Why?

Sammy has really embraced the "Why" question. No matter what you answer his usual rejoinder after that is, "Why." It is a literal assault of "Why's." Unfortunately, Paul quickly finds himself at the limits of his knowledge, usually in 5 questions or less.

PAUL:  Sammy, don't touch that pan!

SAMMY:  Why?

PAUL:  Because it is hot and it will burn you.

SAMMY:  Why?
PAUL:  Why is it hot?

SAMMY:  Yes.

PAUL:  Um, well, the stove made it hot.

SAMMY:  Why?

PAUL:  Uh, I guess the heat transfer from contact on the stovetop excited molecules or something which made it hot.

SAMMY:  Why?

PAUL:  Uh...

Reading for Sammy...

This time it was Linda's turn to read to Sammy.  Last week she came over for dinner and Sammy requested she read him a book...then another...and another...and another...

The Self Preservation Society...

Sometimes a remake of a movie is better than the original. Not in the case of the "Italian Job." The original was great. If you haven't seen it, make sure you do (the original)...and watch the extras on the DVD.

Anyway, the cliffhanger has been solved...40 years later...

...but don't watch this clip if you haven't seen the movie yet!

Dubya...

While we sincerely wish our new president the best in being the kind of president this country needs, we take a brief moment to say thank you to President George W. Bush.

Consequential times and presidencies are often bitterly contested, partly because so much is at stake. A recent news article put it this way, "Few presidents had as many challenges arise during their eight years, had as many tough calls to make in such a partisan-charged environment, or had to act in the face of such hostile media and elite opinion"

Although there were legitimate policy alternatives to President Bush's responses to the 9/11 attacks, unfortunately the loudest voices of dissent (personal attacks) drowned them out from public discourse. President Bush--for better or worse--did what he thought was best. History as seen through the lens of several decades will be the ultimate judge. We think most people can agree that he did not follow opinion polls when making decisions.

Perhaps former President Bill Clinton said it best when he was making a speech on June 3, 2004 to promote his memoir (the whole speech is worth listening to --he's a fascinating speaker-- or you can just skip ahead to the part we quote below):

"If you don't support president Bush--if you go back and read what he said in the campaign--he's just doing what he said he would do--and you've got to give him credit for that. You don't have to say he's a bad person if you don't support him. You should say, "I think he's wrong and here's why" and if you do support him, you should say not those of us who don't are bad people, but you think we're wrong and why. Because this is a great enterprise and no one has the whole truth. We're struggling to create a new reality."

Thank you President Bush for acting out of belief and principles instead of political expediency. In many ways we believe history will judge you kindly.

Totally useless...

When confronted with a crisis, people behave differently. Some people rise to the occasion, some run away, and some run upstairs to videotape it.

With the extreme cold we've been having, nothing on the pavement is melting...even with the salt. So the recent snow on the streets is getting packed down into ice. Cars are starting to slip and slide all over the place.

We live on a parkway (a street with a middle divider). When driving home today, Paul saw a woman who had turned to sharply and landed in the snowbank of of the middle divider. Paul was debating whether or not he should go out to help her and then a few cars pulled over to help. So Paul figured he might as well just go upstairs (for a better angle) instead and videotape it.

So here is the perfectly useless video that Paul took.

Veto the (ill) Cat...

Veto had not been feeling well this week. So we took him to the veterinarian today. The diagnosis: diabetes. Our pleasingly plump cat now needs 2 daily shots of insulin...and a diet.

Brrr....

This morning... -24F and -51F wind chill?

House of Bounce...

Gymnastics night was canceled this week, so Shannon invited Sammy to go to the Rochester House of Bounce with her tonight. After signing waivers, Shanon and Sammy were bouncing off the walls...literally.

A world of bounce...

Shannon sliding...

Sammy having a soft landing...

Shannon and Meep the Sheep...

Sammy is ready for more...

Sammy races the train to the crossing...

Michele on the slide...

A harbinger of things to come?
Sammy notices the concession stand...

Without a peep, Meep the sheep deep asleep...

Mahalo Texicana Christmas...

As part of our "ukulele Christmas" theme, we sent painted Mahalo ukuleles to Austin Tx to David & Jacci's kids (nephews/nieces Russ, Dominic, Tricia, Andrew, Celine).  

Tricia, Russ, Celine, Andrew, & Dominic...

Rush showing Dominic some chords...

Here is a video of them opening the presents...

For what it is worth...

We've given a number of ukulele's as gifts this year...most of them inexpensive painted Mahalo's. The Mahalo ukuleles come with pretty lousy strings (something we realized too late before gift-giving came). Even after you've tuned them numerous times and they start to stay in tune, they still sound pretty bad. We tried putting on a number of strings (we ended up getting green and purple Mahalo ukuleles for ourselves...it's a uke thing). We found that we really like the way the Worth Brown Fluoro-carbon medium (BM) strings sound on the Mahalo ukuleles. The strings are somewhat pricey, but they give you enough length to do two ukuleles with one package.

So for what it is worth, we recommend the Worth Brown Fluoro-carbon medium (BM) soprano strings for the cheapie-er-moderately priced Mahalo ukuleles. You can purchase them at Elderly Instruments (a cool shop with a decent ukulele selection).

Yes, these are basically fishing lines.

Bursting with pride and vomit...

Sammy had a tough day yesterday.   He was to put it lightly, very non-cooperative.  This morning we found out why.  At 5:30 am he threw up.   We cleaned up the bed (and him)...and he quickly went back to sleep.  

After 7:30 or so, he woke up again and asked to go to the bathroom.  Then (unprompted) he asked for the blue basin because he had to "throw up."  We figured he must have an upset stomach.  A few moments after we gave him the basin, sure enough he threw up into it.  We couldn't help but feel prideful of our son--as he spewed out his guts--who is not even 3 years old but has the presence of mind to request a basin to vomit in (contrast this with Paul's college drinking days...best left unsaid).

Sammy seems to be doing better now, he's still vomiting occasionally (each time he requests the basin).  After a bath he seemed to perk up more.

Still not 100%...

...but resting comfortably...

...with his blue basin...

Samnastics...

Samnastics...

This week we took a camera when we brought Sammy to gymnastics. He's pretty excited now that his friend Shannon is in the class.

Sammy and Shannon...

Shannon doing the circle thing...
...they run and prance in circles...

A familiar event...
...Sammy always gravitates towards a grouping of females...

Sammy on the mat...

Sammy distracting Shannon when they should be paying attention...

Sammy does a somersault...

Michele and Sammy...

Reason #4576...

Reason #4576 to convince Michele to learn the sousaphone...

...click here

I'll have a uke Christmas without you...

We celebrated Christmas with Paul's family in the Twin Cities the day after Brian & Vanessa's New Years Day wedding. Sammy had a fun time with the family.

The theme for this year's Christmas turned out to be ukuleles. After Michele bought Paul a ukulele, we thought about it and figured it would be a fun gift for other family members. We found a maker of affordable ukuleles which has them painted in various colors (Mahalo). The strings which come with them are pretty bad, so you need to replace them with better strings.

Some of the painted ukuleles available...

Chris has a friend in Woody...

We video-conferenced-in Anne's grandson Tommy...
Grant, Chris, and Brian provided necessary technical support...

Opening their ukuleles...
Chris (orange ukulele) and Molly (light powder blue ukulele)...

Vanessa with her pink ukulele...

Brian with his yellow ukulele...

Wearing an orange shirt...
...Chris entertains us with his orange ukulele...

Sammy helps with clean up...

Sammy...

Chris shows Sammy how to set up and topple dominoes...

A New Years Wedding...

We started off 2009 with a New Years day wedding of Paul's nephew Brian and Vanessa.

The night before the wedding (New Years Eve), we stayed overnight at the hotel where the wedding was. Paul managed to get Diane a teeny-bit-tipsy on Yukon Jack (a family tradition of sorts).

We are very happy to welcome Vanessa into the family. She is a very nice young lady and she certainly makes Brian happy.

Here are some of the photos we took at the wedding...

Grant helps Brian get ready...

Vanessa and Ashlynn sharing a moment together before the wedding...

Diane, Grant, and the Minneapolis skyline...

Paul's nephew Chris and Molly...

Sammy bits a big bagel...

Brian and Vanessa during the ceremony...

Mr. and Mrs. Brian S...

A holiday visit from Shannon...

A few days after Christmas, Sammy's friend Shannon came over for a visit to play the "Honey Bee Tree" game. For those of us older folks, think of Kerplunk.

Even Veto the cat wanted to play the "Honey Bee Tree" game...

Sammy (holding Veggie Larry) and Shannon (holding Veggie Bob)...
...watching the LarryBoy Veggie Tales vidoes...

You get what you pay for...

Paul thought he would try and save some money replacing our heater's Aprilaire humidifier pad himself. He went down to Lowes and bought an aftermarket the pad.

Suddenly our humidifier started leaking water.

After the heating serviceman came twice, we figured out that the replacement pad was slightly thinner (as seen below) than the original manufacturer pad. The serviceman speculated that the thinness allowed the pad to flex when our heater's fan goes into a burst mode (if after running for 10 minutes the fan kicks on high if the desired temperature is not reached) thus causing it to leak. Putting in the original Aprilaire pad fixed the problem. The cost to figure it out? Don't ask Paul...he's still a little tender on that.

The original manufacturer pad on the left...
...is about 1/4 thicker than the one Paul bought on the right...

Nothing says I love you...

Nothing says I love you like finely tailored clothing.

Diane's boyfriend Grant is a swell guy. Very nice personality, very friendly, down to earth, bright, etc. He really makes Diane happy...which makes us happy. And he gets along really well with our family. So we figured this was the year to give him a present which tells him just how much the rest of the family really likes him.

But what to give? The time and purpose called for finely tailored clothing. But with the economy in bad shape, it also seemed like bad timing. Until we decided to make him something...but out of materials readily available and affordable.

But what to make? We wanted to make him something stylish, avant-garde without being garish...using bleeding edge materials and construction/tailoring techniques..and something to keep him warm during the winter. Then it hit us one day while shopping at Hy-Vee...

We found these "pizza" bags at Hy-Vee...
...which would keep items warm/cold for up to 3 hours...
...we figured we could use these as the material..

Then we searched high and low for a stylish design pattern...
...note Sammy's trains rumbling by...

We chose a colored-matching adhesive material...
...we opted for the "Professional" quality as the label states...

We cut-apart the 6 bags we purchased...

Then we removed the clear covering...
...(which had the labeling printed on it)...

A single bag handled one section of the jacket...

Cutting out the pattern...

Michele sewed portions together...
...then on the inside, we sealed the seams with Duck tape...
...to prevent cold wind from getting through...

The almost finished product...
...we later added a silver bow to the same spot to identify our craftsmanship...
...similar to the Ralph Lauren galloping pony...

When presenting the gift...
...Paul explained all the fine tailoring and detailing which went into this work...
...note our signature silver bow...

Grant modeling his high fashion winter coat...
...it's ultra light, thin, windproof, waterproof...
...and according to the product labeling, recycle-able...