catch up

It's been a long, long time since we've written, so I'll be keeping the news items short.



I almost posted some notes before on Ariel's news, but we decided it was premature at that time. By now most of those who read this blog know that Ariel spent two weeks on the East Coast, checking out the "science journalism" graduate programs she got accepted into for next fall. Her first choice is NYU. The program is science, health and environmental reporting. She'd be in Manhattan for about 18 months, and they offer a fairly good financial package, but there's also the cost of living to consider. She also visited MIT and liked the school and their program. She'd be in Boston, and there's a possibility of a fellowship that would take care of tuition and give her a stipend. Another is Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. They have a teaching position that would also take care of tuition and give her a small stipend. Finally, she also visited BU. She loved her visit with Terra and Karl while in Boston. Ariel is back in Portland. She took an internship with Portland Monthly Magazine, and picked up a project from her Albuquerque-based company to pay rent. She loves Portland. She is planning to get tickets to Salinas for the Easter weekend once she's comfortable in her new job to ask for time off. Chris' leave is still uncertain.

Good news about Mom's health. I'm joining David, Beth and Lisa (and Sandra, Gary and Eric and probably Jenni, Jacques, Terra and Karl) in April at Nana and Poppa's home (Salinas) for some Spring chores. Then on Good Friday, Cyndi, Jackson and Rylee will fly in from Albuquerque and Ariel plans to fly in from Portland. We all leave for our homes Easter evening.

Jackson's spring break is next week. We thought of visiting Ariel in Portland, but it wasn't workable for me. We may borrow Bennie's (the other Papa) small RV and go somewhere for a couple of days. Cyndi wants to go north; I thought it may be a good time to go to Carlsbad Caverns, Whites Sands, and maybe Cloudcroft, and I heard Cyndi talking about that, too. We don't know yet. Jackson's machine pitch little league team (the Red Sox again) has begun practicing, and Jackson's arm, fielding and hitting have really improved. When we get back after Easter, Jackson has a piano recital. He's doing very well in school. He always gets 100 percent on his spelling tests, plus the bonus words. He's the "science guy."

Rylee is the "sports guy." He's always dribbling basketballs. ("Basketball is the best sport.") He comes to Jack's practices and spends the whole time tossing the ball to himself and catching with the glove he got from Michael. (Jackson uses the one from Michael and Eric.) He insists on wearing only clothes with some kind of sports graphics on them. At a minimum, they have to have a number. Ry is at preschool. Lots of art, lots of songs, and plenty of recess time. He's adding numbers all the time. He's a fun kid. Right now, he's into the bakugans (Japanese product, I think, like bigger marbles that battle after they magnetically transform).

Cyndi's been running a lot (enjoying her ipod with a playlist of uptempo songs, mostly downloaded from itunes, of course). She's going to start working for a small advertising/media production company in her forte of sales and marketing. She still works her one night per week at the club's child care, which gives her free club membership and unlimited child care. A good friend of Cyndi's passed away in early January. That was very sad and difficult.

Her dad's recovery has been a nightmare. There was lots of difficulty to get him into an intensive recovery facility, and once in, there was lots of hope. Now he's home. He's doing well in most respects, but he still cannot walk. The company providing caretakers has been miserable. You can imagine the horrors of strange people with almost no real talent or experience coming into the home or, worse, not even showing up when they are scheduled. It's been difficult for Ursula. The home has been fixed up, updated or remodeled, so that's good. Cyndi and her siblings have done a lot. Cyndi goes down to Belen at least once during the week, and we all go every weekend and prepare a good meal.

Spring begins soon. I'm glad. This winter has passed otherwise unremarkably. Each year, I loathe winter more. It must be a bio-cycle thing. Our highlights are often going to Monroe's for New Mexican food, Chinese food (the boys always eat steamed rice and broccoli), and Dion's pizza. There's an occasional movie (we saw Slumdog Millionaire back before all of the awards; "Jai Ho" is on Cyndi's ipod running playlist) and from time to time we go to an Italian restaurant, either the local Trombino's or the small chain, Bravo.

I'll insert pictures for more highlights.