Ypsilanti

This is the big dick of the city formerly known as Ypsitucky. It holds the water. Recently efforts have been made to disallow our fond name as it is derogatory toward the southern element, ruling that we should come up with a new pet name atleast for the festival. Rust belt roots revival has been proposed. Ypsilanti is truly a diverse area. It is what Sebastapudlians and Ann Arborites claim they want, atleast for their children's education, if not for their actual neighborhood.

All Up In The D

We were all up in the D last weekend. This is Caleb at Eastern Market and me on Belle Isle, with our water supply in the background, here in the city of Ypsilanti. Lynne was our tour guide. She told us a story of some Dutch reporters who came to report on the D as it is very popular currently in Europe. They were carjacked on their trip, but survived, and she made sure to tell us that it was their fault for driving on the wrong street. They were in the Brewster projects on their way to see where the Supremes grew up. These projects are now abandoned like many other buildings up in the D.

Rhymes with Varmint

Last night was Cheyenne, Wy KOA by I-80. Loud! But it was nice to be outdoors, especially for the Bru. Tonight he and us are at the super animal friendly favorite hotel, La Quinta, where they have windows that open and free breakfast, for not that much more than the KOA by the highway. We just got out of the little pool and are relaxing in our room here in Lincoln, Nebraska. Hard to believe we have made it this far taking the scenic byway yesterday- Medicine Bow- Wyoming - went up quite high. Serious snow. Sofie was so excited we had to stop and play in it, in our snow sandals. We tried to stay there in the snow, but the guy with the cabins wouldn't take pets, so we had to go down down down to where we wouldn't freeze in our tent, past Laramie cause we'd heard they had two confirmed cases of H1N1 and a population of only twenty something thousand. Just before we hit the snowy tip of the mountain we came across a hella hot hot spring called Saratoga--120 degrees but maybe 110 on the other side. Of course had to stop and get in it. Anja got over heated but Sofie and I had better boundaries, or limits, or whatever you want to call it. I feel bad for not making her get out sooner, but I was already in the shower with So and her and Caleb were like lobsters. Today we saw some real old stage coaches and were grateful for our Volvo. It was an elaborate museum in miniature of Wild Bill's show which looked quite elaborate. Outside they had the stage coaches, Injuns, jails, and crazy cowboys. Sofie was able to spend her allowance there, it being Friday. She is an amazing traveller this year. They have appreciated both the books on tape they found at the two acre wood sale and the little television grandma Janet gave them for Christmas. Anja has made a beautiful map of the United States with our route on it. They are also working daily in their new Math books, first and fifth grade. So the first night was Sparkes, NV, then Salt Lake City, UT, then Cheyenne, WY, now Lincoln, Nebraska. The states we have left to pass through are Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and then we will land in Michigan. Maybe we'll try to hit that organic farm restaurant near Des Moines tomorrow. I just got my french grade / evaluation. Made me feel good. My mind is so scrambled at the moment. I'd be hard pressed to speak with my teacher now. Something about the vibration of the vehicle, or maybe the Pinot Grigio? The cowboy poetry convention in NV that I missed is still haunting me. Will I ever know what rhymes with 'Varmint'?

Sparkes, Nevada

We are now in Sparks, NV at the Holiday Inn. Much nicer than Winnemucca was last year. Caleb got online and found that NV is about 400 miles wide where 80 runs so we will be in this odd state for a long time tomorrow and with determination eventually reach Utah which doesn't exactly strike me as normal either. Though it is practically the polar opposite of Nevada in some ways. It is funny how Californians stand out once one enters Nevada. I'm sure this continues on beyond Nevada, but they grow fewer till it is only us being stared at which we of course don't notice. My ears had a hard time with the pass over the mountains, but feel better now. The hotel is not so expensive though they do have a dog fee and he's not even allowed in the pool. Poor thing. He did have a bit of delayed car sickness on their carpet. I figure he paid for that privilege. Sofie fell off the treadmill in the exercise room, and her two front teeth are feeling rather loose.

Voyage bientot

J'ai fini ma presentation ce soir. I took my final in Medical Micro yesterday. Aahh -What a relief. Tomorrow is Sofie's sixth birthday. What an incredible person she is. The children never cease to amaze me. I love them sooo much! It's been a stressful week, thinking about taking off on Tuesday, Sofie's party, my finals, the children finishing up at their pseudo school (public school home school program) has all been keeping me from sleeping as well as I like. Sofie too. She fell asleep on top of me last night after an hour of tossing and turning and trying to fall asleep next to me at a much too late hour. Everytime I tried to sneak out of the room, she caught me and dragged me back. She really feels our stress. She is also very excited about her too big party this weekend. And understanding the idea that she is now a first grader is pretty big- to her. So much to complete, and so much to look forward to. Life is beautiful right now!!!

procrastination

Anything to avoid studying. I will even blog again. Three tests this week. How can that be? I only have two classes. One is in a lab. Wouldn't it be easier if I could just take Microbiology in French? Well, maybe not. Caleb's gone biking for two nights and three days or so with his brother and his dad. I hope they are having a great time. I am. Sofie had a birthday party for Wolfie or was it Horsey and we all ate muffins. The girls finally finished cleaning their room. Sofie learned to jump rope. She has to learn something new pretty much every day. Last week she learned to write, and before that to read. She also rides horses, and a bike now. Tomorrow she's going swimming. Hope she remembers how. I have read about bacteria and viruses, diseases of the skin and urogenital tract many times over. Have to read it once a day until test day I figure. Though I should be avoiding studying by preparing for my next presentation which is on Bordeaux. My partner is covering the wine aspect. I'm doing the general overview. My allergies are much better now that my strep throat is being treated. hmmm.... Tired now. Goodnight beautiful world.

California Livin'

Life has picked up speed and we are yet to settle down in a house of our own. Still staying with a friend in Rincon Valley. Started a conversational french class which is great fun. I do have a slight advantage, but am surprised at the number of people who know some french before taking french class. I'm not sure anyone takes french without a little prior knowledge. The language is a bit intimidating in that one cannot just pick up a book and read it aloud correctly without quite a lot of training.
Had to attend Jury duty a couple of weeks ago, but was dismissed due to my lack of respect for authority which was OK by me, but I wonder if I shouldn't be permanently dismissed from jury duty. It seems I am called more often than other people. I think they have me on two lists, Department of Motor Vehicles and voter registration lists. They say if you are called more than once in a year to make sure you are not on two lists. I am not called that often, but much more often than anyone I know, and never can get past the point of trying to imagine myself extending credibility to people in uniform. I have a really strong prejudice there and am well aware of it. However, I did feel bad because someone stopped me in the hallway on the way out who happened to be a friend of the defendant who was very disappointed I had been dismissed probably because they could sense this bias in me, or perhaps because I stated that I was an herbalist. I wasn't in attendance long enough to hear the details of the case, but got a strong feeling that it involved the infamous herb that is still illegal in many ways. The man in the hall said he thought I'd be understanding, well, probably not really, as I do know the case involved someone driving a motor vehicle, and I have very little tolerance for bad driving. The whole issue of bias came up because another jury member said he would have trouble doubting anything stated by a police officer, and he remained on the jury for the simple reason that he said he would put his bias aside whereas I said I probably could not. At one point one of the people, maybe the defendant herself gave me a big smile which I thought to be extremely inappropriate. This is in fact one of the reasons I felt uncomfortable sitting on the jury besides the basic fact that I really don't belong on any jury. Well, I do hope everything came out as it should have in the end in any case, or in all cases for that matter.
It is difficult living in transition as we are. I am quite anxious to get into our garage before too many rodents move in for the winter. The children are really happy with their school situation. They both love Orchard View public homeschooling program. It is ideal for our family. They have and are making more friends by the minute. Keeping up with their social calenders seems challenging but not out of hand like it can be. Everything is just right. They are both doing well, learning fast, and getting compliments from their teachers which I just love because I am so proud of them and happy for them. Yesterday Karen and Laura's families had us over to Neva St. for dinner and little Lily gave Sofie about fifteen beautiful hand me down dresses, one of them used to be Anja's, so we are all feeling loved. The six girls were very cute playing together. My mom is coming to visit the 21st of October. I do hope I have a place for her to stay.