snadblog

While going through the pictures I took on Easter, I got to the one I took of the whole family outside.  One picture.  The only picture.  Ever.  I do believe this is the only non-pro snapshot in existence of all of us together (there was one session at a portrait studio, but just one).  Seriously.  This is it.

Lately I’ve had the best of intentions to take a group photo on special holidays, but it never seems to happen.  Finally I remembered and everyone was willing.

It was just after the Easter egg hunt last Sunday, and we were all standing in my parents’ front yard.  I saw the opportunity and asked everyone to stand still for a second.  I propped the camera on a planter and set the timer and got exactly ONE attempt at capturing the family before they split up and went inside.  Not the best shot in the world, but I love it because it’s full of people I love.

Maybe they’ll all see this and realize how cool it can be if we take our time and all smile at once.  Then I’ll get some better pictures next time!

I’m well known for keeping a pretty complete list of my friends’ birthdays, and I’m often asked to share that list.  However, I’ve always kept all the info in a little date book in my desk, and that’s hard to share.  But I was recently asked once again to share my list, so this time I decided to make it more available.

You can now go to http://snadra.com/birthdays to see a list of everyone’s birthdays.  You’ll have to log in with an ID and password (use my street name, lowercase).  Once you see the list, you’ll notice that I’ve also built in links to people’s Wishlists, if they were available.

Disclaimer:  If anyone is uncomfortable with the appearance of their name on the list, or unhappy with the level of security, please let me know and I’ll remove you immediately.  If I missed your Wishlist or if you add one in the future, let me know.  If any of you are NOT on the list but want to be, please don’t take it personally — I just don’t know your birthday yet.  Tell me and I’ll fix it :)

Now go pretend it’s my birthday and buy me something!

What a crazy week and a half it’s been getting ready for Christmas and then celebrating it. It has been busy and fun, and I haven’t had much time to sit in front of the computer, which is both frustrating and a welcome change of pace.

We spent Christmas Eve at my folks’ house with the family. We had lots of fun, filled our guts with tiny food (we always do all appetizers on Christmas Eve… yum!), and even opened a few presents. Jack went with us and he behaved perfectly, just happy to be around people who would pet him all night.

The highlight of the evening was when Emily changed into her new Christmas nightgown and I announced her entrance into the room with “Ladies and Gentlemen! Presenting Little Miss Emily in her new! red! NIGHTGOWN!!!!” She ran down the hall, giggling with delight as we all applauded her. As those of you who spend any time with 3-yr-old children can guess, this entrance had to be made more than once. More than two or three times. Emily was after me all night, begging me to “do the little miss red Emily words, Chica!” I obliged, of course, at least a dozen times, and she was the most well-announced person around.

On Christmas Day, we all got up really early and headed over to Mike and Shanon’s house. We all arrived before Emily woke up, assuring us a front row seat at the Santa show that followed. The gifts Emily received seemed to have multiplied while in hiding, and she had plenty of opening to do. She enjoyed opening presents so much, in fact, that every time she handed you a present to open, she would ask if she could open it for you. If you agreed, she would take it and announce what it was before it was even opened (if she knew), tear off the paper, hand it to you, then run off to find the next one to open. Despite the eagerness, we still managed to slow down this year and stretch the gifts out over the better part of the day. We got to play with everything as it was opened, which made it a lot more fun for everyone.

I received two new camera lenses as gifts this year (for my digital SLR). My parents got me a 50mm f1.8 and Dennis got me a 100mm f2.8 macro. It is amazing to look at how my photo quality changed from Christmas Eve (with the old lens) to Christmas day (with the new 50mm). I played around with the macro lens, too, but it is really particular about being held steady and it requires very careful focus. I’m currently troubleshooting a problem with my tripod, and once that’s working I hope to have some great macro shots to share. In the meanwhile, I am learning a LOT about depth-of-field and focus, and I’m loving it. Now I just need a new camera bag to hold all this gear!

One of my favorite gifts Emily received for Christmas was a Chicago Bears cheerleader uniform. If we lived in Chicago, this would likely be a very typical gift and you’d see them everywhere in stores. But in Kentucky? Not so much. However, Mom and I were in Walmart one day and out of the corner of my eye I saw the familiar C on a field of orange. We couldn’t believe it, but there was a whole rack of Bears uniforms. No other teams were present, just the Bears. And they were marked down to $13 and they had Emily’s size. It was just too perfect, so we had to get it. We thought it would be a fun joke for Dad and for me, and Emily could cheer on the games next year (this season is pretty much over), but when Emily opened the box, she loved the uniform and insisted on wearing it immediately — and through most of the day! Pretty adorable, I have to say.

So I have only 4 more days left of vacation, then it’ll be back to work (shh!  I know!).  Unfortunately, I’ve still got tons of stuff on my list that I meant to do during the break.  I guess I’d better get busy!

The Independence Day cookout we had last month was a huge success. Many called it the best one so far, and I tend to agree. The weather was perfect, the food was aplenty and yummy, everyone had fun, and the whole weekend ran more smoothly than it ever has.

We made a couple of key decisions this year that greatly contributed to the success of the party. The first was doing as much set-up as possible on Friday evening, instead of doing it all Saturday morning, like we usually do. We set up the pool, tents, tarps, hoses, and some chairs and tables during the cooler late hours of the day on Friday. Saturday morning was then dedicated just to setting up the foodstuffs and perishables. By the time the party started, Dennis and I were nowhere near the exhaustion level we’ve been at in years past, and it was definitely a good move.

The second decision was to cook a meal that didn’t require a blazing-hot firepit. In the past, we’ve cooked over our 8′x8′ fire pit, on large grates with long tongs. That thing puts out a lot of heat, and supervising the cooking was not a desirable task. This year I opted not to have a fire at all — instead we had deep-fried turkey! There were two propane-fueled turkey fryers going (placed inside the empty firepit, for safety). We could just drop a turkey in, set a timer, and come back in 35 minutes to take it out. The cooking process was streamlined down to the point where nobody had to watch it and I had more time to spend with the guests. And to top it all off, the turkey tasted FANTASTIC! We actually cooked five 10-lb birds that day, and everyone ate it all up and loved it. All the turkeys were cooked in one fryer, and the second fryer was dedicated to the french fries and other veggies. We went through about 20 pounds of french fries, topped with anything you can imagine. Each family who attended also contributed a side dish to the party, and the end result was a feast that required far less work than in years past. And the food was great, too, so it was wonderful.

One other improvement we made this year may seem minor enough, but I think it had a big impact on the guests — I upgraded our typical port-a-potty rentals. One unit was a regular one, but the other unit was a larger, handicapped-accessible version which offered the extra space needed for parents to manuever with their toddlers in tow. In addition, we had a portable handwashing station positioned nearby, and I know everyone loved having the opportunity to wash and dry their hands well after a visit to the facilities. In fact, I don’t think we’ll be able to get by in future years without it!

The party crowd grew again this year, like it always does. With an open invitation, we never know how many people will show up, but our friends never disappoint. I couldn’t even begin to make a list of everyone I saw that weekend, because there were some whom I didn’t even know. Dennis did a quick headcount at one point and stopped when he reached 100. We estimate we had about 120 guests, which was awesome. It was so much fun to have so many friends milling about and enjoying the party. There were probably 40-50 kids in the crowd, and there were at least 10 of them in the pool at all times, having a blast and keeping cool. Those who weren’t in the pool were taking turns riding the 4-wheelers and riding mower, participating in the potato sack races, blowing bubbles, or feebling attempting to fly kites. In between all that fun, I was often led to the shaved ice machine to dish up snocones for the kids. Judging by the number of remaining cups after the party, I made about 75 snocones, and the kids (and a few adults!) loved every one.

To illustrate just how big the party has gotten, check out the conversation I had with a little girl as I was cleaning up after dinner: (She’s about 11 and I’ve seen at the party before, but I can never remember her name)

girl: Oooh! I see whipped cream! Are there any strawberries?
me: You can look in that fruit bowl over there, but I don’t think so
girl: Oh. Can we have strawberries for breakfast tomorrow?
me: Well…
girl: You’re the one who cooks breakfast, right? Are you cooking breakfast this year?
me: Yes
girl: Do you always cook breakfast?
me: Yes
girl: Wow, you must come to the party every year!
me: Well, this is actually MY party
girl: It IS?? Cool!

As dusk settled, the s’mores patrol went into action and gooey, chocolatey fun ensued. Soonafter, some friends and I started passing out glow bracelets that I had gotten for the kids. They each got three, which was enough to make a necklace if they wanted. The kids think they’re great fun, but the best part is that it makes everyone so much easier to find in the dark. All the dogs got some too, so they had glowing collars which helped immensely with keeping track of them. We had a lot of dogs at the party (at least 7, that I can remember), and they all got along well. The kids had somebody to pet at all times, too! Jack did really well at the party, which was a great relief. He’d never been around so many people before, or spent so much time at a large event. He took it all in stride, though, and didn’t bark, run away, or otherwise annoy anyone. He was content to lie in the shade or play with the other dogs. What a good boy!

When it was dark, we brought out the fireworks and put on a show. We opted this year for quality over quantity, and had about a dozen large multi-shot boxes. Most inspired “ooohs” and “ahhhs” from the crowd, and some of them were quite spectacular. A definite success!

As the planned activities wound down, folks split into three groups — those who left for home, those who took their children to sleep in the tents, and those who stayed up into the wee hours. I was of the “I’m exhausted. Good night!” variety, so Jack and I headed to the tent for some much-needed sleep, since I knew it would be an early morning for me. Even though our tent was quite close to the main area and especially to the music, I was zonked out in no time. Sunday morning I got up early, as is my custom, to prepare for breakfast. I looked around at the number of tents and cars and estimated that about 30-40 folks had stayed overnight — a really good showing. I went to the nearby grocery store and bought breakfast supplies. I got just about everything I could think of that didn’t require cooking, including doughnuts, pastries, coffee cake, Pop-Tarts, and cereal. I grabbed three dozen eggs and all the pre-cooked sausage they had on the shelf. I also grabbed some bananas and a carton of strawberries (as soon as that little girl saw the strawberries, she ran over to me, gave me a big hug, and said “Thank you!!!”).

I got back to camp and set everything out and started to cook. A low fire in a portable grill was enough to get the pre-cooked sausage hot and ready to go, and I used a giant pan directly on the propane burner from the turkey fryer to cook up the eggs. I scrambled the eggs with some onions, spices, and cheese, and they were a big hit (even though the melted cheese made at least one person thing the eggs were runny!). Everyone made quick work of stuffing their bellies and it looked like I judged the portions pretty well, leaving just a few things (and lots of cereal) leftover.

With everyone well-fed and rested, clean-up began, though at a slow, steady, and relaxing pace. Tents were taken down and tired kids were buckled into car seats. Everyone was smiling and happy and looking forward to next year, which is all I could hope for. The party was a definite success, but it was a lot of work, and we didn’t do it alone. Everyone pitched in, and some to huge degrees. We may have been celebrating Independence Day, but really it was sort of a “dependence” day for us, because we depended so much on everyone’s help and contributions. We really could not have pulled this party off without all the great help, and for that I thank you all sincerely.

Here’s to next year… I already have ideas on how we can make it bigger and better!!

(Photos are available in the gallery)

Today is my 35th birthday. Thirty five sounds so old, doesn’t it? My “early thirties” are over. I’m on my way to 40. With each passing birthday I am amazed that I’ve got so many years under my belt. When I was a kid, 35 was ancient! When I was in my twenties and had friends in their thirties, they were so old! Yet here I am. Basically middle-aged. Wow. Fortunately, it pretty much feels just like anything else. Sure, the wrinkles are starting to come, but the grey hairs still number less than a dozen, and I don’t see any physical abilities wilting away. Besides, I’ll always be a kid at heart!

Speaking of kids, Emily spent about an hour with me this morning while Mom had an appointment. Right away, she gave me a giant bear hug and excitedly yelled “Happy Birthday Chica!” She then presented me with a card that she colored and stamped herself, and another that played music. Oh, did she have fun with that card! Emily and I then snuggled on the couch and watched cartoons, which was a great treat for us both.

The rest of today has been pretty ordinary. I worked, but took it easy. I treated myself to some fresh-squeezed orange juice for breakfast. I’m going out to dinner with Dennis tonight, and with the family tomorrow. Nothing spectacular, but it’s all I need… happy times with my family.

One thing really strikes me about my new age. From now on, whenever I fill out surveys and questionnaires, I’ll have to choose a new option for my age. Goodbye, “25-34″ demographic!