The 'Snooze

Happy Thanksgiving!

2012-11-26T00:05:00.003-05:00

We celebrated with just ten of us the year: our girls and their families, and newlyweds Gavin and KC, who drove down from Nashville. David bailed on us when he came down with the flu.

Daniel got carving lessons from The Professor, who learned turkey-carving many years ago from his father-in-law.

After our early afternoon dinner, we had two game tables going - the big kids and the little kids.

And, late in the evening, after all the family left, The Professor and I stood in line for a Black Friday sale. Yes, unheard of. Even more unheard of, we bought a TV, the only new TV we've ever bought.

Handymen We Are Not

2012-11-04T14:12:00.000-05:00

Ever since we had our little outdoor closet or shed built on the side of our house, I have been meaning to get out there and add a tier of shelves on one end wall. Saturday seemed the perfect day: not too hot, not too cold, and nothing of importance planned.

I first cleaned out all the boxes, pails, bottles, and whatsits, swept it well, and then I started planning the layout. I envisioned buckets on the floor, a shelf, then tubs of yard chemicals, another shelf, bags of fertilizers, another shelf, small bottles and cans, another shelf, and misc at the top. I sketched, measured, did the math, measured and marked the walls, and thought through the problem areas. With a list of lengths, I went to Home Depot and chose the lumber, awkwardly trying to muscle a 10 ft long 2x4 AND a 12 ft long pine board to the power saw all by myself. Someone finally rescued me. I asked to have the pieces cut to size, which they did.

The Professor was relieved to hear that he didn't have to do the cutting, because, well, power saws just aren't his friends.

So far, so good. Nothing I couldn't handle yet.

I eagerly got out the hammer, nails, screws, power screwdriver, the level, and several other tools. I even thought to drive the nails part way through the first 2x4 shelf support, to make the final hammering easier. Soon I was frustrated that the nails bent, the 2x4 slid, and I couldn't get any space to swing the hammer no matter which position I stood. So I pulled the nails out.

Then I thought screws might work better. But I stripped the heads on those just as they got within an inch of being driven in completely. So I took the screws out. The Professor tried too, but he did just as I did. There may or may not have been a few bad words scattered in here. There were definitely bad thoughts, and grumping, and a bit of head-scratching.

Next we decided that what we really needed was a nail gun. We went back to Home Depot to find one, but all we found were a few tools that spit out tiny brads, nothing that is long enough to go through a 2x4. Hummpf.

I was determined to conquer this. My only other thought was to hire someone to install the shelves but that seemed utterly ridiculous. Next I thought I would try installing the shelf support on the opposite side, the one going into 2x4 only, rather than 2x4 and then hardboard siding. Finally, I had success. I bent only one nail! Yay!

From there it was reasonably smooth sailing to pounding and even at appropriate times, toe-nailing, the support pieces in place. We found drilling a starter hole in the siding helped when necessary.

A few final details and it was near-dark and time to get the last shelves loaded.

DONE! Just don't look too closely at the supports please.

The Last of the Tomatoes

2012-11-02T16:49:00.001-04:00

So sad to say goodbye to summer. Our tomato plants are gone and these are the last of our crop.

"You Can't Make This Stuff Up"

2012-11-01T09:03:00.003-04:00

David made that statement on Facebook earlier this week. He was flying home from a convention in Las Vegas, and he decided to check his suitcase because Delta had insisted that everyone gate check their bags on the flight out. David was just trying to avoid that hassle on the return flight.

He goes on to say:

"Delta lost my luggage on Saturday. No big deal - buy new stuff and file receipts with Delta to get reimbursed for half of it if you're lucky. That's life.

But 11alive news called me a few minutes ago saying they found my suitcase, along with a bunch of other people's suitcases, littered in a field near the airport. Apparently Atlanta police have just busted some luggage theft ring - the thieves have been grabbing bags as they come off the baggage carousel, and then dumping them in fields. 11alive volunteered to deliver my suitcase to me at home, but I bet it's all trashed."

Channel 11 arrived at his apartment with a film crew and a van full of suitcases. They had David identify his bag, search it, and then give a statement. David thought that was the end of it. But on Monday evening they began airing a special investigative report about the luggage thefts. It turns out that Delta tells everyone that their bag is "missing" and it will probably turn up eventually, just like they told David.

On Monday, one of their viewers saw this luggage mess in the field and called the police. Three hours later the police still hadn't shown up, so she called channel 11 to report the police ineptitude. They filmed the field littered with clothes and suitcases, (they panned across David's open suitcase and white and blue dress shirts several times), and checked the luggage tags, and realized what was happening. That's when David heard from them.

Last night, Wednesday evening, David's segment was on the news. We saw him look in the van, identify his suitcase, and look through his clothes briefly. Then he made a statement about Delta having no security at the south terminal carousels.

I quote the online news:

"David Noren, of Dunwoody, who flew in on a flight from Vegas on Saturday Oct. 27, wanted us to deliver his missing bag.

"See your bag there?" we asked when we showed up.

"Yup," he said, as he reached into the van and grabbed it. "So, I got a call from Delta. They actually didn't say anything about it being stolen or lost. They just said, 'We apologize'."

We turned over all of the other bags to Atlanta Police, at the airport"

David is bright enough to not pack valuables or electronics in his suitcase, so nothing was missing. But his two most expensive pieces of clothing were ruined: his suit pants were ripped and his leather shoes were gouged with holes.

Hopefully Delta is feeling the effects of their bad press. Today they told David that they will replace everything at replacement cost, plus give him skymiles and travel vouchers. If only it was for international first class...

All photos taken from 11alive.com news clip.

Fall Gloom

2012-10-08T15:55:00.001-04:00

A very late lunch on this gloomy fall afternoon, after getting the bad news from the plumber that we have that nasty blue polybutelene pipe marching across our front yard. All 75 feet will have to be replaced with "the good stuff".

It Must Be Fall

2012-09-03T22:00:00.001-04:00

The Professor and I took a quick trip up to the mountains today because our favorite apple orchard opened for U-Pick apples this weekend.

We ate a few, we picked a few, and ate and picked some more. Mostly, we picked Rome Beauties, but we also got a few other varieties.

Home again, I made a fresh apple pie for after dinner.

ICK!

2012-08-21T22:35:00.001-04:00

So Adie got into poison ivy last week, somehow, somewhere. Her face is quite decorated.

Congratulations, Daniel!

2012-08-04T21:08:00.001-04:00

Daniel graduated with a Masters of Accounting on Tuesday. The program, which is normally a two year degree, was condensed into one year with more than a full time class schedule. He accomplished this while working full time and assisting a professor part time, and graduating with a 4.0. He was one of four out of sixty Masters of Accounting to graduate with with a 4.0, and one of two to receive the Internal Auditors Association scholarship.

It was a tough year: classes three nights a week and studying the other four; group projects with classmates who left him to do all the work; and two days off work just to get caught up.

Now that he has graduated, he will be co-authoring with the professor he assisted during the year, learning to play the upright bass, and passing the Internal Audit exam. In a few more years he hopes to get a doctorate and become a professor.

Coming Up: Another Garage Sale

2012-07-12T14:44:00.000-04:00

The girls and I have been working very hard all week to set up another garage sale, starting tomorrow. This time we really do have a crazy amount of stuff to sell.

My goal is to be able to keep both cars in the garage. That means that one entire wall of shelving - and all the stuff stored on it - had to go. The girls have been purging every room of their apartments, and a friend who moved donated most of the furniture shown here to our sale.

In addition to all that, a friend and I spent most of yesterday cleaning out the toddler nursery at church. We eliminated almost half the toys in there, and still plenty remain. I added those extra toys to our sale too.

My van was stuffed with toys from the toddler room.

Our biggest problem now is finding space to set up tables. All the floor space is taken but not everything is out yet. I'm thinking we might have to have a pre-sale tonight just to make a little room.

We can't rely on clear weather and using the driveway for the weekend since we have had thunderstorms for two nights now.

July 4th, Again and Again

2012-07-09T11:14:00.000-04:00

We celebrated the 4th three times this year: it seems to be an entrenched tradition with our family now.

Celebration #1 - A picnic and fireworks on the university green, with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra performing good, old-time American music. This year the thermometer hit 108* before night fell and cooler temps returned, down to something like 90* by 11:00 pm.

There was a mister available for those who needed cooling; it was very refreshing.

This was a good time to learn how to show respect for our national anthem.

And as the concert began, Luke and Patrick loved our front row seats, because they had easy access to the wide grassy buffer between the audience and the stage.

The two of them kicked up some fun and put on a show for the audience as they performed a few ad lib dances to the music.

Celebration #2 - A picnic and fireworks at a mega church nearby. Sitting on the grass (or parking lot, your preference) as the hot afternoon turns to evening, listening to the concert piped outdoors.

A brief rain shower soon after we arrived didn't dampen our fun. We just put up the "brolly" and snuggled together!

Patrick and Luke wore very special hats for the occasion - and so did Jared.

Celebration #3 - A picnic and fireworks on the highway in Roswell, the next town over. We stake out our favorite berm in front of Burger King every year. There are a few trees and lots of grass, so it's a comfortable place to play and wait.

It rained as we waited this afternoon too, but we had the car just a few feet away, so we snuggled in the back hatch.

David even joined us this evening.

Sometimes it's hard to be patient for the fireworks to begin...

So a boy just might have to lie down and accidentally fall asleep.

For our picnics we all contributed elements each night and our food seemed to feature fresh-picked tomatoes and cucumbers. We had other yummies too and they varied from shrimp and wraps, to burgers and watermelon, to guacamole and potato salad.

There were a few patriotic goodies thrown in too.

Those fireworks sure are pretty! And loud!

Mom and Max Visit

2012-06-12T23:40:00.000-04:00

Mom and Max flew in for a quick visit last week. Some of the family had never met Max, and Mom hadn't seen the great-grands for almost two years. After getting acquainted and touring all the kids' apartments, we all enjoyed fun outside...

an exclusive tour through space via The Professor's telescope, for the Venus Transit...

a cook-out on the patio, with s'mores afterwards...

and catching fireflies at dusk.

Apartment Update

2012-05-29T23:58:00.002-04:00

Hey there. I'm still around, believe it or not. If you're not friends with me on Facebook you might have thought I had disappeared or something. At any rate, now that my apartment is mostly put together (I still need to get two more dining chairs, three or four bar stools, an arm char, and a nightstand), I thought I'd put some pictures up. You'll have to forgive the picture quality - I took all of the pictures on my phone.

I also did not clean up specifically for these pictures. I've apparently turned into a neat-freak.

Dining Room - view when you walk in the door.

The Living Room - the couch in the bottom of the frame

is in the left of the frame of the first picture. The bookcases

are new as of tonight.

Arguably the most important part of the entire apartment.

Kitchen - this picture is from opposite the first picture.

Bedroom - Just a bed. What else did you expect? The door to

the bedroom is off to the left of the picture right above this.

I guess some decorations on the walls might go a long way, too. I'll get around to that once I figure out what all the light switches are for. I was hoping some would be tied to some outlets, but so far the only light switch that I have figured out that doesn't control a ceiling light was tied to the A/C compressor. Odd, you say? I would agree.

Happy Mother's Day!

2012-05-14T22:21:00.002-04:00

Our house was party-central to celebrate Mother's Day yesterday. The men all got together and made lunch for the moms: grilled burgers and dogs and assorted sides.

Jared stood in the pouring rain to grill, while Luke and Patrick couldn't resist a perfectly good rainstorm to get soggy-wet and do a little puddle splashing. After all, they did wear their wellies to church in the morning.

I enjoyed having my family with me on this special day. I also enjoyed the greens and whites of the gardenias gracing the center of the table. I'm so glad that gardenias bloom in May!

A few days after Mother's Day I got a special Mother's Day card from Luke and Patrick. They had given their answers to the following fill-in-the-blank statements:
My Nana is 22 years old.
My Nana weighs 2,000 pounds.
My Nana's favorite color is green (P); orange (L).
My Nana's favorite food is cake.
My Nana always says "Do a project".
My Nana cooks the best cake.
My Nana's job is to unload the dishwasher and work at church.
My Nana and I like to ride in Nana's car (P); play hide in secret (L).
I LOVE my Nana because she does fun stuff.

And I LOVE my two grandsons because they are the sweetest, best boys in the world!

The Last Graduate

2012-05-09T22:32:00.000-04:00

David graduated this morning: Magna Cum Laude, Bachelor of Science in Information Security and Assurance. The 72 BS majors joined the 415 Business school majors for the first of four ceremonies on campus this week.

The graduates in Convocation Center

Heather and the boys joined us for the ceremony. Luke spent the entire time gazing through the binoculars, which was a good thing because he was happy and quiet.

David's comments on Facebook today about his accomplishments:

"So, in four years I got my Bachelor of Science in Information Security and Assurance while working full time in the industry, worked two jobs and/or 75+ hours a week for almost two of those years, had my name published in a book in the acknowledgements section, got my CISSP on the first attempt, and in order to stay sane and do something fun, got my pilot's license. Next up? Hmmm, turn 23? Go to the beach? Watch a movie? I don't know what to do now. Any ideas?"

We're so proud of you, David!

With Mom and Dad

Happy Birthday

2012-05-06T18:20:00.000-04:00

...to me!

Big Changes

2012-05-03T13:15:00.000-04:00

I {Greta} bought a kiln a couple weeks ago! Yes, one of those dryer sized things that fires clay at temperatures starting at 1800 degrees. I also was offered a wheel two days ago, I just have to arrange for the pick up of said wheel. No, the kiln is not replacing either the heater or the oven in our apartment; nor is the wheel becoming a new side table. Daniel's parents have kindly offered to house both items for us.

Which brings us to the other big change. In August, I am leaving my art teaching job of three years to go into business on my own as a "real" artist! The bowl in the picture is one of the things I will be making to sell {and for the record: no subliminal message about nesting or adding a third little bird to our nest}. I will be selling online, at craft shows, and {if some networking works} at some retail stores! I am so excited!

Moving Day

2012-04-22T23:47:00.000-04:00

Friday was Moving Day #1 for David. After work, we filled my van with the first load (all the TV equipment), then he took me over to see his new apartment. We measured and discussed furniture before we hit Ikea. I'm sure Ikea's stock went up that day since David bought almost all of the furniture he needs in one big spree: sofa, dining table, four dining chairs, bed frame, bed slats, and mattress. Amazingly, it all fit in the van, and David's wallet was considerably lighter.

The Professor and Jared met us at the apartment for unloading and a grand furniture-putting-together party. We finished up just before 2:00 am, furniture all nicely arranged.

The Professor has become a pro at snapping all the slats into the bedframe,

while Jared proved himself a pro with the wrench

Jared helped David conquer the dining chairs

On Saturday, David moved all his clothes, as well as his desk and all the computer equipment. I'm sure that took hours to set up. His old room isn't quite clean yet: assorted linens and clothes and unidentifiable objects still sit on the floor.

A coffee table, two more dining chairs, and a night stand will round out the new apartment decor well. And Mom thinks a large piece of art on the wall would be a nice touch too.

Shopping

2012-04-16T22:52:00.005-04:00

David gave me a wad of money last night and asked if I would go buy all those things he would need to move into his apartment (except the furniture). I happily obliged - I love spending someone else's money!

First I hit Ikea with Heather and Joyce. We picked up dishes, a few kitchen gadgets, and an ironing board.

Later I stopped by Target and Walmart for assorted gadgets, cleaning supplies, and paper goods. All this I added to the stash I've been accumulating over the past six months or so as I go garage saling.

Most of this is from garage sales

I discovered it really is hard to remember everything you need when you need all of it at once. I had to stop when I ran out of his money.

Goodbye Camry

2012-04-12T21:14:00.004-04:00

Early this week we said goodbye to our Camry. It served us well, transporting our college kids to school and work and on all kinds of adventures. With 178,000 miles, it had worked hard. But it still has life in it: We sold it to a friend who is a car mechanic and who expects to own it for many more years. It sold with no effort from us. I simply mentioned on Facebook that we had a Camry for sale; a few minutes later our friend replied. And that was that.

Late last week David bought his own 2012 Accord, now that he has his career job and will be graduating next month.

Easter

2012-04-10T17:43:00.003-04:00

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

We enjoyed a beautiful spring day outside on the patio: dinner with the extended family....

...followed by an egg hunt in the shrubbery for the littles...

...followed by an egg hunt all over the back yard for the ADULTS! This is now officially a tradition since this is the second year in a row that we've had an adult egg hunt. It is wildly popular.

Early Spring

2012-04-01T19:26:00.007-04:00

Azaleas next to the house and in the backyard

We're having a very early spring here in the southeast. I don't mind one bit; I wish it was this type of beautiful, balmy weather year-round!

Pink dogwood

Razzleberri loropetalum

Monet's irises

The warm weather has caused the trees and shrubs to sprout their new growth early, too.

Our six-year-old redbud.

Blueberries

I don't mind that, either, since spring color is the most beautiful time of the year.

Vinca flowering on the back hill

My old strawberry pot on the patio

Missions Banquet

2012-03-28T20:40:00.003-04:00

Three days before the event: "Um, I don't have time to make centerpieces for the Missions Banquet; can any of you come up with something? It needs to fit our banquet theme of 'The Dating Game' AND tie in with missions. Oh, and there's no budget for this."

A few ideas were tossed out, and suddenly Heather and I were "in charge". Again. This is becoming a habit.

Someone sent us a link to the old Dating Game stage set and we were off. Sticks cut from our shrubs. Construction paper that Heather wanted to use up. Old maps. Glue.

We kept in mind the glass vases that we knew were at church, cut the sticks down to an appropriate length, and freehand cut flowers and hearts (God's love for all people). Glued two shapes back-to-back to each stick, and popped five in each vase. There. Centerpieces for 24 tables.

Missions Month

2012-03-14T19:42:00.001-04:00

Heather is on the Missions Team at church now, and March is Missions Month. She ended up being in charge of one of the main events, the Street Fair. This was a new idea at our church and some old-timers considered it cutting edge to plan such an ambitious event. But not to worry: Heather and her team did a fabulous job and the fair was deemed a great success.

The team planned four "continents", one in each corner of the gym. Each area was centered around a large shade canopy, with decor, displays, food, and activities at each. I helped out with set up and decor; Greta helped out with henna hand painting in the Asian corner, and David took care of sound and technology. Heather was everywhere, having her first experience with bossing people around.

Some very clever ideas I gleaned from the fair:

1. In Africa/India, they made a Bedoin tent with lots of floaty fabrics draped off the canopy. Inside, a flat table was set for a meal and tons of pillows filled the matted floor. Cute lanterns dangled from the canopy supports. An Indian congregation served curry and other Indian delicacies.

2. In Asia, the canopy was hung with a lot of Chinese lanterns leftover from last years' VBS. An area was set aside for children to learn origami, and some origami also dangled from the canopy. One lady had borrowed assorted Chinese porcelains from a local thrift store. All they required was that she return them in one piece! We tasted pot stickers, chicken lo mein, and candy bugs-on-a-stick.

3. In Europe, they had borrowed several bistro tables and those were scattered about with a market umbrella in the center of the cluster. At the base of the umbrella were numerous tins and pails, overflowing with paper-wrapped silk flowers. It really did look like a European outdoor market. The flowers were raided from the church decorations closet; none were purchased for the event. The food in this area was Belgian waffles and brats with mustard.
4. South America was filled with costumes and toys from South and Central America, since we currently have three families in our church who have served in those areas. They simply brought bins and boxes of their own stuff, and decorated away. They served carne asada and sopapillas.

5. Heather had made very clever chalk board menus for each continent. She used scrap lumber that was sitting around the church, had our property manager trim it to size, and then she painted it with a quart of free paint that she turned to chalkboard paint by mixing in grout. She decorated them with designs cut from a Silhouette machine. All this=FREE! So clever.

Hit by Bad Storms

2012-03-03T11:49:00.002-05:00

Tornadoes swirled around us last night, but we are fine - no damage to our house.

The Professor bought an I-phone app at the height of the storm, to track storms and get weather warnings, day or night. So now we will be safe!

Anniversary Trip

2012-03-02T00:37:00.003-05:00

The Professor decided it was high time we celebrated our anniversary with a little getaway. The problem is, that seems to be a popular thing to do around Valentine's Day. After we decided on Savannah, he searched online for a hotel, but they were all booked for most of February. Eventually he found a little place, if we were willing to begin our stay on a Sunday. That seemed a little odd, but we decided to go with it.

We stayed at a delightful little inn called East Bay Inn, right in the middle of the historic district. Once we arrived and parked the car, we didn't get back in it until we left for home three days later!

We also visited and photographed ourselves in all 22 squares,
we walked about 15 miles,
we climbed to the top of Tybee Lighthouse, we ate lots of seafood,
we toured four historic homes,
we admired lots of historic architecture,
we enjoyed a special dinner at The Olde Pink House,
we danced in Reynolds Square late one night,
and we explored two old forts.