Less is More

Steve and I enjoyed a leisurely Thanksgiving in Michigan visiting with friends and family. It's hard to believe that Christmas is just two weeks away! We'll be going back to Michigan for a week then, as well.
I tried to talk Steve out of putting the Christmas tree up on account of being gone so much and the day-long project it always turns out to be. He said, "We don't have to...." with big puppy dog eyes in a way that said, "But I want to." It's funny that even though we've been married for six years now, I always thought he was just putting up with my Christmas tree fetish and saying he liked it to keep me happy. I was surprised to learn that he really DOES enjoy hauling up the filthy box and assembling the leaning tower of Christmas tree! Well, we were running out of time, as it was 3pm on a Sunday afternoon and we had NO FOOD in the house so I desperately had to go grocery shopping (which I KNOW is something he just puts up with when I ask him to go). He offered to put up the tree while I was gone! I didn't even mind that I knew he was trying to get out of shopping...I figured he'd be happier with the football game on and I'd get finished quicker! An hour later, guess what? He had the whole thing up, lights and all!
I must admit, he all the decorating this year. He was sweet to let me put the star on top and voila, it was done in two hours! Of course, that's because I didn't put all of the hundreds of ornaments we own and the icicles that he loathes on the tree, nor did I put out all the knicknacks and candles and whatchamacallits that wind up in the decoration box. And you know what? I like it this way. Less is more this year.

8 month recap

Hello friends, it's been 8 months since our last update, so I'll give you the short version! In the spring, I learned my 8th grade job at Farmington Middle School West would be cut to part time, so I interviewed for a full time position at Farmington Middle School East, where I got the job! I was able to relax and enjoy my summer off with Steve knowing that I had a job in the fall. And this is a huge accomplishment: I earned my permanent MN teaching license this summer! For those of you who know, it's been quite a journey!

What did we do? Steve audited and I toured:
Colorado Springs, CO: climbed the Garden of the gods
San Jose, CA: rode the metro transit when it hit a truck
San Francisco, CA: devoured Boudin's sourdough!
Kona, HI: snorkeled in the warm Pacific waters
Phoenix, AZ: watched the sun set over the Grand Canyon

We were able to visit our families in Michigan and saw our four nieces and nephews all together for the first time. While in MI, we celebrated six years of marital bliss! My sisters Patti and Megan visited for a few days and I showed them the MOA and Ikea, of course.

School started August 25th, but I'd say we packed a lot into the short summer! I started my job teaching 6th and 7th grade reading and language at FMSE and Steve began a crazy 4th quarter schedule! My students are keeping me very busy, and Steve's been traveling a lot this quarter. He spent two weeks in Cincinnati training for Six Sigma, which he explains much better than me. (I'd call it continuing education.)

Steve called me from Toronto tonight to tell me that the Delta NWA merger was finalized today. That's a big deal for us, although we don't know what it will mean for us yet. We are praying and believing that God has big plans for us. He's always provided for us in amazing ways and expect him to continue to do the same. We will let you know something when we know something!

Check in again, soon. I promise it won't take me 8 months to update! I'll have time this winter because I have NO classes at the U!

Lift Off

Traveling brings remarkable moments of uncanny timing. Some would consider these moments as serendipitous, I consider them a blessing. A recent trip to Orlando brought such a moment to me. When I woke up on Thursday, February 7, the chance of a space shuttle launch was basically 30%. I didn't even know that there was a launch scheduled until that morning when I turned on the news. A space shuttle launch gets very little attention, except in the central Florida area, where folks still pay attention and care. Throughout the day, the chance of the launch varied from "go" to "no go", but I still held out hope.

There is a spot at the very top of the parking garage at the Orlando airport that provides an excellent vantage point to watch the launch. Many people camp out here on top of the garage if they can't travel the 50 miles to Cape Canaveral to see a launch up close. I actually got the chance to see a launch up close with my family in the early 90's. It was a night launch and it lit up the night sky. It was amazing and it was another one of those moments when we just happened to be at the right place at the right time.

The collective gasp of people crowded on top of the Orlando airport parking garage is a moment I'll always remember; together we all watched as a burst of light and fire erupted on the horizon and the shuttle lifted off.

I have included two pictures, one is the shot I took with my camera phone and the other is the same image that I adjusted so that the fire from the rockets is more noticeable. Keep in mind that this is a shot taken with a camera phone from 50 miles away.

Acapulco was great...but....

Sometimes I am forced to accept the most difficult work assignments. Recently, I worked in Acapulco for 3 days. It wasn't easy dealing with the 85 degree weather while it was -25 degrees in the Twin Cities; someone has to do this though.

No trip would be complete without a mishap, which, naturally included the Mexican police. While driving the 20 km from the city to the airport of Friday morning, I was pulled over by the police. I could write paragraphs about this, but basically, the 3 (!) policemen told me I was in big trouble for speeding and running a red light. I was not speeding, nor ran a red light, I was so uptight driving in the crazy traffic that there is no way I would speed or run a light. This was going to cost me though "amigo", stated the cop. "How much is that going to be", I retorted. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh", stated the cop as he tried to determine how much to rip me off by. "3,750 pesos amigo
(1 USD = 11 pesos), you follow me to police office to pay, it will take 5 hours........unless (I knew this was coming), you pay me and my amigo's 1,000 pesos." "What?" I stated! "What if I don't have it?", I said. "Oh you have it", the cop replied. So, keeping in mind that I was now already running late for my appointment with the Mexican government fueling office, I reached into my wallet and handed the crooked cop 5 $20 dollar bills, $100 dollars to make him and his other two "amigo's" go away.

I was very upset and still had to go work for 10 hours.

After spreading my story to the locals, it was explained to me that these cops did not even have jurisdiction on the federal highway I was driving on. Simply put, they noticed I was a foreigner, assumed I was traveling to the airport and knew that I wouldn't have 5 hours to pay a ticket. Of course, they would never have taken me to the police station, they would have been fired because they are not to give tickets to tourists. We are all their economy has there.

There are good points too. I was able to have lunch on the beach after work with the local employees at this small spot under a canopy of palm branches. The cook brought over two fresh Red Snapper and asked which I wanted. After picking, the fish came back grilled over coals. The combination of the local company, fresh fish and the view made the trip worth all the trouble with the police.

From Kim

I recently checked out "my" blog and discovered a GIANT picture of me (can someone fix that?...never mind, I'll do it myself sometime) and some blatherings about cows! I wonder who did that? I (meaning Kim, Steve's wife!) DO have a life outside of "AuldsWorld" and thought you may be interested in what I really do. When I'm not herding cats at Farmington Middle School West, I'm taking graduate courses at the University of Minnesota to meet my teaching license requirements. I'm currently enrolled in "Teaching Film, Television, and Media Studies" and one of the requirements is to maintain a blog. I decided to keep it separate from Aulds World because my instructors read it, but to give you a link so you can check out the reason why I hardly blog here! So that's where I'll be for the next three months while you're reading Steve's...publications.

Cows and Political Ideals

>DEMOCRATIC
>
> You have two cows.
> Your neighbor has none.
> You feel guilty for being successful.
> Barbra Streisand sings for you.
>
>
> REPUBLICAN
>
> You have two cows.
> Your neighbor has none.
> So?
>
>
> SOCIALIST
>
> You have two cows.
> The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.
> You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow.
>
>
> COMMUNIST
>
> You have two cows.
> The government seizes both and provides you with milk.
> You wait in line for hours to get it.
> It is expensive and sour.
>
>
> CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE
>
> You have two cows.
> You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.
>
>
> BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE
>
> You have two cows.
> Under the new farm program the government pays you to shoot one,
milk
> the other, and then pours the milk down the drain.
>
>
> AMERICAN CORPORATION
>
> You have two cows.
> You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd
one.
> You force the two cows to produce the milk of four cows. You are > surprised when one cow drops dead. You spin an announcement to the > analysts stating you have downsized and are reducing expenses. Your > stock goes up.
>
>
> FRENCH CORPORATION
>
> You have two cows.
> You go on strike because you want three cows.
> You go to lunch and drink wine.
> Life is good.
>
>
> JAPANESE CORPORATION
>
> You have two cows.
> You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow
and
> produce twenty times the milk. They learn to travel on unbelievably > crowded trains. They also are at the top of their class at cow
school.
>
>
> GERMAN CORPORATION
>
> You have two cows.
> You engineer them so they are all blond, drink lots of beer, > give excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour.
> Unfortunately they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year.
>
>
> ITALIAN CORPORATION
>
> You have two cows but you don't know where they are.
> While ambling around, you see a beautiful woman.
> You break for lunch.
> Life is good.
>
>
> RUSSIAN CORPORATION
>
> You have two cows.
> You have some vodka.
> You count them and learn you have five cows.
> You have some more vodka.
> You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
> The Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have.
>
>
> TALIBAN CORPORATION
>
> You have all the cows in Afghanistan, which are two.
> You don't milk them because you cannot touch any creature' private > parts. You get a $40 million grant from the US government to find > alternatives to milk production but use the money to buy weapons.
>
>
> IRAQI CORPORATION
>
> You have two cows.
> They go into hiding.
> They send radio tapes of their mooing.
>
>
> POLISH CORPORATION
>
> You have two bulls.
> Employees are regularly maimed and killed attempting to milk them.
>
>
> BELGIAN CORPORATION
>
> You have one cow.
> The cow is schizophrenic.
> Sometimes the cow thinks he's French, other times he's Flemish. The > Flemish cow won't share with the French cow. The French cow wants > control of the Flemish cow's milk. The cow asks permission to be
cut in
> half. The cow dies happy.
>
>
> FLORIDA CORPORATION
>
> You have a black cow and a brown cow.
> Everyone votes for the best looking one.
> Some of the people who actually like the brown one best > accidentally vote for the black one.
> Some people vote for both.
> Some people vote for neither.
> Some people can't figure out how to vote at all.
> Finally, a bunch of guys from out-of-state tell you which one you > think is the best-looking cow.

Too Cold

On days like today, and days that are coming here a little later in the week, Kim and I often look at each other and ask, "why did we move here; why do we live here?"

Each summer, on a particularly warm, delightful day, I find myself saying, "I wish we could bottle up this weather and then pull the cork on a cold January day."

Today is that day!

The New Year

Happy New Year to all. I pray it is filled with great moments with family and friends.