A Pool Party with the Girls

While John headed to the beach for the weekend, possibly his last time as a not-a-dad, I headed up to New York to visit the parents and have a little get-together with a couple of my high school girl friends. Saturday Jeanne came down from Utica and we all went to lunch with my godmother, Linda, who was in town for a day. She was surprised to see us! Then we went to the mall and bought my first fat lady maternity pants. Boooooo. They're ok, though. And I also went shopping at the "House of Jeanne" and stole a bunch of pants from her, too. They might fit for a couple more weeks before Rocky gets too big to fit in to normal pants.

Sunday my girlfriends from high school, Karen and Michelle, came over to take advantage of the heated pool. Karen has two boys and Michelle has one. All the boys had fun swimming! It was great seeing the girls - I am sure I'll have plenty of "how do I do this" questions for them when Rocky arrives.

Seeing my girlfriends' kids was great, although a little bittersweet this weekend. My heart goes out to my friends Amy and Rick, whose little three year old girl, Arden, lost her fight with cancer on Saturday night. Amy and Rick are such an inspiration - positive and strong throughout their battle. It shakes my confidence a bit, though, in my decision to have a child. It just seems so unfair to have a child for such a short time, only to have to let her go...

Finishing Touches

While John put trim on the outside of the new door on Sunday, I decided I'd actually DO something this weekend, and paint the front door. White on the inside, and "faded rust" or something to that effect on the outside, to match our nicely faded shutters. One would think that painting an already white door white would be easy, right? So, so wrong. White is an enormous pain in the butt. The icky color of orange-red that John made me buy was much easier!

John's outside trim turned out awesome, though, and he only had to run back to Home Depot once to buy a new piece of trim. Good work!

Front door before painting

John got to use his cool finishing nail gun

And he was THISCLOSE to buying a new framing nailer, too. But, alas, he didn't really need it.

Between coats of white. Stupid white. White sucks...

Finished trim

Between coats of red

Finished product. If the door doesn't match the shutters, I blame John...

Welcome to our new faded rust colored door!

The New Door

The house project this weekend (one of many that are on the list before the arrival of Rocky - I think it's stressing John out a bit) was to replace the crappy, frosted over sliding glass door in the dining room. John agonized for a while, right up until the actual purchase of the new door, over what kind of door to get. A fully assembled door that might be easy to install but would be a serious pain in the butt to get up the deck stairs and on to the deck? We would definitely need an extra strong body to help us out. Or a "knock down" door that would come in pieces, would be easier to handle, but might be a pain to install?

We ended up getting a fully assembled door, all composite, with tinted glass to help keep the house warmer in the winter. Nice door. Much prettier than the knock down doors they had at Lowes or Home Depot. And our friend Adam answered our desperate plea for help and another set of strong arms to get the door up on to the deck. That process was actually easier than anticipated - we got some lifting straps to use, which made life much easier.

Door installation wasn't too bad. Truthfully, the part that took the longest time was getting the stupid door to LOCK once it was in place. It took much moving around, and the addition of some washers to move it out to the right place, for it to finally work.

Today John is working on the outside trim and weatherproofing. We'll do the inside trim some time, when we decide what we're going to do with the rest of the kitchen. Tear down the maroon stuff and the wallpaper and re-paint? Or just leave it as is, as we'll sell the house in the next year, anyway? Decisions, decisions...

Many thanks, Adam, for helping with the door project! Two engineers working on door installation, and it didn't even take too long! :-)

Rocky

My family is a little weird. It's ok. I'm used to it. John still shakes his head a bit, though, at my dad. He's quite the word smith sometimes, and it takes a while to figure things out. Even for me, and I've lived with it for 34 years. I end up having to explain what he means to John sometimes.

So my family has nick names for this baby already. It's either been "Abby" or "Rocky." Abby is a bit of a long-standing one in the family, stemming from Abby-Normal. Which I believe comes from the "Young Frankenstein" movie, right? Whose brain is that? Abby. Abby who? Abby... Normal. Or something to that effect. So this baby has been called Abby-Norman, or Abby-Normal. Nice, eh? :-) No, we shall NOT be calling the baby Abby! Besides, you look at the name Abby for long enough and it just looks like it's spelled wrong. Is that really how you spell Abby?

So Dad has been calling the baby Rocky. Which didn't make a lot of sense. But Dad always has an explanation. It goes something like this: Take the last name Norman. What Normans do you know? Dad apparently thinks of Norman Rockwell, the artist. Change that to Rockwell, Norman. And then shorten Rockwell to Rocky. And there you have it! Apparently Dad thinks this kid will be a famous painter, and not a famous boxer in a movie.

We had our first ultrasound this morning, so when I called home after the ultrasound Dad answered the phone (shocking - Dad never answers the phone!). And I told him that he couldn't call this baby Rocky. Even though it's a boy, Rocky is an unacceptable name!! I think the poor child is stuck with it, though. Dad is bound to call Baby Boy Norman "Rocky" for the rest of his life. How does one explain that to the kid? I'll just go with "Grandpa's a little bit weird sometimes..."

Anyway, Rocky is doing just fine. He's got 2 legs, 2 arms, an additional appendage that we saw when the very nice ultrasound tech exclaimed "It's a Boy!", as well as a huge head filled up with brains, and a heart with four chambers, and a big old stomach (that's my boy!). Measurements place his due date at January 19th, and place his weight at 8 oz. His heart beat is 151 BPM. We've got a few print-outs of the ultrasound - if we get ambitious later maybe we'll scan one in for you all.

And that's all the news from the Norman household! On the agenda, perhaps, for this weekend is to replace the dining room sliding door. Great fun! Maybe I'll go even more crazy and will paint the front door, too, while John is busy cursing at the hole in the wall where the sliding door used to be...

Tropic Thunder

Yesterday we went to see Tropic Thunder in the theater, for my birthday. If you enjoy an irreverent, politically incorrect comedy that pokes fun at any and all races and religions and plays off of all common stereotypes, you will LOVE this movie. John and I laughed during the entire thing. We'll definitely see it again, when it comes out on DVD.

If you're the type of person who thinks that Reverend Al Sharpton always makes excellent points, or that the ACLU never has silly lawsuits, or that Don Imus was rightfully fired for the joke he made about the Rutgers basketball team, or if cursing makes you blush... Maybe you should skip this movie. I do believe there is more than one group of people protesting this one.

But if you can take a comedy that way it should be taken - FUNNY!! - go see Tropic Thunder. My man Robert Downey Jr. should absolutely get an Oscar for his performance. It'll never happen. But he was great!

Visit Number Three

We had our third doctor visit on Thursday, to see how the little Norman is faring. Poor John is forever the only man at the OBGYN. He asked why he's the only guy who comes to the doctor with his wife. I told him he must be the only husband who really loves his wife! :-) These visits are short and sweet - pee in a cup, get weighed, take blood pressure, chat with the midwife, ask any questions (can I still ride? Sure! Can I still run? Sure! Can I still play volleyball? Sure! Just don't dive on your belly), and hear baby's heartbeat with fetal heart monitor. Little bugger is still in there! Still moving around. And a heart rate of about 150 BPM. Normal, supposedly.

We got a slip of paper for me to go have some more blood sucked (always fun), and a slip of paper to go have an ultrasound. SO - we're off to have an ultrasound first thing on Tuesday morning. We'll let you know if the little Norman is cute!

It's a Celebration

August and December are birthday times in the Norman family, typically resulting in a grand reunion of Norman brother and sisters in Massena, NY. In August it's really quite comfortable there - nicer than the heat and humidity in Maryland. In December? Well, it's cold. Really really cold.

Fortunately, it was August so we were in the pleasant, two months of summer time in the Arctic Circle. John's older sister Christy and her boyfriend Steven were coming up from New York City, but weren't getting there until Sunday evening. So John and I spent Sunday doing NOTHING. Well, we ate. Kind of a lot. And I helped make cup cakes so we could eat some more. But otherwise we did nothing. Marvelous, after two weeks of doing lots!

Monday was our day to celebrate Christy's birthday. We ALL (Dad included!) went for a little hike at Stone Valley, hoping to go swimming in our favorite swimming hole.

John's all loaded up and ready to go

Everyone is surviving the little quarter mile hike to lunch (so far)

Whew! We made it!! What's for lunch?

I stick my feet in the water (it's cold) and decide it doesn't look safe to go further.

Mom congratulates Dad on making the long long walk
Pretty waterfall. And East Coast trees! It was nice hiking back in trees I knew. Well, ok. My wildlife friends know I know ZERO trees. I got through school by being in Smart Kevin's lab group when we had to ID trees. But I DO know my favorite tree, the Eastern Hemlock. And there were plenty to be found on our little hike.
This is our favorite swimming hole. We walked right past it the first time. Didn't look right, so we didn't stop. We decided on the way back that this must be it. It just had a LOT more water running over it than usual. So, we didn't swim. We didn't want to get washed away. But there were fun memories. Ah, look - there's where CoCo got washed down the river and John jumped in to save her. Ah, look. That's where CoCo got her butt kicked by a dog last year... Such memories! CoCo's had back luck at Stone Valley.

After we got home and showered, we went out to dinner at the Lobster House to celebrate Christy's big day, and then went back home to open gifts and eat cake.

John, Dad, Mom, Christy, and Steven at the Lobster House
Christy opens birthday gifts
We created a bit of a monster by giving Mom a camera for Christmas. But she's having fun with it, so it's all good.
Christy's birthday cake
She successfully blows out all her candles

The following morning we celebrated Dad. His birthday wasn't until the following week, but what the heck. We were here. May as well celebrate!

We ate, and ate some more. Eggs for breakfast, blueberry pancakes and corn on the cob (don't ask, I have no idea how they go together) for lunch about three seconds after breakfast. And then it was time for us to make the long drive back to Maryland. With a stop in Cortland to pick up cute fuzzy CoCo. She had a good time at summer camp with Grandma and Grandpa Cowan. But I think she was happy to be home. As were we!

And They're Off!

To the races, that is. After two days at home, filled with laundry, unpacking, volleyball, and repacking (with a couple days of work thrown in just for good measure) John and I left home again to take a trip to upstate New York. It was the annual Norman Family get-together, to celebrate the August birthdays. John's sister and dad both have August birthdays. This time on the trip up, we decided to stop in Troy, NY to check out John's old grad school (RPI), and then go spend the day at Saratoga. I'd been for the races ages ago, when I was in high school. John had been to the bars, but never to the races.

Jeanne only lives an hour and a half away, so she came to Saratoga and brought Mom and Dad along with her, too. I'm not sure that Mom and Dad have ever been to a race track. So it was an entertaining day for everyone! Saratoga is pretty cool, and it was PACKED. I can't imagine what it's like on a big day of racing! So much different than what I am used to, which is old guys sitting around at Laurel Park.

Everyone had different betting strategies. Mom bet based on names she liked, or trainer's names she recognized. I can't remember if Dad bet. If he did, he bet long shots. I usually bet on people I know, or people who have helped me with stuff. It's a lot easier to do that in Maryland than it is in Saratoga. But I found a few people I knew. John was studious and actually read the program. And Jeanne? She waited til the post parade and bet on which silk colors she liked. Wearing purple? You're in. Pink? Not so much. And you know what? The only person who actually had a winning ticket all day long was Jeanne. She didn't break even over the course of the day, but she lost the least. Damn her!

Jeanne and John

Saratoga's paddock. It's fun. They do have stalls you can use to saddle. Or you can go to the tree that has your post number nailed to it, and saddle there.

A horse owned by IAEH - the partnership that owns 2008 Derby winner Big Brown. No, this isn't Big Brown. Just a brown horse.

The post parade

Jeanne and John picking their horses to bet on. "What did that one's silks look like? Purple? Awesome!"
Headed home after a tough race
We had tractor envy. How cool is this one?
Jeanne takes camera duty for a bit
Mom's made her picks and sent Dad off to bet for her
We stopped on the way out to watch the horses being led from the paddock to the track.

After a fun day at the races we drove the rest of the way to the Arctic Circle, aka Massena, NY, for the rest of the weekend. Photos from the weekend to come!

Last Day of Vacation - Floating With the Eagles

Our last full day of vacation, and some brilliant person (me, of course!) decided that a SUNRISE float down the Snake River in the Tetons would be way cooler than a normal time of, oh, 9AM. So, we set the alarm and got up at 4:30, to get ourselves to our meeting point at 5:45. Knowing it was chilly in the mornings, we came prepared - socks, long pants, jackets with a few layers underneath. We were more prepared than some, but definitely not as prepared as the lady who just flew in from Arizona. She was wearing ski pants and a parka! Our float guide was Colby, and he was fun and nice and full of entertaining stories. And cute... :-) The float was awesome. 2 hours on the river, incredible scenery, and we saw a moose, an osprey, three elk, and three bald eagles. Very very cool!

John looks none the worse for the 4:30 AM wake-up call.

Amazing amazing mountains. Wish it weren't so hazy.

I'm bundled up and looking sexy in my life preserver.

Our guide, Colby. He does river guides all summer, then does construction work in the winter. And he said the average house price for a single family home in Jackson - $1.3 million. Want to move to Jackson, anyone??
Getting further in to the park, closer to the mountains.
Our first bald eagle encounter
We gaze at the mountains between eagle sightings.
Not too shabby...
A second bald eagle poses nicely for us
Takes a second to preen his feathers
Then maybe sees a good food source in the distance. Eagles are EXCELLENT scavengers, and stealers of food from osprey. Nice bird to have for a national symbol, eh?
A little more mountain gazing before...
One last eagle. This guys was RIGHT above our head.

And that was it! We hopped out of the river just a few yards away from our car, hopped in, and drove down the Moose-Wilson Road, and then down a tiny one lane gravel road with a sign saying "four wheel drive recommended" to get to a trail head for a quick hike. Four wheel drive? Who needs it! It's not our car.

It was a .9 mile hike to the Phelps Lake overlook. Pretty little hike, up hill the whole way there. We didn't go any further - my feet were dying after our little hike the day before. Darn blisters.
Phelps Lake
John's daily "look cute for your mom" photo. He does a pretty good job with them - somehow he always manages to look cute.

Checking out the pretty wild flowers on the hike back.
As well as the awesome aspen trees

We finished up our hike and hopped in the car for a bit of driving. Continued down Moose-Wilson Road (which we had heard had a good possibility of a moose sighting, but we had no luck) to the fancy Teton Village. Definitely a resort we could not afford to stay at. We wandered back in to Jackson, stopped to get some yummy elk and buffalo jerky, and drove back north in to the park for some more photo opportunities.

Our obligatory photo with the sign.
Thought this was a cool shot. This is on a gravel road, called "Mormon Row." I can't remember why - old settler's houses.
Another cool shot on Mormon Row
Huge buffalo herd (those little black specs at the bottom) in front of the Tetons
A little sage in the foreground, hazy mountains behind
Snake River in the foreground, with a little reflection of the mountains

We drove a bit further north to the Snake River Overlook pull-off, just above where we put our raft in the river earlier in the morning. This is about the spot where Ansel Adams took his super famous photo of the Tetons - it's hanging in my parent's dining room, I think. The trees have grown since then, so you don't get quite the same view. And Ansel Adams didn't have the damn haze to deal with. But if you use your imagination you can kind of see his shot...

My best re-creation of Ansel Adams
Me at the Snake River Overlook. John really liked my socks and sandals look...
John and I stand in front of the Ansel Adams view
Even further north in the park, a nice view of the Tetons with the Snake River in front
We stop at Signal Mountain Lodge to eat lunch at a picnic table by Jackson Lake
I am pretty sure I am laughing at John because he tried to take a picture with the camera off and the lens cap still on.
Nice little place to have lunch. And then we wandered up to the store to get some ice cream for dessert. Who says you have to have a 6 and an 8 year old around to have ice cream? :-)

We wanted to drive up Signal Mountain Road, but the road was closed. So we opted for a more vigorous work-out. A two mile round trip hike up to the Grand View Point. Definitely a grand view. Although I think John was a bit freaked out for the hike - there was a nice little pile of poop right at the head of the trail that may well have been bear poop. We needed Dave Telesco with us!

Where we were headed...
From the Grand View Point - this is Two Ocean Lake
My blisters survived this hike - I switched to sneakers.

A nice snack of Swedish Fish (definitely the best candy ever invented) and we were off to our last little drive of the day - a trip down the Jenny Lake Scenic Drive. It was very pretty and a nice way to end our quick trip to the Tetons. We'll definitely come back some time in the future! The little one needs to see this place, too.

View along the scenic drive
Jenny Lake and the Tetons
Not a bad way to end a visit to the Tetons
Our poor, dirty, abused rental car. It was good to us!

We got back to Jackson in time to go to the town square to see what the nightly "Cowboy Shootout" was all about. Turns out it was pretty terrible, so we skipped out of there, popped in to the Million Dollar Cowboy bar to take a quick photo of us sitting on a saddle, instead of a bar stool. And then headed back to our favorite restaurant for dinner - Snake River Brewing Company.

We slept in a bit on Tuesday, packed up and wandered around down town a little bit, and then drove back to our favorite place to eat for some lunch before we headed to the airport. Check-in was a breeze, security was a piece of cake. And then? We found out that our flight was delayed. By a lot. Like 5 hours. So we had to change our plans a bit. After waiting in line forever, John used his newly learned "How to Win Friends and Influence People" skills and got us on to a later flight to Denver, and the red eye flight to Dulles. His smiling skills, I am sure, were instrumental in getting us nice roomy exit row seats on each flight. Good work, John!

So after way too long in airports and on airplanes, we finally made it back to Rich and Vanessa's house at 6AM on Wednesday to pick up our car. John decided to risk the potential traffic and just drive home right then. Traffic was amazingly fine (I think - I was sleeping) and we got home around 8:30.

We completely enjoyed our trip to Yellowstone and the Tetons. Definitely a trip to repeat in the future. We'd recommend this little vacation to anyone!