Crafty

JP volunteered to manage a big fundraiser for the LSW speech team. This Tuesday at The Lodge at Wilderness Ridge, we're having a Wreath Auction shindig. Food, drinks, and Christmas wreaths!

JP had her faithful helper at her side throughout all the crafting activities. "Helping Mom sew is almost as much fun as helping her knit," says V the cat.

Our next door neighbor came over helped make birdseed wreaths.

I had to sew bells onto the pinecone gnomes' hats.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving weekend in IL this year with Nana & Walter and JP's cousins. We were blessed with good weather, good food, and fun family.

Walter the Cat

We enjoyed hanging out with family and Walter the Cat over Thanksgiving. He is nothing but a big fuzzball that likes to cause trouble.

Zombie Ammo

Scheeles is now carrying "Certified Zombie Ammuntion" from Hornady. Gotta be ready for the zombie apocalypse, y'know. I didn't see it in the store, but Hornady is also making it for pistols and rifles.

Here's a demo of it in action: 

XMas Lights

We were blessed with a beautiful day the weekend before Thanksgiving, so we put up the Christmas lights. This year we switched to some new colored bulbs instead of the white ones we've had for the previous 8 years. The LED lights are pretty, but they're only 1/10th as bright as our old ones despite having a light every four inches.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we had a record high of 75° which would have been perfect for light installation. A lot of my friends at work wanted to put up their lights then, but like us, they were busy with family and could not. Too bad for them, as the next day the high was only in the 20's with blowing wind.

Speech Time Again

CP went to his first tournament of the season this weekend. At 4:30 AM, we received notice that the debate event had been cancelled due to weather. We waited for word about the speech event, but it never came, so we went to school and loaded CP on the bus to Omaha at 6:30. During the day, we received 3-4" of fluffy snow. Just enough to cover everything. 

DONE!

Save the date for UNL's graduate commencement: Friday December 19, 2014. I finished my last class a couple weeks ago (!!!) and am now trying to get back into my life.

Go Big Red!

JP & I went to the Purdue game this weekend. It was a nice day (45°) but there was a bit of a 20 mph breeze that kept it feeling cool. The Army Golden Knights parachute team flew in. They dropped from a few thousand feet two miles south of the stadium and did a freefall to a few hundred feet. The lowest guy was barely visible above the rim of the stadium - we thought for sure that there was no way he'd be able to make it to the stadium, much less clear the bleachers. The winds aloft must have been blowing pretty good, because he made it with no problem.

We were invited by the dean of engineering at UNL. We had a great lunch at the Chancellor's pre-game party in the Lied Center. It's not your normal beer-soaked tailgate party. We thought we had pretty good seats in the 10th row at the 40-yard line, but our neighbor's daughter texted us and said she was on the 50, just 6 rows behind us. 

Despite fumbles and interceptions, the Huskers were able to pull off a win.

Fall Decor

While CP and I were in Utah, JP decorated the front porch for Halloween.

CP's 1st Road Trip

We left G&G's early in the morning and headed north to SLC. We spent the night at R&J's new house up on the mountain. 

The next day we headed east and crossed Wyoming and Nebraska. The speed limit is 80, and the constant up and down was a challenge for CP to maintain a constant speed. We went slow up the hills and fast down the back sides. 

We skirted a snowstorm that was pounding the Medicine Bow mountains west of Laramie. It was a sticky wet snow that stuck to every pine needle and branch. We were able to make it home by 9:30 PM. Not bad for an 890 mile first road trip.

Desert Rocks

We had a picnic lunch out in the desert by a butte that has some cool petroglyphs.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day. Sunshine, warmth from the sun, coolness in the shade, and every now and then, a vintage jet cruising overhead.

CP's New Car

CP and I flew out to southern Utah to pick up his new car from G&G. When we arrived at the new St. George airport, there was a warbirds fly-in going on. CP got to sit in the cockpit of a MIG-15. I think this was the highlight of his trip - he tells all of his friends about it.

After the airport, we headed out to the desert to work on the concept of a clutch pedal and driving stick. The truck is a lot easier to drive than my Subaru.

For dinner, we were treated to CP's dream restaurant: an all you can eat sushi buffet. After that, we climbed up on the big rock overlooking the valley and caught the sunset.

CP gets his height from his grampa.

Pool Shark

The girls next door invited us out for an evening at one of their favorite watering holes. The boys at pizza & wings and then played pool against our neighbor the pool shark.

JPs Snow Tires

All wheel drive is great in the snow only if your tires aren't slippery. This year we got some sticky rubber for JP's ride. GP loves to help out with car maintenance.

Fall Colors

Our yard really took off this fall with its colors.

The rose bushes just keep going on and on.

Basement Season

Our ex-neighbors finally completed the basement of their new house. The ginormous 80" TV is up and showing football games, the arcade machine is glowing, the poker table is separating fools from their chips, and the kegerator is pouring two flavors of cold beer. Between their place and ours, we should be able to ride out the coming winter in style.

CP's Sweet 16

CP turned 16 this year! It's hard to believe that he has grown up so much so quickly. We treated ourselves to dinner at a new sushi restaurant in the Haymarket: Blue. CP LOVES sushi and was excited to try some new types.

Honors

CP took part in the honors ceremony at his school. It was at 2:00 in the afternoon. I never expected that so many other parents would do the same thing. We filled one full side of the gym bleachers. Hopefully this will be a regular event for our boys.

GP's B-Day

GP had a bunch of friends over for his birthday. We got 50 wings from BWW, and they ate them all without slowing. It's amazing how much teen boys can eat.

For our family celebration, we went to GP's favorite restaurant, The Olive Garden. He's a pasta boy. 

Dove Family

Our doves hatched and grew up in the back yard. The babies stayed pretty much in the shrubberies of the berm, but now and then ventured out into the open to catch some rays.

World DEMs

I found a site that has digital elevation models for the entire planet from a Space Shuttle radar mapping mission. I modified my Excel programs to work with the file format and now I'm able to make colored maps of anywhere. I know, I know, Google Earth can do that, but not really, and I've been tweaking on my Excel app since before Google Earth and Terra Server were accessible. There's some satisfaction in seeing my own output.

Here are some random snapshots of our planet. They're all 1920 pixels wide to be used as wallpaper. To really appreciate them, you'll have to view them at full size. There are a lot of fine details that don't show up in the thumbnails below. 

If/when I ever finish school, I'd like to try some super hi-resolution prints on our large-format printer at work. If you have any place on earth that you'd like to see, let me know.  

SW Lybian sand dunes

The Emi Koussi volcano and the Arounga meteorite crater in Chad

SW Iran. Persian Sea is the black at the SW corner.

Samarkand, Southern Uzbekistan

Iceland. The big smooth pink-ringed patch on the right is the glacier/icecap over the Bardarbunga volcano that's erupting right now.

Rio Somiloes in NE Brazil

Southern Michigan

Coteau des Prairies, South Dakota / Minnesota

NW Territories, Canada, Eh. 

The MacKenzie River is at SW corner, Great Slave Lake is on the east edge.