We are in.....finally

Hello family of mine...well we are finally completely in our new house. Its alot bigger then i thought once we got the furniture in the family room aka master bedroom. its much bigger then the living room in our rental house. and the bedrooms are bigger also, so that is cool. now all we have to do is buy more stuff to fill it....hahah we will pick stuff up slowly. right now the living room is basically a room for the baby. we have this big fence thing set up in there so she can move around more. although, she is loving the house because she can go all over. it tires her out and she is happy happy. she is so darn cute. all the wierd stuff her grandma is teaching her....hahah lets see, she kisses by smacking her lips really loud, she winks, when you feed her and wipe her mouth off she takes the paper towell and wipes your mouth, she crawls like a wind up doll and has stood alone for a few seconds but doesnt want to stop long enough to find out if she could walk. she tries to laugh like me which is hysterical.....and oh yeah, she adores her grandpa. can you tell we love her. kelly is doing fine, getting anxious to have reese home which is understandable.

update on reese, he is fine.....in fact he called today and if there was a high security we wouldnt hear from him at all. so far its mostly for show and his homecoming is still on track. keep the prayers though, it never hurts.

hope everyone is doing well, sounds like we are all busy. we are lucky to have a family that loves eachother, some dont have anyone. i miss everyone and read the blog daily for updates, so keep them coming. big hugs, cindy

GREETS FROM NYC

Whew! What a way to spend my birthday!

We're in New York City. Came for a conference I was attending Wed-Thurs. It was about marketing in virtual reality... which is essentially what my consulting business is about. It was pretty good, I met a lot of interesting people, including other educators looking into virtual worlds for online education opportunities (I happen to now own Academy Island in Second Life, which is an educational island). Met a blue-blooded Toronto fan and we chatted it up. Had to ride the train and tramway by myself to get to and from downtown, but that was fun once I got over being lost -- it's on the surface that I get lost... which exit did I come out of? Which way is the tramway? Where am I and what direction am I facing!??!

Last night we went to see a new Broadway play, The Pirate Queen, which Mark thought I would like for a variety of reasons: an Irish tale, based on a novel by one of our favorite authors, Morgan Llywellyn, about a female chieftain in a time of rampant sexism (the Irish weren't sexist until Catholicism came around around 590 AD), music by the Les Miserables guys, and a lot of Riverdance-like Irish dancing. Oh yeah, and PIRATES! It was pretty good, not nearly as good as Les Mis but less boring than Phantom (I like the music but the musical is boring as hell); the music needed more... melody, I guess... and there needed to be more piracy and more dancing. We were front row center, and that was an interesting experience. However, overall, it was pretty entertaining. Queen Elizabeth (I)'s costumes were the most amazing things!

Today we took Bunky to the Bronx Zoo. It's a big, famous conservation zoo with cheetahs and gorillas, and stuff. When he could see the animals he was interested, but not all exhibits were stroller-height friendly, but he was also entertained by the fencing, the dirt, the trees, the squirrels trying not to get eaten by the (unseen to him) snow leopards, etc. My feet are killing me but it was a fun trip. We have a picture with the tiger (she came within 4 inches of Fin's face... through the glass! sheesh!) but Mark's camera battery died after four pics so we didn't get much :( We also saw a polar bear, which Bunky liked a lot.

Hollywood / Griffith Park is on fire. Check LATimes.com for a great photo of the plume! Go LAFD! I heard the plume is over Hollywood and the smoke is over Studio City, Toluca Lake, and generally in the direction I live (opposite side of the mt. as Hollywood). It's all sad, it's raw land, habitat for our bobcats, deer, rattlers, coons, and (non-native) oppossums. And other things - rats, bugs, dragonflies, killer bees, etc.

Oh and I heard some story about how the bees are gone. What? What do you mean the bees are gone? And not just in California... but... apparently the normal number of bees required to pollinate our crops... which means bad crop year coming up. Kind of the opposite of a plague of locusts. Probably related to our highly unusual freezing cold snap in January which is probably caused by global warming. Serves us right, I say. The planet has to right itself by reducing polution by reducing population. (Isn't that horrible?)

Anyway, here's to the beginning of the end of the world, brought upon by our own actions and irreversible. Soon there won't be any tigers, snow leopards, or polar bears left. So sad.

Love you all!
me

Audition!

Hi all,
Christy talked with the teacher to find out if Nathan got the part as one of the VonTrapp boys. She was told that Nathan was beat out by a 5th. grader. He will be disappointed but at least he tried. I am very proud of him and there will be other try outs down the line for him. He was such a cute Santa in the last school play!
Hope everyone is in good health. We are buying a new guest bed today because the old one was getting TOO lumpy. Now you will all sleep better when you come to visit! So come on up!
Take good care, everyone. Lets keep Reese in our thoughts as he directs traffic on the ship out in the Iraqi waters. I love you all,
Aunt Rose

Checking in!

Hello everyone!
I got a call from my oldest Grandson telling me that his Music teacher has encouaged him to try out for a high school play called the Sound of Music. He tried out and was called back! He try's out for the second time tomorrow. Will let everyone know if he gets the part of Kurt VonTrapp. Too funny! He is such a little performer....always has been.
I have been in my studio all week working on my Daddy military art piece. Its slow going but coming together little by little. I plan to do another one honoring mom...maybe one more for all the military men in our family. I have asked for Ranger and Navy things but have not recieved anything yet.
Hope that everyone is well and happy. We are fine too...waiting for contracters to come back with some kitchen quotes. Want to have the contracters lined up for May. Will be a mess for awhile but will be worth it in the end.
Till later...bye now!
Love you all,
Aunt Rose

We are the Champions....!

Well the LC Championship game is history and we are the victors. It was very close and once again we had to go to a shootout. We scored the first two goals and the Renegades tied it up in the third period. Went into four on four, three on three and then a shootout. Again Devin stoned the opposing team and we won 3-2. Devin was then awarded the MVP of the game by the LC officials. It was very exciting and another nailbiter, but a great game. Devin stopped 35 shots, not including the shootout.

WE ARE MOVING!!!!

Hello Family of mine....well we are on our way with the new house now. got the keys yesterday and today ed is whole hog into moving........everything....hahahah we are excited of course and dreading moving because we have to do it again when reese gets back, buy, hey....you do what you have to do, right! we love the house and please know, yall have personal invites to visit whenever your heart desires.......love to all......and good luck to the hockey teams.....GoGoGo...

Hockey update

Given the long year Reese had with the Saginaw travel team, and having to play down to their level in order to make plays, he tried out for the Midland travel team for spring. They are a ranked team and extremely hard to get into in the fall, so he was hoping he could get in the door in the spring and have a better chance of making their fall team. Well he found out yesterday he made the team and he is so excited...! Even if he doesnt get tons of playing time, their coaching is second to none, so this will be very good for him and improve his already good skills. Also we are heading down to Lansing tomorrow for Devins state championship game. He has been sick all week with this flu bug and missed Tuesdays practise; however, he did go last night so hopefully he will be okay. Still coughing, but no fever and he has been on antibiotics for about a week. Since he is the only goalie, he cant very well miss it, not that you could keep him away. Anyway, wish us luck, we will let you all know how it goes. Love and kisses to all.

More Birthdays

i swear we have so many birthdays in this family its hard to keep up. i hate to forget anyone in our new blog.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR INGRID!!!!!! WE LOVE YOU.

FINALLY

hello dear family, im loving this blog thing, its great to keep updated. now remember to update though....hahah rose, the poem was beautiful, i loved it. and congrats to all the grandkids and their accomplishments, they sure are a great bunch of kids and i am proud of each and every one of them. mine included.....she now dances when you tell her to get funky.....hahahah

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Teresa.........We love you!!!

Ok, now for my news. We are closing on our house tomorrow and will get the keys!!!! we are excited and stressed at the same time. cant wait to get in it and set up. the timing could have been better but it all just kind of happened and we are happy. kelly found her and reese a new duplex to rent in virginia. it sounds really nice. good neighborhood, 3 blocks from the beach, 5 minutes from reeses work and a fenced back yard. so we are happy for them. of course now it is all getting real that he will be home soon and kelly is getting very anxious to hug and kiss on him, and so are we. so we have alot of stress in the house right now with all the major things going on, but we are hanging in there and doing what needs to be done. i just look into our babys face and my heart lightens and nothing seems so bad any more. cant wait for everyone to see the house some time or another. will take pictures when we are in.

weather is warmer which we love. hope everyone is fine and healthy and happy. christi i havent seen anything from you on here, and lin, do you need more help? holler if you do. love to all, cindy

Spelling Bee!

Hello everyone!
Last night in Webberville my two grandsons were awarded the first prize for their grade at the annual Spelling Bee. Logan's 2nd. grade group had 13 kids and Nathan's 3rd. grade group had 12 kids. Olivia was in her 1st. grade group but half way thru misspelled a word and was disqualified. The boys won last year too. It was the cutest thing to watch....Larry and I had constant smiles on our faces the whole two hours!!! Papa and I were very proud. The three of them are doing well in school, love going and very involved. Nathan starts his second year of soccor in May...he looks forward to it. They are growing up so nicely. So on that note I have a poem to share with you all. This came from a poetry class I took years ago.....I copied some of my favorites out of my poetry books. I hope you enjoy it!

Be the Best Of Whatever You Are
by Douglas Malloch

If you can't be a pine on top of the hill,
Be a scrub in the valley-but be
The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
Be a bush if you can't be a tree.

If you can't be a bust be a bit of the grass,
And some highway happier make;
If you can't be a muskie then just be a bass-
But the liveliest bass in the lake!

We can't all be captain's, we've got to be crew,
There's something for all of us here,
There's big work to do, and there's lesser to do,
And the task you must do is the near.

If you can't be a highway then just be the trail,
If you can't be the sun be a star;
It isnt by size that you win or you fail-
be the best of whatever you are!

Hockey update

Well the MAHA state championship weekend is history. We lost all three games, but not by much, thanks to Devin. We were outplayed by the three top teams in Michigan, (two of them top in the nation), scoring only two goals in three games; however, Devin kept them in all three games with his stellar goaltending. Interestingly, after we played the #2 team in the country, the coach asked Devin to try out for his team next year. No, we are not going to go all the way to Detroit for a AA team, but with the constant feedback we receive on him each and every game, it may be time to start looking at AAA. Next weekend is the LC Championship (different division), in Lansing and we stand a good chance of taking that; however, if not we will at least be runners up in the state for the second consecutive year. That will be our last game of the winter season and though they will be playing spring hockey, it is not near as intense or time consuming as the winter season. Its a good thing I am addicted to my grandkids and a hockey nut as well!! (smile).
I am sure everyone is gearing up for spring, I know I cant wait. The weather is in that shift now, where its cold one day and warmer the next. This will likely go on about another month and then we will start to see warmer and warmer weather. I will be glad as I need to get my goldfish back outside. I have lost a few and hate it when they expire, they are too large to flush...ha ha.
Cindy I hope you hear something on your house soon, how exciting for you. Lin, I am looking forward to your visit next month-get on this site would you.....ha. Love to Erik and Reese who we have not heard from on this site yet and I love each and every one of you.

helloooooo family

i dont have a lot to say, just that we are stillllllll waiting for the 100% ok that we got the house. i just dont understand what is going on because we were told weeks ago it was approved! according to our contact guy its the underwriters that are holding things up because they are backlogged so bad. as if i care......we have to know! we are supposed to close next friday. this house buying stuff sucks! haha but im trying to stay optimistic and we have done some packing just in case. our rental is a total mess, but we have to just hang in there.

WE HAVE BIG BIRTHDAY WISHES GOING OUT TO ROSE AND KATHY.........WOOOHOOOO

we are having warmer weather too, not as hot as california, thank goodness....but nice going outside and doing things weather. kelly has been hunting for a place for her and reese to stay when he comes back. no, not here, i wish......they have a line on a duplex that sounds really nice. only 3 blocks from the beach.....that would do it for me....hahah anyway, they have to get ready to set up house again. reese is anxious to be home and we are sure anxious to see him.
maya is a gem and doing so much. saying dada alllll the time. does a little dance, makes kissing sounds, raspberry sounds, winks, crawls everywhere, forgets and stands alone and is just so darn cute i cant stand it. nothing like a bragging grandma.....

i guess i felt like chatting afterall. i hope everyone is well and happy. we miss everyone but have lots of visits coming up so i cant wait. love and hugs to all, cindy

"Tell Mama" song / listen & vote

A friend of mine, Shawn Pander, needs our help. He has made it into the final rounds of the prestigious John Lennon Songwriting Contest. In the current round they have narrowed it down to two artists per category and he needs votes from the public to make it into the championship. The song entered “Tell Mama” is one of his best original ballads and he has donated proceeds from the sale of the song to support our troops (the song’s lyrics are about a soldier’s story).

To vote for him visit: http://jlsc.com/vote.php

They make you verify your email before you can listen to the song and vote but it is worth it. You can vote once a day (you will only need to authenticate your email the first time) and if you have the time please do so. Shawn deserves this one.

After you click on the link above scroll down to the "FOLK BOX" and click it, the site will instruct you from there. Please cut & paste this into an email and forward this to anyone you think would like Shawn.

Look how high tech we are!

I'm glad everyone is getting in ok. Linda-mom is having some trouble so if someone could help her out that would be great. Me, I can't see what you all see so it's not much help. If you figured it out, so can she... it surely isn't that hard!

It's been in the 80s here - yesterday it was so hot i had to turn the A/C on in the car. Ugh! Today a little milder, like, maybe, 85. I had a meeting at ABC and I didn't even have anything "summery" to wear that was appropriate. I think i need to go shopping, oh darn. Actually I kind of do anyway, I'm down to 76 lbs. (was 73 when I got preggo) so I'm FINALLY below 180 and that means 9 lbs. down since November -- actually I was static at 183 thru Thanksgiving and Xmas so it's really down 7 lbs. since mid-to-late January. Woohoo! The first time I put some size 14s on again I was ecstatic, and now even those are a bit loose. With some work on this "hot chocolate" diet and maybe some more exercise now that it's daylight longer, I should be able to get back down to 165 and a size 12 in no time, and maybe even down to a lean 160 and back to athletic form... HAHAH nah. I don't play hockey 5 days a week any more, that'll never happen. Oh well. But it's good.

I do have chronic fatigue and I think I know why... and it's not just all the obvious reasons - work, family, work, allergies, work. I love what I'm doing - sort of consulting, sort of teaching, sort of project management, sort of nothing... my life is great. There's no stress, really - I mean, if i put in a 30 hour week, that's pushing it... I get 7-9 hours of sleep (Fin sleeps thru the night easy), and we have a brand new posturpedic cal king bed which is H E A V E N L Y... no, the real reason is my deviated septum. It's making it hard to breathe at night. When it gets bad I try mouth breathing but I can't stay asleep like that. It's time for me to find an ENT and get it fixed. All the dairy i've been doing lately is also making my sinuses swell up which makes it far worse.

Anyway... I'm rambling while Mark puts the baby to sleep. I'll update his blog soon. I have photos but between my two computers, one doesn't have the card reader and the other doesn't have internet access... what a nightmare :P LOVE YOU!
.

Its Spring in Michigan...well..almost!!

I meant UP dated!

Its Spring in Michigan...well..almost!!

Hello everyone!
Its 60* today and the snow is melting by the gallons! I have heard new songbirds outside...probably robins. My daffodills and crocus are up by 4 inches and the SUN SHINES!!!
It makes my heart sing! I met my little senior Vera for lunch today (I volunteer at the Council on Aging here in Midland and Vera was assigned to me) and what a joy she is. She is 81 years old but acts like a spry 70 year old! She has wonderful stories to tell, we are both the same zodiac sign so we have much in common in terms of personality and she is just a lovely person. She fills the hole that Mom left when she died and plays the part of a grandmother too. I see her about every week or two for a few hours. I just love her dearly!
We are getting ready for kitchen remodel...have the drawings and outlines done now. Some of the contractors will come tomorrow to give us a quote. Hopefully we can start in May. It will be a stressful time but we will love it in the end! A NEW and UNDATED kitchen!! Wow!
All is well here. Hope everyone is healthy and happy. Till next post.....
Love, Aunt Rose

Lets hear from everyone

Now we need to hear from Erik, Reese, Linda, Theresa and Christina to know that everyone can get on. Come on everyone, lets get this blog rolling. We, unfortunately, do not have the wonderful weather here that Cindy, or you in the west, are experiencing it is still mid 40's if we are lucky. It is beginning to feel like spring though and that is a wonderful thing. We are still quite busy, have district championships this weekend and state championships the following weekend with Devin's hockey team. It has been a long season, but lots of fun here at the end. We have a good chance of winning the state but will be runners up if we lose, so either way it will be a fun game and I will let you know how we do. Devin and I had another Oregon trip meeting last night, we go in eight weeks. We will highlight everyone on our return, it was a great trip last year with Reese. It is a 5th grade field trip and we cover 16 states in 9 days by train, from MI to Colorado to Sacramento to Oregon to Montana and back home. Long and exhausting but loaded with wonderful sights. Looking forward to seeing Linda and Peter next month and keep on blogging. I love you all.

Im so proud

well well well......arent we just the cutest little family with our own blog....latedah.....hahaha i love this. so proud of you rose for figuring it out. now be honest, did you have help? teehee i think this is going to be great. we had the most beautiful weather today. 75 and sunny. tomorrow we get 77.....so nice. we are still waiting on the 100% ok for our house. not with the loan, we were approved, but this underwriter thing, they needed all this info. so now we are waiting. we ended up using a different mortgage company which is why it is taking longer still, but the rate was a bit lower. we are excited and have started packing already. i hope nothing can hold it up now. i will let you know when we are for sure in like flint. otherwise, things here in kentucky are just normal....slow and normal....yall. of course the baby is my heart and kelly is doing good also. poor reese is so homesick, but times going by faster now for him, and soon he will be with his family again. i miss everyone so much. this just makes me miss you more, but i love it. i think of everyone daily. love and hugs from kentucky.......

Woo Hooo...I got on!!!! Go Rosie! Go Rosie!!! Had a little trouble figuring this out but eventually went back to square one and got on! Well, I think this whole thing might be fun...will be interesting to see how much its used. This might be the beginning of a big family journal.
I love you all,
Aunt Rose

I'm in! Whew.

I predict that this family communications vehicle is going to end up so huge that it will be difficult to read and follow. LOL! :) Despite how much we all want to show off everything we have to offer in life, might I suggest that we all refrain from using the LARGE photo selection and keep it to small and medium? Including fonts and sizes, etc. It's a lovely, sunny day here in SoCal. We're suppose to have the high 80s! Love to all!

ok, now im hooked. this is so cool ingrid. that main thing is not to use the comment thing to write your blog. you need to set up the google thing and then this comes up and you can post your message. then if someone wants to make a comment to your post, then use the comment tab thing. hahah did yall get that. anyway, it really isnt too hard once you sign in to google and fine this dashboard thing. i did what aunt esther did and made it a favorite and it comes right up so i can write. good luck all, keep trying, you will figure it out. love to all of you

wooohooo, i think i did it. of course i used our baby......love to all....im a success....

did i do it right...

this is too funny. we are going to have hundreds of blogs just trying to figure it out....i signed in to the google acct and then did what aunt esther said and this new window came up. so i will write here and see what it does. am going to try to put a picture in today some time. wish me luck. love you guys.

HOW TO POST ON THIS BLOG

Hello, family! Here is a lesson in using the blog.

1. You'll need an account. It's free, just register and get over it. Blogger is run by Google and they already have your personal info right down to the grime around your bathtub drain, so don't even stress it. If you received my invite you are probably already through this.
   
   
2. TO GET TO THE EDIT PART: The URL I emailed you is for reading only. If you are a registered member you should see little "icons" for editing things next to some of the sections, but if not, don't stress it.
   
   To actually log in, use this URL instead:
   
   http://www.blogger.com/home or http://beta.blogger.com/home
   
   I'm not really sure which you'll see -- I happen to be on this beta thing and that could be causing some of the disconnect. Anyway............
   
   
3. TO ENTER A NEW POST: When you get to that page, you should see a page that lists your blogs, or blogs to which you are a member. There should be options for NEW POST for at least this one. Click on that, and you should see a form-field page with Title field for the blog entry header, and a big brown & white box for you to type in the actual text. Type away!
   
   
4. TO UPLOAD PHOTOS just click on the "picture" icon at the top of the brown & white box. It's a little tricky - it opens another window and you browse for the photos on your computer. If they are really huge photos (high res or big dimensions) it may take a while to upload, so just let it run in the background. If you know how to shrink them down to JPG (72dpi and about 640x480 height/width) then you'll be faster. You can do up to 5 at a time, and if you want more just wait for those first 5 and then click the icon and do it again... and again... etc.
   
   
5. TO SAVE you can "Save as Draft" so that you can continue to edit later - and no one will see the entery until you're done - or you can click "Publish" which saves and publishes the blog entry for all family members to see and scrutinize or gush over in true Barrett fashion. Most of the time you'll probably just click "Publish" and get on with it.

The end.

Give this a try. If you still have problems, let me know. The registration part is probably the hardest part... that is, getting you permission to edit/enter posts. Other than that, you can't really break it, so don't stress out if things go awry or if you want to experiment. (Just don't edit any HTML code, please).

If this does become a huge problem for everyone, I'll find another program, but really it's not that bad once you're in.

LOVE YOU!
Me

I think I figured it out!

Well, I think this is how to get on here. What a great idea this is and thank you so much Ing, for taking the time to do it. It will be fun to send information to everyone at once and keep in touch. Love to all, Es.

Welcome to our new blog!

Hello, world. This is the new shared family space for all decendants of Merle & Irmgard Barrett and their spouses and families. And pets, why not - we are all animal lovers. Okay and our ships, toys, and other crazy things, and our memories.

So if you're authorized, go ahead and post. I'll send you instructions. You can post pictures (Devin's championship games!) and you can post logs of your adventures (Kath's birthday cruise is coming up!) and you can post your warm wishes (Reese & his fellow sailors) and anything your heart desires.

This blog is private. Only family members can post entries and photos. People won't find this list on Blogger or Google or Yahoo or any search engine, so it's not viewable to the public. HOWEVER, you can send anyone the URL (address) and they can share in our family joys and triumphs by reading and commenting - for example, Leslie and Lanelle. So use discretion.

It's pretty easy to use this thing, but if you're lost, stuck, or confused, let me know. I'll fix it or walk you through it. (But I won't do it for you :)

LOVE & KISSES!!!
Ing