I totally just convinced the kids that if they weren't good at being their age, I can hold them back a year. Aubrey was sure she was going to have to stay six for another year till she got it right.
Then Tony came in and ruined my little game...
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Morgan's Kidney Fundraiser Ornaments
they're up in my etsy shop. Already sold one! And I am willing to list more, if I think they'll sell.
I'm so glad I'm able to do something, however small, to help Morgan and Dawn.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Christmas Dreaming...
I can't believe it's this late and I've just started thinking of Christmas! I'll never become an Etsy seller with organization skills like these!
So last year I made a ton of gifts for everyone, and had a great time doing it. This year I will scale that back a bit and concentrate my efforts to one particular charity... Morgan's Kidney. See, I have this friend named Dawn whom I've known for about 10 years. She needs a new kidney, as her old donor kidney is failing. So my friend Morgan, whom I've also known for about 10 years, is giving Dawn one of hers. This makes me tear up every time I think about it.... ahem, it's getting dusty in here...
So Dawn lives in PA, and Morgan lives in WA. That means that in addition to missing weeks of work to undergo major surgery and lose an organ, Morgan has to pay for flights and hotels. This is expensive, needless to say. Morgan's Kidney has a facebook page (be a fan!) and is collecting donations to help defray the costs of saving Dawn's life. I've got a plan up my sleeve to help them do this. More details to come!
So last year I made a ton of gifts for everyone, and had a great time doing it. This year I will scale that back a bit and concentrate my efforts to one particular charity... Morgan's Kidney. See, I have this friend named Dawn whom I've known for about 10 years. She needs a new kidney, as her old donor kidney is failing. So my friend Morgan, whom I've also known for about 10 years, is giving Dawn one of hers. This makes me tear up every time I think about it.... ahem, it's getting dusty in here...
So Dawn lives in PA, and Morgan lives in WA. That means that in addition to missing weeks of work to undergo major surgery and lose an organ, Morgan has to pay for flights and hotels. This is expensive, needless to say. Morgan's Kidney has a facebook page (be a fan!) and is collecting donations to help defray the costs of saving Dawn's life. I've got a plan up my sleeve to help them do this. More details to come!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Helicopter Ride
I didn’t really want to ride in a helicopter, in fact I was terrified. But I had to. And I remember thinking, while we were taking off, that if it should crash and we died, my wife Kate and my daughter JoAnn would be watching. But there really wasn’t any reason to think it would crash, I told myself, in spite of the high winds and predicted turbulence caused by the passing hurricane. I believed in physics and engineering. Of course we can fly. The pilot asked if I was okay. I was, and I nodded. And then through the glass bubble on the floor of the helicopter, the ground separated from us and we rose above the hospital. We banked and turned East. He told me it would be a 45 minute flight.
The thing I remember most about the flight was that lake on the top of a mountain. The pilot pointed it out, though not to me, to the tech in back. But as we were all on the same channel in our headphones I heard everything they said to each other, and everything the various control towers said to our pilot. If I wanted to speak I had to press a button on the floor with my foot. I never ended up using it.
A few miles above Needmore and McConnellsburg is Pennsylvania State Game Land number 53, Meadow Grounds Lake. From the sky it looks impossible. You don’t need to know a lot about the world to understand that water flows down. But in this particular instance it appeared the water flowed up. It made no sense for a lake to be along the top of a long and high mountain. The grades on the two ridges on the sides didn’t seem significant enough to collect enough rain for a creek. But instead here was this big beautiful lake, high along the flat top of a mountain. The highest mountain in the whole area. I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. My terror began to transform into awe.
The tech kept reporting that she was asleep and her vitals were stable. Before we left he told me that kids always fell asleep, like infants in a car seat. The pilot was passed from tower to tower. We had emergency status, and except for the short period we flew near Camp David, we got first priority and an unencumbered flight path. We headed mostly East at about 130 knots, as best I could tell from the gages in front of us. We were told when we were near another aircraft and the high-tech way that collisions were prevented entailed the tower notifying the helicopter of the other aircraft, proceeded by the tech and the pilot looking for said aircraft, and then pointing it out to each other.
We flew directly over the capital of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. The pilot turned to me and said, “There’s the Potomac, running through the Capital, Harrisburg.” I knew it was the Susquehanna, but didn’t really want to correct him. “That’s the Mighty Susquehanna, Dork.” The tech corrected and laughed at the pilot. “Crap, you’re right,” laughed the pilot. “After a while they all look alike…Is that Three Mile Island over there?”
And we did make it in about 45 minutes. When we approached the hospital, we circled a couple of times before landing. The pilot did this deliberately to look for potential obstacles and anything unusual. He identified all nearby wires and towers. He noted into the mic that there wasn’t a helicopter already on the pad, a procedure that struck me as probably the result of a previous accident.
After landing, we had to wait for what felt like an eternity while the blades of the helicopter stopped. And then we went in.
The thing I remember most about the flight was that lake on the top of a mountain. The pilot pointed it out, though not to me, to the tech in back. But as we were all on the same channel in our headphones I heard everything they said to each other, and everything the various control towers said to our pilot. If I wanted to speak I had to press a button on the floor with my foot. I never ended up using it.
A few miles above Needmore and McConnellsburg is Pennsylvania State Game Land number 53, Meadow Grounds Lake. From the sky it looks impossible. You don’t need to know a lot about the world to understand that water flows down. But in this particular instance it appeared the water flowed up. It made no sense for a lake to be along the top of a long and high mountain. The grades on the two ridges on the sides didn’t seem significant enough to collect enough rain for a creek. But instead here was this big beautiful lake, high along the flat top of a mountain. The highest mountain in the whole area. I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. My terror began to transform into awe.
The tech kept reporting that she was asleep and her vitals were stable. Before we left he told me that kids always fell asleep, like infants in a car seat. The pilot was passed from tower to tower. We had emergency status, and except for the short period we flew near Camp David, we got first priority and an unencumbered flight path. We headed mostly East at about 130 knots, as best I could tell from the gages in front of us. We were told when we were near another aircraft and the high-tech way that collisions were prevented entailed the tower notifying the helicopter of the other aircraft, proceeded by the tech and the pilot looking for said aircraft, and then pointing it out to each other.
We flew directly over the capital of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. The pilot turned to me and said, “There’s the Potomac, running through the Capital, Harrisburg.” I knew it was the Susquehanna, but didn’t really want to correct him. “That’s the Mighty Susquehanna, Dork.” The tech corrected and laughed at the pilot. “Crap, you’re right,” laughed the pilot. “After a while they all look alike…Is that Three Mile Island over there?”
And we did make it in about 45 minutes. When we approached the hospital, we circled a couple of times before landing. The pilot did this deliberately to look for potential obstacles and anything unusual. He identified all nearby wires and towers. He noted into the mic that there wasn’t a helicopter already on the pad, a procedure that struck me as probably the result of a previous accident.
After landing, we had to wait for what felt like an eternity while the blades of the helicopter stopped. And then we went in.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Etsy makings
I've been working on a new color for organza flowers (ivory), from a fabric I got from a dress at Goodwill. I saved the corset to re-size for my boobaliciousness. The organza overlay will become dozens of flowers. The 2 layers of polyester lining will become... hopefully peony flowers, but I haven't tried them yet.
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