Too Much Time on My Hands

Further evidence I've had WAY too much time on my hands can be found in my having bothered to create not one but two versions of the same photo slideshow.

The first version is our usual format, an Adobe Photo Album PDF slideshow. The pictures are mostly from yesterday and the days leading up to Christmas, but there are also several others from the weeks since we last created a slideshow after Rex was born.

The second version, my personal favorite, was an opportunity to showcase a song from one of my Christmas gifts from Margie, the soundtrack from the movie Open Season, with songs written and performed by one of my all-time favorites, Paul Westerberg.

Sorry for being such a blog hog the last couple days ... or in our vernacular, I guess that would be either a Blogger Clogger or a Blagger Clagger.

Christmas Knievel

As promised, click here to see a Pittsburgh- Johnsons Christmas video.

The main attraction is Felix performing stunts on his new slide. The video is a little less than three minutes.

We'll have to post some video of Rex separately. Additionally, we will probably also put together a little photo slideshow to share.

Merry Boxing Day, everyone!

More Photos of the Boys

Felix enjoying the manger












Relaxin' Rex

Clowning Around

Felix and I were clowning around with his camera (i.e. our old camera he broke, which is why the pictures are blurry) tonight, and the picture at left resulted, among others.

Thought I'd share it.

Keith with other Notables!

Janet wanted everyone to see this list of Award Winners from the Springville Museum of Art. Please note that Keith received an Award of Merit. His name is among the names of many other famous Utah artists. Great job, KJ! (please remember that I'm tech-challenged and don't know how to size a picture from a scan!)

Blog At A Standstill

The Blog has come to a screetching halt as far as new posts and comments go. I am as guilty as anyone, but I must call everyone to repentance. The blogmaster will forgive...

Anyway, I heard there were grumblings (Keith) that we hadn't posted about our new van. Yes, we bought an'04 Toytota Sienna from Gaylen. We like it a lot. We will have to post a picture of it before we head to Denver. We are planning on leaving Thursday morning at about 3 a.m. I'm hoping we can all get some sleep before there is too much traffic on the road. Riley is very excited to see Grandma and Grandpa Johnson. We also recently bought a NordicTrack treadmill at a Fitness Liquidation Sale (Christmas for both of us). We got a steal of a deal and have both enjoyed getting a little exercise. With the high being in the teens each day it isn't fun to run outside.

Trying again---photographic proof of work

Here's the proof---I hope!

Book Celebration!

This is proof that I do work occasionally. On Wednesday, one of the local elementary schools received the books purchased with a $10,000 donation from Wells Fargo Bank. At the end of the presentation, the adults helped the students put stickers in each book indicating who the donor was. These were 5th graders, so I was back in my element working with them.

Yeehaw!

I'm home sick, AGAIN! I got a cold over Thanksgiving weekend while Keith was here, and missed a couple of days of work recovering from that. Then, just when I thought I was kicking it, I got sick again. Turns out I never really got better...my cold just turned into a nasty sinus infection. :P Isn't it "funny" that I never had a sinus infection before last year (that I knew of, anyway!), and I've had 3 since last June! Crazy, and not fun!

Anyway, I figured that since I am down for the count, I would take this opportunity to post some pictures from my adventures in Nashville. I don't have all of them on my laptop, but I'll share a few that I do have loaded:



This was from the Country Music Hall of Fame. I'll tell you, I learned more about country music that day than ANYONE ought to know! It was quite interesting, though, and reminded me of a couple of country songs that I want to put on my iPod...#1: The Gambler by Kenny Rogers. :)



After spending a good part of they day at the Hall of Fame, I walked to this restaurant for some barbeque. I hate to admit that this was a planned destination from day one, because in a TV spot John Mayer went to this restaurant to eat. So my plan was to go eat there and try to sit in the same booth that he did. Mission accomplished! The food was REALLY great (the lady at the Hall of Fame said she would have recommended Jack's if I would have asked for a barbeque recommendation), and here is a picture of me in John's booth of choice:



It may be a little pathetic, but it was a fun adventure, and worked out really well since the restaurant was SO close to the Hall of Fame! It was meant to be!



This was just a picture from the "deck" of the ridiculously HUGE convention center on the first day of the conference. It was a chilly morning, but so pretty with the mist and the colors! Despite what you might think if you watch CSI, we don't get a lot of mist/fog in Vegas, and we definitely don't get much color on our trees! It was such a peaceful, gorgeous sight, I had to take a picture!

I also went to the Hermitage which was Andrew Jackson's home, and to the Belle Meade Plantation where they used to raise champion horses. That outing was an adventure in and of itself because the tour bus driver was holding a microphone and singing to us while he drove! Now THAT's entertainment at it's finest!

Riley's Birthday Party

I just wanted to post a link to a web album of photos from Riley's Birthday Party. There are also a few pictures of her throwing her blankets away - that was a very big deal. These were the blankets she would suck on to go to sleep! She has been coping well with post blankey life!

Here is the link: http://www.picasaweb.google.com/ToddValerie

Please see below for this year's list of Christmas gift-exchange assignments. Merry Christmas and happy giving!!!

	HAS
Lizzy	Keith
Todd	Lisa
Valerie	Lizzy
Amy	Todd
Scott	Valerie
Margie	Amy
Keith	Scott
Lisa	Margie

The big reveal...

I did it...

After approximately 5 years of not cutting my hair significantly, I have gone and completely cut it all off! It was a little traumatic at first, and I'm still getting used to it, but I THINK I like it! I like it in a different way than I liked my long hair, but I like it! So here I am at work, taking pictures of myself to share! It's a little wind-blown, but you get the general idea!

What do you think??

First Snow

I got up this morning to find that there were 3-4 inches of snow on the ground. It all depended on where in the drive way you were. Hard to believe it was 60 degrees two weeks ago. Apparently we are to get additional snow tonight, but the roads are clear. Had to do some errands this morning and had no problems.

Engaged, at last!!

You'll all be happy and surprised to learn that I finally got engaged today, especially when you find out that my husband-to-be is Keith! :) After we left church, we went down to the area of town where all of the wedding chapels are so that Keith could take some pictures. He wanted to see the inside of one of the chapels, so we went in and pretended that we were scouting locations for our upcoming nuptuals. It was funny stuff! But in reality, I would be pretty mad if I was engaged to Keith and he wanted to have a $199 Elvis Wedding at the Graceland Chapel, complete with an Elvis impersonator walking me down the aisle and singing us a song. That's a depressing thought!

I'll leave it to him to tell you about (and hopefully share) the pictures that he took at the Drive Thru lane at the Little White Chapel. It is SO fun to watch him work! He is amazing with people, and has such a great eye for quirky, interesting, cool pictures! We have had such a good time together, and I am going to miss him when he leaves. *Sigh*

Black Friday

Well, my apologies to Scotty for calling his fancy pants chart an organizational chart! If we were together, I would go into my Ms. Smarty-Pants voice and make a remark...so you'll all just have to imagine it for yourselves! :)

I wanted to start out for apologizing a little bit for Keith and I being sort of incommunicado the past couple of days! We have just been busy little beavers, and usually don't get home until it's too late to call anyone without making them mad! Today we spent approximately 9 1/2 hours shopping...for Keith! I tell ya', that guy can SHOP! It was fun to help him pick out some new "drasual" (that's dressy/casual) clothes for times when he doesn't need to wear his finest, but also can't pull off a t-shirt and jeans. He found some nice, nice stuff, and will certainly be the best-looking and best-dressed guy at church on Sunday.

I, too, seem to be suffering from some illness. I don't feel sick (yet), but have a pretty nasty sore throat and a scratchy voice! Hopefully it won't turn into anything worse...I'm just hoping that I have some Cepacol in my medicine cabinet for my sleeping comfort!

Hope everyone is enjoying their down time, and that anyone who is even a little sick will recover quickly! Love to you all!

Who was Gantt?

I've never heard of a Gantt Chart--nor Gantt! Were he and Milty friends?

We loved the names on the chart as well.

Janet has been taking care of her in-valid sister. I've developed a cold--nose alternating between runny and stuffy and sleeping sickness from the medication. Mouth breathing has been the norm. She wakes me to feed me and tell me when to go to bed! Since I'm awake, you can guess that a meal on its way.

Kacie and Jamie stopped by last night--that was a treat for us. When Janet hugged Kacie she indicated that Kacie had passed her in height! "Bumpy" looked cute with her long hair curled.

Johnson Family Blog

Johnson Family Blog

Medical Update!!!

I saw the Gastroenterologist last Friday. He was pleased that I had been eating a Regular? diet. But he told me to be verrry careful. So I haven't had a lettuce salad yet and am trying to stick to mostly soft foods. Maggie and I had dinner at the Hotel yesterday, sorry Todd, no Banana Cream pie, we just had the small Pumpkin Tarts as we were pretty full of turkey, stuffing, potatoes and salad. I was careful.

I am to see the GI doc again in 6 months.

Thanksgiving Video

Here's a little video from our Pittsburgh Thanks- giving gathering.

Sadly, this may prove a little scandalous and undermine confidence in my kitchen staff, but I thought I'd go ahead and put it out there anyway. Enjoy!

Clarification: Gantt Chart vs. Org Chart

I just wanted to make a clarification: Amy referred to my Gantt chart as an organizational chart.

For the record, I have included an org chart as well, since the delineation of responsibilities was pretty clear yesterday (all part of the plan).

The one person missing from the org chart (apart from the babies) is Lisa, whose birthday it was, of course. As such she was exempt from any formal responsibility. However, they do say the customer is king, so maybe I should have added a level above me in the org chart!

Celery sauce????

I won't even comment on the fact that my brother had a "master plan" for thanksgiving. Then again, I'm sure our pilgrim forefathers had a master plan for their day: which belt buckle to wear on their hats, sweet or mashed potatoes, how to make polite conversation with the naked natives at the dinner table etc. (Just as a side note, I believe that the first loin cloth was implemented by native americans following the first Thanksgiving feast where there was an unfortunate hot gravy spill in one of their laps. I won't tell you what his Indian name was changed to after that.

I think it is also obvious why celery sauce USED to be sold by HEINZ. I think it was discontinued about the same time as giblet pie.

There was a classic moment today when Amy and I arrived at LAWRY's for dinner and the mandatory valet parking was in effect. Needless to say, the valet obviously had never seen a "freakin' dumbmobile" (to quote Jamie ) before. I think he was also pleasantly surprised to find out that he not only was driving a brown '99 chevy prism, but that he also had to roll down the window to open the driver's side door because the inside handle is broken. Hey, it's paid for.

Hope everyone had a Happy Turkey day (with no gravy incidents).

Live from Las Vegas.

KJ

Thanksgiving Plans and Celery Sauce

Further proof that I am truly a nerd ... as if there were any question. The image at left shows the Microsoft Project document that contained the master plan for our Pittsburgh Thanksgiving dinner.

Despite the crash-course timeline just before dinner, everything came together, including the celery sauce. A co-worker turned me on to the fact the H.J. Heinz Company used to make a version of celery sauce and forwarded me this recipe.

We did take a few pictures, and I imagine we'll post a couple sometime in the next few days. Maybe we'll post some of the video Margie shot today of Felix and Grandpa playing in the backyard.

Until later, Happy Thanksgiving!

Yummy and cozy!

I'm here to report that the Las Vegas contingency has had a very nice, albeit lowkey, Thanksgiving so far. This morning Keith and I both slept in a little...I was recovering from Nashville, and Keith is a little sicky-sick. When I woke up, I went to the gym for a little while...also in an attempt to recover from Nashville...had to do something about all the bacon and dessert I ate while I was there! :) After I got back, we got ready and went to eat at Lawry's Prime Rib. We both got their Turkey Dinner, which was DELICIOUS, and you'll be happy to know that Keith was a member of the clean plate club! We're so proud of him! :D I couldn't quite finish everything, but everything I did eat was amazing! Like good kids we both ordered dessert, because we all know that there's always room for dessert! Keith had some Pecan Pie, which he said was yummy, and I had an English Strawberry Trifle, which was SO good. After stuffing ourselves silly, we came home and had a long, cozy nap, and later we are going to go see a movie. I know it's not very exciting, but it was lovely and relaxing, and it is so nice to have Keith here with me! I'll keep you posted on any other adventures we might have! I hope you all had a happy day! I love you all, and certainly count you amoung my very best blessings!

Updated Posts

I'm expecting some Thanksgiving posts tomorrow. I'm sure some post-worth pictures will be taken at some point. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. If mom is making any Banana Cream pie, please FedEx some to IF.

In Memoriam: Milton Friedman, PhD Economist

As you may or may not be aware, Milton Friedman passed away this past week. I was just reading a couple tributes to him, and today I'm thankful yet again for PhD Economists, at least the good guys like Dr. Friedman.

If you're a nerd like I am, please take a few minutes to read one or more of the following articles to gain a better appreciation for this great man and his genius:
How Milton Friedman Changed Economics, Policy and Markets
Freedom Man
Friedman's Sampler

Some of the above readings reminded me of yet another great man for whom I have much respect, the late President Ronald W. Reagan. If Margie and I have a third son, I'm going to campaign to name him either Milton Reagan Johnson or Reagan Milton Johnson.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hi everyone...I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving. I count all of you as one of my greatest blessings. I'm grateful for our 2 new Johnsons who joined us this year--what cuties!

I leave for Utah on Tues. afternoon and will be at Janet's until Mon. the 27th.

Love to all!

Hair today...

I'm SERIOUSLY thinking about cutting my hair significantly. I love my long hair, but besides being ready for a change, I would love to not have to spend so much time straightening, curling, blow-drying, etc. Essentially, it would go from this:



To something more like this: (although I certainly wouldn't look like Sandra Bullock!)



I guess only time will tell. I'm sure you can tell that at this point I'm pretty ready to do it, I'm just talking myself into it! Good reasons to do it: It would give me more volume, get rid of a lot of damage, take less time (as mentioned previously), hopefully look really classy and sophisticated, and I could potentially donate the hair I cut off to charity. Lots of good reasons, eh? I just hope I don't freak out after it's done! One hair tragedy in my life was enough!

Secret Post

Valerie and I thought it would be a good idea to get a framed picture for Mom for Christmas. We are hoping all the siblings will chip-in on this. Depending on how everything shakes out, we figure we will all have to go in 30-45 dollars. Let us know if you are in...We are trying to find a nice print of the Salt Lake Temple to use, but are open to ideas. (We did purchase the Manerva Tichert print of Christ in a red robe, but are hoping we can get one of the temple - in our price range - that has been the biggest obstacle thus far.)

We also just added a new web album at: http://www.picasaweb.google.com/ToddValerie

Take it to the jury...

For those of you that haven't heard (probably the vast majority), I was embroiled in a little throw back to Junior High last weekend because I showed too much interest in the Elder's Quorum president that one of my friends has a GIANT crush on. I can't really say that I "like" him yet, because I have had approximately 1.5 conversations with him (and that is just adding up a bunch of not-really conversations). So what I say instead is that I'm "interested" in him...I'm interested in getting to know him better and seeing if there's anything there. Because let's be honest, I could go out with him and be done with him 15 minutes into the date...just keeping it real! Now I'm a liberated woman, so I have no problem asking him out (my friend Jori even gave me a restaurant gift certificate to use as an "excuse"), but I now have 2 issues impeding this potential night out: 1) Although my friend with the crush swears she's moving on, I have a feeling she would change her song if I asked this boy out. 2) When a girl asks a guy out, do they think it's cool and gutsy, or do they see it as sad and desperate? Nothing is going to happen with this situation anytime soon since I am going to Nashville for a week and then have a VERY fabulous visitor coming for Thanksgiving (Keith!), but I appreciate any insight/experience/words of wisdom anyone can offer. Your comments please....

Not only is today Veteran's Day, but it's also Dad's 98th birthday. I'm sure he would be happy to know that his family is close and is keeping in touch.

We still use many of his favorite sayings:
"He's so crooked he couldn't sleep straight in a roundhouse."
"He's so crooked he has to screw his sock on."
"He doesn't know 'sic 'em' from 'come here.'"
"Don't just stand there like you're waiting to be milked."

I'm sure Janet, Jim and Karen could add to the list--maybe even some of the JimmySyme family have picked up on the quotes from their dad.

Grateful I was born of goodly parents!

better late than never....

Dearest family members,

I am honored and pleased to accept this invitation to the Johnson family blog. First, I'd like to thank all the little people that made this possible. Second, I want to reassure all of you that any incriminating or compromising information I have on any of you will remain locked in my mental vault unless things get ugly and I have to use them to retaliate. Fair?

Here are a few photos to get started. I am including a drawing of Jamie's, a photo of my inmate account check from the night I was booked into Utah County Jail, and the two entries I submitted to the Religion show at the Springville art museum -- only the "Avalon" photo made the cut. Obviously there was a narrow minded jury with poor taste to pass up my black and white photo. I am also putting on a couple of other photos that are part of a larger project I am working on dealing with religious symbols.

I didn't have a chance to tell Scott and Margie congrats on having my new nephew. I look forward to many hours alone with the boy teaching the REAL facts of life. Be afraid...be VERY afraid.

TBC

KJ

Clarification

Scott was wondering why the reference to Botox.

Last Tues. had trouble with getting soup down, usual washing with water-no go. Gagged and retched and felt ok that nite. Wed. ate banana bread and went to wash it down--could not get up or down. Wed is our Temple day, called the ladies and told them I would not be going and about noon decided I was in deep trouble. Called my friend Marge and she and her husband took me to UVRMC to the ER. Wasn't there long when they took me to the Digestive Disorders Lab. Boy did I have a digestive disorder! The doc on duty did and Esophagoscopy while I was HEAVILY SEDATED and dilated the opening between stomach and esophagus. He told me that surgery might be an option. Not an option I wanted. They took pictures, everything I had eaten for 3 days was still in my esophagus. Keith said it was like rings on a tree. The doc got the opening restored and wanted to check the next a.m. So I stayed overnite. The man next door snored like a bear, it was not my Serta mattress, and I was cold. Next A.M. the doc came in early and said he had an epiphany and they would inject the muscle in the openin with Botox. So, having only hadH2O since Wed, I went back to the Lab, was HEAVILY SEDATED again and when ALL was clear, injected the Botox. I had a Clear Liquid lunch and about 5 p.m., I came home. To see doc again on Nov. 17

Viva Las Vegas!

Sometimes it pays (literally!) to live in Las Vegas, the town where everything requires a tip. Today I helped a woman on the verge of a breakdown with a VERY simple graphic arts issue...something I could have done in my sleep. It took me about 15 minutes to help her, and as she was leaving she threw down $25 and would NOT take it back. *Shrug* A girl who is eating cold cereal for lunch and buying generic everything to stay in her new budget is happy for the surprise increase in wealth! Maybe if I help someone for a full half hour next time they will up the ante to $50! A girl can dream, can't she?

From November 15th - November 22nd I am going to Nashville for the National Teachers of English Conference. I am looking forward to the conference itself because it was EXCELLENT last year, but I am also pretty excited about going to Nashville. I've never been there, and I will have a few pockets of free time, so it will be fun to go exploring! I decided to post a few pictures and websites for you to peruse so that you will be able to enjoy the planning with me! I am trying to convince Maggie :) to let me take her digital camera with me so I can take pictures and have them available in a timely manner (I have disposible cameras in my room from who-knows when!).

The Belle Meade Plantation is at the top of my list of places to visit:

http://www.bellemeadeplantation.com/

This plantation should be cool, but I have to admit that I am more excited about the restaurant:

http://www.marthasattheplantation.com/

Here's a direct link to the menu:

http://marthasattheplantation.com/menus/Fall_Lunch_Menu.pdf

Some fried chicken sounds yummalicious to me, and all of the desserts sound tasty! You know you're a Johnson when you plan your trip around food! :)

I'm also excited to visit Nashville's extenstive Botanical Gardens:

http://www.cheekwood.org/

Don't you worry your purdy little heads. I will also be on the lookout for some authentic western wear to bring back with me! I was thinking something along these lines:


Yeehaw! I'll be sure to post pictures when I get back, so that you can all share in the fun and excitement of a visit to a town founded on country music...right up my alley!

Amazing Technology

Really amazing when you read the directions and then after reading for days, finallyget to make an entry.

Scott and Margie --really cute kids.

Christmas plans--Maggie and I are still deciding what to do--leaning toward somewhere warmer than Utah.

BOTOX-- Yes, I finally succumbed to the enticements of Botox. No--it wasn't my face, by my esophagus. Drinking my meals (non-alcoholic) until Thurs. Gives one something to look foward to.

Christmas Plans

So Valerie and I officially finalized plans to be in Denver from Dec. 16-20. We hear that Amy will also be there around then. Is anyone else planning on making an appearance? Does anyone have plans for Thanksgiving? Also, we are copy cats with the web photo album so here is a link to an online photo gallery of some recent photos. We will try and update as much as possible. http://www.picasaweb.google.com/ToddValerie

New Slideshow

Margie and I have created a new slideshow that shows the last of Felix's only-child days as well as Rex's entry into our family (wow, with our sons' names, I'm going to have to bone up on forming the possessive form of proper nouns ending in 'x' ... if anyone has a style guide sitting around or just happens to have the answer. let me know!).

I have added the link to the new slideshow to the list I created last week on this blog, but I repeat it here for anyone too lazy to scroll down or click to that entry (I think that's just about everyone in this family ; ) )

Here's the link:
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/scottjoh/November_2006.pdf

Enjoy!

Another Son

Margie and I are the proud parents of a second son, Rex Scott Johnson. He was born yesterday (Friday) afternoon at 1pm, weighed 9lbs 1oz (see scale at bottom), and measured 21-1/4in long.

For a little bit of perspective, Felix weighed 9lbs 10oz and measured 21in long. Therefore little brother is longer and leaner than Felix. On the topic of length, the baby seems to have his father's lanky limbs. Observe his big feet in the weigh-in photo below

Apart from the difference in size, which is not really even that great, the baby bears a striking resemblance to Felix. He has a similar amount of dark hair, a similar nose, and a similar mouth ... especially when crying.

We were very slow to decide on a name. Mitchell or Mitch almost carried the day until I Googled Mitchell Scott Johnson before we finalized it, telling Margie I didn't want to use the name of "some notorious criminal or mass murder."

Well, a Mitchell Johnson was the latter of those two, which I guess also makes him the former. He is one of the two boys responsible for the infamous Jonesboro (Arkansas) massacre. Making matters worse, his father's name is Scott. That settled that little matter, and it was onto other options.

We won't have a good opportunity to create one of our signature slideshows until probably sometime tomorrow, so hopefully these photos will whet your appetites until then. Once we are able, we will create a slideshow with some more pictures and will possibly also share some more thoughts from the last couple days.

We want to thank everyone who has extended their best wishes. Margie and Rex are doing well. Felix and I are alright, too.

CONGRATULATIONS SCOTT AND MARGIE!!!

I understand that Baby Boy J (I haven't heard a name yet) was born this morning. Congratulations on your new addition! Another fabulous nephew to add to our ever-growing family...what a blessing. You are all in my thoughts and prayers. Love you, and can't wait for details (well, not ALL of them...you know what I mean!) and pictures. Mmmwwwaaahhh!

A-typical Las Vegas weather

It is a weird day today in LV...sort of gray and gloomy! It's a strange thing for those of us that are used to sunshine almost every day! Our hummingbirds are gone for the winter, but this morning I was saving some of the pictures we took of them this summer, so I thought I'd post a couple for you to see. It was so cool to have them around so much. We had one feeder right outside my window so I could see them all day! I miss them, but hope they are safe and happy in South America (or wherever they go!)

Mary Poppins at the CML!

Yay! I have a picture to share! I dressed up for Halloween at the CML since the chumpsters from the University Preschool were coming in. You might wonder if I will EVER wear anything but that Mary Poppins costume! :) I think that after this year it will have to be retired. Even though I think it is a cute costume, I'm getting a little bored with it, and kids don't know who Mary Poppins is anymore anyway! It is always fun to have the kids come in. I got to do 2 storytimes, and the kids were hilariously cute in their costumes. Shortly after they left, I changed into my civilian clothes...it's not so much fun to be dressed up all day at a University! Mostly you just get strange looks! Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!

Something to say...

Yeah, I'll probably be posting on here quite often, not necessarily because my life is very exciting, but I do have a lot to say! :) I just found out last week that I am going to be the Interim Head of the CML while my boss acts as an assitant to our Library Dean, who is losing her Associate Dean. It should be a good experience, but they "can't" give me the compensation that I asked for, so I am still on the hunt for a new job. Something that will hopefully pay me what I'm worth considering all of the job experience I have! I know I'm biased, but I think I'm a lot smarter than the majority of the people who work at the Library and are (I just found out) making RIDICULOUS amounts of money! : So maybe today this is more of a rant than a post! :)

Tomorrow we have chumpsters coming in for storytime, so that will be fun. I am going to dress up as Mary Poppins (again). They probably won't have ANY clue who I am, but oh well...it's more about me seeing THEM dressed up than anything!

In a couple of weeks I go to Nashville for the National Teachers of English conference. I had a great experience last year, but I'm sure a lot of that had to do with the fact that I got to hang out with Scott, Margie, and Felix for a week! But I've never been to Nashville, and my Children's Literature professor at UNLV has gotten me invited to some author dinners and receptions, so that should be cool! Although I'm not very good at going to such things by myself, but I'll just have to fake it...put on a different persona for the time being! I should get to see some of the sights as well, but most of it has to do with country music, so I'm sort-of at a loss! I'll let you know what I end up doing, and I'll TRY to take some pictures to share!

Until next time....

Pittsburgh JOHNSONS

Hi JOHNSONS,

Margie and I thought this would be a good place to provide a single repository of all the slideshows and videos we've (well, she's) created. Before graduation, the University communicated that our accounts would be deactivated 3 months after graduation, but so far mine is still alive. So thanks to the fine folks at Carnegie Mellon , we'll plan on continuing to post more slideshows there until further notice.

Also, Margie is going to send out the last of Felix's "only-child" photos sometime this week, then I'm sure we'll follow that not too much later with pictures of the new baby, who we hope will arrive next weekend.

PHOTOS

Date Sent	Filename (Link)	Sz (MB)
1. Mar 21, 2005	Felix_3.pdf	1.8
2. Apr 25, 2005	FelixShow2.pdf	1.1
3. June 6, 2005	FelixShow4.pdf	2.0
4. Aug 10, 2005	Felix_Show_August.pdf	14.6
5. Sept 26, 2005	September_Felix.pdf	14.7
6. Nov 11, 2005	Felix_in_the_fall.pdf	10.5
7. Jan 31, 2006	Winter_Felix.pdf	52.8
8. May 31, 2006	Felix_Show_June.pdf	3.7
9. Nov 4, 2006	November_2006.pdf	3.8
10. Jan 4, 2007	Christmas06.pdf	3.6
PHOTOSHOWS
Date Sent	Filename (Link)
1. Jan 4, 2007	Holidays 2006
2. Mar 18, 2007	Our Family 2007
3. July 19, 2007	Summer2007
4. Nov 1. 2007	PictureShow4
VIDEOS
Date Sent	Filename (Link)	Sz (MB)
1. Jul 6, 2005	crawling 7-4-05.mpg	32.0
2. Jul 9, 2005	talkingandjumping7-7-05.mpg	32.0
3. Nov 24, 2006	Thanksgiving.wmv	16.3
4. Dec 26, 2006	Christmas_daredevil.wmv	11.0
5. Jan 26. 2007	Sledding Accident.wmv	3.3
6. July 19. 2007	Harmonica Jam Session	YouTube
7. Aug 25, 2007	Alphabet Pasta Heing	YouTube

Happy Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEITH! We expect a blog about last night's happenings!

Welcome to the JimmySyme Blog - I thought I would start things off with a few pictures from our trip to Salt Lake City on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. We went to see Barney Live on Tuesday and then Riley went to a Halloween Party with her cousine Kade on Wednesday. No he is not in the KKK, he is supposed to be a ghost. Riley is actually going to be a Princess, but had to borrow the Lion costume since we came ill prepared for the neighborhood Halloween party. I hope everyone enjoys posting to the blog.