Happy Halloween

We had fewer trick or treaters than usual, and that's saying something. We have never had that many - I don't think we've gotten up to 30 ever. But tonight we had maybe 8 altogether, which means a whole lot of candy left over. I will bring some to work for my TAs and student worker. Unfortunately, we bought M & Ms and Almond Joy, which I like. It would be so much easier if we had Skittles and other things I don't really care for.

So since I wasn't spending much time answering the door, I made cards for the October swap. Well, it is still October, after all. :) (And don't you just laugh each month when I say I will do get them done sooner in the next month?) The theme was fashion, which is probably the theme I am least likely ever to use in real life. But here's what I came up with. There's a bow made of the polka dot ribbon on the right side - it blends right in! I feel like I should add a little something else. I have some French phrases and I will probably add one of those somewhere that seems appropriate.

Merci! Au Revoir!

Back from Door County

There's no way to write about everything we saw and did in Door County, so I will mention a few highlights. We watched and photographed a lot of really beautiful sunrises and sunsets. We found a great bakery not far from our condo. We hiked at the Ridges Sanctuary, climbed around on rocks at the Bluff Headlands county park, tried not to fall into Lake Michigan (and succeeded!) at Cave Point Park. A pileated woodpecker hung out in the woods behind our condo one morning. We ate at some familiar places and some new ones. Tons o' relaxin' occurred.

A few of the hundreds of pictures I took can be seen on my facebook site (even if you don't have a facebook account) by following this link.
I'll probably write more here and throw in a few pictures from time to time. For starters, here's a very lovely pic of Joe, Pam and Kevin at Cave Point, hanging on for dear life. :) It was a wild, windy day and the waves were pounding the rocks and shaking the ground. Here's an example. Turn up your sound and you can hear the wind and the waves. We loved it!

A Few Good Men

On Friday Kevin and I drove to Freeport to spend some time with his mom, and we also briefly met up with her friend Russ, Kev's aunt Jeannette, my dad, and two of his friends. Since my MIL is the youngest of them all at 78, we affectionately refer to this as the senior tour. The main reason we made the trip was to attend the concert given by the "President's Own", the Marine Corps Band. The music was just beautiful. Of course Sousa was heavily represented in the program, but they also played works by Stephen Sondheim, John Williams, and several composers whose names I don't remember. Very interesting and lovely music. The final Sousa number was Stars and Stripes Forever, which I cannot listen to without crying. Seriously, can anyone? Something about the piccolos, and then that final section where it slows down a bit and all the instruments come in...I'm getting teary now just thinking about it.

On Saturday, that sunny, unseasonably warm morning, Kevin, Betty and I visited the new Veterans Memorial Park in Freeport. Betty had done a sweet thing - she bought a brick honoring/memorializing Kevin and his dad. In addition, Frank E. is listed on the granite wall honoring WWII veterans. Frank went off to war when he was 19. I'm sure he was mature, having lost his own dad when he was twelve and being the "man" of the family since then, but...NINETEEN! We expect the most heroic kind of behavior from these young boys by sending them off to deal with life and death, but they can't even legally drink. Anyway...happily, he came back from Iwo Jima, met Betty at church, and the rest is history.

Here are a few pictures from the Veterans Park, showing a little slice of US history, and our story.

Days Like This

Here's my week so far:
Monday - Got to work, couldn't log in to my computer. Called the IT support number I have, which never is picked up - it always goes to voice mail. Left a message saying how urgent this was (I have to finalize the Spring timetable this week, upload CVs of applicants, and a few other things). Finally left at 10:30 with the reasoning that I could work from home, at least on some projects. Help desk person called at 10:32.
Tuesday - needed to drive to work since I was lunching with a friend. Got to the car, realized that the black walnuts we got from freecycle Sunday night were still in the car. While unloading them, I noticed the little maggot-y worms...not on the walnuts, but all over the backseat floor. Ewwwwwwwww. I took the car to work anyway, where ...
I still couldn't get into my computer. Called again...twice. Help desk people showed up, expressed surprise, left. I limped along, working on my laptop that I'd brought from home.

Got home, sprayed bugkiller in the car. Discovered the carnage wreaked upon the walnuts by squirrels. (This was actually pretty amusing. I have visions of deliriously happy little squirrels, thinking this is better than Christmas.)

Got lab results from blood work last week, and discovered a down side to age. Went grocery shopping, and bought some flowers.

And you shall hallow the fiftieth year

I read this verse today (it's from Leviticus) and was taken aback. In December, God willing, I will complete my fiftieth trip around the sun (how's that for putting it all in perspective?) and I've been very much aware of it since we rolled into 2008. Not because I'm dreading it. Au contraire! I am thrilled, although I'm not entirely sure why. I think it's partly because that is such an awe-inspiring number. A car that's 50 years old is a collector's item. Fifty-year scotch costs thousands of dollars. So clearly there's something impressive and to be treasured about having a history of that many years. Also, I'm acutely aware that, medical advances notwithstanding, one is never assured of getting to that point. I've personally experienced enough ambulance trips to drive that point home.

On the other hand, aging is not something that American society values. Young and attractive is so much more appealing, apparently, than mature and...well...less firm, shall we say? And I would totally love to be as slim and firm as I once was. But I have an appreciation of what years of living can give, if you let them.

The whole verse is
"And you shall hallow the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you: you shall return, every one of you, to your property and every one of you to your family".

The definition of "hallow" is

1. To make or set apart as holy.

2. To respect or honor greatly; revere.

Jubilee means "a season or an occasion of joyful celebration."

Maybe technically the fiftieth year is the one I'm in right now, which is cool, because it's been a good year. But I didn't think of it in time (hehe) so for me it will begin on my b'day. Here's to a season of joyful celebration, and a year to set apart and honor.