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April 30, 2005
Vacuum Cleaners
It's pretty sad when getting a new vacuum cleaner is an exciting event. But we got a dyson! Our upright Hoover stopped working this week after nearly 10 years. (it was a wedding present) We had decided not to buy anything new until after we moved but we couldn't exactly go a month without vacuuming with 3 small messy kids running around.
There is quite a lot of hype surrounding the dyson. Just check out all of the comments on this blog.(I didn't know vacuum cleaners could be "trendy") But I do have to say, so far I am really impressed.
Posted by Julee at 08:36 PM | Comments (2)
April 28, 2005
Update on the Boards
Eric takes the Boards one week from today. He still is two patients short but has a handful of screenings scheduled in the next couple of days. Keep your fingers crossed that he finds people for the procedures he needs.
He is pretty stressed out. Who wouldn't be? But some of the pressure is off. His Air Force Perio residency paperwork is starting to trickle in and one document stated that if he does not pass the licensure exam he has one year to keep trying until he passes. Of course it will all be at our own expense, but at least he will be allowed to stay in the program. This was actually a concern because his classmate who has been accepted into a Perio program through a differnt branch of the military will lose his spot if he fails the exam.
Posted by Julee at 02:23 PM | Comments (1)
April 27, 2005
Today's Pictures
I haven't posted in a few days so I thought I would at least put up some pictures of Iris. I'll get some up of Henry and Theo soon too.
Posted by Julee at 10:25 PM | Comments (2)
April 23, 2005
Happy Earth Day (One Day Late)
Earth Day Links:
What are you doing with your e-waste?
Mother Nature has a dark sense of humor.
Posted by Julee at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)
April 20, 2005
Look What We Did Today
School vacation week, unseasonably warm weather... I couldn't think of a better place to go. I'm really going to miss this.
Posted by Julee at 08:57 PM | Comments (6)
Dinosaur Crossing
It was a 3 day weekend in Massachusetts because of Patriot's Day. Instead of dealing with the crowds to watch the Boston Marathon or any of the local parades we went to Dinosaur Crossing in Montville, CT.
Finding the hotel was an adventure in itself. We stayed the night in New London, CT and I forgot to print out a map before we left home. We tried calling the front desk 4 different times. One time they just hung up on Eric and the other 3 calls sent us in 3 different directions. We finally got very simple directions at the restaurant. We considered going somewhere else but we chose the path of least resistance. The next day a clear majority of our family of five ended up with some intestinal distress. Was it from the nasty, murky swimming pool at the hotel? Or was it something we ate from the breakfast buffet? We'll never know. It doesn't really matter since we have all recovered and the boys had a great time on our mini-trip. (Poor Iris though, was really not feeling well) Plus we got to see the Mystic drawbridge in action.
Posted by Julee at 08:50 AM | Comments (1)
New Photos
I put together a new album of photos of some of the things we have done lately. There are a few pictures from Dinosaur Crossing as well some from our trip to the firehouse. Henry has the great fortune of having a friend whose father is a firefighter. We were invited for a visit and the 3 boys really had the run of the place. Chris (the dad) even took them for a ride around the block in the truck. Henry asked to see the upstairs of the firehouse but was told only fireman can go in the living quarters. Not even spouses are allowed.
Posted by Julee at 08:50 AM | Comments (0)
April 17, 2005
2 Music Memes
I have seen this concert meme passed around quite a bit in the past few days, but I first saw it posted by Kallisti (who has an amazing doll collection) at Blastmilk.
Anyway, here are the rules:
* take the concerts from my list that you have seen, and post them on your page.
* add more until you have 25.
* bold the ones you add.
B-52's
Boss Hog
Dead Milkman
Dinosaur Jr.
Duran Duran
Fishbone
Fugazi
Grateful Dead
Chris Isaak
Living Color
Love and Rockets
Mary's Danish
Nirvana
Paw (Who from Kansas hasn't?)
Pearl Jam
Phish
Pixies
Primus
Public Enemy
REM
Reverend Horton Heat
Social Distortion
Squeeze
They Might Be Giants
The Urge
I thought I would also play the ubiquitous iPod shuffle meme:
1. 6 White Horses
Calexico -- Aerocalexico
2. Asleep on a Sunbeam
Belle & Sebastian -- Dear Catastrophe Waitress
3. Calypso Breakdown
Ralph MacDonald -- Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack
4. I Had No Right
Dar Williams -- The Green World
5. Next Year
The Foo Fighters -- There is Nothing Left to Lose
6. Jezebel
The Reverend Horton Heat -- Liquor in the Front...
7.On a du Soliel
Jonathan Richman -- Not so much to be Loved...
8. We're Both Confused
Luna-- Lunapark
9. You're Such a Wire
Frank Black and the Catholics -- Pistolero
10. Brand New Baby
Mark Erelli -- Hillbilly Pilgrim
Posted by Julee at 09:55 AM | Comments (0)
April 14, 2005
Adventures in food shopping
I love small ethnic grocery stores and I love trying new foods. Here are some of my recent buys:
I won't buy this mix again. They weren't bad but they weren't anything special- just fried bread balls. If I'm going to eat fried food it's going to be something really good like fried clams.
I really, really like Indian food and I have now tried almost all of Patak's cooking sauces. They are all so good.
I got these at Roslindale Fish Market. Eric came with me and was really pleased to find big tubs full of fresh olives.
Anyway, I haven't tried these yet. I really like stuffed grape leaves but I am a little leary of ones that come in a can. But since I did pay for them...
My next mission is to go to an Asian market and get a rambutan.
Posted by Julee at 11:05 PM | Comments (2)
April 12, 2005
National Library Week
Happy National Library Week. Did you know that you can create an online account with most library systems in the US? You can search for and request books, music and video from home and receive a phone call or an email when they are ready to be picked up. Many libraries have their entire collection indexed online. It's a great system for those of us who usually cannot browse the shelves for very long due to being accompanied by small children.
Also check your library for art exhibits, classes and lectures. We are actually going to a children's concert later this morning at the library.
Posted by Julee at 09:25 AM | Comments (1)
April 11, 2005
A picture for today
Posted by Julee at 09:09 AM | Comments (6)
April 09, 2005
Links
I found these while surfing other blogs:
Pleasure in Pain !!! ???
I can barely stand to look at these pictures.
The Infinite Cat Project
Start with picture #1.
Let them Sing it for You
This one is really fun.
Posted by Julee at 09:48 AM | Comments (1)
Moving Day
Wow! We have less than 2 months left in Boston.
On Wednesday a representative from the Air Force contracted moving company came to our apartment to survey our belongings. On May 31st they will come to our place and pack up all of our things and load them up onto their truck. Then in San Antonio they will unpack everything and haul away all of the garbage. We have moved a handful of times in the past 5 years and I did most of the packing myself. For this alone I am so glad that Eric is part of the Air Force Health Professional Scholarship Program.
For a variety of reasons we have decided that we wait until June to find a place to live in San Antonio. This means we will go down several days before Eric has to report and stay in a hotel until we find a home. The moving company will put our stuff into temporary storage and hold it there until we have an address.
Posted by Julee at 09:28 AM | Comments (2)
Big Week
On Thursday Eric defended his thesis thus finishing his requirements for dental school. He did a great job and will definitely get his diploma in June. Now he just needs to get through his licensing exam in May.
Also on Thursday Henry took his first Tae Kwon Do belt test. He also did very well and advanced to the next class.
Posted by Julee at 08:52 AM | Comments (2)
April 05, 2005
Retail Music
I went to the mall today to look at spring clothes. Often when I go in certain stores I get completely overwhelmed and driven out by really loud music. I know that they (the retail people) have spent a lot of money researching how music influences comsumer behavior. I guess the stores where I like to shop are not trying to lure in the 35 year old stay-at-home-mom set.
I found this information from BMI's site on use of music in businesses:
• Older females prefer background music while younger males prefer more dominant, louder music when shopping;
• Baby boomers seem to purchase more when classic rock music is played than older consumers do when listening to big band music;
• Loud music, though not directly affecting total sales, seems to quicken sales per minute and the time shoppers spend in the establishment;
• Younger shoppers report that they spend more time in stores when background music is played;
• Shoppers make more impulse purchases when background, rather than more dominant, louder music is played.
What about us gen-x shoppers? I don't think anyone is marketing to us (unless we are buying baby gear) because our numbers are too small and we are all broke slackers anyway.
Posted by Julee at 10:40 PM | Comments (3)
Photos
When I talked to my Mother on Sunday evening she seemed a little miffed that there weren't that many new photos of the kids. So I put together an album of some pictures from some of the places we have gone lately. You may notice the snow on the ground in the Drumlin Farm pictures. That was only 8 days ago but I am happy to report that it has all since melted. The pictures from the Arboretum and the boys' preschool were taken today.
Posted by Julee at 10:07 PM | Comments (0)
April 03, 2005
Links
Blink O Rama
A blog dedicated to pictures of celebrities caught in mid blink.
Baby Name Wizard
Interactive baby name site
Posted by Julee at 06:18 PM | Comments (4)
April 01, 2005
National Parks
I managed to remember my National Parks Passport for once and got it stamped while we were at the National Seashore. I was looking through the list of places for cancellations and I could just kick myself for all the times I forgot to bring it along. I probably have missed out out on about 10 stamps in the past few years.
Posted by Julee at 09:57 PM | Comments (1)
Back Home
We're back from our short trip. The The National Seashore was so beautiful but it was very cold. There was still a little snow on the ground in some places. The kids still had fun playing on the beach and even more fun swimming at the hotel.
I have never been to the Cape during the summer and I imagine it gets wicked crowded, but I still would like to experience it sometime.
By the way, this suitcase set is what I need for my next trip. Unfortunately the starting bid is over $700. That's just a little over of my budget right now.
Posted by Julee at 09:45 PM | Comments (1)