HELLLOOOOOOO OUT THERE....

Is anyone out there?

Not much going on with me either. Aidan just turned nine last week. GULP. Where does the time go? He's now officially halfway to college. Kind of a weird thought. Kind of a scary thought, too, considering there is no college fund as of yet. I'm banking on those academic scholarships...no pressure Aidan!

Which Would You Choose -- Flowers or a Flood?

Not that it matters, but Cindy didn't mention how much I've helped out at Momo's house and how much Momo said she appreciates it. Also, it's no big deal but Saturday I got up on a cheap, dangerous ladder to stop an overflow from the gutters during a severe thunderstorm with driving winds and rain so that the house wouldn't flood due to the inability of a sump pump to handle the excess water. I came inside only to find everybody oohing and ahhing over some flowers Chris sent for Momo's anniversary, having remembered it only because it was also his anniversary. Maybe I should have gone out and bought Momo flowers instead of preventing her house from flooding. Were the flowers intended to make me look bad? Makes you wonder, doesn't it? At any rate, all you gals did a great job. The truth is I didn't do half as much as you did.

Who's Rubbing Off on Him?

Danielle,
You really need to work on Coen's cussing habit. It's just not very becoming of an infant. Maybe less hanging around Daddy's work? ;-)
B

Jacksonville

Hi from Momo's. Coen, your message was interesting but brief. I think you could have used a second cup of coffee before typing.
New carpet is in and Mom's house is put back together - although not back in order. She will have to reorganize all her bookcases and personal effects - no small order when you realize she has 10 bookcases we emptied and moved to clear out for the carpet installers.
Mom talked to Karen this morning - nothing too exciting happening near her in Afghanistan.
Mom is continuing to do remarkably well. Last night she got herself down on the floor and back up again (without a right arm) to help me put something in the safe. She plans to go to church tomorrow.
Love and kisses to all, C

Eyre Update

Hey guys. If you want to know what jute, pet odor enzymes and cheese formation have in common...and to find out what we've been up to the last couple of days...check out our blog at www.inreyreform.blogspot.com. Too much to write all over again on this blog! :-)

Becky

From the Files of Coen Maia

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[   bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbg               nn                                                      jmj

This message has been brought to you by Coen.

Update on Henriette

Hello to all! Sorry for not posting more but I am currently responsible for the inpatient service for my group. The service has been rather busy (16-20 patients, one in the ICU) and I have not been home much. James and Joel continue to enjoy All Sports Camp and Kathryn seems to have more than enough to do. By the time I get home each night, she is exhausted. Bill is getting ready for VBS. The mothers love to have a man to run the Games portion of the week. Actually, there are now a few men involved. One is another stay-at-home dad with 2 boys. His wife is a radiologist at St. Jude. Another is a teacher at one of the local high schools.

I think most of you know that Bill's mother, Henriette, has been undergoing treatment for metastatic kidney cancer. She had been having trouble with some side effects and had been off her oral chemotherapy for about 3 weeks. She is feeling much better off the medication and her tumors do not seem to have grown in the last month. Very good news as I was concerned that some of her problems were due to growing tumor, not side effects of the chemotherapy. She saw her oncologist yesterday and will start a different oral chemotherapy in a few days. She was more upbeat than I have heard her in a while. Thanks to everyone who has been offering prayers.

For those of you in the Atlanta area, Bill and kids are probably heading that way on July 1 and I will follow on July 4 on an early morning flight. I already promised to give a lecture to the new fellows on July 3. We will be around for the following week and probably return home on July 11 or 12.

I better go hit the Stairmaster before I run out of time. Love to all. Lisa

Company, at last!

Thanks for explaining your assorted absences (Danielle's needs no explanation, of course)!! I was beginning to worry that my harrowing bird adventure wasn't nearly as good a read as I thought it was! (I've decided to look past the fact that none of you have commented on it.) Hey, you want to complain about gas prices? Danny (and his partner, Tammy) have to fuel up two trucks(+/- $160.00 x 2 fill up's per week), two large and one small mower (+/- $50.00 once or twice a week), the dingo (+/- $25.00 about twice a month), and assorted smaller lawn equip ($20.00 once or twice a week). That doesn't count personal vehicle gas expenses. They spend as much per week on gas as they do in paying their one employee!!! At least they don't have to pay social security on the gas tanks!

On a different note altogether, the other night I learned a little tidbit about our O'Callaghan ancestor, Rutherford B. Hayes. (It's probably the only time I've ever heard his name mentioned more than a glancing notation in a textbook!! And all Mom could tell us was that he wasn't known for having done anything during his Presidency.) A late night PBS special was tracing the heritage of several well known black figures (Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock are two examples). The host shared details about their ancestors who had been slaves and direct descendants of slaves-----none of the people they interviewed had any knowledge of their rich family history! (An intriguing side note, one of the actors----can't recall his name, but he was the black British weapons specialist in the Ocean's 11, etc, movies. Anyway, he learned that his ancestors had not been owned by whites, but by members of the Chippewa Native American Nation!!! In fact, because they were owned by people not governed by America's laws, the Emancipation Proclamation did not extend to them. They remained enslaved for several years. When new treaties were outlined between the Federal Govt and the Chippewa Nation, freeing the slaves was made mandatory. The slaves were supposed to be granted full rights as citizens of the Chippewa nation, but they weren't. Instead they remained trapped in no-man's land, considered "non-entities" (with no rights) to the Chippewa people, and foreign aliens to the American Govt. It was several years more before their Chippewa citizenship was finally granted! Just a little-known history tidbit!)

Okay, back to my original point! Chris Rock's ancestor had escaped his master toward the end of the Civil War, joining up with the Union's black regimen. He was promoted quickly within their ranks, and continued to do well for himself and his family in post-war South Carolina. Apparently the reconstruction era (which lasted about a decade) was a very good time for southern blacks. They became land owners, many even employed the same whites who once considered them property. In South Carolina, educated black citizens began being elected to seats in the state legislature. When they began to outnumber the whites, an uprising started. But it was soon squelched by 1,000 national guardsmen sent by the federal govt. The guardsmen were ordered to station there and maintain the peace, which they did successfully. However, after several years the Republican Party---historically the party that actively supported the new black citizens---became very anxious to win the presidency. The Republican Party basically double-crossed their black members in a final move to secure the election of their candidate, Rutherford B Hayes. President Hayes's first act as president was to call back the National Guard, leaving the black population open to attack by the Democratic Party. The Democrats immediately undertook the devious task of passing laws to prevent blacks access to the polls, etc. Reconstruction was over, and the shameful Jim Crow era began. The once-prominent black legislators were removed from office, most left with no choice but to squeak out a living as sharecroppers. Thus, our ancestor's actions as President are directly responsible for the second-most disgraceful portion of our Southern heritage. So, had any of you heard that before? Okay, I'll let someone else post something now! Sorry for the extra-long entry!

Why no response

The reason you've had no response from the upper generation is that most of us are at Mom's and she doesn't have internet. I did figure out that I could get one bar in her kitchen from an unsecured network out there somewhere. Will try to give a catch up.

Mom's at the ortho right now with Marky. She went to her cardiologist yesterday (he was out of town last week) and all that seems fine.

We have new carpet being installed on Thursday. Friday we'll try to put things back together, and then Mom will head to Hickory with Laurie & Gene for a visit.

More later. C

Must be the life...

Hey Danielle. Oh to be a baby again...napping on the beach without a care in the world. That's the life. Coen is adorable. Still. :-)

It's weird. I started my last post a couple hours ago and got distracted by a kid or two. When I finally came back to finish it, you had already posted above me. So, for future reference, your post gets put on there in order of when you start it...not when you finish. Not sure how that's very helpful information, but you never know.

I hear you on the gas prices and everything. I'm trying to convince myself to take a little trip up to Amelia Island from Orlando, and I'm having second thoughts!!

Hello, all.  This is a picture of Coen on his third beach trip yesterday.  I posted more pictures on his Picasa website, which is picasaweb.google.com/DanielleBMaia/NewAlbum4308203PM.  It looks like we may need to postpone our road trip with the baby until later in the year.  After recalculating trip costs and expenses in light of an unexpectedly low income month from the academy, we've decided it's not a good idea to spend the money right now.  We're considering the possibility of me bringing the baby by myself to Jacksonville by plane for a few days or a week in the meantime.  Will keep everyone apprised.  Meanwhile, it's been incredibly hot here.  And while it's not as hot as it's been for many of you more southerly relatives, we have no central air.  Coen and I have spent the day hunkered down in my bedroom where we have a window air conditioning unit.  Every now and then I venture out to gather sustenance from the sweltering kitchen.  XOXO

Sandy...

Just wanted you to know that I'm still out here, even if nobody else is responding. I don't have much to say, but I just wanted to make your day that you have another post on your blog. :-)

I think none of the sisters are posting, because they are all together right now playing bridge, getting smashed, and, oh yeah, taking care of MomO.

Cousins, anyone else out there?

Life on the PerryFarm

Hello, all! I realize that I've already posted a million times, but Danny and I have a story that was made for telling! So, here it is: Last night we joined E, A, and the boys for pizza at Mellow Mushroom. While there, Danny told us about his encounter with a Mama bird earlier that day: He was on a ten foot ladder, pruning a tree, when he noticed a nest that appeared to be empty. But he was sorely mistaken. And when Mama returned home with food, she was not at all pleased to find Danny so close to her brood. And she let him know it! She morphed into a feathered torpedo, dive-bombing Danny repeatedly. He even has a mark or two on his arm to prove it! In his haste to escape the winged avenger, poor Danny lost his footing and fell off the ladder!
Fast-forward a little, and we're returning home from dinner with the Brusos. While Danny waits in the car with Will, I ran in to box up some homemade baklava and lentil pilaf to take to Carol. I stepped back out onto the porch to ask Danny a question, and we both noticed a flutter in the tree branches that extend across our privacy fence. It was a robin, but he appeared to be behaving more like a hummingbird, hovering in mid-air with his beak on the tip of the branch. We both stood there mesmerized by the strange sight for a moment, until I realized that the robin's flutterings actually looked quite frantic. I asked Danny to take a closer look: "He's caught up in some green mesh netting! Oh, man, it's wrapped around his neck," Dan exclaimed! I yelled for him to go get his ladder, and he yelled for me to go get the mini-pruners. It took several tries to get the ladder close enough, but with some acrobatics I managed to get within reach. Understandably suspicious, the robin went berserk every time I touched him. But he soon had both feet and a wing bound up in the insidious web, at which point he was powerless. Once I held his head firmly between two fingers, he submitted entirely. Ever-so-often he gave off a pitiful cry, and I realized that the poor thing was a juvenile calling out to his parents in desperation! (Dan said they, in turn, were actually hovering nearby, unable to do anything but worry!) After sending Danny back inside for scissors, and with some delicate maneuvering, I to began un-weaving the little bird's contorted body. The poor creature began wriggling, again, when he saw those scissors approach his head. But he responded well to my most soothing Mommy voice, and from that point on simply let me do what I needed to do. Amazingly, there appeared to be no lasting injury (I was especially concerned about that wing, or that the fine plastic string may have actually cut into his neck when he fought against it.) Content that he appeared capable of flying without further injuring himself, I lifted him up toward the branch and opened my hands. I swear I could see the shock on his face when he registered that he was not only free from the two--handed-featherless-monster, but also from the netting's choke-hold! With a cry, he took off to the neighboring tree (followed instantly by what I can only assume were his rejoicing parents!)!! The End

Hello Everyone!!.

Hey.. Well the computer acted up and it published a blank entry. I think I corrected it!! hope everyone is doing good. I will write later.. just wantesd to check this out and sign up!!!
`

Making Amends

Got your email, Wendy. Consider the oversight corrected. If you don't know what I mean, take a second look at this page! By the way, are you sure you didn't just save last night's attempted post as a draft? It may be there waiting for you to post it!

Day 2 and Cruising!

Every time a new name pops onto the list of those who joined, it's like my birthday all over again!! Those of you who have access to other family's email addresses, please pass them to me (or do the inviting process yourself, as I'm about to "authorize" the latest joiners)! Also, if anyone would prefer a smaller font, which would allow more to be seen on the screen at once, let me know! Danielle, congrat's on the Mother's Evening Out! Two hours isn't bad at all! Well, it's enough to actually sit and eat an entire meal, anyway! (That pleasure will now only be available to you if you are baby-less, because having him in-tow simply means that you'll spend the entire meal trying to keep him placated so that everyone else at the table can eat their meal!!! But it's okay, your food will taste almost as good when eaten out of a to-go box in the comfort of your own home!) Until later......

Testing, testing...

Hello.  Is this working?  Am I blogging yet?  Great idea.  We should also invite more Regas cousins in case they want to post and/or read.  I don't think I have inviting privileges.  Last night I had my first night out sans baby.  Roberto kept the little squeaker while I went to a dinner for young adults from church.  It was quite lovely.  Baby didn't do all that well - couldn't stop crying, and I got an early call to come home.  But I actually stayed out about 2 hours and had a lovely time.  Well, I can't stay long.  I'm at the academy and supposed to be working :)  XOXO- Danielle

PLEASE LIKE THE NEW COLORS!!!!

Hi, again!! After posting that last message about sharing power, blahblahblah, I realized that said power includes the ability to manipulate the color scheme...........And I kinda want to keep that power all to my little self. But I won't. It's just that with my triggor-happy ocular migraines, I've learned that subtle shade variations can make a tremendous difference in how long I'm able to stay in front of the computer screen without getting sick from it. (Right now, for instance, as I stare into this bright white screen I have to keep my eyes as close to slosed as possible just to bear it. Can I change the color of this screen? Anyway.....) Green may seem like an unusual choice, but my optometrist informed me that it's the most relaxing color for our eyes. (I'm supposed to stop and stare out into tree tops or grass when my eyes start to hurt!) And trust me when I say that every single color that now graces this blog, from the title to the tiny little links, have been through a rigorous eye-stress-test before being chosen. (That's probably why my eyes are now so ultra-sensitive to this page, come to think of it. Some of those colors left me reeling!!) So, the moral of the story is this: If these colors don't cause you physical discomfort, please accept them! Oh, and I also enlarged the font for us visually impaired bloggers! Farewell for now! Sandy

Authority Bestowed

The three of you who've already joined are have hereby been granted equal authority to control this blog. I'm trusting that you will not abuse this privilege. I don't actually know what this privilege involves, but it must be hugely important since I had to go through an annoying process to grant it to you. I think it basically means that you now have the power to change everything around, including inviting new participants and excluding existing ones!!! I just figured that other people might have ideas on improvements, etc. Besides, absolute power corrupts absolutely, right? Who needs the pressure! I'll try to remember to make sure everyone who ends up joining on is equally "authorized"! But remember, I CAN choose to revoke your authorization at any time! Sandy

The Eyres are on board!

Hi everyone. Thanks, Sandy! If anyone cares to visit our own Eyre family blog, you can go to www.inreyreform.blogspot.com. I've been more than busy lately, so I've slacked off a little on our blog, but I try.

We need to send invites to Amy and Benji, too. Anyone know their email addresses? And the Modlin clan, too.

Love you guys!
Becky and family

Look, I'm blogging! I'm really blogging!

Hurray for us!!! This is so exciting I'm actually giddy! Oh, and Emily----I think you and Mere have a beautiful partnership ahead of you! Your camera-hammin' Gerber-boys should supply her with ample material for a "pictures speak a million words" line of cards! But you're holding back some of my personal favorites----like Brennan in drag, and wasn't there one where he was naked and standing in a stewpot? Something like that. I could offer up some cute Will pics---they just won't have the same drammatic flare! Oh, but Meredith, if you're ever taking pictures for cards and realize that the one thing missing is a chicken.......I'm all over it! Scarlett the little red hen is the newest member of our family, and her beauty is surpassed only by her personality (and her bountiful supply of delicious eggs)!!!! She works well with humans of all ages and stages, dogs, and even cats (although she has a superiority complex when it comes to felines). Just let me know, and I can send you some head shots (or action shots, if you prefer)!!! Sandy

Great Plan

I successfully accessed the site! Took a few rounds of logging in/password reminders. Great job Sandy. I look forward to keeping up better with everyone.

Lisa

Here you Go Mere...

Mere, I am thinking that you could really use this for just about any holiday. If you want to a focus on American Holidays such as the 4th of July makes sense. Just let me know and we can work out the details. Another nice thing about this image is that no words are necessary! It really does just speak for itself.

The First

Allow me to be the first to grace this blog and to say that I am ever so proud of my sis! I have a picture that I am willing to lend to Mere for one of her cards that I hope to post soon. Adam officially posted a hiring ad on craigslist so here we go. Please pray that this process will be quick and painless. We would really love to find an Adam clone to hire. I know, I know good luck with that! I will let you know when another person's lively hood is in our hands. God help him!
E