Birthday Season

Sarah and Anders and Andy - August 19, 2007





Anders was 2 on August 19th. We had a small party at the Mengshol's on Sunday, and a wonderful time was had by all -- playing in the back yard, great sausage and peppers for dinner, and time for presents and cake. We also had presents from Kate from her trip to Austria and Denmark, and a great CD from Neilson with songs from the Electric Cpmpany. Note also Ander's Gandhi T-short from Kate. Very, Very nice!. Ander's kids' party is next Saturday. See below for few pictures and You Tube moments and there will be more on Shutterfly soon.



Anders with his fire chief hat and new viking puppet from Kate


Frank and Andy with their Denmark presents from Kate


Anders drawing on his new easel

Veronica Mars to Star in Heroes!

Well, actually, Kristen Bell. And she is appearing in a new Judd Apatow movie.

Birthday videos

Here is some video from the birthday celebration:


Eliza has some trouble with the party preparations


Crunch hits the ball


Crunch blows out the candles

Happy Birthday Crunch!

Yesterday was Crunch's 50th birthday. In celebration, Grandmary and Johnny made the famous Slosson Lane fried chicken and local corn. There was also birthday cake, a wiffleball game, pin the tale on the Janey, and a slideshow. Of course, today is another important birthday--Anders! I'm sure there will be many pictures taken.

Cats, Cats on Film

I finally figured out how to transfer video from my camera to the computer. Enjoy the results.

Party in South Carolina

We went to South Carolina for a birthday party for Calvin's uncle Alieu Abdullah. Here are a few pictures.

The party was at cousin Ronnie's house, who is Alieu's son.

Cousin Kendra with one of Alieu's many great grandchildren.

Alieu

Cousin Marie with her son Adam.

Hosetta shortly after we arrived.

There were about 10 adorable little boys between the ages of 1 and 3.

On the Tube

On Monday, Eric and I had a tasty dinner at the Pizza Box and then settled in to watch some quality t.v. First up--The Real World Sydney, where the roommates seemed to have less brain power and less class than any season before. (Is that possible). To recover, we watched two episodes of Flight of the Concords, which is just as funny as everyone has promised.

Neilson is an Uncle

Neilson is an uncle. His nephew--Ot!s Gust@vus Ab@el Kn00p--was born early this morning. Quite a name for such a little fellow. Here are a few pictures of young Otis with his dad Stuart. Neilson was acting as photographer, but I hope to have a photo of him in his uncle role soon. Hopefully Otis will make his family as happy as Anders has made ours.

More Pics from Oswego

Here are a few more pictures from last weekend in Oswego.

Results of collaborative sisterly effort on rose garden weeding etc. by Bets Flo and me.

Michael Crawford came to visit on his way to Bob's Lake.

Terrie as usual prepared many tasty meals.

Maggie Read also was in Oswego this weekend- here she is with cousin Mike.

Yes, we visited the stands.

Various power plants- view from the stands.

Dressing up for Harry Potter - No Worries - No Spoilers Here

The bookstore I work for, Auntie's, had a great Harry Potter party on the release date. 3 floors of very excited children, teens, and adults running around in costumes, excited about reading, playing games for hours in anticipation of the big event, the release of the final saga in Harry's Hogwartian journey. I have rarely seen so many people so excited about one thing, and I have never felt as full a participant in that excitement. No jaded outsider status for me. Harry, Ron, and Hermione ROCK!!! Not to mention Neville and Luna. I can't wait to read it over again. It was just so good!

I had to work the party and Matt was nice enough to volunteer. We helped run the Bertie Botts Every Flavor Bean Contests. Those things can be nasty.

Can you guess who we were?

Anders Sitting on Mary's Memorial Bench

I love reading this blog. In keeping with the Culkin Women theme, I wanted to share these pictures of Anders sitting on Mary's Memorial Bench in North Boulder Park, taken in May 2007. Andy and Frank often go on long bike rides in Boulder, and sometimes Sarah goes jogging with Anders and then stops at North Boulder Park to enjoy the mountain view.

I love the idea of Anders on this bench looking at the mountains and toward where Mary's house used to be. Mary is on my mind a lot lately, as we watch the Anders grow up and acquire so much new language. (How's that for Child development lingo?)

Seriously, I learned a lot from Mary and her sense of how it all works is coming back to me again in these new grandmother days. Anders is a wonderful child, and Mary would have loved him very much. In fact, he probably would be soon be due for an overnight at Mary's, followed by a next-morning trip to the park, if she were still here. Maybe he and Aidan could have gone together, or Aidan might have to go first to blaze the trail, but in any case, they would both have loved it. As that guy said at her Memorial Service, "Hail, Mary!".

It's Like a Heat Wave

So it is going to be miserable today in New York--93 degrees, with 86% humidity. Yuck. (I realize by South Texas standards this is nothing. But I am a spoiled, uppity North Easterner and I don't like this. How Kym and Molly can train for marathons under these conditions will forever be a mystery to me.) Luckily, I love the NYU library, which is always super air conditioned, so that is where I will ride out the heat wave. On Saturday--which was also very hot, although not so humid--Neilson and I went to Jacob Riis Park in the Rockaways for some relief. I had never been there, but will be going back. It is like a little slice of Cape Cod within New York City limits.

Oswego

I'm in Oswego for a couple of days to see Dad and visit Flo. Actually, Flo and I only got to visit for a few hours- but it was very nice to see her. We had a photo-shootout, drank a lot of coffee and chatted a lot.

Oswego has the most perfect weather, and I mean ever, right now.

Bats were birthday gifts from Frank and Bets and me to Hosmer. We also used them to hit each other over the head.

One Last Comic-Con Post

Our friend Carr D’Angelo won the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailing Award with his partner Jud Meyers at the Eisner Comics Awards ceremony this year for their store Earth 2. Go Carr!

Neil Gaiman won the award that Calvin got last summer - Calvin is certainly in lofty comics company (where he belongs- a little wifely boasting).

A list of all the Eisner winners.

A Tasty Snack

Neilson recently discovered this amazing snack at an Indian grocery store in Jackson Heights. It consists of small strips of potato chips dusted with a spicy mixture that includes just a hint of sweetness, combined with peanuts and, I think, cashews. Decadent and delicious. I'll try to bring some to the next big family gathering.

A Day Early, A Day Late

So, I was wrong about Marc's birthday. It was actually yesterday, August 1. In celebration here is a picture of Marc with Eric, Bill and Frank c. 1996.

Make New Friends

Last night, Neilson, some of my friends from college, and I went to see a free outdoor screening of the Bill Murray classic Stripes on Pier 54. (This is the second time I have seen this movie outside a movie theater but on a big screen--the first time was in 1981 at a drive-in on Cape Cod with Johnny and Tommy). We came loaded with tasty snacks and a blanket and got good seats near the screen. While waiting, we had a few friendly interactions with the hipster couple in front us. The movie was as funny as we all remembered (that's a fact, Jack!). As hysterical as the movie was, the moment that made us laugh the most occurred as the credits were rolling. You can not bring alchohol onto the pier (although you can buy Budweiser), but the hipster couple had taken the silver bag out of a box o'wine and snuck it in. Having drunk the entire bag, they were a little tipsy. While the gal went to the port-o-potties, the guy rolled over, wrapped his arms around Neilson's leg and nestled his head in Neilson's lap. Neilson and I were locking eyes and silently asking "What the Hell!," when the guy woke up and stared up at Neilson with a horrified look on his face. "Man, where is my girlfriend," I believe were the first words out of his mouth. He was really embarrassed and kept saying things like "I couldn't figure out why you were so hairy." None of us--including him and his girlfriend when she returned--could stop laughing. In the end, he thanked Neilson for being such a good sport and we all agreed it was a great story we would tell for years to come.

Happy Birthday Northwind Yarns and Weaving Co.

Congratulations to Dan and Joan. For 7 years they have brought us all the best yarn store around. On starting their 8th year in business I wish them all the best. They started my yarn addiction but at least they have the goods to keep me in the habit.






That is Danny and me this past February. It was post-orals and there was over 7 feet of snow outdoors, but just being in Northwind made me feel all warm and cozy.

New Look for Red Peonies

Kate and I were talking last night and thought it might be time to give Red Peonies a new look. Here is a start, more to come.