Stuff of the Month! - September

Book: Sex on the Moon by Ben Mezrich.  Interesting tale of a NASA intern's heist of NASA's heavily secured moon rocks (and the difficulty in trading in such a rare commodity).

Movie (theater): None.  Newborn in the house.

Movie (home viewing): True Grit. Jeff Bridges makes a very nice and updated (stylistically, not historically) remake of the John Wayne classic.

Music: Caribbean Party compilation by Putumayo.  Not terrific music or recording, but the beats do move.

Other thoughts: This list is abbreviated because my note taking is sparse, and I have let enough time slip to make memory unreliable.  (Posted in 2012)

Research

The junior partner helping the senior partner get some serious work done

Grapes

When we bought our new house the yard had a grape arbor next to Jonathan's workshop.  We have mostly ignored the grapes and the neighborhood animals and birds have enjoyed them.  This afternoon we decided to glean whatever remained for ourselves.  Here is what we found.  Next year we may have to tend them better and actually use what comes from our vines. 

Wild Wednesday

Sleeping Buddies

All tired out

Afternoon Nap

Morning Song

Sunday Smile

Half-Roll

Dapper

Song for Today

By Your Side
Tenth Avenue North
Over & Underneath

Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away

Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough
To where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Look at these hands and my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life
I want to give you life

(Chorus 2x)

Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, I love you
I'll never let you go

(Chorus 2x)

Before I have to bust out my angry eyes...

Magic

For my first trick I need a beautiful assistant and an audience members....

The audience member goes to sleep and stays that way!  Amazing!

Our Little Hobbit

The cow jumped over the moon

Happy Boy

This is my cheerful little man.  I am so thankful for his happy smiles and jolly chatter.

The New Family Card Shark

We are playing Pinochle early and often in our family!

Check out how seriously Edmund is scrutinizing the cards.

Long Sleeve Morning

Meeting the Office

Big Yawn

Cooking With Mother

Tonight Edmund was quite clingly, but we had to get dinner together, so we did it together.  I wish you could have heard him chirp as we walked around the kitchen together and he watched all the preparations.  He was quite intent on the stove.   

Susan Visits

Today Susan came to visit. She has known me since I was one. It was such fun to introduce her to my little man.  We enjoyed lunch and a walk around the neighborhood. 

He was quite brokenhearted when she had to leave.  Hopefully she can come backs soon!

Guess who was big hit?

 Uncle David

 Aunt Rose

 Aunt Grace  ^

 Gramma >

Grampa

Busy Saturday

Getting dressed and borrowing Dad's stuff already

We went out early for breakfast and when we came home the neighbors were having a tag sale.  We picked up some great items.  The neighbor is 91, and her kids (60s and 70s) who were helping her downsize.  We are quite pleased with the haul.  Some of the items are quite old. 

All tired out

Evening Walk

Jaunty

Smokin' Hot Dance Frog

Edmund loves to move.  He also seems to enjoy music.  Today we had a dance party going.  Nothing like a frog shirt to keep things hoppin'.

Note on Edmund's belt: Baby pants with belt loops seems like a silly thing.  But since these pants have loops what is a trendy baby to do?  Buying a belt seems just as silly.  Fortunately, I have plenty of materials on hand.  It is raining too hard to go for our usual walks, so today I braided a 9-strand belt for my little man.  It is adjustable so he can keep wearing it until he has to wear real belts.  I am quite pleased with how it came out.

Morning After the First Night in the Crib

Jammies Say It All

What to do on a rainy day...

Especially a cold rainy day.

Camo

Check out my awesome socks from Gramma N!

Proud Papa

Our dear friend John with his new grandson. Such a agreeable pair.

Tanglewood

For the Jazz Festival

Noses

Stuff of the Month! - August

August was a busy month. Summaries below.

Book: Seven Deadly Wonders Matthew Reilly. Unfortunately, I didn't have time for any other books this month. Adventurer pursues the seven wonders of the ancient world to find the pieces of the mystically powerful pyramid capstone that were placed in the wonders to prevent their falling into the wrong hands. At first, this book was something of a guilty pleasure that I kept reading despite the very poor writing because the archaeology involved, but the action was so bad that I wondered in places if the author was even trying. It is a shame, because clearly the author had done some research (a character would not simply look through binoculars, he would look through his Steiner M22 7x50 binoculars), but when the characters would actually use the equipment so researched, the results were bizarre. Gross unrealism in archaeology is understandable (how did a clan of crocodiles survive in the dark in a pit for 4,000 years with nothing to eat? Who cares?), but when it related to the familiar world, it was almost continuously distracting. His Apache helicopters were stationed directly above the small boat they were covering. The choppers didn't have the range that his snipers had. A set of 7.62mm miniguns were all the defensive measures a 747 needed against Hellfire missiles and 30mm cannons. And all that was just in the opening scene. The "jump the shark" moment was when a character reached through a lava waterfall and was able to turn a knob before his arm disintegrated.

Movie (home viewing): Gnomeo and Juliet. I liked this movie. Although primarily designed as entertainment for children, there is a lot of subtle Bard humor designed in (a jogger yells at his dog who is trying to break into a garden, "Out! Out, d@mn Spot."). The voice cast is stellar, and Patrick Stewart as the Statue of William Shakespeare has a priceless moment ("Told you so.") that he was perfect for.

Low point: Seven Deadly Wonders, supra.

Other thoughts: Turns out you can stay busy with a small child in the house. We have been able to stay involved in church, through both youth group and bible studies, which has been very nice.