Latest from Arlington

Hello all! Sleepy summer, eh? Everyone off having fun? Andy and I are still holding down 3 forts and eagerly awaiting the day when it's only 2. Our N Arlington house has been for sale for, hmm, a while 6 weeks?, and it's getting traffic, but no offers. Still keeping the faith. Meanwhile we take every chance we can get to spend time at the river. This weekend Andy drove the speedboat (again) and cruised right into the boat lift right on target.

I made French Vanilla ice cream from scratch a couple of weeks ago and it was utterly decadent. (You know it's decadent when everyone passes on chocolate sauce and whipped cream.) I've also started knitting like a feind and can't stop reading about knitting and finding excuses to shop for yarn. Just like a fashion plate in front of her bulging closet, I've been known to complain to Andy over a mountain of yarn, "But I've got nothing to knit."

pics

Hello Everyone!

Well it has been a while! Everyone over here is doing good. I am enjoying my job even with the Army's horrible funding problems and budgets getting frozen one after another- it just means more time to catch up with you guys lol. I am feeling better and getting fitter everyday, down to a size 12! YeeeHooooo!! :)

Kids- Anthony is doing great and reading his little heart out.... 8 weeks until Kindergarten, I am scared to death but I know my little man will do great! He has lost 2 teeth (bottom front) and is handsome as ever. He has been going to an Orthopedic Surgeon for his infamous toe-walking and hopefully, one way or another, that will be resolved soon- OUCH! He's getting smarter everday and his comments keep me entertained.. "Mom why don't you want to eat the corn because you'll get another baby???" Huh.... "Well that's what makes a baby in your belly right? Corn?" Whew...

Kaiya is doing great as well. She has learned her colors and is quite a little smarty pants herself. I cut her hair into a little Shirley Temple bob and it is adorable. She is in her 2 year old phase still but is coming along nicely- we were worried for a while... but she has come out of the monster stage just fine. Always willing to help and VERY friendly. She just loves anyone she can get her hands on; strangers, dogs, cats, BUGS! Her current obsession is squirrels, she is quite adimant on catching one... I am not so excited about that. She also asked me yesterday if she could go fishing with Little Bear... he is on Nickelodeon.

More pics to come!

Land Ho!

Well, this image should give you some idea of what our basement was like last night. When we bought this house a year ago the seller said the basement "leaked a little" with "really bad storms". Ha!

'scuse me.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Lol! There were no fewer than eight SPRINGS gushing into the basement last night. Andy worked tirelessly sloshing water into our two sump pumps. We had about a 10 gallon trash can under one spout and it filled almost instantaneously. Andy sloshed out to the garage in ankle deep water to discover slightly deeper water.

This morning I was surprised to learn that it wasn't just our crappy little house that got soaked. The federal government had liberal leave today. (I think this administration calls it "pinko commie slacker leave" though.) We'd already decided today we'd be off and so we made a bee line to Home Depot. At 7 am the place was seriously hopping. Andy waited in line for a water pump. It's a little thing so I'm surprised it does something productive...afraid we shall soon see. We already had a wet/dry vac and mega fan of course, but we got a serious dehumidifier and hydraulic cement repair goop. On the way back from Home Depot, we stopped at our "old"house, currently on the market (excellent timing). I'm not gonna say anything was wrong with the house, I'm definitely not going to say there was anything amiss. Not with our house that we're trying to sell that is perfectly good and has NO issues whatsoever. We just felt like visiting for a while and hanging out there in the basement for a while. Yeah...

Back here, Andy mashed the hydraulic cement into the walls today. I cleaned the rest of the stairs and went grocery shopping. We're having steak for dinner. We have worked up an appetite.

Edited to add a link to video of the torrent on YouTube:

Andy & Laura's Basement Pool

Shannon and Rick's New House!

Shannon and Rick have a new house under contract. You can see pictures of it here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rivahea/sets/72157594175973048/

Check it out!

Father's Day Savannah Style

Well, Sunday Dad came over to the humble bungalow in Arlington and we had a Southern spread. I made Johnny Harris BBQ chicken in the crockpot. This was not as easy as it sounds because I brought my crockpot/steamer/rice cooker (a truly amazing gadget) back to Arlington from the river Sunday morning, but I managed to forget a little disc that goes in the lid that keeps the steam in. So I rushed out to Bed, Bath and Beyond and picked up a utilitarian one. We had corn on the cob, baked beans (did they notice they were vegetarian???), hush puppies and onion-corn relish. Mmmmmmm. For dessert we had a store-bought mousse cake that was quite tasty.

We were sad that Dottie couldn't join us. It is hella rough trying to sell a house. It's also hella tough to build a house. Add to that trying to move and have a job and "Whoa doggies!". Shannon and Rick ventured over from Maryland and shared pictures online of the new house they just bought last week. (I just realized that we three couples currently own 7 houses. That is NOT a good scene.) They are very excited about their new digs. I hope Shannon will blog about it.

During the festivities, our realtor called to let us know that the first open house for our old house went well. They had a good turnout (rare in these bubble bursted days) and even had one person inquire about putting in an offer. She wanted to make one contingent on the sale of her condo, but if the housing market is mushy, the condo market is gooey. So hopefully we'll unload house #1 soon.

Right now Andy and I are looking forward to a week off at the river for 4th of July. It's so humid in DC today that my KEYS are sticky!

Slacker Blogger

At last I update. Andy and I are at the river today. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! It was a picture perfect day. Still is, actually. We've both been really busy with work and life and so this weekend is our first R&R in a while.

Today I am the UberNerd because I completed the process of setting up a wireless network at the river WITH a second wireless access point to extend the range of the network. I tell you I have been IPCONFIGging and PINGing and I think I could get a job on the Geek Squad after figuring out how to provide high-speed wireless internet to 10 acres on the edge of the earth. (Answer: satellite, blue boxes and quality time chatting with tech support.)

We should be ready to put our old house on the market in a couple of weeks and we can barely WAIT to get that sold. Next weekend we're going to be at the river for 4 days for Memorial Day weekend.

A family of birds (Killdeer) made their nest in our driveway. Luckily we saw them. The baby birds open their eyes and immediately start walking around so that's why the parents choose to nest in gravel on the ground. Well, Andy scooted the eggs over into a manmade gravel nest and we're hoping the parents come back. They were funny too, their thing is that they try to lure you away from the nest by pretending to be injured. (It's actually part of their profile.)

Ah, I did accomplish one thing recently, I scanned a bunch more Ewing Docs. It is unbelievably cool that Grandpa managed to get so many aspects of our family life and history into print in the paper. There's a letter to Baby Julia, of course the story about Granny's back, that article about Ewing Smashed Potatoes, and quite a few more. I am steadily (okay, in fits and lulls) scanning all this stuff so that we can share it. It's also actually interesting to read the rejection letters Grandpa got. (He saved many of them!) A few people said the articles had too much irrelevant detail or didn't have a unique angle. --But the stories couldn't BE more interesting to a granddaughter who wasn't around then. The detail and angle are fine by this critic.

Other updates from the outside world: Shannon and Rick are in South Carolina this week for Bike Week. Their unbelievably adorable pair of Daschunds are here adding to a rowdy brood of dogs. I talked with my Dad today and he and Dottie are also eagerly looking forward to the day they'll get a contract on their house. Dottie's in North Carolina this weekend meeting with their new house builder.

March 26th, 2006
Joe is 7 months old today. Here are a few pictures I just took of him in his baby prison. He's clearly trying to eat his way out of his crib in one of them. So, he's now tried rice cereal, apples, pears, bananas and hardwood. It's not easy getting decent pictures through the cell bars, but you get the idea. He's been sleeping through the night and has a sunny disposition for the most part. He still loves to swing in the swing that Laura & Andy and Shannon & Rick gave him. We also got him a Jumperoo from someone on Craigslist. He loves to jump. He giggles now and rolls over a lot. He's at the very first stages of learning to crawl. He gets on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth. He was christened on March 12th. It went well. He didn't make a peep. My friend MaryAnne whom I've known since Kindergarten is his godmother and Matt's brother Mark is his godfather. I wish that more family was around to see Joseph grow (and to babysit). We barely ever go out. There's nobody nearby who we trust enough to watch Joe. We do take him to an Indian restaurant every few weeks. I only go India
Palace, the doctor's office and church. Oh, every few months we do go to Mom's. It's weird being so housebound, but the weather refuses to cooperate with me. Now that springtime is approaching (well, I guess it officially arrived on Charlie's birthday) we'll get out for walks which will be wonderful. I envy Charlie & Margaret's trips to Florida and wish I could see you both- especially Margaret's hair! I hope you'll be able to meet Joe before he gets too old. The same goes for Laura & Shannon. Maybe we can all get together this summer. I sure hope so. It's kind of silly that the few of us who are relatively close never seem to be able to get together.
Well, I guess I blogged the heck out of this one. I hope all is well with everyone.
Love,
Jennifer 

Copperheads have more fun!

Hey Ya'll,
I finally took the plunge and got a new hair do!
I wanted to get the gray gone and lighten it just one shade
up from my natural beautiful brown color...um well,that was the plan...
The stylist assured me she knew what she was doing,after all,she's been in
the business for 20 years and is a color specialist! She showed me hair
color samples and agreed just one shade up from BROWN would be just
fine! She put goo in my hair and sat me under the dryer for 15 minutes...
Hells Bells! I now have coppery red,blond,brown hair with slivers of gray!
I hadda go into work the next day and prayed nobody would notice cause I sure
wazznt gonna say nothin...Heck,EVERYBODY came from EVERY department
to check me out all day long! Oh Lordy!!! However,after about the 5th
person who came to get up close and personal said she REALLY loved the color,I
sorta began to believe her and the next ten folks who came after her. Whew!!
So...Jerry,when I come see ya in 12 days,I'll be the one with the coppery red,
blond,brown with slivers of gray hair! I can't wait to see you!!!
Love,Margaret

Julia Got a New Job!

Well Congratulations to me I FINALLY got a new job. Tara is taking over the daycare stuff and I got a fulltime position about a mile from my house- YAY!! It is with a company called Bree's Corporate Imaging and we sell retention items to the military (mostly Army). Most of our customers are in Iraq which is pretty cool and the guys always love the stuff. So it has been rewarding already, I've only been there 3 days.

What else? Anthony is READING! He has been reading for about 3 weeks now and has already read more than 10 books COMPLETELy own his own! Kaiya is doing well too; she is counting and singing and all kind of fantastic stuff.

Anyway, thats all over here. WHERE IS EVERYBODY ELSE??
***elbow elbow** Margaret, Charlie, Uncle Lee, Dad, Shannon....

My Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

I live about six miles from work, but each morning I fight traffic and average a 30 minute commute. At night I cross the exodus from the city and easily spend 30 minutes in furious bumper to bumper traffic. It’s another good 30 minutes after I get home when my blood pressure finally starts to return to normal. Tonight I had to stop by the pharmacy. One frantic clerk worked feverishly to handle two lines – one inside and one in a drive-thru. That wait was, you guessed it, at least 30 minutes.

I live and work in the Washington, DC area. It’s no secret we have some of the worst congestion in the country. Over the past few years, the growth has bubbled way out in all directions. Rolling meadows in Leesburg are now blanketed with “luxury” townhomes and McMansions. My grandfather was an editor and writer at The Washington Star and one of his last printed pieces was in the last edition of the Star when it folded in the early 80’s. I’ve managed to collect a couple copies and often marvel at the final predictions that paper had to offer. The paper spent part of its last edition looking forward at the future of Washington 20 years hence, in the year 2000. One of the most striking predictions to me was that Fairfax, Virginia was likely to grow. (Right on the money.) But the paper went on to insist that Fairfax was well beyond the Washington suburbs and that it would not really be a commuter’s home, perhaps a small satellite town. Anyone who knows Northern Virginia can tell you that now Fairfax is considered a pretty “close in” suburb. It long ago stopped being the “mid-point” of a long-distance commute.

Growth and change, it would seem, are inevitable. But how communities decide to grow and change has an enormous impact on their futures. As the people around me bustle to get to work to fund big houses, clothes and trips, I’m working for the day when I can make my last grueling three to four hour Friday night drive from Washington to my home next to my parents’ house in the Northern Neck.

When you live in the big box world populated with enormous warehouses without anyone to assist you, you start to see the “opportunity” of Wal-Mart in your back yard differently. Yes, Wal-Mart is cheap, and they have lots of stuff. Returning from the Northern Neck last weekend my husband and I stopped at the Wal-Mart in Southern Maryland. Anyone who thinks that Wal-Mart will bring positive things to the community should make a day trip up to St. Mary’s County to see what a Wal-Mart looks like when it’s long in the tooth. This Wal-Mart wasn’t fresh and inviting. It was dirty, unstocked, and unkempt. Its aisles were filled with discarded items, even an unnoticed broken jar of applesauce. As I walked through the store I felt sad to think of this loud, ugly mess marching into such a wonderful community.

Yes, our community needs opportunities. People need good jobs and access to the things that make our lives easier. I, for one, would like somewhere to have a baby in a couple of years. But where will this community be in 20 years? In 2026 will we look back at these papers and marvel at how the community that inspired people to stay here for centuries and come here for those same qualities has been overrun with undesirable things? When I bring my daughter home from whatever far-flung hospital will she grow up and head off in search of greener pastures?

The choice of growth is not black or white, there are infinite shades of grey. Many other retail and business opportunities exist if we are willing to weigh our options.

Sincerely,

Arlington and Mila, VA

Yippee! Snow!

Well, by the time I woke up this morning Andy had already shovelled the walk. We got a decent amount of snow. It's never enough for me. It's also probably not enough to affect work tomorrow :( .

I'll be interested to see when our street gets plowed in the new house. We are right next to a major intersection, but we're also not in the fancy schmancy part of town so I dunno which factor will matter more. Today I'm planning to do some more nesting (we never do a thing with this house) and try to figure out my new photo software. I can't believe it's almost 10:30 though, snow days go WAY to fast for me.

Waiting for SNOW!

Well, we are officially waiting for snow. Andy and I stayed in Arlington this weekend because we're supposed to get serious snow. It's always a though call because if I were going to be stranded somewhere I'd sure rather that it were snuggled up in our river house than stuck in Arlington, but oh well. I have enough gadget stuff to keep me occupied. Actually, we both do.

I am such a guy - my Valentine's wishes (I know, Valentine's Day is for cards, candy and swelling-music diamond moments) were for stuff to go with my new Palm Treo phone. Andy got me a wi-fi card and a memory card and he gave them to me early because he knew I'd want to play with them. When we were at the river a couple weeks ago Andy saw an add for video transfer to DVD. He is obsessed with the 80's, 80's music, and 80's concerts. He has lots of obscure things on tape that (let's all hope) will never be released on DVD. So anyway, I got him a DVD Recorder/VHS combo so he's spending all weekend recording old Ah-ha concerts.

I watched a little of the Olympics opening ceremony last night. I may watch some of it while it's on. Last night was the finale of "Arrested Development". They ran 4 episodes in a row. The show may be over, but we hope not because we're completely obsessed with the show. Hopefully Showtime will pick it up. Never heard of it? Why am I not surprised? No one ever watched this show except us. It was unbelievably funny though.

We're planning to go to dinner Monday for Valentine's Day. (In our old married life it makes sense to have Valentine's Day a day early and not have to go out to dinner with the rest of the free world.) If we really do get a big snow then we might just go another day.

I still totally love it when it snows. What I can't stand is when things refuse to close despite heinous weather. I just want to say, "Trust me, the world can survive without you for a day." Andy just came in and showed me that it's just started to change over to snow. That "essential" thinking is totally crazy in DC. Of course the government can always have "liberal leave" but the rest of us get guilted into going into work.

A month from now we'll be in NYC. We're going up to see "the Odd Couple" with Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane. It should be a fun weekend. I would like to spend the whole time eating and shopping (and hopefully we'll get to see Uncle Charlie). Unfortunately, Andy has the Lee Ewing-endless-book-store-shopping gene. Andy could spend 4 days straight in the dingiest bookstore on the planet. I always feel like I have so many books I haven't finished that I better not find anything else new. So, that's what's new with us.

Recipe Thread

Okay, I know you all like to eat! Who has tried and true recipes they haven't shared? I'm bored with my usual ones and am always on the lookout. I'll show you mine if you show me yours! Nothing too fancy please. Let's help each other with meals (main dishes and more) which we find ourselves cooking up time & time again.

Here's a one dish meal that I make a lot. It's from Matt's Slovak mom.
Halushki:
1 head cabbage
1 onion
1 box bowtie pasta
butter
salt
pepper
kielbasa (optional)

Here's how I make it:

Slice kielbasa (we use the turkey kind a lot) into small disks and place in pan on low heat, stirring occasionally.

Thinly slice onion and add to pan (you might need to add some butter or oil to sautee). Sautee over medium heat until translucent.

Cut cabbage into thin slices (basically shredded into very thin, long strands) or however you like it and add to pan. You may need to add the cabbage in batches as it wilts down. Continue stirring.

Prepare pasta according to box directions (we've been low-carbing so we just leave it out).

Once pasta is cooked and cabbage has wilted and turned golden, add pasta to cabbage mixture and add lots of pepper, butter & salt to taste.

Simple, but delicious. I cut the kielbasa up so you get meat in almost every bite and the flavor of the meat goes all through the cabbage. You can cook it whole on your grill or do whatever you prefer. You can change it up by using different meat, or no meat at all. Don't knock it until you've tried it. Cabbage turns very sweet this way and most people like it.

HEY-lo!

I thought I'd update everybody on the happenings of the Goodwin household. Anthony had a show on Wednesday at his gym class and did very well- he got a medal that he is VERY proud of. Kaiya is doing good, I found out yesterday that she apparently has learned her colors unbeknownsted(sp??) to me!! I guess that old television set isn't too bad.

Both of my kids and ALL my daycare kids have a hideous coughing yucky cold and are not feeling well so today is Chicken Soup day!

Nothing much is going on- oh... My microwave blew up! Well, it died. So I am not a happy camper. I have been bewildered ever since, the biggest inconvenience is that I can't reheat my same cup of coffee 4 or 5 times throughout the morning, ugghh!

Answer Margaret's Question Below...

I don't mean to post a newer post. We're still at the river - on a Sunday night. Ahhhhhhhhhhh! :) We're off tomorrow. I am watching the AKC Eukanuba Championship and am hyper because the Wheaten Terrier just came in third in the Terrier group. That's huge, they never even look at the Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier (Lexi!!!), but you wouldn't look at that dog either if you saw what they do to it for the show ring. They basically take the cutest dog ever and make it the 2nd or 3rd ugliest dog in the world. But this judge actually put the Wheatie third. I've never even seen the Wheaten make the first cut. Even better than that is that when the Wheatie placed 3rd Andy ran in from the other room and was happy they'd picked it. This would be my husband who didn't even like dogs when he met me and now here he is watching at least part of a dog show of his own volition. (Granted, Lexi was with him and she may have grabbed the remote.) -Now go answer AuntieM's Q of the day.

Hey Folks,
I am just sittin here thinkin and wondering what would you do if you
were suddenly given the power to eliminate one problem in our world.
What would it be? Hunger/poverty/ignorance/one disease/drug dealers/ect...
Just somethin to chew on fer awhile.
Love ya,Auntie M.

See New Pix on Flickr

I blatantly plagarized, or should I say "sampled" Dad's new pix of the Romasco family so you can also see them through this page in the Flickr album. We have most of our decorations down at the river. Andy is thoroughly addicted to his Lego Star Wars Playstation2 game. I think it may be his favorite present. I have already lost one of the forget-me-not flower earrings Andy gave me for Christmas :( -- at least we live in a micro house now, so it could turn up. Last week I dragged Andy to a networking event for work. He said he was hanging back because he didn't want anyone to think he was a networker since he works for a non-profit (the National Science Teachers Assn.) and he doesn't buy or sell anything - except Science books - which they do rather well...

Anyway, we went to the new Clyde's at Gallery Place downtown next to the MCI Center. It needs a good year before it's actually functional. We stayed for dinner and wished we'd gone somewhere else.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! Shannon, I know you have a well-equipped digital camera now, where are your pix??

I updated my Flickr album (the one that shows up on this page) with the new kid pix and with those new ones from Charlie. I also re-invited Charlie to join the blog at another email so hopefully...

Back to the Big City

Ah...It's been 11 days off and it will be hard to go back to work tomorrow. We just got back to Arlington and are warming up the house. We had a good time at the river - Andy played lots of Playstation games. I made pasta from scratch and fired up the new raclette grill. Good times. I have a little mail to send Jennifer & Julia and will do that once I wrangle a box this week.

I missed a cell call from Aunt Margaret I think and will give you a call once we get unpacked and settled. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

LKC