November 29, 2004
My Favorite Holiday
My favorite holiday is not overly commercialized -- there are no gifts to buy, no lights to hang, no costumes to don, and no candy to hand out. All you need is a turkey, some potatoes and gravy, a little stuffing, and some close family and friends -- and an attitude of appreciation for all that you have been blessed with.
This year's Roth Thanksgiving was at JD & Kris' place in Oak Grove -- a lovely old farmhouse that has been finished beautifully. It was a great place to have a Thanksgiving dinner -- something about the feel of the décor just fit the occasion.
JD & Kris cooked most of the meal, with a few dishes brought by the rest of us. Stephanie made the world's best stuffing (her mom's recipe -- it uses a half pound of butter); Tony & Kamie (and their boys, almost 6 year-old Michael and 4 year-old Alex) made green bean casserole, with potato chips in place of dried onions (it was actually pretty good); and my Mom made a wonderful pumpkin pie. Kris also made a rich, smoky, dark chocolate dessert that was perfect for a chocolate lover (me) -- it was like eating a melted Hershey Bar in pie form.
The boys spent much of the time upstairs racing on JD's Nintendo or playing with toys on the floor. It is amazing how long Noah can be entertained by pushing buttons on a controller that isn't hooked up to anything.
The little guys finished their dinner before the rest of us, so JD took them into the parlor to keep them occupied. The rest of the adults soon joined them for a nice relaxing time of visiting and watching the kids (Noah in particular) bounce around like pinballs. Michael told us all about his skateboarding skills -- he can do a handstand on his board, and Alex had fun chasing Noah around.
We all hung around until early evening -- a nice change from the usual short gatherings.
Friday morning brought a nice surprise. My sister Shelley called at about 10:30 to see if we could get together with them. I knew they were going to be around for the weekend, but it was still a bit of a surprise. I was out hanging Christmas lights, so Steph invited them over for pizza. She also called Tony & JD and invited them over. JD was busy with computer stuff, but Tony and the boys were able to make it.
Todd & Shelley live in Everett, Washington with their two children; Clayton, a 13 year-old boy; and Kendall, a 5 year-old girl. We are only a few hours away, yet we do not see each other near as often as we should -- something that must change, especially after the wonderful time we had on Friday. This was the first time since Noah was born that all of the cousins were together -- it was something special.
The kids were all very excited to see each other, and there was a lot of playing and laughing going on. After we finished with lunch, Steph broke out some gingerbread house kits -- enough for each kid to have their own. All six cousins were lined up at our bar counter building -- constructing their perfect house. There was a lot of parental help involved in the building process, yet each house said something about the individual kid who built it. Kendall's house was meticulously decorated -- with little colored candies following a precise ABAB pattern across the roof.
After that, the kids played while the adults chatted. We looked at pictures and talked about our hopes for the future, and about our hobbies. Todd likes computers and other high-tech gear, but doesn't get much time to dabble anymore; and Shelley enjoys gourmet cooking (must be hereditary). They would really like to get a dog, so we let our crazy dogs in for a brief period so the kids could see them. Clayton seemed amused at their long bodies and short legs, and tried to figure out what strange mixture of breeds they might be.
The few hours that we got to visit went by way too fast. We were sad to see them go so soon, but we cherish the time we had together. I now realize that life passes by in a flash, and we need to take the time to visit each other. We have made too many rushed trips to Canada without stopping in to see them -- I think it is time for us to stop and smell the roses. We hope to stop and see Todd & Shelley (and possibly spend a night) on our return trip from Victoria at the end of February.
This Thanksgiving, I was especially thankful for family. In addition to good health and a roof over my head, I have been blessed with a wonderful family. We have our quirks and idiosyncrasies, but we are family none-the-less -- and I love them all.
[Edit: 4Feb05 -- Added the following photos]
The whole gang showing off their finished houses
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Since nobody wanted to smile at the same time, I give you 2 shots of the cousins on the couch.
[Edit: 5Feb05 -- Todd & Shelley sent more photos]
An action shot.
Michael & Kendall having fun.
Michael checking out Kendall's technique.
Finished Gingerbread houses all in a row.
November 24, 2004
Six Degrees of Separation
Denise's weblog entry today reminded me of the theory that everyone on Earth is separated from anyone else by no more than six degrees of separation, or six friends of friends of friends.
Example:
I walked with Heather Howitt, founder of Oregon Chai, in Tony (my brother) & Kamie's Wedding (Heather is Kamie's cousin). Heather met with Al Gore in Portland during a campaign stop in 2000. Al Gore debated and ran against President Bush.
Heather - Al Gore - President Bush
So that is three degrees of separation between me and President Bush.
Another example:
I know Scott Gascho, who was friends with Gary Payton in college, who played with Shaq and the Lakers last year.
Scott - Gary Payton - Shaq
Again, three degrees from Shaq.
Try it -- you'll be surprised how many people you can reach within just a few degrees of separation.
November 23, 2004
Operation eSpammy Freedom
The federation of foldedspace has declared an all-out war on spam. These spamming creatures lurk in the night -- waiting for us to sleep so they can unscrupulously advertise whatever drug or nasty website they happen to be promoting -- hoping to snag some unwitting visitor into their web.
In an attempt to keep these evil-doers off of my weblog, I am closing comments on all entries older than 30 days (45 days at Noah's Playhouse). Any new comments to old entries should be made in a more current comment box -- I can always move them to the appropriate entry if necessary.
We will also be using something called MT-Blacklist, which will help us filter out specific words and email addresses that can be posted in the comments section. In the odd case that you are unable to post because it seems you have been blacklisted by mistake, please email me at jsroth@custombox.com and I will fix it.
Thank you (all three of you) for you patience in this matter.
November 15, 2004
Here's Johnny! er... I mean Easton!
Congratulations to Rob & Kathleen Cowan of Lebanon, Oregon. Easton Robert Cowan was born Tuesday, November 9th around 10 pm. He weighed 8-1/2 pounds. The Cowan family returned home from the hospital on Friday, and everyone is doing very well -- just a little tired. I'm sure Easton is already very familiar with Rob's collection of Volkswagens. ;-)
Before Easton was born, one of Rob's friends suggested naming the young lad, "Johnny Cash Cowan"; as Rob is a big Johnny Cash fan. I really thought the name had a nice ring to it, but obviously his parents didn't agree. Oh well, maybe they are just saving the name for the middle boy. :-)
November 09, 2004
Very Scarry
Something very scary, er… Scarry, is going on in our household -- history is repeating itself.
A few years ago, before Noah was around, I was browsing the Children's Book section at Border's (or Barnes and Noble's or some such book mega-retailer), and I came across a collection of books that brought back a flood of memories from my childhood.
Every colorful, image-filled page seemed to jog another long-lost memory from my aging gray matter. I am, of course, talking about the wonderful, busy world of Richard Scarry; and I did have to bring two of his books home with me: The Best Storybook Ever, and The Biggest and Best Storybook Ever.
When I was little, I would spend what seemed like hours just trying to take in all of the information from a single page. There was the haunted castle inhabited by mice (complete with a drawbridge and a dragon in the moat); Dingo Dog racing through traffic; the robber running through the streets of Paris (filled with French bread toting Parisians) only to end up in a pot of pea soup; the little bear who hid on his father's shoulders and then had chocolate cake; the cut-away view of the Rabbit family's house, etc. etc. etc.
I would lay on my stomach with the book in front of me, and raise my feet in the air behind me -- and go on adventures with Huckle Cat and Lowly Worm. There were drawings of trucks, trains, planes, boats, cheese cars, carrot cars, bicycles, heavy equipment, and just about any mode of transportation you could think of.
About two weeks ago, I decided that maybe Noah was old enough to find these books interesting; so I got them out of the bookcase for him. I expected some of the characters to be familiar to him, as we had borrowed two Richard Scarry DVD's for our road-trip to Canada. But, I did not expect such an immediate attachment to these books. It's as if no other books exist anymore -- all he wants to read is Richard Scarry.
Quite often he will come lumbering into the family room with both big books in his arms. His favorite stories from The Best Storybook Ever are Mistress Mouse (because there is a baby at the end) and the section about colors (which he calls "paint"). With The Biggest and Best Storybook Ever, he likes to start at the beginning and read all about Busytown. One of the highlights is a silly "cheese car" full of mice that is traveling the highway. If you flip to a page that Noah wants to have read, he will command, "Again! Again!" (and how are you supposed to resist that?)
The other day I went into his bedroom and found him laying on the floor, Richard Scarry book wide open in front of him, with his feet kicking up in the air behind him. Things are getting very Scarry.