Things I was doing in Chicago when I should have been calling my Uncle Andrew

Me and my friend Maureen at the top of the John Hancock building; me hugging the American Girl store, which was so cool to see; and Maureen and I roasting under the heat lamps at the bus stop (these are awesome!)

SORRY for not calling!!!!! It's Joe's fault.

Movies

My (and Johanna's) favorite TV event is now over - the Oscars.  This year we managed to see quite a few of the nominated films.  Johanna reminded me that we had seen all of the nominated films (although not all of the nominated performances, as I detest professional wrestling).

We squeaked in "The Reader" on Sunday just hours before the big show.  We both loved Kate Winslet's performance (preferring it to "Revolutionary Road"), but found ourselves with a lot of questions about the film afterward.  We both liked "Benjamin Button," and "Frost/Nixon," absolutely loved "Milk," (I actually met one of real-life characters - Cleve Jones, when I worked with the NAMES Project in Washington), and were ecstatic over "Slumdog's" multiple wins.

John posted his 10 favorite films and mentioned that David had chimed in with "Star Wars" and "Lawrence of Arabia."  I tried to come up with ten, but I love the movies and I love many of them for different reasons, and so coming up with just ten is very difficult.

But here are ten to start with:

To Kill a Mockingbird
Monsters, Inc.
Slumdog Millionaire
The Godfather Part 1
The Godfather Part 2
Casablanca
Schindler's List
Little Miss Sunshine
Yankee Doodle Dandy
West Side Story

Peter would add "On the Waterfront," for himself, and Sean's favorite has been (may have changed) "Shawshank Redemption."  Johanna can add her own ten.

I have noticed that as the economy worsens, the movie theatres are more crowded.  Escapism always works for me!

We are all well.  Peter spent some time with Grandma and Rell.  I was visiting my Dad and wasn't finished in time to join them for dinner.  Johanna and Sean are both working hard.  We have a salary freeze here at school and have been told that in September the head of school will be looking more closely at cutting programs and positions.  Meanwhile, I am making myself indispensible!  Or trying to...

Love to all!

End of February

Some seasonal news.  It's light out when we leave for work, and light out when we get home (almost).  We saw a cardinal yesterday, and Grandma says she is seeing robins.  All good signs, but then again it did snow down here today as well.
 
The bad news is that our new computer died, and John has sufficiently messed up our old computer to make this a very frustrating affair.  It took us 8 hours to get on e-mail.  Must be some kind of record.
 
We had a wonderful President's Day weekend last week in Pittsfield and stopping by Meadow Lakes coming and going.  Grandma's entry below forgets to mention all the cookies and chocolate we ate.  Friday night we tried to get to Charlie Brown's for dinner, but they were full, so we went to Perkins for dinner.
 
All the way up to Pittsfield, we saw no snow and couldn't imagine that there would be anything white in Pittsfield, but we were wrong.  Lots of snow and still very cold.  We even walked across the lake, dodging snowmobiles and atv's and ice fishing holes.  We had dinner and a movie at John and Marilyn's, and then caught up with Annie Lynn, Michael Boyle's former wife, who came over to the house/project.  Speaking of the house/project, we heard that the town has granted us a historic waiver to allow us to start construction.  So as soon as the snow melts.....  We also saw Cara and Sage, who came over and tried out our new couch. 
 
Peter is busy and happily so, as he talks about law firms struggling in this current climate.  He filled us in on his current eminent domain cases.  Also on the brother front, David has been sending comments on the top ten movies and suggested Star Wars and Lawrence of Arabia.  We hear that Paula's sister is struggling as well.
 
And we talked to Andrew who is looking for time to come east.  They are busy with basketball tournaments, and getting ready for Claire's confirmation (in May) and graduation.
 
Lent starts this week.  Why is it that we always get Girl Scout cookies the week before Lent?  Couldn't someone plan better?  What's your favorite cookie?  We have votes this year for Samosas. 
 
Other news - Margaret came down with a bad cold.  Sean and Amanda visited Grandma and so did Rell.  Annie is a few weeks away from her spring break; she will spend the first part of that period in the Boston area, including having a job interview.  Good luck.
 
Tomorrow, John is off to Miami for a conference, and he was trying to get to Venezuela to check in with the press and culture section at the Embassy there.  But no visa. 
 
And, for everyone who visited us in Ottawa, you must have seen President Obama this week, in the Byward Market, buying a beavertail and maple leaf cookies at the French cafe.  We were there! 
 
So, have a great week.  Love from down here.   

Meadow Lakes Update

Guess who came for lunch on Presidents' Day?  A representative of trhe State Dept., my lawyer, and a teacher who specializes in people like me who need help with all kinds od things.  It is so nice to have my chilluns come by......................and to bring their own lunch, and to bring soups for me to have later!!!!!!

 

Wish you all lived near enought to join us.  Love you ALL.

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Happy Valentine's Day

Attention all men in the family.  One week to go.  Plan now.  This is the one holiday you can't count on the ladies to do the shopping for you. 
 
Just a little subtle warning.  And if we do forget, have a great day ladies - we love you!!  (Even though we know that doesn't get us off the hook.)
 
We are looking forward to next weekend, which is a long one for us.  We'll be heading towards colder climes; we're going north to Pittsfield and Margaret will be going to Chicago, where Joe already is with his UK friend.  And then, we'll count down to the spring.  Here, anyway.  We are hearing horror winter stories from Chicago, Rochester and Utica, not to mention Pittsfield.  It was on one of those cold February days, 30 years ago, that Mary's father passed away.
 
And this week, when I was in Tegucigalpa (Honduras) people were complaining about the cold snap, where the temperature got down to 65 at night.  I heard on person say his house was 64.  Hmmm.  So is mine, all winter long.
 
Anyway, took a quick trip to Panama and Honduras this week and saw all the wonderful things your tax dollars are doing for us.  Sriously, we do great work, on exchanges and English teaching for very small amounts of money.  And if you don't believe me, then read Friday's NYT where there's an article on our English teaching programs in Egypt.  Certainly better than the money spent on the 25 person congressional delegation in the middle of stimulus debates back in DC. 
 
In Panama, I joined 5 former big leaguers at a baseball clinic for disadvantaged youth.  Wonderful messages of family and discipline and fun from these physcially big and big-hearted guys - Sherman Obando, Kenny Maldonado, Omar Moreno, and others.  And they call it work. 
 
And it was nice to see Obama fever from far away.  Everyone has it, and hopes are sky high.  It will be hard to maintain.
 
Back here, hopes are high at Meadow Lake, as Grandma moved back into her apartment.  It sounds like the physical therapy has been very helpful.
 
Hopes are also high in Pittsfield area, as Colleen's dog had a litter of 12 puppies.  We're hoping for a picture.
 
We heard from Annie who is getting ready for both graduation and what comes after.  She is joining the ranks of lots of job applicants.  Never too early.
 
Mary had a busy week at work, using the time she had free from taking care of her number one special ed case (me) to get lots done.  She and Margaret went to see the Benjamin Buttons movie, but were not that impressed. Speaking of movies, no one commented on my list of top ten movies of all time (last entry's comment.) 
 
And then there was the Super Bowl.  I caught the last quarter only, which was great.  After the game, I surfed the channels at the hotel in Panama and saw people celebrating in the street.  Wow, I thought Pittsburgh has fans all the way down here?  In fact, they were celebrating Panama's first victory ever in international soccer championship. 
 
All for now.  Love from down here.