Monday, October 31, 2005

Tinkerbell trick or treats us



Tinkerbell trick or treated at our house. She flew around Kyle and left with candy.

Brianna visits

Brianna discovered the Barbie at Papa's office so now they live at the house so she can play with them when she visits. It is odd for her to call Ken and Barbie "papa's barbies".
Mama Beth helps Brianna clean the seeds out of her holloween pumpkin.
Brianna finds one of Papa's shirts and decides to wear it. It will be the new fashion trend.

Sunday, October 30, 2005

French thingy--partie trois

Louis Laulhere, Edmond "Lafayette," Ken, and Repeat all made our trip to France in Orange County a memorable one. Louis and Edmond both offered French lessons to the high schooler we brought with us. Louis suggested that the best way to learn any language is to practice small parts and words often. La Chaise, la table, lampe--all things he pointed to in his lobby as we were leaving. Edmond was the host who sat us at our table. He came to the US on November 11, 1955, 50 years ago next month.

Ken is a student at California State University, Fullerton with two majors and two minors. He was excellent at making conversation. Even though we thought his hair style might have been the result of either an horrible accident or mere neglect (he just finished mid-term exams), he assured us that he worked very hard to make it right.

Trying to be funny and avuncular, as usual, I asked Daniel after dessert, if he wanted anything else, like port in front of our second waiter "Repeat." Since Daniel said "no" I told Repeat that we were done. But, Mr. Repeat came back a moment later with some vintage port which he poured into a tiny stemmed glass. Daniel and I both agreed that it smelled something like vinegar.

Daniel and I examined the bill, did the math to leave an appropriate tip, and that was our fun French evening--soirée française.

Who'd like to join us on our next adventure?

La Vie En Rose

Last night, Daniel, Glen, and I dined at the finest French restaurant in Orange County, so they say. We used our Entertainment card and received an entree for free. The menu items were in French, with (thankfully) English subtitles. Daniel was such a good sport with it all. I had a great time. The restaurant is modeled after a farmhouse in Normandy and they boast a pastry chef who creates fresh desserts daily. I had a Napoleon, and Glen and Daniel each had a fruit tart of some sort...colorful. Mmmm. It is nice that Daniel is taking French and we therefore had an excuse for a culinary adventure together. I did not eat the pate [insert accent over the e]. Not as brave as the guys.

La Vie En Rose

Last night Oncle Glen et Tante Cindi took me to La Vie En Rose restaurant in Brea. They told everyone that I took French in high school, and the owner offered to tutor me. The waiters' service was just as good, but hearing that rabbits they served "were cooked in their own juices" was a little gross (among other information on cooking). It felt as though I should have been driven there in a BMW or a limo because of the waiters and the prices as Tante Cindi said, "were a little different from what I had looked at."

From mon oncle's plate, (for the entre'e--this isn't a Mac) I had some pahtay (no, not pig latin, this just isn't a Mac), which is something ma grandme`re would be proud of me eating--some kind of animal's intestine, and it was pretty good.

Mon oncle joked with one of the waiters, to which tante Cindi replied, "you want to eat alone?" It was fun, though.

(This post is part of a contest, so we'll see if the others pull through.)

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Did someone lose this crane?


The image here doesn't really do justice to the size of this thing that parked in front of our house the other morning before dawn. I think it was intended to install a big post for the power company further up the hill and couldn't proceed because the street narrows in the next block. The thing was longer than the width of our lot and tall enough to brush against the tree branches.

This squash is jammin!



The cd technology is so yesterday. When do squash get a iShuffle?

Monday, October 24, 2005

David and rob visit

no pictures... rob and david visited us this weekend. it was great to see them and have time with them. their relationship is fun to watch and the camaraderie lead to laughter that filled the house.

Friday, October 21, 2005

Visiting College Friends in New York

I flew to Rochester, NY, yesterday (thanks to frequent flyer miles and Glen's business travel) on bankrupt (but on time) Delta. My cousin, Leslie, picked me up. I have not seen her since 1992. We spent a few hours, and shared dinner, at her home. Her husband, Mark, joined us later after rehearsal. He conducts/teaches the woodwinds at Eastman Kodak School of Music. Talented guy. Leslie works at the school, too. Nice time catching up.

Today, I am heading for The Mirbeau Inn/Spa in Skaneateles, NY (sort of pronounced like Minneapolis with a "Sk" instead of an "M" at the beginning) with one of my close friends, Dorothy, from Wheaton College ('73-'77). Another of the close friend bunch, Sue, is meeting us there. She is driving from near Newark, New Jersey. Skaneateles is in the Finger Lakes resort area of the state, near Syracuse. Our fourth friend, Cindy (Grand Rapids), was unable to join us.

We are celebrating reaching the milestone of 50 years old. We are all vintage 1955 babies and this is the milestone year for the group. We will spend time relaxing, snacking, reflecting on the college memories, sharing growth and struggles of recent times, laughing, and exploring the quaint town area. We may soak our feet in the spa foot soak (the only free part of the spa). Then we return to Dorothy's home for Saturday night (going for the budget friendly lodging for night #2!). Oh, yes, and there is English Tea scheduled for Saturday at "Grammie's" in Skaneateles. Here's to Chicago, the Doobie Brothers, the Eagles, America, and all the memorable music of the early 70's that wraps our memories in song! Good friends from the past are sweetness to my soul.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

More on Career Choices...

monster.com suggests a change of career for me to meteorologist, police detective or primary care physician (a little late in the game for that). Nothing about teaching.....a change sounds good just because the "going to school" part is something I'm good at. Maybe Starbuck's is hiring:-)

Monday, October 17, 2005

Career Choices

Rob says we aren't blogging much. So this is what the survey at Monster.com says about my carreer choice.

Glen, based on your responses, your top career area is Business Relations

Careers in this field often demand that you possess keen observational skills and shrewd thinking. Being successful in this area involves anticipating your opponent's goals and client's needs. Most likely, you enjoy the challenge of quick thinking and taking calculated risks.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

saying anything

ummm...
so there's these new nametags at polly's. at first, about a month ago, they asked us what our favorite pie was, and we were all mystified about why they cared to know this, then word spread that they were going to put our favorite type of pie below our name on new name tags. i said that my favorite pie was marionberry. but what happened, was that they decided to just send us nametags with random pie names on them, regardless of whether or not we enjoy consuming the variety of pie that is stated below our name on our nametag. mine says rob, and below it, silk, as in "chocolate silk." however, at this point, customers just get a complete chuckle out of saying aloud "rob silk." so i have taken to declaring that rob silk is indeed my stripper name, which often draws puzzlement and crickets from the pie-loving americana. i'm not a stripper, just to be clear. support the troops. drink coke. watch bill o'reilly. more importantly, pray for peace. see you all later...

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Welcome back!

"People cannot discover new lands
until they have the courage to lose sight of the shore."

--Andre Gide

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