Morning Reward

Sometimes, there is an extra reward for getting up early in the morning. This morning, for example, I was treated to the most beautiful of eastern skies when I stepped out to let Tighe outdoors after his breakfast.

I've been enjoying time in my workshop recently. There has been a list of projects that I've wanted to do for some time. Some were just for me, while others are things my kids have asked me to work on. In the former category is this oak music stand that I completed about ten days ago. I've had the plan for some time. It intrigued me because of some of its construction features–I like trying new techniques and methods. The stand is fully adjustable, with pegs that control height and tilt–I turned the handles for the pegs on my lathe. I've not decided what to do with the stand now that it is complete. Of course, I could give it to one of the grandkids, but I've also thought off and on of continuing to work at learning the guitar. If I did that, I could use the music stand myself. Time will tell! I'm working on more fun things that I may share in a future posting.

Thought I would also share with you that I just finished an excellent book called Pillar of Fire by Taylor Branch. This is the second in a trilogy of books devoted to the history of America during the Martin Luther King years and the civil rights movement. A good friend recommended the trilogy to me, and it has been well worth my time. I'll read the final book sometime later this year I think. Reading this one and thinking back to the years from about 1963 to 1965 that the book covers, when I was an undergraduate here at Iowa, really brought me to thinking about all the constructive activism and political process that was going on at the time. It doesn't feel like we are able to do that anymore. All of us Iowans are completely exhausted by the approaching presidential caucuses. For many of us, myself included, there seems to be only bashing and anger and name calling and very little constructive dialogue upon which to make a choice. At this point in my writing I could easily veer off into opinions and expressions of disgust with the Republican party, big money interests in politics, gun control, immigration, religion, and on and on. However, the day started with that beautiful sky and lifted my mood, so I'm not going to go there.

Maia's Birthday

We were in Minneapolis this past week to visit Jessica's and Will's families and, most especially, to celebrate Maia's 5th birthday. Leo and Maia were quite happy to see their Nana once again. She has FaceTime sessions with them often, but there is nothing quite as good as being in her arms.

On Tuesday, Anders' school was not in session. Since his parents had to work, we took the opportunity to host him for the day and to include him in a play day with Maia and Leo. Will and Sandy brought Anders to work with them (General Mills), and I met them there. We even enjoyed a nice breakfast together in the employee cafeteria. It was fun to see Will's and Sandy's workplace. General Mills is celebrating 150 years of being in business in 2016, and there were banners and displays to commemorate that milestone.

Once Anders and I got back to Jessica's home, Maia was allowed to unwrap the presents we got her. (Leo got one too, just to keep all possible smiles in place.)

Nana had picked out lots of new clothes for her, including a new winter jacket. Maia seemed to be looking for some new Barbie accessories and was rather ho-hum about the clothes at first. Fortunately, there was a Barbie toy in the last package.

Because the weather was so cold (about -5º F; -20º C for those living in a country that uses sensible measurement systems), we took the kids to a wonderful indoor playground, which had a large room full of balls, hoops, rolling toys, a bouncing cage, and basketball hoops. The kids ran and ran, and we all had a great time playing with them and watching. Leo knew about twirling a hula hoop, and he did manage to get it around a time or two.

He also loved the basketball setup, with low rims, where I could lift him up to do a slam dunk.

Anders and Maia got in lots of shots too. Sorry for the fuzzy action photo.

There was also a colossal maze/treehouse/slide system. The children in it were well protected with netting and padding. I know that all of Anders, Maia, and Leo were in there somewhere, even though you can't see them in this photo. I did manage to catch sight of Anders at one point.

In the evening, everyone got together to celebrate Maia's birthday at a hibachi restaurant for dinner. This was one of the more entertaining hibachi restaurants I've ever visited. The kids were all big-eyed while watching the cooking and the chef's tricks.

Enough fried rice to feed an army.

The birthday girl was very excited.

Knowing it was her birthday, the restaurant staff turned on a ceiling-mounted, multi-colored disco light; brought out a special mask for Maia; played drums and other instruments; and sang not-the-usual birthday song to her. At first I thought she might be frightened of the mask, but she was a good sport about it and looked very cute. She laughed at the pictures I was able to show her.

Later, there were birthday cupcakes and a number 5 birthday candle!

On Popular Request

 Ok, already! Certain individuals have noticed that I have not blogged in awhile. I attribute this to my annual wondering about whether to continue. Also, I'm usually driven by the photographs I take, and I've not been good about taking photos lately. In spite of the many people who tell me they love the photos they can take with their cell phones, I find that I am always dissatisfied with the quality of pictures I get with my phone. This may be because I do not operate it as a camera well, but I still vastly prefer the pictures I get with one of my regular cameras. I just need to start making sure I have same with me from now on. My not blogging may also be because I've gotten a bit lazy. Anyway, after some prodding by several of you, my evidently faithful readers, here is a potpourri of pictures and comments about recent events for you here in the "What's Up With Bill and Kathie" blog.

In early December, just a few days after we returned from being in Colorado with Travis for Thanksgiving, Kathie and I flew to Las Vegas for a few days. We stayed again at the Aria, a hotel and casino we had visited two years before and liked very, very much. The accommodations are great, and the atmosphere and amenities make for a comfortable and somewhat quieter visit than we have experienced at other locations.

We saw two good shows while there. One was the Penn and Teller comedy/magic show, including their making a Holstein cow disappear from the stage (Dad would have been impressed!). The other was Reba McEntire with Brooks & Dunn. The National Rodeo Finals were in town, and this show clearly appealed to that crowd. We heard lots of great music in the show, but we clearly had not gotten the memo about the dress code. Nearly every guy there was wearing a cowboy hat––we had already noticed lots of these hats when we landed at the airport. Here is Kathie attempting to win some money. Neither one of us brought extra money home this time, I'm sorry to say.

In middle December, Rob and I took Penny and Eleanor to a holiday open house at the Hawkeye Model Railroad Club. They both love little scenery kinds of things, having toys along those lines. Of course, there were lots of interesting, Iowa-related scenes for the HO trains to pass through. Seeing all of this also inspired me to start working on my HO collection here in Iowa! That way I can tinker with electric trains both here and at the lake.

Will, Sandy, and Anders were here the weekend before Christmas. They gave us a puzzle of the state of Wisconsin, which we promptly put together. I say promptly, but in fact it was a challenge. It was one of those puzzles where the picture on the box and the puzzle itself are not quite the same. So using the box picture to guide assembly can be a little deceptive.

When Will's family was here, we invited Rob's family and Carrie's parents to join us for a soup supper. On the Friday before, we had been looking forward to attending Eleanor's winter sing event at her school. Unfortunately, she was ill that day and couldn't participate. However, during our supper conversation, we hatched the idea that Eleanor could give us a solo presentation of some of the music. She even made a program for us, which I photocopied for everyone. Then we put a cheery fireplace scene on the TV, and she performed her songs. She has a lovely, sweet voice, which we all enjoyed.

Anders and Penny were not to be left out!

Betsy's family was here between Christmas and New Years Day. So we had a second gathering of family then. Carrie had suggested I make the girls some keepsake boxes as gifts. Here are the ones Penny and Eleanor received.

Then about a week ago, we traveled to see Betsy's family and to attend Clara's golden birthday––she was 8 on the 8th!

Finally, last night we went out for dinner with our friends Gina and George, who we had not seen in some time. Here we all are at Orchard Green.

Whew! I think that generally brings things up to date. I'll try to get back into the swing of things, taking more pictures and posting here again more frequently.