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Mommy and Robey in the Snow


Mommy and Robey in the Snow
Originally uploaded by AliBlog.

When Jeromy saw this photo in the camera, he said, "That'll end up on the blog. If it's not already."

We went sledding in the back yard on Robey's new sled from Jen & Chad that FLOATS on top of the slow. First shot down the hill & we ended up in the weeds. After sledding together on our rumps and then individually on our bellies down both hills, we made and demolished a snowman and carved out a few snow angels. Then we sledded some more and I finally told Robey he could take one more ride down the hill. He said okay, but after that run decided he wanted to go fourteen more times. I said, "When you're big enough to carry this sled back up the hill all by yourself, you can go fourteen more times." But then I carried the sled up the hill and let him go once more. And then we took this photo.

Robey Catching Water

Here's the promised update to this post. It was cold. Too cold to spend more than 15 minutes on the beach, and too cold to touch the water. Here, Robey attempts to collect lake water without getting wet by extending a snorkel in the water's direction. It's not the most efficient method of water collection, but he came up with it on his own. You'll find more Michigan photos on flickr.

We spent the entire time huddled up inside the cottage in front of the fire. We played cards and board games, cooked a lot of comfort food and enjoyed the down time with Mich and Stan. As for the leaves - they weren't worth photographing.

Canadian Wilderness Trips

canada_cabinMany of you have heard the stories of Jeromy's Canadian wilderness trips with Don Bunker, and some of you have seen the scrapbook documenting his trips. To see the full 13-year journey in pictures, visit Don's Canadian wilderness site. Jeromy was part of the team in 1994 and 1995. He also went along in 1998, but those pictures aren't online yet. The 2002 and 2003 pictures are worth viewing too: the stone wall and the T-111 siding look great. As always, we're impressed.

The weather outside ...

aw_cloud03It was 70 degrees and cloudy in St. Louis yesterday. I made a pot of chicken soup and gladly wore long pants all day long. What a relief from the heat and humidity.

In the past 8 years, we've lived in Biloxi, Mississippi; Goldsboro, North Carolina; Tucson, Arizona; and now St. Louis, Missouri. And I've never been more bothered by the heat than I have been this summer. It's true. After two years in the desert, I forgot how hot 80 degrees could be.

Enough about the weather. I have good news to share. I'm going to be working full-time again, starting in August. Still from home and still for SAS but I'll be 9-to-5ing it again. This, too, puts us one step closer to Ohio. With my full-time benefits, there's no worries about Jeromy getting out of the Air Force. Full speed ahead.

Worth a click

Worth a read

  • Alan Jones: Reimagining Christianity
    If - like many - you've been tempted to dismiss Christianity as a judgemental, patriarchal Western religion but - like me - have longed to see it as a mystical, metaphorical and compassionate process, this book is for you.
  • Amy Tan: The Hundred Secret Senses
    I've just finished my first Amy Tan novel, and so I'm wishing I had an eccentric sister with yin eyes and lost memories of a past life. But alas I'll have to settle for another magical story from Tan - which should I read next?
  • Helen Nearing, Scott Nearing: The Good Life
    I've been buying Jeromy books for the past 15 years, and he's never read a single one. Until now. I bought him this classic on self-sufficient living, and now he's devouring every book and magazine that he can find on the subject.
  • Matthew Van Fleet: Tails
    A Christmas gift from Aunt Susan and Uncle Beau, this book is Robey's current favorite. He just learned how to pull the tabs to make the tails wag.
  • John Irving: The Fourth Hand
    Pick a favorite John Irving book? I can't. Read them all. Laugh, snicker and fall in love with the characters, not despite of but FOR all their flaws and idiosyncracies.
  • Saul Bellow: Henderson the Rain King
    Is there any better way to overcome a mid-life crisis? If only we all had the resources and dumb luck of Henderson and the lyrical dexterity of Bellow.
  • Hunter S. Thompson: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
    Take a trip with Thompson into the swill and swine of Vegas. It still makes me laugh and gasp and hallucinate more than any other book I've ever read.
  • Oliver Sacks: The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
    That one of my favorite authors of all time is a socially-awkward yet highly perceptive neurologist is a testament more to Sacks' ability to write plainly about complex subjects than it is a comment on my own attraction to the strangely bizarre. Or is it?
  • Rick Bragg: All Over But the Shoutin'
    Read this book and you will almost wish that you had grown up poor and fatherless in the deep South, if only to be a part Bragg's mother's clan --lively, hard-working and proud.
  • Betty Smith: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
    Read this book at least once a decade, and you'll root for Francie again and again, but for different reasons each time.