Today I made...

Chili, Banana Chocolate Chip Bread, Corn muffins, pretty wrapped presents. Yeah...

Seriously!

You two are sooooooo immature! It's like that time I walk out and you two are in a fist fight, on the floor, in the middle of the hallway, blocking the bathroom...seriously! Tisk tisk..... so who's gonna have kids first......I nominate Raoul!

"Early to rise, early to bed. Makes a man healthy, but socially dead."

So's your face, jerk.

No, you are.

Jerk.

Flatline

Well, this is how you kill a blog.

Seriously, though... amongst the authors of this blog, surely we can ressurect it?

I mean, we can get in to fights here if that will work...

Wierd dreams

So I had a dream last night that mom told me she wouldn't let dad post on this blog and that's why it's not doing so well. So I woke up determined to blog on it and say, let dad blog! Wait, that was a dream... Anyway, happy 4th everyone!! Please save the blog!

Mom visit

Mom came into town! It was fun. It's nice that she is so close by that she can come visit and treat us and see where I work. Yeah, that's noce.....(move closer!!!) :-D

I *heart* Steve

I mean, who doesn't *heart* Steve?

High of 70...

and gorgeous in Dallas. Enjoy the north, suckers.

Snow...

is everywhere and the stupid people at the complex seem to have the wrong idea of what shoveling is. instead of shoveling it OUT of the way, they make a 2ft snow hill for you to climb over to get to your car. Ugh...

Polar Bears

are pretty much the most awesome animal ever.

They can shoot lazers out of their eyes. True story.

Bad Pie

Mom gave herself food poisoning with her own quiche a week or two ago.
I heard this news about two nights before I was going to try and make my own quiche with her recipe. Needless to say, I had soup instead.

I love...

cake.

This Blog is Drowning!!

For the Love of Pete! MOM! DAD!! Use this dumb thing!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL!!!!

Yes, another year has come and gone and Paul is one year older, yeah!! So to honor this day I will recall moments from his past birthdays...

Someone jumping off the roof into the pool
Someone overfeeding the dog to were she puked pizza
Alien movis galor!
Comics, comics, comics, action figures!
Wierd fake fights in the back yard... "I have the power of Ortum!"...?
Rooms full of people who love you and are there for your big day

Love you bro, have a good one!

Amusing Family Moments

- Vivaquijote + wine + croissant = "I ffffeel fffffine!"

- "Mr. Sparkly" comes home for Thanksgiving

- Violent Family Movies during the holidays (Who can forget the warm place the movie Ticks has in all of our hearts? "They call me panic 'cuz I neva do!")

- Watching the South Park Christmas episodes with Mom and Dad and watching their horrified, yet amused reactions to "Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo" and "Woodland Critters Christmas Special"

- "Batteries! ... Batteries?!?"

- The night Raoul and Ida stayed up and smashed action figures in the driveway. The noise of the hammer woke up Vivaquijote, so he poked his head out of the window and asked, "What are you guys doing?" Ida then repled, "Nothing! You're dreaming! Go back to sleep!" The next morning at breakfast, Viva said, "I had the weirdest dream last night..."

- Arguing every Saturday to get out of Karate, then driving Mom and Dad crazy because we always came home super-happy that we went.

- The infamous "Prom Photo"...

That's all I can come up with right now. You guys have any others?

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!!

Mom and Dad have been together for 30 years... 30!!!! That's an amazing example to set you two :-) I hope it's been a great ride so far and will only get even better for you both. I love you and again, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!

So one day...

when I was a little kid, I was hidding under my parents bed sheets as my mother was doing laundry. I guess she didn't notice I was underneath the sheets or thought I was one of the pillows bacause as she was gather things she accidently dropped something or hit herself on a corner of the bed cause all I heard was a thwack then a "Sh@%!!" I bounced up from my hiding place screaming "Mommy said a bad word!!" and in this process gave her a heart attack from fright. I ended up on the time out stair for a couple of minutes :-) hehehe...

This is what will happen if you don't post... STORY TIME!!!

TV problem...

Discovered the part of SS we're moving to doesn't have cable. Question: Which is better...DishNetwork or Direct TV...and why?
Thx.

That was the week that was...

Cultural reference here: "That Was the Week That Was" was a TV show around the time of "Laugh-In". It was on Friday nights, and had all kinds of political humor. Didn't last more than a couple of years...

So, we have had one of the most _________ (fill in the blank) weeks ever in our almost 30 years of marriage.

1. Bugsy and Bobo tied the knot Monday evening. I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful the wedding was. Pictures are up at weddingprints.com. Search for Bobo's last name, and you should get there. Password is "wedding".

2. Raoul proposed to JJ Friday afternoon. I can't even begin to tell you how happy we are to welcome her into our family. Why, when she lived with us for a couple of months, she got me hooked on "American Idol". (Go Carrie!)

3. We (finally) sold our house Sunday night. So we get to move into our new house! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am. Only problem is we have to be out of this house by midnight, July 24th. It's going to be a fun 12 days!

Probably won't post for awhile for obvious reasons.

So...

"That was the week that was.
It's over, let it go.
'Cause that was the week that was..."

If you call me, I'll sing it for you. Yeah. Right.

Congratulations, Bugzie and Bobo!

We love you both, and we couldn't be happier.

I'm glad that your getting married hasn't really changed the way the three of us siblings get along...



Have an awesome honeymoon, and we'll see you when you get back!

Happy birthday, mom! :)

Birthday wishes. . .

Happy Birthday, RoombaMom!!! The Washingtonians are excited to see you again soon. . .only 2 more weeks! Have a fantastic day! ---The "Fair-Haired Child" (hee hee :) )

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Mom, today is your big day! Happy Birthday and I hope you had a blast in Arizona. I also wanted to share this picture I found on my computer today. This is one of my favorites of you, Mama and Skip. Love you!!

Happy Birthday Mom

Happy birthday! Since you haven't updated for a while and probably aren't near a computer, I decided to take the liberty to update your blog and wish you a happy birthday.

So... um... yeah. Happy birthday! Again!

oops

I don't know if anyone saw, but I accidentally posted my new post on mom's blog. Oops. Hehehe. But it's gone now. Just figured I would let you all know. And tell mom she needs to update.

Interviewing in DC

In the fall of 1974, I started my third and last year of law school. It was time to look for a job.
Let me give you some idea of the atmosphere at the time:
There were 15 women out of 110 students in my class. The previous year had a half dozen. The year before that had three. Yep, you read that right...3.
Two of my (male) friends were part of a group that had lunch with one of the professors of the law school one day. They were complaining about the job market, when the prof tried to comfort them by saying..."Don't worry, just look at your competition. None of these women are going to get jobs. There will be plenty out there for you." (Needless to say, when all the women had jobs lined up before graduation, we were pretty smug about it.)
So, back to my story...
Three of us flew to D.C. that fall, because the conventional wisdom was that the government would hire women more readily than corporations or private firms. Two of the women from that 3-woman class had jobs there, one with the Justice Department and one with the SEC. Linda, Peggy and I lined up our interviews and headed out. The second night there, we had dinner at a Greek place with some of the KU people working in DC. A group of about 10 people. We were the only table in the upstairs room. Before desert, the band and the belly dancer started rolling, so to speak. At that point, Peggy was brave enough (or drunk enough) to tell us her experience that afternoon.
Remember, smoking was still permitted everywhere. She had a half hour break between two interviews, and desparately looked for a ladies' room for a smoke. Propped herself sideways on the john, leaned back on the wall, relaxed and enjoyed her cigarette...until she realized her skirt had fallen into the john. The back was thoroughly soaked. She spent the next 15 minutes madly blotting with TP and holding it up to a hand dryer. Thoroughly disconcerted, she headed for her interview with a slightly damp skirt. She didn't get that job. :)
In fact, out of my class, I can only remember two women who went to work for the government. For the rest of us, it was private firms, corporations (Sprint, SW Bell, Warren Petroleum), and one with West publishers editing law books (our fair Peggy).
One of the few bright spots from law school...

The real story...

Pretty good, MDD, but there are a few extra facts, so let me retell here.

I was an RA in Corbin (south...which I don't think has dorm rooms anymore, just offices) at KU for my first two years of law school. The RAs had great corner suites at the back of the building (toward Mass Street). The first year, mine was on the second floor.

So one night I'm sleeping (dreaming of torts, contracts, civil pro - ugh!) when I'm awakened by pounding on my door. One of the girls yells that there is a guy climbing in her window. So, I head for the room, in my robe (so not red flannel, no rollers please, but the fuzzy slippers might be accurate) and see him finishing his crawl through the window. I meant to grab him by his ear and haul him out, but could only get him by the arm. Pulled him in, marched him downstairs (with half the floor by now), unlocked the glass door and threw him out. I didn't really think about it...just mad and protecting my girls. But when I told my Mom, she about freaked.

So, Bugs, you could have heard it from Grandma, and Quijote, you could have heard it from B's mom, who was on my floor that year.

Amazing what we remember...

Too Fun!!

Man oh man How cool is this!? SO yeah, I think I will tell a story now about my parents... hmm, what to tell... I heard a story once about my mom in college. She was an RA in one of the girl dorms, I forget which, at KU. So one night my mom is studying and one of the girls on her floor comes running in saying there is a guy climbing in her window. So what does my mother do? This cute, little blond woman who wouldn't hurt a fly? She marches right into the room and sees the guy finishing his crawl through the window. My mother at this point instructs this man to climb right back out of it, and he did. I always like to picture my mom in a red flannel neck to ankle night gown, rollers in her hair and fuzzy slippers when I think of this story. Small but mighty is her nature :-) I think it was my grandmother who told me that story a long time ago. I always liked it because I like picturing her at KU.

Hehehe...

Mom and dad need to update... but are they aware that they gave us the power to post on their blog???

AAAHAHAHAHAHA..
... okay I'm going back to studying now.

And no... no it does not print color. Hehehehe....

All right already...

Natives are getting restless, so I guess I'd better post SOMETHING...

Love the Roomba Clan name, JJ. Sort of fits, doesn't it?

One of the reasons I decided to do this is to get some of the clan stories down in print before I go to that big vacuum store in the sky. Over the past few years,I've found myself thinking occasionally, "I'll just ask _________ (Mama Steve, Papa Steve, Grandma Skip, Grandpa Dick, Mama Hallie...take your pick)about that." Bummer.

Let's start with how Mama and Papa Steve met. They lived on farms in the SE part of the state, but went to different schools. They met at a dance/party at someone's house during high school. There was a guessing game popular back then. You would stand behind someone, hold an object over his/her head, and say "Heavy, heavy hangs over thy head". The "someone" would ask "Is it fine or super fine?" (I have no idea what that meant and they never explained it, just giggled...well, she would giggle and he would just smile. What do you suppose they weren't telling us?) Then, the "someone" had to ask questions and guess the object. So, it's Papa's turn, Mama Steve holds a heavy vase over his head, says "Heavy heavy hangs over thy head" and before he can ask "Is it fine or super fine?" she drops it on his head! But it all turned out OK...he walked her home from the party. Which meant he walked six miles to her house and six miles back to his. He didn't get home until just before dawn. What a way to start a 70 year marriage!

I also know they would room in town during the winter to go to school, because education was so important to both families. Mama Steve's moved back from Arkansas because of the condition of the schools...they wanted their kids (5 boys and her) to get through a good high school. She worked as an assistant to a photographer and he manned a lunch counter to make extra money until they graduated.

And that's enough for now. Hope you enjoy these.

So here we go...

...well, I've finally caved in and created a blog. Just hope I remember how to sign in tomorrow.

Had a number of suggestions for names (good - madrecaliente and not so good - blackthumbveggiekiller), but decided to go with a tribute to my current gadget obsession...Mr. Roomba.

Yes, I stare at him and laugh.
Yes, I talk to him.
Yes, I clean him obsessively.
Yes, your father is jealous.

And he seems to be working better than the late, lamented printer which inspired the title of this blog...along with numerous jokes at my expense. (But you have to admit, it really was cute!)

So, comment away. Ida, it's your chance to catch MY grammar mistakes. :)
Dad will probably post on here, too. Should be interesting.