Cousin Apollo

Drew and I brought over some Chinese takeout tonight to Kate and Roger's and met their new little puppy, Apollo Creed. They brought him home today and he is unbelievably cute. His paws are huge and his markings are beautiful. These pictures don't do him enough justice. He slept at Kate's feet during dinner and definitely already knows that she's his mom. We were completely entertained to just watch him sniff around and scoot himself underneath the furniture. I can't wait to see how big he's going to get!

The proud parents.

The Problem with Five years of Post-Secondary Schooling

So I've discovered the problem with being a science major. During my time at Carleton, it was impossible for me to take a science class (regardless of department) that did not have a huge-ass textbook. Seriously all of my books were heavy, cumbersome and had at least 500 pages too many. Along with these books, I have all the notes (in binders or notebooks depending on how I was feeling that trimester), papers and handouts that were part of the class. Now recently I have moved all of these notes and books into the basement of our house.

So, the dilemma I have is what the heck do I do with all of my schooling that has been packed into boxes? Do I still need my molecular model set or a book devoted entirely to the molecular biology of the cell? Really, 1408 pages about the cell? C'mon. How was I supposed to carry that around and not later need chiropractic help?

But I can't just get rid of them. I spent a crap-load of money on them, at one point I actually learned quite a lot from them and hey, I might need them some day, right? So, do I keep them in boxes in the basement and not look at them until they need to be moved again? Or...

What dear readers have you done with your hoard of college books?

This Week's Project

Before

After


Thanks Smith and Hawken.

A Day in the Life of Caper

We have been having some nefarious opossum (did everyone else know that you spell their name with an 'o') issues both at our condo and at our old house. Caper now has a training tool that is so accurate that our neighbor just rang our doorbell wondering if there was a dead opossum in our backyard.

(Ok, I looked it up. Opossums are in the western hemisphere and possums are in Australia.)



"Oh you pesky squirrel. Why don't you come down from that protective shelter of that pine tree so that I can chase after you and tear up Momma's yard. Come on, puh-lease? I can wait down here all day."

(The picture would have been better if I had been able to capture Caper with both of his front legs up on the tree.)


Ever the adventurer, Caper dives into the jungle of ferns with no fear. I am pretty sure he has seen more of the backyard than I ever have. Hopefully he is at least fertilizing it along the way.




"Yes, a walk! Finally, they have removed themselves from the indent of the couch and are taking me outside. I'm free, I'm free. Let's go! Wait no, I have to stop here...and here...and here. Yes, I must pee every five steps do you have a problem with that? Wait, what are you doing? Why are you checking your watch? Don't turn around, we just left. I don't care about football, we can miss the second half. You're kidding me right? You mean you only are walking me because it's half-time and no football was on? Argh."

And the Saints Marched On....

"I haven't been this emotional since our wedding."

- Drew

Way to go boys.

Step One - We can have lots of fun

So I was perusing a website today and I say a link on the sidebar about the New Kids on the Block. The link led me here. If you were at all a child of the late 80's/early 90's or just interested in seeing some amusing choreography, you must go here. My favorite part is where two of them are doing the the sprinkler (which Drew will occasionally do just to horrify me) or perhaps at the end where Donnie is hanging out chewing on an apple.

Ah, yes, today is a good day.

Found Him

So we could only remember his smile the other day. But I looked him up today. Jesse L. Martin not only is cute but he also played Tom Collins in RENT. I recently say the movie version and my high school obsession with RENT came rushing back to me. Love the movie, love the characters, love the music.

Goodbye and Good Luck!

Well, it's not really goodbye since they are family and we will surely see them often. Heck, Watie will be staying with us on Thursday. However, I will miss all the good times we've had in Chicago and seeing the whole White family many times a week.

I hope for constant updates on the Omaha happenings and of course pictures of the kiddos.

Love you guys!

The Last Kiss Review

So we did indeed go see this movie on Friday night. Sorry it has taken me sooo long to post my thoughts on it. Despite the fact that we were in the fifth row from the front (only place where a group of six of us could fit) and the sound was way loud (especially during the previews) I did enjoy this movie.

However, this is not a heartwarming, uplifting story. It is about a group of friends who are all about thirty years old and are each having their own bit of crisis in their respective relationships. Zach Braff's character is the main focus of the story. He basically starts to freak out about the rest of his life after finding out his girlfriend is pregnant.

The movie takes a hard look at relationships and how hard and difficult maintaining them can be. Zach Braff's character has a fairly cynical view of marriage and that traditional next step in a relationship. I don't want to give anything away about the movie but I would say the main theme is that just because a relationship is great, it doesn't mean it will always stay that way. Relationships require constant work and communication.

This movie is much different than Garden State, but worth seeing. The acting is good and there are some good humorous moments, however the plot is not always smooth. If you don't see it on the big screen, it is definitely worth a rental.

Who'd you do?

So I think this question has been lingering in my subconscious ever since the Bahamas trip when we were talking about our celebrity crushes. At the time, I said Brad Pitt, because despite whatever negative feelings I have toward his recent relationship change-ups, he is damn hot. However, I think if we were to hang out, we wouldn't really get along. Not that we'd hate each other, just that we'd have nothing in common.

And so this brings me to Zach Braff. Not handsome in the traditional sense perhaps, but cute nevertheless. And quirky too. He has proven himself to be funny (check out Scrubs, Garden State), has good taste in music (Garden State and Last Kiss soundtracks), isn't afraid to talk with the little people (check out his blog) and is able to stay away from tabloid scandals. I guess he just seems like a real person to me, someone I could set down and chat with over a beer or coffee and not feel completely awkward.

And so my answer to the above question is officially changed.

You may think Drew would be upset by this, but I am pretty sure he'd dig talkin' it up with Zach.

Anyhow, tonight I am going to go see The Last Kiss. The trailers looks great and it has received good reviews. I'm pumped.

Review will be forthcoming.

Chill Please

Our current freezer is small small small. Being a fan of delicious frozen items (not limited to just ice cream, lasagna, popsicles and Totino's pizza), this had created quite the dilemna. Trying to shove the freezer door shut is very difficult when bags of Urban Bean coffee are competing with frozen tortellini for space and I am forced to decide between the two (of course since I don't drink coffee I would pick the latter but knowing that my love needs coffee, getting rid of it may not be in my best interest). Perhaps growing up in a family that had three freezers is why I spend too much money in the frozen aisle. It could also do with being from Minnesota and loving hotdishes and therefore always cooking way too many to be able to fit.

But this weekend the problem was fixed with the newest addition to Thorndale (that's the name I like to call our house. I know it's not Pemberly or Netherfield but it's still a fun name - too bad it doesn't come with a pond for Colin Firth to go swimming in).

Welcome to our new freezer/refrigerator. I hope you find love and comfort in our basement and that you will be blessed with many frozen treats.

Fresh Look

On a cue from Umo, I have updated the look of the blog. Blogger now has a beta version that allows you to edit your page a bit more simply (no dealing with computer code). I think I like it.

What do you think?

Summer lovin'

So I think summer must be over. The sky is gray and dreary and the rain is constant. I got 10 hours of sleep last night yet I am still weary. Perhaps the weather is just expressing how we all feel five years later.

Knitting Creation

So, there it is. My first crafty project since Girl Scouts. Somehow I missed out on the whole sewing, knitting portion of Home Economics, even though I was crazy and elected to take a second optional course (I was really into cooking in middle school). It was the best class though. At the end of the semester we got to invite two guests to eat a full turkey dinner that we had made. Mr. Nelson - best english teacher ever (and if you recall I hate english...so much writing) - was one of the guests. I can't remember the other. But it was awesome and involved no button sewing skills. Therefore the hat you see above is really quite an accomplishment for me.

This adorable (despite imperfections) hat and any others that I make will be shipped off to DC and then distributed to third-world countries for newborn babies to wear. This is an effort by Save the Children to decrease infant deaths within the first few days of life. Currently, 2 million children die within the first 24 hours of birth in these developing nations. Hopefully 75,000 of these hats will be made and help keep some cuties warm and alive. Accompanying these hats will also be letters to President Bush urging him to increase funding for health programs in these countries.

Join in.

A Whirlwind

Home at last. While I enjoy being able to go on trips with family, the past few weeks have been quite crazy. What with the move, the Bahamas, my parents in town, Drew gone on all sorts of business trips and a trip to Sonoma with the Weitz clan, I feel like I have had zero downtime in the past month. I am so excited to be home and to finish unpacking and get things back to normal.

But first how about some photos from the most recent trip. We were in the Russian River Valley and surrounded by delicious looking grapes. A vineyard was just twenty feet from our hotel door. I'm sure people from California don't even notice vineyards or don't take special note of them. I mean after all it is a rare day when I ooh and awe over a soybean or corn field. But for whatever reason, I love the grape vine (not the goofy line dance) and find the whole wine making process somewhat fascinating. Seeing the rows of vines from the airplane was so beautiful, especially as they were terraced along the rolling hills. If California was just not so far away I could seriously see living there.

On Saturday my hidden mind control powers were successful and Drew took the day off from golf. We tooled around in "Big Blue" for 107 miles and drove out to Bodega Bay and Bodega Head. We looked for harbor seals along the beaches but there were none to be seen. Hence my despair.


However we did go to one of the most deadly beaches in California. How's that for a welcoming sign? Enjoy your stay and please don't die...yikes.

The illustration was also disturbing.

We then drove back along the Russian River and it was absolutely gorgeous. Cute little towns were scattered in between the redwoods and just off the river. I couldn't imagine ever living there permanently but it seemed like a perfect place for a cabin or second home. We stopped at the Armstrong Redwood Reserve and hiked around a bit among the ginormous trees. I loved everything about this place and felt great envy for the people who can come hike here frequently. To me the trees are just so amazing. Even the air was wonderful. It truly smelled delicious. There is such a stark contrast with what I have experienced in Chicago. I am sure such beautiful places exist in my area as well, I'll just have to go find them...after I finish being lazy.