Coffee

I'm drinking a lot of coffee these days. My "new" cube is situated quite close to an AC vent, and for some reason a hot latte has shared my space about 5 times more than it did in my "old" spot. Do you think Mayo and Caribou have some kind of deal worked out?

It's a gorgeous day here, I should just go outside and warm up, or maybe even better see if I can leave early and save the $4 to spend tomorrow. TC and I are going to Ikea "just to look" so I can dream even more about the new house. I read the Futurist article (see yesterday's blog) well so I'm going to invest in happiness by "create(ing) a memory of an experience" and not increasing my material posessions...but just wait till the next trip.

Dream Job

"The memories of experiences such as vacations last longer and can contribute more to happiness than can material possessions, says hapiness researcher Leaf Van Boven of the University of Colorado at Boulder. He suggests that experiences are more open to positive reinterpretation years after the fact - your mental editing will help you forget how long you stood in line and remember more vividly your child's joy on the merry-go-round."

"How to Buy Happiness: Choosing between stuff and experiences"; the Futurist. Sept-Oct 2007 p6 by Cynthia G. Wagner

I read this in an article today in "The Futurist", a journal Mayo subscribes to. Does it surprise anyone that Boulder would have a hapiness researcher and that his name would be Leaf? But wouldn't it be fun to tell everyone that was your job.

"And what do you do, Essie"
"I'm a happiness researcher.....in BOULDER"

check out http://www.wfs.org/ for more information about "the Futurist" if you're interested. I just discovered it today, but I have a feeling more of my posts may come from this interesting journal.

Also, love that I can have a random thought and share it with all of you here. (I know, my Mom is the only one looking at this, but "all" sounds better than "you" in this pretense). Feel free to leave your ideas about dream jobs, the future, Boulder, mom, or anything else in the comments.

Minnekota Girl

I just caught my self saying "Oh wonderful, wonderful, thanks a bunch" (speaking to the catering manager for an event today). What a combination of Lawrence Welk and Garrison Keillor. At least I'm not just grunting unh unh like I did for a while after coming back from Japan

Family

One of the main reasons I wanted to start this blog was to share pictures of my family, mostly my nieces and nephews, but some of the rest of us will pop up from time to time. It seems like we're always taking pictures, but I don't get to see them very often. Here's a spot I can put some of mine.

The next four posts are all of the kids. Aren't they the most amazing kids you've ever seen?

Jama

"jama" means rude in Japanese, but doesn't describe Jama at all.

remember all that snow in March? Thought this was going to be JACs birthday, but it ended up being a week later.

JACs actual birthday

Monopoly in Alexandria

I found out that hippos kill more humans than any other African animal on this trip to the zoo, thanks to Jama and his wealth of knowledge. Always something new to learn

Nani

Nani Nu, I love you. Lots of good shots to choose from, here's some of my favorite.

Studying

Caring for the animals

ready for a dive

Posing with "help" from Jama

with a friend from church

Lolly

My Lolly, she does not care for nicknames, but so far, she's OK when I use this one.

I did not give her this scar, I promise

In the nursery

Cee, Can I hold you?

Dr. in training

To really examine the puzzle, you've got to use goggles.

JAC

He's bigger and more expressive every time I see him, just don't try to get him to sleep.

On his birthday with Nani

On Nani's birthday

Baptism, don't they all look like their having fun?

With Grandpa

with Dad

home

OK, I have a lot to do to get this looking good, but wanted to post some pictures of the house, and a completely not-to-scale building plan I made so you can see the layout. I'm really excited to get in so I can actually measure the space and figure out what furniture will fit where. Also, a note on the 2nd floor. There are actually 3 rooms, but I'm planning to make one of them a "craft room" for myself and the kids. Jama and Nani are especially excited about it. I'm not sure yet which room I'll use as mine and which will be the craft room, but this gives you something of an idea.

Here are the photoes from the web before I purchased the place.



The bookshelves are really what sold me on the house.




Not real pretty from the front

But the back yard is great

The kitchen nothing fancy, but a nice size.

And here are the building plans

first floor

second floor