Monday, December 31, 2007

Happy New Year!

Yes, I know I'm early. I lost my cell phone (with everyone's numbers) a couple days ago and I haven't been able to find people's numbers yet.

We're extremely disappointed we didn't make it to L&L's today. December has been pick-a-plague month in our household. We wound up staying in Boston today because Julia is just getting over her 2nd bout of pneumonia of the month.

Wish we were there, watching Julia play with the rest of BLD 2.0, and kicking Lincoln's butt at pong. Happy New Year to the Delaware congregation and the rest of the BLD! We've gone global!

Monday, December 17, 2007

More reunion condo stuff

The quechee guy called me back today. There is one biggish place available.
It's $500 per night, and maybe could fit three families or one family and two other couples. That works out to be pretty cheap if you break that down per person.

There are plenty of smaller places that could fit individual families. Please let me know if you're interested or not, b/c I'll have to book something for the Mazzuccos soon.

Thanks.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Reunion condos

Here is the link Shannon sent seven months ago.
http://www.quecheelakesrentals.com/

At this point, you should know whether you'll be too pregnant to go to the reunion, or whether you'll have a 2 month old at the time, so perhaps we can get a more clear sign up.

We're going to be there, and we'd love to stay near everybody. I'm going to check out the website tonight, and try to books something by next weekend. Let me know if you have any thoughts or want to try to share a bigger condo or something.

Reviewing the old posts, the Willises and Hursts were planning to attend, and the Papsdorfs were a maybe. Don't know about others.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Funny Sumpin'?

Consider this our family's gift to the art world: http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1169199997 . Enjoy.

Monday, December 03, 2007

Hawaii = BCS Bowl Game

Alright you all. Which state has the only undefeated college football team this year?

I don't want to hear no talk about easy schedule or anything and everyone best be cheering against Georgia, NYD. Especially all the folks that will be in Delaware.

I love football!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

TMBG

Joe is a fan. He's rocking out to Birdhouse in Your Soul as I type.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

New House

Here is a link to some pics I took yesterday. As you can see, I did not anticipate how quickly this would go up (since the photos go from a foundation to pretty much an entire house). Oh well. Kevin, at your inspiration, I made sure to walk through several walls before the drywall goes up.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Rehearsal Details?

What time is the rehearsal on Friday?

I'm sure Laura and Lincoln feel differently, but November seems to have come suddenly and I'm in shock that it'll be Thanksgiving next week. I can't remember if I mentioned this before, but we're arriving around 2 pm at Newport News on Friday. I think we're going to rent a car. If you want to ride along, just let me know.

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

And by the way

Doug and Anne -- How are you guys doing? I was reading this -- http://www.analog.com/en/content/0,2886,765%255F%255F7004%255F54,00.html . . . and thinking of you.

Give me a break

I accept "blame" in one respect, but not in any other. For instance, I do not accept any blame for Dan's smacking with pillow of Rob. And, for that with respect to which I am to be "blame"d, I dispute Dan's account of the facts (e.g. it was "dark" and hard to remember). There were many memorable things, including the people, such as jacket-man-Adam. A good sport, though slightly dangerous.

My main regret was not hitting a single clay pigeon with the 12-gauge.

See you all (or at least some of you) at New Year's. Or perhaps at the Willis/Daniel nuptials even earlier. Go Delaware (and go to Delaware).

Monday, November 05, 2007

YEAH

Here we go, Brownies, here we go. Ruff! Ruff!

Here we go, Brownies, here we go. Ruff! Ruff!

(come on, you know you all want to join in)

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Oh no!

It was a dark night, and my memory of it is limited. What I do recall, I blame primarily on Kevin, with a small amount of responsibility lying on Lincoln, Rob, Jon, and co-conspirator Jon Daniels.

If it's alright with everyone else, I graciously decline the invitation to play pong this NYE.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Jakarta or Bust!

Hello out there in BLD Land! It was a sad day a few weeks ago when I had to drop our respectful decline in the mail for Lincoln and Laura's wedding. Jason is already in Jakarta and I leave Houston this coming Saturday. I think it's about as far around the globe from Williamsburg as anything could possibly be.

The good news is that email works there. Amen for that! I may be a more frequent poster to the Blog with all the free time I'll have with someone else to do all the cooking and cleaning in the house. Just kidding...I'll have to ease into the idea of having a full time maid, but nearly every ex-pat does. We'll see.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a Delaware New Years, but at this point we're not sure that we'll make it back to the states for Christmas. Here's to hoping...

Laura, hang in there through these last few weeks! You will be in my thoughts and prayers!

Amanda

Friday, October 26, 2007

Going Secretive

I'm not sure how many of you read our family blog, but I've just locked it down so you have to be invited to see it. It's amazing how much time I wasted trying to decide if I should invite each person. It's not that I didn't want anyone in my contacts to read it; it was more that I didn't want to bother people if they don't care.

So, I apologize if you received an invitation and couldn't care less about our blog. I apologize if you read the Papsdorf Family Blog faithfully and didn't receive an invitation. Just let me know and I'll add you to the list.

Of course, it doesn't really matter that much since I don't intend to post to the old blog anymore. Instead, I'll be using the new family blog. So you really only need to be invited if you want to go back and look at old posts.

Laura, I think it's sweet you were even considering sending invitations for New Years! I hope we can make it. Good luck on the final wedding plans! We're looking forward to it.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Official NYE E-vite

I had aspirations of sending out elegant invitations for New Year's Eve, but with the wedding approaching, that may not happen as planned, or it may happen tackily late! Apparently Lincoln is not able to sign in to post, which we will try to resolve, but he confirmed that we are indeed hosting New Year's. Of course children are most welcome, and I will try not to resurrect the menacing rubber creatures from last year (though Mary Grace has developed quite a fondness!) We will have a good amount of bed and couch space, and his parents live a short 5 minutes away if we need an annex.

I apologize on behalf of both of us for the short notice, but we really look forward to hosting our first New Year's as the Willises!

See you soon... Wish me luck during the final stretch...


Hello all

I have emerged from the fog which has enveloped me for the last few months. I apologize to all for not being in touch. A few things --

Jonathan, I'm very sorry for your loss. My children will always be able to say "Go Tribe".

Kevin and I will be at the big L & L event without children, so we plan to party hard.

My understanding is that the Willises will be hosting NYE at their new home in Delaware. Laura, I know you are reading this, so correct me if I'm wrong.

We miss you all, and are really looking forward to the wedding and to NYE.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Friday, October 19, 2007

NYE

No way Lincoln's wedding counts as New Years'. First of all, it's not in December or January, let alone December and January. Second of all, Mary Grace won't be there. She hasn't missed a New Years' since the time she threw up all over her mommy and daddy at Christmas.

The Mazzuccos are up for traveling wherever for New Years', but as always, we'd rather host because that means we have to buy four fewer plane tickets than we would otherwise. I guess if I had to vote for a place, I'd vote for not Cleveland (we did that last year), and not Wichita (I was there last week).

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Embedded Video

Maurissa, just copy the text in the box next to "Embed" (to the right of the video on YouTube), then paste it into Blogger.



I centered it, too, using my paltry knowledge of code.

Monday, October 15, 2007

To Lincoln

Lincoln,
Please don't appear in any of your own commercials. I don't want this to happen to you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkRI3fXN75U
But I do recommend taking "Ice Man" as your middle name. That actually applies to all the guys here. Chicks dig the Ice Man.

(p.s. if anyone knows how to put a youtube video actually in the blog, please let me know)

Visiting and Traveling

If hanging out with the fun and crazy Papsdorfs isn't enough of a reason to visit Wichita, you could always plan a tour of a manufacturing plant an hour outside the city and then stop by as a bonus.

That's what Dan did.

You're all welcome anytime.

Speaking of visiting, are we planning a New Year's Eve celebration this year or does Lincoln and Laura's wedding count?

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Long time no blog

Jon, I hope you stayed up to watch the end of game 2. I'm rooting for Cleveland partly because of Jon and partly because I am so sick of constantly hearing about how awesome the Red Sox are.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

So Jon Doesn't Have To...

Go TRIBE!

Sorry Kappy.

Drink more wine.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Twenty Years Ago

I saw this and had to post it.
It's a link to a Princess Bride "Where are they now?" twenty years later. Twenty years? Yikes, that makes me feel old.
http://movies.aol.com/movie-photo/princess-bride-where-are-they-now

I must say that I am highly disappointed that Mandy Patinkin decided to walk off one of the few shows I actually like to watch (mostly because he was in it.) We just finished watching the season premiere.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Note to All Slackers

I just booked our hotel room for the Lincoln-Laura bash and the block was full! Luckily, there were other open rooms and she gave us the block rate, so it wasn't a problem. But if you haven't booked your room, do so quickly.

Now, we just need to book the plane tickets...

By the way, we're coming from the 16th to the 18th and leaving the kids at home. I wish we could bring them, too, but on the plus side, we haven't traveled without kids since Caleb was born so it's like a little vacation for us. (Grammy may need a big vacation by the time we get back; good thing Thanksgiving is that week.)

Friday, September 21, 2007

MS 150

Hey all, I'm biking in the MS150 in a week. The MS 150 is a 2 day, 150 mile bike trek from Cherry Hill, NJ to Ocean City, NJ and back.

I'm raising money to fight Multiple sclerosis, a devastating disease that researchers have been trying to tackle for years.

I'm only looking to raise $250, and I'm trying to do it by finding 10 people to give $25 each. I think that's a pretty small sum, so if you feel inclined to give, do not hesitate. You can give on line by credit card at the following web site.

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?px=4129912&pg=personal&fr_id=2750

If you do not feel inclined to give, do not feel pressured. I will be able to ride whether you give or don't give, and there are lots of valuable ways to steward your resources.

Dan

Friday, September 14, 2007

Voy a Williamsburg!

Okay folks. Just bought my tickets and reserved my room. I'm coming to Williamsburg. I'll be there from the night of the 14th. Anyone else?

Friday, September 07, 2007

By the Way

Does anyone have new contact information for the Walshes? I left a couple of messages on Shannon's cell phone, but it's a generic voice message now, so I thought they might have different phone numbers now too. Just send me an email.

OUT

MOVING

Hillary and I are moving to the east side of Cleveland, which means nothing to most of you, other than that we'll be on the other side of Cleveland suburbs from where we are now, and much closer to where we both work.

After looking at many houses, we found out that we could build the house we'd like for about the same price, so that's the route we've decided to go. Supposedly, we'll have keys around January 15th. When I stand on the street and look at a lot of dirt and rocks, I have a hard time believing that there is going to be a completed house there in a little over four months, but we'll see. I'm fascinated to see the house I'm going to be living in go up from scratch. Hopefully everything goes smoothly, and hopefully Hillary and I haven't picked out colors and styles that end up looking awful when all is said and done.

That's the major update on my end. Once I have a new address, I'll be sure to send it out to everyone so you can send me presents.

Friday, August 31, 2007

I MADE IT!!

I'm sitting in my room for the night in Spain. I get to stay in one of the hotel guest rooms till tomorrow. I'm taking full advantage of the room which includes wi-fi while I got it.

I feel like I've just conquered Rome to get here...cuz in fact I probably did because I had to overnight in London by Heathrow Airport. I forgot the number one rule of dealing with Brits (no offense):

If you want the right answers to have to ask the right questions.

For example: At the hotel I was overnighting at....

Me: I would like to use your internet.
Front Dest (FD): It's 3 pounds for 15 mins.
Me: That's fine. Can I pay by credit card?
FD: You don't have cash?!?
Me: No. (I had given it all, which was a hefty sum, to the taxi driver that brought me there after giving me the what for wasting his time and money **the drivers have to pay to enter Heathrow Intl** by not taking the bus. I think he was embarrassed. I felt like Christ. But that's another story.)
FD: There's a cash machine over there.
Me: Ok. I'll be right back.

I am unsuccessful at the machine.

Me: The machine wouldn't take my card. Is there another ATM nearby.
FD: No. What's your room number?
Me: 140
FD: Just sign here to show you're charging it to your room.
Me: Thanks. I do need to get back to Heathrow today so I will need cash to catch the bus right? (I now knew about the bus.)
FD: Yes.
Me in my brain: Grrrreat

After emailing Mommy. I have a brilliant idea.

Me: Is there a way I can exchange curreny here at the front desk?
FD: Oh yes. What do you want to exchange?
Me in my brain: Ahhhhhhhh!!!

Tell me that couldn't have been simpler.

Not to mention running into more irrate people in 24hrs then I've run into in the past 5 years and half of those were in the English Tourist Industry. Yes, Hawaii is paradise.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Mazzucco Life

Just wanted to throw out a quick update to y'all.

Today is Betsy's birthday, but she's actually not home, so I'm taking a minute to say hi.
We've had a French exchange student named Claire living with us for three weeks. She came to live with us last summer for three weeks as well. She's 17, and mainly likes shopping and eating pancakes. She also doesn't speak any English. She'll be here until Friday.

Ben is 5 months old now, and he's kind of a fusspot. He does like hanging out with his brothers, and likes sitting up and trying to roll around. Aidan just turned 4. He's pondering the meaning of life.

That's all for now. I'd put in pictures, but our camera broke, so we haven't taken any pictures in a while.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

American Football or Bullfighting?

So I'm blogging everyone because next Wednesday I leave for a new crazy adventure to work and live in Spain for 4 months. I'm hoping to make it out to the Chivester-wedding in November because (believe it or not) Spain is closer to Williamsburg than Hawaii is. The wedding is in Williamsburg right? I'm bad at these details.

So the US is big and Hawaii is ranked #23 in the college polls. Life is good.

Maybe I can convince Flaminco Dancers to come to the wedding. They can dance to AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long" for the enjoyment of everyone. We might have to put to kids to bed first though.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Jon's Competition


OK, since no one is blogging, I though I would show you a funny thing I took a picture of. My neighbor turns out to be a HUGE fan of every Cleveland team. He's this old guy who rides around on his bike all the time. He's really friendly and we had a great time talking about LeBron's chances of winning a title next year, the upcoming football season for the Browns, etc.

What I find amusing is everyone in the neighborhood thinks he's this grumpy old man. The first night Devon and I were in this house, we were unloading the moving truck. I had no place to put my truck in front of the house so I parked at the end of the cul-de-sac, roughly across the street. Apparently, he bumped his trash cans right up to my back bumper (I never noticed but my other neighbors saw it) because he HATES people parking in front of his house. I thought he was this grumpy old man too and took this picture laughing about posting something on Jon, grumpy old men, and Cleveland. But he stopped by one weekend to introduce himself when we were doing yardwork and he is really quite friendly.

That's all. I hope everyone is doing well.

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Trip n Enterprise

Here's a short video of my time in Italy. It was made using a website put together by Brad Jefferson, Jason Hsiao and Stevie Clifton (all Dartmouth Friends). They're looking for more people to test their website before the grand opening Aug. 14th. Email me if you want to give it a whirl! Really Really Fun!

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Cheating Tips

(I should begin by offering my belated congratulations to Kristin and family.)

Now, in case any of you are planning on taking some classes in the future, or if you want to get started compiling advice for generation BLD 2.0, here's a few tips on cheating in college.

1. Do not plagarize any paper or article that can be located using Google.
2. If you are slapping together a paper from a bunch of different plagarized sources make sure they are about the same topic and take more or less a consistent position on it.
3. Pick papers or articles that use language an undergraduate might possibly understand.
4. Finally, don't plagarize your paper from sources the professor himself posted on Blackboard for you to read.

Really, the only way to successfully cheat is to pay a friend or an online database for a good undergraduate paper. The amonut of time and skill necessary to construct a workable paper from online plagarized sources is greater than the time and skill necessary to write a good original paper.

Ahh, the joys of teaching.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Joseph Wallace Porter




Hi All,


I just wanted to let you know about Jay's and my little one, Joe. He arrived yesterday at 8:50 am weighing 8 lb 9 oz and is 21 inches long. He's not chubby, but he is big. His shoulders are broad and his hands and feet are gigantic. We love him very much and find him completely entertaining. I can't get over how much he looks like Jay.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Kristin, this will make you feel better

Kevin, we look like we're 12.

(click on these, and they should open up in a bigger window)



Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Good thing I avoided the Castor Oil

While I was tempted by Dan and Betsey's success, I was also a bit afraid. I guess it's a good thing, since they determined that our baby is now weighing in at 91/2 pounds. They won't induce me with him that big, so we are scheduled for a C-section tomorrow morning. I'm pretty bummed out about this, but trying to stay positive. I wish that they had measured him last week instead of just letting me go post-dates, but hindsight and wishful thinking won't get me much.
So, focusing on positive things: today is my last day pregnant!

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Dan, really?

As I sit her pondering explosion, I remember the following remark on Dan's post about Benjamin's birth: "Castor oil, curse or blessing"
Question: did you really try this?
I'll admit to being skeptical.

But, I'd enjoy a story about it, if there is one, while I wait. and wait.
and wait.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

The Big Papsdorf Excitement

Jon wants to know how exciting our summer has been. Well, it's been crazy here at the Papsdorf household.

1. Reva is going to bed on her own. For at least a while. So now I have some time in the evenings to wash the dishes, run some laundry and sweep the floor.

2. While baby is sleeping, I have also have the opportunity to begin updating our family blog. I am now up to mid-March. I have high hopes to be in April before the actual calendar hits July.

3. Reva and I took a trip to New York a couple weeks ago. Caleb's babysitter watched her one day. The second day she just came to the office with me. So far I haven't been relieved of my duties.

4. Caleb has gotten about 50 mosquito bites. The kid looks like he has the pox or something.

5. We've been getting rain nearly every day for something like a month now. The garden looks pretty good, but it's a shame we can hardly enjoy our yard with all the puddles, mud, humidity and mosquitos.

6. Josh does not like teaching 4 hour classes (6 to 10 pm two nights a week).

That's all the news I can muster this morning.

Ok people

Is everyone collectively having the most boring summer ever? I doubt that. How are you all doing?

Things here are going well. I can't believe it's been over a month since I got married, but it has been great. For those of you I haven't talked to, the honeymoon was fantastic. We got great weather in the Bahamas. It didn't rain until Friday evening, and we left Saturday morning. I was a little worried we weren't going to get off the island on Saturday (it was really windy and pouring rain), but everything went smoothly. Most surprisingly, Delta, which I hate with a passion, didn't screw anything up. Flights on time, no lost baggage - it was a minor miracle.

GO TRIBE.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Going CRAZY

Hi all,
I'm going insane. The days are SO slow. I have 12 more days of third year. It's as if every minute is a decade...that's probably because I'm moving so slowly. I weigh roughly a billion pounds now. Oh well. I have more sympathy for my patients, I think.
Regardless, I hope that everyone is doing well.
Miss you,
Kristin

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Shannon's idea

The Mazzuccos like Shannon's idea of renting a condo/house for the reunion.

We're up for getting one for a few days, or for up to a week (if you have to rent by the week). We're also up for getting our own place, or for getting a bigger place where more folks can fit (preferable for the kids, so we aren't all cooped up in our own places while they nap).

Anyway, if others can give me a sense of their interest/availability levels, I'll start looking into options. If no one else is interested, we'll cry instead (as the song goes).

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Do not touch or talk to the baby

I was home last weekend for my sister's college graduation (yay!) and Reva suddenly developed a fear of strange places, noise and basically anyone that wasn't me. It was a long weekend because (as was expected at a big family gathering) people wanted to hug me and that meant getting close to Reva who pretty much cried every time. She also cried if I put her down or stepped from the table to the sink (one step away) while she was in the high chair. She refused to eat more than a few spoonfuls, so we reverted to nearly 100% nursing. And she refused to sleep when there was anyone around. Since her bedtime is usually between 7 and 8 and the graduation didn't even start until 7:30 pm, she didn't sleep enough and became even more grouchy.

It was so frustrating for me I swore I was going to skip the Hurst wedding. But I was very sad because I wanted to see everyone. I started to forget how horrible the weekend was and remember that it was nice to visit and to see my sister graduate. The rest of the ceremony was really very boring anyway, so it was actually a good thing I spent it wandering the hallway with Reva in the carrier.

And now I see Adin is attending, and I can't miss seeing her. So Reva and I are coming as originally planned.

This is just a warning that you should not expect her to be sociable.

p.s. You would be amazed how many perfect strangers would come up to Reva and touch her. What is up with these people? Do they not respect a baby's personal space?

p.p.s. None of you are perfect strangers and will actually be allowed to touch and talk to the baby if you so chose. Just don't be too hurt if she seems to reject you. She'll learn soon how wonderful you all are.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Long time, no blog

Hello out there in BLD land. I haven't posted anything in many moons, so it's good to be back. I had been waiting for something newsworthy to break my silence, and it's finally happened. Hold your breath for this one.... I got a job.

Your's truly is now a visiting assistant professor of theology at Newman University here in Wichita. I adjuncted a couple of classes there this semester, and I'll be starting full time in the fall. We're pretty excited to have an opportunity for me to work in theology that is actually close to family. At present it's a one year appointment, but there's a real possibility it could turn into a longer term deal after that.

In other news, I finally sent a draft of the final major section of the dissertation to my advisor, so it looks like the defense will finally take place next semester. We are also making a small move from the apartment to a little house nearby. It's still a rental, since we don't know for sure that we'll stay here yet. Nevertheless, we are excited about the prospect of a yard, garage and no loud-music, door slamming, late night arguing, punk neighbors living above us.

Anyways, looking forward to seeing people in a few weeks for the big hitchin'. Hopefully we won't be struck by mysterious fevers this time and will get a chance to actually catch up with folks. That is all.

Saturday, May 05, 2007

10 year reunion

I know it seems like a long way off, but our 10 year reunion (for classes of '97, '98, and '99) is next June. My sister and I are planning to rent a house or condo for the week so that our families can vacation together, and we have wrangled our little sister and some of her friends into coming up to babysit so that we can enjoy all the reunion festivities. We haven't booked anything for sure yet, but are leaning towards a house or condo in Quechee Lakes. I think a bunch of my sister's friends are planning to stay there as well, and it would be a blast if a bunch of BLDers did the same thing.

Quechee Lakes has a lake an indoor and outdoor pool (I am guessing it will still be too chilly for swimming outdoors), tennis courts, golf, boating, playgrounds, etc, etc. Check out www.quecheelakesrentals.com if you are interested.

Jonny Rand grows up

I can't believe our little Jonny is getting married in 3 weeks. Craziness.

We are very excited about the wedding. The whole Walsh family will be headed to Cincinnati, arriving Thursday and leaving Sunday. We have reservations at both the Holiday Inn and the Hampton Inn, but I think we are going to cancel the Holiday Inn.

You all know that I have a serious need to be in the know, and here is what I know:
Walsh, Mazzucco, Slack, Papsdorf families or parts thereof will be present
Everyone else, I don't know if you are coming or what your plans are, and again, I really like to be in the know, so spill.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Happy May Day!

I just wanted to post something for May.

Jon, we mailed our reply for the wedding today. Caleb's not going to come. We didn't know how he'd handle the late nights (7 is getting late for our 3 year old), so he's staying with my folks for the weekend. That way, we only have to worry about Reva having a bad time, but I can always walk her around in some quieter place for a while for her to fall asleep. We still need to make hotel reservations I think. Where are the rest of the BLD crowd staying? I know at least one hotel is booked.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone!

Saturday, April 21, 2007

For Sale

If anyone wants to buy a house in Richmond, VA, contact me immediately regarding 10231 Apache Road, MLS # 2712908. This is a steal.

We are moving to the area surrounding Villanova, PA (itself approximately 12 miles west of Philadelphia), so that I can teach at the law school there.

That is all.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Go Green, Part II


I too love the environment. I'm not so sure about global warming (human-caused, long-term trend, etc.) due to all the political rhetoric polluting the discussion. However, I've found my dream vehicle is indeed environmentally friendly. So, buy a Hummer and hug a tree without being schizophrenic.

http://news.com.com/2100-11389_3-6174130.html

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Hard to believe


Our sweet Amanda Claire will be four years old tomorrow!
She's having a fairy party on Saturday. We will have seven little girls (Amanda and Caitlyn included) and one little boy. Even though he's a good friend, I was hesitant to invite him. Amanda told him he could just be a cupid - which, in her estimation, is the equivalent of a boy fairy.
If anyone has a moment and wants to send her a birthday message, you can e-mail her at amandamonka@aol.com
You may or may not get an intelligible response, but she loves to get mail.

Go a little green


So I'm guessing this may not be the most popular post, but with Earth Day coming up and the impending environmental doom that has become inarguable by the most conservative of scientists, I am going to go ahead and post anyway.

I know we can't all make the switch to hybrid cards or convert all our homes to solar power right now, but this website www.gocarbonzero.com does allow you to make a difference. It will calculate your annual carbon footprint and - if you like - you can make a donation which will be used to plant enough trees to offset your carbon dioxide output for the year. Just for reference, to neutralize my CO2 emissions, it was a donation of about $60. Money well spent!

If you don't do this, it means that you hate polar bears. And New Orleans. And penguins. And your grandchildren.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Yes, I'm at work

Kudos to Dan for posting perhaps the lengthiest blog this site has seen. Unfortunately, it seems to have had the unintended consequence of shutting things down, as perhaps people are wary of posting something that does not meet the high standards Dan set. I have no such qualms.

In Baby News, My friend Jackie, who was our secretary here a few moons ago, just had her first baby. Ryan Patrick Davis was born April 10th. So now we can add that to the list of my friends' babies. It is growing at an alarming rate. I am going to have to start praying for "my friends' babies" as a general concept, because pretty soon I'm not going to be able to remember all the names. I think Jackie is attending the wedding, so I think you will get to meet Ryan.

Easter weekend was pretty fun. I went to Good Friday mass with my mom around 3:00 PM, and then headed downtown for the Indians' home opener. If the 26-degree temperature and constant snowfall were any indication, I don't think God was very happy about the Indians playing on Good Friday in general, or my attendance at the game in particular. I did swell a bit with Cleveland pride as I walked into the stadium, though, which was almost at full capacity. I don't think there are too many cities that would turn out almost 40,000 people in such awful conditions for a baseball game, Opening Day or not. Cleveland Rocks.

The rest of the weekend was pretty calm. My parents had their Easter dinner celebration that evening so as to avoid conflicts with other families the next day. Then Hillary's roommates at her apartment came by Sunday morning for brunch after mass, which was glorious. I am continually thankful that none of you wanted the breakfast sausages I bought for New Years, because I have been enjoying them weekly ever since. One of the presents my parents got me was a book called Shots! I don't really do shots, but I thought it would look cool on my bar. As I was paging through it, my grandmother was looking at the different shots with me. Of the 50 or show illustrated shots, I am guessing my grandmother recognized and subsequently roared with approval for about 40 of them, many of which called for types of alcohol that I had never heard of. Go, Gram.

Unfortunately for her, Hillary decided to join me at Catholic mass this year, which would normally be great, except that the children's choir was performing at the 9:00 mass. Now I like children, and I even like singing children (like on Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" - those kids can sing), but whatever talents the children of Berea, Ohio possess, they do not in any way include singing. It is truly a challenge to find a sense of peace and holiness at church when your ears are constantly being bombarded by the cacophany of second graders shouting random notes (and sometimes words) at the tops of their lungs. Again, God's displeasure with my attendance at Opening Day on Good Friday was pretty evident.

Hopefully, all of you have received your wedding invitations. If you haven't, please let me know, maybe in a subtle way, so that I will have the ability to weasel my way out of the uncomfortable situation in the event you have been disinvited.

Also, if I haven't made this clear already, all of the groomsmen and ushers (and their significant others) are invited to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. In addition, babies and children (so long as they are not bad singers) are welcome at the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, wedding, and reception. As yet, I haven't had any success in coming up with any group babysitting options for all of you, but I will let you know right away if I do. Finally, if you didn't see it on the save the date card, details about the wedding are available on our website at www.theknot.com.

Finis.

Sunday, April 01, 2007

How are the Mazzuccos?

The fortnight report

Ben is fortunately the super sleeper, so we are pretty much sleeping through the night (at least for now). So Betsy nurses Ben for the last time at 9, 10, or 11 (depending on how the day has gone), and he typically won't get up to nurse again until 4, 5, or 6; and then he goes back to sleep.

Also, he seems to be able to soothe himself; that is, he can cry himself to sleep as long as we console him if he gets really worked up. We normally wouldn't even try that with a two-week old, but he's slept so well that we have given it a shot, and it's worked.

We are very thankful for the rest we've gotten. This behavior is better than Wesley, and way better than Aidan. Of course, we don't count on it lasting, but we figure that, at 3 months, we can start to strongly encourage him to sleep through the night, so each day that we inch closer to that milestone without being up all night.

Evidently the key to having an easy baby is to keep having babies until one has a good disposition from birth.

Wesley and Aidan have been really good with Ben as well. They adore him, and, with the exception of showing their love a little too roughly, he seems to like them, too.

This may all come crashing down when I return to full time work outside the home tomorrow. The first week, I was at home and not working. Last week, I worked from home. But this week, I'll be in Wilmington for at least most of the week, and I will be working full time.

Third Eye Blurry
Third Eye is no longer blind, but starting to gain some vision, as we got our first "official" client last week. Previously, we had a client of sorts, but they were really hiring me, and not the company. This time, we reviewed a failed 510(k) submission, and will most likely be resubmitting for our client. If you want to communicate something to the Food and Drug Administration, call Third Eye Associates.

Home Improvement
In my time as home, I'v ebeen taking all kinds of fun projects. First, I straightened out our shutters, which were parallelograms, but not rectangles. Now, with flat angle reinforcements, they will remain straight even if the house falls down around them.

Also, I made covers for my window wells. They are wood framed with metal mesh in the middle, so that the wells don't fill with leaves anymore. I wish I had taken photos of these things, so this would be more interesting to read. Sorry, father. I tried.

I fertilized my lawn. For some, not such a big endeavor. For me, an adventure. Last year I put 4x as much as I was supposed to put, and burned strips of ammonia through my lawn. I try to set the bar low so my neighbors won't complain when I mow on a monthly basis.

Finally, I hooked up my antenna to receive HD TV. I had no idea until last week that you could get an HD signal with a regular TV. So I went out and bought a new fancy antenna, then found that I could get HD with my old antenna. Now, instead of a fuzzy picture, my picture turns on and off (the beauty of digital television).

That's really all that could be said about us. Well, perhaps not, but it's all that will be said about us.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Wassup?

Nothing about Jon being bored or Kristin's research for weeks. What's going on in BLD land?
And does anyone have Doug & Ann's home phone number?

Monday, March 19, 2007

He's not a clone


Here he is. He's about average newborn ugliness in my estimation. But we love him.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Baby is here

Benjamin Clarke Mazzucco
born March 17, 2007
baby and Betsy doing great
8 lbs, 11 ounces
19 inches

Castor oil: curse or blessing? You decide.

Pictures to come

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

cool sports trivia

There are only four colleges/ universities that have produced both a US President and a Super Bowl winning quarterback. Name them.

I got three colleges right off the top of my head, but I wouldn't consider it really getting them right. I knew where the Super Bowl QB went to school, and just guessed that a President did too. The fourth one I had to look up. I didn't really follow college football that closely until I started this job, so I don't know where a lot of the older players went to school. I'll post the answers in a comment for those of you who care, which is probably Rob. And maybe Dan.

Hope you are all doing well. Hillary and I met with Fr. Cole at St. Mary of the Falls yesterday to fill out some paperwork so that my marriage will "count" as far as the Catholic Church is concerned. I am sure you were all gravely concerned! But everything should be great.

Other than that, not too much going on. We are heading down to Cincinnati this weekend for Hillary's shower. Hopefully we get some mutually beneficial gifts and not just pretty vases and picture frames. Guh.

JH

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Happy Birthday Baby

Weighing in at 5 pound, 3 ounes, and 18 inches long, on March 7, 1976, was Adin Kalani Kawate.

No news from the Mazzuccos, though.

Monday, March 05, 2007

Dear Doug

Thanks for trying to fix the comments. Due to your diligence, I will now only harass you about them once a month, rather than every other day.

If Julia becomes a professional athlete, she better go with me as her agent. I already have a verbal commitment from Caleb (through Josh) that I will represent him when he becomes an NFL kicker.

Sunday, March 04, 2007

I've tried to fix the comments

I also hate having the comments in a popup window. I've tried to get the comments to show up on the same page like before, but I just can't get it to work right. It really doesn't help that there's still virtually no documentation about the new templates.

Julia is very vocal these days, i.e. she is loud. It is cute and funny most of the time. It is neither cute nor funny when you have a migraine and/or it is 2:30AM. She also keeps growing at an alarming rate. At 4 months, she was in the 95th percentile for length and she is showing no signs of letting up. So she will be an opera singer or a basketball player.

Friday, March 02, 2007

ps.

ps. We are fine following the storms. The sky was scary and the sirens went off a bunch of times, but we were very fortunate. I feel a terrible sense of loss for the families in Enterprise, though. I have a number of classmates with family there and Jay's grandfather was from there. At any rate, I can't imagine sending my children to school and having them struck by a tornado. Schools just seem as if they should be extra safe zones.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got help from Blogger!!! I am legit. Yes.
I am back.
This is wonderful.

Monday, February 26, 2007

Get Random House to Donate Books

For every birthday card the Cat in the Hat receives, Random House Children's Books will donate one book to First Book.

I thought about sending an email, but thought it might just get deleted, so if you're interested in sending a card or learning more, check it out for yourself here.

"Coloring" the card is easy, so BLD Gen 2 might enjoy it.

Reva's sitting unassisted now, which is exciting. There's not really anything else to share from around here. Our big news is usually slightly depressing - "Most dishes are clean." "Laundry is finally folded." "Whole family is dressed and in the church pew before mass begins." and so on...

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

I, too, can blog


I can now blog as well.

Congratulations, Mo, on the Colts' super bowl victory.

Congratulations, Tiffany, on baby Eliza! Three kids looks like a good time.

I thought it would be good to post a picture of our boys to prove I am not stuck in the dark ages.

Congratulations, me.

I'm here!


Thanks Jill for getting me straightened out. I've missed the blog.

I don't know what happened to January, but large periods of the month seem to be missing from my memory. It's taken a little while to get back on track. Other than the rountine sleepless nights, we also took an unexpected 10-day trip to Ohio. My grandfather, who was diagnosed with bone cancer in August, took a turn for the worse and died the day after we got there. So we ended up staying a whole extra week, instead of just the weekend as we'd planned. It was a good trip, though, all things considered. He knew we were there and got to see Eliza before he died. (She's named after his mother.) And Amanda and Caitlyn got to enjoy some real snow while at Grandma's house.

We're all doing well right now. Little Eliza has slept through the night the last two nights, which has been awesome. She'll be eight weeks tomorrow and she seems so big already. Amanda and Caitlyn are adjusting well. I have some cute pictures that I'll post if I can figure out how. I also finally got Eliza's baby announcement printed this week, but who knows if I'll actually get a chance to mail it to any of you.

We're looking forward to seeing everyone at the Hurst wedding in May. It works out nicely for us, since it also happens to be the weekend of my mother's birthday. She's planning a huge family picture while we're in Ohio.

Hope you're all doing well,

Tiffany

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Waaaaaasssssuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup v2

I will also post something new. I'm not fishing for congratulations, but Devon and I celebrated our 3 yr anniversary today (Feb 7). Yes, it's been that long since you all last visited California. We're still newlyweds too (think romance Lincoln, not just what came to your mind). Anyway, that's the latest out west in NorCal. See you all in Cincinnati WKRP in May.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Wasssuuuuuppppp????

I don't have anything earth-shattering to report. I just got tired of seeing the same post every day when I check this site (despite the fact that it is a lovely post, Modee).

The swim season, from which I "retired," is almost over. Just a couple more weekends. As I have told many of you already, instead of being done with coaching, I now find myself helping out four teams in some way or another. Oh well. Maybe next year.

Hillary and I are doing well. She moved a few more belongings from her apartment to my house over the weekend, as we continue to decorate my bachelor pad and transform it into something more suitable for the two of us in just a few months. Also, since New Years, I have had the luxury of housing both cats at all times now. Yippee. Actually, I like them, despite the fact that I don't. Except for the litter boxes.

Work is going well. The company is representing a number of good athletes in the upcoming draft (at the end of April). And I'll be going to the Combine in Indianapolis again this year at the end of February.

Speaking of trips, Hillary and I are going to Grand Bahama Island for our honeymoon. Pray for good weather, few people, and safe travels. Who knows when the boss man will let me have another week of vacation? It could be years. I have to take full advantage of this one.

Well, to wrap up this exhilarating post, I hope all of you are doing well. And I hope that those of you who have been unable to post on this new-fangled website are soon able to do so. And I hope that Doug fixes it STAT so that I don't have to continue opening up another window to view the comments, because that takes up a really long portion of my day that could be better served playing euchre against the computer.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Thanks to Walsho!

Hey everyone! Just wanted to give a shoutout to Kevin for hooking me on the blog. I couldn't figure out how to merge my pre-existing gmail account with my blogger account and Walsh solved all my problems. Thank you much.
I booked my flight and hotel for the Hurst-Strong wedding in May. I hope all of you plan on coming! Unfortunately I'll be flying solo b/c Matt (my boyfriend) is overbooked for Memorial Day, but I promise to behave myself in front of the kiddies. =)
Also, my big news of the week is that tomorrow I'm going over to the set of "The Office". I can't wait! I will post a picture if I get a chance to take any. I love love love that show so much. If you're not watching it, you're missing out. It's the only show I can watch 3 times in a row and laugh every single time. And that's my plug of the week.
Hope everyone's doing great!!

Update: here's a pic of me at michael's desk and me by the Dunder Mifflin sign. I had the best time over there!

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Color Palette?

I'm all for green, but does it have to be various shades of what exits a baby? [whine] Doooooooooooooooooooooooug, fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiix it!!!! [/whine]

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

douglay

any way we can bring back the comments so that they are automatically showing, instead of having to click on them to see them? just a selfish, lazy request on my part.

hope you, anne, and the little one are doing well. we missed you guys at new years...

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Be sure to use IE

The new Navbar (the bar at the very top of the web page) works in IE, but not in Firefox. No word on when the Team list will be fixed.

BLD98 has switched

If you can't post, you'll have to switch. I can't seem to get the Contributors list to work. Let me know what you think about the new look.

Friday, January 12, 2007

Gmail accounts

So if I understand Kevin correctly, you all need Google accounts before the blog can be switched. I can send invitations to everyone for a Gmail account (which is Google). Then you can use that to sign on and transfer your old blogger account to the new Gmail address. The only downside is that you can't comment using the new Gmail account until the BLD blog is switched to the new Blogger.

Doug, does that seem right to you? I'll go ahead and send invitations to everyone from Gmail in case you'd like to try switching your blogger account (or if you just want to use Gmail).

Monday, January 08, 2007

New Version of Blogger

Apparently it is not possible to switch over to the new version of blogger until invited. I have not been invited so I have not switched over. Apparently a team blog cannot be switched over until the original members have switched over, which means that we should all switch as the option becomes available.

Monday, January 01, 2007

Happy New Year!

We're sorry we had to leave the party early. On the plus side, we rung in the new year playing poker with my folks and walked away with over $20 in winnings (mostly mine, for the first time ever).

We're currently thinking Caleb has an ear infection. If so, the rest of the BLD brood should be safe.

We hope to see you all in May, November and next New Year's Eve!