Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Just six more days...

...until the election. We're both cautiously hopeful for Obama. I somehow hadn't seen these (one earnest and star-studded, the other satirical) until recently, but if you're pulling for Obama you might enjoy them. If not, well...you probably won't. Tough luck.



Local sights

It seems like everywhere I live, there are local attractions that I somehow don't manage to visit. I lived in the Bay Area for a couple of years but didn't get to Alcatraz until a later return trip. Same with the Getty Museum in L.A., the Tinguely Museum in Basel, and probably lots of things in New York. (I'm pretty sure I managed to hit all the sights in Durham, NC, however.)

As for DC, I've never been to Mount Vernon, the Holocaust Museum...or the annual drag races (and I'm not talking about cars) every year around Halloween. It seems like a very DC thing to do, but somehow I'm finding it hard to envision a year any time soon when I'd say to Gretchen, "hey, let's get Mädchen and go downtown in the freezing cold and watch a bunch of men in drag run down the street!" Such a sheltered life we lead these days...

Speaking of pumpkins (and evil rodents)

In case it wasn't readily apparent, Gretchen likes pumpkins (or "pumquins," as Mädchen calls them). She's been talking for the past few weeks about how fun it will to carve pumpkins...oh, but the smell of pumpkin innards makes her sick, so when she says "we" will carve pumpkins, what she means is that "I" will carve them.

So, being a good sport (and husband and father), on Sunday afternoon I devoted myself to carving our very own jack-o-lantern. (I have to say, it helped that neighbors lent us some of their new-fangled pumpkin carving tools...in retrospect, I can't believe as children that we were allowed near pumpkins with big, sharp knives.)


Yes, it was messy.


But, all things considered, I thought I did a pretty respectable job for someone who wasn't using a stencil and probably hadn't carved a pumpkin since shortly after college.


We proudly placed our jack-o-lantern on our front steps and went inside...only to look outside 10 minutes later and see that our local squirrels had already started to treat my creation as their personal snack bar.


We immediately went online to see if anyone could recommend an effective method of squirrel-proofing pumpkins, and the most common recommendation seemed to be to spray them with some sort of cayenne pepper/red chili pepper flake concoction (a few also suggested hairspray). We ignored warnings that this might burn the squirrels' faces and eyes and figured it was worth a shot. Gretchen mixed up a batch in a spray bottle, my Dad went out and sprayed the pumpkin, and that night we were able to get into the Halloween spirit.


So the chili pepper worked, right? Well, this is what I came home to this evening:


I don't care what anyone says (yes, I'm looking at you, Aunt Fran)...squirrels really are irritating little buggers.

Monday, October 27, 2008

All about pumpkins

Halloween is just a few days away, and we've been spending lots of time with pumpkins getting Madchen ready for the big holiday. Of course, American pumpkins can't compare with the lovely Swiss Kürbisse... all the varieties, the Kürbis Markt, the Kürbis Fest, the Kürbis Suppe... I miss all of it so much.

As opposed to Switzerland, where there seemed to be literally hundreds of varieties of pumpkins, I've yet to see much more than the average Jack-O-Lantern variety around here. Thankfully, I did get a nice cooking pumpkin last week in our final produce delivery of the season from a local farm (we've been getting produce delivered weekly since June), and I'm hoping to try out my favorite Swiss Kürbissuppe recipe that I used in Basel.

A few weeks ago, Madchen and I traveled with some friends "outside the Beltway" to visit a pumpkin patch. It was really more like a giant playground for toddlers as opposed to a pumpkin patch, but that was just fine for our two-year olds. It was sunny and it the 80s and felt more like 4th of July than Halloween.

There was a merry-go-round...



...and a big cat tunnel...



...and a choo-choo train...



...and even a few pumpkins!



Yesterday, we went a bit more local to pick out our carving pumpkins. The church that houses Madchen's school sells pumpkins (all proceeds to charity) for a few weeks in October, and the sight of all these pumpkins in their front yard is really beautiful. We quickly learned that we needed to call it the "pumpkin store", as opposed to the "pumpkin patch". There was not a playground here... no merry-go-round or cat tunnel or choo-choo trains... just pumpkins! We would have been in big trouble with Madchen had we not met her expectations of visiting the real pumpkin patch again.

Madchen found a few that were just her size...



...and we took advantage of having a photographer with us (Grandpa Tom) to take a family photo with the pumpkins.



Stay tuned for the next posting about pumpkins, to be titled: "How to use red pepper flakes and hairspray to stop the squirrels from eating your pumpkins".

Another bead girl

This is what happens when your baby girl gets tall and can reach everything on the dresser...



Her love of beads (which she shares with her Mommy) started early. It was just about two years ago when I posted this picture of her playing with some of my new beads back in Basel...

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Mea culpa

Since I inserted a new picture in the right-hand column of this blog, on some computers (for example, mine at work) it shifts that whole column all the way to the bottom of the page. Not being an expert in the ways of HTML, I can't figure out how to fix it. Hopefully I'll figure something out soon.

Fatherhood

I continue to do my best to make the case that parental licenses should be required before having a child. Hopefully I'll never top rolling Mädchen's stroller (with her in it), but sometimes I wonder. This morning, for example, I went into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee for myself and for my Dad (Mädchen's Grandpa, who is visiting from Southern California). I guess I wasn't fully awake yet, because I came back in and put the steaming cup of hot coffee right in front of Mädchen instead of Grandpa--and it didn't immediately occur to me that this was really quite a stupid thing to do. Luckily Gretchen was there and asked what I was doing before Mädchen decided to give it a try, so no harm was done. Since then, however, Mädchen has taken every opportunity to laugh and say "Daddy give me hot coffee!" I'm just waiting to get a call from Child Protective Services when she starts telling this story to her teachers at school...

Thursday, October 23, 2008

You call that work?

This morning, as we were leaving for Madchen's tumbling class, she noticed a chalk drawing of a pumpkin on our front walk (drawn by our neighbor Tim).

Madchen: "Where Tim go?"

Me: "Tim is probably at work."

Madchen: "My Daddy always go to work."

Me: "What about Mommy? Does Mommy go to work?"

Madchen: (GIGGLING) "No, Mommy doesn't go to work, that's SILLY!"

I agree, it is kind of silly to imagine "going to work"... it's been four and a half years since I actually went to "work". But what was even funnier was her next statement...

Madchen: "Mommy no go to work, Mommy go to the GYM!"

You can be sure I haven't been to the gym in a few weeks now, but I suppose it's the only time I go somewhere without her. Is that sad or what?!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

You want grits with that?

So, 'twas an excellent long anniversary weekend in Charleston. I had been there once before, but it was many years ago and I was just there overnight (and didn't even stay in the city). Gretchen had never been. We spent our time there:
  • Wandering the charming old (or at least restored) historic streets and gardens.


  • Eating copious amounts of food, much of which was seafood, fried food, or fried seafood.

  • Visiting the Aquarium, where Mädchen was enthralled by all of the fish and got to try her hand at the helm of a model shrimping boat.


  • Taking advantage of my Mom (Mädchen's "Ama") being there for a couple of nights to babysit so we could go out for a drink (unfortunately dinner was too ambitious, and one drink after putting her to bed basically put us to sleep, but any little break is a treat).

  • Eating.

  • Braving the rain and chill (the temperature dropped from 85 on Friday to 55 on Saturday) to visit a nice farmer's market.

  • Marveling at the throngs of LSU fans who were staying in town and wandering the city in their purple and yellow regalia all weekend in anticipation of the game against South Carolina a couple of hours north of town (they were happy).

  • Visiting the Children's Museum of the Lowcountry, which was really more of a series of very cool play areas than an actual museum, and which was a Godsend on a rainy day (this is the mini grocery store area).


  • Did I mention we ate a lot?

  • Going down to the Battery to see the big houses and the views across the harbor, and being pleasantly surprised that there were a bunch of dolphins hanging out and surfacing from time to time (for the next couple of hours Mädchen kept asking us to "see whales again"...that's what we were looking for here).

  • Taking the occasional bike taxi when our feet got too worn out from all the walking.


  • Realizing just how different, and more expensive, traveling with a two-year old is than when it was just the two of us.

  • Just having a really nice time overall.
I guess now we can start thinking about where we want to go for our 15th and 20th anniversaries...

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Real Virginia

Despite paying taxes and voting here, that's evidently not where we live:

Monday, October 20, 2008

My new favorite photo...

...of the two people I love most in this world.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Decade

10 years ago tonight we were out with a group of friends and family in Madison, Wisconsin (Gretchen's hometown), drinking beer from a boot and listening to live polka music at the Essen Haus. We had a blast, although I finished the night feeling sick (probably a function of nerves and too many boots of beer).

10 years ago tomorrow night we were at Gretchen's parents' house for an informal rehearsal dinner, Wisconsin-style. Despite beginning to lose his eyesight (which we only learned later), her Dad grilled up brats and made pitchers of his famous Old Fashioneds, while we had a keg of beer on the balcony and gallons of Babcock ice cream (having a dairy farm on campus has its advantages). We had a blast, although Gretchen finished the night feeling overwhelmed and kicked us all out around the time the cigars came out.

10 years ago Friday morning (it was Saturday 10 years ago) I woke up and couldn't eat despite meeting friends for breakfast. I wandered around the Farmer's Market and State Street to kill time, at least until the heavy rain moved in. (Gretchen, meanwhile, was scarfing burritos with her friends.)

10 years ago Friday afternoon, in the church she grew up in, Gretchen became my wife. (Among the blurry memories: by mid-October the air conditioning was turned off, so between the lights in the church and the humidity from the rain, I was pretty much soaked through my tuxedo by the time the service was finished...our niece, who was the flower girl, had to go potty midway through the service...our nephew (her brother), who was the ring bearer, was telling knock-knock jokes with one of my groomsmen...the pastor talked about our Myers-Briggs types during his homily...when reciting vows, the pastor used my first name instead of my middle name (which is what I use), and Gretchen corrected him...)

10 years ago Friday night, we finally relaxed and had a blast at our reception. It hit us later that your wedding is one of the few times when family and friends from all of the different phases of your life are in one place. We danced (first dance: "When You Say Nothing at All" by Alison Krauss; father-daughter dance: "If You Want to Be a Badger" by the University of Wisconsin marching band), we laughed, we took lots of pictures (this was in pre-digital days, though, so nothing to post here), we (or rather I) snuck off to the bar to see game 1 of the Padres-Yankees World Series (which the Padres ended up losing in four straight games), and when the night was finished, we realized we didn't know how we were getting back to our B&B. So we crammed into the back of Gretchen's sister's car and they drove us across town, and once we got there I tried to carry Gretchen across the threshold and rammed her directly into the door frame (yes, I'm smooth).

And 10 years ago Saturday we really started our life together. And it's been a great 10 years.

All of which explains why we're leaving tomorrow morning for a long weekend in Charleston (with Mädchen, of course) to celebrate our anniversary. Should be fun, y'all!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Budding sports fan

Mädchen just came down from her nap while I was watching football. There was a dive into the end zone from the one-yard line for a touchdown, where all of the players ended up in a pile, and she said "All fall down!" Then she was quiet for a second and said "Just like hokey-pokey!"

NOTE: Technically, she should have said "Just like Ring Around the Rosie" (which she also enjoys), but I let it slide...

Friday, October 10, 2008

Friday night videos

John Stewart on the most recent debate:



Stephen Colbert on the financial crisis:



And a British duo on the subprime mess that led to the financial crisis:

Rock and rule

Can I just get a little credit for picking out this cute and oh-so-clever t-shirt for Mädchen when I was in London a few months ago? Thank you, thank you very much...

A girl and her dog

It's been almost 5 months now since we said goodbye to our dear black lab Grady. While there are times I still miss him, I think we both have to admit that our lives have become dramatically easier without him. Looking back, he just wasn't himself during the last year of his life. Something just wasn't quite right with him. In fact, I think that his years in Switzerland was his heyday. Long walks, lots of fresh air, visiting the cows, many days at Mumpf (his kennel in the country overlooking the Rhine)... oh, the memories... that was the life.

I've often thought about what memories Madchen will have of Grady. Childhood pets were very dear to me, and I really wanted our daughter to have a similar experience. We're pretty certain now that, while she has tested negative to dog allergies, dogs are definitely an irritant to her already extremely sensitive eczema skin, so it doesn't look like we'll be having another dog in our home in the near future. This makes the Grady memories all the more important.

At this point, she still talks about Grady quite a bit. She'll say: "I miss Grady", or ask "Where Grady go?". When I ask her where Grady is, she says: "In heaven, with Phoebe and Grandma Char and Grandpa Dick" (my sister's former dog and my parents). And she likes to look at pictures of Grady, a few of which are around the house. But the cutest thing of all is when we read any of the Good Dog, Carl books.

(If you don't know Carl, he's a Rottweiler who is tasked by his owners with caring for the baby while the parents leave the house. There are usually very few words in the book, just pictures of the adventures of Carl and baby.)

She has decided that Carl is actually Grady, and she is the baby. As I read the books, she is insistent (and if you've ever met our girl, you know how insistent she can be) that I call them by their correct names: Grady and "Baby Eye-E-Sah" (that's how she pronounces her name). No matter how many times I say: "Then Carl took Baby out for a walk", or "Carl gave Baby a bath", she corrects me again and again: "NO, Grady take Baby Eye-E-Sah for a walk", or "Grady give Baby Eye-E-Sah a bath".

I always have to laugh. Carl really doesn't look like Grady, and Grady certainly never had babysitting duties, but I guess this means Madchen has some good memories of Grady in her life. And it always makes me smile.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Like mother, like daughter

Gretchen doesn't like secrets. At all. About anything. So if, say, I realize I've left something in the car and go out to get it, I barely have the door open before she asks "where are you going?" It's not a suspicious thing--at least I don't think so--she just CAN'T STAND not knowing what's going on around her. (To this day I still can't believe I managed to pull off surprising her when we got engaged.)

So there's a certain amount of poetic justice in Mädchen being exactly the same. Neither of us can do anything without her having to know what's going on. Gretchen gets up from the dinner table to get a glass of water: "where you going, Mommy?" I pick up a book or newspaper: "what you doing, Daddy?" We see a dog walking in the distance: "what his name?" She sees something new: "what's that?" She sees something she sees multiple times a day: "what's that?" You tell her what it is: "what's that?" You repeat it: "what's that?" The other day she evidently asked Gretchen "what your eyebrows doing, Mommy?" She's only two years, three months old and she's almost to the "why?" stage that every kid goes through. Heaven help us.

People who don't know her well would never guess she's this way because she's pretty shy around people she doesn't know well, but around the house and with close friends SHE NEVER EVER STOPS TALKING unless she's watching Blue's Clues or Backyardigans (and even then she sometimes keeps up a running dialogue with the show). And as much as we love her for it and are dazzled by her verbal skills at such a young age, I just have to laugh because I know it drives Gretchen crazy by the end of the day, and I can also imagine Gretchen put her Mom through the same thing when she was Mädchen's age. Yep, poetic justice...

Is it over yet?

I'm telling you, this election can't come soon enough. Things are getting uglier by the day...

UPDATE:
Yep--ugliness. Of a sort that's borderline frightening.

UPDATE 2:
Just for the record, I'm not trying to say that Obama should get a free pass on some of his acquaintances (even if they're probably being blown way out of proportion and context), or anything else for that matter. But the level of hatred and incendiary rhetoric that is being spewed out is alarming and, in my mind, worrisome.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Who knew...

...that Sesame Street has it's own version of Deal of No Deal? It's called Meal or No Meal, and Madchen (who is watching TV while I cook dinner) just walked up to the TV, pointed at the Sesame version of the host (a Howie Mandel look alike), and said "no like this guy". I agree, he looks kind of creepy.

Monday, October 06, 2008

DC girl

It all started innocently enough. One day a few months ago we were driving home and I saw a John McCain bumper sticker and commented on it to Gretchen because it was so rare (I'd guess the Obama:McCain bumper sticker ratio in our area runs close to 10:1). Mädchen, who hears and repeats just about everything we say, immediately piped up from the back seat and said something like "Jahmickane!" So of course, in the interest of balance, we then had to tell her about Barack Obama (which, coming out of her mouth, sounds something like "Ockabahma). Now, if you ask her who is running for president, she quickly rattles off--as if it's one seven-syllable word--"Ockabahmajahmickane!" She can also tell the difference between their campaign props:





(Naturally, like so many other young people, she's partial to Obama...)

Friday, October 03, 2008

Taking time to stop and smell the roses



They're actually Japanese Anemones, but a beautiful picture just the same!

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Lost in translation

I don't typically post anything here about my work, but I need to make one exception (anonymity will be preserved). Today the following email went out to a couple hundred people:
We will start the presentation at 2:30 p.m. I apologize for the incontinence to you.
(In fairness, this was not a native English speaker, and God knows what kind of things I would inadvertently write if I had to do so in a second language...)