A more personal update

So I realize that this blog has gotten a bit political lately. Let's face it, there's no way to escape politics in the next two weeks! And seeing that Jaime and I consider ourselves fairly politically informed (we like to think so, anyway) it's only natural that we would feel inclined to share our opinions on everything.

So here is a real blog post, about us! I know I keep complaining that we're just too busy to try and keep up, but I'll do my best -

We had a wonderful opportunity to catch bro in law Joe playing volleyball at the University of British Columbia two weekends ago. Plus it had been a while since Jaime and I had taken a road trip. So after learning late Friday night that Joe's game was at 1pm, and not 3 like originally planned, we sped out of the city on a Beautiful Saturday morning. Fortunately there wasn't much of a wait at the border, and we promptly arrived at UBC. Joe was busy with practice, so we walked around campus for a bit, and then headed back for the game. Let me just say, there are WAY more rules to college volleyball than I ever thought, and it's a very fast paced game. It was nice to be able to provide a little spirit for the Tigers, and Joe put on a good show. Unfortunately they lost this set 3-2, but later beat the University of Hawaii 3-2 as well!

We spent a bit of time wandering around the Kitsilano neighborhood. Our funniest moment of the trip was when Jaime discovered a cute little marketplace that we stopped in - as we began looking around, I noticed that the labels on merchandise looked an awful lot like the Whole Foods labels. Low and behold, Capers is the Canuck version of Whole Foods. Oh well. Sorry Jaime, had to share.

After a quick stop at a Canadian winery, and a 90 minute wait to get back in the States (where apparently I sounded like a Canadian to the Border Patrol agent) we met up with Courtney and Dan at their house in Bellingham for dinner. It was an absolute blast to spend some time with them as we haven't seen them in months!!! Thanks again for dinner, guys, and hopefully we'll see you again soon!

Sunday dad Jim was in town, so we of course had lunch at Spuds, visited some open houses, and had a wonderful dinner at Ray's Boathouse. Thanks again, Jim!

(Mostly) Satire at its best!

What would it be like with Sarah Palin as president?

Original...


Much Funnier Version...

Gravity - 1; Geoff - 0

So in my effort to battle the elements, the giant Cedar tree on the south side of our house, and the mess that is our gutters, I took a slight fall today...from the ladder...

(Missed the gutter)

As I was trying to spray out the gutters, I extended slightly, and in that instant, the ladder slipped a little, and quickly toppled...I reached for anything I could, but as you can see from the image below, I was not successful...

(Hand print left by my muddy glove)

Fortunately for me, I was on the short side of the house - it slopes slightly downward from East to West. Of course, this may have also played a part in the ladder's loose footing. Also fortunately, the Fuchsia bush was there to break my fall even more - especially since I landed on it flat on my back...

(Poor Fuchsia, we'll miss you!)

I know for a fact that I cursed at the top of my lungs as I fell, and not 5 seconds later Jaime was standing over me (she had been pruning in the front yard)...I assured her I was ok, and lay there for about 30 seconds, still trying to figure out how it had all started. She helped me out of the bush, and I regained my composure. We spent the rest of the afternoon pruning the Fuchsia, sweeping up the mess, and called it a day.

I'm a little stiff at the moment, but I'm sure tomorrow morning is going to be when I really feel it. Nothing an Aleve and a beer can't take care of.

Did you think I was lieing?

Did you not believe that a Vice Presidential candidate would not be able to name a Supreme Court case other than Roe vs. Wade? I give you Katie Couric, and Mrs. Sarah Palin...

Quick...

Name one supreme court case other than Roe vs. Wade...

Ok?

Good...you're doing better than Sarah Palin!

Also, enjoy this link

More of NYC

So Tuesday we headed back into NYC. Fortunately the weather had cooled off considerably! After the train/subway ride we arrived at Battery park and got in line for the ride to Ellis Island...

Ellis Island itself is an amazing experience! To think of all the people that passed through, and the roughly two percent who got put back on boats and sent home...And apparently if you were in first or second class on a boat, they dropped you off on Manhattan and you got to bypass Ellis Island altogether! After splurging for the self guided audio tour, grabbing some lunch, and wandering around until 3:30 or so, we headed back to Manhattan and Grand Central Station. Be sure to check the full album for some great pictures of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, and also one with Jaime in her headphones!

(Next, Please!)

The only other major event was that we had just left when our train stopped still in the station, and we ended up having to switch trains because of some door problem. The only problem was it was five o'clock and we had managed to find seats on the first train. Not so much for Jaime and I on the second train. Fortunately mom and dad did, and it was an express train back to Westport! Oh also Tuesday night Judy and Kathy did a shot of Sambuca - think licorice flavored liquor, lit on fire, with a coffee bean dropped in for good measure. Ask me to see the video!

Wednesday morning we woke up and took my parents out to the local state park to visit the September 11th memorial they have there. Apparently on that date, people traveled to the park because it looks out over Long Island sound, and you could see the smoke rising from lower Manhattan, and a lot of the people that live in Westport knew people that worked in the World Trade Center.

After a trouble free drive into Newark, we dropped mom and dad off at the airport and they were on their way back to Seattle. Jaime and I headed back to Westport and met Jim and Judy at the local Mexican joint, and some more punishment of livers!