AbFab Geek

Next Trip

2011-05-11T17:53:00.000-05:00

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Traveling to Cap Hatien

2011-03-19T22:43:00.005-05:00

Here is the team before we left.

When we landed in Florida, we had several hours before our next morning flight. We tried to sleep in the airport.

Finally at 6:30 am, we were able to board our plane to Cap Haitien.

Haiti 2011

2011-03-13T09:52:00.002-05:00

I am heading back to Haiti today with some students from Engineers Without Borders to work with Meds and Foods for Kids.

I will try to update this for my family and friends.

The Second Summer Trip

2010-07-09T15:21:00.003-05:00

It is time for my next trip this summer. I am heading south once again. This time I am not stopping in Missouri, in fact I am not even stopping in the US. I am traveling to Mexico.

One of the great things about going to Mexico two year in a row is that I get to reunite with lots of the same people.

It is so good to make good friends and to spend time together. We started off meeting at the Chapel service and gathered for a large group picture.

The other nice thing about returning to the same place is that you know more what to pack. Here Emily is modeling her brand new pink tool belt and her father's hammer with the largest hammering surface.

Side story - Last year as Emily was attempting to nail in a board, she missed so many times in a row that the man running the trenching machine for the crew installing a sewer line, told her to get down, and then he hammered the nail. And no we have not let her forget it.

See ya next week!!

Work Camp - Middle School Style

2010-06-23T18:30:00.009-05:00

For detail on AbFab's trip to Sikeston Check out the official blog.

Our assignment this week was to help out the Missouri Mission . This is a place where men with various problems and addiction can start their life over.

The first task was to knock out the existing counter and drawers that were between the two closets in order to make more closet space. We divided all of the kids and adults into teams and each team was assigned a room.

The man who lived in the room we were assigned to eyed us a bit cautiously. Who could blame him? Nothing like having a group of kids ages 12 to 14 invade your room and start moving your stuff.

Finally we moved everything onto the beds, pushed the beds into the center of the room and began to tape off for painting. Oh and the demolition? Well quickly, I saw the need for some safety rules when two boys started swinging the hammers as hard as they could. I decided we would take turns, three hits and then the the next person could swing three times. I told the kids it was like a pinata. They bought it. The counter and drawers were removed with no injuries.

Finally the paint arrived and the kids attacked (I mean painted carefully).

We painted the entire ceiling and then began painting the walls. My team began with lots of enthusiasm.

This enthusiasm lasted until after lunch, when all the energy was gone. It was a long afternoon.

Luckily the success or failure of any mission trip is never decided on my the first day. By Wednesday, my team was completely different. We started our second room and finished in less than one day what had take us two day to accomplish in the first room. The kids took the lead and I have never been so amazed by a group of kids aged 12 to 14. I was honored to have witnessed the transformation.

Oh and the first resident that we unexpectedly moved in on on Monday, well he made a point of giving the team several packets of Crystal Light and a box of cookies. From a man who entire possessions could be stacked on two beds, the gift was heartfelt and meant so much to all of us.

Here was another Thank you note from another resident. He and his assigned team communicated by leaving notes on his white board.

The week was a challenge for all the kids but especially for the Middle Geek. He finally found a knack for painting and got into the work on the final day.

He also found some great friends, that was his overwhelming response - "Wow, I made some great friends this week."

I was overwhelmed with the attention from the cooks. These two ladies cooked everything from scratch - cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls, coffee cake. I brought all of my own food for the Middle Geek (like I usually do) but they went out of their way to make sure he could eat dinner like everyone else. They even found some So Delicious brand Ice Cream so he could have dessert every night too.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, we were at the last chapel service on Thursday night where we had communion. I am not sure where my mind was - maybe it was the heat or the exhaustion - but I stood up to get in line for communion and realized that I had not gotten any gluten free bread for the Middle Geek. I watched him hang back and sit back down (He hates standing out in any way) when all of a sudden on of the women who had cooked for us all week, is stand right by him with a slice of his bread. She had run back to the kitchen for it.

There was plenty of time to do lots of fun stuff. We had a movie night, and one night we had a talent show. The Middle Geek joined with a group and they played - Lean on Me. Oh yea he rocked the drums.

We also went to a local park and spent one evening at a swimming pool. There were two diving boards so the Middle Geek worked on his front and back flips.

And is anyone curious about my Indian Visa? Well it was approved last Wednesday. This is a picture of me "discussing" the approval.

Yes she told me several times to "calm down".

New Summer Trip

2010-06-12T15:53:00.002-05:00

Because I just happen to have my schedule clear for this week and next (ahem). I remembered that the Middle School Mission Trip was scheduled during the same week.

So I decided to be - that person. You know, the one that calls last minute and says, "Hey I know the sign up for this event is long past, and you have been working hard finalizing your plans, but you know I just happen to be free now and so, can I join you?"

And if that wasn't enough....

"Also the Middle Geek, whom I will be bringing, will not be back in town until later on Sunday, so I will drive us down separate. We will be a bit late, oh that mandatory parent meeting, I will probably miss that, and what is the menu, because my child can't eat anything."

I don't understand why the Youth Misister was not just THRILLED.

But some things are meant to be. So tomorrow the Middle Geek and I will be headed for a week at Work Camp. I will take lots of pics.

And I am trading in a trip to Southern India for one to Southern Missouri.

The Answer: Keeping Busy.

2010-06-12T15:25:00.002-05:00

The Question: So what has AbFab been doing with herself since the unexpected change in plans?

I have been determined not to sit around and mope this week thinking about all I am missing in India. I just had on lapse when Cory sent me a short email (that's all they have been able to do. There is no WiFi and just one computer. When it rains, the electricity goes out.) Anyway he mentioned that the students had asked the engineers to teach - or perform- a song or dance. Cory was hoping they would forget. He did get away without singing, but he told me he go video of Kate and Theresa teaching the students the Macarena. Oh what I would have given to be a part...

But enough.

Last week I was an incredibly lucky winner on Houseparty . I won all of the equipment to do your own canning. The package arrived and it had a large canning pot and all the equipment. They sent me four coupons for free cases of canning jars, fruit pectin, lots of other coupons to hand out, reusable canvas bags. It even had a large flip chart to walk you through the steps of canning. There were also recipes for salsa and pepper jelly.

The idea of these parties is that the manufacturer send you the makings of a party and informally you and your friends try out the new products.

I had never canned before but I love to cook and try new things so this seemed like lots of fun. I decided to make the salsa - I have some frozen tomatoes from last season that needed to be used and some fresh cilantro in the garden. I did not want to make the pepper jelly because while I like it, I wasn't sure that it would be enjoyed by the majority. Instead I went through the recipe book (also supplied) and picked out Strawberry Jam.

So I canned 24 small jars of Strawberry Jam, 16 slightly larger jars of salsa, and because there were three larger jars included decided to try pickles.

The verdict. The Strawberry Jam was awesome and a big hit. The salsa was good but I think needed more salt. And the pickles, oh my the pickles were the best ever. I had some small seedless cucumbers from CostCo. I cut them into wedges and chose the easiest recipe of vinegar and salt and sugar. Then I added one chipotle pepper. I processed the pickles for 15 minutes. The next day I put one jar in the refrigerator because the College Geek and I could not wait (He is a pickle pig.) They were only the BEST PICKLES EVER.

Change in Plans

2010-06-06T14:44:00.006-05:00

So I bet all of you are here looking for some exciting news of my trip to India. I can hear you now, "Why AbFab must be getting on that plane today. I wonder when she will post an update on her exciting trip."

Well unfortunately you all will have to keep waiting for that update.

In a very sad turn of events, I am not leaving for India today. Instead I am sitting in my very own living room typing out this posting. (sob)

To make a very long story short - Out of our group of eight travelers, there were three that did not get our Visas approved by the Indian government. And yes, I was on of the three without a Visa.

That means no trip to India for AbFab. At least not this trip.

I am truly hoping that I can get approval for the planned December/January trip. There is a group that is planning on returning then to supervise the building of the designed toilets. Everyone please cross your fingers.

In the meantime, the assessment trip must go on.

I transfered school supplies that I had had donated for the school we were visiting - along with coloring books and jump ropes - to the students bags.

I also gave them some of the engineering tools for the assessment - Some hand surveying equipment to determine elevations and diffusion tubes to use to measure indoor air pollution. (This will be used in households were they cook indoors on wood burning or charcoal stoves.)

There they are at the airport. I made them pose for an embarrassing picture. I had planned to make them pose in pictures all week so they got off easy.

And there they are --- walking into the airport --- without me ......

World's Biggest Toilet

2010-06-01T13:57:00.002-05:00

I came across this during my toilet research....

Check out this .

It can "serve" 30,000 users each day!

This is quite the engineering feat.

The Middle Geek's Double Down

2010-05-27T07:05:00.003-05:00

KFC doesn't have anything on the Middle Geek. Here he is displaying his very own Double Down*, which he made for breakfast.

*What is in the MG Double Down? Well I am sure you do not want to know. Really, you don't.

Okay, you insist.

First you take one slice of lunch meat. MG prefers bologna or turkey - Oscar Meyer. Then you add a generous amount of Sunflower Butter and Grape Jelly. Cover with a second slice of lunch meat and seal the edges.

Enjoy.

Summer Trip 2 - Mexico

2010-05-23T13:03:00.003-05:00

My second planned trip for the summer is in July and I am going to Mexico.

My church has traveled to Mexico every summer to build houses. Last summer was the first time that I went with them.

The exciting difference this year -- I am taking the Middle Geek!!!

This is bound to be a time for growth for both of us. I am so excited for the Middle Geek to get out of his small suburban life and see some of the wonders and wondrous people that are out there.

I am also glad that he and I will have this week during the summer before he enters High School to spend time side by side.

To raise money for this trip, I organized - with tremendous help of family and friends - an EPIC Garage Sale*. (*quote by Middle Geek) It was lots of work but in two days of sales we raised almost 800 dollars.

This is going to be quite the summer.

Planning for a Busy Summer - Trip 1

2010-05-03T14:23:00.005-05:00

I have big plans for travel this Summer.

First trip in June is India!! Can you believe it?

Our chapter of Engineers Without Borders is starting a new project near Pathanamthitta, India This is the southern part of India. We are going to work closely with a school and a small community of families. The first request that we have had is toilet facilities for the school. Right now the school uses a three walled enclosure for the toilet (number 1 only). The first trip is an assessment trip and we will evaluate which sort of toilet will be the best fit.

How many types of toilets are there?

To start with there are Pit Latrines. You know you dig a hole and put a seat on top on the hole. When the hole fills up, you bury it and dig a new latrine of you shovel it out.

Then there are various composting toilets that may be appropriate depending on the utilities available and user acceptance. There is no sense in building a wonderful composting toilet that no one uses or worse yet, everyone uses but no one maintains.

A water flush toilet even has many choices depending on the water supply and the options of where to send the waste - septic or sewer?

See I told you engineers are wonderful, that think about all your sh%%t so yo don't have to.

We will also be interviewing the poorest part of the community that live in thatched houses. We want to know what is there greatest need in the community, rather it be water, sanitation, better cooking stoves, or rain drainage.

This will be an exciting trip.

What is this Engineers Without Borders?

2010-04-22T10:23:00.002-05:00

For over a year (since my first trip to Haiti) I have been involved with the group Engineers Without Borders. I have never been quiet about my enjoyment about all (well most) thing engineering. I truly think that engineers can make a big difference in the world and there are several organizations that are forming for that purpose.

One of these groups is Engineers Without Borders. It was formed in 2000 by a man in Colorado and this video gives the background.

When you think of how lives can be changed by simple tools of engineering such as water delivery, I believe that engineers morally obligated to move out of our comfort zones and from behind our computers.

The Geek Familiy's Life List

2010-04-19T08:31:00.014-05:00

Our church is beginning a sermon series based on the MTV show - My Buried Life. This led to an interesting dinner conversation where we all started our Life List. (College Geek is at college, so I will have to add his later.)

AbFab's List

Sing in a Gospel Choir

Be interviewed by Stephen Colbert

Go on a Safari in Kenya

Visit Kibeho in Rwanda

Write a book

Mr. Geek's List

Ride a bike from St. Louis to Chicago

Ride across the United States by bike

Ride across Europe on bike

Invent something

Be a grandpa

See the Tour de France

Race an Iron man

Middle Geek's List

Visit Japan

Ride the fastest roller coaster in the world

Become a professional drummer

Go to Disney World

Ride a bike from St. Louis to Chicago

Learn how to do a back flip on the ground

Stay home alone for an entire day

Littlest Geek's List

Get married

Work at the Pokemon Center in Japan

Go to Disney World

Go on a walk alone far from home

Do video games make kids violent?

2010-04-17T09:34:00.003-05:00

The Geeks playing Call of Duty - World at War.

For My Mom!

2010-03-20T15:12:00.008-05:00

On Friday I was honored along with two of my Abfab friends to be inducted into the Women's Hall of Fame at Missouri S&T.

Here we are entering the building.

Posing for the Paparazzi before the ceremony.

Behind every successful women is a handsome man.

The plaques for the Wall.

And one more pose after the induction.

Googling Engineer and Valentine

2010-02-14T08:34:00.003-06:00

And this is what I found

and this too:

An Engineer's Valentine
by Matthew Dalton

I was alone and all was dark
Beneath me and above
My life was full of volts and amps
But not the spark of love

But now that you are here with me
My heart is overjoyed
You've turned the square of my heart
Into a sinusoid

You load things from my memory
Onto my system bus
My life was once assembly code
It's now like C++

I love the way you solder things
My circuits you can fix
The voltage 'cross your diode is
much more than just point six

With your op-amps and resistors
You have built my integrator
I cannot survive without you
You're my function generator

You've changed my world, increased my gain
And made my math discreet
So now I'll end my poem here
Control, Alt, and Delete

Happy Valentine's Day!!

The Blind Side

2010-02-04T15:32:00.007-06:00

I believe that I might be the very last person in the world to see this movie. I tried to be one of the first. Leigh Anne Tuohy, one of the main characters, is a Kappa Delta which is AbFabGeek's very own sorority. Because if that connection I had received an email announcement before the opening. I tried to arrange to see the movie with a few of my AbFab Sorority sisters but our schedules never did line up.

Anyway Mr. Geek wanted to see the movie too - he had heard it was not just a chick flick. Then our church then started a sermon series based on the movie. Sometimes waiting until you have time to do something just doesn't happen. So we just said - tonight- we are going to see it tonight. Never mind that tonight was a Sunday evening - that is a school night.

Then we made another big decision - We decided to see the movie as a family (minus College Geek - he was, you know, at college). This was a big deal. Mostly we only see movies like The Squeakquel- very much kids movies and now we were planning on taking the little geek to a grown up movie (not to be confused with adult movie --ick).

And the response from the little Geeks was .... "Why do we have to go? Can't we just stay home? Can't we go see a different movie?" You know-- enthusiastic.

But we held firm. "You will like this movie", we told them.

"No I won't I saw the preview. I HATE those kind of movies. I think football is stupid."

So we headed to the movies. (I even bribed them each with a dollar if they would just not disturb me.) The little geeks sat in the very first row and Mr. Geek and I sat in the very last row. (Family bonding at its best.)

As you all know by now the movie is wonderful. It has gotten great reviews and several awards so I won't bore you with my review.

What I do want to share was the response of the little geeks.

They were blown away by the movie. During the credits they walked back to where Mr. Geek and I were sitting and began to talk about the movie. The conversation continued as each of them laid down in their bed that night through breakfast the next morning.

Here are their impression: The Middle Geek was ready to search for a homeless person for us to adopt.

Littlest Geek: When he said that he had never had a bed before I wanted to cry.

Not enough has been made about Leigh Anne's husband Sean Tuohy role in Micheal Ohrer's story. The emphasis is on Leigh Anne and her take charge ways. In the following interview, I found out that Sean Tuohy was already buying Micheal his lunch everyday.

But I think Sean has an even more pivotal role in the story. I love the way he looks at Leigh Anne from the car when she is about to ask Micheal to stay over night. I love the way he reassures her when later she is wondering if she did the right thing. I love how you know that none of this story would have been possible if the family did not work together as a team.

Oh yeah and you know what else? I love how Sean Tuohy (and even Tim McGraw) remind me of Mr. Geek and his unwavering support when I make announcements like : I am going to Haiti. I am going back to grad school. I think we should adopt. Mr. Geek, we have a new son . I never have to guess, I know Mr. Geek is in it with me the whole way.

Doppleganger

2010-02-03T17:08:00.010-06:00

Those of you on FaceBook know that last week was Doppleganger Week. You were supposed to find a picture of a famous person that people say that you look like. Then you were to post that picture as your profile picture.

Some of my friends resemble celebrities so much that I had to do a double take on their profile picture. So I wanted to play along. The trouble is that - I have never been told that I look like a famous person. ever. People come up to me all the time asking if I am their neighbor's cousin, cousin's neighbor or child's prinicipal (I actually have gotten that one more than once.) However never has anyone ever said, "You know when you look that direction, when the light is just right, and I squint my eyes - You look exactly like Big Famous Celebrity.

But I did let that keep me from the fun.

One someone had said that Leelee Sobieski in Never Been Kissed looked like me. What do you think?

We are twins separated at birth, right?

SO ANYWAY, while I was looking at images from Never Been Kissed, I saw my perfect doppelganger.....

Josie Grossie!!!

But my nieces didn't seem all the resemblance.

So back to google images. There is one celebrity that I have been told I resemble - the way I speak anyway (oh and the way I dance )

But I was informed -- Doppelganger? No way!

After doppelgange week was over, I came up with the PERFECT match. (Isn't that always the way.)

Oh yeah, from my favorite movie -- Mamma Mia!

As proof during the movie when the following scene played, my friends on either side of me turned and said, "That is so you."

It's a complement right?

I have been distracted

2010-01-19T13:15:00.003-06:00

On last Tuesday, January 12 at 5:14 pm a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck southern Haiti near Port au Prince.

I am assuming anyone reading this already knows this.

Since my trip to Haiti last March, I have kept in touch with some of the people I met on the internet. People like Tara and Troy Livesay . I began reading Troy's almost real time Twitter on Tuesday evening and was horrified by the devastation.

My work in Haiti was with Meds and Foods for Kids (MFK) which is in the northern part of the country in Cap Hatien. I emailed the people there as soon as possible and they had only felt a few rumblings. MKF makes Medika Mamba, an enriched peanut butter, for severely malnourished kids. The number of malnourished kids in Haiti on a good day with no extra tragedy is staggering. About one child out of every four in Haiti under the age of five is malnourished. Think of the kids in your kids kindergarten and picture one fourth of them starving.

The effect of the earthquake on MFK and on the health of children will not be completely know for some time. Look here for the recent news reports from MKF.

Before this tragedy, I was planning on traveling to Haiti over spring break to continue the work that we started last year with Engineers Without Borders. We are still planning this trip but we don't know all that will change between then and now.

One more writing prompt

2010-01-06T14:45:00.005-06:00

None of MamaKat's writing prompts prompted me this week so I dove into her archives to grab a different one. This one sounded interesting.

Write about a time you hid from someone, or a time you disguised who you really were.

Since I already have not followed the directions, I will continue to feel free to decide the subject of my story.

When I was growing up, I was very much a pleaser. I wanted teachers to like me and I did not want to get into trouble. I lived my life very much in terror of getting something on my PERMANENT RECORD that would keep me from getting into college and ruin my life. I also had a pretty strong moral code (for a kid) and just thought that everyone should do the right thing --just because.

Why do I tell you this? Well a couple of times while I was growing up I tried on a different persona. In other words, I pretended to be someone I was not, kind of like a disguise. (See it fits the prompt, right?)

The first one was a time when I was walking around with a girl from school throughout the neighborhood. I don't really remember who the girl was except I remember I did not usually hang out with her. Walking around our neighborhood was very common. I grew up in the suburbs where most mothers kicked their kids out to play each day.

This day the girl suggested, "Let's just sit on the corner." That sounds like an innocent suggestion, but my mother had always said, "Do not hang out on the corner." She never gave any explanation why I was not supposed to hang out on the corner, but I knew the rule, don't do it. Hmmm, don't do it? Why not? We weren't hurting anyone that I could tell and maybe if I hung out I could find out what the big deal was. Oh and the girl that I was with? She said she did it all the time.

So we sat on the corner right by the stop light. It was at one of the busier intersections in my neighborhood and there were lots of cars and people to watch. Sure enough we received several disapproving looks from other mothers driving by.

The second time, I was with my cousin and one her friends at Sun 'n Fun. Sun 'n Fun was a man made pond/ lake with a sand beach (I grew up in St. Louis, smack in the middle of the US, far, far away from an ocean). We would go to Sun 'n Fun almost once a week during the summer.

This time, my cousin had a friend with her. We went to the playground to play for a bit and the friend said. "Have you guys ever played, like pretend?" We looked at her, sure we had played pretend, but the look on her face said this was not about castles and army men. She said, "When someone comes up to play on the playground, you tell them that your parents own it and that they are not allowed to play."

Okay, that just sounded stupid to me, but in a moment that I am not particularly proud of, I just stood there and said nothing. Soon a couple of younger kids came up to play and the girl said, "You can't play here. Our parents own all of Sun 'n Fun and they said that no one is allowed to play on the monkey bars but us." The kids put up some mild protests but they were clearly out matched by three older kids and they ran off...... to get their mothers.

Their mothers came up to the playground (see I knew this was a stupid idea) and said, "What's this about my kids not allowed on the monkey bars?" I remember looking at my feet and the other girl mumbled something. The mother set us straight, "Everyone is allowed to play on the playground!"... and of course the kids played on the playground. We left soon after.

So these were my experience at being a "bad" kid. I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

Engineers save more lives than doctors!

2009-12-07T10:06:00.003-06:00

If you ask many girls what they want to do when they grow up, they will answer, "I want to be a doctor, because I want to help people."

Here is one woman one who is working hard to expand the career choices before girls and young women. Engineering (if done right) can help bring clean drinking water, life saving medical equipment and many other things that impact lives every day.

A favorite Song from 7th Grade

2009-12-04T07:00:00.000-06:00

Verse by verse, dissect a favorite song you had in 7th grade.

I had trouble narrowing this one down. I remember so many songs that I played over and over and over and over..... I am going to try to pick one from my first two albums (When I entered Junior High, I became too mature to buy 45's) - John Denver Greatest Hits and Elton John Greatest Hits.

When I looked through the list of songs online the one that resonated with my 12 year old heart was Follow Me by John Denver. Oh the angst that I went through wondering if I would ever meet my soul mate, my one true love, my all-that. sigh

Does any one out there remember it?

I can't decide if it is wildly romantic or just a bit creepy.

It's by far the hardest thing I've ever done

To be so in love with you and so alone

(Do you hear that - He loves ME!!)

{Refrain}
Follow me where I go, what I do and who I know

Make it part of you to be a part of me

Follow me up and down, all the way and all around

Take my hand and say you'll follow me

(If you love me so much, why don't you follow me?)

It's long been on my mind, you know it's been a long, long time

I'll try to find the way that I can make you understand

The way I feel about you and just how much I need you

To be there where I can talk to you when there's no one else around

(Now you are talking, remember you NEED ME!!)

{Refrain}

You see, I'd like to share my life with you and show you things I've seen

Places that I'm going to, places where I've been

To have you there beside me and never be alone

And all the time that you're with me, we will be at home

(Yes, yes, YES, let's travel and see the world together.)

{As refrain}

Follow me where I go, what I do and who I know

Make it part of you to be a part of me

Follow me up and down, all the way

Take my hand and I will follow you

(Do you see why I love this song? He will follow me, just as it should be.)

An ER Visit

2009-11-25T08:48:00.004-06:00

This week's writing prompt from MamaKat is:

An ER Visit...

I teach safety for a living and I like to use real life examples as illustrations what to do and even better-- what not to do. To be fair I tell a few stories about myself.

One summer night Mr. Geek and I were cooking a great dinner -- Steaks on the grill, asparagus with cheese sauce. yum. I was multitasking, checking the steaks out on the patio and making the cheese sauce in the kitchen. I started melting the butter in a pan, added some flour and was ready to slowly add milk. When I open the refrigerator, the milk carton was empty. I grabbed the new gallon of milk and went to untwist the cap, but the stupid safety ring wouldn't give.

This was where I usually go get a fork and pry off the plastic ring, but I looked down and there was a butter knife right there on the counter. How perfect, I thought, I will use the knife to pry off the plastic ring. It will work just like a fork and I will have one less utensil to clean. Who was I fooling, I was not worried about cleaning up I was more thinking about convenience - I was hungry and I was in a hurry. I did not want the steaks or sauce to burn and I WAS HUNGRY. (Did I mention that?)

I took the knife with my right hand and put it into the plastic ring in order to to then pry it off when with out warning, the plastic ring broke. The momentum that I had carried the knife down to where my left hand was holding the gallon of milk. The knife cut into my left pointer finger (Can you picture this?) It was then that I found out that you can indeed cut yourself with a butter knife.

I saw blood. I turned off the stove. I grabbed several papertowels and put pressure on the cut. I held the finger above my heart. Then I thought, I think I should sit down.

Along came Mr. Geek. concern about .... the burning steaks. He was hungry too.

"What happened?"

"I cut myself"

"Well get a band aid."

(Can you feel the concern?)

"I think I might need stitches"

At this point, Mr. Geek finally actually looked at me. He stopped rushing around and said, "Let me see it."

Yes, it was going to need stitches. We were able to call a neighbor girl over to watch the kids (the little geeks were still toddlers) and we went to the ER.

We finally ate our steaks at 10:00 that night.

A Memorable Thanksgiving

2009-11-18T08:32:00.004-06:00

This week's writing prompt from MamaKat is:

A Thanksgiving to be remembered...

(inspired via Twitter by @knitmyrhino from Crafting With Rhinos)

I can not remember any on particular Thanksgiving but for some reason there is one Thanksgiving scene that is vivid in my memory. Why with all of the memories in my head this one scene stick out? Was it tragic? Was it touching? Wait for it....

First I have to set the scene.

We always had Thanksgiving dinner at my Grandma's house. My Grandma's house was not very big, maybe 900 square foot with a galley kitchen. My Grandfather at some point had added an extra room of the kitchen that we called the Breezeway (yes with a capital B). This was before such inconveniences as Building Codes and Regulations.

The grownup all sat in the Dining Room (also with a capitol D). The point at which you moved from the kid's table in the Breezeway to the grownup table in the Dining room was a decision loaded with controversy. You see it depended on much more than just your age. It really depended more on how much room there was at the adult table. After counting heads and comparing that number to the amount of room at the table, my Grandma then looked for a natural break in age. For example, my two older sisters are 18 months apart, so they would always be seated together. This had some logic behind it but as you can expect it was met with some arguments like - How come Linda got to sit at the grownup table at 14 and I had to wait until I was 16?

Me? I was always content to sit at the kids table. I fell in the middle of a pack of cousins, all two years apart. My cousin Lisa was two years younger than me and my playmate for most of my life. Her brother Mark was two years older and lots of fun when he wasn't teasing me until I cried. Then there was my brother, whom at this point in my life, I tolerated.

The adults were talking and laughing and completely oblivious to anything that was going on just several feet away in the Breezeway. Left to ourselves we came up with our own entertainment.

And the one memory I hold after all these years? Are you ready for it? My cousins and I spent time learning to swallow peas and corn whole. And the stakes got higher eat round. Could you swallow one peas and two kernels of corn? For the record, I was not the best at it because I had a pretty big fear of choking. If I remember correctly (and I doubt very much that I do) the boys ruled this challenge and my cousin Lisa and I claimed moral superiority such like - "What kind of idiot would want to swallow their food without chewing it?"

What do you remember about Thanksgiving?

10 Random Things

2009-11-16T07:44:00.000-06:00

This was in my Draft box. I am not sure where I borrowed it from.

1. Your favorite beverage: Coffee, Coffee, Coffee. When planning my trip to Haiti, I first packed coffee.

2. Your hometown:

3. Your favorite television show: The Amazing Race

Yes, that is the host Phil Keoghan with Mr. Geek.

4. Your occupation/you are in school for:

5. Your first car: The first car that I drove was my Dad's Chevy Monza.

The First car that I owned was a 1984 Plymouth Colt.

6. Your favorite dish: Any thing made on Top Chef. (Hey I can dream, can't I?)

7. Celebrity you've been told you resemble: Leelee Sobieski - but only when she has a geeky role like the one in Never Been Kissed.

8. Celebrity on your "to do" list: Chef Robert Irvine I was so happy that the Food Network hired him back for Dinner Impossible.

9. Your favorite childhood toy: Stuffed Animals. I owned lots and lots. Each one had a name, a birthday, and a personality. I had them all enrolled in school where I was the one-room schoolhouse teacher.

10. Any random picture

7 Quick Take Friday

2009-11-13T07:53:00.013-06:00

I don't have the focus to write a complete blog posting on any one subject. So this is my opportunity to let everyone know what the Geeks have been up.

1. Soccer, Soccer, Soccer. Most of the games were rained out (field too soggy) in October so the weekends in November are packed. Also indoor soccer has started, oh my.

Here is the Middle Geek attempting a trick shot.

2. Lance - the Dog Geek. The little Geeks LOVE playing fetch and soccer with Lance. The do not mind feeding him and giving him water. The walking and cleaning up poop? Not so much.

3. Safety Training - I have been continuing my tour of Missouri in my quest to bring safety education to every county. Only 100 more to go.

4. I have spent too much time searching the web for the perfect obnoxious T-shirt for the College Geeks birthday present.

Please someone, put this on a coffee mug for me!

5. Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) This is an event for 7th and 8th grade girls to meet women with nontraditional careers (for women) and to be encouraged to stay in math and science. Every year my friends and I travel to our Alma mater and put on a workshop. Usually we bring the bridge kit and explain why engineers are the MOST important people in the world.

Unfortunately I missed it this year due to #3 reason. (sob)

6. Making Charcoal Briquettes from Peanut Shells - I am still involved with Engineers Without Borders. Several projects that we started in Haiti are ongoing.

We have successfully carbonized peanut shells. Look at that burning in the picture. We were able to FILL the chimney with shells and with one match the entire contents caught fire.

While that may not sound amazing at first, you have to know that peanut shells pack pretty densely and it is difficult to get enough air for the fire to burn without being smothered. We modified a Weber Chimney Charcoal Starter (Somebody from Weber Grill contact me, we love your design.) Next step is to build a larger model.

7. I was so lucky to be able to fit in one more mission trip this year. Hugs to Mr. Geek who picks up the slack at the home front while I am away.

This mission trip was close to home (just one county over). The constant October rain drove us inside where we completely made over the Sanctuary of a small church. The average age of the members is over seventy and the church had not been painted since probably the 70's.

When we were done it looked like a beautiful country chapel that would be perfect for a wedding. We hope we were also able to bring some hope and joy to those worshiping there.

Our Newest Geek

2009-10-15T09:14:00.004-05:00

A Miracle has occurred (according to the Little Geeks) and the Geek household has finally gotten a new dog. Part of the credit or blame has to go to Michelle . Go to her blog and read about Service Dogs, watch the Cowboy and Wills video , and try not to run to your local animal shelter.

I am proud to present the newest member - Lance. (No geek nickname yet, suggestions?)

He is nine months old and an Australian Cattle Dog. We adopted him from the local Humane Society so he already had a name.

The Littlest Geek loved his name because he thinks he is named after a character in Pokemon.

Mr. Geek loves his name because he thinks he is named after a different Lance.

Remembering Summer

2009-09-30T07:45:00.002-05:00

The Next Post

2009-09-29T07:36:00.004-05:00

I am trying to reestablish my blogging habit (it is all about me not you, I am so sorry) so I searched for some ideas for Tuesday. I came across Ruby Tuesday .
The rules are simple - Post a picture with red in it.

I live in St. Louis and Red can only mean one thing this time of year----

Go Cardinals!!!

Here are some pictures of the Middle Geek at Busch Stadium with his school band playing God Bless America!!Are you having trouble finding him? Here, I will zoom in. Hint: He is the one in a red shirt.

Love and Welcome Back

2009-09-28T07:05:00.004-05:00

My friend Elizabeth gave me an award last week. She said she hoped it would give me a swift kick in the tush and get me back online again. hehehe How did she guess that my Fall resolution (New Years resolutions are so last year) was to get back into the habit of blogging. I am going to need some help, for some reason I have become the wold's worst editor and everything I write is deemed , "Not Good Enough!" which is weird because I don't even know any editors.

Anyway I am going to stop procrastinating and attempting to craft the perfect sentence (as if) and continue on with the directions. Here are the rules:
1. Thank the person who gave this to you! (check)

2. Copy the logo and place it in your blog! (see below)

3. Link the person who nominated you! (check, woohoo this is easy)

4. Name 7 things about yourself that no one would really know. (Seriously?)

5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers. (Where are you?)

6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate. (uhhhh)

7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know you nominated them! (Can I do this by thinking about it really intently?)

Wow, seven things. What is it with bloggin and list, three thinks I eat for breakfast, twenty five things I do after lunch.....well here are my seven things, although probably you already know them (or you didn't care to know them in the first place):

1. I used to work as a waitress at Denny's. I worked all shifts including Graveyard (11 pm - 7 am) so I can tell you with certainty that the weirdos come out between 3 am and 5 am, excessive drinking does not make you more attractive and men should not wear corsets and fish net stockings to a restaurant even if they have just left the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

2. I love jackets, they are the one article of clothing that I will splurge on. I own two jackets that were my Dad's that I still wear occasionally.

3. I love coffee and spend way too much time thinking about it. When I began to pack for Haiti, my first thought was caffeine. I packed ground coffee, instant coffee, Carnation International coffee, chocolate covered coffee beans and caffeinated Jelly Bellies. Then I was able to relax and decide what clothes to pack. (BTW they do have coffee in Haiti, good coffee, who knew?)

4. I hate to eat breakfast. I ate breakfast everyday of my life until I turned 40.
I finally decided, "I don't enjoy eating breakfast so I am NOT going to." It was very empowering. It still drives my mom crazy. I don't miss it at all.

5. I love Broadway musicals, the old and new ones. Do you want to hear the soundtrack to Oklahoma or Fiddler on the Roof, complete with all the back ground parts? Just say the word and I will be there.

6. I almost was paddled in second grade (yes they still hit kids back then) for not finishing my handwriting. My handwriting sill sucks.

7. I never actually tag people in these awards because I am afraid that they will be like, who does she think she is tagging me, she is just a little blog and I have subscribers in the triple digits, and then I flash back to junior high and ... I do not need this pressure. However I LOVE getting tagged, because it makes me feel like one of the cool kids.

There. I am going to post this quick before that editor inside of me wakes up and deletes it. (She is just now getting her second cup of coffee, shhhh)

Mexico - The Trip Home

2009-09-19T17:13:00.006-05:00

I can't believe I haven't finished blogging about this trip. I bet anymore who is still visiting here is bored stiff. Well let me wrap this up.

We spent one day just relaxing on the beach. I love the beach!! (I often state that God put me smack dab in the Midwest, because if I was too close to the beach I would just sit there all day.... staring at the waves..... listening to the surf....feeling the warm sand....well, you get the picture.)

The drive home was just as long - imagine that. Imagine our delight (okay it was my delight, but everyone was delighted that I was delighted) when one on the Rest Areas that we pulled into for lunch was named -- Safety Rest Area!!

Yes I did have to take a picture.

Spending two days in a van makes exercise sound like fun!

To sum up, I am very glad that I went on this trip. I met some very interesting people. I also was able to challenge myself physically and was proud of my ability to keep going. I cannot wait until I can get back into the field. I am already ready for another trip!!

AbFab in Mexico - The Middle

2009-08-26T16:46:00.000-05:00

The leader for the Mexico trip for many years, Pastor Carol, had a family tragedy before we left. Her husband was admitted to the hospital with heart failure. While we were in route to Mexico, he died. It was important to Pastor Carol that we continue with the mission plans and not let the families in Mexico down. One member, who had been to Mexico last year, was tagged as leader. (And yes that was the qualifications, that and of course that he was willing to be leader.) We kept in touch with Pastor Carol throughout the week and tried our best to make her proud.

Bright and early on Monday morning - actually the sun was not yet up - we headed towards the border. Jorge met us at the border to lead us to the Clinic. The twelve of us divided into two groups to work on each house. The men were divided equally and assigned to work on their house for the entire time. The woman worked on different houses throughout the week, although I have to say that the house that I was assigned to the first day (House 1) was to me, MY house. Each house was also assigned a Maestro to make sure the building is built correctly and a translator to help, you know, translate.

The houses are built out of concrete block. When we arrived the concrete floor had been poured and the first of the corners set.

First we moved the blocks into the center of the house and mixed the mortar. I helped the maestro, Julian, mix the mortar using the small amount of Spanish that I know and gestures. A bit later the translator tells us Julian speaks English. It turns out that he has been a student at a University in Georgia for several years.

Very funny Julian! Good thing I like you.

We did have fun all week teaching Julian, American expressions and jokes. The favorite - and funniest- was the "that's what she said" jokes.

I am not sure if you know this - but concrete blocks and mortar is heavy. It really heavy. The other thing you should know about building a house with concrete block is this - Early in the morning when it is the coolest and you are your freshest, the block have to be lifted a foot or two to be placed. At the end of the day, when the temperature and increased to something approaching a warm oven, the blocks must be lifted up higher- several feet higher. Some engineer should look into this problem and figure out how to build a house from the top down.

The entire week the wind blew. It was good because it kept the heat from completely baking us. However it also blew sand and grit into my eyes. I even had on my safety glasses.

The second day we began working with wood. While the rafters were going up, I was put on paint duty. Compared to concrete block, give me a paint brush any day. We set up workstations and began to get a rhythm in which we TURNED OUT some painted wood. The quality of the wood used for the houses was variable and we tried to pick out the best pieces for the doors. The rest of the wood we tried to cover up with as paint as well as possible.

AbFab in Mexico - The beginning

2009-08-09T09:32:00.007-05:00

Did you guess?

We left at 2:00 in two vans with a trailer full of house and school supplies. Although this mission trip was with my church, I only knew two of the twelve people on the trip. Luckily at two in the morning, that didn't even make me blink.

We stopped the first night in Waco in a, let's call it charming, Motel 6. We ate a great dinner at Rosa's Tortilla Factory and crashed for the night because the next day we were back on the road by 6:30. By about 3:00 that next afternoon (and yes days and nights were beginning to blend) we made it to Mercedes Texas and to our new home for six days.

The Methodist Church in Mercedes is part church and part dorm for Mission Workers in Mexico. The boys got a room, the girls got a room (we took the one with showers - Don't judge)

After we unloaded, the next step was to stock up on the needed food and supplies. The twenty plus hours in the van had given us time to finalize the menu and make the associated grocery list. The list was divided into five parts and we each went into the store to quickly gather our supplies. It was like a great big scavenger hunt. (By the way I may not have won on time, but I did get two carts full.)

I found out that if you are buying seven carts of groceries at one time, Walmart will open a lane just for you. (You can learn so MUCH on a mission trip.)

The team that was not shopping, began sorting all of our stuff into VBS stuff and new house stuff. That is what I officially called all the wonderful things that were graciously donated -- Thanks to all.

The next day began our adventure in Mexico.

Where was AbFab Geek?

2009-08-08T14:50:00.009-05:00

First for some clues---

We left in the middle of the night.

This was my view for over twenty hours.

We worked hard.

And built two house for two families.

As an added bonus, (be still my engineering heart) we watched while a crew put in a new sewer line, complete with a brick manhole.

For Fans of the Middle Geek

2009-07-24T08:18:00.002-05:00

Remember - You knew him when...

In this video you can actually see him.

In these videos, the sound is lots better, but the drummer is mostly hidden.

Where is AbFab going now?

2009-07-23T16:29:00.003-05:00

AbFab is off on another adventure leaving Friday night/ Saturday morning. (depending on your opinion of 1:00 am)

Can you guess where she is going?

Some hints:

It will take us two days by van.

The humidity and heat are even worse than St. Louis in July (so I have been told.)

I hope to see a beach at least once.

More hints later.....

What a Great Entrance!

2009-07-22T16:22:00.001-05:00

Hi Aunt Sally-

I think this would be a great addition for Rob and Erica's wedding. Don't you think?

Gooey Butter Cookies

2009-07-15T14:56:00.009-05:00

Gooey Butter Cake is a St. Louis tradition. The story behind this cake is that a baker was trying to make a cake and mixed up the proportions of sugar and flour. The resulting mistake was so good that people asked for it. Recently Paula Deen has published a recipe causing people not from St. Louis to give her credit for the cake. Now I love Paula Deen, both of her boys and everything she deep fries or butters, BUT she did not invent Gooey Butter Cake.

St. Louis bakers are not content with just making the cake and now make Gooey Butter Cookies. I love these cookies and try hard not to buy them because I will eat them until they are gone. Please understand how honored you all should be are for me to attempt making what, if it is successful, a borderline addictive substance

All of the recipes that I found online started with a cake mix. Seriously that is really cheating. So I found a recipe that claims to be the original St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake recipe and I will attempt to make cookies out of it. (Also I hope to make the cookies Gluten Free, Dairy and Egg Free --- wish me luck!)

This is the recipe I started with....

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake

1 c all-purpose flour

3 tbs sugar

1/3 c butter or margarine

1 1/4 c sugar

3/4 c butter or margarine

1/4 c light corn syrup

1 egg1 c all-purpose flour

2/3 c evaporated milk

powdered sugar; optional

This is the recipe I used (invented/ made up)

Allergen - Free Gooey Butter Cookies

that are just plain delicious

1 1/3 cup rice flour + up to 1/4 cup more

2/3 cup corn starch

1 1/4 cup + 3 T sugar (I was going from the recipe above so it was a weird amount)

1 t. Baking Powder

1 t. salt

1 T. Egg Replacer (I use EnerG brand)

Combine all dry ingredients. (I put mine in a bag so I could make the cookies more quickly later that day.)

In a stand up mixer.

1 cup Dairy Free Margarine

Cream until soft then add

1/4 cup white Corn syrup

Sift in dry ingredients. (I like to sift any flour but I find rice flour has a much better texture when sifted.)

Add 1/4 cup Coconut milk (I used the top part of the can which is mostly cream.)

I tested a couple cookies at 350 for 8-10 minutes. They spread out just a bit too much so I added the 1/4 cup of rice flour and I chilled the batter in the fridge in between batches.

Results:
Was the recipe easy to follow?

It was as easy as any cookie recipe. Making the dry ingredients ahead of time made the mixing quicker.

Did the dish taste good?

It was so VERY VERY good. Oh my!

Would you make it again?
Definitely we will make this again. I think next time I might try a bit less sugar and then roll the cookies in powdered sugar.

Guess what else the Middle Geek did on summer vacation?

2009-07-10T11:11:00.000-05:00

Whip it Up 2009 - Chocolate Pudding

2009-07-09T12:22:00.006-05:00

What do you do when you are hungry for chocolate pudding and there are no mixes in the house? You turn to Google of course! We scanned through a few recipes and found this one .

It was a recipe for a crowd though and although the Geek household feels more crowded with everyone home on summer vacation, I did not think we needed that much. I cut the recipe down by a third and only tweaked it a little.

Chocolate Pudding for a Geek

1/4 c. cocoa powder

1/2 c. sugar

pinch salt (at least 1/4 teaspoon)

1/6 c. cornstarch (we used the 1/3 cup, guesstimated about half full and then threw in a pinch more.)

2 c. rice milk (we used Trader Joe's brand)

1 tsp vanilla extract (I never measure this I just throw it in.)

a small chunk of Giardhellis unsweetened chocolate (maybe 1/4 ounce)

Combine all ingredients except vanilla in a large pot, until blended thoroughly. Heat over medium-high heat until it comes to the boil. Reduce heat to low and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, stir in chocolate chunk and vanilla. Pour into serving bowls and refrigerate. Makes six small servings.

Results:

Was the recipe easy to follow?

Very easy, the Middle Geek measured most of it.

Did the dish taste good?

Thumbs up for a creamy rich pudding.

Would you make it again?

We may never go back to box mixes again!!

Whip it Up 2009 - Holiday Favorite

2009-07-04T09:53:00.004-05:00

This summer I am shopping in a new and different way. I am supporting local harvest by purchasing a share of a farmer's crop.

I have also discovered Angel Food Ministries . This is an awesome way to make your food budget go further. I love their Allergen Free Box. For the first time in a long time, I can go to my freezer for an easy meal of Chicken Nuggets for the little geeks. They are very happy too.

They have several choices of food to purchase and the last few months I have bought the "Latin Flavors" produce. It contains a little different variety each month and has key limes, jalapenos, pineapples, mangos and lots of other stuff.

This month it contained Yucca Root. I have seen these in the grocery store but I had no clue how are what you could use it. So I went (of course) to google.

I found a great possibility at this blog

Cassava Heavy Cake

First I peeled the Yucca root (also know as Cassava and Manioc and probably other names). I was afraid that was going to be difficult but I used a vegetable peeler and it was easy.

Unfortunately the second root was rotten on the inside, so I had to adjust ingredients on the fly (and cross my fingers).

I used my food processor to shred the yucca root. I looks like it made about 1 cup shredded.

1 can coconut milk

1 Tablespoon Vanilla (I LIKE vanilla)

1 Dash cinnamon (I like cinnamon only a little)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix two heaping Tablespoons of Cornstarch with just enough cool water to make a mixture and add to above.

Melt 3 Tablespoons of Margarine (to stay dairy free) in the pan -using the microwave.

Pour batter into the melted margarine.

Bake at 350 for 1 and 1/2 hours.

The result

This cake/ pie was delicious. It has a texture like Pecan Pie or Chess Pie, very smooth and slightly gooey. Fabulous!!

This is also my first entry for Whip It Up 2009

Happy Father's Day to Mr. Geek!

2009-06-22T08:09:00.008-05:00

We started off celebrating Father's Day the way we always do in the Geek House --- Mr. Geek raced in a Triathlon. The Geeks all waited in the park to cheer him on during the run.

Later, we move on to more traditional cards and presents.

For one present, I compiled pictures of all of Mr. Geeks adventures, so far in 2009.

Happy Father's Day!!!!

How is Middle Geek spending Summer Vacation?

2009-06-17T07:56:00.001-05:00

How is College Geek spending his summer vacation?

2009-06-15T10:40:00.001-05:00

He will be a camp counselor . What a perfect job for the College Geek! He can combine computer games, computer programming with "Dress like a Pirate Wednesday".!

AbFab and Mr. Geek's Honeymoon

2009-06-11T12:34:00.006-05:00

I have promised the story of AbFab and Mr. Geek's honeymoon since our 25th Anniversary party. This story is so HUGE that I will tell it in two parts.

Part one-- the pictures.

Mr. Geek took me away for a romantic week to a fine romantic resort.

The beaches could be described by the locals as fabulous.

The on-site chef prepared all meals to order.

The choice of several dining rooms was available.

Guests were encouraged to explore new interests.

Fresh Seafood was available daily.

Sexy young men were available to serve your every need.

Medika Mamba in Haiti

2009-06-10T08:27:00.004-05:00

I HATE cliches, I really hate them. But... well my time in Haiti really did change me. I haven't really posted on much of that because I am not sure how to write about it yet - without using lots of cliches which I just told you I hate.

I have kept up with the blogs I visited before my trip. Remember way back then, when even the thought of going to Haiti seemed so out there. I was searching for blogs that would tell me how dangerous the "man on the street" felt about Haiti and was looking for suggestions as to what to bring.

Well in a coincidence that should not surprise me, one of the blogs I follow is now connecting with the plant where I worked when I visited Cap Haitian. Tara and Troy Livesay live in Port au Prince with their family. I love to read of the Livesay family as they live their "ordinary" lives and interact with that which is so uniquely Haiti. Tara and Troy are expanding the number of children in the Medika Mamba program. To fund this project, Tara is running a marathon. (She is actually training in Haiti.) She has several supporters that have offered to match any funds that she can raise here.

Go visit Renald. I was going say and try to understand, but there is no understanding within me that can justify the pain in these children and their mother's lives.

I leave you with this thought for the day.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for injustice, freedom and peace. -Franciscan Benediction

The last ten books I have read

2009-06-08T06:36:00.000-05:00

Kaylynne completed a MEME on books that she has read. The questions are very hard for this engineer's brain and my ONE literature class I had in college. That one English course included Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, that is all I remember about it.

But I went ahead and tried to answer the questions and I am giving you the list of books I have read since the end of the Spring semester. Because I know you are all dying to know, what does a geek read?

1. What author do you own the most books by? Trevor Kletz- He is the father of Learning from Industrial accidents.

2. What book do you own the most copies of?The Bible. My favorite revisions are the Good News and The Living Word. I hope to buy The Message soon and on the Colbert Report, I just saw a new edition printed like a glossy magazine. I will be looking for that. (For those purist, I do own an NIV and I think even a King James Version somewhere.)

3. Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions? They did?

4. What fictional character are you secretly in love with?Roarke, from the JD Robb Eve Dallas Series.

5. What book have you read the most times in your life?North to Freedom and Watership Down

6. Favorite book as a ten year old? When I was ten, I was wild about this series of biography books. I don't know if they still exist, but they were short and fat and contained lots of details about the character's childhood. My favorite one I remember was about Luther Burbank.

I also began consuming all of the Little House books. I was the only person that did not enjoy the TV show because the characters did not fill my expectations.

7. What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year? How about worst book ever? It would have to be Silence of the Lambs followed Kiss the Girls. No more horror books for this girl ever again.

8. What is the best book you’ve read in the past year? Tough one, I think I will skip this question.

9. If you could force everyone you know to read one book, what would it be?Joshua by Joseph F. Girzone

10. What book would you most like to see made into a movie? The only movies I have liked after reading the book was the Harry Potter books so I will not jinx any of my favorite books.

11. What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read? There are so many I remember from high school, let's see- The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Walden Pond, and anything by Hemingway.

12. What is your favorite book? North to Freedom, Watership Down, Gone With the Wind

13. Play?Macbeth

14. Poem?The Jabberwocky and anything by Ogden Nash

15. Essay? Seriously, I am an engineer, I don't ask you want your favorite technical paper was, do I?

16. Who is the most overrated writer alive today? Okay, he is not alive and I should probably not admit it, but I have HATED everything I have ever read by Hemingway. (I am sure I am going to literary hell for saying that.)

17. What is your desert island book? Little House on the Prairie - A great book with some survival advice.

18. And . . . what are you reading right now? (Since the end of the spring semester)

No Opportunity Wasted by Phil Keoghan

Strength and Compassion by Eric Greiten

Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell
Sex God
Jesus wants to save Christians : a manifesto for the church in exile

When I find a book that I like, sometimes I go to the library and request every book by that author. I loved the book Velvet Elvis, it is a book about personal growth and faith. The other two books are okay, I liked most of them but I would have to say they were a bit light on content. I think they could have been condensed to one really good essay (which then could have been my favorite.)

How People Grow: What the Bible Reveals About Personal Growth by Henry Cloud and John Townsend

I loved the first two thirds of this book. I am still considering the last parts.

Do-it-Yourself Shiatsu - I am into acupressure and trying to learn about eastern medicine.

Promises in death - by J.D. Robb - no redeeming features here, just pure escapism.

Cover of night by Linda Howard - More good summer trash

Testing Limits

2009-06-06T08:29:00.002-05:00

I have been very distracted by summer, but I want to return to creating a Life List.

Next category is: Test Your Limits

Can I level with you? I am not so much into physical endurance tests. When Mr. Geek gets up at 5:00 am to go swim laps or signs up for another triathlon, I am not filled with envy. Not even a twinge.

I have run one 5K and I did enjoy that. Seriously I did, well mostly. I really enjoyed the camaraderie of the women I trained with and the end of the race when we all hung out and ate fruit and bagels. I think I might want to run another 5K, but only with a group of friends. So are you out there? Do you want to train for a 5K with me? There will be food!!

Getting Lost (The Plan)

2009-06-02T13:00:00.000-05:00

I have paused in my review of No Opportunity Wasted to expand on an idea that I formulated in the last post.

Go on a Quest

Not only is the book North to Freedom by Anne Holm, one of my favorites, but I was reading the book to College Geek when he was in grade school. We were reading in when the Littlest Geek joined our family, if you want read about that story go here .

Because of the book and its impact on me and the College Geek, we agreed to give the Littlest Geek the middle name of David. David is the central character in the book. The book is both an incredible adventure book as David escapes a forced work camp and travels through Italy north to Denmark. It is also a journey of self discovery and awakening of a mind and soul that has never been free.

Call out to the producers of No Opportunity Wasted - the television show .

HEY READ THIS!

The Littlest Geek, named for the main character is now the age of David in the book (or will be next summer, hint hint). How awesome would it be to travel David's route and see it through the eyes of a young boy.

Here's the itinerary.

David escaped from a camp north of Solonika (Greece). He mostly walked this route and snuck aboard a truck for some of the traveling. This would put him in an interment camp either in Bulgaria or Romania. Parts of some of these camps are still around and can be visited. Perhaps Lovech Bulgaria where we could take some hikes in the mountains and come to understand David's journey.

David walked to to the shipyards of Solonika where he stowed away on an Italian Cargo ship. He was discovered in the hold, but the man finding him did not have the heart to turn him in. He gave David a makeshift floatation devise and let him jump off the ship shortly be for the ship entered the port of Salerno, Italy.

I am still searching for a boat that would take us to Salerno. I think we probably shouldn't stow-away, even in the interest of accuracy.

In Salerno, David first saw a world that was not grey. He saw a beautiful world full of light and color and the pictures of Salerno are very beautiful. David began to appreciate how precious his freedom was. He began to explore the village during the daylight and tentatively talking to the people there. The Littlest Geek and I should spend some time meeting the local people and eating the local food.

From there David walked and hitched rides through Italy stopping in Naples, Perugia, Florence,
Bologna, Milan, and Como before crossing into Switzerland.

View Larger Map

After traveling through Switzerland and Germany, David finally enters Denmark. He travels to Strandvejen 758 Copenhagen. This is an actually address.

View Larger Map

We can visit Bellevue Theatre. Bellevue Theater is a theater on Strandvejen in Klampenborg north of Copenhagen, who visited annually by more than 100,000 visitors. Building are among the architect Arne Jacobsen's absolute masterpieces. In addition to the theater is the theater hosting and co-producer of a summer ballet, which annually ballet company created by Copenhagen International Ballet, headed by Alexander Kølpin.

Weekend Movie Review

2009-05-17T15:15:00.004-05:00

The Middle Geek and I spent the weekend home by ourselves. We decided to kick back and watch some PG-13 movies. I mean now that the Middle Geek is a teenager, he has been excited to see some of those (trashy) movies that all his friends are talking about. So we cooked up some chicken wings, got some popcorn and watched the best that RedBox had to offer.

I will let him review them.

Meet the Spartans was so awesome. But if you are a little kid you shouldn't see this because it says really really really bad words. If you are someone who likes comedy definitely watch this.

The best part is when "Britney Spears" was by the pit of death shaving her head saying, "Why do y'all think I'm so crazy?" Then she got kicked into the pit of death.

Next the American Idol judges come in to judge the kick and the main guy says, "Ryan Seacrest?" and Randy says, "I just didn't feel that kick dog." Paula goes, "You move me." and then collapses. Simon says, "I didn't really think that was your best kick. I thought a donkey could do better than that." The main guy says, go **** yourself!!!!!!!

and this movie never watch it, It is a horrible movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Strength and Compassion

2009-05-12T08:52:00.001-05:00

From the Dust Jacket: "Strength and Compassion brings together the best of Eric Greitens’ award-winning international humanitarian photography work with a striking series of essays."

Mr. Geek and I went to the book signing for this book. Yes, a real book signing, we felt so grown up. The author Eric Greitens read from some of the essays in the book and add some personal stories. After my trip to Haiti I have been drawn to those who work is developing* nations.

*"developing" is too clean of a word to describe the impoverished conditions, but I have not been able to think of an appropriate replacement word.

When Eric traveled to Bosnia and saw first hand the devastation and misery he was moved like most people would be. What is interesting about his story is that he moved beyond the surface of the surroundings and looked deeper into the people's lives. Within the walls of the refugee camp he found people who still had hope and strength. Intrigued by these people he was moved to learn how they were coping. What he discovered was the reason is that some had found a way to serve within the community. Some women started a knitting circle to knit clothing for those in the camp that had even less. Some of the older boys had organized soccer teams among the younger boys. And he discovered in serving, people find their strength

The most impressive thing about Eric is his history of service. He decided that if he was to speak out and encourage people to be possibly put in harms way, then he should be willing to do the same. In order to do this he joined the Navy and became a Navy Seal.

More and more veterans are returning home with life changing injuries. Eric visited these war veterans and asked them, "What is it you would like to do?" After it became apparent that they could not return to their unit, the second choice was almost always some sort of service. Eric then founded The Mission Continues . This is an organization that pays for fellowships for wounded veterans to explore and serve within the community. I urge you to investigate the website. It is inspiring.

Happy Mother's Day!!

2009-05-11T07:30:00.003-05:00

I have lots of posts in the queue but I interrupt them for this important Mother's Day Essay.

I LOVE my Mom Because:

Well there's so many reasons that I can't name them all, but I will try to say as much as I can.

Mom I love you because you are nice to me, you love me. You help me with my troubles and you are nice to my friends. When a bully is hurting my feelings you say like "back off." You mean bully stop hurting my child's feelings or I'll call your parents and then the bully will be like "Oh no, please don't call my Daddy He will put me in the corner." There are 5,879 more reasons to go.....just joking! Well it is time to end this essay...Oh, and one last thing I love you Mom!

Love from,
The Littlest Geek

Getting Lost

2009-05-07T08:44:00.002-05:00

I am continuing to add to my Life For Life. Some people call this their Bucket List or list of things to do before you die.

The next category is Getting Lost.

This could be literal, drive or walk somewhere until you are lost, and then let life happen. I prefer to think of this as a suggestion to let go of control, go to the unfamiliar and then let stuff unfold. Sort of like planned spontaneity.

Some of the suggestions - and my thoughts

Join a tribe By a tribe, Phil means a group of people bonded by family, culture or mutual interests. When I think of my tribe, I am reminded of sitting around the sorority house full of geeks in college. I love to spend time with people who are passionate about something like art, music, feeding staving children, etc. Also my favorite part of any vacation is to get out of the touristy areas and find grocery stores and people that live there.

I have always hoped to visit Burning Man . However as this event gets bigger and bigger I am thinking there is probably a better counter-culture event to join. Any suggestions?

Get marooned Get somewhere remote and live off the land. Oh my, that sounds like my "honeymoon" in the Canadian Bush. Can we just say, been there done that. (And someday I will have to blog about it.)

Go on a "quest" You find a journey and retrace the steps, like those that follow Lewis and Clark's trail or go to every hotel that Washington slept at. I have been on marked trails like the Freedom Trail in Boston and we have traced some of Route 66 .

I have two quests I am considering. One is easier- I would like to bike across Missouri following the Katy Trail carrying everything we need for the week and exploring parts of rural Missouri.

The next is a bit more out there. My third grade teacher read books to us and my favorite one was North to Freedom . It is an adventure story of a young boy's escape from a Detention Camp in Eastern Europe. He takes a boat to Italy and journeys north to Denmark. If you have not read this book, I highly recommend it. It is for about 7th grade level readers but I have reread it many times as an adult. There is a movie based on the book called "I Am David". It is also good, but not near as wonderful as the book. So to be able to retrace his journey north would be lots of fun.

Have you ever been lost?

Creating a Life List

2009-05-06T09:09:00.005-05:00

Phil Koeghan's Ride Across America was primarily to raise money and awareness for MS. It has been succeeding and has raised more than the original goal.

Phil has been sponsored by (and endorsing) GNC new Square Meals. It is an energy bar that can replace a meal. I have not tried that yet so I cannot review it.

Phil has also combined this ride with somewhat of a book signing tour for his book (and TV show) No Opportunity Wasted -- NOW.

I started a list of Things I wanted to do (from a Meme from Mean Mom back in December). It included:

Write a bucket list of thing to do before I die

Sing in a Gospel Choir (just once, I know I would be embarrassing)

Give a sermon (not to my children, a real sermon)

Stay in a hostel

Write a book

Take a culinary course

Be referred to as an expert by the local news

So guess what? We are beginning with the first item on the list. Phil's book is all about "learning how to live while you still have the chance" and "sharing experiences with other people you know and connecting with people you don't know." So I urge you find the book (or don't) but please join in on this discovery.

There are "Eight Great Themes" and I am going to try and explore each one and choose an activity to place on my LIST.

The first is Face your fear

Some of the possibilities (from the book) include:

Public speaking - Anyone that knows me, knows that this is not really a fear. In fact I love public speaking (odd I know) so let's move on.

Airplane Flight - Okay airplane take offs make me nervous and when I saw the itty bitty plane that I was going to fly across the ocean to Haiti, well I won't lie, I considered turning around. But I think I can say I faced that fear.

Snakes - I don't fear snakes so much - okay I don't adore them.

Heights - Now you are talking, I don't even like to look down when I am in the top tier at a stadium. My memories of the Grand Canyon makes my palms sweat.

So here's my first addition to my LIST.

Repel down a cliff.

There I added it.

More from Haiti

2009-05-04T08:44:00.003-05:00

Before I traveled to Haiti, I searched and found lots of Blogs written by people living and working there. I find Blogs are the best way to get a feel for the place before a visit.

Since I have gotten back, I still read these Blog regularly. I am still trying to process much of what I experienced in my one week there. I am impressed and awed by the the tireless people who work and remain (mostly) optimistic.

Today I stumbled across a Blog that mentions Medika Mamba (peanut butter medicine) just as a footnote. I don't know if the Medika Mamba was made at the factory that we visited for sure, but these are the stories that keep the people that work there inspired.

Mr. Geek's Wild Ride

2009-04-27T08:48:00.013-05:00

AbFab and Mr. Geek are wild and rabid Amazing Race Fans. In fact maybe you remember their adventure on their private Amazing Race. When I read that Phil Keoghan, host of the Amazing Race was riding across America, I immediately began thinking of a way to intersect with his path. We live smack dab in the middle of the country, but Phil was taking a more northern route through Chicago (to be able to ride with the MS150 in Chicago).

The week that Phil would be the closest to where we live was the final week of classes for AbFab. Therefore it was decided, this was to be Mr. Geek's Adventure.

Using maps and the information on the official webpage, (we were not stalking, I swear) Mr. Geek was able to determine which Motel that the group would be staying at and made reservations there.

As soon as Phil arrived at the motel he got off his bike (even after riding over 100 miles) and posed with everyone for pictures and talked to everyone there.

The next day began the Amazing Adventure (yes I am using the wording amazing over and over, I am just that kind of dork.) After the send off in Rochelle, the group headed toward Chicago. Sometime around lunchtime, Mr. Geek called me. "Quick can you look on the website and see where everyone is?" You see on the official webpage there is a realtime GPS tracker and when it works, you can see down to the block where Phil and the group are riding (I am NOT a stalker, I told you that.)

Mr. Geek had fallen a bit behind the pace and before he knew it, the group was out of sight. We had planned for this possibility (we are engineers, that is what we do) and Mr. Geek had planned to circle back to his truck and come on home. However, that morning he had decided to let the Airstream carry his backpack for him. The Airstream trailer is pulled by Phil's Dad and is the support during the ride. Now it contained Mr. Geek's backpack, which contained everything he had brought with him, including the keys to his truck.

I was driving when he called and not next to my laptop so I wasn't able to immediately look on the webpage. I continued to my destination (I was going to get my haircut, thanks for asking) and asked if I could use the WiFi there. There was no WiFi, but they offered my use of the company laptop. (Thanks John!) At this time the GPS unit was not reading real time and I could only tell him it looked like they stayed on the same route. "You should keep going." I said.

After my hair cut, I went to the Bread Company to use their free WiFi. I decided I would send a facebook message with Mr. Geek's cell phone number, with the hopes that someone might be online and get the phone number to someone with the Airstream. After I sent the message, I tried one more time to see if the GPS tracker was working and it had been updated and it looked like they were stopped for lunch.

I called Mr. Geek again, "It looked like they are only two miles ahead of you. You are almost there." A bit later, I zoomed in on the map to look closer at the location. It looked like they were a few blocks off of the main road. I called Mr. Geek again, "Turn right at 5th street. They should be right there." And there they were and Mr. Geek was reunited with the group.

This is where the best part of the ride happened - in my opinion at least. Mr. Geek called me and handed the phone to Phil. Right there in the middle of the Bread Co. I sat on my cell phone and talked to Phil Koeghan. Seriously, how cool was that. I wish I could say I was witty, but mostly I sounded like a big dork, a big happy dork though. Thanks Phil, you made my day!

Here is Phil talking to me on the phone. (Mr. Geek was also a dork taking pictures.)

So the group began the final leg of the ride into Chicago. What? You say you want to see Mr. Geek and Phil riding together. Well you are in luck. Go to here and click on the daily blog. Watch Day27. About halfway through when Phil is talking about the potholes in the pavement, a bike rider in a blue jacket points to a hole in the road. That rider in the blue jacket is Mr. Geek.

When the group reached Chicago, the roads became more and more dangerous as rush hour was approaching. It was decided that the final few miles would be better covered by car- Don't worry Phil had logged in some extra miles earlier in the ride to keep the final miles covered honest. Mr. Geek asked someone nearby for directions to the nearest Metro train station. The plan, remember, was for him to catch an Amtrak train and ride it back to his truck. However he was offered a ride in the van with the gang. So Mr. Geek's wild ride ended seated in a van pulling an Airstream through downtown Chicago with the entire entourage. Yes, it was an amazing ride.

Where is Mr. Geek?

2009-04-23T10:24:00.003-05:00

This time it is Mr. Geek's turn for and adventure. Today he is riding with Phil Koeghan from The Amazing Race! Seriously! Go to www.philridesacrossamerica.com then click on -Where is Phil Now - That is where Mr. Geek is!!

He met Phil last night and I will post pictures as soon as he gets back.

We have been planning this adventure for awhile. We are both huge Amazing Race fans and when we saw that Phil was planning this ride, well you can imagine the excitement. (Well try to imagine it anyway.) I mean meeting Phil and his dad combined with bike riding, well that is a Perfect Storm for Mr. Geek (in a good way of course).

I was unable to join him because I have my last class this evening. So we worked for days on now to get Mr. Geek to Phil and also how to get him back home. The goal was to be able to ride with Phil for one entire leg - about 100 miles. So when he ends his ride he will be 100 miles from the start and his truck. So we began matching Phil's route to Amtrack, hoping to ride the train back to the beginning. This was not as easy as you might think, or maybe this was not as impossible as you might think depending on your view of Amtrack.

So yesterday, Mr. Geek drove to an Amtrack station in the middle of Illinois. He then rode his bike to the next stop on Phil's route. He stayed overnight in a motel - THE SAME ONE AS PHIL AND CREW!! And today, he is on his was to Chicago.

I really hope he can get through Chicago to the train station and back. But that is why it is called an adventure, right?

The Geek Family takes a Family Portrait

2009-04-22T08:21:00.003-05:00

First we start out with AbFab and Mr. Geek, aren't they an adorable couple?

Right before the snap, College Geek jumps in!

The Littlest Geek jumps in next!
Well at this rate we might as well take a family portrait. Where is the Middle Geek? "Come on get in the picture!"

Now we remember why we don't have many family pictures. "He touched me!" "I don't wanna stand next to him!"

"Everybody just stand still and smile!!!"

And this is the closest we are going to get to a Geek family portrait.

Thanks to my niece Cheri, who kept snapping pictures.

Rock Concert

2009-04-19T14:59:00.001-05:00

An Interview with the Littlest Geek

2009-04-17T07:41:00.000-05:00

1. What is something mom always says to you? Please listen to me.

2. What makes mom happy? When I do the things she wants me to do or when I do something for her.

3. What makes mom sad? When I don't do stuff for her

4. How does your mom make you laugh? When I tell her a joke or do something really funny, like the joke about the bees wax

5. What was your mom like as a child? Pretty, funny

6. How old is your mom? like 45

7. How tall is your mom? taller than I am

8. What is her favorite thing to do? Read

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Maybe have a party and invite friends over.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Cooking

11. What is your mom really good at? Cooking and reading and engineering.

12. What is your mom not very good at? Nothing

13. What does your mom do for her job? Engineer, helps people make their houses bigger

14. What is your mom's favorite food? Chicken?

15. What makes you proud of your mom? When she does something awesome or wonderful, like making a score in the game if she played sports or saving someone.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Jeremy's mom in the Zits Comic Strip.

17. What do you and your mom do together? Shop for groceries, watch Extreme Home Makeover

18. How are you and your mom the same? Both like to watch Extreme Home Makeover, we both like flowers.

19. How are you and your mom different? I was adopted and she wasn't. I like to play video games and she doesn't.

20. How do you know your mom loves you? She always treats me nicely and never ignores me.

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? Health Food Store because everyone is nice there.

Easter Desserts

2009-04-16T13:33:00.005-05:00

Easter treats are not just for the kids or for the Easter Baskets.

My niece Cheri and I were in charge of desserts this Easter.

I made brownies in the shape of a bunny. Isn't he cute. The kids had eaten so much candy by then, they weren't even hungry for more sweets. We took most of it home for school lunches.

I LOVE cheesecake, but I have a rule, I can only make cheesecake if there will be a large enough crowd to eat it mostly gone. Cheesecake leftovers are DEADLY, because I will eat a piece of cheesecake every time I enter the kitchen.

Cheri decided to compete with my awesome desserts by bringing the following trifle.

As if that wasn't enough, she topped it with Chocolate Covered Strawberries!!!

Some contests are just not fair.

I will leave you with some eggs decorated by the Middle Geek. The first is a bribe and the second is his biggest wish!!

How I met Mr. Geek

2009-04-13T10:53:00.006-05:00

I thought I would take a trip in the Way-Back machine. Elizabeth started it a while back, when she decided to write a series of how she and her husband met and challenged me to do the same. (Okay, it was less of a challenge and more of a polite, Of course I would LOVE to hear how you and Mr. Geek met, but here it is anyway.) Mr. Geek's and my meeting was not very romantic, but the story amuses us so maybe you will enjoy it also.

Let me set the stage. I was a sophomore in college. My college was a relatively small, highly technical college, and most of the students majored in engineering, computer science or something similar. So now you are probably picturing a place full of geeks and very few women, you are? Good. Well if you have read my profile you know that in this environment, even I can look somewhat cool. And folks let me tell you, my sophomore year I was the coolest I might ever be, and I can say for sure that I was at the top of my most obnoxiousness. In short, my friends and I were having FUN and no one or nothing was getting in our way, unless we decided to use them for our amusement. (Pause while I savor that moment.)

So it was Friday afternoon and getting an engineering degree is hard, hard I tell you, so at the end of the week, it was time for these geeks to relax. And our favorite place for relaxing was a seedy dive called 209. 209 was a bar in a basement of an ancient building, they had cheap draft beer, awesome (and cheap) cheeseburgers, a big jar of pickled eggs on the bar and the best beer drinking music on the Jukebox - Drop Kick me Jesus Through the GoalPosts of Life, and of course , I Like Beer (it makes me a jolly good fellow).

By late afternoon, the place was jam packed and beer and conversations were spilling everywhere. (No this isn't where AbFab and Mr. Geek met- wait for it.) This afternoon another geek (we will call him Unnamed Boy for his own protection) spotted a possible female conquest and moved in with his line, "Would you like to come to my fraternity for dinner tonight?" It was not terribly original, but in college an offer of free food is always difficult to turn down. However the female geek (no, not me) was not terribly impressed by the guy, so she blew him off saying, "No thanks, I am here with my friends." To which the guy overcome with too much beer or maybe the thought of finding more that one girl on campus spoke the now famous words, "Well, why don't you bring them."

I am not terribly proud of this, but we gleefully started passing the word that Unnamed Boy had invited all of us to his fraternity for dinner. A free meal! So all of us paraded to the fraternity house, another good thing about this campus is that everything is within walking distance. And we walked into the kitchen much to the surprise of the rest of the fraternity there. We announced, "Unnamed Boy invited us for dinner and said we should mark up on him." (Mark up is a process where you put a tick mark next to your name for extra incidental charges and then they are added to your house bill at the end of the month.) Yum, we had spaghetti and garlic bread and when the guys asked want if we wanted koolaid or milk to drink, we called out, "BEER, we want beer." We were drunk on, ummmm, power.

After dinner we continued the party. The music was loud and I was talking to one cute boy. I hollered, "What's your name?" To which he replied, " unintelligible unintelligible blah blah, but they call me Shep." I was horrified, "Seriously? I had a dog named Shep! Maybe I don't really want to know how you got that nickname." My school was big on nicknames and most of them had stories behind them, I wasn't sure I wanted to hear about an adventure with a dog, acting like a dog, eating like a dog, etc. "No," he assured me, there was really no story, "It's just short for my name." I was skeptical and finally he had to find a piece of his homework to prove it to me.

And so kids, that is how AbFab and Mr. Geek met.

Good Fridays

2009-04-10T12:33:00.000-05:00

In the Christian church, Good Friday is a somber occasion. It is the remembrance of a time long ago, when people good and bad participated in an inhumane act that resulted in the death of a very good man.

Good Friday in my life also holds memories for me that are not particularly good.

It happened on Good Friday about fourteen years ago. The sun was shining and appeared to be an average spring day. My father had been in the hospital for about three weeks. He had entered into the hospital completely healthy walking and talking. Well, he was completely healthy except for an aneurysm in his abdomen. An aneurysm is a weak spot in the blood artery that becomes like a balloon and expands. It is also like a balloon in that it can suddenly pop, in that case the person loses blood very quickly and can very possibly die. But we had no worries in this case because my dad's aneurysm had been discovered and had been monitored and now he was scheduled to have it repaired. Sure it was major surgery, but how many people did I know that (practically routinely) had five, six, even seven bypasses and recovered and lived long lives. I am ashamed to say that I did not take this surgery seriously as I should have and as seriously as I would today.

The day of the surgery seemed to go as expected. Then that night, unexpected things started to happen and he was rushed back into surgery. Days later, his body seemed to settle down and recover. Soon he was on a regular floor. Wow, that was close and it seemed we had dodged a near death experience.

After a few days on the floor where it seemed recovery was going as expected, during the time I deeply regret I did not cherish those conversations with my father. In fact he was expectedly crabby, hated the food and just wanted to go home. Then one day as I stopped in, I knew something was wrong. The nurse said he had gotten up during the night and had fallen. He was visibly sick and asked for my mom. If I could go back I would have spoken so much more, but I wanted him to be quiet so he could rest, I wanted him to be quiet so he could heal, I wanted him to be quiet so he could get better and leave the hospital so that we could just go home and then we could talk.

This leads me to the morning I started talking about. It was a beautiful spring day. I had had a relatively good night's sleep and I was optimistic. As my dad had gotten progressively worse I had only dared to mention only twice outloud that I was frightened that my dad might not recover. I prayed and I prayed. My most desperate prayer was, please God do not let anything happen to him while I am not there. For some reason I needed to know that nothing bad could happen while I was not at the hospital. (We of course were spending hours and hours there.) And to be honest, I thought that prayer would keep him safe, because I knew that when I was there, I just knew, that nothing bad could happen to him-- it just couldn't!

So I entered the Intensive Care Unit that day naive and hopeful, and I ran smack into a wall of reality. My sister and mom were in with my dad and his breathing sounded funny. I took his hand said hello. Almost immediately, things started happening. The nurse came in listened to his chest and asked us to step out. Then she began yelling his name and sternum rubbing. We were quickly escorted out of the Unit into the hallway.

We were standing there in the hallway, right outside the door, when the announcement came over the hospital intercom - "Code Blue". My mom screamed. That scream still echos in my head. And I began to grow numb.

We were quickly placed in a little room off the hallway. I had spent almost every waking hour for the past three weeks in this area and I had never seen this room. This little room. To this day I HATE little rooms in hospitals. HATE them.

The hospital chaplain came immediately. She was a Catholic nun and I am still grateful to this day for her kindness and compassion.

I became RoboDaughter, I knew things had to happen and I could not process what might be going on in the Intensive Care Unit. I quickly called our pastor. I asked him to please pray, just pray. He came to the hospital immediately.

Then we began to try to assemble the rest of the family. This was before cell phones so everyone brought out their address/phone books and we started looking up work numbers and asking for those people who answered the phone to start tracking down where they might be. My brother drives a delivery truck and they called each store on his route to find him. My brother-in-law was on a flight home, I think his secretary may have called the airport. Soon we had a crowd in that little room -- that awful little room.

A doctor came out to give us his status. The doctor seemed so young, that is really my only memory of him. That, and that his voice was very kind. There were three more code blues called that afternoon and more screams. Then it was over.

My dad died on Good Friday.

And that is what I remember on Good Friday.

Writing

2009-04-10T08:11:00.003-05:00

When I started writing a blog over a year ago, my one intent was to just start writing again. It seemed that since high school I had not written much besides technical specifications, ugh! After I started writing I found that this blog was a great way to chronicle my family's experiences and has enabled me to meet so many wonderful and interesting people around the world and keep in touch with family near and far.

I have a post drafted about a particularly bad Good Friday. It is either maudlin or deeply emotional, depending I suppose on the quality on my writing. What I need is Simon Cowell to tell me if the story is "emotional brilliant" or "self-indulgent dribble".

So rather than post it I would like to ask anyone and everyone out there -- When is a story just sad and self-serving and when does a story become so real that it emotionally involves the reader? And how the heck can you tell the difference?

And while I am asking questions (and quoting Simon Cowell) - What about developing a personal and unique style, is it important and how do you know when you have achieved it? Wouldn't it be great if at any time in our lives we could assemble a panel of three, then sing, write, or give a presentation and hear the feedback. (Maybe not on national television...)

Other News

2009-04-09T07:15:00.002-05:00

This spring the Littlest Geek became a Boy Scout - after earning the Arrow of Light as a Cub Scout! Next year he starts middle school, I can't believe how fast my boys are growing up.

Middle Geek Update

2009-04-02T07:36:00.007-05:00

The Geek Household has been so busy that I have not had time to post about some major mile stones in the life of the Middle Geek.

First - the Middle Geek is now officially Teen Geek!

We celebrated by going to his favorite restaurant - Buffalo Wild Wings. He ordered 12 Wings with Medium sauce and 6 wings Blazin'. I looked over and he had actually tears running down his face. You can tell from the picture that the tears were a good thing!

Later we had a big family party complete with cake. I found the bunny cake pan at the store with the Easter stuff and I made it pink because that is the Middle Geek's favorite color.

But wait, that was not all that occurred in the Middle Geek's life this month. He was also confirmed in our church, that means he moved from accepting faith because his parents tell him to believe to developing believe from within himself. While it isn't the end of a faith journey it really is a big step towards becoming an adult and I can't help but get misty eyed when I think of it.

Of course that meant two cakes!

We are so proud of our Middle Geek!!!

Communicating in Haiti

2009-03-23T08:00:00.007-05:00

The biggest thing I would do differently about my trip to Haiti is I would spend more time learning some of the language. At a minimum I would have invested in a French-Creole-English dictionary. While there were people in our group that spoke French or Creole or both and translated for us, it is very isolating to not know any of the language.

We were made aware of our lack of know ledge right from the beginneing when Rhonny, the drivere, picked us up from the airport. He had been given a sign to hold so that we could find him. After we were seated in the truck he asked, "Francois?" "No", we answered, "English?" "No." he replied.

Well, I thought,this was going to be a long ride. So I dug way back into my brain to search for the French I had learned in that one quarter of French in eigthth grade, during repeated veiwings of Beauty and the Beast and a lifetime of Pepe lePew cartoons, and I came up with, "Bonjour." Rhonny laughed and answered, "Good Day." I was then able to continue with, "Merci, Sil vous plait, and un deux trois." Then I was finished. I chose not to dazzle him with, "the colors of the French flag are blue, white and red." which was the only sentence I could remember. We laughed and fell silent.

Later we had to wait on the side of the road for some of the group. Now I am by nature a chatterer (big surprise) and sitting and not being able to ask questions about everything around me was killing me. So I kept trying, I pointed to the trucks carrying loads of people, "Tut tut?" I asked. "Oui, Taptap" he answered. And he showed us how much money it cost to ride on one - these are the most common modes of transportation. This picture is of one of the nicer TapTaps, some are big open bed trucks with people piled on, some are vans with all the doors wide open. He also pointed out many of the motorcycles were also taxis and you would jump on the back.

Pause here and I will tell you the only Haitian joke I learned.

Q:"How many people can you fit on a TapTap?

A: "One more"

Now I was on a roll, I looked around for something else to talk about. The walls on the streets of Haiti are covered with colorful and detailed paintings advertising the business and other products. As we sat and waited in the truck, I became intrigued by the sign on the wall near us.

I interpreted the words as "Panther" and something about security. I thought maybe it was some sort of private security company. So I asked, "What's that for?" Rhonny replied but I could not make out any words. I shrugged, not understanding. So he answered, "Condom", with the appropriate gesture. Hmmm, well I did ask.

One last story of the language.

Katy was a med student that was visiting the same time we were. She spoke fluent French and acted as our interpreter many times throughout the week. One afeternoon after she had acted as intrepreter while we learned all the processing steps at the plant. She decided to go back to the house while we worked writing all of the processes into specifications. (She did not enjoy the engineering as much as we did.)

Later the workers wanted to demonstrate the cleaning process at the end of the day, we had specifically asked them to let us know when the processing was finished for the day. The workers asked, "Katy?" "No, she's at ....., hmmm, House?" No recognition. "She's home." "Oh oui, home." Great, so when anyone asked we said, "Katy home." and they would shake their heads in understanding.

Later that week I told Katy how happy we were to find out that home meant the same in French as in English. She shook her head and said, "No it doesn't." So we told her of our conversations and how everyone seemed to understand what we meant. And she told us that home in French means man (hommes). It seemed that all week we had been telling everyone that she was with a man. She was not as amused by this as I was.

What did I eat in Haiti?

2009-03-19T12:22:00.013-05:00

If you have been reading my blog for any time at all, you will know that I am all about the food. Also you know that I am a big dork that takes pictures of food.

We were told before we left for Haiti that where we should bring at least some of our own food, preferably dehydrated food like that sold for backpackers. We were pleasantly surprised to see that the house had a real kitchen that we would all gather for at dinner time.

Here is a picture of our first dinner in Haiti. The tennis racket looking thing is an electric mosquito zapper, it was lots of fun to zap bugs with.

Our dinner that night and for several nights that week was cooked by Nancy, a woman that lived on the property with her husband. The two of them help take care of the house. We had Rice and Beans and Some kind of stewed vegetables. Jamie brought with her some homemade brownies that were to die for.

For every meal you have to choice to drink, water or beer. Water is bought from these small places along the street that make clean water by using reverse osmosis. The water is really clean and good, and the beer is not bad either.

On Friday night, we went to a Haiti Barbecue. We drove through a police roadblock up a street to a large gate. A man opened the gate and as we drove up there was a small outdoor restaurant.

You walked by the grill and ordered your meal, two choices- beef or chicken -- then you went to your table and a waitress brought you soda or beer to drink.

The meat was served with fried plantains, some other fried starchy vegetable and of course, rice and beans.

If we were at the plant during lunch time a woman would bring us each a plate of food. It was generally (can you guess) rice and beans sometimes topped with a bit of fish or one time with pasta and sauce.

If we were at the house during lunch, which we were for several days while the solar dryer was being built, we made our own lunch. One day we decided to eat the Army servings that Cory, one of my fellow travelers brought with him. I mixed the Mexican corn with the Chili, but it looked a bit gray, so I added some chili powder that I found in the pantry. Note to self: check spiciness of unknown chili powder before adding large amounts. Oh my it was so hot, we almost cried (but we ate all of it.)

The only meal I did not enjoy was unfortunately one meal that Nancy made to be special for us. This is what we found on the table one night at dinner time. It was not my favorite.

The Solar Peanut Dryer

2009-03-17T15:36:00.002-05:00

I have so much to share about my week in Haiti, but I have to jump right back into my regular life this week. I have so much to talk about and show all of you, and I will really, really soon.

Until then, here is the final picture we have of our Solar Peanut Dryer. You can see it is almost finished, it just needs a roof and some screening. (We were SO close to seeing it finished, we snapped this picture right before we jumped in the truck to go to the airport.)

The air flows through the solar collector on the front of the cabinet. The hot dry air then rises through the peanuts which are on shelves in the cabinet and out of a vent at the top.

If all went well, there should be peanuts in there today. I wish I could be there!

There will be fire!

2009-03-14T18:02:00.003-05:00

(Did you enjoy the Pi song? I scheduled it before I left because I was not sure if I would be able to update my blog.)

We were able to make some charcoal briquettes today! Do you know what is French for Briquette --- Briquette! Yea, I learned another French word.

We had to enlarge the nail holes that I had made to get some air into the can. We found that you have to start with a small amount of peanut shell and then slowly add shells until you get a really hot fire. Even then you cannot add the shells too fast or the fire will be smothered. Our third batch is in now the kiln. We have made about four briquettes. We want to burn them tomorrow to see how cleanly they burn. Unfortunately I smell like burned peanuts (with a hint of DEET). Ewww.

The Solar collector on the Dryer was finished this morning and we were able to get some temperature and humidity readings when it was placed in the sun. It got up to 120 F and 10% Relative Humidity, compared to outdoor temps of 80 F and 60 RH. I hope we get the doors on the cabinet so we can get more data tomorrow. Several of the shelves are finished.

Well just a quick update, I must make Charcoal while the sun shines.

Happy Pi Day!!

2009-03-14T07:24:00.000-05:00

A Solar Peanut Dryer

2009-03-13T17:48:00.002-05:00

We have all the material for the solar peanut dryer and the cabinet and solar collector are almost finished. Tomorrow we hope to take some temperature measurements and make the drawers. Everyone is so excited, especially Eddie who is the Boss construction guy and also lives on the property. His wife has cooked supper for us all week and keeps up the laundry. I met their two children today, a boy and a girl. I showed them pictures on my camera of my sons, then I took a picture of them so they could see themselves. They really enjoyed looking at the pictures of Six Flags Fright Fest.

The dryer was built using drawings, two people translating for us at various times in French and Creole and using what we have termed as Engineering Charades. There were times I had some doubts, but voila, it looks bon. Merci, Eddie.

Before I had left home, the Middle Geek had found a stuffed animal (a mini beanie baby rhino) for me to bring and a pack of Fruit Snack that he wrote his name on. He wanted to send more but I told him I was at my weigh limit. (I was exactly 50 pounds at the StL airport and 51 pounds at Ft. Lauderdale.) I gave the toy to the little girl and the Fruit Snacks to the boy. He was very polite and shared them with his sister. I know Middle Geek will be happy I found someone to give them to.

I know some of you are wondering, "What about the Charcoal Briquettes?" Do not worry, we are on it. The basket concept that we discussed with the Boss from the Trade School is exciting BUT unfortunely will not be finished until Monday - the day we leave! I am determined to make briquettes here in Haiti! We went looking for nesting cans like the ones Mr. Geek and I used at home. Many people buy powdered milk in about a gallon can, so we began to ask the workers at the factory if they had an empty milk can. One man said, Oui, so he left to get it. I decide I should shell his peanuts while he was gone (they were seed peanuts and had to be shelled by hand so they would not be damaged). So now I have my nesting can, I hammered many holes into the smaller one with a nail. Tomorrow there will be fire!! Wish me luck.

Tonight is Friday so we are going to a Barbeque! I have been told it is delicious. I can not wait! I have eaten too many energy bars and fish!!

Progress

2009-03-12T20:27:00.004-05:00

I still can't uplaod picture but I wish I could show you how our peanut dryer is coming along. I hope we can get some drawers made and the solar collector done tomorrow. The plexiglas was found, but it was very expensive. We also found out that even the English speakers did not know the word Plexiglass, instead we found plastic glass works better. At least I hope so, we haven't seen the material yet.

Today we went to a Trade School. We went to delivery some equipment parts to be repaired by their metal shop. The teacher there was very happy to learn someone in our group was a Mechanical Engineer (Jaime). He gave her a copy of the text book he has written, it was the first book in the series and is an introduction to drafting. I gave him all of the safety glasses that I had with me at the time, about five pairs. While we were talking, I had watched several students using the metal lathe without safety glasses, all leaning in to be able to really watch. Of course as we entered the building we passed a guy welding with no eye protection at all.

The trade school is part of a larger education complex. It was very strange to step around garbage, past the man welding and into a very clean metal shop classroom, full of all the tools I remember from shop class and work, lathes, drill presses, etc. It was only after talking to the Boss (a term of respect) that I realized it was like walking back in time to when I WAS in high school. For example there were not computers or computerized equipment anywhere. In the textbook, they were teaching drafting by hand for example, how to draw a pentagon using a compass. The teacher (boss) explained that some of his student had gone on to become engineers and some were tradesmen working in the oil industry.

While we were there we discussed fabricating a burn barrel that we can use to make peanut shells, like we did in Mr. Geek's and mine experiment . I am so excited that we have been able try so much. I know that may not sound like much, but we were completely unsure what this week could bring. I only hope that the second part of the trip we can finish what we have started.

Well today was not as long as yesterday, but we try to fit in as much as possible and I have been sleeping really good at night. Apparently last night I slept through a large feral dog fight not too far from our window, so I will quit for tonight.

(Also I can't get spell check to work- it took me forever to get Google not in French -- so so if there are any typos.)

More from Haiti

2009-03-11T14:21:00.004-05:00

I am trying to post pictures but the internet is slow. I am really happy to have the internet though because it is our only communication with the outside world. I have not seen any newpapers or television since we have arrived. The radio stations are all Creole or French (they sound very similar).

There are no phone lines here, so people use cell phones only. At the airport, there are people who will let you use their phone for a fee. (I am not sure how much it would cost.)

The roads are so chaotic that it hard to even describe how wild the car rides are. The main roads are mostly large holes, each car, truck, bike or motorcycle tries to pick the smoothest path- no matter what side of the road it is on!! Who ever gets there first wins and the others wait honking or drive into the hole and up the other side. Motorcyles weave in and out and pedestrians have to jump out of the way - even small children. If there is no room to park, cars pull up on the sidewalk. The public transportation consist of lots of van and truck and buses that people pay a fee and jump on. It is not uncommen to see people hanging from open doors on vans and from the back of trucks. On our first car ride we had at one time eight people, all our luggage, nine large water bottle, cameras and equipment etc all in one truck. Whew!

We have been very busy since we have arrived. Today we were up at 5:00am to take some of the people from the house (a film crew making a video for Meds and Food) back to the airport. In Haiti there is much hurry up and wait. We sat in the truck at the airport for several hours waiting to bring another traveler back to the house. Then we began shopping for the material to make our solar peanut dryer. We went to four stores which took several hours and still do not have all of the needed material. One of the materials we were not able to get on this shopping trip was caulk - just plain caulk. Plexiglass is also hard to find, although we are assured it can be found eventually. I hope someone can find it tomorrow.

I am going to post before any of this is lost, hopefully I can add pictures later.

You can read more about the trip at Jaime's Blog.

First Day in Haiti

2009-03-09T21:01:00.005-05:00

My view on the plane! The plane was tiny.

And my view out the window!

My view out of the truck.

We went Grocery shopping!

Home Sweet Home (for a week)

Traveling to Haiti

2009-03-08T15:24:00.005-05:00

The Little Geeks woke up to tell me Goodbye!

This is what fifty pounds of luggage looks like.
We will be here until 4:00 am.

Morning Questions (contiunued) and a Funny Story

2009-03-06T09:24:00.003-06:00

The question from Middle Geek yesterday, "What is pornography?"

I assume after reading my post yesterday you all realize that I have no idea how to answer deep thoughtful questions, but I looked around and I was the only adult in the room. I figured it was up to me. I decided to go with the basics.

Pornography is when you take picture of men and women naked and sometimes pictures of them having sex. (Oh my I just realized that my blog is going to be found when people search for you know what. Well, Hello fellas.)

Luckily that was all the Middle Geek could handle. "Yuck!", he said. Then he thought, "On TV they were talking about children pornography."

"What is wrong with some people." I thought.

"Well that is the worst thing ever," I told him, "To do something so inappropriate with a child is horrible and to take pictures...." Okay I had no words for that.

There, surely you all will be able to come up with something better when the questions arise.

Now for a funny story (yea! that last subject was depressing)

The Littlest Geek and I were in the car and he was enjoying some gum that I had just bought him. He was reading the label (yes everyone in my family reads labels) and he said:

LG:"Yuck, this gum has beeswax in it!"

AbFab:"Oh really, I like beeswax."

LG:"I didn't even know that bees had ears."

That kid cracks be up!

Morning News

2009-03-05T07:53:00.002-06:00

Every morning the Middle Geek turns on the morning news while he takes a shower. (He likes having company while he showers, don't ask.) After his shower, he will watch some of the broadcast before coming down for breakfast. Lately this has led to some interesting morning discussions.

Yesterday he came down and said, "Mom get ready to say, 'What is wrong with people?'"

Apparently that is the only response I can come up with when I hear of the awful things that people will do to each other. I am not sure if there is a better response, okay I am sure there has got to be a better response, but truly some actions just leave me speechless.

He told me the story, "This mom tried to drown her baby in a toilet."

So yes I responded, "That is awful, what is wrong with people?" It makes no sense to me, how can I explain this to an almost teenager.

The best I came up with was this. "Terrible things happen in this world. Mean people do horrible things. That is why it is very very important to do be good and kind. It is why we should always try our best to bring goodness to the part of the world that we touch. We have to decide everyday to be kind to people, show love and try to offset the bad in the world. "

It was so inadaquate.

Today's question, "Mom, what is pornography?"

The Three Stages of Accepting a Snake

2009-03-04T06:51:00.000-06:00

Denial - There is NO WAY he is going to put that snake on me!

Anger - I am outta here!

Acceptance - Please tell me when it is over.

How to make Charcoal Briquettes

2009-03-01T17:17:00.012-06:00

Seriously this post is how to make charcoal briquettes, and no charcoal briquettes is not euphemism for anything else. (At least I don't think so, wink wink, you know what I mean.)

In Haiti, there is an excess of peanut shells. There is also a shortage of fuel for cooking. Therefore several people have been working to be able to turn peanut shells into clean burning charcoal for cooking. After a bit of research with my good friend google, I found recipes and video describing the process.

I also found this amazing (and horrific) statistic.

More children die from poor indoor air caused from smoky fires than from malnutrition.

Can you believe that?

Before I go to Haiti and help train people, I wanted to be sure I understood how it was done. So Mr. Geek and I made charcoal this weekend. Oh yes we did!! I know you wish you were us.

So go ahead and ask: AbFab, how do you make charcoal briquettes from peanut shells? We have to know!!

Sit down kids! I will explain all!

First you need some peanut shells.

Mr. Geek and I decided we should have lunch at one of those restaurants that serve buckets of peanuts. Then we could take home our peanut shells (and those of the surrounding tables) as well as have a nice lunch out. Oh the will the sacrifices we make ever end?

But (gasp) the restaurant was closed!

So we ate at Chevy's, I had a quesedilla and a Sante Fe Salad, thanks for asking. It was very nice and oh where was I? The peanuts! Oh the peanuts. No success!

So I went to the grocery store and bought two bags of peanuts. However now I did not have tables of people to help me crack the peanuts out of the shell. So I took the peanuts with me to band practice. After practice, I made the group circle around and shell both bags of peanuts. Thanks everyone! You are the best!

Then we gathered our high tech equipment. In Haiti we will use 50 gallon drums, so for the Geek trial we will use empty cans. Mr. Geek used a nail to make several hole in the can to allow for air flow.

We put the peanut shells in the can and lit them on fire. (Okay can I be honest here, I mean we are all friends right? The first try was not successful. We tried chopping up the shells first before burning. The chopped peanut shells were too closely packed to catch on fire, even though we used ten to twenty matches... in the cold wind...brrr) The trick was to use whole peanut shells and they burned much more easily.

The peanuts burn until they are very hot and the smoke begins to die down. At this point, air is restricted. Our high tech equipment was a spaghetti sauce can and dirt.

It worked great.

After the peanut shells carbonize and the cans cooled, we gathered the resulting carbon fines and crunched them into small uniform pieces using our hands and a plastic ziplock bag. (The Geek household is all about high tech.)

Now to make the final briquette. A binder was made with tapioca flour and water. (The Geek household happens to have these supplies in the pantry.) When the mixture is cooked it makes a delightfully slimey gooey substance. I mixed the goo with the carbon and voila it formed a beautiful briquette! I dried it in the food dehydrator.

All that is left is the burning to see how successful we were!

Guest Posting by AbFab's Sister

2009-02-25T07:57:00.002-06:00

I had so much fun with the ME interviews. Here is the answers from my sister. She does not have her own blog so I told her she could post here. Is there anyone else that would like to be interviewed?

Take it away Chris!!

ok, my moment of blog fame:

1. Who is your favorite sister and why? Haha

Both of my sisters are my favorite, for of course different reasons since they are both so different & as Robin has many times pointed out, she is 10 years younger than me, where as Linda is only 19 months younger than me.

A. Linda is my tied favorite sister because we have always been each others best friend, we hung around with alot of the same people growing up & also as adults. We always have alot of fun together & enjoyed doing the same sports & most recreational activities through our childhood & adult life.

B. Robin is my tied favorite sister for other reasons. First of all, she started my love of babies that I have had through childhood & into adult life. Sometimes I thought my mom had her just for me. I have enjoyed taking care of her & having her with us as she grew up even after I moved onto married life, she was always part of my life. We also have alot of fun together & here I have to give kudos to our mom, because she raised us all so close & to most of all, really, really enjoy life with lots of laughter thrown in.(side note) question not asked, but who is my favorite brother? That would be Don. He is very good hearted & one of the nicest guys I know.

2. Apart from people or pets, what is your most prized possession and why?

I thought about this for a long time & I think I would have to say my house is my most prized possession, because of all the family & friends that have gathered their through the 20 years we have lived there. I love to have everybody come to my house for food, drinks, & lots of laughs.

3. If you could go back to high school and do anything differently, what would it be and why?

Of course, anybody that knows me, knows how much I hated school from the time I was little. The only thing I really enjoyed was the social aspect of school. So, if I had to go back, I would like to think I would apply myself more & go onto college & become a nurse or a nurse practitioner. Who knew I would enjoy the nursing life so much, especially sticking people.

4. What is more important good clothes or good hair?

Well, I love, clothes, mostly only comfortable clothes, but I would have to say "Hair". Bad hair, bad day.

5. Of all the embarrassing family stories we tell about you, which one is secretly your favorite to hear?

Since I tend to do & say some goofy things in my life, (somebody has to do it) I think my favorite is when Denny insisted I whiten his gray underwear. Mom never really taught us how to use bleach, so I bought some & threw all his underwear in the washing machine (this was the age of tidy whites). I then proceeded to pour bleach all over the underwear, I guess about 1/4 of the bottle. Boy did they come out white. I knew he'd be so happy. He wore them to work the next day. Half way thru his day he said his butt started itching, he was working at colonial baking company at that time & they changed their pants when they came in each day. Well, by the time he came in, he felt like he was almost raw from itching all day long. He took off his pants & to his horror all he had left of his underwear was the bands around the waist & legs & a very red & raw butt. He never complained again about white underwear.

Write about something mean you did to a sibling growing up

2009-02-23T07:39:00.003-06:00

I am writing this post to give hope to all those mothers whose children fight mercilessly. I want to give hope to mothers of children who look you straight in the eye and spit out, "I HATE my brother, I wish he was never born!"

Happy ending first - Here is a post I wrote for my brother on his last birthday. You see, we are friends now!

Did you go back and look at it. Did you see that maniacal look in his eye? Oh yes when we were growing up he was a mean, mean boy. Take my word for it, he made my life miserable and I HATED him. Oh yes I did and I would have told you whether you asked or not.

He would twist my arm behind my back and hold me on the ground until I said "Uncle" and then he would say, "Now say Aunt." Now do you feel my pain? So I began to plot how to get even.

Everyone "knew" that boys had a BIG weak spot. At least all the girls in my group said all you had to do was kick a boy "you know where" and you won. None of us had actually tried it, but we we had heard people talk and had seen it on television. I began to bide my time and look for an opening (so to speak) and one day when he was facing me at just the right angle, no doubt mocking me, I quickly shot out a very well placed kick. It connected with a solid, somewhat eerie, thud.

(We will pause here for a moment while my male readers regroup.)

Well his eyes crossed, his face collapsed completely inward. And I learned the feeling of absolute power.

"Bwahaha ha ha....ha......ha......

OMG what have I done, I may have killed him."

Okay he recovered, I am assuming completely, although we have never spoken of that day until now. And after that day whenever I went for the kick, I always paused just long enough so he could block and so that I would not hit the "target". (I am sorry to say to the mothers out there that we did continue to fight until he graduated from high school.)

Thanks MamaKat for your writing prompts, maybe someday I will actually get it posted on time.

How well do you know your husband?

2009-02-20T07:43:00.000-06:00

I thought I would give you an opportunity to learn more about Mr. Geek. I "borrowed" this from my niece's facebook again. Mr. Geek, you can correct me in the comments or if I am too far off, I will let you post a rebuttal.

Here's a chance to see how well you really know your husband. Cut, paste and fill in the answers, then forward . . . shoot, you know what to do. The real challenge is to send it to your husband to see how right you really are.

1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what on? History Channel, The Unit, Mythbusters or The Detonators

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Honey Mustard on the side, unless the restaurant has a good house dressing

3. What's one food he doesn't like? Eggplant (Caraway seeds and Cilantro) That really is about all he doesn't like.

4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he order? O'Doulls Amber

5. Where did he go to high school? Antioch High

6. What size shoe does he wear? 8 1/2

7. If he were to collect anything, what would it be? Bikes

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? That is tough, how about a Dagwood with lots of different meats and cheeses.

9. What would he eat every day if he could? Rice (with other stuff of course)

10. What is his favorite cereal? oatmeal

11. What would he never wear? There is not much he would not wear, this is a man who routinely goes out in public in Spandex. He has wore a kilt to Tartan Days. I am going to go out on a limb (and hope) and say women's clothing.

12. What is his favorite sports team? Any team one of the Little Geeks play on. Professional team would have to be the STL Cardinals (He switched from the Cubs after the '82 World Series.)

13. Who did he vote for? McCain (no comment)

14. Who is his best friend? AbFab Geek

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? Me, I am perfect right honey? Okay one thing I do that annoys him, is I throw out cans instead of putting them in the recycle. There MAY be more.

16. What is his heritage? English, German, he is probably a mutt.

17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake? German Chocolate with Coconut Pecan Icing

18. Did he play sports in high school? Track, Cross Country and Golf (although personally I do not consider Golf a sport)

19. What could he spend hours doing? Training for a triathlon

20. What is one unique talent he has? Packing, the man can fit any amount of luggage, etc into a trunk or van or refrigerator. It is a gift.

Happy Engineer Week!!!

2009-02-19T07:14:00.000-06:00

Surely you all had this on your calender!

In honor of Engineer's Week I am reposting this list from last year....

Top Ten Reasons Why Engineers are the Most Important People in the World

(They are too and I can prove it.)

1. Sanitary Sewers - Maybe you can remember outhouses and ditches for sanitary waste. If that memory is not gross enough, consider open ditches in the cities flowing with bodily fluids. Makes you want to hug an engineer right now huh?

2. Clean drinking water, in your house right now. Even if the water in your house is not as pure as you would like, compare that to traveling to town, pumping a gallon of water, carrying it back home, boiling and filtering the water to make it “mostly” safe to drink

3. Clothes, a lot of clothes. We may think living in Little House on the Prairie is romantic, but how many of us want to return to owning only two articles of clothing, one for everyday, one for nice occasions? Engineers have been instrumental in industries that allow clothes to be made cheaply enough that most of us own a closetful.

4. Central Heating or Air Conditioning. Depending on your weather outside, this needs no further explanation.

5. Music. While music is based on math, engineers really can't take credit for it BUT engineers deserve credit for making music available on demand, starting with Thomas Edison’s phonograph and ending so far with your IPOD.

6. Food. Okay again engineers can’t take credit for food, but think to yourself, “How much of the food that I ate yesterday, did I grow myself?” You can be sure that engineers have been involved in the irrigation, farming, harvesting and most importantly the shipping of this food to you. Ask yourself, on what kind of plant do Coco Puffs grow? Yes this is an engineered food that you may love or feel is the cause of the decline of civilization, I am sorry I can’t be responsible for engineers.

7. Bridges. This is something that engineers do routinely get credit for. However it takes a horrible tragedy like the bridge disaster in Minnesota, for people to realize the work and expertise needed to design and build a safe bridge.

8. Books. From the first printing presses to cheap paperback Harlequin romances to electronic books, engineers have made it possible for the printed word to be accessible to almost everyone.

9. Communication. We have come a long, long way from pony express to instant messaging all over the globe. Who do you thank? Engineers. Who do you blame when your boss can find you 24/7? Computer scientists and Physicists.

10. Sex. Hah, now I have your attention. Engineers have brought about the necessary items for both safe sex (i.e. condoms) and for adventurous sex (i.e. Ask someone else).

Where is AbFab Going? (the back story)

2009-02-17T15:34:00.002-06:00

Here is the time line.

Various times in 2008

AbFab: "Someday I hope to be able to use mine and Mr. Geek's engineering knowledge to help the world."

December 2008

AbFab: "I really wish I could do something more, I feel like I am in a rut."

AbFab receives email from a student group: "We are looking for a Professional Lisensed engineer (PE) to travel with our group to Haiti to help the organization- Meds and Foods for Kids."

It wasn't really sent to me, but had been passed around and forwarded around the department finally landing in my in box.

AbFab thinks: "That seems like a really, really cool project. I would really like to help with that. I am not a PE, but I have a good friend who is and Mr. Geek is a PE. Yes, I think I can help."

Reply from Student Group in December: "Great, let's meet in January when the semster begins."

Time passes, emails are exchanged and a few meetings occur, blah, blah, blah....

Email from Student Group Last Friday: "Professor AbFab , we have purchased your ticket to Haiti."

Where is AbFab going?

2009-02-14T10:23:00.003-06:00

The Last Interview?

2009-02-13T07:58:00.004-06:00

I think the MEME yet is the "interview me" meme. For this meme, you make up five questions up for that person to find out more about them. For me deciding what to ask was as much fun as being interviewed. I jumped in when I asked Donnie, The Brit to interview me.

I was then able to interview my niece, Cheri, my blogger stalker and work neighbor Catrina, My friend, Elizabeth and a new blogger, Stacy (Check out the site for her book, Frankly Pregnant, it is too funny) and a friend I could have only met in cyberspace because she lives in Africa, Kash ( I snuck in six questions to her, thanks Kash for graciously answering all of them.)

The only one that did not answer my interview questions was my sister Chris. Now I don't want to let perfectly good questions go to waste, so I have decided to use these questions to interview myself. (I believe this is the definition of egotism.) Come on Chris jump in here any time.

Welcome AbFab, and thank you for agreeing to answer some questions.

The pleasure is all mine AbFab, fire away!

Who is your favorite sister and why? Haha

Okay this is not really a fair question, but I made Cheri answer a similar one about her favorite Aunt and I received such great complements I had to fish for more. I will have to copy Cheri's response and not pick a favorite sister but instead pick my favorite thing about each sister.

Chris is my oldest sister (ten year older in fact, thanks for asking). She was so excited when my mom had another baby because she dreamed of being a mom. As I got older she even let me hang out with her and her friends and I remember going bowling etc with all the high school kids.

Linda is 18 months younger that Chris (like how I snuck in both of their ages) and in her letter to my mom while she was in the hospital giving birth to me, she wishes I was a puppy. One of my favorite memories of hanging out with Linda, is when my mom let me skip school and spend the night (I think to help out with my niece). Linda is a night owl, so we stayed up late and watched trashy TV and ate blueberry toaster strudels.

Apart from people or pets, what is your most prized possession and why?

That is a really good question, you are such a great interviewer. I do not know if it my most prized possession but I have one piece of jewelry that is special to me. It is a sterling silver pin that brought back from Germany by my great (great?) uncle and passed down to me from my dad. Also I have a jacket that I have that was my dad's, it is just a jacket from a jogging suit but I still have his clean handkerchief in the pocket that I still wear.

If you could go back to high school and do anything differently, what would it be and why?

If I could go back to high school, I would like to think that I would be more confident and would not try to hide in the background. (Yes believe it or not, in high school, I really tried not to be noticed.) When I tried out for the school musicals, I would step up and sing my heart out, maybe I still wouldn't have gotten the lead, but I would love knowing I gave it my all.

Of all the embarrassing family stories we tell about you, which one is secretly your favorite to hear?

Since I am the youngest of four, there are not really too many stories about me. I was pretty much lost in the general commotion. The only story I routinely hear is this one. I was a child that was horrible to put to bed. I screamed and I cried and made everyones' life hell until I fell asleep. One night my dad was home and had the task of putting me to bed. I tried everything to put off going to sleep. Finally I begged and begged and BEGGED for a glass of water. When my dad gave in and got it for me, I told him I did not want to drink it. So he threw it in my face. For some reason this story amuses my entire family. I guess you had to live through the evenings of my screaming to get it.

What is more important good clothes or good hair?

Ah the fluff question. I suppose any good interview needs some soft ball questions. I would have to say good hair is much more important because you wear the same hair 24/7. Clothes come and go. All right if you must know, I have no clue about clothes but I can pay someone to cut my hair, so let's go with that.

Thank you AbFab, that was an incredible interview.

Oh, anytime AbFab. It was fun.

A Couples MEME

2009-02-11T17:02:00.002-06:00

Okay I have been really busy working on something I will tell all of you soon. It has been taking much of my time and all of my concentration.

In the meantime, I stole this MEME from my niece's facebook. I thought it was cute.

All about Mr. Geek and AbFab

♥How long have you been together?25 years married + 2 years dating

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating? uh, a couple of hours

♥ Who asked who out?Okay I see that I am going to have to explain how we met for these questions. Meanwhile, let's just say me.

♥ How old are each of you?He is 48 and I 46

♥ Whose siblings do/ did you see the most?Mine, his all live out of town

♥ Do you have any children together?3

♥ What about pets? None right now

♥ Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? Probably working together in the winter when business is slow and cash flow trickles.

♥ Did you go to the same school?College. That is where we met.

♥ Are you from the same home town?no

♥ Who is the smartest?Oh my, well I have the highest GPA.

♥ Who is the most sensitive?Oh Mr. Geek is, he even cries at sad movies.

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple? It's between a restaurant close to work that we go to for lunch or IHOP. We are party animals.

♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?Canada (another blog entry, remind me of these)

♥ Who has the worst temper?Me, but I prefer to call it passion.

♥ Who does the cooking?Me, but he always cleans up. It works for me.

♥ Who is more social?Me

♥Who is the neat Freak?That is what this marriage needs is a neat freak, or at least a neater freak.

♥ Who is the more stubborn?Okay I will admit it, but I call it tenacity.

♥ Who hogs the bed?Mr. Geek, but he gets us at 4:00 am and then it is mine, mine, mine.

♥ Who wakes up earlier?Mr. Geek (see above) even on vacation.

♥ Where was your first date?Hmm, define date.

♥ Who has the bigger family?Mr. Geek, he has three sisters and one brother.

♥ Do you get steaks often?Yum, Ribeyes from Costco.

♥ How do you spend the holidays?Home with the Little Geeks.

♥ Who is more jealous?Mr. Geek

♥ How long did it take to get serious?About a year. It would have probably been sooner but Mr. Geek was kicked out of school for not making grades and I was having too much fun.

♥ Who eats more?Mr. Geek, no contest.

♥ Who does/ did the laundry?The Geek household has perfected the laundry routine. I put a load in every morning and Mr. Geek puts it in the dryer in the evening. Mostly he folds and I put it away. (We are engineers after all, efficiency is what we are all about.)

♥ Who’s better with the computer?It depends on what you need. I am better with software, but I haven't much patience with hardware at all.

♥ Who drives when you are together?Mr. Geek, he get carsick as a passenger.

25 Random Fact about me (or Too Much Information)

2009-02-05T08:39:00.003-06:00

This MEME is running rampant on Facebook. What the heck, I like to share random things.

My first memory ever is of deciding to run away from home by riding my Tricycle. I made it a few houses away before I decide to go back home. No one missed me!
The first day of kindergarten, I was so excited and happy that my best friend Joey and I ran all the way to school. Unfortunately a Patrol Boy stopped us and threatened to “Report Us” to the office for running. He let me go when I started to cry.
I was in trouble a lot when I was in kindergarten mostly for not taking a nap. One time Joey and I had to sit on certain squares in the middle of the floor for the entire rest time.
I learned to ride a two wheeler on an old Schwin bike that had been handed down so many times no one knew who was the original owner.
My first new bike was a Green Huffy with a Banana seat, a small sissy bar and a white wicker basket on the front handles. I loved that bike.
The only sport I played while growing up was Softball. I played Shortstop. Every year my team, The Country Inn Donuts would lose to the team, Coca Cola. We hated those girls.
The first play I was in was in Second Grade. The play was a version of Chicken Little and I was the wise lion king that told all the animals that the sky was not falling.
My third grade teacher, Mrs. Brown, introduced me to some of my favorite books to this day- Charlotte’s Web, Little House in the Big Woods and North to Freedom.
In the Solo and Ensemble contest in Grade School, I sang, “Zing went the Strings of my Heart” and “My Favorite Things.” I sometimes sing these when I am alone and they still make me smile.
My family never calls anyone by their full given name, so many people in my family call me Rob or Robbie.
My favorite bird is the Cardinal and sometimes I think the birds send messages to me.
My camp name at Girl Scot Camp was Cardinal.
I collect statues of Cardinals.
I like the book Watership Down so much that I named my cat, Fiver, after the main character.
I was so angry at being passed over for National Honor Society in High School (supposedly for not having enough extracurriculars) that I joined every club that would have me the next year and ran for and was elected to Student Council.
The following year I was appointed to National Honor Society, but I never participated, hah! (I am over the trauma now, really…)
The only really speaking role I had in High school plays was in The Man Who Came to Dinner. I played the eccentric scientist who brought Sheldon the present of cockroaches. Even then I was typecast.
My only singing solo in a high school play was the words “Why not” in the song, Fruma Sarah, from Fiddler on the Roof. (It was awe-inspiring, I swear.)
My two sisters and my brother and I do not look alike. We have even been accused of lying about being related.
I worked as a waitress at Denny’s for five years during high school and college.
I can still carry five dinner plates at a time, more with roll and salad plates.
I remember when Denny’s served Sanka for the Decaf coffee and served Instant Ice Tea and the Grand Slam was $1.99.
When I was fifteen, I volunteered at the Humane Society on in the city. We would ride the city bus there every Saturday.
I also volunteered as a Candy Striper at the hospital. I worked over a year in the ICU ward where I saw my first dead body. I also got asked out by a boy who was in there for a drug overdose.
My goal during all this volunteering was to become a medical doctor. I have yet to achieve this goal, but there is still time.

The ME Interview

2009-01-31T15:35:00.004-06:00

I enjoy blogging because it makes me feel like I can visit with people all over the US and the world. Some of my favorite blogs are from people that have relocated to different countries. I love the descriptions of the people and the food and well everything.

I found Donnie (The Brit) who lives in Brazil from some of my favorite UK bloggers, Mean Mom and MOB and Maggie May. He had posted a ME interview (like a MEME) that looked fun so I finagled an interview from him. (Okay I just asked and he sent me question.) In my mind, I am very important and my fans would love to know more about me... (Just go with it..please?)

Here it goes.

1: What are your biggest interests in life?

Of course there are my children, but that is the expected boring answer. I love to stand up in front of people and talk. Luckily I get a chance to to this when I teach or give Safety Talks. I also love music and singing. The time I get to spend singing at church either in the Praise Band or in Kid's Church gets me through my week.

2: I see that your blog name is "AbFab Geek" I love "Absolutely Fabulous"! So name another favourite British comedy series...

I would have to say my favorite British series would have to be Monty Python (not terribly original I know). I had one of the albums in college that we played over and over and would quote endlessly. I can still remember the first time I saw "The Meaning of Life". (Not the TV show but...) And lest you think all of that energy went to no good, my friends and I rocked the Monty Python portion of a Trivia night to win the competition. The other teams were awed by our knowledge (and probably a bit frightened.)

3: What has been your highest achievement in life?

I would like to say raising my three boys but as they are still works in progress, I would have to say earning my Doctorate Degree in Engineering. Not bad for a girl whose Dad told her she probably would even get through college.

4: Where do you see your life in 10 years time?

In 10 years, the Littlest Geek will be 21. I hope at that time I can claim that raising my sons was my highest achievement. My biggest hope is that I will have had the time and opportunity to see more of the world and to use my engineering to make positive progress in the world. (Too much?)

5: If you could travel through a wormhole through time and space what year would you transport yourself to? what country? and why?

This is tough because I am a big big fan of modern day conveniences. I would live to spend some time out in the old Wild West in the United States. (Can I change genders too, because women had it worse back then?) There is a part of me that wonders would I have the strength of Laura Ingalls Wilder to settle a Homestead and live on the food I have grown.

I really think I would tend to want to travel into the future. I enjoy visiting places where I can meet new people and learn new things. Doesn't everyone what to know what is coming up?

That was fun. Does anyone else have any questions?

If you would like to participate in the ME interview, here are the rules.

1. If you want to be interviewed, leave me a comment that says "Interview me".

2. I will respond by emailing you 5 questions (I get to choose the questions).

3. Update your blog with the answers to the questions and let me know when you have posted it.

4. You will include this explanation and offer to interview someone else in the same post.

5. When other comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Fun in the snow

2009-01-29T15:05:00.002-06:00

A day of sunshine and almost 40 degrees turned the dry fluffy snow (no fun for sledding) into a nice slick ramp. In fact the little geeks traveled so fast down the hill, I had trouble getting their picture.

Let's try that again!

It was time for some trick riding. The little geeks built a ramp at the bottom of the hill and then tried to catch some air.

See the kids can have fun and GO TO SCHOOL! Did I mention, after two snow days, the day they went back was a HALF DAY! AARRGH!

Ode to My High School Chemistry Teacher

2009-01-29T07:22:00.003-06:00

When I started writing my blog, one one the reasons was to practice writing and to get over my fear of letting others read what I had written. I hadn't written anything that wasn't technical since high school - and tech writing is not exactly riveting to read (or write). I have found a group of bloggers at Mama Kat . Mama Kat gives writing prompts (assignments) and a place to link to your site.

The prompt I chose was: Write a poem to your favorite teacher of all time. Well it has been since high school since I have written a poem (that was not a limerick, I have written lots of these lol). So please please please (I am desperate here) give me some feedback - but be gentle- it's my first time.

Ode to My High School Chemistry Teacher

by AbFab Geek

I was skating by in school
Making A’s pretty easily
Because I was on the college prep track
I signed up for Chemistry
Chemistry followed Biology

Chemistry education was completely different
I loved the blending of science and math
I loved finding the explanation of life
Now I could find out what was occurring on a minute level
Figuratively and literally a whole new world came into focus

I did not know it at the time
But this was my first experience with a geek
A Geek – Someone with a deep interest in a geeky subject
But retains humor and interest in all other things
A cool human being that enjoys learning – my new role model

Through this course and the advance course the following year
I learned the satisfaction that comes from working hard
I learned how to spend hours researching and processing knowledge
I learned what it felt like to really struggle with a subject
I learned it sometimes takes years and years to get it

Do you know the impression you left on students?
Did you enjoy being remembered as the hard teacher?
Did you ever wish for a more glamorous career?
How did you put up with desperate, frustrated students like me?
Where are you now?

Desperately Seeking Adult Conversation

2009-01-28T09:27:00.005-06:00

I know that sounds like the beginning of a really Spam, but it is the second snow day and I am starting to feel a bit cabin bound.

Once in a while a snow day can be fun, it can interrupt the long cold winter and bring together family bonding. (Hopefully not the type of bonding that involves duct tape.) but by the second day, the boys eyes are glazed over from unlimited video games. They have caught up on on the recorded programs on the DVR, and all the winter gear has been found to be 1. Too Little 2. Too old to wear (holes and elastic popping) or 3. Too wet (after it has been worn outside).

I did enjoy my day. I baked a cake, made Lasagna and Muddy Buddies and Jello cups. I finished grading the homework and spent way too much time deciding whether or not to cancel my class yesterday evening. (I did cancel the class, I hope my students did not miss me too much.)

So what shall we talk about...

Here is what I would be telling you about if you were in my kitchen right now.

For a while we have suspected we have some after hours teen activities in the back corner of our yard. We find empty beer and alcohol bottles. But this morning when I looked out on the freshly fallen snow in my back yard, this is what I saw.

Do you see those footprints? Do you know what that means?

The teenagers that have been partying in the back corner of my yard have also been walking into my yard towards my house. AND it appears from following the footsteps -- JUMPING ON MY TRAMPOLINE!!

So please tell me.

Am I just being paranoid?

Even if they really are in my yard, is it a big deal?

What can I do about it? (I mean besides using my CSI training to make imprints of the footsteps and then interviewing every kid from age thirteen to sixteen.)

My Last Post on New York City (probably)

2009-01-21T09:38:00.013-06:00

Thirteen More Things We Did in New York City

Believe it or not there are several more things that we did in NYC that I have not yet blogged about. For my sake I want to finish journaling this wonderful trip (for those tired of reading about it, I will move on soon, probably, I mean, yes, I will move back to reality...)

Mr. Geek's Activities - I know some of you are thinking, "Was this trip just all about you, AbFab?" The answer is, well yes of course it was, hah. But don't feel sorry for Mr. Geek you can tell from the pictures he was also having a great time. Mr. Geek also had his own list of things to do in NYC, and he accomplished most of it.

1. Running along the Hudson River . This was recommended by one of the many gracious people we met in NYC. We found that most people were happy to help us find whatever we were looking for and loved to tell us of there personal favorites, not to miss. I had to start writing things down so I would be able to remember them.

2. Running though Central Park. As Mr. Geek was running through Central Park, he noticed several traffic cones. Eventually he saw several runners wearing numbers. There was a race that Saturday morning. He considered just joining in, but by that time he was five miles into his run and did not think he could make it the race distance. (On the list for next trip to NYC, run in a race in Central Park.)

3. Visit a Bike Shop. As I explained to the man in the store trying to sell us something, "Some people come to NYC to visit museums, we visit Bike Shops." We stumbled across This Store in Soho. It was run by a hippie, who apologized that we had missed seeing the "real" New York by thirty years. He did give us to directions to a restaurant "the only one even close to what New York used to be." The restaurant is on the list of things to do on the next visit to NYC.

4. See a ghost bike. Ghost Bikes are memorials designed to honor a person killed while riding and a plea for awareness of community support.

Other Museums

5. Museum of Natural History. I mentioned that we visited this museum, but I left out the highlight which was the planetarium show, Cosmic Collisions.

6. The Tenement Museum . This is a very cool museum that shows the actual homes of the immigrants after they passed through Ellis Island. We took the tour Piecing It Together which included the early "sweat shops" which is when the clothing was made in homes. To think of the family raising four boys (and two girls) in that amount of space was truly unbelievable, because I don't believe that the Middle Geek could have even spent the time for the hour tour confined in that space.

7. Speaking of sweat shops, I tried to find the building where the Triangle Fire Tragedy occurred. This accident has been covered in my safety class and I wanted a picture of the commemorative plaque on a NYU building. Unfortunately it was getting dark about the time Mr. Geek and I passed through here and we must have walked right by it. (One more thing on the list for the next visit.)

8. Chelsea Market We did not luck out into a tour of The Food Network, but we did walk through the market. We walked up to Craft Steak (Tom Cochlicio's Restaurant) and Morimoto's, it would be cool to visit those, maybe our next trip will come with more money that will make visiting these places possible. The highlight of this visit was the "Ask a Chef" table. I went to the table and started more of a "Chat with a Chef". No he could not get us into the foodnetwork studios (worth a try huh?), to eat at CraftSteak, etc it was better to visit during Restaurant Week (two weeks later- yes it is on our list), I wrote down his recommendations for meals at the market, casual dining and more upscale dining. Oh the best, the chef was originally from Jeff City, Missouri.

9. Visit the United Nations Building - The Tour Guide on the Circle Line Tour stated that the United Nations gave tours every day but Sunday. We headed there on Saturday to find..

We did get a picture of this Property Corner Marker (to prove we were Geeks.)

Random Restaurant Reviews (not previously reviewed)

10. Tick Tock Diner I agree with most of these reviews. The restaurant is open 24 hours, which is not as common in NYC as I was led to believe by television. It feels like the diner from Seinfield, that is a plus. The food was good. But the service was borderline non existent. I asked four people for water, we sat forever waiting to order. The only thing that kept us in our seats was the weather outside and optimism. I think it may be the type of place that all tourist should visit though. Later we found an actual diner that real New Yorker's eat at and the service was much much better.

11. Pizza in Time Square. I do not remember the name of the Restaurant/ Bakery that we ate at. I enjoyed the pizza alot. The crust was more like a pastry crust and it was delicious. Unfortunately I was not able to cross off "Eat real NY pizza" from my list.

12. Chelsea Diner - I am pretty sure this is the place. We found this place at the end of a long, cold walking day. The place is pure comfort food. We order baked chicken and Cajun chicken. The portions were very generous (good thing Mr. Geek was starving) and the customers were a great mix from the neighborhood, it was a great spot for people watching.

13. Vice Versa This was recommended by our personal friend and Chef from the Chelsea Market. (He had also recommended Dogmatic, our second favorite restaurant, so we had high hopes.) Short story - don't bother. Longer Story - If you go , order the veal Ravioli (the dish recommended by our Chef) and then go finish your meal elsewhere. Mr. Geek ordered the Price Fixe Menu and the meal was similar to the meal he had eaten at the Chelsea Diner at three time the price. Okay the salad was steps above, but the beef was really pot roast (call it what you want) and it was served unimaginatively with steamed (really plain steamed) broccoli and mashed potatoes. Seriously? And the service, very snooty, it was one of the few places in NYC that we felt unwelcome.

Happy Birthday to Mr. Geek!!

2009-01-19T10:48:00.004-06:00

As you can see, Mr. Geek started off life as a Junior Geek.

By High School you could almost see a glimmer of the coolness to come.

By college it was apparent - This guy was on his way to be a premiere Geek. This is a picture of our first "formal"date - The Military Ball.

This is our senior year of college it is quite possibly when we reached the very peak of our coolness.

There are some* that say I married Mr. Geek for his body- what do you think?

*Some of course being Mr. Geek.Happy Birthday, Mr. Geek (You big Hunk!)

I Love you tons!!!

The Homefront

2009-01-16T09:00:00.001-06:00

I know you are thinking, great you and Mr. Geek had lots of fun, whatever. What about the little geeks, it is obvious they did not get to go to New York City. What did you do with them, leave them a dish of water and hope for the best.

Uh, yes, at least the hope for the best anyway. College Geek was still at home and in charge of getting the littler geeks their lunch packed and off to school. Grandma Geek (boy will she hate that title- note to Cheri think of different nickname) came over every evening to provide some stability and make sure dinner was somewhat appropriate- not cookies and chips.

And for those of you who that are tired of hearing about me, me, me, here is a good story about the Littlest Geek.

AbFab: Littlest Geek come down we have to finish your homework before school that we didn't finish last night. (due to D.A.R.E. graduation)

Littlest Geek: You mean this homework. (He is carrying it as he comes downstairs.)

AbFab: Uh...yes. When did you do that?

LG: I am sorry Mom, but I did not want to miss recess.

AbFab: okay....

LG: So I snuck down to the kitchen and took my homework back to my room. Then I remembered College Geek had given me some GloSticks for Christmas. So I used a GloStick and finished my homework. Are you angry?

My Thirteen Favorite Things I did in New York

2009-01-15T13:00:00.009-06:00

1. Avenue Q - This is a very funny show that is best described as Sesame Street for adults or Muppets Gone Wrong. We bought tickets that day and ended up in row E, center- woohoo. Warning - there is full muppet nudity and the next day you will find yourself humming entirely inappropriate songs.

2. Equus - Quite possibly the exact opposite of Avenue Q, this play was a serious look at a young man's (Daniel Radcliffe) time in a mental ward following a horrible crime. Minimally staged and also with nudity and no puppets but men dressed as horses, oh, I think you just have to go see it.

3. My First Time - An off Broadway play about, you guessed it, the first time. There is a website you can visit to read of others experiences or post your own. Many of these narratives have been selected and performed (well read, not performed if you no what I mean, I mean this play actually had no nudity, puppet or otherwise.) The results are both funny and poignant. Before the play the audience is given cards to fill out as to their first time experiences. There were three virgins in the audience that night and the average age for the first time was just over 18 (higher than the national average in the US of just over 15).

4. Purchasing the tickets - even buying our tickets was an adventure. I bought the tickets to Equus and My First Time before we left for New York, but I had to visit the famous TKTS half price ticket stand. We got in line about an hour before the line opened. This gave us lots and lots of time to gawk at the lights in Time Square and meet our fellow line waiters. We met two girls visiting their friend (an au pair) from Germany, a family from the UK and a woman from Brazil. We discussed the Euro dollar exchange rate and found that ipods can be cheap if you are coming from the right country.

Landmarks finally visited (after seeing them all my life on television and in movies.)

5. Statue of Liberty - We saw this from the Circle Line tour. Here is a picture of us before we wimped out from the cold and went inside.

6. Empire State Building

7. Washington Square

8. The Tree at Rockefeller Center

9. Bryant Park - I looked for Tim Gunn, he did not show.

10. Macy's - Santa unfortunately was gone. We did ride all the way up on the escalators and back down again. Can you say tourists?

11. Museum of Natural History and Central Park

12. Grand Central Station - I desperately wanted to make a phone call from there so that the person on the other end of the call could say, "Where are you, it sounds like Grand Central Station?"

13. Union Square - This was extra special because on the day we went there was a farmer's market. We were able to watch a live band. I bought this fantastic scarf from a girl who was sitting there knitting them.

And a block away we ate at our second favorite restaurant - Dogmatic. You see they toast the inside of the bread on these special toasting rods (see them in the background) then they put one of five different homemade sausages into the bun with your choice of sauce.

Yes we made all the appropriate sophomoric jokes and then we went back for seconds. I still have the frequent buyer card harboring the illusion that I might really make it back there.

The Hotel

2009-01-13T16:34:00.007-06:00

This post is not only for all of you following along on our New York adventure, but for those who will find this later by searching google. Welcome fellow googlers and I hope this review is helpful. (You see I looked a lots of reviews and blogs when planning our trip so I figure I should return the favor.)

The first hotel that I made reservation for was The Pod Hotel. The hotel came as a recommendation from my niece Angie. She said it was a reasonably priced hotel that was in a great location. She and her husband had stayed there and even stayed in the bunk bed room with a shared bath to same some money. I am not opposed to saving money but for my anniversary, I splurged and reserved the room with a queen size bed and private bath (for $20 more per night). The good thing about having your anniversary in January, is that the prices get much cheaper after New Years.

A friend had also recommended searching http://www.travelzoo.com/ for bargains. There did not seem to be alot of bargains until the trip got closer. Next I made reservations at the Empire Hotel, across from Central Park. (I always asked for the cancellation policy before I made reservations.)

I could not just accept that so I kept checking travelzoo daily (you might call it an obsession). Next I saw an ad for the new Wyndham Gardens. The price was even less than what I had booked the other hotels, so I immediately became suspicious. The map showed that it looked like it was in a good place, but what did I know about locations in New York. Finally I called and made another reservation (not cancelling the others as to leave my options open).

The lady that took the reservation was quite possibly the nicest person I talked to between all the hotels. She said for the lowest rate, I could have a king size bed in a new allergen free room, plus $20 in food credit in the hotel. I made the reservation, still somewhat skeptical. I goggled and searched and read every review that I could find. Because it was such a new hotel there were not alot of reviews and they were a bit mixed. However most of the bad reviews were not because of location.

Finally I canceled all reservations and we ended up at the Wyndham Garden- Midtown Convention Center .

Short Review - It was really wonderful. The bed was very comfortable. The employees were so nice. I would stay there again in a heartbeat. My biggest fear is that as word of the new hotel spreads I will never be able to stay for the same rate again. ever.

Long review - We took the Supershuttle from Newark Airport and the hotel is on the other side of the Lincoln tunnel. We were the first passengers to be dropped off. The street in front of the hotel is narrow and there is parking on both sides. When our driver dropped us off, he basically stopped in the middle of the street. He turned to me, eyes serious, and said, do not open the door, wait for me. Okay then. Also as he took our bags out the doorman grabbed them quickly, I said oh I have them, and he said yeah but okay lets just get out of the street. Good Idea. In all it was an exciting entrance to New York City.

I had requested a room for early arrival and the room was waiting for us at noon. The front desk manager wished us a Happy Anniversary (I had told the reservation lady) and gave us vouchers for free drinks at the bar.

The room was not huge (by midwestern standards), but the king size bed was very comfortable. I even liked the pillows which very rarely happens in hotel rooms.

We used our free drink vouchers that evening where we met our very favorite bartender. She gave us lots of ideas where to eat for breakfast, lunch and after the show, because after the shows many restaurants are closed. (this was a bit disappointing to me, so much for the city that never sleeps) We traded stories of our adventures with her everyday.

The only real complaint I would make would be with the cleaning staff. You could tell that all the employees were new and some had the job training down better than others. On the good side, there was no job burnout and everyone (I mean everyone) was smiling and friendly. On the other side the room cleaning was very random.

Also the amenities in the room seemed to change as the time progressed. It was if they were still supplying the rooms as the hotel received inventory. There was an umbrella in the room that came in very handy. Then the second day we ended up with robes, slippers, and a bathroom scale. Another day we got a makeup mirror. It became part of our fun to discover what might show up in our room that day. The Chocolate fairy was also random. Some evenings we didn't get any chocolate, one day we got one piece (I ate it, sorry Mr. Geek) and the last day, two truffles.(This time I did let Mr. Geek eat one, although I considered hiding it.)

The worse was one day there was a knock on the door about 8:30, I said we were not yet gone, to come back. What the maid apparently heard was, Go away we don't want you to clean in here. We got no maid service that day.

I just checked travelzoo while I was typing this and the rate is $129 per night. Seriously go there. Tell the concierge AbFab sent you. (And go to the Knife and Fork, I beg you, and tell me everything that you ate, talk slowly.)