Thirteen

It is hard for me to believe, but my baby is now a teenager. Wasn't it just yesterday that I was thirteen years old? Time certainly does fly by quickly!

Jacob got to open birthday presents just two days after Christmas. This is definitely his favorite time of the year!

A whole group of us went to "Dave and Buster's" - a restaurant/arcade - on Jacob's birthday. Adam saved us a ton of money by not playing many video games while there.

Jim and Jacob played lots of games. Notice Pattye in the background raking in some prize tickets herself.

Everyone generously gave Jacob all of their "Dave and Buster's" game tickets so he could trade them in for prizes in the "Winner's Circle" store. He got a t-shirt, a hat, a lamp, a bank, etc. He made out like a bandit! It was a great birthday!

Christmastime

Christmas this year was very merry for our family. On Thursday evening we opened some gifts at my mom's house, then went to the late night service at our church. On Christmas morning, we found full stockings hanging on our mantle, and unwrapped the rest of the presents that were underneath our tree. Irma made dinner for our group of 20 or so in the afternoon, and afterwards we entertained ourselves with another exhilarating game of Taboo - guys vs.girls. (Finally, the girls won! Yay!) Some of us topped off the night by attending a showing of "Alvin and the Chipmunks - The Squeakquel." Cute movie! Unfortunately, I did not remember to take pictures during any of our holiday festivities this year, even though I did have my camera with me. Tomorrow is Jacob's birthday and we are celebrating at Dave & Buster's, so I will be sure to snap some photos while we are there.

Schussing

We took a mini ski trip to northern Michigan from Sunday to Tuesday this week. Our friend, Tree, and her daughter, Emily, went along with us. Emily had never skied before, and was quite scared to try the sport. She had reiterated for weeks prior to the trip that she absolutely did not want to go, and most definitely did not want to ski. As it turned out, she had nothing to be nervous about because she took to the snow like a natural-born athlete. After making several successful runs down the bunny hill, Emily proclaimed, "Well, I can't say that I hate it!" Before long, the newbie was up the chairlift and schussing down the slopes with an amazing amount of confidence. Hopefully she enjoyed it enough to join us again next time!

Jacob rode up the lift between Adam and Emily. Adam always warns Jacob to give him enough space on the chair, so, in an attempt to appease his brother, Jacob cozied up to lucky Emily instead.

The boys on a scenic trail.

Me in my chic new helmet. It is actually very comfy. And warm.

House for Sale

Our house will officially be on the market beginning Friday evening. The realtor is coming over to take pictures, install a lock box, and have us complete some paperwork. Jim and I have been working our tails off in an attempt to make the place look halfway presentable. I still have some major de-cluttering and dusting to do before the agent arrives, but all in all the house looks ok.

An automotive transport company is also swinging by today to pick up Jim's car. His company is paying to ship the Civic to Texas. And really, they must send it by ship or some other very slow method of transportation, because it will not arrive in Houston until December 30. We are not allowed to keep any personal items in the car, but we are going to be rebellious and put a few things in the trunk. We'll see if they notice.

As far as our saline/chlorine pool issue goes at the Texas house, our realtor has apologized profusely and taken complete responsibility for the error. He alleges that the owners at some point told him that the pool was saltwater, but the sellers claim that they never said any such thing. We found it a bit strange that the homeowners did not question and/or correct our realtor's sales flyer, which clearly stated "SALINE Pool" - yes, in caps like that - but we are not going to worry about it now. (Although we probably could insist that the sellers switch the pool over to saline because it is written in our sales contract as such.) When I questioned our pool guy last week about the likelihood of our exposed pool pipes actually bursting in the event of freezing temps, he admitted that it would take about 5 or 6 hours of below 32 degree weather to damage them. The big problem is apparently not with the pool pump & filter, but rather with the heater, which has smaller copper pipes that are more vulnerable to low temperatures than the larger plastic ones. Fortunately, Houston has had seasonal conditions lately, with lows in the 40s and 50s.

Hip Hop Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Life in Texas

The weather here in Houston has warmed up considerably since our arrival last Friday. The cool temperatures did give the Texans a chance to wear their scarves, hats, and gloves, though. Evidently, they do not have much experience with winter clothing, because they all leave their scarves, hats, and gloves on while inside stores, restaurants, etc. I couldn't believe how many gloved hands I witnessed pushing shopping carts through WalMart, Home Depot, Target, and Lowes the past few days. Odd. Obviously, Jim, Jacob, and I do not consider 50 degrees to be cold, so we have been wearing t-shirts and flip-flops. We assume that everyone here thinks we are freaks. On Tuesday, the temp rose into the upper 70s, so we opened our windows and used our pool. It was wonderful to feel such balmy air outdoors in December!

While in the backyard yesterday, I smelled gas every time I walked near the gas meter. When I put my nose right up to the pipes, I knew that there had to be a leak. I went inside to call the gas company, and realized that I had no idea who supplied the gas to our house. I called Jim and he had to look up the name of the company. Long story short, the gas man was over in about a half hour, found the leak, checked all of our gas lines, repaired the leak, and left.

Our pool guy came over in the evening to give us a crash course in pool maintenance. (I actually took notes.) When I questioned him about the specifics involved with operating a saline pool, he just stared at me blankly. To make another long story short, he assured us that our pool was indeed a chlorine pool and not a saltwater one. Huh? We showed him the sales flyer which clearly stated that the pool was saline, and he was as surprised as we were. We have been in contact with our real estate agent and he, in turn, has been in touch with the sellers. When we get to the bottom of this story, I will post it here!

Someone Messed with Texas

Jim, Jacob, and I arrived in Houston last night. We had heard dire warnings all day about a rare snowstorm ravaging southern Texas. I must admit that I was a bit disappointed to find only a dusting of the white stuff when we pulled into the driveway around 7:30 p.m. To be fair to the forecasters, there was quite a bit more snow south of the city - over 2 and 3 inches in some places. It was definitely cold in our house, though. In fact, the entire Houston area was under a freeze warning. We had to leave our pool filter running all night so the pipes wouldn't ice up and burst - which is something we never thought we would have to think about in our subtropical home. We put on the heat in the house, and fell asleep listening to the hum of all the pool filters in the neighborhood working overtime. The temperatures are supposed to warm back up to normal (65-ish) in the next day or two, and even reach 70 or above on Tuesday. We will enjoy the balmy weather here, then head back to Michigan to frolic in the snow that is predicted to fall there soon.

Jake in the backyard, posing next to a slush-covered chair and a tropical plant.

As soon as we arrived at our house, I rushed to check on my banana tree. It had a bit of snow on it, but seemed ok otherwise.

This morning the banana tree was droopy and brownish. Curse those below-freezing temperatures!

WOW and a Party

Our internet, television, and phone did not work for eleven hours today! Once again I question the value of our WOW (Wide Open West, our service provider) "bundle" package. When everything is operating fine, it seems like a great deal. But when WOW experiences an interruption of service, everything goes out and I suffer from serious computer and tv withdrawal. Luckily, I had plenty of cleaning and packing chores to keep me occupied today, so things weren't as bad as they have been during past WOW outages. I just hope the internet stays on long enough for me to get this posted!

We held our November family birthday party on Sunday. Along with Adam and Nancy, who share a November 30 birth date, we also celebrated Ash's recent birthday. Ash is Jason's girlfriend who conveniently flew to town from her California home just in time to join us for the bash. On Monday, we met Adam and Nancy at the Outback for dinner. After eating, Adam came by the house to open his presents. Unfortunately for him, he has some lengthy homework assignments, several end-of-the-semester projects, and numerous grad school applications to fill out over the next few weeks. That ought to keep him off the streets for a while anyway.

Adam and his pile o' gifts.

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving dinner was held at our home today. Normally we gather at Nancy's house, but this year she flew to Delaware to spend the weekend with her boys and their families. Richie cooked the turkey, I made the side dishes, and lots of people brought pies. The food was scrumptious and we all ate too much. After dinner, our group of 22 enjoyed a rollicking game of Taboo, once again choosing teams in our typical unimaginative and timeworn way - guys vs. girls. The guys built a healthy lead early on and ended up victorious.

Tomorrow it is back to the old grind of cleaning, organizing, sorting, and packing. It was pleasant to take a much-desired day off from moving-related pursuits!

Some Yard Pix

Here are a couple of photos taken in the backyard of our new Texas home. Jim did not snap any pix inside the house while he was there, which is just as well since it does need some TLC. We will be back down there in a few weeks and I'll take some more pictures at that time.

A view of our pool. It is a saline pool, which is apparently much less expensive to maintain than a chlorine pool. (And, yes, Jim is delighted about that!)

Look, we have a banana tree - I love the huge leaves! I think the foliage underneath might be weeds, though.

We are Texans

Kind of. We closed on our Texas house on Tuesday afternoon. Jim was there in person. I think that his involvement in the transaction was pretty easy because all he had to do was show up and scribble his signature on some documents. I, on the other hand, sat at the bank for over an hour on Monday afternoon manipulating our financial accounts and shifting money around. I signed all of the papers sent to me from the title company, had them notarized, and shipped them back to Texas via FedEx overnight delivery Monday evening. I returned to the bank on Tuesday morning with the final closing costs and wired the money to the title company's account in Houston. I was skeptical that everything would actually end up where it was supposed to be at the correct time, but, amazingly, all went very well. Jim got the keys to the house and brought a few things there after the closing. He took some pictures, but does not know how to send them to me via the internet. I will be able to post some of the photos this weekend, as Jim will be back home tomorrow.

November 15th

On this date back in 1991, Jim and I sat excitedly in an office, jotted our signatures on scores of forms, and were handed the keys to our brand new house. Now, eighteen years later, we are preparing to put our not-so-new-anymore home on the market. And, if I thought that cleaning and organizing our stuff for inspectors, appraisers, and movers has been annoying, I must say that I do not look forward to shining the place up for potential buyers. Especially because we will have to keep everything sparkling and tidy for any spur-of-the-moment showings. I rearranged our linen closet last night and discovered that we had over 25 sets of sheets hiding in the dark abyss! That makes me a bit apprehensive to begin the purge on the rest of the neglected closets, boxes, and storage areas that hold almost two decades worth of our odds and ends. Yikes!

We are purchasing a house in Texas this week, too. Jim will be in Houston for the closing, but I will have my share of duties to fulfill here in Michigan. Besides handling all of the banking transactions locally, I also have to sign the paperwork that is allegedly winging its way to me via express overnight mail as I type. I will have a few hours to add my signature to everything tomorrow, then drop it off at the post office for its overnight return trip to Houston. Jim has promised to take pictures of the new place after he gets the keys. We do intend to re-carpet and paint before we move any of our furniture there, so any photos I post will definitely be "before" shots. Too bad that November 15th fell on a Sunday this year. It would have been uncanny if we could have closed on our Texas home on the same date that we bought our current house back in 1991.

International Space Station

Ever since visiting NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, I have become quite intrigued by the International Space Station. It is really an incredible research facility whizzing around some 200 miles or so above us, traveling over 17,000 miles per hour. What I find especially amazing is that the ISS is now one of the brightest objects in the sky, and can be seen fairly easily with the naked eye. To find out when the Space Station will be flying over your town, click HERE. The ISS has been a work in progress since 1998, and is due to be completed in 2011. After that, it will stay in orbit for another five years before funding ends and it is scheduled to be destroyed. Some in the science community are optimistic that the ISS will continue conducting experiments and investigations long beyond 2016. I am one of those who hopes that it stays flying for years to come, because, despite my best efforts, I have yet to find the elusive thing in the sky after many viewing attempts. It has flown over southeast Michigan almost daily this month, but, even in clear weather, I haven't managed to spot it. I'll keep looking, though, and if I'm lucky, I will catch a glimpse of it sometime before the ISS mission ends!

The Movers are Coming

Our inspection and appraisals last week were fairly painless. The inspector found a few things that needed fixing, but he advised us to wait until we hear back from our relocation counselor before starting any home improvements. Naturally, we will only repair what is required! One of our appraisers was extremely friendly and chatty, but the other one was all business. Jim's relocating colleagues have received fairly low appraisals - some to the tune of $40,000 lower than anticipated - so we are a bit apprehensive of what ours will yield. We should find out our magic number in a week or two.

Jim's company has also hired a moving firm to haul our stuff to Houston. They have been nagging us for months to allow them to do an inventory of our household goods. I explained to them back in August, September, and again in October, that some of our furniture, etc. will be staying in Michigan and we had not yet decided what will stay and what will go. (Reminds me of a song . . .) We have finally determined what we want in Texas, so I contacted the movers this afternoon. They are sending over a "surveyor" on Thursday morning to record, itemize, and tabulate the bulk and weight of our belongings. I have spent the past hour writing "Do Not Move" on bright neon post-it notes and sticking them on the pieces of furniture that will be going to our condo here instead of heading to Texas. Can't wait to hear how much the movers will be charging Jim's company for their services.

Things That Go Bump in the Night

In the back of our house, we have two sliding doors and two doorwall-sized windows. Over time, birds, bugs, and bats have flown right into these glass doors and large windows, bounced off, and continued on their journeys, no worse for the wear. This has routinely happened about once a week or so for the past 18 years. We hear a thump, glance outside, and see some stunned wayward critter flapping away. On Monday morning, three birds, all within a few hours of each other, crashed loudly into our back window. I was somewhat surprised to hear so many bumps in such a short time period, but didn't think too much more about it. Later that evening, Jacob and I were sitting in the family room when we heard an intense boom. We both jumped up to see what was going on, and noticed that two robins had simultaneously flown into our sliding door - evidently at a very high rate of speed - and had ricocheted onto the deck. With the force of the collision, I was relieved that the doorwall was still intact! Jacob and I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation, and nicknamed the birds "Dumb" and "Dumber." Unfortunately, these particular avian visitors didn't immediately pop up and fly off like their counterparts have always done in the past. One of the robins writhed and twitched in obvious pain until it flopped over and croaked right before our eyes. The other bird loped around on an apparent injured leg, never hobbling too far from his deceased friend. He thrashed about and fluttered his wings, but couldn't seem to get airborne. We were baffled as to what, if anything, we could do to assist, and I tried to reassure Jacob that incidents like this just sometimes occur in nature. After helplessly watching the robin for about 20 minutes, we were happy to witness it miraculously maneuver up into our maple tree. We haven't checked underneath the tree for a bird carcass yet, but we are hopeful that "Dumb" is ok and back in his nest somewhere.

By the way, birds have continued to fly and divebomb into our glass with increasing frequency this week. And, no, we have not cleaned our windows recently. I wonder what's up with that?

Bye-bye birdie.

Halloween

It was a fairly cold Halloween around here compared to recent years. Jacob had intended to wear Adam's old Scottish kilt, but decided at the last minute to switch to his 2008 jailbird costume. Something about it being too chilly to run around outside in a skirt - sissy! Jenna came over to go trick-or-treating with Jacob, and they had a blast despite the blustery weather.

Jacob had to return to the pumpkin patch to purchase a new gourd last week because his original one rotted!

Jen posed with our scarecrow - the same one that used to frighten the bejeebers out of her when she was a little girl.

The Inspectors are Coming

As if we weren't having enough fun organizing and cleaning our home to spiff it up for our upcoming appraisals, we have just been informed by our "relocation counselor" that two inspectors will be coming by our house. Soon. The first pesky sleuth will be over on Monday at one o'clock. Apparently, Jim's company wants to be fully prepared in the event that we don't sell the place and they end up owning it. I am not overly worried about straightening up for the inspector because he/she will be mostly concerned with things like electricity, plumbing, and the furnace. Unfortunately, he/she will probably need to access our attic to check on the roof and insulation. And the portal to the attic is through the ceiling of my closet. And my "walk-in" closet is anything but "walk-in." It is more like "climb-into-and-scale-the-giant-hill-of-stuff." Now I get to spend my weekend attempting to at least make some sort of clearing in the piles of clothes and other junk on the floor so the inspector can position his/her ladder somewhere in there and get into the attic. This reminds me of another time that I had a strangely similar dilemma. See here.

The Appraisers are Coming

Jim and I procrastinated as long as we possibly could on getting our house appraised and up for sale, but the time has finally come to do something. We have been cleaning and scrubbing and packing, and, quite honestly, things don't really look all that much better around here. Jim's company requires that we secure two appraisals that will be averaged together, and we are keeping our fingers crossed that they will be reasonable assessments of the value of our property. (That is the amount we will receive if we are not able to sell on our own.) We were hoping to have a condo by now to move some of our furniture and junk into, but despite making two separate offers on two different units, we have not heard anything back yet. The world of real estate dealings can be frustratingly slow. We have successfully narrowed down our house choices in Texas, but we want to sell our home in Michigan before we make our purchase down south. Jim's company would like him to begin working full-time in Houston in November, so unless he wants to stay in a hotel for a couple of months, we need to get the appraisals soon, put our place on the market, buy a Michigan condo, buy a house in Texas, fix whatever needs updating in both the condo and the new house, and then move. The company will spring for packers and movers for the long-distance relocation, but they do not transport house plants (I have 20) or pets, of course. They will take Jim's car in the moving van, though, so that is helpful. It should be quite an adventure making the 1,200+ mile drive in our other vehicle with my lovely greenery overflowing everywhere, birds chirping in the backseat, and fish water sloshing around. Hope we have room left in the car for us.

I Felt Like a Dimwit

Jacob and I flew home from Houston this morning. Jim dropped us off at the airport at 5:45 a.m. for our flight. We checked a bag, breezed through security, and were at the gate by 6:05 a.m., one hour before our departure time. After I used the rest room, we moseyed over to McDonald's to grab a bite to eat. The Delta/Northwest terminal at IAH was somewhat quiet, as Houston is the main hub for Continental Airlines, and everyone seemed to be at the Continental part of the airport. We heard a few boarding calls for other Delta/Northwest flights, as well as an announcement that someone had left behind something at the security checkpoint. (It sounded like somebody had forgotten their belt. Duh.) At 6:35 a.m., the gate agent was preparing to start our boarding process. I glanced into my carry-on bag to rearrange some items and noticed that my mini netbook computer was missing. Huh? I shuffled everything around, certain that I had picked it up from the bin after it went through the x-ray scanner. I told Jacob that we better rush back to the security area to see if I had inadvertently left it there. The two of us gathered up all of our things and hustled back to the checkpoint, which, fortunately, was not too far away. Sure enough, I had retrieved the computer from the bin, but left it sitting on a chair when I had stopped to put on my shoes. Some nice person turned it in to the security guard, who had made an announcement trying to find me. (Yes, the same announcement that I only halfway paid attention to earlier. Duh me.) I signed some papers, picked up the netbook, and Jacob and I rushed back to our gate just in time to get on the airplane. I have never felt so stupid in my life.

It was raining hard and lightening in Houston as we took off. Our flight was turbulent, and the sky was completely overcast all the way home, even at 35,000 feet. When the clouds finally broke, we peeked outside and saw this. Notice our house in the lower part of the picture!

Adam returned home from Houston on Tuesday, as he had to be in class Wednesday morning. We did find time to show him the beach in Galveston while he was in Texas.

Throw'd Rolls

Jim, Jacob, Adam, and I are back in Houston looking at more houses. We went through nine homes on Saturday, and liked several of them very much. After we were done house hunting, our realtor recommended a local restaurant to us. We drove there for dinner last night. The eatery is called "The Potatoe Patch," and, yes, that is the way they spell potato. The gimmick of the place is that they toss rolls to you from across the room. A waiter walks around with warm rolls and throws one at you if you raise your hand.
Notice the red-shirted guy with the tray of rolls in the background of the picture. He pitched, and Jacob expertly snagged two rolls in mid-air. Jim also caught two, but dropped one as well. (His was not the only roll on the floor!) The food was good and the atmosphere was fun, so I'm sure we will be returning to "The Potatoe Patch" for more "throw'd rolls" (their slogan) in the future.

Dental Issues, Continued

On Monday, I had an appointment with my oral surgeon so he could check the site of my recent extraction. Everything apparently looked wonderful, and I don't have to return there until January for my implant. Yesterday, I spent more time in the dentist's chair - two hours to be exact. The tooth that had the root canal last week was ready for a core build-up and crown. After burning away more of my pesky gum, the dentist proceeded to embed a titanium post next to my new, fake root. He added some sort of dental material that would enable a crown to hold tightly to what was left of my original tooth. Numerous gooey molds were placed in my mouth to make impressions. The dentist and the assistant then worked long and hard to create a temporary crown just the right size and shape for me. They were concerned and unhappy that the temp did not match the color of my other teeth exactly. Honestly, the temporary crown is just that - temporary - and will only be in for three weeks while my permanent one is being made at the lab. I assured them that I loved my temp, as it really does look 100% better than the cracked tooth. I walked out of the dentist office with a three week reprieve, as my next appointment is not until early November.

Autumn Activities

Richie brought Jacob to the Cider Mill over the weekend, and they returned home with fresh apple cider and warm donuts. Yum! Jim, Jacob, Richie, and I made our annual trek to the local pumpkin patch the other day, too. It was muddy as we traipsed through the field, and I actually felt about an inch taller after we left due to the muck that had accumulated on the bottom of my shoes. The farmer had a bumper crop of gourds this year, and each one seemed to be flawlessly shaped. We had an unusually large selection of impeccable pumpkins to choose from, which made it easier than ever to find perfect jack-o'-lanterns. We purchased seven all together and will carve them a few days before Halloween.

The boys borrowed a wagon to carry our stash.

The Plight of Education

While on the road last week, we made a pit stop at a gas station in Arkansas. As I waited for Jacob to finish up in the restroom, I perused a bulletin board that was on a nearby wall. There were notices about upcoming events, flyers advertising local businesses, and numerous postings from people searching for jobs. One in particular caught my attention. Out of the twelve words printed on it, four of them were misspelled. It made me shake my head, astonished that someone seeking work would not bother to double check their ad for accuracy. Instead of ridiculing the writer, though, I just felt sad knowing that this individual must have somehow slipped through the cracks in school. Discouraging.

Hope he or she finds a job.

Root Canal

Today was the day of my endodontic appointment. I arrived at the dentist's office at 12:15 p.m. to discover that not only was I scheduled for a root canal, but I also needed to have part of my gum removed because it had grown over the broken tooth. (And, that will teach me not to brush off the dentist when he describes upcoming treatments to me. I vaguely remember him saying something about the gum, blah, blah, blah, the last time I was in, but I only paid attention to the part about the root canal.) The dental assistant was a bit alarmed that I was oblivious to all of the extra work required before today's endodontic appointment, but I climbed into the chair and told them to do whatever was necessary. After getting four shots of anesthetic, my mouth was totally numb and, as far as I was concerned, they could prod and drill all they wanted. The dentist dug away at the bony structure and ended up cauterizing my gum. The endodontist, who is in the same office building, came over to have a peek, and declared that everything looked just fine for him to begin the root canal. Forty minutes after I arrived, I was on my way over to the endodontist's area. There, I got another shot of Novocaine after I notified the guy that, yes indeed, I could feel his dental "explorer" poking around my tooth. A little over an hour later, my root was removed, the tooth was cleaned out, and I was on my way out the door with a sagging lip and a prescription for 600 mg. Motrin tablets. I took one of the extra, extra strength Motrin, and now that the anesthetic is wearing off, the tooth and surrounding gums feel pretty good. So far. I go back to the dentist next week to be fitted with a post and crown. I still have more dental work in my future, but this particular tooth was so close to the front of my mouth that I was afraid it would break off completely and I would look especially goofy. Glad that part of the procedure is done!

Adventures in Texas

We have spent the last three days looking at houses for sale in the Houston suburbs. And looking, and looking, and looking. We have seen so many homes that our heads are spinning with facts and figures and information. Although the Texas neighborhoods we have been to are quite different than our Michigan one, they are actually quite nice. We are confident that we will be able to find a house around here that we really like.

We took this afternoon off of house hunting to drive down to Galveston. It was (once again) hot and humid out, but the offshore breezes (gales!) kept things tolerable. We liked the Gulf beach a lot and hope to visit often whenever we are in Texas.

One thing that no one informed us about in the Houston area was the outrageous amount of traffic that we would find here. Every hour of every day on every road - the traffic is simply horrible. On the positive side, drivers are not rude or impatient at all, and we never hear any horns honking. Everyone seems content to just sit and wait their turn, as if they don't care what time they reach their destination. Richie became so frustrated while driving through the rush-hour gridlock the other day, that he has vowed not to get behind the wheel again until we are out of the state of Texas!

Jake and Richie walked out on this rocky pier at Galveston.

We enjoy using the HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lanes on the freeways
during the inevitable traffic congestion.

Road Trip

Jim, Jacob, Nancy, Richie, and I hit the road last Friday. We left Ann Arbor around 5:45 p.m. and drove to Carrollton, Kentucky for the night. On Saturday morning we departed our Kentucky hotel and continued on to Tunica, Mississippi. There, we met up with Richie's parents, who had driven over from their home in Missouri to spend Saturday night with us. There are casinos in Tunica, and I managed to turn $10.00 into $31.00 before eventually losing it all. It was a fun place to spend my birthday, and Richie's mom even brought me a chocolate cake for the occasion. On Sunday, we woke up early and continued on towards our destination.

We passed through Arkansas and weren't surprised when we spotted a huge, ugly, brown spider in a rest area bathroom. Arkansas is "The Natural State," after all.

After twenty-some hours on the road, we finally arrived in Texas in the afternoon. Even in late September, the state is one hot and humid place. I cannot stress enough how humid it is here. We drip whenever we step outdoors.

Jim had to work at his Houston office today, so Jacob, Nancy, Richie, and I toured the NASA Johnson Space Center. It was awesome! We saw so many interesting things there, including this mock Space Shuttle where astronauts train for their jobs. My absolute favorite part of the day was seeing the actual Mission Control room where so many historic space flights have been coordinated. (Think "Houston, we have a problem.")

Tomorrow we are going to see what the northern Houston real estate market has to offer. As most of you know, Jim's position with his company has been relocated to Texas. After much thought, debate, and wishy-washy indecisiveness, we have decided to sell our current home in Michigan. With the money from that sale - and, fortunately, the company will buy our house if it does not sell - we plan to purchase a small condo in Michigan plus a house in Texas. Our intent is to spend the rest of this week on a whirlwind house hunting expedition. I'll post pictures of anything intriguing that we come across.

My Teeth

After tolerating an increasingly painful toothache for four days, I finally went in to the dentist yesterday afternoon. It ended up that I had a raging infection in a far-back molar. The tooth had an old root canal and crown on it, so I didn't feel any discomfort until it was seriously decayed. The dentist lamented that the tooth had to come out, and she made me an appointment with an oral surgeon for 7:15 a.m. today. (What is it about the medical field and such early hours, anyway?)

When I arrived at the oral surgeon's office this morning, he showed me an x-ray of my molar. The abscess was so close to my maxillary sinus that it had begun to spread into it. The extraction went smoothly and I had very little bleeding afterwards. I dutifully filled my prescriptions today and iced my cheek regularly to reduce swelling. The pain from the surgery has been minimal - so far, so good.

Besides my scheduled root canal next month on my broken tooth, I also have a new cavity in yet a different molar. It has just recently begun to hurt occasionally, so I hope that fixing that tooth can wait until we return from our upcoming trip to Texas. Please dental gods, give me a break!

Beatles Rock Band

Richie surprised everyone this weekend by purchasing an Xbox 360, plus the Beatles Rock Band game. He now owns the complete Rock Band set-up - drums, guitar, and microphone with stand - and it is so much fun! The best feature is the song list. It contains all familiar tunes that we older folks can easily sing along to because we actually recognize the lyrics. Even Jacob knows far more Beatles songs than I would have guessed. All in all, the new Rock Band game is a big hit, and I'm certain that Richie will enjoy seeing more of us at his house now. Whoever created Rock Band is a genius who cashed in on many people's hidden desires to start up garage bands with visions of making it big someday. I'm sure the inventor is very wealthy now! I wish I had thought of it first.

Birthday Girls

Today Nancy hosted our September family birthday party at her house. The weather cooperated nicely for the planned barbecue. We all had a wonderful time, and I, for one, ate way too much of the delicious food. Laura turned 27, Pattye is now 31, and I will be, um, another year older next week.

Nancy and I spent much of the afternoon trying to convince the newly-engaged Laura that she should get hitched in Hawaii. (Or how about Vegas? Or Mackinac Island? A cruise?) The rest of the family is all on board to travel somewhere for the nuptials. Now, if we can sell Laura & Rob on the idea, we will have ourselves a destination wedding to attend!

Birthday girls lined up with their cakes (and pie).

The Patient

I accompanied Jim to the hospital on Monday for his long-awaited knee surgery. He had a torn meniscus and has not been able to run all summer, which has driven him bonkers. Since his cartilage was "flapping" around inside his knee, he had to resort to walking or biking the past few months. The orthopedic surgeon was finally able to fit Jim into his apparently busy schedule this week.

On Monday morning, we got up at the ungodly time of 5:15 a.m. I know lots of folks regularly awaken at that hour - Jim included - but I could never get used to dragging myself out of bed so early. Jim's arthroscopic surgery was the first one on the day's docket and we were shuffled into pre-op as soon as we arrived at the medical center. I only wished that I had remembered my camera because it is not everyday that Jim is dressed in a hospital gown, baggy surgical shorts, and a funny cap. To make a long story short, the surgery went well and I met Jim in the recovery room where I expected him to be groggy, nauseous, and babbling incoherently, just as he had been after all of his previous procedures. Instead, he was awake, feeling fine, and speaking almost normally. General anesthesia has come a long way since his first knee surgery 20 years ago!

Jim spent the rest of Monday and all of Tuesday obediently sitting with his leg elevated. Today he drove himself to his post-op doctor appointment, where everything was determined to be proceeding as expected. His pain is minimal and he begins physical therapy next week. He intends to go back to work tomorrow, but will have to keep using his crutches for a week or so. By the way, the surgeon also told Jim that he will be able to start jogging again soon, but he shouldn't plan to run any more marathons on his tired, old, arthritic knees. I have been giving him that advice for years, but he never listened to me!

Jim, lounging on the couch. Jacob put the stuffed dog there to keep him company. Notice the trendy Spongebob sleep shorts.

Football Frenzy

On Saturday, Adam planned to come by the house to do laundry and clean out some junk from his old bedroom. He was up late on Friday night, so he intended to sleep until afternoon, then slip out of Ann Arbor after the Wolverines football game began at 3:30 p.m. Since his apartment is only a few blocks from the stadium, he assumed that traffic would be lighter once the game was underway. What he didn't count on was the die-hard enthusiasm of 100,000 tail-gaters many, many hours before kickoff. Adam says that when he peeked out his window at 10:30 a.m., his street was fairly quiet. At 12:30 p.m., the crowds were growing. At 2:00 p.m., when he finally dragged himself out of bed for the day, he saw throngs of people swarming outside. Fans were moseying right down the middle of the street, as it had apparently been closed to vehicles, which Adam's roommate discovered the hard way. Mike - who has probably not been at the apartment during too many football games because he used to be in the marching band and was most likely at the games in years past - had been at the store when the road closed down. He was forced to drive the wrong way down a one-way street in order to maneuver back into the apartment lot. I also found it amusing when Adam told me that cars were parked all over the front lawn of his building. He doesn't know if the apartment management company actually turned the grass into a paid parking area, or if some enterprising young resident just waved people onto the lawn, charged them $50 each, and smiled all the way to the bank. By the way, Adam did manage to sneak out of Ann Arbor around 4:00 p.m. without too much difficulty. He waited until long after the game was over to drive back to the apartment.

It has been a long time since I have attended a college football game, but it seems as if the whole rip-roaring, fun-loving atmosphere lives on. I hope to at least go tail-gating in Adam's parking lot some Saturday this season. I wonder if he'd lend me his parking pass?

New Cell Phone

Recently I ordered a snazzy new cell phone to replace my rather outdated flip phone. The new model has an awesome qwerty keyboard that slides out for quick and easy texting. I have been in possession of the phone since Friday and have sent and received one text so far. If I ever do decide to go text-crazy, though, I will be able to write the messages out much faster than I could on my cast-off Nokia.

Luckily for me, the new phone arrived just as Adam was joining us for our Labor Day weekend trip. He set everything up for me, switched my contact list from one phone to the other, and begrudgingly & impatiently answered all of my questions regarding the phone's features. I just hope that my new Motorola stays trendy long enough for me to become proficient at making calls and sending texts. Mark my words, though - flip phones will probably make a huge comeback now that I no longer use one.

Weekend with the Buckeyes

Jim, Adam, Jacob, and I spent Friday and Saturday nights in Cleveland with our friends, Tree and Emily. Tree has been working in Ohio recently and was able to get her hands on a complimentary room at an Embassy Suites hotel for the weekend. Our trips with Tree and Emily are always full of laughter and shenanigans, and this one was no exception.

When we arrived on Friday, we ate at a car-themed restaurant.

On Saturday, we got tickets to the Cleveland Indians game.

The Indians are Jim's favorite team. He was in awe the entire time.

I was in awe, too, because the Air Force Thunderbirds were in town for an air show.
The jets performed nearby and zipped right over our seats several times.

On Sunday morning, Tree, Emily, Jacob, and I took a scenic train ride through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Jacob relaxed during the 3-hour tour.

Brush and Floss

The other night as I was diligently brushing and flossing my teeth, I felt a good sized chunk of something swishing around in my mouth. I spit (Is there a nicer word for spit? Maybe spewed? Or expectorated?) into the sink and was dismayed to see a piece of tooth in the basin. A quick look in the mirror confirmed my dread. One of my teeth had broken almost completely in half. Vertically. Ick. I knew that the tooth had been developing some tiny chips in it, but assumed that nothing drastic would happen to it before I went in for a cleaning & check up. Wrong!

Jacob accompanied me to the dentist's office this morning. The verdict is that the tooth can be saved with a post, core build-up, and crown. And, a root canal. (It will be my 9th!) All to the tune of $1,865. Fortunately, our dental insurance will cover 80% of the root canal and 50% of everything else. While I was there, the dentist checked one of my other teeth that had lost an old crown recently. That crumbling molar will eventually need either a bridge or implant, which will set me back 50% of $2,500. So two innocent teeth will take around $2,000 out of my pocket. I am trying not to imagine what I might have otherwise been able to buy with that money.

I hope that Jacob is paying attention and learning what even a little neglect can do to your teeth. As I sat in the dentist's chair today, and Jacob relaxed in a seat nearby, I scoffed to him, "Do you know what the dentist sees when he looks into my mouth?" Jacob shrugged and asked, "What?" I answered, "$$ Dollar signs $$." Ugh.

Field of Dreams

Yesterday, eight of us went to Comerica Park to watch the Detroit Tigers battle the Tampa Bay Rays. Detroit won the contest 4-3. On certain days, the Tigers allow children to go onto the field to run the bases after the game. Sunday happened to be one of those days. Jacob has always been eager to take part in this activity, but the line to participate has usually been way too long. This time, he and Jim left our seats before the top of the ninth inning to get a jump on the rest of the kiddie crowd. Adam, Nancy, Richie, Steve, Tree, and I decided to wait in our upper deck section when the game ended to watch the kids on the field and to snap a picture of Jacob rounding the bases.

As the six of us sat there biding our time, an extremely overzealous usher repeatedly informed us that we had to go wait in the lower deck. The testy fellow even threatened to get security if we did not leave immediately. (We did not go, he did not call security.) The entire situation was baffling, not only because in the past we have been allowed to stay in our seats and finish food & drink and chat with friends, but also because in reality, the game had only been over for about 15 minutes. A different, more polite usher, came over to us and announced that it was time for "sweeping." I scanned the upper deck and noted, "Uh, nobody is sweeping up here," to which he replied, "We're sweeping the fans out." (Ha - good one!) The ushers were obviously just doing their jobs to rid the area of fans so they themselves could go home, but I was concerned that if we left our location, we might miss Jacob's base running during our trek down the stairs. We obediently, albeit reluctantly, hurried to the lower deck to see the never-ending line of kids, and accompanying parents, continue to pour onto the field.

After a half hour had passed and we didn't see Jacob, we contacted Jim on his cell phone to ask where they were in the queue. We couldn't believe that they were still halfway around the stadium from the entrance to the field. Where in the world did all of these children come from? Steve joked that someone must have dropped busloads of kids off at the ballpark just for the base running event. Seriously, it seemed as if 10,000 kids had filed onto the field in front of our eyes, and Jacob still had hundreds more ahead of him before it was his turn. Jim quipped that the thousands in front of them must have been standing in line since the fourth inning or something. Base running is apparently a hugely popular activity, and after Jacob had his chance, he proclaimed that it was very much worth the wait. Although we saw hundreds of patient parents and children still in line in the stadium as we left, we happily noticed no crowds or traffic jams outside, as by this time, the game had been over for almost an hour.

Jacob (circled in red) dashes from first base to second.

The Band Plays On

Adam is all settled into his new place. Besides a few glitches concerning his move-in date, his wireless internet connection, and the installation of his U-verse cable service, things have gone fairly well for him. Students are beginning to trickle back to campus for the new school year, which begins September 8, and the neighborhood surrounding the apartment seems to be very pleasant.

Adam's roommate, Mike, specifically chose the apartment location two years ago because it was close to the marching band's practice field. Mike used to be a band member, but has since quit. Adam was aware that the band practiced nearby, but he never expected the brusque awakening that he got on his first morning in the apartment. After going to bed around 3 a.m. - which is actually fairly early for Adam, but neither the internet nor television worked yet - he was shocked to hear loud noises outside shortly after 9 a.m. He peeked out the window and saw the entire U of M marching band's drumline poised and practicing. And, as if the booming, steady beat of the drums did not cause enough of a racket, he also heard a relentless piercing beep coming from some sort of metronome. Adam's fan, which we always thought was hideously loud at our house, proved to be no match for the rhythmic reverberations of the university's drummers. He claims that he managed to get a little more sleep that morning, but referred to the commotion outside as "obnoxious."

Evidently, the drumline continues to rehearse in front of Adam's apartment, but lately they have not begun quite as early in the day. Adam says that when they begin at 2 p.m., they pound away until 10 p.m. You have to admire the dedication of those band members. At the same time, you understand why Mike might have abandoned that whole scene - what a huge time commitment! Once school starts, the drummers will obviously not be able to practice as frequently, which will be a huge relief to Adam. I have always loved listening to and watching marching bands, but somehow I don't think that Adam will ever develop the same type of adoration after this experience.

Cobra's Rebuttal and My Own Folklore

I received an email from my friend, Cobra, after she read my latest post. (See "Faux Folklore" below.) In the post, I professed how disappointed I was when Cobra revealed to me that all of the myth and lore tales she has told me over the years were lies. In her recent email, she confessed that she had not made up the stories after all, but had only said that because I was teasing her about them. So, seemingly, all of Cobra's folklore is indeed true, and, in order to avoid further confusion, I will leave it at that!

One of my own favorite folk tales is one that I read in the Old Farmer's Almanac. The article claimed that cows will stand up when the weather is fair, and will sit down if rain is approaching. There were numerous reasons given for this, but the only one I remember is that the cow may be trying to keep the area beneath it dry. Whenever we are on a road trip and see bovine in a pasture, I always take note if they are standing. If only half are standing, I confidently predict a 50% chance of rain. I understand how Cobra might feel about being mocked, though, because Jim and the boys taunt me and laugh at me every single time I make a cow-guided forecast. I must say, however, that the cows are correct well over half of the time. Can Adam beat those odds?

Faux Folklore

I have always admired my good friend, Cobra. Whenever we are together, I marvel that she is so knowledgeable about legends and myths and lore - particularly those regarding nature. I never hesitate to pass along her wisdom to others, as every tale she tells is helpful and fascinating. Over the years, Cobra has taught me so many things, like if a such-and-such flower blooms early, then summer will be cool. Or if certain insects are prevalent, then autumn will be mild. Or if there is dew on the grass, there will not be any rain for a particular amount of time. And if this happens, then that will occur. And so on and so on and so on. I cannot even recall how many times I have proudly bragged to others, "Of course that story is true, Cobra told me so."

Something happened this summer that totally shattered my idolization of Cobra.

The two of us were sitting outside one evening when I mentioned that one of her folklore weather phenomena was transpiring right there before our eyes. Cobra looked at me and snickered, "Oh, I just made that up."

"Uh . . . what?"

I was certain that she was joking around, as adult beverages had been flowing for a few hours. I reminded Cobra of how many times she had told me that same story, and she continued laughing, "Nope, I really made it up." I then questioned her regarding the numerous other authentic-sounding tales she had told me in the past, and she admitted that she had fabricated all of them. I was stunned. Just how much false information have I innocently been passing on to other people all these years? If any of it ever comes back to torment me, I will just blame everything on Cobra. She is such a convincing fabricator, though, I wonder if anyone will believe me?

Adam's New Place

Adam moved into his apartment on campus today. His friend, Mike, has lived in the place for the past two years with a guy from Ohio. When that roommate moved away, the empty bedroom became available for Adam. We spent the entire day tidying up the bedroom, as the previous roomie was a bit slovenly. After much elbow grease, the bedroom is now in nice shape and Adam has brought most of his stuff to his new digs. We will miss the Rockband game around our house because Adam has relocated that to the new pad. (I suppose this is where I should add that, of course, we will miss Adam, too, and not just Rockband!) The apartment is close to the stadium, and would be a very fun place to hang out on a football Saturday. We might not be able to get tickets to a game, but we could sit on Adam's balcony and people-watch instead!

Sweaty McSweaty

Jacob and I stopped at Office Max the other day and ended up doing some impulse buying. Really, who could pass up a notebook for a penny? Jacob chose five of the ultra-reasonably-priced notebooks and I found a spiral-bound planner that I needed. We proceeded to the checkout and set our six items in a tidy stack on the counter. Both Jacob and I immediately noticed that the cashier was perspiring profusely. Beads of sweat were rolling off the man's face and onto our merchandise. Ew. The cashier began scanning the top notebook and asked, "Do you have six of these?" Before I could answer, he repeatedly passed the hand-held scanner over the bar code of the top notebook. More perspiration trickled onto our purchases. Ew.

Cashier: "You know, you can only buy three of these notebooks at the one-cent price."
Me: "Ok, just leave three on this order and he (gesturing at Jacob) will buy the other two. And, by the way, this bottom one is not a penny notebook, it is a planner." (I pulled out the more expensive planner and placed it aside. The sweaty man looked confused.)
Cashier: "Uh . . ." (He ran the price scanner six times over the top notebook. The register read three notebooks at one cent and three notebooks at eighty-nine cents. I should have let it go at that, as eighty-nine cents would have been a sweet deal for the planner. More sweat drizzled onto our stuff.)
Me: "Could you, um, please take the last three items off of here. First of all, this one is a planner. It costs more. And, he (pointing at Jacob once again) will pay for the last two notebooks." (I wiped some moisture off the top notebook. Ew.)
Cashier: "Uh . . ." (He removed the bottom three items off of the bill and dripped some more.)
Me: "Now, you can put this planner on this first bill. Just leave those two notebooks off." (I separated everything to make it easier for him. He scanned and secreted more sweat.)

I paid for the first order and gave Jacob two cents for the other two notebooks. The cashier scanned and dribbled continuously onto our last two items. He then handed all of our receipts to me and mumbled vacantly, "Thank you, sir." I let out a mock scoff and he quickly corrected himself, "Uh, ma'am."

Jacob, who politely waited until we were outside to comment about the perspiring cashier, said, "Wow, that guy was really sweaty. Super sweaty. Sweaty McSweaty." Now, I could understand a hormonal woman perspiring like that, but a 30-something man? The poor guy was not having a good day.

We wiped off our damp purchases and drove home.

Busted Bunny

I was up much earlier than usual on Sunday morning as I had to drop Jim off at the airport. (He and his new boss from Houston are meeting at their company headquarters in Calgary this week. All I ask is that the two of them come up with an exact date that Jim will start working in Texas so I can more accurately plan the important things in our future - like vacations and such.) Anyway, when I was pulling back into the driveway around 7:30 a.m., I saw a rabbit sitting in the middle of my flower bed greedily munching on what is left of my blue verbenas. I attempted to stealthily grab my camera and snap a picture of the little devil, but it took off like a shot as soon as it heard me. Apparently even the expensive rabbit repellent - appropriately named "Scoot" - that we spray on the annuals is no match for the wicked varmints. I am thinking that perhaps next year I will just resort to plastic flowers, which would save both money and aggravation.

The Tutor's House

Jacob recently started working with an academic tutor who specializes in teaching dyslexic students. She lives in a beautiful Victorian-style house that is filled with lovely antique furniture and vintage knick-knacks. When we walked into the tutor's home for Jacob's first lesson, we noticed some unusually loud tick-tick-ticking sounds. We were also greeted by an old snorting pug dog that we learned was not only blind, but deaf as well. As we nonchalantly glanced around to determine where the clamorous ticking noises were coming from, we saw clocks hanging on all of the walls and sitting on all of the shelves. Many, many clocks. More clocks, in fact, than I have ever seen in one place. The tutor led us into the dining room where she indicated that she and Jacob would work. She handed me some forms to read and complete, so I sat at the table to fill them out. The ticking of the multiple clocks was so obtrusive that I could barely concentrate on what I was supposed to be doing. When one o'clock arrived minutes later, I was certain that the chiming and bonging would never stop. I finally asked the tutor exactly how many clocks she owned and she answered matter-of-factly, "Seventy-five." As the hourly deluge eventually quieted down, we were then confronted by a rhythmic wheeze-grunt-yip, wheeze-grunt-yip racket from beneath the table. A quick glance confirmed that the elderly pug was asleep at Jacob's feet. Between the incessant ticking and the unrelenting canine snoring, I wondered if Jacob would even be able to focus on the teacher's instructions. Though he agreed that the noises were quite distracting, his biggest complaint about the tutor's house has been the uncomfortableness of her dining room chairs. While I did find them somewhat hard, Jacob refers to them as "butt crushers." Since he seems to be getting used to the clocks and the dog, I will just bring him a pillow or cushion to sit on next week, and, hopefully, he will continue making progress with this dyslexia tutelage.

Camping

Last Thursday, we, along with 23 of our friends and relatives, hit the road to the Sleeping Bear Dunes for our annual camping trip. Overall, the weather was nice the entire weekend, with the exception of a two hour downpour on Saturday morning. (I never realized that golf umbrellas were such fabulous devices!) We sat on the beach, went canoeing, ate, drank, and spent time hanging around the campfire. Some of the heartier in our group went on a grueling hike across the sand dunes to Lake Michigan, and back again. The "Bear Hike" is a yearly event that I avoid like the plague ever since I participated once a long time ago. In my opinion, it is a brutal experience that just leaves you in a sunburned, fatigued, aching state. Which is why I was skeptical about allowing Jacob to go even after he nagged me incessantly to give him permission. To make a long story short, Jacob did make the trek with nine others and apparently had no problems at all. In fact, he had a wonderful time. Jacob was the youngest (or at least one of the youngest) to ever complete the hike and earned himself a new nickname - Spike. The weekend was a blast, and was made even better with the return of some friends who have been absent for quite a few years. Welcome back Fatty, Cobra, May, & Hollie!

Jake slept in his own tent again this year.

Muffin climbed a tree.

A nighttime bandit came searching for food.

A big group took off on the 6-hour hike. A few of the wiser ones only went partway.

Texas Y'all

After much speculation, gossip, and innuendo, Jim's company today announced that his position will be relocated to Houston, Texas after the first of next year. We have been anticipating this news, and, with the economy being the way it is, are very happy that they want to keep Jim in their employment, as many of his coworkers are simply being "transitioned out." His company offers wonderful benefits, and since he has been with them for almost 30 years, he has accrued lots of vacation time as well. It wasn't a very difficult decision, therefore, to accept the job transfer, and we are actually even becoming a little excited. Jim's plan is to rent an apartment in Houston, and Jacob and I will split our time between Michigan and Texas. Adam will do his own thing, but I'm sure he will want to visit the Lone Star State as often as possible. We intend to get a two or three bedroom place down there, so hopefully friends and family will feel free to drop in anytime and stay a spell.

I Hate Rabbits

Our neighborhood rabbits are on the warpath again this summer. They have eaten approximately 100 of my lovely quartz blue verbena annuals. The flowers were growing in the bed right next to our front porch, and had recently started to fill out and bloom beautifully. One day they were gorgeous. The next day they were gone. Oddly, the evil creatures ate only the purple-y blue blossoms off the top of the verbenas, leaving the rest of the foliage untouched. Instead of using my old standby rabbit repellents of cayenne pepper, baby powder, beer, or mothballs, I went all out this time. I purchased some pricey rabbit-be-gone spray that gives the yard the essence of an Italian restaurant because it has a rather pungent garlic odor. After spraying liberally for a week now, it is hard to tell if the critters have moved on or not since it will most likely take a while for any new flowers to bloom again. At least the neighbors might think that I am doing some cooking around here, anyway, since a garlic scent is often wafting near the front of the house. If the flowers ever do grow back, I will snap some pictures to post, because all I have now are photos of sad green stems and leaves.

Forty Years Ago

On July 20, 1969, I was on vacation with my family in Michigan's upper peninsula. We had gathered with some other relatives at my Aunt Mary's house to watch a special report on television. Some little news story about two Apollo 11 astronauts walking on the moon. I was quite impressed with our country's accomplishment, and proud that we had beat the Russians to the lunar surface. That was a big deal back then. I remember some company holding a contest, too, where people tried to guess what Neil Armstrong's first words would be as he stepped onto the moon. I recall much hoopla and excitement that night, and over the next few weeks.

One of the most comical things that resulted from the Apollo moon landings was a saying that became very popular over the years. Whenever something went mechanically wrong with almost any item, someone would inevitably say, "Geez, we can put a man on the moon, but we can't make a fill-in-the-blank that works." I have heard these words uttered continuously over the past four decades, and I have even found myself using the catchy phrase from time to time when something has broken down. Apparently rocket science leads not only to great universal discoveries, but to witty expressions as well.