Sunday, November 30, 2008

In light of the recent political season

Years ago, when the kids were too young for real ornaments and tinsel on the tree, we started the tradition of stringing popcorn and hanging it on the tree. We still do it but I've learned my lesson over the years. Lincoln and the kids hang the ornaments while I string the popcorn. The first year I strung enough popcorn to go around the tree dozens of times. It took me about 6 hours and countless bowls of popcorn. Then Lincoln got smarter and only strung the popcorn chains on the front of the tree. I mean, who cares about the back....you can't see it anyway. Then we got even smarter and started spacing the strands out a little more from top to bottom. This year I really didn't want to spend hours stringing popcorn on the tree so when I gave Lincon the first few chains I told him to "string them liberally".

He put the first two on the tree and the following conversation took place:

Me: Liberally. I really don't want to be stringing popcorn for hours tonight. You need to really space them out. Waayyy more liberally.

Lincoln: I'm never liberal enough for you.

Wrong direction!

I have all of the kids' Christmas presents picked out and most have them have already been purchased. There are a few items that I was waiting on to see if they went down in price on either Black Friday or Cyber Monday but this one item, which was $24 went up to $56 yesterday. Today it's at $62. It's totally going in the wrong direction!!!!! If it doesn't go down I guess that will be one item that will be getting crossed off of Santa's shopping list.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

And the Christmas season officially begins

Now that Thanksgiving is over the Christmas season has officially begun. Today while I was getting my haircut Lincoln, Hannah, and Jake made a gingerbread house. Jake is wearing Home Depot safety goggles on his head. Apparently he thought this was a real construction project.


Another day, another bruise from Jake

Overheard by Lincoln and me from the kitchen. The kids were in the next room.

Jake: Hannah, we're friends right? We're friends?

Hannah: Yes.

Jake: But Mommy and Daddy aren't.

Diane (to Lincoln): Where is he going with this conversation?

Lincoln: He's going to hit her.

Hannah: Ouch! JAKE!!

Lincoln: See.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Is it really worth it?

Lincoln and I went out to do some "Black Friday" shopping today but we never head out too terribly early. The major sales aren't worth the stress and usually in the afternoon you can still get some good deals.

Today a man was trampled to death at a Wal-mart in New York state and two were killed in California in a shooting at a Toys R Us. Is it really worth that kind of stress, and danger, to stand out in the cold overnight to rush in and buy a Wii or a flat-screen TV at half price? Somehow I don't think killing people in a fit of materialistic greed is quite in keeping with the Christmas Spirit. The 34-year old who was killed at Wal-mart was a temporary worker who was probably working the job to provide a Christmas for his own children and now his family will have to spend Christmas, and the rest of their lives, without him.

It's just not worth it.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Here are some pictures that we took earlier today. It's a beautiful day so while the turkey is cooking and before the guests arrived we went outside to play in the leaves for awhile.

LEAF FIGHT!!!!

What on earth are they up to?

Jake: Hey Mommy. Don't come upstairs.

Me: Okay.

Jake: Hannah and are going to brush our teeth.

Me: Okay.

Jake: Alone. We want to do it all by ourselves.

Me: Okay.

(he just stands there)

Me: So go do what you're going to do.

Jake: No! Hannah said to distract you.

Me: Ahhhh.

(he leaves the room for awhile and comes back with Hannah a little while later)

Hannah: Mommy can we have some snacks and a drink?

Me: Sure.

Jake: Can I have some chocolate milk? I want lotta chocolate milk for the party..... (he slaps his hands over my ears and then removes them)....for the brushing. I need chocolate milk for the teeth brushing.....'cause we can do that together. They go together. Yep. They do. Uh huh.

Happy Quarter of a Century!

Happy Birthday to Jen who is turning 25 today! I really wish I could help you celebrate.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Like Mother Like Son

Today Lincoln and I went to see the movie Four Christmases. There was one scene where the father says that "you fight the most with the one most like you" when talking about his children.

Me: I can totally see that happening. Jake and I will be fighting quite a bit when he's older I'm sure. He's a lot like me. He's stubborn, he's lazy,....

Lincoln: ....He's physically violent.

Hardy har har. And then I reached across the car and punched him in the arm.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Thanksgiving Part 2 is rapidly approaching

Even though we have a bunch of people coming over for Thanksgiving in two days our house is a huge mess and we haven't done our grocery shopping yet. Thank God I have tomorrow off. Talk about procrastination!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

I have taught her so well

Today I drove Hannah and her friend Hunter to a birthday party. On the way there Hunter was flipping through a Thomas the Tank Engine catalog that Jake had left in the car.

Hannah: I put another top coat on my nails today.

Hunter: Umm....okay.

Hannah: I put on a first coat yesterday but then today I put on a second coat.

Hunter: Umm....okay.

Mommy: Hannah, Hunter's a boy. He doesn't care about your nail polish.

Hannah: Yeah, and I'm a girl so I'm going to talk to him while he's trying to read.

And they didn't even buy me dinner first

This holiday season I have been very good about figuring out what we're buying the kids for Christmas, where (and when) we can get the best deal, and anything else I can do to save us money. This morning I went out to A.C. Moore and Toys R Us because there were specific items on sale that were on my list.

My first stop was A.C. Moore. There were three items on my list. I found the first one with no problem. After a little searching I found the second one. Then I walked around the store about three times looking for someone to help me find the final item. When I finally found someone that worked there I learned they don't actually stock that item despite it being listed in their weekly flyer. That was a little frustrating. When I got up to the check out counter the first item rang in fine but the second one came up as the regular price. After the lady tried to convince me that what rang in was the sale price and I argued that she was wrong she finally had someone do a price check. I was right. After that I went over to Toys R Us. Video games were on sale so that if you purchased three of them you got the fourth one for free. I found two games that were $19.99 each and two that were $29.99. That means I should have gotten one of the $19.99 games for free. It turns out that one of the games was only $9.98 because it was already marked down. I guess over all it didn't really matter because I still got the game for free but part of the success in shopping is being able to say "guess how much I saved!"

Basically what I'm saying is that I felt so proud of myself for doing my research and going out to buy these items on sale today and yet I still walked away from both stores feeling like I had just been screwed. Don't you just love the holidays?

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Yes...I can't spell

Tonight Jake and Hannah and I are having a slumber party in the living room. The three of us blow up the queen size air mattress and then we camp out and watch a movie. The big deal is that they get to sleep with Mommy. It used to be that Hannah and I would be on the bed and Jake would sleep on a twin sized kid's mattress on the floor but he always ended up in bed with us. I decided that this time we would all start out on the bed. Lincoln was insisting on bringing Jake's giraffe tent down for him to sleep in.

Me: Why are you going to lug that down? He's not going to sleep in it anyway.

Lincoln: I just can't see how you guys are all going to fit in that bed.

Me: We've done it before. Besides, my plan for tonight is to wait until they fall asleep and then move to the c-o-u-g-h.

Lincoln: The cough?

Me: Did I say g-h? C-h. I meant c-h. .... So I can't spell...so says the guy that gets to sleep in the king sized bed all alone tonight.

Lincoln: Hey, I was invited to sleep on the c-o-u-g-h.

What a smartass. But he is right. Earlier tonight we did invite him to join the sleepover on the c-o-u-C-H. He chose not to join us which is probably a smart choice since these sleepovers usually end up with me not sleeping at all and going up to take a nap once Lincoln wakes up and comes downstairs to relieve me.

Thanksgiving Casualty

No....I'm not talking about the turkeys. I'm talking about my finger. This past Thursday was our Thanksgiving Potluck at work that I'm in charge of. I cook the turkeys and organize the potluck itself. Unfortunately someone moved one of the sterno cans from underneath the chafing dishes and since I thought it was a spare, and therefore cool, I picked it up to move it and burned my finger. It actually isn't a terribly bad burn. I got ointment on it right away but it did blister. The blister itself doesn't hurt but it's puffy and feels funky so it's driving me crazy. It's also on my middle finger of my right hand so it's therefore it's my mouse scrolling, and most used, finger.

Extra-curricular Activities

We took Jake today for a meeting with the local karate instructor. I think that karate would be a really good thing for Jake to get into to help him channel his temper and also learn self-discipline. He was a little unfocused this morning but he did pretty good. The instructor spent about 30 minutes taking us around the studio and giving both kids a mini-lesson.

Until this year Jake has never really been signed up for any sort of extra-curricular activity. Both kids were signed up for gymnastics earlier this fall but the place closed due to the economy (and the owner's ex-wife taking all his money and moving out of state.) Over the years Hannah has done ballet, tap, piano, soccer, gymnastics, and little league. I think it would be good to get Jake involved in something.

Starting in January I think we'll plan on signing Jake up for karate and Hannah for sewing lessons. She's really into the idea of sewing right now and has asked for a sewing machine for Christmas. Since I have two in the basement and don't even really know how to use either of them we've decided to hire her professional help instead of buying her a 3rd machine. The kids will be receiving their lessons as gifts this year for Christmas.

That's it for us today. It has been pretty quiet. The kids and I are having a slumber party in the living room tonight and then tomorrow we're getting the house ready, and the grocery shopping done, for Thanksgiving. This coming week should be pretty busy. In addition to doing Thanksgiving here at the house Lincoln and I will be doing all of our "Santa" shopping on Friday while his parents watch the kids. Sometime over the weekend we'll put up our Christmas tree. It's hard to believe it's that time again.

Friday, November 21, 2008

"Toddler in Tantrum" artwork

Jake hates arts and crafts. Anything having to do with drawing, painting, glitter, glue, etc. will send him over the edge. Apparently they were doing an "All About Me" unit at his school and they had each kid lie down on a piece of paper to be traced. The cut-outs were then put on the wall as decoration. One day I saw all the cut-outs on the wall and noticed that Jake's wasn't there. I asked the teacher about it and she laughed and pointed out this one on a different wall above the classroom sink (currently shown on our kitchen floor):

Apparently when they asked Jake to lie down on the paper and be traced with a marker he freaked out and contorted himself into one of those classic 3-year old tantrum positions where he folds his legs, puts his butt between his feet, and throws himself backwards with his arms flailing above his head. The teachers, who are used to anti-arts and crafts antics, just quickly traced around him and then helped him up.

Celebrity Baby Names

As many of you know, I am addicted to celebrity gossip. I read Us Weekly, People, and Star on a weekly basis and I make sure to check PerezHilton.com a few times throughout the day. I've always been fascinated by baby names - Pilot Inspektor, Moxie CrimeFighter, Tu Morrow, Zuma Nesta Rock - but Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz just named their kid Bronx Mowgli. Seriously? After an area of NYC and a Jungle Book character? What is wrong with these people? All of them. I honestly believe that some of these people release these names to the public but in reality their birth certificate says "John Smith" or something.

For you fellow celebrity gossip junkies, can anyone tell me who Pilot and Moxie belong to?

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Mommy - why did you have to come home?

Tonight was our parent/teacher conference at Hannah's school. Tracy came over to watch the kids and she is one of Jake's favorite people in the whole world. When we got back from the conference I walked in the door first. Jake popped up from the couch and said "Mommy - why did you have to come home?" He sounded so disappointed.

As for Hannah's conference.....

She got rave reviews from her teacher. Mrs. Bomba is very impressed with Hannah's writing, in particular, as well as her reading skills. Hannah is also very into science and social studies and she is enjoying doing research projects at school. This morning Hannah told me that she doesn't like math and that she thinks that "equations are hard". We asked Mrs. Bomba about it and she said that Hannah does get it but that she has to work at it. She thinks that because everything else comes so easily to Hannah that the fact that she actually has to sit and work on math is a bit foreign to her and frustrates her a bit. I'm terrible at math so I know how she feels.

Mrs. Bomba was also very impressed with Hannah's vocabulary and her comprehension of what she reads. I guess the kids get to pick out poems for the class to work on and Hannah picks out ones that are very funny but that the humor is above the other childrens' head. Mrs. Bomba said she feels bad because she doesn't often get to use Hannah's selection. She seemed in awe of the fact that Hannah understands these poems and actually understands why they're funny. There is a difference between the ability to read the words and to actually comprehend the words and Hannah seems to have mastered that skill.

She also says that Hannah has a great disposition and gets along well with everyone. Hannah is always up for trying everything and is very open to trying new projects.

We're very proud of Hannah. It was a great conference and we couldn't be happier about the job she is doing in school. She absolutely loves it. One of the things we got to read tonight was her "why you should vote for me for president" paper and one of her platforms was that we should make the school day longer so that kids could learn more.

Along those lines, here is her journal entry from 11/10/08.

This weekend was great but not as fun as school! In school we do math and gym and music and art and science and read books and more. At home I play on the computer, watch TV, and talk with Grandma on the phone. See not as fun as school!

Yeah, she's a weird one that kid.

Thanksgiving Dinner - Part One

One of my favorite activities that I coordinate at the office each year is our Thanksgiving potluck. Our company springs for the turkeys and everything else is brought in by the employees. I purchase the Jennie-O Ready to Cook turkeys which are fantastic. They're a real turkey, prepped and ready to go, and you can just pop it frozen into the oven and 4 hours later you have dinner! The entire office smells delicious all morning.

Hannah is at the office with me today. School conferences usually fall the same time as our Thanksgiving potluck (which means she doesn't have school) so this is actually the 2nd year she has come in and helped. She enjoys being here with me and since it's not much of a work day for me with all the running around I'm doing with the lunch it's not a big deal that she's here.

Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday of the entire year. I love the fact that I get to celebrate it twice!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Hands Free Driving

This is kind of funny. You should see what I observe on my drive to/from Boston every day. It's not too far off from this!

Office Managers - the unsung heroes of America

I work as the Office Manager of our New England Office. Office Managers don't always get a lot of credit for things but they're the one that has to deal with all the shit on a daily basis to keep the office running smoothly. On any given day I wear many different hats. And sometimes I just want to take something heavy, take off all of those hats, and beat myself over the head. Today might be one of those days.

We have a fragrance free policy here at the office. We have someone who is pretty susceptible to strong scents and therefore the entire office is fragrance free. Over time it usually gets forgotten about and then I have to send out the reminder again and the complaints start all over again. Last night I had a dream that someone sent me an email complaining that someone was chewing spearmint gum and it was bothering them. You may laugh but it actually could happen around here. I actually had to think about whether I had dreamed it or if had actually happened yesterday.

Anyway, since I just re-established the fragrance free policy in the office I am now getting complaints that the fans in the bathroom are not strong enough and what am I going to do about it. I just called my assistant, Andie, and this is the task I gave her:

"Can you please find an air freshener that wipes out bad odors but has no discernible odor itself?

I guess there is one job crappier than mine.....that of my assistant.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

At least someone thinks I can cook

Jake asked me for a slice of processed American cheese this morning. When I handed it to him he said: "Thanks Mom! You make the best food ever!"

Congruent???

One of Hannah's 2nd grade bonus Vocabulary/Spelling words this week is congruent. I don't even know that means. And I probably couldn't spell it!

Monday, November 17, 2008

The wake and the funeral

As horrible as Linus's death was his wake and funeral were a beautiful example of how well loved he was. Linus lived in Elma for his entire life except while in the service during the Korean War. He was 70 years old and he had attended school there, married and had a family there, ran Lentz Feed, was very active in the church, and served in the fire department for over 40 years. Elma is a town of less then 600 people surrounded by farm land and other equally small Iowa towns. Linus must have known every single one of those people and touched all of their lives in one way or another.

For five straight hours at his wake there was a line along the entire length of the viewing room, across the back of the room, through the foyer, out onto the front steps and down the entire length of the building to the road. They estimate there must have been well over 1000 people there. Probably closer to 1500. At any given time there were a dozen horse and buggies in the parking lot. He worked very closely with the Mennonite community and they turned out in full force for his wake. Hundreds of people stood in 32 degree weather for a chance to pay their last respects. As the evening went on groups of men and women in matching jackets arrived representing fire departments from the neighboring towns. There were groups (and probably some of them were entire fire departments) from Alta Vista, Cresco, Lime Springs, Riceville, New Hampton, and Protovin (I know I'm forgetting some of them). On either side of the casket and throughout the room there were 67 bouquets of flowers, potted plants, and beautiful memorial gifts. They had to cancel the prayer service and the rosary that had been planned because so many people were waiting in line.

The next morning the funeral was held in Lourdes. It's a town about 7 miles away that has a bigger church then Elma. There was standing room only. Again there were rows and rows of men in dress uniforms from both the military and the fire departments.


From the funeral to the cemetery back in Elma there was a funeral procession lead by about 10 fire trucks and ambulances representing his involvement in the fire department and as an EMT. The American flag was flying from the backs of the vehicles and the vehicles lead a procession of no less than 50 cars from Lourdes back to Elma.

The grave site ceremony was incredibly moving. They had the formal gun salute due a military veteran. The fire department did the formal ringing of the "four fives" used to announce the death of a fallen firefighter. When the current and retired firefighters in attendance were asked to come to attention it seemed like half of the people there snapped to attention. A lone bugle played Taps. It was heart wrenching....and truly beautiful all at the same time.

Linus was buried in the Elma cemetery. From his grave you can see the farm house that he grew up in. The area of the cemetery that he's buried in used to be part of the farm until his family sold the land to the Catholic church to expand the cemetery. He truly was born and laid to rest on the same land.

I have no doubt that Linus was deeply loved by everyone whose life he touched. He was a very special man and he will be missed very much.

Here is a picture of the fire trucks leading the procession. The car that I was in is still on Highway 63 and the head of the procession has turned the corner.
In this picture we have turned the corner and I am looking back at Highway 63.

The accident

Last Thursday I traveled back to Iowa to attend my Uncle Linus's funeral. He died last Tuesday in a single car accident that to this day makes absolutely no sense to me and I think that is one of the things that is the hardest to accept. He didn't get hit by another vehicle and he didn't hit anything when he lost control of the vehicle. He shouldn't have even lost control of the vehicle. Yes, he apparently lost control of the car coming off an icy bridge but the area that he ended up sliding on was dirt...not ice. It may have been frosty that morning but it certainly wasn't sheets of ice.

The roads in Iowa are very open. One thing that I find fascinating about the Midwest is that the country roads are based on the township patterns. As you may remember from junior high history class, when that part of the country was being settled it was divided up into areas of land consisting of 36 sections of land. Each section was 1 mile by 1 mile therefore creating a 6 sq. mile township. The roads basically follow these square sections of the country and therefore are straight for miles and miles at a time. A good example is driving from my godparents house in Ridgeway to my Grandma's house in Elma. You take one straight road for about 15 miles and then take a hard left and drive another 3 miles or so before taking a hard right and driving the final 7 miles into Elma. My point is that the roads are straight and wide open. They are surrounded by corn and soy bean fields and the occasional farm house dotting the rolling hills. It's almost laughable because with good alignment in your vehicle you could pretty much set your cruise control and take a nap. Even if you went off the road you'd only end in a corn field.

Or so I thought.

Linus was traveling on one of those roads last Tuesday. Everything about it makes it a "freak" accident and everything about it should have let him walk away from it alive but a little bruised and battered. He was a cautious driver. Even my father, who can be so slow of a driver sometimes that even my mother tells him to speed up, used to joke that you didn't want to get behind Linus on the highway. He was also wearing his seat belt. He came off an icy bridge and somehow went off on the shoulder of the highway. He traveled approximately 100-150 feet, and appeared to be regaining control, when his tire blew and caused him to flip numerous times. The car landed on the driver's side and he broke his neck and died instantly (God, I really hope it was instant).

Below are some pictures from the accident site. It really doesn't look like much. You could easily drive by this site and never realize that something had happened.

In this picture I am standing where the car landed the first time it flipped. You can see the bridge that he was coming off of. The line of light brown dirt on the left is his tire track.

Here the dark dirt is his tire track at the only point where he started to go down the hill slightly. His right tires were just over the crest of the embankment at that point (the bridge is behind me in the picture).

In this picture look at the bottom left hand side of the picture. You can see the light brown dirt on the left which is his tire track and then the small pile of leaves and dirt at the bottom left corner of the picture is where his car must have gone airborne. His tracks stop there and about 5-6 feet further down the road there is lots of shattered glass where he must have landed the first time the car flipped.

This picture is taken with the bridge at my back. You can see the light brown track of dirt going from the bottom left diagonally towards the right before seeing the darker brown dirt shown in the 3rd picture.

Tire fragments:

More tire fragments:

I'm obviously slacking on the kids' Disney education

Despite the sad times recently here is a funny story to lighten the mood.

Last week Lincoln and I took the kids out to lunch. When we walked into the restaurant there was a Doc, of the 7 Dwarfs fame, stuffed animal holding a welcome sign - something along the lines of "Doc says come on in!".

Hannah: Who is Doc?

Mommy (incredulous look and sputtering confusion): What?!?

Hannah (realizing who it was): Oh, yeah. I'm not familiar with all the elves.

Mommy: WHAT?!?! (turning to Lincoln) Obviously we have been neglecting the Disney classics.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

There but for the grace of God...

I won't be blogging for the next few days. I'm heading back to Iowa this morning to attend Linus's funeral and I'm not taking my laptop with me. All I can say at this point is: There, but for the grace of God, go I.

Thank you to everyone who has sent warm wishes my way and who are keeping my family in your thoughts and prayers. It's still snowy back in Iowa right now so I am just hoping that everyone in the family makes it to the funeral and back safely.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

To Go or Not to Go

Yesterday my Uncle Linus died in a car accident. He was my dad's oldest brother and the oldest child of my Grandma who passed away just eight weeks ago.

In a horrible twist of irony my dad pointed out that when his Grandma (my Great-Grandma Bridget) died in April 1971 his father, my Grandpa Charlie, died in August of that same year at the age of 59. I believe that Charlie was the oldest child. Well Grandma Lentz died in September of this year and now her oldest child is also gone too soon. To add a little light (much needed) humor to the situation, I just want to say that I'm really glad I'm the youngest of Dad's kids. (Sorry, Debbie.)

As for the funeral.....

I have been giving a lot of thought about whether or not I should go back to Iowa for the funeral. My parents are encouraging me not to go for a number of reasons. They don't want us children to think that we need to spend the money to go back for the funeral and they would rather that we spend that same money visiting family at a different time of year. They also are using the argument that only the nieces and nephews within driving distance are coming back (although that actually should be at least 1/2 of us, if not more).

What I've finally come to as a conclusion is that I need to go. I need to go through this grieving process. I have never had a death in my family that wasn't anticipated through old age or illness. And I have a huge fear of something like this happening to Lincoln. Both Lincoln and I spend a lot of time, and a lot of miles, on the road for work. And not quiet little country roads like the one that killed Uncle Linus. Phone calls at unexpected times of the day always freak me out a little bit for that very reason. To have this happen in my family - this thing that is my biggest personal fear - is tearing me up. I need to grieve. I need to see that no matter what happens in life that my family, my core, is there.

Whenever we go back to the Midwest it always occurs to me that no matter how long I've been away from the Midwest it truly is my foundation. I need to go back there on a regular basis. I feel re-energized driving past miles and miles of corn fields and going through small towns like Elma, Decorah, and Ridgeway. It's a different life back there. It's about 10 years behind the rest of the world and I say that as a compliment. I like the fact that people know who I am 20 years after leaving. I like the fact that in a small town things are simple and completely uncomplicated. People are trusting and open and friendly. I like the fact that doors can be left unlocked and neighbors bring casseroles when someone dies.

My trust in the belief that my family is generally safe from serious harm, an unreasonable one - I know, is shaken to the core right now. This has hit a little too close to home and I need to go back and be with those people who have been in my life since the very beginning. I need to be back in contact with my foundation and my family. I need to grieve for a life that was cut too short and a father, husband, brother, uncle, and grandpa that was taken away from my loved ones. Staying here in Boston and going about my life as usual isn't going to cut it. I need this. I need to see the faces of that grief. I need to know that life does go on and that his widow and children and siblings are still functioning even under the heavy burden of an unbelievable grief. I can't even imagine what they are going through and maybe, just a little bit, I need to see how they handle it so that I have some point of reference if, God forbid, something happens like this in my life.

I don't know if I've adequately explained this but all I know is I need to go. I need to be there...

Yay!

One of Jake's bully victims is actually going to be at his birthday party next month. The teacher says Jake has been very good lately and isn't being a bully anymore. Yay Jakey!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Small town kindness

Back in October I posted about how much I love the Super 8 in New Hampton, IA. Click the link to read the story if you haven't already read it but basically it's about how small towns in Iowa still exist in a bubble of friendliness and customer service (in the case of the hotel).

Tonight I was talking to my family and they said that "Aunt Sandy is putting together a casserole and then heading back over to the house". When I went back to Iowa for Grandma's funeral eight weeks ago we were headed to the house from the airport and told Mom and Dad that we would likely stop for lunch on the way and they said "Don't bother....there is plenty of food here that people have dropped off." It also amazed me that at the reception after Grandma's funeral, where they had sandwiches for hundreds purchased from the store, the rest of the food was donated by townspeople and family. There were dozens of small bowls of potato salad, pasta salad, deviled eggs, and desserts. Everyone pitched in.

I asked Lincoln tonight that if, God forbid, something happened to one of his parents or another family member, would the house be swamped with casseroles and such? He looked at me like I was crazy. He said "No, they would probably send flowers. It's just not done that way out here." I find that so sad. I was so moved and so amazed by the outpouring of love through small gestures at Grandma's funeral and I can only imagine it will be the same way at Linus's. Lincoln did admit that in the heavily Italian and Irish families around here that it would likely be similar but that for his family it probably wouldn't happen.

The other thing that amazed me at Grandma's funeral was the number of small donations that poured in through the envelopes provided at the funeral home. There were hundreds of envelopes - most containing $5 each - that added up to almost $2,000. A little bit goes a long way. When I came out of Grandma's house after the reception my father and his seven siblings were sitting around a long table going through all the envelopes and writing out thank you notes. They had a great assembly line going but I still pitched in to help. Uncle Joe, Uncle Linus, and I worked as a team at the end of the table. I never imagined in a million years that eight weeks later I'd be preparing to attend Linus's funeral. And that's Reason #389 that I burst into tears today.

Something that should NEVER happen

If you go to the Elma funeral home website the links to both Grandma and Linus' obituaries are listed on the same page. http://www.conway-kolbetfuneralhome.com/

Horrible News

Eight weeks ago from yesterday my Grandma Lentz passed away in Elma, IA. Today her oldest son, my Uncle Linus, was killed in a car accident. His death has hit me terribly hard. At least with Grandma it wasn't unexpected. She was 94 years old and had suffered a stroke a week prior to her death. Her wake and funeral actually were much more of a celebration of her life than the mourning of her death. This is totally different. Uncle Linus left the house this morning with every anticipation of returning to his family later in the day.

From the information I've received from my parents it sounds like he was driving over an icy bridge and lost control of his car. His car flipped over several times and he broke his neck. Sadly, when a passing trucker called the paramedics it was his son Tony, a local EMT, that was called to the scene. Linus was 70 years old and was the oldest of Grandma's eight children.

Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers. I am still deciding whether or not to fly back for the wake and funeral. I've never lost anyone in my family other than a grandparent and both of them were elderly and neither death was a huge surprise. This death is hitting me terribly hard and I'm not sure how to cope with it. It just goes to show that your entire life can change in the blink of an eye.

Please watch this video

Monday, November 10, 2008

Payback is a Bitch

Hannah is getting to that age where we actually have to wake her up in the morning to get ready for school. When you go in to wake her up she buries herself under the covers and says "I don't wanna to get up. I'm still tired."

It sucks, doesn't it Hannah? That's what you get for all those baby/toddler years when Mommy and Daddy didn't get to sleep in. I'm going to enjoy every time I wake you up right up until you move out of the house.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Such a proud moment

Ever since Hannah was born I've been brainwashing both children into thinking they should attend the same college that I went to - Gustavus Adolphus College. They've been given t-shirts and bibs throughout their childhood and I still wear t-shirts, sweatpants, and sweatshirts with Gustavus all over them. So does Lincoln.

Last Friday Hannah brought home a new weekly journal that they're doing in class. The students have to write a journal entry on Friday about things they did that week and then someone from home has to write a note back to them in the journal to be returned on Monday.

This was Hannah's entry from last week. I have not corrected her punctuation or her spelling so you can see why she was told on her report card that she needs to work on self-editing for punctuation. This is exactly how she wrote it:

11/7/08 Dear family
I had a busy week
in gym this week we played
Hector the protetor. Today i had
mystery reader it was mr. evans.
I am proud of who I voted
for. My faveorite activaty was
being with my freinds.
How was collage in gustavus?
from Hannah

I am so proud of her! Even though she obviously didn't go back and check her punctuation or her spelling (she knows how to spell a lot of those words that she messed up on) but she spelled Gustavus right on the first try (despite using a lowercase g).

The brainwashing is obviously working.

Jake has friends!!!

Jake's birthday is coming up in one month and the invitations for his birthday party went out last week. We invited all of the boys in his class plus a few friends from outside of school. Today he received his first RSVP from two twin boys that are in his class. They will be attending his birthday party! I'm not at all surprised that it was two boys that he, so far, has not gotten in trouble for hitting, punching, or pushing. We'll have to see how the others reply.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Hannah's report card

Hannah got her Term 1 report card from 2nd grade yesterday. Here is what her teacher had to say:

Hannah is a pleasure to work with! She has both social and academic strengths and has much to offer the class during our class discussions. Hannah enjoys reading both fiction and non-fiction and is able to comprehend what she reads. Writing is an area where Hannah shines. She is creative and her voice really shines through in her assignments. She does need to work on self-editing for punctuation. In math Hannah has great skills but needs reminders to check for accuracy. I'm enjoying my time with Hannah!

Overall Hannah had great marks and we were very proud of her. She even achieved multiple "4's" which is the highest grade they can get (exceeds grade level standards). Fours are pretty hard to get so we are very proud of her. Her weakest area is definitely math and unfortunately she gets that from me. We'll have to work on that one.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Wow. How quickly they turned on her.

What's old is new again

Hannah: Mommy, I really like this new show. It's called Saved by the Bell.

I just laughed and told her that Mommy watched that when she was little too.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

With parents like these.....

Jake was rolling around with me on the couch and I thought I saw something in his ear. Given his history with ticks I wanted to make sure that wasn't what it was. It wasn't. It was just a little wax in his ear.

Jake: Mommy, what is it?

Mommy: Wax. You've got a whole little candle factory in there.

Daddy: That and a whole lot of parking space.

Huh? Try and follow this dinner conversation.

Jake: Hey! I have a plan.

Mommy: Okay. What is it?

Jake: First, we're going to write a letter to Grandma Dena. Then we're going to set a skunk trap. Then we have to jump on the seesaw to throw the pies at it.

Mommy: Hmmm. Okay. And where does the letter to Grandma Dena figure into that?

Jake: We just need to write her.... And tell her.

Hannah's Mock Election

Some of you have asked me how Hannah's mock election went on Monday. Apparently John McCain carried Memorial School by 8 votes. That actually surprised me since Massachusetts is such a liberal state so I decided to do a little county-by-county review of how the grown-ups voted yesterday (as opposed to the children). While McCain didn't carry a single one of the counties in Massachusetts it does seem he fared better in Worcester County (the center of the state),which is where we are, than in any other county other than Plymouth and Barnstable (the South Shore and the Cape). In multiple Massachusetts counties Obama won with 70% or more of the vote but in Worcester County it was 56% to 42%. Plymouth and Barnstable Counties were both 53% to 46%. Obama's biggest victories were Suffolk County (Boston) at 78% to 21% as well as Berkshire County (sharing the border with upstate New York) and Dukes County (Martha's Vineyard) which both showed 75% vs. 23%.

And now 100% of my brain hurts from all those percentages. I never did like math.

Comments

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The beauty of American politics

Obviously if you've read my blog before today you know that I am very happy with the outcome of last night's presidential election. After 2 elections of not feeling that way I could certainly gloat and crow about yesterday's election but I won't. Those of you having heart attacks today and threatening to move to Canada, welcome to my world in 2000 and 2004. But that's the beauty of our system. It goes back and forth. Before Bush we had Clinton. Before Clinton we had Reagan and Bush. Before Reagan and Bush we had Carter. I think you can see where I'm going here.

Our government works because we can make these shifts and changes when necessary. And in general, if you're not happy with the current political state, it will correct itself as necessary. No one individual, or party, is going to ruin America entirely. Even George W. Bush couldn't manage to do that and with only a 27% approval rating I know even some of you Republicans think he was doing his damnedest to run us into ruin.

And as much as I did do a little victory dance that not only do we have a Democratic President-elect but that the Democrats cleaned up in Congress as well, it also worries me a little bit. I don't believe that one party should be entirely in charge. But that was up to the people of America and Congress can't even be blamed on the electoral college. The people of each state put who they wanted into Congress (and kicked those out that they no longer wanted). And I fully believe it will correct itself. It ALWAYS swings back the other way eventually. A few years ago the Republicans controlled both the White House and the Congress....look where they are now. The same will happen with the Democrats.

This country, and our government, was designed to self correct. It was also designed so that we CAN fight back and forth for what we believe in and still function as a country. That's the beauty of it.

Whether you think the Bush years were a "dark" period in our history, or you think the Obama years will be, our country has been through dark times in the past and we've always come through on the other side. The key is to learn from the past. As the famous saying goes: "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." I feel that is where we are now. The charges of "socialism" and "Marxism" against Obama seemed a little too McCarthyism to me. Do we really want to go back to the days of people being blacklisted and the House Un-American Activities Committee? The female politician from Minnesota who said that all elected officials should be tested for their patriotism was just a little to close to that for my liking.

The same goes for discrimination - we need to learn from the past. Men used to be "better" than women and we fought past that mentality and admitted we were wrong about that. Whites used to be "better" than blacks and we fought past that mentality and once again learned we were wrong. Let's learn from history and just jump to the end of the story this time. People should not be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation. The fact that a number of ballot questions passed yesterday discriminating against people for their sexual orientation is very disturbing to me. Have we learned nothing from history?

The good news for me is that I'm straight and happily married and enjoying the benefits of such a union. How long it takes this cycle to play out doesn't have much impact on me. But it does on my friends. And I firmly believe that some day we will eventually learn that we were wrong once again when people believed that straight couples were "better" than homosexual couples. The generation that is being born right now will hopefully grow up without these prejudices. Hopefully they will someday look at discrimination against gays and lesbians the way that my generation looks back at societal discrimination against women and minorities - as a thing of the past. And they will shake there heads and wonder "how the heck could society not see that they were wrong to discriminate?"

I will close this political essay (one that I never intended to be quite so long) with a conversation that I had with Hannah at dinner prior to her school's mock election the other day. It's a conversation that gave me great hope for this new generation.

Mommy: No matter who you vote for in an election it is always important to vote. You want everyone to go out and vote - even if they don't agree with you. It's important that everyone have equal rights under the law and an equal voice no matter if they're a man or a woman or black or white or latino or asian or gay or straight.

Hannah: What's straight?

Daddy: Straight is two people in a relationship that are a man and a woman. Mommy and Daddy are straight.

Mommy: Gay is a man and a man or a woman and woman. Mommy's friend Melissa is gay. She has a girlfriend.

Hannah: Oh. Okay. Can I have dessert now?

That's right. To her the idea of someone being gay is completely natural. It's not strange or unusual. It's not right or wrong. It's just another lifestyle that is different from hers. This conversation then went on to discuss how years ago it was illegal for blacks and whites to marry. This hit home with her because some of her favorite people in the world, the Walker's, are an interracial couple. I explained it is now the same for gays and lesbians.

I will now get off my political soapbox but to circle back to my point at which I started....for you Democrats out there: Congratulations! We got the change we wanted. Now it's our job to make the most of it. For you Republicans out there, the government won't collapse with Obama in the White House. If he succeeds our country just might be in a better place. If he fails, we'll vote him out and try again. That's the beauty of American politics.

Like Father Like Daughter

Mom informed me that Dad had two TVs stacked on top of each other last night just like the old days. Here was my set up. I had CNN on the small TV, Fox News, and MSNBC on the dual-tuner tivo, and four sites up on my laptop (CNN, MSNBC, WHDH, and Karl Rove's site).


I have to say it did end up giving me bad dreams last night. I couldn't sleep because all I could see in my dreams was the revolving programs with the scroll bars at the bottom and the side bars with the state info changing and the different commentators rotating around and around in my head. It was a little creepy - talk about media overload.

I have to say, I was a little disappointed in the Fox News coverage. Not for the usual reasons though. They were so defeatist. Fox usually blusters it's way through anything no matter what but they pretty much packed up the party and went home early in the evening.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

The Super Bowl, Academy Awards, and Olympics all rolled into one

Back in the day before dual-tuner tivos, picture in a picture televisions....and to be honest, before we had a TV with a remote control that allowed changing back and forth between channels....I seem to remember my father stacking two TVs on top of each other to watch multiple football games on a same day.

Tonight is my night. Lincoln is bringing down one of the upstairs TVs and hooking it up for me next to our living room TV. That way, between the two TVs and the dual-tuner on the tivo I can watch 3 stations at the same time. I'm thinking CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News (gotta keep an eye on the competition after all).

In a nod towards foreign policy we're having enchiladas for dinner tonight but in light of the patriotic activity being performed today I will be drinking a nice domestic chardonnay while watching election coverage.

So Sad

I've got MSNBC news coverage playing on my laptop while I work today and Luke Russert is currently reporting. I LOVED Tim Russert and I miss him terribly. Whenever anything political happened in the past I'd always tell Lincoln the next morning that I had to go turn on the Today show and "see what Timmy had to say". He would have loved this election - like he did every election - and it's sad to watch the coverage without him. I still remember his infamous white wipe board that he used in 2000. That thing had me fascinated for hours in November 2000.

I miss you Timmy.

I love living in a small town

I'm always entertained when I go to vote in Upton. When I give my name I never know what kind of response I'm going to get. My in-laws have been very active in town politics over the years and my brother-in-law and sister-in-law have older children so they've been around the school system for awhile. Overall my husband's family has been living in Upton since the late 1960's.

At Voter Check-In:

Me: Hi. I'm Diane Snow.

Volunteer: Oh hi! Are you Kyle Snow's mother?

Me: Nope. That's the other Diane Snow. Kyle is my nephew.

Volunteer: Oh. Here's your ballot.

At Voter Check-Out:

Me: Hi. I'm Diane Snow.

Volunteer: Hi! You're Lincoln's wife, right?

Me: Yep.

Volunteer: We've had this conversation before, haven't we?

Me: Yep. Every election. Good to see you again.

Volunteer: You too. Have a great day.

The funny thing is this conversation doesn't only take place at the polling station. I get this a lot. Most recently when I was asked to show my ID buying beer (yes, at the age of 31!!!) at the liquor store.

Cashier: Diane Snow? Which of the Snows are you related to?

Me: All of them. But I'm married to the youngest one.

Cashier: Oh Lincoln! That's great. His mom and I used to do Bloomer Girls together.

As for the political aspect, I don't get that as much anymore now that my in-laws are no longer as active in town politics but this is generally how that conversation goes.

Townie: Diane Snow? Are you related to Bob Snow?

Me: Yep. He's my father-in-law.

Townie: I love him. I see him at the town meetings all the time. He asks great questions.

OR

Townie: Diane Snow? Are you related to Gail Snow?

Me: Yep. She's my mother-in-law.

Townie: Oh....and how is that?

Gail is a real firecracker and she's a bulldog when it comes to people trying to move in and over-develop Upton. People don't always agree with her but she definitely stands up for what she believes in and I think Upton is better off for it.

But not to let you believe I don't have my own identity here in Upton - slowly but surely I'm starting to get my own local acknowledgement. Mostly from people with young children because my name is all over everything for the PTO and the Upton Moms.

Me: Hi. I'm Diane Snow.

Other Mom: Oh! Wow. Finally a face with the name. I see your name all over the place. It's nice to meet you.

That actually freaks me out because you never know what this person thinks of you or what they expected before they met you.

But my favorite small town acknowledgement is when I go back to Iowa and introduce myself as Diane Snow, formerly Lentz, and they say: "Oh, Danny's youngest! It's great to see you." And that's 20 years after I moved away!

You see, in a small town you can always go back home again.

Today is the day!

It's finally here! Election Day. Make sure you go out and vote. I don't care which side of the aisle you're voting on it is important for every American to go out and vote. Our ancestors worked long and hard to give us this right so make sure you go out and exercise that right! Unless you live in California and you're voting Yes on Prop 8. If that's the case, shame on you you discriminating bastard.

Monday, November 3, 2008

The Meat Raffle - a Photo Essay (do NOT scroll down if you are a vegetarian!!!)

Here are some pictures from the meat raffle that we attended yesterday.


Tracy with her first set of tickets:


Lot #1: (see the two chickens in a bag....we won those)


Beer on sale!:


Lots of fun snacks:


Lobster raffle:


More meat:


Even more meat:


Tracy and Hunter with their meat:


Tracy and Hunter....no meat:

How to get yourself shot in three easy steps

1. Go to a meat raffle at the Rod & Gun club.
2. Tell your friends the story about telling Hannah that Republicans kill puppies.
3. Make sure to tell that story while the man from the ROD & GUN CLUB is standing right there!!!

Oops.

I may not be voting for him but I've got to admit he's got a great sense of humor

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Should I be concerned?

Should I be concerned that whenever I get an international hit on this blog they're linking to the blogs where Jake is either naked or in a swimsuit?

Even Confucius had to pick up his own toys when he was a little boy

Lincoln asked Jake to pick up his toys on the living room floor this morning. Most of them were legos which had spilled everywhere. When Jake complained that there were too many and he couldn't pick them up by himself this was Lincoln's answer:

Lincoln: Jake, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

cue uncontrollable laughter from Mommy

Needless to say it didn't work so we sent Hannah in to help him instead.

Meat Raffle!

Today Lincoln and I are going to a meat raffle. Yes, it's just like what it sounds like. We go with a bunch of other people up to the Leicester Rod and Gun club. They have different "lots" that they bring out and put on a big table in the front of the room. Each lot has about 20 different things of raw meat bagged in plastic baggies. They draw raffle tickets and if you win you can go up and choose whichever piece of meat you want.

I've only been to one other meat raffle and that was the one right before Thanksgiving where they raffle off turkeys. That one was pretty crowded and we didn't win much meat. Tracy went to one a few weeks before that and won about 70 lbs of meat. I'm really hoping for one of those days today. That would really cut down on the grocery bill this winter.

Wish us luck!

A race he will never win

Jake: I'm going to do that when I'm as old as Hannah.

Mommy: You'll never be as old as Hannah.

Jake: Why?

Daddy: Someday you'll be as old as Hannah is now....

Mommy: ....but you'll never be as old as Hannah is at the same time.

Jake: What? Why?

Mommy: When you are 7 like Hannah is now she'll be 10. When you're 10 she'll be 13.

Jake (whining): Why does she have to keep changing!?!

Saturday, November 1, 2008

You would think she would know better by now

Hannah: Mommy, what's for dinner tonight?

Me: I don't know. Go ask your daddy what he's feeding us.

A big success

Halloween last night was a big success. The kids had a good time and they pulled in a decent amount of loot. Lincoln did say that there were a surprising number of dark houses last night. This is the same neighborhood we go to every year and I guess a lot of people decided not to participate last night. You have to wonder....was it because it was a Friday night....or because when choosing between heating oil, groceries, or Halloween candy for random kids it's not that hard to decide what gets cut out of the budget.