Home again, home again

We had a few crazy moments, but eventually made it home in one piece. First off, I need to say that we had a great trip home. It was good to see friends and family. (And a certain cat, who kept me up a whole night purring in my face, which I didn't mind a bit). This last visit I could really see the differences between the US and Denmark, and while there are aspects of Denmark I prefer, it will be nice to go home again this summer. I think I'm finally ready.

As for the flight home, we started off late from Syracuse, and cut our flight from Boston to London really (really) close. I actually ran from the security check point to the gate with my shoes untied (damn lace-up boots). However, we did make it. The flight from Boston to London was uneventful, except that I got to see the new Wallace and Gromit film (wonderful), and was surprised at how short it was (5 hours, not too much spent sleeping). From London to Copenhagen was a blur.

Our arrival in Copenhagen jarred me out of my sleepless blundering about. We arrived mid-snowstorm. Yes, after all the times I've said, "Denmark doesn't get much snow," we arrived in a snowstorm. It wasn't enough to scare a Buffalonian (5-6"), but enough to make me wonder how the Danish bus/train system would handle it. Our original plan was to take the bus/ferry back to Århus, but that didn't look a great idea. We took the train. It takes longer, and it's more expensive, but it seemed safer. The train was late, but we did make it home.

John went in to work this morning. He had a paper to edit. The news continues to look good for a move to Rochester (more on that as it comes). I watched Olivia from 12-5. I arrived layered, and ready to sled, but instead found a sick kid. I was actaully a bit disappointed.

Tomorrow we're going to a friend's house for dinner, then watching the Big Blow-out from the University. We've heard that last year's fireworks explosion, along with the new firework's regualtions, will make this year's celebration dimmer. I find that hard to belive. Folks are already blowing things up all over town. I do have the camera this year- hopefully I'll get photos.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night.

Made it!

Hi All! John and I made it to Copenhagen, then through Heathrow, JFK, LaGuardia, and to Syracuse without a hitch. I still can't believe it. John's brother and his wife picked us up yesterday in Syracuse and we crashed at thier place last night. This morning we drove to Watertown to start the visiting.

We're going to visit John's grandfather this afternoon. Tomorrow we'll have dinner with his family and open presents, and Saturday there will be a big dinner with his extended family. Christmas morning, we'll be driving to Buffalo, and have dinner with my extended family that night. Wednesday we'll drive as far as Palmyra to see John's grandma, then continue on Thursday to the Syracuse airport to the trip home.

We fly from Syracuse to Boston, then back to Heathrow and to Copenhagen. I work at 9 am the next morning. No prob.

I still can't belive we're here- gosh, it's cold!! I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead, and enjoy the holidays. Take care, and love to all!

The Corban

The Corban
Originally uploaded by davemayp.

nyaah nyaah nyaaah

twinmama has finally joined the world!

Hello bloggers! Yes, it's true - the deliquent one of the group has finally managed to sit down at the computer long enough to join the throng (many thanks for the double invite, Kris!!!) I have so much enjoyed quick sneak peeks at the blog in recent months, and the babes at this moment appear to have forgotten that their bellies are actually empty - wonder of wonders, the nap continues long enough for me to make a post!

Hope all are well. So thrilled with our latest arrival, welcome Baby Aidan!

Dave picked out a great tree yesterday - we'll start stringing the lights tonight after the babes go to bed. Can't believe it's already almost Christmas! I feel like I live in a total time warp - it just shocks me sometimes to look out the window and realize that it's not June anymore! Saturday night was the first time we left the babes with a babysitter - we went to a holiday party for Dave's work. I was just so thrilled to actually be out of the house - this was my second time out without the babes (for something other than a hospitalization or doctor appointment) since early June. (The first night out was two weeks ago - a quick "Wegmans run" to rent a movie and buy Nestle chocolate chip cookie dough, which was quickly devoured before it hit the oven, of course!) (As I got out of the car and walked into the store, I said to myself, "My goodness, I'm not waddling anymore! It was quite a revelation.) Anyway - it is good to see that the world is still turning and the seasons still changing - happy Christmas prep to all and "a very merry!"

love, Sabrina

Last minute everything

I've been going constantly for days. It's really been nuts here. I've managed to get all our Christmas presents together. We planned to buy presents in Amsterdam (cheaper), but couldn't find anything of interest, then I got sick, then moved, and so I've been cruising town like a whirlwind to make up for lost time.

I'm also trying to piece together our flights to the States. We found out John's grandfather was quite sick a few weeks ago, and decided to make a last-minute effort to get home.

We found a good deal online for tickets. Unfortunately, the "deal" did not say beforehand that we had to change airports in NYC. What are the chances of making it between JFK and LaGuardia on December 21st in 3 hours? I say, slim to none. I'm trying to just let it go. We'll do our best. It should be interesting.

If I don't get back to everyone before I leave Tuesday evening, have a wonderful Christmas!

graduate!

well it's official, Matt has graduated! Wahooo! We sat through a 2 hour graduation ceremony. Well we almost sat through it all. Caleb, did well but we did have to get up and go out a few times. It's just too much for an almost four year old to go through. But the cute thing was when matt walked the stage I said, "there's daddy," to which he started yelling "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!!!" That was cute. So it's official he is done. It hasn't really dawned on us yet. Except for the fact that I now have to share the tv at night again. Dang. I hate the discovery and science channels. :)

Well that's it from here. Matt's parents arrive on sat, caleb's party is on sunday, then his sister arrives on friday. UGH. I just want this year done. My parents have been "visiting" for a month and a half now. UGH. This has gotto stop. But how do you tell your parents stop visiting us for so long? God is going to have to give me the strength and courage AND sensitivity to do that one. see y'all later.

Aidan has arrived

I think I sent email to everyone (I hope anyway that was my intention). The boys are going nuts wanting to go see their brother, but it seems like we'll never get out of here. Aidan was born last night at 9:08 PM at 8lbs 9oz. and 21" long. Both are doing very well, except Aidan seems to be quite a talker which got him sent to the nursery last night so mommy could sleep. Love you all!

I'm back!

It's been a rough couple of weeks, but I no longer have the flu, we're moved into our new apartment, and mostly settled in. The move went well. We didn't have lots of stuff, but we rented a van for the day so we wouldn't have to make 100 bus trips across town. The new place is great. Ultra modern, with abstract expressionist prints on the wall (which I could do without), but everything is in great shape, and easy to clean. We're a 5 minute walk to John's lab, and I'm 5 minutes from Olivia's house. I started watching her again this week.

I can't wait to show you photos of the new place, from the outside. It looks exactly like RIT. (We did not chose the apartment for this reason.) Red brick everywhere, very modern buildings . . . it's a bit creepy, to be honest. I keep leaving in the morning with the strange feeling I'm on my way to meet Nate for breakfast.

We got word a week ago that John's grandfather was quite sick, and made a frantic attempt to get home fro Christmas. We found an incredible deal on Air Gorilla (not, that's not 'guerrilla') that was impossible to turn down. We'll land in Syracuse on December 21st and fly out again on the 28th. It only leaves a few days with each family, but John didn't want to take any time off.

Hope all is well. I'm sure you're all in the midst of Christmas Frenzy. Type to you all soon!

News from the Hill Country...

Well, all has been quiet on the bloggy front for a while now, so I thought I would break the typematic silence here and post a core dump of what's going on.

This week I graduate. I have 2 final exams that I'm studying for - one on Thursday morning, and one on Friday. I am surprisingly calm about the whole thing, and caught-up on all my work. Most other folks in class are fairly behind, and usually I am one of them. However, a friend Rich and I have been getting together to do homework and partner on projects all semester, and this pseudo-accountability for getting our stuff done early has really paid off. This coming Friday (my last day of class) we have a dinner in the evening, and then on Saturday I do the formal ceremony with the cap and gown. Maybe it'll be all topped off with a Rose Bowl win on New Years Day, as my school is currently 12-0, #2 behind USC. Not that I track football like every other Texan, but still, it's an "isn't that speeecial" moment to have my university possibly win the Rose Bowl.

Freescale (where I work) laid off ~100 people on Wednesday last week, and I was not one of them. Why the layoffs? Nobody knows. Company is doing well, and Wall Street seems to like us. So some folks apparently needed killin, but many other folks were very sharp, and not screwed up relationally either. It was just like names were picked out of a hat. Not very uplifting for morale. Freescale has pretty much disowned its own employees in favor of stockholders and analysts, and nobody there has any loyalty whatsoever. In other related news, the website LinkedIn.com (which I have become an evangelist for) was bursting with traffic this week as many Freescalers logged in and connected up with one another, and their external business contacts. Since last Wednesday I have about 10 more contacts. People are getting ready for the next sniper attack from on high. One guy who was laid off has already used LinkedIn to get about 4 interviews lined up, and he's been out of work for less than one week. The site is really useful.

Of course, I am not a paid endorser of this site. But for all your household needs, visit amway.com.

Caleb had a CT scan this week to see why he keeps getting sinus infections. Or rather, why he hasn't ever rid himself of the same lingering sinus infection. Turns out the scan showed his passages are still clogged and infected, so he's back on antibiotics. And he's back to the doctor again to evaluate what to do next, given his allergy test results (he's allergic to nothing that isn't imaginary.)

Emily is saying words here or there, but never repeating them more than once. I think she recited the Declaration of Independence last week, but she doesn't do encores. Jenn's mom said she said "night night" this morning before her nap, but it cannot be proven. I guess she likes to quit when she's at the top of her game. "Did you like that? Thank you very much; you've been great. I'll be here all week."

On that note, that's all for now. I need to get some sleep. I'll be here all week.