What's going on?!

A blog update - yaaaaay! Just wanted to give a holiday shout-out to all our friends and family, and provide some quick updatage. We have returned home after spending some quality time with Beth's family in Greenville, Pennsylvania, and mine in Grand Rapids, MI. It was a relaxing time overall... we watched some movies, opened presents, made food, ate at Yesterdog, Maeby played in the snow, all the good stuff. We only had a couple days in each place, but it was great to hang with our parents, brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephew again.

We headed home from GR this past Thursday night, to prepare ourselves and our home for the (hopefully first annual) Wild Goose Creative New Year's Festival. We've been planning this since early 2007, and it's exciting to see all of our plans come to fruition. The idea for the Festival originated with New Year's last year, when a small party blossomed into a semi-reunion of friends from high school and Calvin. Our thought: why not add some structure to it and show off some of our (and our friends'!) many skills?

You can view the full details of the Festival at our (new!) website: http://www.wildgoosecreative.com. Also, keep an eye on our blog. We opened the Festival with dinner and an improv show last night. The team consisted of myself, Micah Green, Terry Schoone-Jongen, Rachel Zylstra, and Brian Risselada. In other words, it was an amazing reunion of sorts. The Festival will also feature workshops on swing dance, screen printing, puppetry, sushi lessons, jewelry making, and Shakespeare performance, in addition to a chocolate tasting, jazz and poetry, a short play by myself, an art gallery, and performances by our friends Rachel Zylstra and Common Shiner. We're very much looking forward to the Festival, as well as the relief that the new year will bring.

And our most important news is that we're expecting a baby next year! Beth is due July 1st, and so far she's been feeling well. New Year's Day marks the beginning of Beth's second trimester. Below you can see the first ultrasound we got of Baby D. It's a rather early image, because we spent a few months at a fertility clinic in Columbus. So we knew pretty much right away when Beth was pregnant. The top part of the image shows tiny Baby D, the bottom part shows a readout of the baby's heartbeat (the heartbeat!).To answer a couple questions... it'll be about 8 weeks before we can find out the sex, and yes, we will most definitely find out and, yes, we will tell people. And, yes, we have some names picked out, but we'll share them when Baby D comes along.

We hope everyone has had a blessed Christmas, and we wish you a very Happy New Year! Look for pictures of the New Year's Festival and other updates soon!

Circleville Pumpkin Show!

Two new posts in two days! OMG! Anyhow... I realized, in posting about the big family weekend in October, that I forgot one of the many things going on that week: the annual Circleville Pumpkin Show! Beth and the rest of the our friends went earlier in the week, while I had rehearsal, so I went with both sets of parents during the day on Friday. It was our first pumpkin foray during daylight hours, although the place was no less busy. Take a look!

Huge crowds... lots of parents and kids. The town of Circleville mobilizes for the whole event. I'm guessing the local schools shut down.

All these pumpkins are driving me crazy! I'm out of my gourd.

As always, the huge line outside Lindsey's Bakery for fresh pumpkin donuts.Lots of things happen with pumpkins here, including all sorts of carving and funny shapes.With all sorts of delicious foods...

New Post from Summit Street!

Look at that... it's November already! We totally missed posting at all in October. Amazing.

We don't have any huge updates at this moment, so I'll post some pictures from the past couple weeks. We've settled pretty well into the house and have hosted a number of visitors, including Mom & Dad Dekker, the entire Meyer family, Grammie & Pop-Pop Richards (Beth's maternal grandparents), our friend Zach Vicha from Chicago, and most recently our friends Brad & Kimberly Nydam from Grand Rapids. Here's some pics from the big family weekend:

Here's Vitaly trying out Maeby's doghouse.

Making full use of the dining room... and the den.

And a family picture on the porch.

Is this the '07 salsa?

This weekend we're up in Greenville, Pennsylvania with Beth's family. We didn't plan for this weekend to be salsa weekend, but it became it! It's actually been two years since the last batch. While the 2006 tomato harvest didn't give us enough good tomatoes for the famous Meyer family salsa, 2007 crept up on us unexpectedly. The local tomato harvest was good, and when Fanny, the Amish cleaning lady, showed up yesterday with huge bushels of perfect tomatoes, the 2007 batch was born.

All the other ingredients fell into place, such as jars...

...and garlic.
We chopped the onions and peppers the night before. We had to set up fans in the kitchen because of all the onion vapors.
Blanching the tomatoes...
Peeling and chopping the tomatoes...
...until we have buckets of them!
Boiling (these are only 4 of the 6 total pots we made).
Canning in progress...
And the final product! The total came out to about 60 quarts of salsa. The 8 jars at the far end of the line are quarts of tomato juice. We filtered and boiled all the juice we collected from chopping, and saved it for future soups, etc.
Oh, and THEN we started on the chutney...

We'll let you know how the '07 batch turns out!

A fun video for you

This is a short video I made for our good friend and fellow Goose Jacqui Hoke. I found an expert who had met her, so I interviewed him.

What's Going On in There?

Here's Maeby and Lindy (our friends Jack and Christina's dog, who we're dogsitting for a spell) peeking in the back door to see what's happening in the kitchen.

So it's been since late July that we've written anything on this blog, and I thought I'd write a little something. As of August 25th we've been moved into our new house. Expect pictures and/or a video explaining the house soon! The place is looking great overall, and again we have to thank all of our wonderful friends and family who offered spiritual and physical help in putting the place together (we're still tempted to call Ryan to ask where things are in the kitchen - he put it together). Already we've hosted our friend Zach over the Labor Day weekend; he tried out the guest bedroom and dubbed it worthy (hint hint). We were all surprised by the visit of our other friend Morgan over the weekend as well.

Job-wise, I have begun working full time again at Ohio State for the Theatre Department. For those who don't know, I was hired back by the Department as the Administrator and Lecturer for the Introduction to Theatre program. It's a large course (the largest on campus, I think) that involves two lecturers and nine graduate teaching assistants to handle it. In addition, I'm directing a short play called English Therapy for the Department, and may be teaching some extra classes in the winter or spring.

Beth is continuing her work for Paul Robinett's Aromatherapy Candles and Renetto, LLC (the canopy chair company). She's coming off a very busy summer, which saw the candles picked up by Bloomingdale's and the the canopy chair featured on Slate.com and MSN.com. However, she is now aided by our good friend Karl Boettcher, who recently left his job at J.P Morgan Chase to become Operations Manager of the candle shop and canopy chair businesses. Nothing like working with your friends! They're now headed into a busy fall and busier holiday season (to give you a sense of it all... 2007 sales have doubled the 2006 numbers nearly every month, so imagine what these upcoming holidays will be like!).

Right now we're still settling in and tweaking the house: doing some landscaping, organizing rooms, throwing things away, setting up the music room (aka the basement). We're looking forward to cooler weather, when we can turn off the AC and put the screen in the front door. We can't wait for mornings of coffee on the front porch, apple picking, pumpkin everything, walks in our new park with Maeby.

Hope everyone's well!

7 copies of book 7!

Don't worry, no spoilers here!

This is my left wrist wrapped in seven wristbands so I could buy seven copies of the seventh and final Harry Potter. Since Beth and I have a membership to Barnes & Noble, I was the appointed one to buy all the copies of the book for ourselves and our friends. Karl and I lined up at 6 p.m. this past Friday to get a wristband for each copy we reserved. Then at midnight we braved the insanity that was the store to buy the books. Only Jessie, Libby, and I waited in the line, while the rest of our crew waited outside. Everyone around us was amused by the wristbands. Once we had the books, the booked it (get it!) for home, and we all spent Saturday secluded from each other reading the book.

Karl and I put together this genealogy of how to buy the books:
1. I called to reserve the books
2. I lined up to get a card
3. I turned in my card to get a wristband
4. I lined up at midnight
5. I used my wristband to get into my group (group 6)
6. I waited till my group was called
7. I lined up near the register to actually buy the book
8. I bought the book

What cracked us up is how many times we lined up to get permission to line up later.

So that's it. Let us know when you're done reading so we can talk about it!

Our ACTUAL New House!

Above is a slideshow of our actual new house! (The previous post about our new house was actually Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. We stopped there with Chip and Marcia on the way back from the Outer Banks.) The vital stats: built 1918, Arts and Crafts style, 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, detached 2-stall garage, living room, dining room, den, awesome kitchen, fenced-in backyard, big front porch. It's in a neighborhood of Columbus called Clintonville. It's northeast of the Ohio State campus, about 3 miles from where we live now. Great family neighborhood. We're two blocks away from a great park, a couple blocks from the highway, and close to grocery stores, restaurants, church, etc.

One quick note: the stuff you see in the house isn't ours - it belongs to the sellers. We took these pictures while doing the home inspection. Our closing date is set for July 29, although our current lease isn't up until September 1st. So we'll spend the month of August packing, painting, and moving in. Should be exciting! We're hiring movers for the big stuff, but if anyone wants to help with smaller boxes or painting or just hanging out at the new place, you're more than welcome! Can't wait for you all to see it!

Outer Banks 2007!

We were very excited to be able to join the Meyer fam down in Avon, North Carolina again this year. We missed it last June, and didn't realize until now how physically, mentally, and spiritually healing the trip down to the beach is. We felt like we earned this year, after graduation, parties, and crazy-busy work! Enjoy!


Our terrible view of the ocean from the house, Captain's Quarters.


Our terrible view of the ocean from the beach.


Beth found an inexpensive inflatable island at Sam's Club that we brought it down this year. Amazingly enough, it survived the wear and tear of vacation. It sat a large number of people, and thus was lots of fun when hit by a wave...


...as exampled here.


Brave Vitaly holding the baby shark he caught while surf fishing.


Dad Meyer and Uncle Ted fishing.


One of the finds this year was the Old Gray House, an early 1800's house on Hatteras Island that's now a gift shop run by an old couple. It's absolutely packed with shells and beach knick-knacks. I don't know how we missed it after all our years down at the shore.


Beth and I trying to capture some publicity shots featuring Paul Robinett candles and the Atlantic Ocean. Hint: waves = unpredictable.

I graduated!

A month ago today I trotted across the field of the Ohio Stadium, my adviser threw a hood over my shoulders, I bolted up the stage, handed my name card to the dean of the Graduate School, glanced to my left to try and see President Bill Clinton and Senator John Glenn, shook hands with OSU President Karen Holbrook (w/my right hand, like we were taught), nabbed my diploma (w/my left hand, like we were taught), and booked it for... well, not the door. I just walked back to my seat.

Yup, that was graduation day. June 10, 2007. After five (!) years (!) of graduate school, including two years of the Master's with Beth, and then three more of the Ph.D. (with Beth as my sugar momma... just kidding she's wonderful and supported me through it all), I went through the above-mentioned ceremony with 6100 fellow graduates of THE Ohio State University. (So I've been permanently branded a Buckeye, I guess.)

I was most blessed by the presence of so many friends and family in the Stadium that day. I could hear them scream when the Dean read my name. I was and have been even more blessed by all the prayers and support throughout the years of graduate school, as well as all the cards and words of encouragement from those who weren't at graduation. A big thank you to everyone.

Like all graduation ceremonies, you sit for a long time and enjoy the proceedings, while your actual moment of glory is fleeting. But that's not bad. I tried to savor every moment of walking across the field, seeing my adviser smiling as he hooded me, shaking his hand, trotting up the stairs to the stage, hearing my name, and meeting President Holbrook ("Good luck!" she told me). It all happened so quickly.

Fortunately, our good friend Kurt "Red Meat" "Out Late" Olmsted, was there with our camera. He snapped enough pictures of the ceremony and the subsequent party that I assembled them into a simple slideshow on YouTube. He took enough just of me walking the field that it works as a small movie. (Thanks, Kurt!) Enjoy!

We bought a house!

Great condition. Historic value. Late 1700's. Eight bedrooms. Twenty acre gardens. Slave quarters.

New Post for Kurt!

This is a new post just for our good friend Kurt, who is visiting with his wife Kim this week! I don't have much more to write for him, except to say that I'm very happy they're here.

Defended!

The title of the post should be belted/growled like Strong Bad.

I'm sure many of you received Beth's e-mail yesterday, but... it's fun to reiterate. Yesterday morning I defended my dissertation and passed my oral examination. It was really more of a conversation, but my adviser and readers posed some tough questions and made me sweat through my shirt. Overall, though, I feel pretty good about my answers, and their questions will help shape my final revisions. My adviser, Dr. Tom Postlewait, and I will work to revise my introduction (which may become two separate chapters), my conclusion, and my freakin' awesome appendix (a 40+ page calendar of important productions/events in London from 1889-1918). We'll take a couple weeks to do the revisions, and I should have it uploaded (we get to submit it electronically, which saves a LOT of trouble) by May 25th.

So I'm confused now... when do you get to call yourself Dr.? Is it now? Is it officially after graduation (I suppose TECHNICALLY it's after the University president confers the degree at commencement). But when is that? Not that I'm dying to sign everything "Dr. Nicholas Dekker" just yet (okay, yes I am!), but... I'm curious when these little landmarks take effect. No one really teaches you these things!

Our commencement (Ohio State's 380th, by the by) is Sunday, June 10th in the Ohio Stadium. I'll be one of the handful of students who actually have their name read. There's no limit on tickets, so anyone is welcome to come down. And our commencement speaker is President Clinton, so if you're dying to hear him speak... now's your chance! (We were disappointed that both Jon Stewart and Barack Obama turned us down, though...)

So a special thank you to all the friends and family who have seen Beth and I through this process. It's been a long five (five?!) years of first the master's and now the Piled-Higher-and-Deeper. This is a dream come true, I guess... there was always this part of me that thought this degree was unattainable, like it would be too hard or too much work or something. Although that certainly didn't stop me from doing it!

Nick

P.S. Oh, and I also found out pretty officially yesterday (as in, the Department Chair called me into his office and told me) that I'll be back at Ohio State next year (and possibly a second!) leading Intro to Theatre AND teaching some other classes. Woohoo! I wonder how good faculty and staff football seats are...

As if you need another blog to read...

But, in case you DO, here it is:

Chronicles of a Candle Shop Girl
candleshopgirl.blogspot.com

I started this to keep our great customers at Paul Robinett's Candle Shop and Gallery up to date on, the weird things I get to do, the changes happening in the shop, and what's going on with Paul.

Enjoy!

Makin' Us Look GOOD...

This past week on a simply beautiful day, we took Maeby on a walk to Goodale Park. To paint a true picture of this park, you have to understand that it lands smack dab in the middle of Columbus' urban oasis known as Victorian Village. It is about the size of 2 city blocks, and is green with flowering trees and laced with sidewalks. At the center, above the pond and gazebo, the sidewalks join on a little hill. This is where the Dog People gather. On nice days, they emerge from their Victorian mansions, old and young, men and women, singles and couples, bring their purebred perfectly-trained pooches, and judge other dogs and owners. Some days, we can count upwards of 50 dogs in the park at once...each tempting Maeby to lose her mind and all of her training...

On our first trip to the park this Spring, Maeby took off into the park the second that we let her off her leash. She's always been well-behaved when we go to the park, but that day the most curious thing happened. She circled back to us as we walked through the park, gave us a little lick, then took off again. Time and time again, she checked in, then took off, checked in, took off. She would often sniff other dogs or people, but nothing obnoxious. We kept walking through the park, through Dog People territory, then past the gazebo, with Maeby following us all the way. When we started to make the loop around the pond, she trotted directly between us, heeling like her life depended on it. As we headed out of the park, she sat quiet as we put her leash back on and heeled like a champion all the way home.

I don't know where we got this dog. It seems so silly to wax poetic about an animal, but we've just heard so many horror stories about terrible dogs, that it is amazing when Maeby has moments of brilliance...especially when we never thought we could teach her to make US look good!

Overwhelmed.

I was just the recipient of a random act of kindness, and I am so humbled by it, I just had to share it. A woman who shops in the candle shop a lot just stopped by and said that I had commented on liking her purse a number of times before, which she had gotten on her annual medical mission to Cambodia. She then reached in a bag and handed me a STUNNING aqua and chocolate brown purse. She said she had been going through her car and found an extra one and decided to bring it by and give it to me. I just can't believe it...



She wouldn't take money, but I set her up with some candles...just a small token of appreciation that she has absolutely made my week and restored my hope in humanity. See? Multiple purses DO have purpose! And random acts of kindness DO matter!

The Surprise!

Nick's New Drums and Other Favorite Bedtime Stories...

As of Monday, Feb. 26th, Nicholas John Dekker has graced this earth for 28 years...and what better to celebrate this momentus occassion than a brand new shiny green drum set?!

Stop by for a personal concert...I'm sure Nick wouldn't mind showing them off for you....

Oh, the Pooch

How can you NOT love this little girl?!?!

Pre-Lost Routine!

Now that we're within a week of the newest Lost, I thought it was appropriate for everyone to get in the mood for that exciting day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z_zVROAdLU

Maeby and Her Bunny

A couple months ago we bought Maeby a bag full of stuffed animals from Good Will. Now, you have to understand that, when it comes to stuffed toys, Maeby makes it her mission to unravel and unstuff these poor animals. Their "guts" are usually strewn across the living room floor. Sometimes the carnage is unbelievable... everything from butterflies, monkeys ("Monkey!"), hedgehogs, turtles, reindeer boot skates (don't ask), and Mr. Bear have been disemboweled. After all the stuffing-shed, we finally came to our senses: rather than buying new stuffed toys for $5 each, why not pay that much for a whole bag of future victims from Good Will? Makes much more sense! We did so in late November, and all the unfortunate souls in that bag have since been turned into a shell of their former selves.

Except one... Bunny.

Why Bunny, you ask? Well, frankly, we don't know... Bunny seems as good a candidate as any for the ritual gutting. Yet he has survived because Maeby simply won't tear him to shreds. Sure, she chews on him, plays tug-o'-war with him, whips him around without mercy. But she also carries him around everywhere, sleeps with him, and even knows to bring him to us when we say, "Go get your bunny!" While we call him "Bunny," he was formerly a Peter Rabbit wearing a coat and holding a carrot; he has since been stripped naked and robbed of his one earthly possession. Still, she keeps him by like no other toy she's ever had.

Beth has said on multiple occasions that she'll probably shed tears if/when Bunny goes. I have to agree. There's something very meaningful in this unexplained behavior of our dog. We chalk it up to good parenting.

Nerdy Historian

This past week I finished my first major chapter of the dissertation. No doubt it will come back practically unrecognizable from all the markings (my adviser, Tom Postlewait, is an editor, and a very good one at that), but it feels good to have finished it and sent it away.

I spent a majority of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday finishing the chapter, and all Friday morning revising it. As I searched and re-searched some of 100+ library books sitting in my office, I found myself slowly taking on the role of historian, and really enjoying it. I even had a few nerdy historian moments: at one point I jumped up out of my chair in victory because of a particular reference I found in a footnote (a footnote!) of a secondary book. Tell me, does this excite you as much as me:

On page 235 of J.T. Grein's biography, written by his wife Alice and edited by George Bernard Shaw, is a footnote referencing playbills from one season (probably early 1900's) of the Committee on German Theatre in London. Isn't that awesome?! They have playbills at the Theatre Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London! Even the best scholars of the period only reference the Committee - they know little else about the plays, directors, actors, or critical reception. Sweet!

Ah... it feels great. Theatre historians have an added challenge, in that they're trying to recreate an event, and a fleeting one, at that. So we find ourselves relying on contemporary accounts (someone's journal, letters), reviews (from newspapers, magazines), or other histories (perhaps someone who lived closer to the event). So when we find little footnotes and casual references, we get excited and start jumping around our offices and when we convey that excitement to others, we usually get a "Oh, well... it's good that someone's researching that."

I like to think of it as unearthing information for future generations. And, well, in order to dig it up... can we say "research trip to London?"

History 180 Edition #2

George Michael Resurfaces!