa's car seat, but luckily neither of them were hurt. Now we're having to deal with getting the car fixed, insurance agencies and all thae other fun stuff that comes with these things. I told Robbie that this probably cost him a few of his nine lives! Darren starts work at our house this week, and we're still trying to get some last stuff cleaned up for him!
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In just a few hours, I managed to put togethe...
September 08, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Projects
 In just a few hours, I managed to put together a sandbox for Sam. It was pretty grueling, from drilling and bolting the pieces together in the morning, to hauling a ton of sand up our hill over and over. Sam totally loves it, which makes it all worthwhile. While I was dumping in the sand, Sam wanted to be in it and have me dump the sand on him. Great fun.
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I've been frantically preparing for the openi...
September 07, 2001 by Jamie in Jamie
I've been frantically preparing for the opening of Tiny Tots and Preschool. Though there is much work to be done this week, the benefit is something to do with Sam for the Winter! He has become so energetic lately, I can't keep track of him. All this, combined with a distinct lack of napping, has made my time alone much coveted. I've been enjoying my new favorite channels on digital cable...BBC America and Home & Garden TV (although I don't know if it is good for me to get all these great home ideas when I can't implement them) I've convinced Adam that we need to build Sam a sandbox in the backyard, so hopefully that will be completed this weekend.
We are looking forward to a weekend with my family at the coast late in September, and a trip to the Portland Zoo coming up soon.
As for me, I just look forward to the start of SCHOOL :-)
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Frank, my coworker, passed away a few hours ago
September 07, 2001 by Adam in Family
Frank, my coworker, passed away a few hours ago. It's been a long battle with cancer, and the last couple weeks went quickly. For our small team at work, it's been very emotional. He will be hard to replace, both work-wise and as a friend.
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I've been playing Arcanum for a couple weeks now
September 06, 2001 by Adam in Adam's Games
 I've been playing Arcanum for a couple weeks now. It's the game that was delayed for three months due to stupid reasons. While the graphics are a tad dated, the gameplay is pretty good. I like the "deep" RPGs that let you resolve problems a variety of ways. My current character is a melee/diplomat. Rarely does something come up that she can't outfight or outwit. Plus, I have an entourage of 6 NPCs who help me out in all situations.
My interest in Everquest is fading. I played a couple hours last weekend, but that's about it. I find that the gameplay is repetitive, with lots of boring times travelling or waiting for something to happen. I'm thinking about just closing my account for now.
I played the Max Payne demo last night. Beautiful graphics and nice slow-motion "bullet time" effects. Even thought it's supposedly only a 10 hour game, I may just have to pick it up. Looks to be fun.
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Frank Obert, my coworker and cubicle neighbor...
September 05, 2001 by Adam in Adam
Frank Obert, my coworker and cubicle neighbor for a couple years, is approaching the end of his battle with cancer. He was diagnosed over a year ago, and his particular form of cancer has a low survival rate. I felt pretty lousy for a long time after finding out.
Since then, he's done chemotherapy and been very aggressive with fighting the disease. Just a few weeks ago, he started having serious back pain, and it now appears that it's spread aggresively to his liver. He probably has a few days or weeks of his life left.
Working with Frank through this time has been an intense experience. I've been much more serious about my own health, getting a physical earlier this year. I'm also getting life insurance, just in case.
It's been an honor to work with him these years. His particular brand of humor has added to our weekly meetings. I hope that when my time comes, I have the same courage and wit when facing my mortality.
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It's been a good Memorial Day weekend so far
September 03, 2001 by Adam in Family
 It's been a good Memorial Day weekend so far. Yesterday Sam, Dave, Josh, and I went out to Amazon park to shoot off rockets. It was more scary for Sam than it was the last time, though plugging his ears and closing his eyes for the launch seemed to help. Watching Dave and Josh run after the rockets was the best part. Unfortunately, we melted the parachute on our new rocket - not enough wadding.
Today was pretty low key. Serena returned from her month in Australia, so our house was again cleaned. Jamie and I snuck out for dinner while the boys watched Sam (as well as the football game).
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Well this is most certianly our Labor Day wee...
September 03, 2001 by Seraph in Cortez
Well this is most certianly our Labor Day weekend! Yesterday we organized and cleaned the inside of the house. Last night we went to play with Destin and Jordan while Jenny and Darren got to be free for awhile. Today we cleaned out the garage. Most of the time though we were day dreaming about lighting it on fire! We now have a huge pile of debris to haul to the dump (anyone want to help?). Tomarrow it's yard work. Huge hugs and kisses go out to Hunni for watching Isa today. Have we mentioned before that we LOVE having family around?! Sending good thoughts to all the family that's traveling:Mom, Yayoe, Sadie, and Grandpa Steane; and welcome home Jamie and Sam!
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Hi to all,
Well, we should all move to the I...
September 01, 2001 by Sue in Wielesek
Hi to all,
Well, we should all move to the Isle of Wight. It has great dirt and a nice climate, for us gardeners, beautiful 19th century homes, for the antique home seekers, Neolithic relics, and a Roman villa, from the time the Romans lived in Great Britain for the history buffs. We got to see Queen Victoria's summer home, which was opulent beyond belief, and which has a painting of her with the groom, just like in the movie Mrs. Brown. It's 10 pm, so the football game should just be started. Many hugs to all. I'm not quite sure when I will be the same place as a computer, but when I looked at the moon and stars, I thought of you all. Love,om
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ISA TOOK A BOTTLE!!!! For those of you who h...
September 01, 2001 by Seraph in Cortez
ISA TOOK A BOTTLE!!!! For those of you who have followed our saga, you know what an accomplishment this is. At dinner tonight Isa was drinking out of her tippy cup, and I commented on how good she was getting at sucking out the water. I then said "lets try a bottle." Sure enough, two minutes latter she was sucking away like a little cow! This may be another one of her passing phases but it may also be a good sign. She also had a boil on her hand this morning. But the doctor said that unless they spread all over then not to worry.
Last weekend we got Hanni moved over. Now we just have to get her hooked to the web so she can be apart of the Family Site. Next week I start full time at mom's, and on top of watching Isa, Robbie's also looking into some mineral for Alex (my comprehension only goes that far!). We're looking forward to the long weekend. Lots of house work though.
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