National Park Statistics
In case you were wondering, the 2002 visitation statistics for U.S. National Parks are now available.
The Top 10 Across All Parks (Park, Historic Site, Monument, etc...) are:
1. Blue Ridge Parkway
2. Golden Gate National Recreation Area
3. Gream Smoky Mountains National Park
4. Gateway NRA
5. Lake Mead NRA
6. George Washington Memorial Parkway
7. Natchez Trace Parkway
8. Delaware Water Gap NRA
9. Gulf Islands National Seashore
10. Cape Code NS
Of the 10 on that list, I have been to 4, although not necessarily in 2002.
Strictly by National Park, the Top 10 were:
1. Great Smoky Mountains
2. Grand Canyon
3. Olympic
4. Yosemite
5. Cuyahoga Valley
6. Rocky Mountain
7. Yellowstone
8. Grand Teton
9. Zion
10. Acadia
I've been to 3 of these, although when I visited Cuyahoga Valley, it was still designated as a National Recreation Area.
Friday, October 31, 2003
A Story for Halloween
During a brief conversation with my mom the other day, I found out the house my sister is renting has a story surrounding it. The reason it was available to rent is that the person living there recently died - in the house. The owner asked my sister if she had a problem with that and she asked, "Well, he wasn't murdered, was he?" The answer was no, so she didn't think much else about it. But now they're moved in and have met a few of the neighbors and she asked one of them how the guy died. Turns out he hanged himself in the basement! The basement is unfinished and on one wall is a big "I Love You" in spraypaint, which my sister thinks might have been his suicide note. So now she's totally creeped out whenever she has to do laundry. Doncha think the owner could have atleast painted over the "I Love You" before someone else moved in?
During a brief conversation with my mom the other day, I found out the house my sister is renting has a story surrounding it. The reason it was available to rent is that the person living there recently died - in the house. The owner asked my sister if she had a problem with that and she asked, "Well, he wasn't murdered, was he?" The answer was no, so she didn't think much else about it. But now they're moved in and have met a few of the neighbors and she asked one of them how the guy died. Turns out he hanged himself in the basement! The basement is unfinished and on one wall is a big "I Love You" in spraypaint, which my sister thinks might have been his suicide note. So now she's totally creeped out whenever she has to do laundry. Doncha think the owner could have atleast painted over the "I Love You" before someone else moved in?
Monday, October 27, 2003
Weekend Update
Mark and I both took off from work on Friday and the three of us had a fall lovely weekend away. We rented a cabin in Luray, Virginia near Shenandoah National Park and the George Washington National Forest. We had gone there back in May, just the two of us, and it rained the entire time we were there. This time we decided to take Hayley with us - she must have been our good luck charm.
We stayed in a different cabin this time and it was very nice. It was a newer cabin with beautiful views of the river and fall leaves, but no hot tub like last time. We hiked three different trails in the National Forest, a hidden gem that's often forgotten in the shadow of Shenandoah and Skyline Drive. The forest is free (!) and the three trails were handicap accessible (re: stroller accessible), which was convenient and easy. Especially since the only handicap-accessible trail in Shenandoah is closed because of tree damage from the hurricane last month.
The Storybook Trail is a short trail that takes you to a breathtaking overview of the valley, the river and the Blue Ridge in the distance. Other than a cold I'm fighting off, it was a fun and relaxing weekend. Pictures will be forthcoming, of course (digital camera forgotten in the hub-bub of leaving).
Hayley was great for the whole trip. It's about a 4-hour drive and she wasa fine in the car, sleeping most of the way home on Sunday. She was also good in every restaurant we went to, entertaining those sitting around us instead of eating. And she even slept well, even though she was in a strange place. However, the time change has her all screwed up - it's probably going to be another sleep-deprived week. She woke up at 5am today after going to bed very early last night. I'm hoping our regular routine of work/sitter gets her back on schedule in a day or two.
Mark and I both took off from work on Friday and the three of us had a fall lovely weekend away. We rented a cabin in Luray, Virginia near Shenandoah National Park and the George Washington National Forest. We had gone there back in May, just the two of us, and it rained the entire time we were there. This time we decided to take Hayley with us - she must have been our good luck charm.
We stayed in a different cabin this time and it was very nice. It was a newer cabin with beautiful views of the river and fall leaves, but no hot tub like last time. We hiked three different trails in the National Forest, a hidden gem that's often forgotten in the shadow of Shenandoah and Skyline Drive. The forest is free (!) and the three trails were handicap accessible (re: stroller accessible), which was convenient and easy. Especially since the only handicap-accessible trail in Shenandoah is closed because of tree damage from the hurricane last month.
The Storybook Trail is a short trail that takes you to a breathtaking overview of the valley, the river and the Blue Ridge in the distance. Other than a cold I'm fighting off, it was a fun and relaxing weekend. Pictures will be forthcoming, of course (digital camera forgotten in the hub-bub of leaving).
Hayley was great for the whole trip. It's about a 4-hour drive and she wasa fine in the car, sleeping most of the way home on Sunday. She was also good in every restaurant we went to, entertaining those sitting around us instead of eating. And she even slept well, even though she was in a strange place. However, the time change has her all screwed up - it's probably going to be another sleep-deprived week. She woke up at 5am today after going to bed very early last night. I'm hoping our regular routine of work/sitter gets her back on schedule in a day or two.
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
TV Blogging
I just checked the NBC website to see if The West Wing is new or a repeat tonight and here is the summary of tonight's episode (which is new).
The only TV or movie reference they could think of for Gary Cole is "Office Space?" Really? How about his turn as Mike Brady in both of the Brady Bunch movies? Maybe enough people don't remember "Midnight Caller," the TV show that put him on the map? Or my personal favorite, the role of Jeffrey MacDonald in the mini-series "Fatal Vision."
Incidentally, I saw Gary Cole in a commercial for an upcoming episode of "Karen Sisco," (which I'm not going to link to because I don't watch it) and thought, "But he was just cast as the new vice president on The West Wing." It seems like quite a few characters on WW do double-duty on other shows, most notably John Amos, who always seems to have a couple of TV shows going on at the same time. He's had quite a career, if you ask me.
PS - For those of you looking for info about Siegfried and Roy Halloween costumes, you won't find it here. I had two separate entries, one about the Roy incident, and another linking to cool 70s & 80s Halloween costumes, but the two are not related. I can't tell you how many referrals I've had from Google for people searching on those two key words. I can't help you out, but you're free to stay and look around!
I just checked the NBC website to see if The West Wing is new or a repeat tonight and here is the summary of tonight's episode (which is new).
The only TV or movie reference they could think of for Gary Cole is "Office Space?" Really? How about his turn as Mike Brady in both of the Brady Bunch movies? Maybe enough people don't remember "Midnight Caller," the TV show that put him on the map? Or my personal favorite, the role of Jeffrey MacDonald in the mini-series "Fatal Vision."
Incidentally, I saw Gary Cole in a commercial for an upcoming episode of "Karen Sisco," (which I'm not going to link to because I don't watch it) and thought, "But he was just cast as the new vice president on The West Wing." It seems like quite a few characters on WW do double-duty on other shows, most notably John Amos, who always seems to have a couple of TV shows going on at the same time. He's had quite a career, if you ask me.
PS - For those of you looking for info about Siegfried and Roy Halloween costumes, you won't find it here. I had two separate entries, one about the Roy incident, and another linking to cool 70s & 80s Halloween costumes, but the two are not related. I can't tell you how many referrals I've had from Google for people searching on those two key words. I can't help you out, but you're free to stay and look around!
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
Morning Report
I don't think this sounds like a "Suicide and Falling Fatality," do you? I'm thinking more murder/suicide. I'm going to search around to see if the local/area newspaper has more facts, because I definitely don't think this is the whole story.
This also reminds me that I never linked to a fascinating article on the suicide rate from the Golden Gate Bridge (via Nancy Nall). As a frequent reader of the NPS Morning Report, it immediately made me think of the same allure that our national parks have for people who want to take their own lives. I don't know if there have been any articles written about it, but there should be.
From the NPS Morning Report, October 21, 2003
Canyon De Chelly National Monument (AZ)
Suicide and Falling Fatality at Face Rock Overlook
Ranger Chris Blacksheep came upon a parked vehicle at Face Rock overlook on Spider Rock Road on the morning of Sunday, October 12th. He found the body of a woman in the passenger seat and a note with instructions to notify her daughter. The Navajo Nation Police Department and Apache County Sheriff’s Department were contacted; officers from the latter took the lead in the investigation. When the woman’s daughter was contacted, officers found that she had left her home in Maryland with her husband. A search was begun the next day in the area below the overlook, which is at the edge of a sheer, thousand-foot sandstone cliff. On Tuesday morning, the woman’s husband was found about 400 feet below the rim at the top of a talus stone. A state police helicopter arrived, but could not land in the canyon due to turbulence. The body was subsequently recovered and brought out by vehicle later that afternoon.
[Submitted by Chief Ranger's Office]
I don't think this sounds like a "Suicide and Falling Fatality," do you? I'm thinking more murder/suicide. I'm going to search around to see if the local/area newspaper has more facts, because I definitely don't think this is the whole story.
This also reminds me that I never linked to a fascinating article on the suicide rate from the Golden Gate Bridge (via Nancy Nall). As a frequent reader of the NPS Morning Report, it immediately made me think of the same allure that our national parks have for people who want to take their own lives. I don't know if there have been any articles written about it, but there should be.
From the NPS Morning Report, October 21, 2003
Canyon De Chelly National Monument (AZ)
Suicide and Falling Fatality at Face Rock Overlook
Ranger Chris Blacksheep came upon a parked vehicle at Face Rock overlook on Spider Rock Road on the morning of Sunday, October 12th. He found the body of a woman in the passenger seat and a note with instructions to notify her daughter. The Navajo Nation Police Department and Apache County Sheriff’s Department were contacted; officers from the latter took the lead in the investigation. When the woman’s daughter was contacted, officers found that she had left her home in Maryland with her husband. A search was begun the next day in the area below the overlook, which is at the edge of a sheer, thousand-foot sandstone cliff. On Tuesday morning, the woman’s husband was found about 400 feet below the rim at the top of a talus stone. A state police helicopter arrived, but could not land in the canyon due to turbulence. The body was subsequently recovered and brought out by vehicle later that afternoon.
[Submitted by Chief Ranger's Office]
Sunday, October 19, 2003
Pumpkin Patch
We took Hayley to the Pumpkin Patch for the first time today - she was too little last year. She got a kick out of riding in the wheelbarrow. It was nice and sunny out, but a little windy. It's so much fun doing these things when you have a little baby.
The not-so-fun thing is the continued sleepless nights. She was up from 2:30-4:00am last night. She slept pretty good Friday night, but woke up very early Saturday morning. In addition to her cold, she's definitely going through some major teething. One molar came in on the bottom and another is breaking through on the top, both on her right side. I assume this means the ones on the left side will soon follow, so this could go on for awhile!
We took Hayley to the Pumpkin Patch for the first time today - she was too little last year. She got a kick out of riding in the wheelbarrow. It was nice and sunny out, but a little windy. It's so much fun doing these things when you have a little baby.
The not-so-fun thing is the continued sleepless nights. She was up from 2:30-4:00am last night. She slept pretty good Friday night, but woke up very early Saturday morning. In addition to her cold, she's definitely going through some major teething. One molar came in on the bottom and another is breaking through on the top, both on her right side. I assume this means the ones on the left side will soon follow, so this could go on for awhile!
Friday, October 17, 2003
Sleep
I finally got a good night's sleep last night! I read recently that when learning to walk, babies' sleep cycles are often disrupted. Hayley has certainly been living up to that, combined with the cough she's had for the past week or so. Everyone at daycare has been sick, but so far she's only had the cough - no runny nose, no fever (knock on wood). Wednesday night, she woke up at 2:30am and was wide awake for over an hour until she finally settled down and went back to sleep. For the last two weeks, she's barely been sleeping through the night, waking up frequently when she can't find the pacifier or just having the coughing wake her up. Love those new "Simply" medicines from Tylenol. She's been taking "Simply Cough" at night without any extra medicine in it since she hasn't had a fever. And last night she fussed around 11:30pm (and I was tempted to turn the TV back on to check on the baseball game. Little did I know what I missed - Boston was winning when we went to bed) and that was it. Slept like a baby the rest of the night!
I finally got a good night's sleep last night! I read recently that when learning to walk, babies' sleep cycles are often disrupted. Hayley has certainly been living up to that, combined with the cough she's had for the past week or so. Everyone at daycare has been sick, but so far she's only had the cough - no runny nose, no fever (knock on wood). Wednesday night, she woke up at 2:30am and was wide awake for over an hour until she finally settled down and went back to sleep. For the last two weeks, she's barely been sleeping through the night, waking up frequently when she can't find the pacifier or just having the coughing wake her up. Love those new "Simply" medicines from Tylenol. She's been taking "Simply Cough" at night without any extra medicine in it since she hasn't had a fever. And last night she fussed around 11:30pm (and I was tempted to turn the TV back on to check on the baseball game. Little did I know what I missed - Boston was winning when we went to bed) and that was it. Slept like a baby the rest of the night!
Tuesday, October 14, 2003
Classic Halloween Costumes
I haven't seen anything this funny in a long time! I was laughing out loud at my desk at work! (Courtesy of Throwing Things.)
I actually went as a Rubik's Cube for Halloween in the 6th grade, but my costume was much better than a store-bought costume. It was a large box and I cut out arm holes and a hole for my head to go through, then I decorated the outside of the box with colored squares. I was a scrambled cube, not a solved cube. The only downside was that the box was so big, it was hard to hold my treat bag open with two hands. Definitely the most awkward Halloween costume I've ever had!
I haven't seen anything this funny in a long time! I was laughing out loud at my desk at work! (Courtesy of Throwing Things.)
I actually went as a Rubik's Cube for Halloween in the 6th grade, but my costume was much better than a store-bought costume. It was a large box and I cut out arm holes and a hole for my head to go through, then I decorated the outside of the box with colored squares. I was a scrambled cube, not a solved cube. The only downside was that the box was so big, it was hard to hold my treat bag open with two hands. Definitely the most awkward Halloween costume I've ever had!
Weekend Update
Sorry I've been so bad about posting lately. With everything going on around me, you'd think I'd have something interesting to post, but as soon as I get in front of the computer, I'm at a loss.
We spent the weekend enjoying the beautiful Indian summer we're having here. Hayley went to her first big craft show on Sunday - The National Apple Harvest Festival in Arendtsville, PA. It's my favorite craft show of the year and I missed not going last year (since Hayley was only three weeks old and I hadn't even left the house yet.). It was super-crowded since the weather was so perfect for an outdoor event, but we enjoyed it. Hayley did great being in the stroller for such a long time and even took a nap for about an hour.
On the sister front, they have found a place to rent not too far from their old house, so it's still close to work. And it's a rowhouse instead of an apartment, so there's a yard for the dogs. They get the keys tomorrow and will probably move what's left of their stuff this weekend. They've starting looking at both house plans and pre-fab modulars as options for rebuilding.
I could have some news to post this afternoon. I try not to talk about work, but there's supposed to be some big announcements coming at a meeting after lunch, so if it's anything worthwhile, I'll let you know.
Sorry I've been so bad about posting lately. With everything going on around me, you'd think I'd have something interesting to post, but as soon as I get in front of the computer, I'm at a loss.
We spent the weekend enjoying the beautiful Indian summer we're having here. Hayley went to her first big craft show on Sunday - The National Apple Harvest Festival in Arendtsville, PA. It's my favorite craft show of the year and I missed not going last year (since Hayley was only three weeks old and I hadn't even left the house yet.). It was super-crowded since the weather was so perfect for an outdoor event, but we enjoyed it. Hayley did great being in the stroller for such a long time and even took a nap for about an hour.
On the sister front, they have found a place to rent not too far from their old house, so it's still close to work. And it's a rowhouse instead of an apartment, so there's a yard for the dogs. They get the keys tomorrow and will probably move what's left of their stuff this weekend. They've starting looking at both house plans and pre-fab modulars as options for rebuilding.
I could have some news to post this afternoon. I try not to talk about work, but there's supposed to be some big announcements coming at a meeting after lunch, so if it's anything worthwhile, I'll let you know.
Monday, October 06, 2003
Siegfried & Roy
I'm glad Mark isn't the only one who gets Siegfried & Roy confused with Penn & Teller.
Saturday morning, after I had been up since 6am with Hayley and Mark woke up just before 8am:
Me: Roy from Siegfried & Roy was attacked by one of his tigers during a show last night.
Mark: Which one is he? Is he the small one?
Me: I don't know, I think they're both about the same size. He has the darker hair. They'll probably show a clip coming up on the 8 o'clock news.
[INSERT CLIP FROM WEEKEND TODAY SHOW HERE]
Mark: That's not who I was thinking of. Who was I thinking of?
Then it finally hit me what he meant by "the smaller one" earlier.
Me: Penn & Teller [plus hysterical laughter].
Mark: What do they do?
Me: They just do magic. They don't work with tigers.
Fascinating conversation at 8am on a Saturday!
I'm glad Mark isn't the only one who gets Siegfried & Roy confused with Penn & Teller.
Saturday morning, after I had been up since 6am with Hayley and Mark woke up just before 8am:
Me: Roy from Siegfried & Roy was attacked by one of his tigers during a show last night.
Mark: Which one is he? Is he the small one?
Me: I don't know, I think they're both about the same size. He has the darker hair. They'll probably show a clip coming up on the 8 o'clock news.
[INSERT CLIP FROM WEEKEND TODAY SHOW HERE]
Mark: That's not who I was thinking of. Who was I thinking of?
Then it finally hit me what he meant by "the smaller one" earlier.
Me: Penn & Teller [plus hysterical laughter].
Mark: What do they do?
Me: They just do magic. They don't work with tigers.
Fascinating conversation at 8am on a Saturday!
Wednesday, October 01, 2003
Some Good News, Finally
Well, my sister and brother-in-law made it back from their trip last Monday night and went to see the house first thing Tuesday morning. I talked to her last night and she seems to be handling everything pretty well, considering. They actually found some more of her jewelry, which we had been searching for on Sunday, so that was a spark of hope.
Today, the insurance adjuster came and everything is starting to move forward. He had a copy of the official police report and it was ruled an accident, which is a huge relief. He gave them a small check to get started with to buy food and groceries and such, and when they find an apartment, they can fax him the lease and the insurance company will send a check for the security deposit right away.
What a relief! I'm so glad things seem to be working out and they can start to put all this behind them and rebuild. I'll probably go back down there this weekend to help go through the rest of their stuff. They want to get whatever's left out as soon as possible so they can demolish and start rebuilding. They're anticipating it will take almost a year to complete everything because with close to 4000 houses in Maryland destroyed by the storm, all the contractors will have more work than they ever imagined, so I'm sure every step will require a waiting period. But atleast this is a small step forward.
Well, my sister and brother-in-law made it back from their trip last Monday night and went to see the house first thing Tuesday morning. I talked to her last night and she seems to be handling everything pretty well, considering. They actually found some more of her jewelry, which we had been searching for on Sunday, so that was a spark of hope.
Today, the insurance adjuster came and everything is starting to move forward. He had a copy of the official police report and it was ruled an accident, which is a huge relief. He gave them a small check to get started with to buy food and groceries and such, and when they find an apartment, they can fax him the lease and the insurance company will send a check for the security deposit right away.
What a relief! I'm so glad things seem to be working out and they can start to put all this behind them and rebuild. I'll probably go back down there this weekend to help go through the rest of their stuff. They want to get whatever's left out as soon as possible so they can demolish and start rebuilding. They're anticipating it will take almost a year to complete everything because with close to 4000 houses in Maryland destroyed by the storm, all the contractors will have more work than they ever imagined, so I'm sure every step will require a waiting period. But atleast this is a small step forward.
Monday, September 29, 2003
Sadness
I wasn't going to post today, because believe it or not, this weekend was worse than last weekend's storm-damaged weekend and I'm very sad and upset and not really sure what to say. My sister's house caught on fire Saturday night, and as destroyed as it seemed from the storm damage, it is far, far worse now. I don't want to say too much because they're very worried about what the insurance company might infer, but this was definitely a very tragic accident. They were out of town when it happened and aren't even making it back until tonight. [Side note: Northwest Airlines does not consider your house burning down an "emergency," only a death in the family. They wouldn't let them change to an earlier flight to come home yesterday - it would have cost $400. I definitely won't be using them ever again as an airline carrier.]
The neighbors rescued their two dogs, but their two cats died from smoke inhalation. They found Luna in the bathtub Saturday night and unfortunately, I was the one who found Pooh Sunday afternoon as we were trying to salvage some of their belongings. In a way, I'm glad I found him because I certainly wouldn't want my sister or brother-in-law to have found him later this week. We also got rid of all the cat food, feeding dishes and litter box so they wouldn't see them when they finally get home. The dogs are at my parents' house, which can't be easy because they don't have a fenced yard.
I've never known anyone whose house has caught on fire, only what I've seen on TV, and the devastation is terrible. Smoke and water seemed to do more damage than the actual fire. They literally now own just the clothes on their backs and anything else they had packed for their trip. Thank God my sister's wedding album was still sitting in her truck where she placed it when the floods came. And by some miracle, her hope chest was only charred and warped on the outside. Everything on the inside was soot and water free. Her wedding dress and other wedding mementos are now in my family room. My mom took home a bunch of wet photographs and was going to try to dry them out - her baby portrait collage, her baby photo that was mounted with her bronzed baby shoes, pictures from trips to Hawaii and their cruise...
Needless to say, I've been a little distracted at work today. I hardly slept at all last night. Everytime I closed my eyes, all I could see was their destroyed house. I feel so helpless and don't know what to do. Mark and I haven't even been in our own house long enough to accumulate any extra furniture. The only thing I have to offer is our old kitchen set, which is currently serving as a catch-all desk in the family room. I wish my sister and I wore the same size clothes, but alas, she is in the 4-6 range and let's just say you'd probably need to put a "1" in front of those numbers for me.
I'm sorry if this is a bit incoherent and rambling. Everytime I look at my hands and see the black still stuck under my fingernails, I just want to lay my head down on my desk and cry. I can't wait for my sister to get home tonight, even though I don't know what to say to her. I just want them to be home, wherever that might end up being.
I wasn't going to post today, because believe it or not, this weekend was worse than last weekend's storm-damaged weekend and I'm very sad and upset and not really sure what to say. My sister's house caught on fire Saturday night, and as destroyed as it seemed from the storm damage, it is far, far worse now. I don't want to say too much because they're very worried about what the insurance company might infer, but this was definitely a very tragic accident. They were out of town when it happened and aren't even making it back until tonight. [Side note: Northwest Airlines does not consider your house burning down an "emergency," only a death in the family. They wouldn't let them change to an earlier flight to come home yesterday - it would have cost $400. I definitely won't be using them ever again as an airline carrier.]
The neighbors rescued their two dogs, but their two cats died from smoke inhalation. They found Luna in the bathtub Saturday night and unfortunately, I was the one who found Pooh Sunday afternoon as we were trying to salvage some of their belongings. In a way, I'm glad I found him because I certainly wouldn't want my sister or brother-in-law to have found him later this week. We also got rid of all the cat food, feeding dishes and litter box so they wouldn't see them when they finally get home. The dogs are at my parents' house, which can't be easy because they don't have a fenced yard.
I've never known anyone whose house has caught on fire, only what I've seen on TV, and the devastation is terrible. Smoke and water seemed to do more damage than the actual fire. They literally now own just the clothes on their backs and anything else they had packed for their trip. Thank God my sister's wedding album was still sitting in her truck where she placed it when the floods came. And by some miracle, her hope chest was only charred and warped on the outside. Everything on the inside was soot and water free. Her wedding dress and other wedding mementos are now in my family room. My mom took home a bunch of wet photographs and was going to try to dry them out - her baby portrait collage, her baby photo that was mounted with her bronzed baby shoes, pictures from trips to Hawaii and their cruise...
Needless to say, I've been a little distracted at work today. I hardly slept at all last night. Everytime I closed my eyes, all I could see was their destroyed house. I feel so helpless and don't know what to do. Mark and I haven't even been in our own house long enough to accumulate any extra furniture. The only thing I have to offer is our old kitchen set, which is currently serving as a catch-all desk in the family room. I wish my sister and I wore the same size clothes, but alas, she is in the 4-6 range and let's just say you'd probably need to put a "1" in front of those numbers for me.
I'm sorry if this is a bit incoherent and rambling. Everytime I look at my hands and see the black still stuck under my fingernails, I just want to lay my head down on my desk and cry. I can't wait for my sister to get home tonight, even though I don't know what to say to her. I just want them to be home, wherever that might end up being.
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
TV Blogging
Does anyone watch Yes, Dear on Monday nights on CBS? What was up with their new daughter on the season premiere this week? She was just born toward the end of last season and now she's a toddler who appeared to be older than the little boy they already have. Do they think this is a soap opera or something, where kids who are five suddenly turn 15 overnight? Did they think we wouldn't notice?
Does anyone watch Yes, Dear on Monday nights on CBS? What was up with their new daughter on the season premiere this week? She was just born toward the end of last season and now she's a toddler who appeared to be older than the little boy they already have. Do they think this is a soap opera or something, where kids who are five suddenly turn 15 overnight? Did they think we wouldn't notice?
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Jinxed Again
I obviously spoke too soon. We've had buckets of rain since yesterday evening and this morning we awoke to water in the family room. Half of the carpet is drenched and the part near the door where the water came in is not only wet, but muddy, too. We dealt with this once before, when the remnants of Hurricane Floyd came through four years ago. I think we got cocky because we've been in a drought situation the last two years and thought we had solved the problem. Mark stayed home today to try and clean up the mess. I hope we can salvage the carpet.
Then, when I dropped Hayley off at the sitter's, they didn't have any power again. They lost power last week when we did, but it went off again around 5am this morning.
Major inconveniences, but I keep reminding myself things still aren't as bad as they are at my sister's. I talked to her over lunch yesterday and the house is looking more like a total loss. The right side of the house is now sinking and is noticeably lower than the left. A FEMA representative came to the house yesterday morning and gave them all the paperwork for aid, but they're still waiting for the adjuster from the homeowner's insurance to come and do their inspection.
I'm sure there will be more news to come.
I obviously spoke too soon. We've had buckets of rain since yesterday evening and this morning we awoke to water in the family room. Half of the carpet is drenched and the part near the door where the water came in is not only wet, but muddy, too. We dealt with this once before, when the remnants of Hurricane Floyd came through four years ago. I think we got cocky because we've been in a drought situation the last two years and thought we had solved the problem. Mark stayed home today to try and clean up the mess. I hope we can salvage the carpet.
Then, when I dropped Hayley off at the sitter's, they didn't have any power again. They lost power last week when we did, but it went off again around 5am this morning.
Major inconveniences, but I keep reminding myself things still aren't as bad as they are at my sister's. I talked to her over lunch yesterday and the house is looking more like a total loss. The right side of the house is now sinking and is noticeably lower than the left. A FEMA representative came to the house yesterday morning and gave them all the paperwork for aid, but they're still waiting for the adjuster from the homeowner's insurance to come and do their inspection.
I'm sure there will be more news to come.
Monday, September 22, 2003
One-Year Update
Hayley's one-year check-up occured as Isabel was moving in late Thursday afternoon, so here are the belated results. Her visit to the doctor went well and she is progressing normally. She weighed in at 22lbs, 7oz., gaining about a pound and a half from her 9-month check-up. Her length was 29 and 3/4 inches, about an inch growth. We made the switch from formula to regular milk over the long Labor Day weekend and she's only drinking from the bottle twice a day - first thing in the morning and last thing at night. The doctor was pleased to hear she could say "human words" like "bye-bye" and "no." She's walking by holding onto the furniture, has been drinking out of a cup since February and is always on the go.
Some more one-year birthday party photos as well:
Dressed in her birthday finery
And one with the official birthday hat
Two cakes - one for Hayley and one for everyone else
Sharing cake with Pop Pop
"Cake Face" says it all
The aftermath - I call this one "The Massacre of Raggedy Ann"
Hayley's one-year check-up occured as Isabel was moving in late Thursday afternoon, so here are the belated results. Her visit to the doctor went well and she is progressing normally. She weighed in at 22lbs, 7oz., gaining about a pound and a half from her 9-month check-up. Her length was 29 and 3/4 inches, about an inch growth. We made the switch from formula to regular milk over the long Labor Day weekend and she's only drinking from the bottle twice a day - first thing in the morning and last thing at night. The doctor was pleased to hear she could say "human words" like "bye-bye" and "no." She's walking by holding onto the furniture, has been drinking out of a cup since February and is always on the go.
Some more one-year birthday party photos as well:
Dressed in her birthday finery
And one with the official birthday hat
Two cakes - one for Hayley and one for everyone else
Sharing cake with Pop Pop
"Cake Face" says it all
The aftermath - I call this one "The Massacre of Raggedy Ann"
Blogging
Interesting article from the Sunday New York Times Book Review about "Classroom Classics" - Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, etc. (NY Times requires free registration)
Interesting article from the Sunday New York Times Book Review about "Classroom Classics" - Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, etc. (NY Times requires free registration)
Hurricane Isabel
Well, I'm finally able to post about how we survived the hurricane. We lost power around 3:30am Friday morning. I had to go to work without showering after getting dressed in the dark. I didn't realize until Friday night that I had on two different earrings all day. We spent Friday night at my parents' house, who were virtually unaffected by the storm, other than losing a few shingles off the roof. Our power came back Saturday around noon, but we didn't have cable until 2:30pm on Sunday. Luckily, the Ravens were the 4 o'clock game on Sunday! Our only loss was a few perishables in the refrigerator. We were even able to save all of our meat from the freezer by storing it at my mother-in-law's.
We consider ourselves extremely lucky considering what is happening all around us. We made an appointment back in August to have our trees pruned before winter because there are many dead limbs hanging way up there and we didn't want to have one fall on the house. How we managed to escape any damage during those high winds is beyond me! Our neighbors across the street weren't so lucky. They had a tree go through their roof that caused some serious damage. How did we not hear that? Around the corner from us, another neighbor had a tree fall across their above-ground pool.
But by far, the worst is the damage my sister has suffered. She and my brother-in-law live on the water in Baltimore. On Friday, they had close to 2 feet of water in every room of the house. They couldn't see their backyard at all, nor the pier that usually sits two or three feet above the water. The water did recede Friday afternoon and didn't return with high tide - a small blessing. And somehow, it didn't leave behind a lot of mud, mostly sticks, leaves and other debris. But all of the carpet and furniture is ruined (and they just had new carpet installed in the entire house back in the spring). She told me on the phone that all of the floorboards and some of the walls were buckling, but I couldn't imagine it until I saw it in person Saturday afternoon.
Her hallway was like a rolling, wavy miniature golf course. In the center of the one bedroom was a giant hump like a pitcher's mound. Their back deck was no longer attached to the house. Railroad ties that had surrounded gardening areas were 20 or 30 feet from where they should have been. You could see the high water mark all the way around the house, both inside and out. They still had about two feet of water in the crawl space, which is the only thing that saved them from having 4 or 5 feet of water inside the house instead of 2 - the crawlspace filled up first. And, of course, the smell was awful - that sour, stagnant water smell (those of you from Baltimore would know it as "Back River").
They are still waiting for the insurance adjuster to come. You can imagine how backed-up they are! She's afraid they're going to have to tear down the house and start over. I was surprised at how well she was handling everything. Nothing of great sentimental value was lost (she put their wedding album in her truck) and amazingly, most of the appliances were still working after the water receded. Ironically, they never even lost power, but had to turn it off once they found the water.
So we spent the weekend counting our blessings that everyone was safe and sound and hoping for the best for my sister and her house.
Well, I'm finally able to post about how we survived the hurricane. We lost power around 3:30am Friday morning. I had to go to work without showering after getting dressed in the dark. I didn't realize until Friday night that I had on two different earrings all day. We spent Friday night at my parents' house, who were virtually unaffected by the storm, other than losing a few shingles off the roof. Our power came back Saturday around noon, but we didn't have cable until 2:30pm on Sunday. Luckily, the Ravens were the 4 o'clock game on Sunday! Our only loss was a few perishables in the refrigerator. We were even able to save all of our meat from the freezer by storing it at my mother-in-law's.
We consider ourselves extremely lucky considering what is happening all around us. We made an appointment back in August to have our trees pruned before winter because there are many dead limbs hanging way up there and we didn't want to have one fall on the house. How we managed to escape any damage during those high winds is beyond me! Our neighbors across the street weren't so lucky. They had a tree go through their roof that caused some serious damage. How did we not hear that? Around the corner from us, another neighbor had a tree fall across their above-ground pool.
But by far, the worst is the damage my sister has suffered. She and my brother-in-law live on the water in Baltimore. On Friday, they had close to 2 feet of water in every room of the house. They couldn't see their backyard at all, nor the pier that usually sits two or three feet above the water. The water did recede Friday afternoon and didn't return with high tide - a small blessing. And somehow, it didn't leave behind a lot of mud, mostly sticks, leaves and other debris. But all of the carpet and furniture is ruined (and they just had new carpet installed in the entire house back in the spring). She told me on the phone that all of the floorboards and some of the walls were buckling, but I couldn't imagine it until I saw it in person Saturday afternoon.
Her hallway was like a rolling, wavy miniature golf course. In the center of the one bedroom was a giant hump like a pitcher's mound. Their back deck was no longer attached to the house. Railroad ties that had surrounded gardening areas were 20 or 30 feet from where they should have been. You could see the high water mark all the way around the house, both inside and out. They still had about two feet of water in the crawl space, which is the only thing that saved them from having 4 or 5 feet of water inside the house instead of 2 - the crawlspace filled up first. And, of course, the smell was awful - that sour, stagnant water smell (those of you from Baltimore would know it as "Back River").
They are still waiting for the insurance adjuster to come. You can imagine how backed-up they are! She's afraid they're going to have to tear down the house and start over. I was surprised at how well she was handling everything. Nothing of great sentimental value was lost (she put their wedding album in her truck) and amazingly, most of the appliances were still working after the water receded. Ironically, they never even lost power, but had to turn it off once they found the water.
So we spent the weekend counting our blessings that everyone was safe and sound and hoping for the best for my sister and her house.
Wednesday, September 17, 2003
Happy Birthday, Hayley!
Today is my baby's birthday. I can't believe she's one! Only one short year ago she looked like this.
She came into this world at 4:30am and she must have retained some memory of it, because she woke up very early today - at 5:15am.
Tomorrow is her one-year check-up and we'll find out how much she weighs and how tall she is.
Today is my baby's birthday. I can't believe she's one! Only one short year ago she looked like this.
She came into this world at 4:30am and she must have retained some memory of it, because she woke up very early today - at 5:15am.
Tomorrow is her one-year check-up and we'll find out how much she weighs and how tall she is.
Monday, September 15, 2003
Book Talk, Pt. 2
While reading over lunch, another error. Again, not my typo:
p. 246 "He had interests in the trade of guns, heroine, women - everything went through him."
I finished this book at lunch - thank goodness!
While reading over lunch, another error. Again, not my typo:
p. 246 "He had interests in the trade of guns, heroine, women - everything went through him."
I finished this book at lunch - thank goodness!
Book Talk
I was planning on writing an entry today about the book I'm currently reading (see links toolbar if you can find it) and how the editing is so awful and I keep finding all of these grammar mistakes - very obvious ones. Then, I read Jennifer Weiner's Sept. 14th entry and had to laugh in agreement with the remarks about "poorly edited books." I love reading mysteries and thrillers, and yes, most often, I can figure out who the murderer or the bad guy is before I reach the end. Some are good, some are bad, but I love the genre regardless. And I'm one of those people who mostly likes everything I read. A book, or even a movie for that matter, has to be pretty bad for me to give up on it before the end.
With the book I'm reading now, The Darkness Gathers by Lisa Miscione, the grammar mistakes are so glaring that it's distracting. And it's very obvious that whoever edited this book at St. Martin's Minotaur did a very crappy job. Relying too much on SpellCheck? Here are the examples, all revolving around the same word. Remember, these are not my typos, this is how they are printed in the book:
On p. 76, "His face darkened a bit. 'Like I said, I've been warned to step off. I have to follow the rules here or I'll loose my career. I'm not a free agent like the two of you. I loose my job and my kid doesn't go to college, my wife doesn't get medication for her diabetes. Do you understand that?'"
And again, on p. 202, "Now that you are with me, I couldn't bare to loose you again."
Ugh, is this crazy or what? Twice in the same paragraph, then the same exact error again 200 pages later! The word 'loose' was actually used correctly in some places, but it was distracting because I felt like I had to re-read the sentence to make sure.
This is the second book in the series featuring Lydia Strong and Jeffrey Mark. I love reading serials because of how the format allows for strong character development and the reader gets to know and love characters over the years as they age and experience different things. I thought the first book in the series, Angel Fire, was okay but not great, and decided to give the second one a shot. Aside from glaring typos, the problem I have with this series is how the main characters get involved in the cases they are working on. Lydia is a true crime writer whose boyfriend is a former FBI guy owns a high-end private detective/intelligence agency. In both books, they have approached the local law enforcement working on the case to offer to help and their assistance has been gladly accepted.
From the many other mysteries, legal thrillers, police procedurals and the like that I have read, this is wholly unbelievable. In most cases, local law enforcement hates the interference of anyone else, whether it's a state agency or the federal government coming to take over the case. I realize this is just a small detail to the overall story being told, and that there has to be some element of unbelieveability in mysteries, but again, it's very distracting to me the reader because it's always in the back of my head.
Some day soon, I'm going to add a page about all the different book series I read, along with some thoughts, but I think I'll just stop after book 2 in the Lydia Strong series and leave it at that. There are many other books on my "to read" list than to waste my time with poorly edited, unfocused mystery books.
Have you read this book? Do you agree or disagree? Leave a comment.
I was planning on writing an entry today about the book I'm currently reading (see links toolbar if you can find it) and how the editing is so awful and I keep finding all of these grammar mistakes - very obvious ones. Then, I read Jennifer Weiner's Sept. 14th entry and had to laugh in agreement with the remarks about "poorly edited books." I love reading mysteries and thrillers, and yes, most often, I can figure out who the murderer or the bad guy is before I reach the end. Some are good, some are bad, but I love the genre regardless. And I'm one of those people who mostly likes everything I read. A book, or even a movie for that matter, has to be pretty bad for me to give up on it before the end.
With the book I'm reading now, The Darkness Gathers by Lisa Miscione, the grammar mistakes are so glaring that it's distracting. And it's very obvious that whoever edited this book at St. Martin's Minotaur did a very crappy job. Relying too much on SpellCheck? Here are the examples, all revolving around the same word. Remember, these are not my typos, this is how they are printed in the book:
On p. 76, "His face darkened a bit. 'Like I said, I've been warned to step off. I have to follow the rules here or I'll loose my career. I'm not a free agent like the two of you. I loose my job and my kid doesn't go to college, my wife doesn't get medication for her diabetes. Do you understand that?'"
And again, on p. 202, "Now that you are with me, I couldn't bare to loose you again."
Ugh, is this crazy or what? Twice in the same paragraph, then the same exact error again 200 pages later! The word 'loose' was actually used correctly in some places, but it was distracting because I felt like I had to re-read the sentence to make sure.
This is the second book in the series featuring Lydia Strong and Jeffrey Mark. I love reading serials because of how the format allows for strong character development and the reader gets to know and love characters over the years as they age and experience different things. I thought the first book in the series, Angel Fire, was okay but not great, and decided to give the second one a shot. Aside from glaring typos, the problem I have with this series is how the main characters get involved in the cases they are working on. Lydia is a true crime writer whose boyfriend is a former FBI guy owns a high-end private detective/intelligence agency. In both books, they have approached the local law enforcement working on the case to offer to help and their assistance has been gladly accepted.
From the many other mysteries, legal thrillers, police procedurals and the like that I have read, this is wholly unbelievable. In most cases, local law enforcement hates the interference of anyone else, whether it's a state agency or the federal government coming to take over the case. I realize this is just a small detail to the overall story being told, and that there has to be some element of unbelieveability in mysteries, but again, it's very distracting to me the reader because it's always in the back of my head.
Some day soon, I'm going to add a page about all the different book series I read, along with some thoughts, but I think I'll just stop after book 2 in the Lydia Strong series and leave it at that. There are many other books on my "to read" list than to waste my time with poorly edited, unfocused mystery books.
Have you read this book? Do you agree or disagree? Leave a comment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
