If your wife has a case of the H1N1 and it's a fall Sunday, maybe a drive is in order:
It is truly amazing how lost I got within 10 miles of home... I found a giant house in the shape of a ship and lots of cool back roads all in the name of fall colors photography.
After a week in which she didn't work much Jenelle is back ahead of the game. Carina has headed home; we felt badly about the end of her visit when the flu descended and she mad the wise decision to stay elsewhere lest she get sick. Nothing says "welcome to America" quite like swine flu, so it's probably better this way. It was a busy week for me with a sick wife, basketball, and P&R meeting. Friday we hit Emmaus Theatre for "Harry Potter" and were scared right into Halloween weekend.
A few things to avoid if you are in search of a great weekend, not necessarily in order...
Thing the first: crushing football loses of both alma maters. Mine a total empathetic beat down at the hands of a seemingly overrated foe and Jenelle's a last-second shocker in a game that appeared to be well in hand with 90 seconds to go.
Thing the second: contraction of H1N1. Jenelle has had a bit of a cold that seemed like allergies but got slightly worse over the past couple of days. A deep sinus probing this morning (by a doctor!) revealed this year's 'it' virus has landed. Two days of 'social isolation' and 'obsessive hand-washing' were the only prescriptions offered. Now that is health care reform.
If I live to be one hundred I'll never understand the formatting blogger gives posts emailed from blackberry. At this point in my intermittent-blogging career I call uncle and it stays.
We made a whirlwind celebratory weekend trip to northern Iowa to see Robin & Jake's new place. Flying went smoothly and that left enough time for house tour, a few squares including fondue, a park/lake walk, a terminal tour, and a little shopping at the Goodnature Store. It was fun to be at my sister's house house after years of growing up talking about what we would and wouldn't do. I guess the intervening few years of not living under the same roof have been pretty formative, too.
Our weeknights have accelerated with the presence of Carina and her busy, busy schedule. This evening is a rare quiet night at home as our guest experiences Band Day at Giant Stadium with the Dieruff HS Marching Band. Her fiance, Jens, is also on the trip but is hosted in Bethlehem and those logistics have added to the busy-ness.
Updates from the 'forgot to blog' files: Webb made Continental's in-flight magazine. It was an article about tuition-free schools so to have been left out would have been a ULCC-sized snub. Three congratulatory events have gone unmentioned from work. First was a farewell gathering/roast in my honor with PD. Last week was the final recognition dinner for the TPM team I was part of in Sourcing last year. Thursday was a Generation dinner with both PD folks and people I'd met on my December trip. Pretty neat. It's also football season and that's flown under the radar for the most part. I've watched every M game so far (hooray BTN + DVR) and felt pretty good unless it is third down and we have the ball. A game in Ann Arbor looks unlikely but there's always next year. That's the thing about college sports: hope springs eternal. Our time with Carina, our German exchange (the MBA in residence so wants to type 'forex') teacher, has been hyper busy. Three days this week I saw her for five minutes or less, though Jenelle has been much more involved. As expected it has been interesting to hear about our country through fresh eyes..."The students took many pictures at the all-you-can-eat buffet and laughed very hard on the bus." I didn't really forget, but I played offense again at Tuesday hoops and remembered how fun that can be. Next year: practice. In LOL niche sports news, Jenelle has discovered an in-line speed skating group/thing that I'm keen to try. I've been skating pseudo-frequently at Rodale this fall and will be curious to try flat, twig-free strides in a pace line.
posted at 6:55 PM - comments
Monday, October 12, 2009
Another long seven since last time: Karina, our German exchange teacher, is here and pseudo-settled. We've got plug issues and phone issues and how-does-a-person-with-no-car-get-around-the-Valley issues but all moving to resolution.
Over the weekend we saw Anthony and Elizabetta in NYC on Saturday. We arrived early for some tile shopping and then spent afternoon and evening just kinda wandering up and downtown for some sightseeing and window shopping, ultimately winding up at Tea & Sympathy in the West Village. A great city day and a cool way to see friends.
Prior to that, time at home gearing up for hosting sandwiched around a one-night midweek scramble to West Michigan and back. Basketball continues and I'm sad to report that darkness has made after-work outdoor activities basically impossible until spring.
Seven long days since last time. Even though switching jobs and moving desks doesn't take that much time it becomes all-consuming mentally. I told Jenelle that I really like this part: being new, being a novice, and being immersed in learning. That's true enough but the part of a project when you are a trusted, go-to expert is fun, too.
Last week wasn't particularly noteworthy, except that we signed up to host a German exchange teacher. For three weeks, starting and ending in late October. If you are keeping score at home, that means she arrives next Sunday and stays for the rest of the month. We know she has a name and a busy schedule while she's here. Hopefully none of the new info we'll learn after her arrival is shocking.
The weekend was noteworthy, though. Saturday was the annual marital tension of UM/MSU in gridiron action, which featured the annual 4th quarter collapse of MSU, resulting in the annual overtime, and concluding in the (second) annual 'MSU wins!'. In the evening we packed up and went to Easton for an evening with David Sedaris. He was funny and satirical and insightful, in addition to just being a plain white dude at a lecturn. Terrific. Afterwards we went to Ocean for small plates and martinis and feeling as if we lived in a big city, all of which were delightful. Sunday was Chestnut Hill's art fair, which just didn't have much in the way of art, though a cool town packed with tents and vendors and bands on a gorgeous October day is not something you should miss.
Saturday, October 31, 2009