Mark your calendars

In six months time, I am hoping as many of the Dicksons as possible can congregate in Pittsfield to celebrate Grandma Dickson's birthday.  That means of course that we better have a house finished and that we have good count of numbers so that we can set aside rooms at a nearby ski resort, Jiminy Peak.  Grandma and I had gone to the resort in October and found it had plenty of summer things to do, along with spacious, comfortable suites with kitchenettes.

This past week, I checked out the winter side of Jiminy Peak by going downhill skiing for the first time.  John Boyle was instructor and guide, greasing the way to free rentals and much service lifting me up from my countless falls.  I did get over a hump in figuring a little out, and falling less, but I think it will be many more times before I get off the novice trails.  Did I mention being sore?  Why does it look so easy for other people?

When I returned to Bethesda, Mary had it in mind to go skating.  Remembering the wonderful experience of skating on Ottawa's canal, we found a place on the C&O Canal where we saw some skaters.  Well, the ice was very choppy -- downright dangerous -- so we packed it it and went to the local rink,  And had fun.  All of this will help us get ready to spend a weekend back in Ottawa next month.

Joe took the train to Pittsfield from trips to New York City and Boston with his friend Tamara.  Because of the threat of coming snow, we just headed south and spent the night in Hightstown where there was some snow, but not what they had further north, allowing us to get back to Bethesda easily on Friday.  Grandma is well, coming off a couple of doctors' appointments showing she is maintaining her health.  She is looking forward to the Trenton Opera Company rehearsing Madama Butterfly at Meadow Lakes.

Joe is back to work this week, and starts his classes tonight at Johns Hopkins.  Margaret is also in a grad school frame of mind and is taking GRE prep class.  And I start my Bible study tonight!

We spoke with Annie on Sunday and she told us about an excursion to a winter carnival that had some humorous and cross cultural overtones.  She finishes her tutoring work this week and then heads out on a short trip to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Last weekend, Mary flew up to Pittsfield for the long weekend.  We went skiing, boxing (by way of The Fighter) and mourning (by way of the Jets beating the Patriots.)  Since she had flown into Hartford, I drove all the way to Stonington to see her brother Dan before picking her up at the airport.  Dan recently broke his ankle when he slipped on some ice.  

And, to wrap it all up, we saw our last of the main Oscar movies, the Social Network this weekend.  For us, we liked the Fighter and King's Speech, followed by True Grit and then the Social Network.  Which ones are on your list?

Finally, we hear there is big news out in Illinois.  Maybe they can make their own news, here first on Pops Weekly Letter! 

 

That's all from down here, love!  

Cincinnati -- Bing Maps -- Memory Lane

I went to the Bird's Eye photo feature of Bing Maps.  You should, too.

1.  The new house built where the Wrights'/Kites' house stood is garish and over the top and absolutely humongous.  It has a fake turret.  It makes our house at 9655 look puny.

2.  The house once owned by the Donisis -- downhill from 9655 -- built a stable and riding ring behind our house -- no more long toboganning from our old house.

3.  The Fleischman estate on Blome Road looks intact, and the gate house seems unchanged.  (Follow Cunningham to Given Rd, left on Camargo Road, cross the railroad tracks, turn right onto Blome Rd.  The Fleischman estate driveway is the continuation of Keller Road across Blome Road.)  But there is a very large parking lot at the estate mansion, so perhaps it is no longer used as a house.

4.  Both our old Given Rd house and the Hagists' house across the road were torn down and replaced by mansions.

Ring in the New

The joys of air travel. I just left Dulles Airport after dropping off Annie to catch a flight back to Beijing.  I had earlier this morning left BWI with Annie as her flight from there back to Beijing was cancelled.  We had no snow here, but since the plane was going through Newark, where there apparently was some snow, her flight was cancelled.  She made out though, on two counts.  First it looked like a direct flight to Bejing and second, she got a Cinnabuns treat at Dulles after checking in.  Of course, I had to join her.  You know the rule about eating Cinnabuns alone.

Working backwards, we had a farewell dinner for Annie last night which was punctuated by a kitchen sink problem.  Hope to get that sorted out momentarily.  Earlier in the day, I stopped in to see Grandma, and Peter came over to join us for lunch.  Grandma is well, and has these chocolate covered pecans which seem to multiply every time we leave.  News from Peter includes: new crowns for his teeth (ouch), new convertible top for his car and new comfortable chairs.  

My week was spent in Pittsfield, tearing down walls in yet another bedroom.  Progress continues in the addition with electrical wiring and framing continuing. We are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Just one more room, and we will have torn down the walls in every room in the old house.  I went over to John and Marilyn's for dinner, and they shared this wedding photo of Colleen and Pauline from a month ago.  Congratulations!

Mary flew.  She left on New Years Day, to come back and have a full day of recovery and restoration before she headed back to work.  While up north, we hosted Cliff and Sheila to ring in the new year (playing Sequence and watching The Town helped us to stay up past midnight); we went skiing; Annie and Margaret and James (and D) joined us for camping out in the construction site, and we went out to eat with John and Marilyn.  The next generation all left on New Years eve, with plans to spend time in New Haven (Margaret) and NYC (Annie).  Margaret saw Kathleen who broke the news about her father's broken ankle.  He had slipped on the ice while walking and broke it in a couple of places.  Ouch.  We talked this am, and he is still in pain and discomfort.

And, still going backwards, we had spent the night on the way up with Grandma, postponed by a day because of the big storm in NJ, but nothing in MD.  It looked like anywhere between 1 and 2 feet there, but the roads were good the day we got up there.  Fortunately for Grandma, she didn't lose her power or have to deal with the Governor Christie's awol-style of managing a crisis on the roads.

And before that, we celebrated Joe's birthday here a day early.  He turned 28!  On the 28th!  We reminisced about all the birthday celebrations he enjoyed with cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles in Pomfret.

Speaking of Pomfret, I am now Facebook friends with Margie Huoppi, who posted photos of a Christmas tree in the big room, celebrating with her grandsons.  Seems very familiar.

Tomorrow is Jeffrey's birthday, and we understand from Facebook again, he and Melodie enjoyed Christmas in Minneapolis, but maybe not the flight adventures

 getting there.  They plan on going to Rochester this weekend.  

And Sunday is Margaret's birthday.  She philosophized that she will be closer now to 50 than she is to her birth.  

Yesterday was Three Kings Day, the 12th day of Christmas.  It was a wonderful holiday this year, and we are glad to have connected with so many of you.  

Love from down here.

  

Happy New Year

Out with old and in with the snow!

It's beginning to feel a lot like

Christmas!  Vacations have begun, and it's cold outside.  Cookies are eaten almost as soon as they are made.  There is even a little snow on the ground.  We're approaching the Rochester and Chicago levels, as the weather shows snow almost every day in the last couple of weeks for Fairport and Dundee is not far behind.  We may have snow here on Christmas.

Annie is coming home tonight, if all her flights are on time and pat-downs proceed smoothly.  Margaret's on vacation, Joe is home and Mary starts her vacation tomorrow!!  

Joe and John spent last week in Pittsfield, with plans for getting all kinds of work done.  But Mary's cousin John Hayes was sanding floors, so our ability to create dust and dirt was severely restricted.  So we fell back to the next best thing.  Baseball.  We got in the car and spent the afternoon in Cooperstown at the Hall of Fame.  Lots of good exhibits on baseball's beginnings and its integration.  I think we liked the modern day rooms the best; interesting to see how they approached the steroids era, including exhibiting the ball which Barry Bonds hit, with an asterisk carved in it, as voted on by the fans.

We did do a little sanding on the staircase banister, and the floors came out looking great.  Radiators also played into the week as Johnny helped with their placement of slightly raised floors, and then Joe hurt his back as we tried to carry one up the stairs.  He is out of commission for a few weeks but looks like he's feeling better than he did that first day.

We had what could have been our most memorable anniversary.  Margaret put together a collage of photos and Joe made us a big Middle Eastern dinner, and we were joined by James and Tamara.  Special.

A couple of Christmas parties and attendance at a presentation of Handel's Messiah have rounded out the weeks.  I imagine and hope everyone else is having similar, eventful occasions.  

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas!   Love from down here.

Travels

Why am I surprised that it gets cold in December?  Because it seems like it was just October, or August.

And here we are at the second Sunday in Advent.  Time to catch our breath.

Last Friday, after Thanksgiving, we drove up to Pittsfield, dropping Grandma off in Hightstown on the way.  We had a couple of house meetings (kitchen and bank loan) so Mary came along and flew back home on Monday evening.  We went out to a new pizza place with John and Marilyn and then over to their house to watch a movie on the Cuban missile crisis (good).  They are into advance planning for a trip to China in March.

I stayed up to try to do a little work to get rooms ready for sanding the floors.  Danny called up from Stonington offering to help paint and, never one to accept company -- and free labor -- I of course accepted.  Had he not come, I think I would still be there.  But besides sanding and painting, we went out to a yoga retreat for a vegetarian dinner and had long breakfasts at a local "joint".  We also saw a movie to put on your "miss it" list:  The Tempest.

Joe arrived home from his extended trip to Lebanon, Syria and Turkey with photos and stories and insights which go against the grain of what we are to think about that part of the world, such as Christian enclaves and Crusader castles.  He is now back to a job search as his AID offer still hasn't materialized.  Margaret is busy at work - she bought a cage for her dog who is getting into trouble at home when no one is here - dropping presents for us around the house.  And we talked to Annie this morning - she too continues to interview and plans to move to a new place.  Check out her new blog: http://3rdculturekidinthe3rdworld.wordpress.com/.  Looking forward to her trip home in a couple of weeks. 

We talked to David and Andrew this week.  Snow and jobs.  Andrew also told us that Billy has completed his degree. Congratulations!  And Grandma told us of her adventure trying to connect with Sean so that he could pick up a couple of lounge chairs.   No we know what we did in a world without cell phones - we waited and waited.

And to top off the week - Mary is the last person in America to sign up for Facebook!  She already has four friends, three not including me.  

Happy December!  Love from down here.

Happy Thanksgiving

The paper this morning said the heaviest caloric intake today is pecan pie.  And that's what I made yesterday.  And ate yesterday.  And plan on having more today.

The paper today carried about ten pounds of flyers for sales tomorrow.  We are stratergizing our plan of attack.  Toys R Us opens at 10 tonight; Macy's at 4am tomorrow; Sears at 5am.  Saks doesn't open until 8am (slackers).

But that's not really the news.  Grandma is here.  We spoke with Joe in Aleppo Syria yesterday and Annie in Beijing today, both courtesy of Skype.  Smaller world.  Joe is heading to Istanbul the day after Thanksgiving, and Annie is planning her Thanksgiving dinner for Sunday (she had to work today).

We went up to NJ on Saturday and had our tailgate party with Grandma at Meadow Lakes before heading over to Princeton for a football game with Peter. We watched with Peter, that is, although I thiknk he could have helped the Princeton team.  It was tied for a while.  But not at the end.  31-0.  Ouch.












After the game we headed back to over Pennington to chill at Peter and Janet's house.  We saw Johanna and her new dog, Molly.  Our faith in the current state of college undergrads was restored with a thoroughly delightful "Triangle" show, which we took in after dinner at the old Rusty Scupper.

Sunday we packed up the car and returned to Maryland with Grandma.  It's been a quiet week, with lots of trips to the grocery store.  We did have dinner on Monday evening with Jeffrey and Melodie, and Margaret and her friend James.  We heard the latest on wedding plans.

We spoke with Andrew and David as well, who filled us in on their Thanksgiving plans.  Lots of family visitors they are expecting. 

Hey!  I almost forgot!  The biggest news is the Bengals are finally playing on Thanksgiving.  I can picture you all, sated with turkey and enjoying the Terrell and Ochocinco show!

Love from down here!