Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts

02 January 2014

Landfill Harmonic...

In a place with so little beauty, beauty is created from garbage. 
This gives me hope for all mankind. 


02 March 2011

Newest Grandchild: K. Oskar Russ-Johanson

Karl Oskar Felix

We’re calling him ‘Oskar’…
Born: 3/2/2011 @ 09:45
Weight: 9 lbs. 2 oz. // 4148 grams
Length: 21 inches // 53 centimeters

22 November 2010


The news this fall is that I got a new car, an Elantra Touring. Couple of reasons: one, I liked the ratings for the vehicle on safety and repairs, and two, I have seen Hyundai plants in Korea and I like their ethic toward their workers. So here's my new baby.
It has a lot of room in the back. Not like my Caravan, but good enough, and the gas mileage is exceptional. (Side note: I have been driving Chrysler minivans for 15 years. And I love them. But the gas prices were killing me and my 2005 was in "little things go wrong" phase of its existence. Better to give it to my son who is capable of fixing the little things.)

The only question I have left is how to pronounce it. Americans say "hun-day" but in Korea they said "heh-youn-dai." Is this another word like "gyro" (guy-row/hero/yee-rose)?

31 May 2010

Bikes, of all things

Had a crazy impulse day yesterday and just thought I'd share. So here's the sequence....

My knee, the one I broke back in March has been getting better, mostly. The bone is healed, but the tendon is still wonky and pretty painful. I need to work it to make it stronger, but in a low impact way, so lots of walking is out. Steve suggested his stationary bike, but that is boring so we dug old bikes out of the garage to see if we could clean them up and get them working.

Both needed new tires, chains, brakes, seats. And a lot of wire-brushing and paint. We had hours (maybe days) of work ahead of us. But off we went to price parts. Ironically, we found the price of the parts was more than the cost of new bikes. So in a crazy flurry of impulse shopping late last night, we bought two new bikes instead.

His is a snazzy red and black mountain bike. Go fig. But mine, oh mine, is a lovely retro lady of a bike in pale metallic green. It is almost a dead ringer for a darker green bike I had as a kid. I fell in love immediately.

Now picture this: it is 9:30 pm on Sunday night, yet two grown adults are cruising on bicycles in the quiet back streets of Highland Square and laughing like kids on a joy ride.

We only did about a mile or so last night, but it was enough to feel the beginnings of "the burn." Sometimes getting old sucks. Things we did as kids that were once so easy are now so much more work. And also more scary. We bought helmets, too, last night--since landings aren't as simple as scrapped knees after 50. Still, I am liking this bike thing--helmet, knee brace, and all.

This morning we'll be taking the new toys to Angel Falls, the coffee shop a mile away, for muffins and cappuccino. Wind in our faces. Bumping along over the brick streets of the neighborhood. I could get used to this.

13 March 2010

Hike for the Homeless

Thank you to everyone who participated, volunteered, donated and supported St. Joseph the Worker's 12th Annual Hike for the Homeless!

There were 1,300 participants and the event raised $65,500!

All money raised at this event is helping homeless individuals become self-sufficient through meaningful employment.

St. Joseph the Worker is a non-profit organization in Phoenix Arizona. Thanks to Blue for sharing this video and information: http://www.sjwjobs.org/hike2010.html.

26 December 2009

Flood irrigation valve monument (& Jer, Blue, & grandkids)

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Walking to downtown Tempe saw this gorgeous bush! Wish i knew what it is!

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Liam at the park

We are at the park around the corner from the house this morning. The temp here in Tempe is in the high 50s. Seems odd for December. Liam is having fun on the climbing bars--he is all boy! Chloe is in her stroller observing the world. After the park, we will head to the local pasty shop for a late lunch. I love being able to walk to everything.

Stay tuned... more later!

Liam at the park

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

24 December 2009

Drinking White Wine in the Sun



Seems appropriate to post this as I land in Arizona to spend Xmas with my son and daughter (she's more than a daughter-in-law) and grandchildren. Will pick up som wine on the way and lift a glass to all of you out there. Kiss someone you love today! Cheers!

18 December 2009

Talking to Australia

This morning I was on Skype with my daughter in Perth. 9 am my time is 8 pm hers. So she was playing with Juliette, my new granddaughter, just before bedtime. The baby was rolling about on the bed and squealing, while gramma and mom had serious girl talk about nappies (diapers), playing in the spa (hot tub), and what baby did all arvo.
While online I used Jing to do some screen capture photos and to video my baby girl's baby girl at play.
This is the thing I love about the brave new world we live in: I am in touch with everyone all the time! My daughter in OH posts her daughter's adventures on her blog. My daughter in DC texts me and chats with me regularly in gtalk. With Skype I get to webcam with my son, grandson and granddaughter in AZ as well as my daughter and her family in Australia. We all make phone calls, of course, but now I can see them all as well as hear my children's voices. And then there is the blogging and facebooking and tweeting we do back and forth, updating each other on a daily (sometimes hourly!) basis.
Just 20 years ago my parents had to wait until a holiday to see their grandchildren, my children, because we lived several states apart. Going overseas meant being out of touch until you got home because phone calls were too expensive except in emergency. Even long distance calling was kept to a minimum because of phone bills and rates. The internet has changed the nature of communication and that is a marvelous thing. Why just this morning I got friended in Facebook by my cousin in TX with whom I only recently reconnected.
Today, thanks to the technology of Twitter, Facebook, blogs, Skype, and the many Google marvels like gtalk, gtalk video, and wave. I can be in touch with multiple friends and colleagues. My tweets spill into my gtalk and FB statuses. My blog posts show up on my FB wall. There are people who say we share to much information. Me, I like the idea of a transparent society. I love this techno-geek shit!