Anderson/Hatgidakis/Nelson/Metcalf: Newsletter
Old news: December 2001
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Karen
12/31/2001
Congratulations!!!! I can't wait to see her. Any pictures coming soon?
Tristen
12/30/2001
I have a new sister! She is Teghan Noel Metcalf and she was born on December
28th at 11:53PM. She weighed 7 pounds and 5 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. She has
lots of dark brown hair, but I had more and mine was darker. She is doing good, and so is my
mom. My mom, dad, and Teghan got to come home Sunday at about noon and we have had
non stop visitors ever since, we are tired! I am being a good big sister too, I was the first one
to see her and then hold her after mom & dad. We just wanted to let everyone know!
Lindsey
12/29/2001
CONGRATULATIONS AMANDA, RYAN, AND TRISTEN!!!!!!
Amanda
12/27/2001
I'm a little sick of getting asked that too, but it has only been 3 days for me, oy
vey! Ryan is thinking tax deduction too, the 31st will be one week late. I have another doctors appt. Friday morning, we will keep everyone posted!
Marsha
12/27/2001
Hello everyone. We were all home today, John went to the dr. yesterday, and she
said it's just got to run it's course, Anna is feeling sort of crummy too, so we're doing lots of inside stuff. Thanks to everyone for all of the great gifts this year. Mom, I love my Husker sweatshirt and John has been enjoying the Husker book. Haven't tried the jellies and mustard yet, but they sure look delicious. We haven't taken anything down yet, but I'm feeling like it won't be too much longer. Need the room back! Such nice pictures of Christmas Eve from Gary...really liked seeing Mojo. Glad he still has a tail. It's really chilly here, just in the teens for highs today. We finally watched Chocolat last night and loved it. Sam got a VCR for her room for Christmas, so she may be sending in more reviews in the future. Amanda, our neighbor's baby was due on the l9th and she is so tired of people asking her when the baby is coming. She is hoping to go before 12/31 for that tax deduction.
Grandma
12/27/2001
Hi to Everyone, and Thanks to everyone. It was a really a very nice Christmas, in
spite of the fact I had a hard time getting into the Spirit, it finally kicked in. Got so much good
stuff and love it all! Tried out the griddle last night and it works great {thanx, Gary}. Marsha,
I love your store, you sent so many "surprises" in the neat tote bag, will be putting that to
use come Farmer's Mkt. time. Loved everything in it. Paul's gave me a really neat candle that is
perfect in the middle of the table. Donna is helping out my eyes with a magnifying lamp which
gets me thru the hardest spots on "Taylor's" afghan and a neat new snowman, which I'm
hating to put away just yet. Karen sent soup mixtures and homemade jelly and I've made a dent
in that already. Ryan gave me a Pampered Chef cooking stone, been reading directions and
will try it out soon. And, Amanda as usual one of my favorites--the birthday calendar. Sam I
smell so good with the bubble bath and soap--love it--and Anna the flag is so pretty and is still out for a while, and Zach the box of candles are so
neat and smell so good!! Sean, I really love the lighthouse plaque and will have to find a spot
soon for it, and the cocoa flavors are the most enticing I've seen and tell Lauren how
thoughtful she was for bringing me such a nice gift--a garden trowel with lotion and hand gel. Gee, I hope I haven't forgotten anyone. Thanks again to one and all. Christmas Eve Day at the Lied Farm was a really nice day too. We
almost had the place to ourselves and had such good food, but couldn't do justice to the
dessert bar. HAPPY NEW YEAR and GO BIG RED!!!!!
Karen
12/27/2001
Hi everyone! We all had a great christmas. Brent got us all a telescope so we
have been trying to see the stars - too cloudy and too cold to take it outside yet, so mostly
we have seen the neighbors yard! I also got some very nice ruby earrings, and this mat that
you put into your bathtub and it makes it like a whirlpool bath - soooo relaxing. Lindsey gave
me a very nice candle, which I love! Thanks again Linz. Erika loves the fish bowl that
Amanda gave to her. I actually let her open a present on Christmas Eve and she choose to
open that - put it up (hopefully out of reach of the kitties) on her armoire. Looks very nice
there - hoped to get a picture to send - but indoor pictures on the digital are always too dark.
Brent and Emily got gift cards from Zach and Anna (thanks guys) so we are all going
shopping this afternoon. Amanda - I'll post the soup recipe, glad you like it. Don't feel bad
about the baby being late - Emily was two weeks late and Erika was 6 days overdue - not fun, but it is well worth the wait!
We did Christmas with Brent's family yesterday - his dad is home now and doing much better.
We are all off of work and school now. Brent goes back on the 2nd, Emily and Erika on the
3rd, and I go back on the 4th. Plan to watch lots of movies on Brents new DVD player.
Amanda
12/26/2001
I loaded Microsoft Windows XP tonight. It is kind of cool... Looks a lot like MSN
actually. Anyone else get it?
Amanda
12/26/2001
Hello all! Just thought I would check in after the holidays while I still have time.
It's the night of the 26th and still no baby! We took down all of our Christmas stuff today.
That feels good. The lights are still up outside, but that isn't a big deal, the dead dry tree was
however. We had a good Christmas, other than the driving. We put on almost 400 miles in 3
days, gotta love that! We did my mom's on the 23rd, Metcalfs on the 24th, home Christmas
morning, and Grandmas that afternoon. Thanks to Donna from Tristen, she LOVES Paige.
Thanks to Karen from Ryan, though you could have sent him jars and jars of the Layered
Soup Mix and he would have been just as happy, he LOVED IT! If you'd want to post that
recipe on the recipe page that would be great! And thanks to Grandma for my crock pot, sorry
that I mentioned it and got 2! Also, thanks for the lotion stuff, it looks pretty in my bathroom!
Tristen has been giving finger puppet shows all day. Not much else new, we were busy today so tomorrow is a VEG day. Ryan had to go back to work tonight at 7 and is
working 12 hour shifts this week so he will sleep most the rest of the time, but will be off all
next week (and the next 30 days if this baby ever does come!). Hope to see lots of postings
with everyone off school, and some off work! Have a Happy New Year!
Samantha
12/26/2001
Happy Boxing Day! Olivia, you always know what to give me! I love that
blanket!!! Thank you so much. Grandma, the lamp is really cool, I'm going to love having that
in my room. Donna, thanks for the cat on the couch - it's adorable. This year for Christmas, I
got a VCR and Zoo Tycoon (it's really fun) and lots of other neat stuff. I went to work with
Mom this morning and got some stuff with my Christmas money. I am eating carmel corn from
my mom's friend and I can't stop it is too good. Good pictures Gary.
Anna
12/26/2001
Happy day after Christmas and Boxing day. Donna, thaankyou so much for the
dog on the couch, it is really cute. Tristen, thank you so much for the shirt! It is really cute
and it fits perfectly (I am wearing it right now!) Grandma, the lamp is so nice and it goes great
in my room. Gary, thanks for all the computer games, they look like fun. Santa brought me
polar bear pj's, polar bear book, stuffed polar bear and a big game table. Sam gave me a really
cool glitter make up set. We had a nice Christmas, but my Dad had the flu and today he is
going to the doctor.
Ceasar
12/25/2001
Ruff Ruff Bow wow, Bark bow wow ruff bark bark bark wow bow bow wow ruff
garl grrrrrr
Translated: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Translated by: Lindsey Anderson :)
Gary
12/25/2001
Hi Erika -- I will tell the Mojo story because I was there when it happened. It was funny! He was acting wild all night -- one time I was doing something on Donna's computer, and he jumped right on the keyboard and shut off the program I was in! Anyway, about the tail: Donna had a candle burning on a table, and Mojo got up on the table and would walk right next to the candle. (He seemed kind of curious about fire -- he also liked to get close to the fireplace and watch the logs burning.) So when he walked by the candle, his tail would swish back and forth, and it would go right over the top of the flame every time; it must have felt kind of warm to him. But pretty soon I smelled something funny, like burning hair. Donna grabbed Mojo and looked at his tail, and found a small patch of burned fur on his tail and also some burned whiskers and eyelashes! I think Donna should teach him how to use a fire extinguisher!
P.S. I got a nice shirt, a DVD ("Casablanca"), a Best Buy gift certificate, some books, and lots of food items including some some chocolates and some great-looking oatmeal, a dart-board (oops, it's really a small picture of George Bush), plus a small model of a woolly mammoth like Archie in Elephant Hall. Thanks everybody!
Erika
12/25/2001
On Christmas I got a scooter and me, Mom and Emily all got a telescope from Dad.
I also got a Meow-Chi, a watch, pajamas, sheets, a lamp, clothes, stuffed puppy, a pretend
fish bowl and earrings. Yesterday I opened a present and it was a dry-erase board, Mom said if I wrote a note to Santa on it, maybe he would write me back, and he did! What did you get???
p.s. How did Mojo burn his tail? :(
Gary
12/25/2001
MERRY CHRISTMAS everybody! Some new pictures on the photo page, from yesterday when Grandma and Donna and I went to Nebraska City, then back to Donna's in the evening.
Amanda
12/24/2001
No baby yet... Sorry! We are ready. We did Christmas at my moms yesterday and
we are going to Metcalfs today. Then home to bed for Christmas morning. I am sick today. I
think I might have a sinus infection and sore throat, and possibly getting an earache, nice
timing.. Tristen had it last week, so I guess I was due. We did some Christmas baking the
other night, that was fun, but now someone has to eat it all! We are taking a big tray to
Grandmas, and Ryan is sure hoping for some stuffed mushrooms tomorrow at Grandmas...
Well, MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone.
Gary
12/23/2001
Last Christmas, Lindsey wrote some Christmas poems. If you would like to read them again, here they are!
Lindsey
12/22/2001
Merry Christmas to all! I also have no school for two weeks and don't have to go
back until January 7th! Ceaser just had a little lump removed on his neck and he got stitches. But he is OK now. Those recipes look really good, Marsha! We got about an inch of snow and they are pretty sure that we are going to have snow tonight also. Amanda~ When is that baby going to come?? Hopefully soon! Well, I got to go, TTYL, Bye!
Samantha
12/22/2001
Merry Christmas. What happened to Caesar?? We got snow today at noon! Sunny loves the snow. I finished my Christmas shopping last night. No school for two weeks!! Gotta go. Bu-Bye.
Marsha
12/22/2001
Check out some recipes I am posting that we're doing for Christmas.
Marsha
12/22/2001
Good Saturday Morning. Big, fat beautiful flakes of snow are pouring down.
Really looks great with the pine and lights outside. Anna is baking sugar cookies. Hey Paul, check out the review page for Ringo.
Thanks for the new review, Marsha, but you already reviewed it last August! Paul must not have been paying attention.... :-) --Gary
Anna
12/22/2001
Merry Christmas Everybody!
Sean
12/22/2001
Hey dad I noticed that you are putting "Over" at the end of your messages. Is
this kinda like the CB radio thing? "7 9er Over and Out Good Buddy?"
Grandma
12/22/2001
Hey, Amanda, watch out underfoot, there is ice under all that snow!! I love this
kind of day, however my sympathy to all those who have to go out in it. Swept a spot on the deck for Penny and it is all covered again. Listening to music, A. no paper this a.m. and B. T.V. conked out, hoping it fixes itself. Anyway, my Christmas spirit jumped a couple notches this morning. Thanks to Mother Nature!!!
Ceasar
12/21/2001
Penny and Sasha~Thanks for the get well card after my surgery, got my stitches
out and I'm back to my normal doggy self.
Mojo and Zoe~I've never seen you and I don't plan to, but if I do, you better run. J/K, I'm nice to kittens (You think).
Sunny and Rainbow~I am hoping for snow, I bet I will get it before you, Haha!!
Nicole and Cocoa~I've never seen you either so refer to Zoe and Mojo's note.
Ok, well Merry Christmas everyone, and if you would like my Christmas List then please E-mail my secretary-Lindsey Anderson-which is dictating this for me right now! But I really am talking, just because I don't have apposable thumbs, if I did I would be doing this by myself (maybe, probably, ok no).
Happy Holiday and I enjoyed your Christmas card, Penny!
Sash~ Call me, your girl left her clothes over here and I took the liberty to have my secretary wash and fold them for her. :)
Paul
12/21/2001
No, I'm not thinking snow. Can do without it. My new job I gotta work next week
except for Monday and Tuesday. Snow Removal is a big winter job for us. Gee Marsha, didn't hear about you seeing Ringo. No review there :). Over
Gary
12/21/2001
I am informed that Mojo has not figured out how to work Donna's computer yet, so the Mojo card will not be emailed. But you can download it! Click here.
Donna
12/21/2001
I am now off work til Jan. 2nd! Yippee!!! Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and
GO BIG RED!!!!
Karen
12/21/2001
Merry Christmas everyone! Last day of preschool for the next two weeks. Had a fun day and I got lots of nice presents. Erika is very excited about Santa coming. Emily has a dance after school today. Looks like we may get some snow tonight or tomorrow - haven't had any yet, so that would be nice.
Grandma
12/21/2001
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERBODY!!! Are you all thinking SNOW?
Gary
12/21/2001
First day of Winter, and snow on the way! :-) From one to three inches this afternoon/tonight, they say. Hope they're right this time.
Box-office numbers are starting to come in for Lord of the Rings, for those of you who were wondering: On its first day the movie took in $11.6 million (0.00000006% of that from me and Lindsey!). Estimated receipts for its first weekend are in the $50-60 million range. And bear in mind that it cost "only" $270 million to film all three movies.... Looks like a hit!
Marsha
12/20/2001
I've wanted to write for many days, but work has been long and tiresome and fun
and crazy. Evenings go by so fast with dinner, homework, errands, etc.....well, you all know
the routine. Thanks to Lori and Paul for the box, it arrived on Tuesday along side the one
from Mom's house. Our neighbor is the UPS man, so we don't worry about delivery too
much...speaking of delivery, we are always awaiting news from the Metcalf clan. I agree with
Paul that snow would be better after Taylor arrives! I guess Gary seeing Lord of the Rings
was on par with me seeing Ringo this summer. Can't wait to see it, and Harry Potter and about
6 other good ones coming out lately, though nothing will be as anticipated as LOTR.
Lindsey, where's your review because we all trust your judgement. Only a few more nights till
Santa comes and we are hoping for some snow for his journey. Still green grass but maybe
snow will be here this weekend.
Amanda
12/20/2001
Gary~ I CAN'T believe we aren't reading a LOTR review yet! I thought for sure
there would be a page long one opening night!
I thought I'd give Lindsey a shot at it first, but she's had almost 24 hours! So here's mine! :-) --Gary
Paul
12/19/2001
AMANDA, be careful what you wish for!! You know it will snow the night
Taylor decides to be born!! Wish for snow when you two get home.
Enjoy the movie Gary and Linz. Over.
Amanda
12/19/2001
We didn't get no stinking snow, and I have been wanting it for months!
Gary
12/19/2001
Finally, some snow here! And a very well-behaved snow too -- it nicely covered the ground and trees while none of it stuck to the streets or sidewalks. And more coming this weekend, they say. Looks like a white Christmas after all. :-)
Gary
12/18/2001
til Lord of the Rings! :-) Here's another great review, this one from Salon.com who calls it "the movie of the year" and "something of a miracle." See you at the premiere, Naod...?
Anna
12/17/2001
I'm with Karen and Lindsey, Noad Ghermai it sounds like Sean.
Lindsey
12/17/2001
Well, I stayed home sick today. Again this year, yuck! I am not sure about tomorrow though because I am still not feeling too hot. Still I would like to know who Naod Ghermai is. I still kinda have a feeling it is Sean also because this guy is looking for some kind of car. Please this is killing me not knowing who this is so whoever you are Naod please tell us all who you are. But anyway! If I am still not at school tomorrow then I will probably write some more. Friday is my last day of school until like January 4 or something and then we get a week off in January and then after that we are going to Florida so there are a lot of things coming up pretty soon. Christmas, School off, Florida! Oy vey! Well, I am going to sign off and will talk to you later, buh-bye!
Paul
12/17/2001
Hey is this a new game? "Guess who Naod is." I'm guessing someone stumbled onto the webpage when Sean was talking about his projects! Just a hunch.
Karen
12/17/2001
Like Lindsey, I would like to who is Naod Ghermai, sounds like Sean......
Gary
12/17/2001
One week from tonight: Christmas Eve!
Samantha
12/15/2001
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LINDSEY!!!!
Anna
12/15/2001
Happy Birthday Lindsey!!!!!!
Lindsey
12/15/2001
Who is Naod Ghermai supposed to be?
Gary
12/15/2001
Sorry, Naod, can't help you with that; but I can help Penny get her Christmas card to the rest of you. She has been trying to email her card to each of you for the past couple of days, but for all of you with MSN (and that's most of you) the card keeps bouncing back with the message "insufficient mailbox space." MSN doesn't give you much room! So: please click here to download Penny's Christmas card. Woof!
Naod Ghermai
12/15/2001
I'm looking for information and pictures of an Esclade Cadillac.
Grandma
12/15/2001
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LINDSEY
The Nelsons
12/14/2001
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDSEY!!!!!
Grandma
12/14/2001
Congratulations to Amanda, Big old sigh of relief!! Now you can relax and enjoy the season and look forward to the new baby (which I hope comes sooner rather than later).
Have a great time at your big birthday bash, Linz. Happy Birthday tomorrow!!
If you don't already know, Brent's Dad is very ill in the hospital at Yankton, they plan to go there today. Sending along lots of good wishes. Hope he is back home soon.
Paul
12/13/2001
Yes honey, you do write, but we do read. Congrats on finishing the semester. Hope finals went well.
We are getting ready for Linz's party, food decorations and such.
Gary, Linz is really excited about next week!!
Merry Christmas everybody.
I'm excited too! (Lindsey -- who has finished "The Hobbit" and is partway through "The Fellowship" -- and I are attending the first showing of "Lord of the Rings" next Wednesday.) By the way, here's another thumbs-up review of LOTR, this one from the London Evening Times. The reviewer -- who says he is not a Tolkien fan -- says, "...give Lord of the Rings every Oscar for which it is eligible and save ourselves a lot of guesswork next March." :-) --Gary
Amanda
12/13/2001
OK, so am I the only one who writes on here anymore or what??? Anyhow, I am done with school! Woohoo! Last final today! Done Done Done! It feels good!
Amanda
12/11/2001
They finally opened up the Culver's restaurant here close to home. We went
tonight, on opening night. It was very busy, but the food was great. The flavor of the day wasn't something that grabbed us, Nestle swirl (Nestle crunch), so we just got regular old chocolate and vanilla custard, and butterburgers... EXCELLENT! We will be back, thanks for giving it so much praise Donna and Grandma, it was worth the wait!
Amanda
12/11/2001
14 days, oy vey.. We are all ready here. Finally packed tonight. Still
hoping to go early, but not until after the 13th, as that is my last final... I
had my American History one on Monday, off Tuesday, Algebra on Wednesday, and
Humanities on Thursday, then DONE! We went to the Nutcracker on Saturday, a
production done by Tristens dance company, she LOVED it, and told me as we were
leaving, "sign me up" next year. We also took her to the mall to see Santa, as she
had been bothered that she hadn't done that yet. We also had to go to the grocery
store because she decided Santa needed the yellow and white cheese like she likes.
OK.... Anyhow, just thought I'd write a little since no one else had for a
while...
Gary
12/10/2001
Hey, be sure to watch David Letterman tomorrow night (Tuesday, the 11th): Not only is Heisman trophy winner Eric Crouch scheduled to appear, but also Elijah (Frodo) Wood.
Gary
12/6/2001
While I normally despise FoxNews because of their Republican bias (in fact, "bias" is too weak a word; more like "perversion"), someone there did give "Lord of the Rings" a very good review.
Amanda
12/6/2001
I just finished my last class! What a good feeling! I still have finals week next week, with a two hour final on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, but I am not the type to stress over tests, I make sure I am in good standing before finals time rolls around, and then I figure the test is going to come regardless, why stress over it, right? No more sitting through lectures is what I get excited for!
Amanda
12/5/2001
I saw Scrubs early this fall, so tonight couldn't have been the first one.....
Hmmm, I wonder if this was a repeat then? It definitely had an introductory first-show "meet the cast" kind of feel to it. --Gary
Gary
12/5/2001
Woo-hoo! Got my ticket for the first showing of "Lord of the Rings"! They just went on sale this afternoon.
Two weeks from tonight. :-)
Erika
12/5/2001
There was a can food drive at school and K.e.m.a.g sponsered it and I was picked to be on t.v.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It should be on Fri.
Lindsey
12/5/2001
I would love an advent calandar Karen!!!!!!!!
Karen
12/5/2001
Tristen - I am so glad you like the advent calendar --
Lindsey - maybe next year.....
Amanda
12/4/2001
Nice!!! I want one of the VCR's that edits out commercials while recording... And a DVD burner to share the wealth...
Amanda
12/4/2001
Gary~
Do you have a DVD player yet????
Yeah! I got a DVD-VCR combo a few weeks ago. Love it!! --Gary
Lindsey
12/4/2001
Hey Karen~
I never got an advent calendar before!!!
Gary
12/4/2001
Here are some more reviews of the "Lord of the Rings" movie (no spoilers in these): this one from Newsweek and this one from Hollywood Reporter.
Amanda
12/4/2001
Karen~
Tristen is loving the advent calendar. She has 3 to do each night, but that one is her favorite! She got 4 beaded bracelets last night, and thought that was the coolest! Thanks again!
Amanda
12/4/2001
FYI: Pearl Harbor came out today, and at Wal Mart the DVD is pretty cheap. $16.88 which is good for a DVD, especially one like that, and considering the junky VHS is $15 something.... They usually don't stay that price for long though.
It's also on sale for the same price this week at Circuit City. I got mine! Very cool aged-leather-looking box, and it includes a "the making of..." feature, plus a Pearl Harbor documentary from the History Channel. Plus, it has coupons for $3-off on the following DVDs: Tombstone, Unbreakable, Bridget Jones' Diary, Chocolat, Gone in 60 Seconds, Spy Kids, Remember the Titans, and The Sixth Sense. Disclaimer: I do not work for Touchstone Pictures, or Circuit City. --Gary