Anderson/Hatgidakis/Nelson/Metcalf: Newsletter

Old news: October 2004

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Gary
10/31/04
Well, I'm choosing not to believe your poll and Emily's druggy dream. :-) I'm anticipating a Bush concession speech Tuesday night.

As for trick-or-treaters, I was at Grandma's for the evening and... I will let her give the details, but it was somewhat less than 400.


Karen
10/31/04
Busy Halloween night in SC. Only one hour into trick or treat and already 400 +. Erika is handing out the candy this year, so she has been busy!
We have two very unscientific polls to report. This first graders at St Pauls voted last week while I was in the class, 14 for Bush and only 3 for Kerry. That same night Emily had a dream (while heavily medicated), that Bush won -- 49% for Bush and 48%.
Emily
10/31/04
Hey everybody! Well, Spencer is over it was a LONG day but it was fun. We were supposed to leave at 5:30, but the bus went to the wrong place so we didn't leave until about 6. We got there around 8:30, we had 4 rounds, and I went 2 and 2. My favorite round was the first one, I made the girl I was going against cry. I think I got a few points taken off for being too mean in CX though. But, I got 71 points for this competition and once I get 100 I will be varsity, so hopefully after the next one I will be up to 100. It was a really fun day!

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Birthday John!!


Ryan, Amanda, Tristen & Teghan
10/31/04
Happy Birthday John!

Amanda
10/31/04
Happy Halloween everyone!

We had trick or treating last night, however today we have a Halloween party to go to for Girl Scouts, and then we may go trick or treat at the mall.
Lindsey
10/30/04
Cute pictures Amanda! We need to do some pumpkins but probably won't get around to it. Well a good game for the Huskers today! #1 in our division now so that's not too bad. Now maybe this game will give them some confidence in the big games we have coming up!
Nelson's
10/30/04
Happy Halloween Everyone :)

Nelson's
10/30/04
Happy Birthday John

Amanda
10/29/04
Not cookies Gary, its nuts!!)

Ooops! Though Girl Scout nut time doesn't sound quite right... :-) --Gary


Gary
10/29/04
Girl Scout cookie time!

Also, new pictures from Texas!


Lindsey
10/29/04
Hey everybody! Today me and Olivia went over to Grandma's today. When we got there Dad put on a few boards to the deck. Getting closer everytime we see it. But today we went shopping for a while and then went back to Grandma's and I finally pushed Donna into buying a cell phone, one of the pay as you go phones. But the biggest thing was, was me and her trying to get the voice-activated dialing to work and it was the funniest time ever. We were yelling into the cell phone "LINDSEY...LINDSEY......LINDSEY'S CELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" But we said we'd try another time because our stomachs hurt so bad from laughing. Anyways I will let her tell you more about the phone. We kept thinking of Sean and the "cattle....cattle.....CATTLE!!" But we also watched Secret Window tonight too, a first for Donna, Gary, and Olivia. Suspensful movie but a good one if you've never seen it!
Paul, Lori, Lindsey, and Olivia
10/29/04
Happy Birthday, John!

Paul, Lori, Lindsey, and Olivia
10/29/04
Happy Halloween!!!

Amanda
10/29/04
Darn it, we needed this site a day or two ago! Try it anyway, its fun!

Cool! :-) --Gary


Amanda
10/29/04
Hey Donna, this is what we were talking about the other night with regards to checks. Everyone should read this, just to be informed.
Olivia
10/29/04
Hope you have a SCARY Halloween everbody!

Happy Birthday John!

Grandma
10/29/04
Happy Halloween, Everyone!!

Happy Birthday, John!

And Get well wishes to all who need them, stay well to the rest of us.

Warm and Windy, due for a cooler day tomorrow. Erika, your trip sounds fun, except for the ride home, were you sitting in the front? I want to hear about the Courage walk also. Sounds as if I may be one of the few voting the "REAL" way --on Tuesday. Hope it isn't cold and icy! Not impossible.
Donna
10/29/04
Erika, I want to know about the Courage walk. Was it scary??? It couldn't have been any worse than your bus ride home.

Lindz, congratulations on acing the learners permit test! Very cool.

I voted last week by absentee ballot.

Oliva, Emily, Paul, hope you're feeling better!

Happy Halloween everybody!


Gary
10/29/04
Supposed to be in the 80s here too. But better than a blizzard, I suppose... And what is the deal with all the ladybugs?? They're everywhere! And Erika, way to go, I'm taking a hookey day today myself!

And allow me to wish everyone a Happy Halloween!
Karen
10/29/04
Summer is making one final appearance today. It was 70 at 6 this morning. Actually turned the AC back on. Brent put all the storm windows on a couple of weeks ago. It was getting pretty stuffy inside, plus if you do open the windows, those nasty little ladybugs come in. Emily is back to school today, but still not feeling great. Erika is taking a hookey day today. Still pretty tired from her trip.
Erika
10/28/04
I got home from Spring Brook State Park about 2 hrs. ago. It was interesting. We did things like learn how to use a compass, see a water table, fish (I got 6 tadpoles and 1 live fish and 1 dead fish), see furs (Timberwolfs, badgers, red foxes silver foxes and something foxes And beaver) Archery, Who goes there (Food gets covered in powder that u can see with a black light), and Oh deer (a game). Our dorms were so ugly every thing even the bathroom stalls were lime-green unless it was white. The bed was so uncomfterable I only got about 3 hrs. of sleep last night but we had a nice charter (Kellys Koaches) bus, on the bus ride home someone in the back puked then suddely the front was very full.
Grandma
10/28/04
I am still clinging to a landslide for Kerry, but who knows? It is a weird time, I read an article this morning telling about how many unusual weather things that have happened also. Speaking of which, it is almost hot today. Another weird thing, Paul, why are you falling off trailers?? And Emily, you are missing a week of fun things too. It sounds like you and Livy got bit by the same bug. I hope Erika had a fun camping trip. Maybe we need to go into hibernation.
Amanda
10/28/04
Speaking of weird, I thought Osama would be here by now...

Knowing how tight Bush was (and is?) with the bin Laden family, Osama is probably pretty busy this week putting out Bush-Cheney yardsigns. --Gary


Ryan & Amanda
10/28/04
We just voted!!

Gary
10/28/04
By the way, has anybody else remarked on what a weird week this is? In one 7-day period we've got a lunar eclipse, the Boston Red Sox winning their first World Series in 86 years, Daylight Savings Time ends, Halloween (and John's birthday--especially weird!), Nebraska's Homecoming game after two of our worst losses ever, and the election which pollsters say could be the closest in American history. What does it all mean???

Another P.S.: Looks like the Ohio story is no longer available. I just tried it and got a "registration" page. On some newspaper sites, you have to sign up to be able to see old stories.


Donna
10/28/04
Gary, the Ohio link takes you to the Miami paper.

Yeah, I know; but the article is about Ohio. I'm guessing it's of interest to Miami because "Florida" has become a buzzword: The article talks about Ohio becoming "another Florida." --Gary


Gary
10/28/04
I'm still predicting a Kerry victory, because I'm counting on high voter turnout and new voters to make the difference. Of course, like four years ago, voter fraud could change that: you mentioned the missing ballots in Florida, and it's already happening in other key states too, like Ohio and Nevada. This time, however, there are lots of people ready for it (like lawyers and reporters), so the good news is, when it happens it will be noticed. Bad news is, it will go into the courts, and this may be another election where we don't know the results for weeks or months.... But I still think that Kerry will win, and hopefully will win decisively on Tuesday night as opposed to next January.

P.S. Feel better, Emily! and Olivia! and Paul!


Karen
10/28/04
Emily is home sick again. Stayed home on Tuesday, went yesterday, but no better today. She is very tired, sore throat and a headache. I know she is sick, even missed her Mayors Youth Commission meeting, Teen Court and dance this week. Hoping that she is recovered enough by Saturday for her debate.
Erika took off yesterday morning for her trip, should be home this afternoon. I imagine she will have lots to tell everyone.
John Kerry was in town again yesterday. Would have been fun to see him, but I had to work. There is a rumor that Bush will here on Monday. I am sooooo tired of the all TV ads, phone calls and mail box full of more ads. Just as a topic of conversation, how about everyone's predictions for the election. Who will win and will they know that night??
I am afraid that Bush will win, but by only a slight margin (mostly because I heard that Florida has 50,000 missing ballots). I also think they will know that night.
Karen
10/28/04
Paul -- Watch yourself!! Geez, some tough guy, driving yourself to the hospital. I think you deserve a day off today (or at least a running dog).


Lindsey
10/27/04
Hey everyone. I took my driver's test today (the written part at least). But I got a 25 out of 25 and aced the eye test. There wasn't a hearing test but I can go back on my birthday and all I'll have to do is take my picture and then I'll have my permit. But then when I go to get my real license, I'll only have to do the driving part. Actually I THINK if you pass your final driving test in Driver's Ed you don't have to take the driving test down at the DMV, you just have to take the papers down. So I will probably take Driver's Ed this summer or something. Also Dad came home today about the time my Mom did and he had been at the hospital. He had just fallen off a trailer at work and on his forehead to the right he has stiches back about an inch and half. He actually drove himself the to the hospital but he has antibiotics and stuff. He's fine and everything and it looks fine, it's not bruised or anything and he didn't get a concussion but they don't know how long he'll have to have them in. So fun day at work for him!

Well done, Lindsey! And, Paul... jeez! Watch yourself! --Gary


Donna
10/27/04
Tristen, Great picture of you in your cheerleading outfit. You look like a teenager! I hope you'll show us some of your cheers when you visit at Christmas.
Donna
10/27/04
Lindsey and Amanda, really great pictures!!! I love the one of Teghan holding Olivia's 'hook.' She is getting so big. You guys all have great costumes. It would be hard to pick a winner if you all were in a contest.

Olivia, how are you feeling? I hope you're doing better. You shouldn't be sick on a no school day. I can see why Teghan loved your build-a-bear dog. He is really cute. What's his name?


Gary
10/27/04
And even more new pictures, which arrived last night! (Lots of pictures on this page right now, so if you have a slow connection, be patient!)
Marsha
10/26/04
Our computer is having MAJOR problems and we haven't been able to communicate with it much at all. John isn't feeling sick, they discovered his Hep C at a routine physical, he has a liver biopsy in Nov. and will have a year long treatment program. Glad that the trip to the Wolf Lodge went so well. It has been fun hearing about all the activities Emily and Erika are doing. Anna finished up her volleyball season, Sam is enjoying school (mostly). We are looking forward to a birthday weekend and Halloween!
Gary
10/26/04
And yet another new picture, for you Hawkettes fans!
Gary
10/26/04
New photos up, from the Great Wolf Lodge Weekend!
Lindsey
10/26/04
Hey everybody, me and Livy are over at Grandma's today and Liv is watching Garfield right now. Grandma's deck is looking more and more done everyday! Ok well just wanted to say hi!
Emily
10/25/04
Sounds like everyone had fun in KC, can't wait to see pictures! The new deck sounds really cool, can't wait til we can see it in person.
We're pretty sure we will be coming down on the 13th, but not sure if we will stay over yet. Hope we get to see everyone!
Why doesn't Lincoln have school this week?!?! No fair!
We have just been getting everything ready for Spencer this week in debate. We will have to leave at 5:30 in the morning on Saturday!!! Then we should get there by 8:30, and be home about 8 that night. We are also having some people from the cheer camp we went to this summer come teach us a stunt routine on Saturday for cheerleading, so unfortunately I will miss that, but hopefully debate will go well, and I will catch up on the routine.
Hope John is well, and feeling better!!
Great job on your horse paper Olivia!! :)
Donna
10/25/04
Olivia, I love the horse story! Nice job!

(Can I get a cool galloping horse on this note?)


Donna
10/25/04
First the bad news...Bush is just a few miles away from me--in Council Bluffs giving a speech this afternoon. His wife and Guilliani are also here.

Now the good news...Clinton has joined the Kerry campaign. He and Kerry are speaking somewhere today. Hallelujah!

Clinton and Kerry were in Philadelphia today at noon (our time). I watched it over the lunch hour. Clinton was great! Excellent speech, as always with him, plus this joke (which Kerry delivered, as he said Clinton said it backstage): "What do Clinton and George Bush have in common? In eight days, they will both be ex-Presidents!" --Gary


Karen
10/25/04
Not sure if it's up to me to say or not, but since I brought it up I will -- John recently found out he has heptatitis C, and needs some treatments.
Erika is going to Springbrook State Park in Iowa. She is leaving at 7 am on Wednesday. They will be doing all sorts of fun things. They will be sleeping in a lodge and coming back the next afternoon.
Olivia -- great paper :)
Gary
10/25/04
I'll jump in. I hadn't heard about John, either -- what's up?? As to Erika, check Karen's note of the 15th below.

And be sure to check the projects page, everybody: brand new item there today!


Amanda
10/25/04
I'm lost... Where is Erika going, and what is wrong with John?
Gary
10/25/04
The Wolf Lodge trip must have been excellent. Glad you all had a good time there. At least you had something better to do than listen to the game... Wow, probably the worst Husker game I've ever experienced, even worse than the 70-10 loss two weeks ago.

Yeah, sorry I don't have any pictures of the new deck yet. I do have my little Palm Pilot camera, but I haven't got it where it can talk to my PC yet (gotta get that fixed!!). But when the pictures do come, you'll all be impressed. Paul (and day-laborers Lindsey and Livy) did a fantastic job. It's beautiful. And huge, compared to the old deck -- it was like adding another room.

Have fun on your camp-out, Erika!


Karen
10/25/04
Sounds like it was a fun time in KC. Waiting to see the pictures. Also want to see pictures of the deck -- Lindsey?? Why isn't there school in Lincoln this week? Erika is sooo excited about her trip -- leaving on Wednesday morning, already packed :) Hoping that the weather cooperates, looks like it should. Yesterday was a perfect fall day! John -- how are you feeling? You are in our thoughts -- let us know how everything comes out.....
Lindsey
10/24/04
Geez, no one's been on since we left! Well we just got back and we had soo much fun this weekend but it went by too fast. But we went swimming a lot and looked at Cabela's and NE Furniture Mart. We also ate at Famous Dave's and even played some BuzzWord (a game we rented at the hotel). We have pictures that we'll try to get up ASAP!

Also just another thing we did was go to the arcade there and it was Amanda, me, Ryan, Sean, Lauren, Livy, and Tristen and all of us together ended up with 1,529 tickets and so Livy and Tristen got some neat stuff. But we got there and Amanda and Livy and me went over to the little Chuck E Cheese game, you know with the lights and stuff and Amanda hit the jackpot the first time and won 450 tickets just from that! So then we all got addicted to winning tickets and then Lauren won the jackpot on it for like 120 tickets I think and we think Livy may have a gambling problem when she gets older. She kept coming up to me saying "Just one more token Lindsey, just one more." But we had fun. Also there's a dance game you know where two people play, well me and Livy have it at home so we thought we would do it ther. Well there's this kid probably 16 or 17 and he's on there ALL NIGHT like doing these really fast songs and he's just a nerd really because he's got a hat with a little ticket in it and he's trying to give people tips as they play it, anyways Amanda could tell you about him. But we had a lot of fun there.


Lindsey
10/22/04
Well, we're about 20 minutes from leaving about. Dad and Livy just took Ceaser over to Grandma's to spend the weekend. I had to finish packing quick after school. Ok well we'll talk to everyone next week!

Hey, find a computer in that place, get on line once in a while, and send us updates!!! :-) --Gary


Karen
10/22/04
Foggy, dreary morning, but sunshine and records highs of 80 to come this afternoon. So glad it's Friday!! Been a long week. Have fun in KC everyone, wish I was going too :)
Amanda
10/21/04
Thanks for the Iowa Park channel, but we won't be here! We need KC!! :):)

Good point! In Kansas City, listen on KCTE (1510)! Have a great time, y'all!--Gary


Emily
10/21/04
Hey everybody! I remember the big blizzard, I think we got some snow too, but not near as much as Lincoln! Today was really cold and rainy here, if it was a few degrees colder we would be having some really bad weather!
I've been wondering about Hatgidakis' too, where are you guys??
I love the crawl today! :)
Lindsey
10/21/04
I remember the big blizzard! I know we didn't lose power but for a few minutes maybe but I remember Grandma and Donna came over to our house. We didn't have school for a week and traffic was crazy!
Gary
10/21/04
A good new political spot from MoveOn.org.
Amanda
10/21/04
I was just wondering about Sam & school myself! We need Minnie reports...
Grandma
10/21/04
Brrr! Just walked out to see the progress Paul has made on the deck (he was working in the dark last night) and it is a not nice day! Kind of a biting mist but not freezing, thank goodness. Deck is really progresing nicely, we will have steps soon. I want to go back to school with Emily or Amanda, they are doing the most interesting things, maybe politics or law was my true calling. Tristen, if I was your teacher you would get 100% on your report. I am so proud of you. I learned things I never knew about sharks! And your picture was great. Marsha, tell us about your trip last weekend!? Was it fun? Where are you guys?
Gary
10/21/04
Wow, if it was about twenty degrees colder, this would be one snowy icy day! The drive in was quite a bit slower even though it's only a misty rain and wet streets. In fact, if it was twenty degrees colder, hopefully I would be watching the snow fall outside my living room windows, a cup of hot chocolate in one hand and a favorite DVD in the other.... :-) ...where was I...? Anyway, it could happen! Anyone here old enough to remember the October Blizzard of '97? Trees breaking in half under 13" of heavy snow? Power out for a week? Don't need THAT again, of course, but a regular snow day...ahhhhhh! :-)
Lindsey
10/20/04
Hey how's everyone doing? The weather's getting colder here too but I like Winter, gives us a break from the heat for a while. Tristen do you know when you are going to do another report? I have dance tonight again but next week when we don't have school, I don't have dance either so four nights off of dance next week! But I'm getting excited for this weekend and Amanda looked on their webpage and they are having a "Howl-O-Ween" thing there and so I think Tristen, Livy, and Teghan are taking their outfits and they said they like walk down a yellow brick road and get to do some Halloween crafts and stuff like that. Alright well I need to go get ready for dance so talk to everyone later!
Emily
10/20/04
Great job on the report Tristen! I love the picture. You definitely deserve a running dog!

Erika and I got out early today at 12:30, for another teacher inservice or something.
I also saw on the news this morning about the senators getting flu shots, beacuse they "shake a lot of hands", I thought that was pretty funny.
I have dance tonight, but thats about all we have going on for awhile.
I got an application for Executive Council for Mayors Youth Commission today. I will be applying for that then we will have an interview/questioning thing in November, then we will know after that. But, if I do get on Executive Council then we will just have an extra meeting each month, and i will be a co-chair for my committee.
It has been getting really cold here lately and leaves are falling, I hate the Winter!!
Lindsey
10/20/04
Tristen, I love your report! You did so good on it. I think that deserves a running dog!

Donna
10/20/04
Tristen, what a great report! You sure have nice handwriting and the picture is very good. How is it that no one knows how long Tiger Sharks live? That's pretty interesting!
Gary
10/20/04
Well, there may not be enough flu vaccine for America's children or elderly, but there was plenty for our Senators and Representatives in Washington. They were at the top of the list for flu shots as they are considered at "extreme risk" -- because "they shake a lot of hands." I heard this on NBC news this morning...
Karen
10/20/04
Tristen, great report!! I can see why it took two days to finish it :)
Gary
10/20/04
Okay, Emily's note of the 18th has been restored. Sorry about that, Emily!

Also, new project on the Projects page!

P.S. I just noticed that on some of the old Projects pages, some of the photos are missing. I know what happened, and I will fix it soon!


Emily
10/19/04
Gary -- Where did my newsletter I sent in yesterday go?

Dang, I hate when I do that! I must have written over it when I was adding something else. Sorry about that, Emily. I can fix it tomorrow from the backup files in my office. --Gary


Emily
10/19/04
Well, if we come to Lincoln the weekend before my birthday I won't have my license yet, but hopefully I will get to drive down anyway!
Good Luck on you permit test, Lindsey! I don't know what the test is like in Nebraska, but the one I had to take was a lot harder that I expected it to be. At least you won't have to take the driving test this time. I will have to take the driving test when I go for my license, but not the written one since I already took it for my permit.
Your shark report sounds really cool Tristen! Im working on a research paper too, for Biology 2. We are studying bacteria, last week we went around school and took samples of bacteria like on door knobs and drinking fountains and places like that, and then we swabed them on augr plates to culture them and try to isolate a colony. We are incubating them right now, but they are already getting pretty gross. Next week we will put them on slides and look at them under the microscope and see what type of bacteria it is. Anyway, we are doing our papers on bacterial diseases. I am doing the Bubonic Plague, its intresting but I would rather do a report on sharks!
Lindsey
10/19/04
Yep Dad is taking me to take the test for my permit on the week we have off of school (next week). We're excited for KC too! I can't wait to read Tristen's report. I remember my first report I ever did in first grade and I remember I was so mad because the teacher picked our topics and she gave me Boa Constrictor and my best friend got like dolphins or something that I wanted. But have fun with it T! Yea about the Tommy Lee thing, I'm the sure the band was thrilled with that!
Amanda
10/18/04
I remember seeing it say, "and the answer is"... But the answer never came up, for me anyway.

Weird! Should have. --Gary


Amanda
10/18/04
Oh, and the state is Maine.

From the crawl: "Out of all the 50 states, only one has a name consisting of only one syllable. And that state is...." But the answer appeared on the crawl itself after about five seconds. :-) --Gary


Amanda
10/18/04
So, tonight we had a guest speaker in my profiling class. He was the fire marshal in Wichita Falls. He came to speak to us about arsonists. He told some stories about fires and investigating them. He told us about their dog, and how amazing they are at investigating. It was pretty interesting. 2 weeks ago we had the head of the "Homocide" department for the police department come to give a similar presentation. Very interesting stuff. And of course, campaigns and elections gets more intersting as the time goes on... Anyway, we are getting SO excited to go to Kansas City this weekend! Can't wait!!! Thanks to Gary's countdown, Tristen always knows when we are going. I am betting Emily wants to go to Lincoln for her birthday so she can drive lots. :) Will there be a car with a big bow on it in the driveway soon? ;) Yikes, this all means Lindsey gets her permit soon!! Tristen is doing her first report. It is over sharks, she chose the Tiger Shark. Her & Ryan worked on it tonight. I will let her tell you about it, and when she has it finished Wednesday night I will try to scan it all & send it in...
Amanda
10/18/04
I'm sure this is JUST what the band needed Saturday. I saw the news on CNN today.
Emily
10/18/04
I'm sure I won't be getting any piercings or tattoos until my 18th birthday, but only 2 more years.
I thought it would be fun to do something for my birthday in Lincoln, proably the Saturday so Sunday before my birthday.
Donna, I really dont have alot of time to prepare a case. I usually find out before time if I will be defense or prosecution, and usually a little bit about what the charges are. But, I will get there at 4:15 and get the material then and if I am defense I will meet with the people. Then the actual court session starts around 4:45.
Karen
10/18/04
Emily (and Erika) will NOT be getting piercings or tattoos as long as I have any say!! Her plans for her birthday was to go to Lincoln to celebrate. Thought we would do a party similar to Teghans (minus Jay-Jay theme). So everybody clear your calendar and try to make it -- aiming at Nov 13th.
Amanda
10/18/04
Now I am interested to hear how she spends her birthday.. Don't pierce anything. I have an infection in my lip, again. 8 years later!This happens once or twice a year, this one came out of the blue. I went to the doctor this morning though, usually I ride it out, but this time it went straight to my lymph node in my neck which is swollen and infected, it hurts a little to turn my head that direction. So I got an antibiotic & an anti-inflammitory. I guess this will haunt me for the rest of my days, everytime it flairs up I can hear my mother saying, I told you so....

Oh, and early voting started in Texas today, there was a line 20 people deep at the mall when I ran in there earlier. I may early vote... I hear the World Herald endorsed Bush, YUCK. I have never understood why Nebraska goes Republican.


Donna
10/18/04
Great school pictures, Emily and Erika! I love your new haircut, Emily. Tristen, you look so cute. I can't believe you just put that together on your own. Write and tell us all about the Halloween nature walk. Was it scary?
Emily, I'd also like to know more about what you do in teen court. How do you prepare as a prosecuter or defense lawyer?
And I heard a rumor that you have an idea on how you'd like to spend your birthday. Please tell us all about it. And I hope you don't change your mind and do something else. ;-)
Grandma
10/18/04
Cool and cloudy, October is slipping away. Loved the pictures, Tristen, you look like the people I went to school with, where did you find saddle shoes? I would probably still be wearing them if I could find them. I think Emily and Erika have really good school pictures!! And your new haircut is NEAT. We had a busy weekend, Paul was the busiest, bet he is happy to be going back to work for an easier day. The deck is shaping up, have the main floor done and so have a good idea of what the finished product will be like.
Thanks for the pictures, Marsha, I think we may use a couple ideas from your neighbors, love the copper tops, and also the privacy fence corner. It seems a lot bigger. Fewer steps will sure be welcome. Have most of the yard debris picked up and most of the chairs, etc carried inside, picked a "bouquet" of leaves, berries and seed pods (my favorite) to perk up the table, making chicken and noodles for supper tomorrow and would like to fix zuccini and tomatoes to taste like they have at the Parthenon. Hopefully a reasonable likeness. Guess Fall is here, I'm a tad more ambitous.
Amanda's, Paul's, and Sean and Lauren, have a really fun time in K.C. this weekend and Marsha, I hope your little retreat was fun also! Cornhuskers haven't quite redeemed themselves in my view, but at least they tried this week. I will still put the flag out.
Gary
10/18/04
New photos from Iowa and Texas!
Lindsey
10/17/04
Good husker game on Saturday. At least we won. But we played pretty good from what I could hear on the radio. All this weekend Dad has been working on Grandma's deck and the old one is all gone and the top part of the new is up except for the railing but I have pictures and I will try to get them up as soon as I can.
Emily
10/17/04
Hey everybody! Its been really quiet on here lately, where is everybody!? I just sent in Erika's and my school pictures, so those should be up soon. We have to go back to school tomorrow, but I dont think we're planning on doing much at all this week. Just regular dance and cheer stuff like always. I have a Mayor's Youth Comission meeting tomorrow night. It is going to be at the new Auditorium/Events Center, I think we will get a tour of it, then we'll just have our regular meeting there. I have cheer tomorrow after school too, so that will be a long night, but is should be fun.
I also do my negative debate tomorrow, its the last round I have until Spencer, it should be good.
We don't usually have Teen Court in October, but since we've been having alot of cases come in we are having one this month. I am attorney this time, not sure if I will be prosecution or defense, but I should find out soon.
Karen
10/15/04
Fall weather has settled in -- another chilly morning. Leaves are really getting colorful around here. Emily cheered at her first game last night! It was cold and rainy. I'll let her fill in the other details. Erika has a fun field trip coming up at her school. The last week in October she gets to go on an overnight camping trip with some of her class. They are going to a state park by Des Moines. They will be staying in a lodge, doing some fishing, trapping animals and hiking. Only about 1/4 of the students were "invited" to go, so she was pretty pleased to be asked.
Everyone (except) me has today off. Brent had three long meetings this week so he is taking off today to recover. Emily and Erika have the day off of school for a teacher exchange. I have to go in, and it's picture day.....
Gary
10/14/04
Here's another good article, written by John Eisenhower (son of the former President) on why he, a lifelong Republican, will be voting for John Kerry. It came out about two weeks ago, but I only heard about it today from someone at work. It originally appeared in the Manchester, VT newspaper, but has since appeared in lots of places.
Gary
10/14/04
Looks like Martha's crime was in fact a sound business decision!
Gary
10/14/04
Amanda, I think maybe your first item arrived second, and your second arrived first...? Our email system was down here this morning (again!) for a short time, and I learned that when that happens, the undelivered mail gets backlogged and then is delivered in reverse order: most recently-arrived is delivered first, oldest last. I imagine that's what happened here.
Amanda
10/14/04
Here is a good article about last night's debate. Didn't anyone see the interview Tom Brokaw did with Bob Kerrey? I thought someone would mention it. It was on regular NBC. The funny part was when he mentioned what his Nebraskans would think of his haircut, if we would think he had gone to New York, I think is what he said.

That is an excellent recap of the debate -- thanks for finding it. The "buggy and horse days" -- ha! :-) The author didn't, though, bring up one of Bush's biggest goofs. When he tried to needle Kerry with Kerry's recent statement about reducing terrorists to the level of "nuisance," Kerry shot back quoting Bush several months ago about how he doesn't think about Osama any more, he's been marginalized, etc. And then Bush, with this "gotcha" look on his face, said he knew he'd never said anything like that, and went on to say it "sounds like another of my opponent's little 'exaggerations.'" I swear, he almost made the quote marks with his fingers. The capper, of course, is that Bush said exactly that, and some of the news analysts were running that clip within minutes of the end of the debate. Which proves that Bush has not seen "Fahrenheit 9/11" yet, because that clip is featured prominently! :-) --Gary


Amanda
10/14/04
Did you get my first newsletter item? This was a post debate interview Brokaw did with Kerrey. He asked at the end the question everyone in Lincoln & Omaha wanted to know, could Kerrey still be governor with his New York haircut? It caused quite a laugh... It was great.

No, the note below is the only newsletter I've gotten today. It's funny, I always expected this Kerrey to be running for President; seemed like he had everything going for him. To me, our current candidate was always "the other Kerry." --Gary


Amanda
10/14/04
Try the Bob Kerrey clip here. The beginning of the speech was a little weak, but it had a wrap up.

I'm on a Macintosh right now (with Internet Explorer) and couldn't get this to work; error message="MSN Video does not support your computer's operating system." Could someone summarize, please? --Gary


Gary
10/14/04
New photos!
Emily
10/14/04
Hey everybody! Well, I'm just getting ready for school, but we get out at 12:30 for the homecoming parade and game. It has been really cold here! I'm cheering at the game tonight and it proably won't get much over 40!!
Erika and I got our school pictures yesterday and Wednesday, I think Dad is going to scan them this afternoon, so I should send them in soon!
Lindsey
10/13/04
Hey everybody, I just got back from dance. I usually don't dance on Wednesday's but the director of my studio asked me if I wanted to take this advanced jazz class on Wednesdays and it's a pretty good workout. It's with like mostly Juniors and Seniors in High school and stuff but so now I am literally dancing all week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday! But it's fun. Ok well I'm gonna go to sleep! Bye!

Whew, you're making me tired just reading about it, Lindsey! :-) --Gary


Lindsey
10/13/04
Since nobody has answered Amanda's question, I will. Grandma is redoing her deck and so Dad has been going over there taking down the old one (and I heard the steps were really bad and needed it). But I'll let Grandma tell you the plans for her new one. I'll try to get pictures next time I'm over there.
Emily
10/13/04
I won the wacky outfit contest for my grade at school today! I'll get my prize tomorrow! I have my bee antennas on my head, and my big orange glasses. It was fun!

Way to be wacky! :-) --Gary


Grandma
10/13/04
It is, indeed, a wacky Wednesday in Emily's world. What in the heck is on your head? Are you in touch with alien's? What a fun week you are having! Getting much cooler this afternoon they tell us. I am on my way outside to pick up kindling from deck destruction and carry some yard rubbish to the garbage. I like your yard decoration's, wish they were in my yard. They look great with the fallen leaves. Finished reading "Eventide." Good story, hope he continues on into another book. Sean and Lauren came to have supper with us last night, was happy to have them. We watched a new (to me) show called "Overhaulin." Was pretty good for a "Reality" show. Plan to watch the debates tonite at least for a while. Better get a move on and beat the cold front!
Gary
10/13/04
It's Wacky Wednesday! New photos from Sioux City.
Donna
10/12/04

Happy Birthday, Ryan!
The Hatgidakis Family
10/12/04

Happy Birthday Ryan!
Tristen & Teghan
10/12/04

Happy Birthday Dad!
Amanda
10/12/04

Happy Birthday Ryan!
Paul, Lori, Lindsey, and Olivia
10/12/04

Happy Birthday Ryan!
Amanda
10/11/04
OK, tearing down the deck?? Did I miss something? What is in the works? And where are the pictures?
Emily
10/11/04
Congratulations on your soccer game Tristen!!

I just got back for cheerleading and I get to cheer at the homecoming game on Thursday, It should be fun!
We're having spirit days all this week for homecoming. Today was pajama/toga day, I just wore pajama pants and slippers. Tomorrow is class color day, sophmores are blue, I'm not sure what I'll wear for that, but I'll probably do something. On Wednesday, its Wacky Wednesday! I have an awesome outfit planned for that day, I'll definately send in some pictures that day! Thursday is green and white day, and we get out early for the game, and no school on Friday!
I just saw Garys review of Fahrenheit 9/11. I probably would have given it an 8 or a 9 too. I really liked it, I thought it was very intresting.

Happy Birthday, Ryan :)


Nelsons
10/11/04

Happy Birthday, Ryan :)
Grandma
10/11/04
Good job, Tristen, I vote for you to be Soccer Queen for the day!! What a neat thing to be able to make the first and only goal. The only person I know to have that record. Fall is moving in, got up to 66 and is really pretty nice outside, but I am chilly inside. Carol and I went bumming today, had lunch at Red Lobster, and just had fun. Got home a little while ago. Stopped at the grocery store and I got 4 peppers for 18 cents (making another batch of Ryan's Salsa). Carol brought more tomatoes. Paul has started tearing down the deck, he and Livy were here on Saturday. Livy stayed for supper and watched the massacre of the Cornhuskers with us. We sort of think Livy has gotten over her shyness. Was a FUN day!! Lots of leaves are changing here now too. My little Staghorn is about half yellow and really pretty. Plan to try your Pecan pie bars, Amanda, they sound good. I watched "Fahrenheit 911" and I think it should be required watching, especially those with Republican leanings!! Sleazy bunch is in charge!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RYAN!!!
Karen
10/11/04
Gary -- I just read your review on Fahrenheit 9/11. I heard on the news this morning, that Moore was going to have it play on pay-per-view the night before the election.

Well, better than nothing, I suppose, but I was hoping for a big splashy broadcast on network TV... --Gary


Amanda
10/11/04
I think Charlie Gibson mentioned they Gallup selection. I was waiting for this question, "Mr. President, just exactly what were you doing during the Vietnam war?" And I know what he would have said, "wha... wHA?? I HAVE OSAMA! I HAVE OSAMA! I HAVE OSAMA! I GOT HIM!" I waited, then the last question came, to no avail.
Donna
10/11/04
Amanda, how did you know Gallup selected the audience for the last debate? I didn't know that was public knowledge. This is the 4th time Gallup has been asked to recruit an audience for a presidential debate. It wasn't an easy job according to the people that worked on it. They had less than a week to recruit 180 people, assist with the background check required by the Secret Service and confirm they would all show up on Friday night. I guess the Gallup interviewers that recruited them had to use a lot of woo to convince them to appear on TV--which explains why they all looked nervous. But afterwards many said it was one of the highlights of their lives. I think if the audience had included pro-Bush and pro-Kerry people you would have had a more diverse group and the debate would have been more interesting to watch. I would have enjoyed seeing a Michael Moore type person ask Bush questions. But then, Bush would never have agreed to that type of debate.
Donna
10/11/04
Congratulations Tristen! I nominate you player of the week!!!
Gary
10/11/04
Anyone for computer games? I just learned this morning that Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 has "gone gold," which is to say all the work on it is done and the CDs are now being produced. Typically this means it will be on the store shelves within a couple of weeks -- just in time for Christmas. If you have a fast connection to the internet you can download a demo from the RCT3 site (183 MB), and also get more info on the game. What makes this one different from the previous one? Well, this time -- like Sims 2 -- you're not restricted to the overhead view: You can not only go right down in among the peeps, but you can ride all the rides you create, from coasters to waterslides to go-karts. The graphics are nice, but will require a pretty muscular computer to do them justice. And also, giving the rollercoaster tycoon world a more "realistic" look means sacrificing the tinkertoy atmosphere that gave the previous version its charm. But I shouldn't review it based only on the demo. Try it for yourselves!
Gary
10/11/04
Anyone for politics??? I promised I would back up my electoral count predictions with the state-by-state breakdown, and here it is:

I give Bush 216 electoral votes by carrying these states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Which is most of the South and almost all of the Midwest/West.

I give Kerry 322 electoral votes (270 are needed to win) by carrying these states: Arkansas, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. Which is most of New England, some of the Midwest, and the West Coast. Note that I've got Florida on Kerry's side, even though Florida left a bad taste in our mouths from four years ago; but I'm counting on Democratic outrage to create a high voter turnout everywhere, and especially Florida.

Amanda, the site you mentioned predicts, at the moment, a Bush victory with 290 electoral votes, Kerry with 248. The main differences between their picks and mine are Florida, Michigan, and Ohio, which they give to Bush, though with razor-thin margins. (Florida odds 30 to 29, Michigan 4 to 3, and Ohio 30 to 29.) I'm hoping Kerry will do better than Bush in all three; but they are such big prizes (FL 27, MI 17, and OH 20) that if Kerry takes only one of them the balance tips back to his side.

Of course, all this has to be weighed against the possibility of electoral fraud, a very real possibility with the Bush machine at work. I predicted a Gore win in 2000 and I was right! Though it didn't exactly work out that way....

Here's a cool little interactive electoral map where you can plug in these states and see for yourself, or try other possible outcomes. And speaking of outrage, I also wrote a review of Fahrenheit 9/11, which you gotta rent if you haven't already!


Amanda
10/10/04
New recipe! And its a good one. It's very easy, I had all the items in the house already except for the pecans.
Amanda
10/10/04
Is Farenheit 9/11 out on video??

Yes! Came out a few days ago, and on its first day sold 2 million copies, I understand. I saw it yesterday myself, and agree with Karen, Emily, and Erika: everybody should see it. Go get it! --Gary


Karen
10/10/04
Tristen, Congratulations!! Way to go -- I love the name of your team :) Glad you liked the brownie bites Amanda, that is a recipe that you can never mess up. I know I have forgotten ingredients and it still turned out OK. I do sometimes add extra cocoa, mostly if I don't frost them.
While Brent was watching the pathetic football game, Emily, Erika and I watched Fahrenheit 9/11. A must see!! Wish every Bush supporter would watch it.....
Grandpa Paul, Grandma Lori, Aunt Lindsey, and Aunt Livy
10/10/04
Congratulations Tristen! Way to go on scoring the goal in soccer!
Gary
10/9/04
Good for you, Tristen!! I'm happy the Ladybugs had a much better day than the Huskers....
Lindsey
10/9/04
I'm baby-sitting at one of Lauren's friend's house right now. It's a little girl that's a year and half but she's asleep right now. I've been sort of watching the game but I can't stand watching it really. I'm actually too mad to watch it so I've been reading magazines and just not too much. I think I am here until about 1 am or so but the little girl is really cute. Ok well talk to everyone later, Bye!
Amanda
10/9/04
The one game we are finally home to watch, and yuck! It is in the 3rd quarter... [It gets worse... --Gary] Erika, we made the Brownie bites. They were SO good, but word to everyone else who makes these quick easy treats, DO NOT over fill them. Only 1 tsp of cocoa didn't make them every brownie-ee, didn't taste much like chocolate. And for "oleo" I did 1/4 cup shortening & 1/4 cup margerine. Oh, Erika, where are your notes from this last debate? Donna, if you have any pull with the Gallup selection of people to be in the audience in 2008 get a LIVELIER bunch. They were putting me to sleep, and everyone of them was very nervous, I thought we would get at least one who was comfortable with the camera. Better than watching the debate is watching the news gurus afterwards, we prefer Hardball, and I love the fact-checker, this time it taught us we COULD buy some wood from Mr. Bush.
Amanda
10/9/04
It's official! She is a SOCCER STAR! They have had 6 or 7 games this season, and not only have they lost every one of them, but they have never even made one goal, all season! Well, leave it to Tristen, she put them on the board today! You could see her smile clear down the field! She is STILL on cloud nine. The other team probably thought we were crazy because we cheered like we won a championship when she scored. We tied the game 1-1. Like Tristen said, "well, it isn't winning, but it sure isn't losing..." Soccer may be her calling!
Amanda
10/9/04
I just realized that the website I had you go to for the "odds" is run by the guy who wrote on of the books we are using. The book is for Campaigns & Elections, written by Ron Faucheux. Weird...
Emily
10/8/04
Hey everybody! It was very intresting to hear the governor on Thursday. I thought he did a good job at answering our questions. The only thing I didn't like was that we didn't get to say anything after he answered our questions, there were a few things I would have liked to say to some of his comments. But it was a fun night, and yes, Donna that is me in the picture with the article. I think that picture was when he was answering my question.
We got our cheerleading outfits in today! So, I should get them on Monday, I will send some pictures in soon!
We finalized the list for people going to Spencer for debate on the 30th, and I will definately be going! So that should be fun.
I am going to watch the presidental debate tonight, it should be intresting. Is anyone else going to watch it?

I will. (In fact, it just got over.) Bush was better prepared for this one, and he'd obviously been coached not to make funny faces on-camera. But he's still...Bush. He might have picked up a few undecideds, but so also did Kerry. On undecideds, I read someone on the MSNBC site today who said, "All you undecideds out there: Get over yourselves! Make up your minds already!!" :-) --Gary


Amanda
10/8/04
Here is a good one, its a highly respected magazine, but the online version... They are almost always right on for most elections...

Interesting! I'll compare mine to theirs, and indicate where they're wrong. :-) --Gary


Amanda
10/8/04
I have been saying the Osama trick for a LONG time. Ryan & were just talking about it the other night, we figure the news will come out 2 weeks before the election, enough time to get it across the news, but not enough time for everyone to start questioning it... I wish I had the money to bet, because I can't imagine it not happening! And yes, lets see the state by state breakdown, I just saw one somewhere else.

I left my state-by-state breakdown in my office; maybe I can pick it up tomorrow, but I'll put it up her Monday at the latest. --Gary


Gary
10/8/04
Okay, at the risk of looking really stupid 25 days from now, I'm going to make a prediction. I'm doing this two hours before the second debate (in St. Louis), and before Bush announces he has captured Osama -- which I fully expect him to do, by pulling him out of a deep freeze where they've kept him for the past many months for just this occasion.... Nah, I don't really expect that, but it wouldn't surprise me.... Anyway, I predict! A Kerry/Edwards win, and I'll go further: the electoral count will be 322 for Kerry, 216 for Bush. (I've made a state-by-state breakdown if anyone wants it.) You heard it here first! :-)
Amanda
10/8/04
It depends on what the recipe calls for, like I said I follow recipes to a T, that is how I claim to be a good cook. So, if it calls for butter or margarine, I use it, if it calls for shortening. I never vary from what the recipe calls for, I don't want to go to all the work of making something, make my own judgement call and then have it messed up in the end. And, I don't really know all the little tricks (like what makes things softer, less dry! etc). I will try the 1/2 & 1/2 deal. I usually use margarine, Country Crock to be exact, unless it specifically calls for butter. As a general rule we don't use real butter much. (I know, I know, trans fat or whatever, we have good cholesterol.)
Karen
10/8/04
A PERFECT Fall Day!! Best of all I had the day off. Some convention for the teachers. I scrubbed and oiled all the wood floors this morning. I was trying to prepare for the duct cleaning on Monday (trying to avoid the embarrassement of dust and cat hairs), but we had to re-schedule for next week. But anyway it is much cleaner and slippery. Went to Erika's conferences on Wednesday, she is doing very well in Middle School. Should be on the honor roll at end of semester. Amanda -- the "oleo" reference was due to me. She also asked what it was -- margarine (or butter).
As far as the dry cookies -- do you use all butter or a mixture? I usually try to use 1/2 margarine (or oleo) and 1/2 shortening. I also underbake them and let them finish baking on the pan.
Amanda
10/8/04
Very cool Emily, will you perhaps be a Poly Sci major too??? 3 in one family, that could be interesting! I am interested to see the debate tonight. I have been very busy with school and such... I went today & looked at & made a preorder for my class ring. Now I just have to "raise" the money for it! I never got one in highschool, I didn't think it was a big deal, but as I near the end of this 4 year ordeal, I realize all this hard work, you better believe I am going to show it off! Hey Donna, I am taking a Quantitative Methods class, which is the way political science is going nowadays, so they say. Less of the theory, more of the hard mathematical facts (yuck I say). ANYWAY! Donna, last night we talked about sampling again, and Gallup, and things of the that nature. Wish you were in the class to make it interesting, bring to it your knowledge of the whole procedure. A lot of people are talking about Zogby too. Placing it near Gallup's stature. Erika, I want to make your Brownie Bites, I FINALLY found some small muffin cups (harder to find than you would think), anyhow, you are too young to call something oleo, I don't even know what oleo is! What can I use, instead of oleo? Another cooking question, anyone have any idea why when I bake something it is dry? Like cookies, they are drier than the norm. For instance, the cookies Lindsey & Sam made in July, Lindsey & I made them here, they just weren't as moist, chewy, something. Anyhow, I don't know. I follow recipes to a T. My oven maybe??? Even when I underbake them & leave them on the pan for a few they still come out drier...
Grandma
10/8/04
Nice job, Emily! Sounds like an interesting meeting, Did the gov. answer your queston satisfactorily for you? How neat to listen and participate in those kind of meetings. Keep up the good work!
Donna
10/8/04
Nice job, Emily! Is that you in the picture in the article too? It looks like your sweater. You asked a really good question. Were you nervous?
Karen
10/8/04
Emily met the governor last night at a Town Meeting. She was one of four students who got to ask him a question on education. She is the "West High Sophomore" quoted in this article. Besides her picture in the paper, she was also on the news......

I couldn't link directly to the article, so the above link takes you to the paper's main page; you'll find the article under the "Local News" section. Way to go, Emily! I wish you could be in St. Louis tonight to ask Bush some hard questions! :-) --Gary


Donna
10/7/04
This was in the paper a few days ago. I was going to ask you about it, but forgot. How much money does the University get?
Maybe Lee will insist on drinking Pepsi on the Coke only campus and get kicked out.

Ha! That would be good. :-) (Except we're a Pepsi-only campus.) As to how much the U is getting for this, I don't know. But I imagine it's at least enough to buy a new Lexus each for the Board of Regents.... --Gary


Gary
10/7/04
Oh, great...! This morning's Daily Nebraskan broke the story that NBC will be filming a "reality" show here on the UN-L campus. It stars Tommy Lee (yes, the Pamela Anderson/Motley Crue Tommy Lee) and it will show him trying to go back to college to get an education. Still with me?? :-) It's true.

If anyone still has any doubts about how "real" reality shows are, these facts should help: Lee is not officially enrolling in classes, he will only be on campus for one month(!), and his "friends" in the show have already been cast (chosen from actual UN-L students who applied). It all starts today, and he will be followed by a film crew wherever he goes. One future episode will show Lee trying out to be a drummer in the University Marching Band.

The Chancellor, my old friend Harvey Perlman, sent out an email this morning to all staff and faculty which began "By now, the few of you who may have still thought otherwise, are probably convinced I've lost my mind." He says he is "satisfied" that the show will not portray the University in a bad light; he hopes that the show will demonstrate that a person can gain "redemption through higher education." Though his real objectives, I'm sure, are: 1) national exposure might boost UN-L's enrollment, which has been steadily declining over the past several years, and 2) a pile of money from NBC. He ends his note with: "I hope that turns out to be the right judgment. I am tempted to say something like, 'if it doesn't work you can vote me off the island' but I've already used that line. All I can say is join me in keeping your fingers crossed." Sure, there's no way this could go wrong...!

Some of the University professors, like one in the School of Music, have already said they won't let Lee in the classroom. He said, "When students are paying what they are paying for this class, this kind of character poses a major distraction that students should not be subjected to." He also said, "I have kids of my own and did not want to put myself in the position of glorifying that behavior."

More as the story develops! :-)


Lindsey
10/6/04
Hey I put something up about Christmas lists and nobody said anything...is that a no then?

Your idea was for kind of a "wish list," right? Things you wanted for Christmas? I could make up one of those if you like. It would be completely voluntary -- anyone who wants to post their list may do so. Ready when you are! :-) --Gary


Karen
10/6/04
I couldn't get into this debate, did watch about 30 minutes of it.

It was good. I don't think it would have caused anyone to change their minds if they'd already decided, but it did clearly show the differences between the two tickets; so in that sense it was helpful for the undecideds. ...Though how anybody could still be undecided at this point just baffles me... --Gary


Lindsey
10/6/04
No dance for me tonight. Wednesday's I don't have anything and I have no homework tonight and so I am ready to relax! I have conferences tonight so my Mom and Dad will be at those.
Gary
10/6/04
Beautiful day here too. Leaves are just starting to turn. October rules!

So, you all watched the debate last night...? I thought Edwards did well. Cheney was Cheney: Smug, and looking like he was doing us a favor by giving up 90 minutes of his valuable time. I'm pleased to see that the news services are following up on two lies misstatements Cheney made. One, when he criticized Edwards' attendance in the Senate by saying he (Cheney) was president of the Senate but "I never met him until tonight on this stage." Turns out they've met several times, including a time last April when they appeared on "Meet the Press" together. Plus, other Democrats have been quick to say that when Cheney does come to the Senate, he spends all his time talking with the Republican members, never the Democrats. And two, when Cheney stated flat-out that he has never linked 9/11 to Iraq. Keith Olbermann on MSNBC said, "That's news to anyone who has lived on this planet," and NBC ran tape of a press conference where Cheney stated invading Iraq will allow us to get at the bases where 9/11 was planned, etc. The only statement by Edwards I've heard questioned was when he said Halliburton got a 7 billion dollar no-bid contract from the government; turns out it wasn't a no-bid contract -- it's just that no one else submitted a bid. All in all, an interesting debate, and it helped me make up my mind: I think I'm going to vote Democratic!

P.S. I heard an interesting statistic today. As you know, Bush-Cheney took a budget surplus and turned it into a huge deficit, so that our national debt right now is 7 trillion dollars. ...Odd how the Republicans always call Democrats the "tax and spend" party, but anyway... How much is 7 trillion dollars? If you went back to the day Jesus was born and started earning 1 million dollars every day, on this October morning in 2004 you'd have about 10 percent of 7 trillion... Thanks, Dub!


Karen
10/6/04
Another perfect fall day! Emily had conferences last night. Got a very good report from all of her teachers. Tomorrow night is her meeting with the governor. Have conferences at Erika's school tonight. No school for me on Friday -- looking forward to a long week-end. On Monday we have a guy coming to clean out the furnace ducts. Hasn't been cleaned in probably 40+ years. Sure it will be gross!
Gary
10/4/04
Emily, lucky you to get to see "Alexander" -- and during school, yet! I'm really looking forward to this movie, too. It's got a lot going for it: Directed by Oliver Stone, starring Colin Farrell and Angelina Jolie, and it's about one of the most interesting and influential people in history. It opens November 24. Are you studying Alexander in class now?
Emily
10/4/04
Hey everybody! I just got home from cheer, and Im tired!! But, I dont have much homework tonight so thats good. Today in my World History class we were talking about a new movie that is coming out about Alexander the Great, and since we are studying about that we are going to see it during school. I think it comes out in November, and the new theaters should be opened then, so hopefully we can go there.
I love the picture of Teghan in her Cinderbwella costume!!
Lindsey
10/4/04
I love Teghan's Cinderbwella costume. I'll get to see her in person too pretty soon! 18 days!
Karen
10/4/04
I can understand why Teghan doesn't want to take off her Cinderella dress -- she is beautiful!! Had a perfect fall week-end. Cool in the morning and warm by afternoon. Did some decorating outside and need to do some more. Also went shopping -- got lots of things for christmas. Our temp is below 45 today, can see my breath :)
Amanda
10/3/04
Here is a preview of Halloween night. Teghan as Cindabwella!!!! She did NOT want to take the costume off. It will be a nice dress up item after Halloween, if she makes it that long.
Lindsey
10/3/04
We were kinda bored today after Livy's soccer game so we decided to catch a movie for something to do and went to see Shark Tales (I wrote a review) and thought that was pretty funny. Sean has been over here all day working on his car. Me and Dad watched the '95 Orange Bowl Game Nebraska vs. Miami. It was on one of the TV stations that play sports all day and today it was all Nebraska so that was pretty fun to watch. I have GDE testing this week so Wednesday I don't have to at school until about 9:00 or so, so that will be nice.
Lindsey
10/2/04
Wow what a terrible game. We won, but we didn't play like it. Man nothing would go right for us. But anyways, I'm nervous about the other games now. Ross played really good though and our defense was great considering they played the practically the whole game!
Emily
10/2/04
Hey everybody! We went shopping today, and got some Christmas presents! We also got a bunch of stuff to start decorating for fall/halloween. we got 2 big scare crows and some straw bales. We're going to get some pumpkins and corn huskes tomorrow probably and put those out too. Its gonna look pretty cool, we'll send in some pictures once we get everything all set up!
I also watched the presidental debates. I thought it was intresting, but I agree with Erika, Bush needed some water!
Teghan, your halloween costume sounds really cute, can't wait to see you in it!!
Amanda
10/1/04
I LOVE Erika's commentary! I would have rather listened to her wrap up. That's hilarious! I did not care for the "Missy comment". I can not put myself in that woman's shoes, but I am a military spouse and in no way can I imagine that tears & laughter with this president would make me feel like the loss of my spouse was OK. That story was weak! Where is Missy then? Shouldn't she have been swept up by now by the GOP to do a little commercial? Speaking of commercials, late last night after the debate both on CNN & MSNBC I saw a SwiftBoat-ish ad. The same ad, bashing Kerry on two different channels, but by a new group...
Lindsey
10/1/04
I didn't watch the debate last night, I had dance but I did hear about it at school a little bit but anyways, I can't wait to see Teghan in her Cinderbwella outfit! Grandma all that food sounds good! I'm soooo excited for the game this weekend, I think Nebraska could win this one (especially since it will be a better field).

BTW, we got a paperview box too to watch the game and all the channels to go with it and we like it pretty well. May rent some movies from it too!


Gary
10/1/04
MoveOn.org alerted me to a good editorial in the Boston Globe on the debate last night ("A Presidential Kerry"). And while on that site, I found another: "Bush's Costly Gaffe." Check 'em out! And don't miss the excerpt from the debate which MoveOn will be running as a TV spot. :-)
Grandma
10/1/04
I also watched the debate and really found it interesting. I always wonder at the accuracy of the percentages they quote so easily, but they hopefully have better memories than me. I, of course, how could you not?, thought Kerry was a clear winner. I also wasn't swayed even a little by Bush's feeling sympathy for "Missy" which seemed to impress the media. Anyway, Kerry looked much more 'presidential' -- and Erika, I think Bush repeated his words MUCH oftener, how many times was "he changes his mind" ? I'm glad so many of us listened to it. Can I come to class today with you, Amanda?

Anyway, the day should be getting cooler as it goes by, frost tonite, they say. Got just a dab of rain last night. My backyard fence is red with the grapevine leaves, but not many more are changing. Made Ryan's Salsa this week and it was really good, also made spaghetti sauce and marinated veg's. Carol brought me tomatoes and Bag 'n Save had good produce sales. I love hearing about all these BUSY things these young kids are up to. I couldn't keep up with any of you!


Karen
10/1/04
Emily, Erika and I watched most of the debate last night too. I, of course, found Kerry to be the true winner. It was fun to watch it with Emily and Erika though. Erika was doing a class assignment and was taking notes. She also started to take "additional" notes for the web page. Here they are.....

Kerry -- fine
Bush -- Needed drinks of water, has beedy little eyes, looks angry, doesn't answer questions, took drink of water, can't say words bigger than 5 letters, isn't taking notes because he is too stupid to spell "it", Kerry hurt Bushs feelings, he just goes on and on, when will it ever stop?, Why is Kerry so mean?, will he ever make sense?, please stop repeating words we heard the first 72 times.

Gary
10/1/04
Yeah, I'd say it was a clear win for Kerry. The Bush-haters will still hate Bush, and the Bush-lovers will still love him, but Kerry likely swayed some of those undecideds over to his column. Bush's body language was indeed creepy -- when he was listening to Kerry, he had this "how dare you question me??" look on his face; and when he was talking, he seemed to be pleading with the camera, "Pleeeeeze vote for me!" All that, and the fact that where Kerry had facts and figures at hand, Bush had about four memorized chunks that he trotted out every time he opened his mouth. Vote for JFK!

Oh also, we need a picture of Cinderbwella!


Amanda
10/1/04
Good debate, good debate. At first I thought Bush was choking on bile, he kept doing wierd things with his mouth. In as much un-biased opinion as I can muster I think they both did a decent job getting across what they wanted to get across. You & I may not have liked what Bush said, but it is what his camp wanted him to say, and so it was a success. But, I think Kerry "won". I can't wait for my campaigns & elections class today, I bet we spend the entire 50 minutes talking about the debate. It rained all night last night, it was great! October is here!! Woohoo! Teghan is going to be Cinderbwella for Halloween, she tried on the dress last night, she didn't want to take it off.