Our Colorado Trip!

A couple weeks ago we flew out west to Denver for our friend Sarah Tigchelaar's wedding. Post-nuptials, we traveled a tad further west with Kim and Kurt to Estes Park. Ole E.P. became our base of operations for the following week, as we explored the mountains, streams, and meadows... and shops... and restaurants... of the Rockies. This first picture shows the four of us climbing and photographing some dangerously picturesque rocks in a river.


One of our first big ventures into the Rocky Mountain National Park took us along the Trail Ridge Road, which wound us up above 12,000 feet. Here we trudged in the high altitudes above the treeline and amongst the snow. Still, plenty of flowers were blooming.


The following morning we stepped out our hotel room door to find first one, then two, elk grazing in the river and around the parking lot. As we cautiously followed them, snapping pictures, we found a whole herd of 20 or so relaxing nearby in someone's front lawn.


Our second day took us past this beautiful meadow with a river cutting through it. Fishermen waded all throughout the stream.



Later that day we hiked up to Alberta Falls. We appreciated how the park made no bones about the fact that YOU'RE IN NATURE, meaning there are animals and steep drops and scary places and bridges that you have to detour. A park ranger was busy sawing and carving logs to make the new bridge. We climbed along the falls, sitting so close to them at the top that you could practically dangle your feet in them.

It was a great trip, affording us the opportunity to see landscape we usually don't, and spending time with friends we don't get to see all the time.

iChat with youChat?

Recently we hooked our digital video camera up to the ol' iBook and discovered the joy and ease of video conferencing. On Tuesday night we did a four-way chat with the Meyer fam in Greenville, sister Kate in New York, Chip and I upstairs, and Beth and Abbey downstairs. For a while we included friend/new next door neighbor Karl in the conference, too. Way too much fun for our own goods.

So for all of you out there using AOL's instant messenger or on an Apple with iChat, just look up the .Mac user name ndekke39 for a little bit of visually-oriented conversation!

Renetto Reviews

Ok, so I've just discovered a hilarious new video "series" on YouTube, my new obsession. Type "Renetto Reviews" in the 'search' field and it will bring up this guy, Renetto's, reviews of various YouTube videos. It's well worth your time...he's hilarious!!! I've given him 5 star ratings so more people will see him in the 'favorites' column!

www.youtube.com

Dahlias, Lilies, and Hydrangea... Oh My!

Just wanted to share the color of our summer bloomage. These pictures hardly capture the fireworks of the day lilies, and the morning glories - which are climbing up the porch like it's a jungle gym - haven't even begun blooming yet. But at least you can see the hydrangea, one of our dahlias, and some of the day lilies doing what they do best.

North, The Story of Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Consider this your invitation! A few months ago I was invited to play Charles Lindbergh in a play developed by some very good friends and colleagues of mine. The piece is titled "North," and focuses on the life of Anne Morrow Lindbergh and her relationships with her husband Charles and the French aviator Antoine de St. Exupery (author of "The Little Prince"). The play is constructed entirely out of their writings. All three were amazing people - articulate and passionate. St. Exupery visited the Lindberghs in the U.S. shortly before the beginning of World War II, and the play centers on this meeting. All three were published writers and heavily involved in aviation, which gave them a unique connection.

We're performing the play twice on Friday, July 14th at 3 and 8 p.m., in the Roy Bowen Theatre, Drake Union, at Ohio State. It is performed by Christina Ritter as Anne, Christopher Roche as St. Ex, and myself as Charles; it is directed by Jennifer Schlueter (who brilliantly wrote the script). The production is free. It's been a wonderful interaction with these characters, the process, and my colleagues - the whole production is done by students, and we'd love to share it with you!

If you don't get a chance to come, try to read some of their writings, such as Scott Berg's biography of Charles, Anne's books "Gift From the Sea" and "North to the Orient," or St. Ex's "Little Prince" and "Wind, Sand, and Stars."

Jam-it, Janet!

It would be an understatement to say that Chip, Marcia, Nick and I like strawberries. In fact, when we found out that there is a pick-your-own berry farm a mere 30 minutes southwest of Columbus, it was all we could do NOT to take the rocketcar. But, with gas prices and all...



There were fields and fields of them! And the vines were LOADED! We just kept picking and picking...and managed to fill up 4 cartons with beautiful, red, sweet strawberries!!!




In all, we picked about 40 pounds of strawberries...which we subsequently turned into 2 gallons of Jam, and packages of frozen strawberries for smoothies. It was beautiful!

Quickbooks?! More like Suckbooks!!!

I have just spent the last 12 hours of my working life attempting to download my business bank account statement into Quickbooks- a process that was promised all over the box. Silly me, believing something on the box. I swear to you, I could FEEL an ulcer forming.

So, I appeal to you, loyal readers, do you know anything about Quickbooks? Anything? If so, may I abuse your knowledge and frienship? Well, at least I asked.

Our little girl's become a woman!

Over the past couple days we've realized that Maeby has, well, grown up! We'll spare you the details.



Anyway, on Friday night we had to rig up a temporary diaper in order to... well, we'll spare you more of the details.



It took Beth, Kate, Libby, and I to put the "diaper" in place. Fortunately, the brown of the towel matched Maeby's coat. Keeping our pup clean and dignified, right?

Day 1 of Super Summer Camp

Just finished my first day working the summer camp at Lifetime Fitness. Lots of fun games, lots of child wrangling, and lots of exhaustion. But I had to share three gems:

1.) One of the kids at lunch: "I don't mean to be funny, but sometimes when I sweat, it goes down my butt."

2.) Another kid at lunch: "Have you ever been to prison?"

3.) While at the pool, one 1st grader spent half an hour explaining to me the plot of a Captain Underpants book. Even when I ran off to tend to other kiddies, upon my return he would ask, "Do you want me to keep telling you the story?" How could I say no?

It's going to be an interesting summer.

674

I got a new job a few months back; I am now the General Manager and President of Paul Robinett, ltd, art gallery and world-famous candles! (www.paulrobinett.com) If you haven't received candles from me, the self-made Candle Fairy, email me and I'll hook you up.

Anyhoo- Paul IS a real guy, and a great guy. I've been having a fabulous time getting to know this multi-talented, interesting guy and am thrilled to be working with him! He emailed this link to me today, and I just had to share it. It's a video he made 2 years ago, just to see what he could do. Enjoy!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-937241900175428645

Quotes from "The Office"

Last night's episode of "The Office" was particularly hiliarious, as the characters were having office photos taken, and the complaint box was opened. We just had to share two quotes that stood out amongst all the craziness:

MICHAEL: Ryan, you told Toby that Creed has a distinct old man smell.
CREED: I know exactly what he’s talking about… I sprout mungbeans on a damp paper towel in my desk drawer. Very nutritious, but they smell like death.

AND

DWIGHT: I never smile if I can help it. Showing one’s teeth is a submission signal in primates. Once someone smiles at me, all I see is a chimpanzee begging for its life.

A Weekend in Lexington, Kentucky!

Last weekend we packed up an excited puppy and trekked down for the first time to Dan and Rebecca's home in Lexington, Kentucky. We managed to cover a lot of ground in the space of a few days, seeing everything from their home to work, school, church, and other favorite sights. The top two pictures here show us at the Keeneland Races, which wrapped up on Friday. Overall, Beth and I won a whopping $13.80, but wagered $14. So we came up 20 cents in the hole! But Dan and Rebecca introduced us to the larger culture of horse racing. Very interesting stuff!


The next picture is of Dan and Rebecca at the Woodford Reserve bourbon distillery, tucked away amongst the rolling hills and horse farms outside Lexington. Behind Dan and Rebecca is one of four bubbling, fermenting vats of malted mash and yeast.


The final picture is of a sheep-sheering we watched at the Shaker Village in Pleasant Hill, Kentucky. It was hard to keep a straight face with all the sheep bleating like crazy; they sound so human! We spent a few hours there, checking out all the old buildings (some almost 200 years old!), watching the craftspeople at work, and trying the restaurant. I was very impressed with the authenticity of so much of the village.

Sneaky Puppy

So, it is a regular occurance that we find our darling, obedient puppy sleeping in her favorite spot in the house- our bed. Nick decided to document it for me.

Silicone Hydrogel

"What's silicone hydrogel?" you ask. Well, it's the material of which my new contact lenses are made.

That's right, baby! Yesterday I visited the OSU Optometry Clinic for a long-past-due eye exam. It's been 6+ years since I last visited Dr. VanDyke in Grand Rapids, and I figured it might be good to not ruin my eyes.

I went with an open mind to experience a glasses-less life, and overall the visit was simple and painless, in part because we're not during the whole dilate-your-pupils thing until next week. The optometrist was this awesome guy named Randy - easygoing, knowledgable, and very patient in teaching me to deposit and retrieve those silicone hydrogel badboys. (Note: I've never been a big fan of deliberately putting something in my eyes.) But he seemed all excited about the durability and breathability of these contact lenses. They also correct my slight astigmatism in my right eye. I walked out of the clinic marveling at seeing the world clearly without glasses falling off my face. I immediately called Beth to brag about how daring and brave I am.

Probably the best part of the visit came towards the end of the examination, as I was putting the contacts in for the last time. Suddenly the optometrist turned to me and said, "I just have to ask... are you a Christian?" I grinned from ear to ear and told him that I'd been wanting to ask him the same thing for a while. We laughed and marveled at how awesome it is that we can recognize each other just based on our behavior and the things we say. We chatted a little more and discovered that we actually both go to Worthington Christian Church! After the appointment he introduced me to his wife who was waiting downstairs, and I vowed to find them next Sunday to introduce Beth.

My Invisible Watch

First off, I have NEVER worn a watch. I have many, and receive them as gifts all the time, but I have NEVER worn one for more than one or two days at a time. They bug the crap out of me. Even the hot ones. But, I have recently discovered a new idiosynchratic behavior of mine that makes no sense when compared to the fact that I do not wear a watch:

Every time I give someone the time, or when telling someone the time somthing will be happening, or when we have to be somewhere, I bend my left wrist as if sticking out my imaginary watch. Sometimes I even tap my wrist! I kid you not- it's like I am subconciously punctuating the idea that "Yes, I am giving you the time, but- no - no, I don't have a watch to prove it." It's the weirdest thing.

I'm telling you, next time you see me, ask me the time! I'll show you my invisible watch!

Our New Nightly Routine...

As of late, it has become Maeby's nightly routine to make a gigantic mess before she goes to bed. This includes taking every toy out of the basket, dragging every blanket out of her kennel, and strewing them around the living room. We're not sure why this happens. She doesn't seem upset, or hyper, or anxious for attention. She just wants to pull everything into the middle of the room. Maybe the ceremony is rich with latent symbolism for her. Maybe she's trying to tell us something. Maybe she's superstitious. Or maybe she just does it cuz she can. I'm guessing it's the last of those. After all, wouldn't you?

Into the Woods With Maeby Ray Magic

This past weekend found us home in Greenville with the family to see several of our talented sisters in school productions. While there, we gave Maeby a lot of play time outside. One afternoon she followed Vitaly into the woods, and the two romped around the creek (known by the family as Barely Run). She came back to us soaked, dirty, and happy as... well, a Lab in the woods. Here's a lovely picture of her, munching on her rawhide baseball, before I hosed her down. We hope one day to give her her own big yard in which to get filthy.

Four Rows Back from the Columbus Bluejackets

This past Tuesday evening Chip called me, completely out of breath. In the midst of his excited rambling I caught the words "Free tickets... Bluejackets... picking you up." Half an hour later I found myself downtown in Nationwide Arena four rows behind the goal. Chip and I could barely contain ourselves, and even though the Jackets lost 2-5 to Phoenix, we had a rockin' good time. Afterwards we met up with our good friend Greg Murray, also known as the voice of the Bluejackets. Greg took us down by the ice for some photo opps. Righteous!

The Luxury of Spring Break in 12 inches of Snow

Nick and I just retrned from a 10-day, 2000-mile trek that included Greenville, PA, Chicago, IL and Minneapolis, MN. (...One of these things is not like the others...) We left Oh, The Pooch with her Uncle Chip and Aunt Marcia, and started driving. Armed with our iBook, it served as our DJ and DVD player, and quickly passed the 28 hours of driving time we logged. All in all, it was a great trip; one that made me realize that vacation luxury is certaintly in the eye of the beholder.

When people found out that we were heading up north for the normal Beach-Worshipping-Holiday that is Spring Break, they snorted at the thought of going anywhere where there is the remote possibility of snow. But, visiting with our friends Jessie and Karl in their 3-year hometown was too good an opportunity to pass up! So what if the biggest snowstorm of the season blanketed them the day before we arrived! The luxury of endless good conversation in a Winter Wonderland trumps Florida any day!

Dear Lord, Help me be the person my dog thinks I am. Love, Beth

I'm sure many of us have heard this familiar bumper sticker- but I never realized exactly how true it is until we got Maeby. Though she has been nothing but a positive addition to our lives, it has placed more pressure on my moral character than I could have ever thought.

Maeby is a pretty smart dog. Now, I know, everyone's dog is the smartest dog in the world, blah, blah, blah...but she has started surprising us on a daily basis by the things that she is remembering and learning that we aren't even TRYING to teach her! I can't even IMAGINE how children are! The newest thing is her anticipation of my return from work in the evening. When I leave the gym to come home at night, I usually call Nick to let him know I'm coming. About 15 minutes later, I arrive home to a puppy on the brink of implosion from excitement.

Well, last night, Nick noticed something about this routine. The phone rang, and Maeby went and sat next to it to watch Nick answer and then say "Hi, Sweetie!" Remembering the previous nights and that Nick must be talking to me on my way home, she ran to the door, her tail wagging furiously and stared into the dark street, expecting to see me drive up any second. Nick just started laughing at the preperation this little dog goes through to greet me at night.

So, about 10 minutes later, I come onto the porch, and she almost breaks through the front door when she sees me. It is just about the most amazing feeling in the world. It makes me wonder if God goes through the same thing when we enter his house- but I suppose that line of thought might be too metaphorical for people to stomach.

All I know is that it makes me want to be a better person in order to deserve the greeting my little puppy gives me on a daily basis.