Kirst Afloat

Perspective

I was going to write about my Jeep---specifically the fact that the odometer hit the 1,000 mile mark today.  However right before I logged in Typepad, I clicked on a message on Facebook.  Once I read it, my Jeep seemed insignificant.  Interesting how something can hit you and make you realize, yet again, what is really important.  Here is the Boston Herald article.

Classmates Raise $$ for Slain Man’s Son

By Jessica Van Sack  |   Wednesday, July 16, 2008  | 

 

High school classmates of a 40-year-old former Army medic beaten to death in broad daylight on the Fourth of July are banding together to make sure his 6-year-old son has plenty of clothes and school supplies as he grows up without a dad.

“Our class is determined to raise a significant amount of money,” said marketing executive Eric Friedberg, 40, who graduated from Framingham North High School in 1986 with Timothy Peter Finch.

Finch, a troubled man, beloved by a large Mattapan family, was killed July 4 at noon just steps from Faneuil Hall when someone delivered a strong blow to the back of his head during a brawl.

Passers-by dismissed the melee as homeless men scuffling. As Finch lay dying, blood pouring from the back of his head, the suspect got away.

In happier times, Friedberg described how Finch, in the METCO program, would awaken each morning at 5 a.m. for the long trek from Mattapan to Framingham.

His junior year, Finch was a standout lineman who helped lead the football team to an 8-2 record, said former teammate Gary Murad, 40.

After reading about Finch’s death in the Herald on Monday, classmates decided to set up a foundation in Finch’s memory, with the goal of raising $10,000 for his son, Timothy Jr.

Modell’s Sporting Goods has agreed to chip in as well, Friedberg said.

Those wishing to donate can send checks payable to the Tim Finch Foundation, 130 Craft St., Newton, MA 02460.

I cannot say that Tim Finch was a close friend of mine, but he was a classmate.  Nobody deserves to die like this.  It also brings back memories of another classmate who was lost before her time: Robin Kaplan who was on American Airlines Flight 11 on 9/11.

Related Story (with more information about Tim):    Who Killed Tim Finch?

Claire & Red

Monday Monday

It's early and quiet here in the mountains.  Both Claire & James are still asleep and I'm going to make a coffee soon.  Haven't had one in a couple of days so it should taste especially nice.

Just watched new YouTube videos which Matt put together for us.  There is one of Cathy's graduation from Michigan, one of the Greece Trip (Santorini & Athens with a little of Dubai thrown in at the end) and one of the Desert Safari in Dubai.  They're awesome!  Once I can embed them here, I will.  There is also a second version of Claire's birthday party---same video, different music.  I actually prefer the "Let's Get it Started" version although Tom prefers the other one.

Spend most of yesterday finished our 2007 Shutterfly book.  Last year I made our first book.  It's basically a compilation of digital photos from the year, organized by month.  It's a large undertaking but I like the final result.  This year's is definitely an improvement over the last one.  Our internet connection yesterday was pretty fast (until the night) and I was able to edit and improve the book.  I managed to delete a bunch of pages and be more concise.  There were several areas that were boring because of overkill.  Can't wait to order the book but I will wait until there's a killer sale. (I need to order 7 copies and it's 70 pages.)

I also was able to make our book for last summer's trip to Heather's.  The first one I made was a 12" x 12" book which really was too big.  Some of the pictures didn't have high enough resolution to be crisp.  (Hoping that issue will be a non-issue in the future since the purchase of my new Canon.)  This time I went with an 8" x 8" book.  Didn't write much but the photos are well-organized---especially for the Pirate Adventure.  The Tamara Winery photos are also amusing.  Ordered two copies of the book to be shipped to Heather's.  They should arrive when we are there next week.

Also edited all of the photos thus far from the summer.  Will upload them to Shutterfly in preparation for the 2008 book.  I'm a bit more on the ball this year.  (I hope.)

On the agenda for today: Pack for our two week trip to Boston/Virginia/DC (we leave in the morning), go to the Summer Reading finale at the library, and take Claire to her horse riding lesson. 

(Claire was in tears last night in bed...couldn't sleep...as she was worried about this lesson.  The last two Mondays something bad happened to her while on a horse---the first Monday she fell off while trotting on the trail, as you may recall;  the next Monday, Red freaked out and tried to throw her off after she mounted.  That was totally off behavior for Red.  He's a very gentle horse that the instructor's 4-year-old grandson typically rides.  Claire then changed to Circus.  She is supposed to ride Circus today although she's worried about trotting on him as she hasn't before.  She's also worried that another mishap will occur.  Claire calmed down last night when I reminded her the one of the beads that the flower fairy (who visited the other night to eat the chocolate that the kids left out for her) left is of a horse shoe and horse.  Claire fell asleep with it in her hand and plans to put it in her jeans pocket for her lesson.  Crisis averted.

Georgia Signs, Part I and II

Spotted at the North Georgia Mountain Fair:

Benny definitely has a sense of humor...but does he know Nancy Kissel?

Sick

Sorry for the silence...we've had major internet issues out here in the boonies.  Now that Tom is back in Asia, our desk top connection is working a lot better.  I think having his laptop on the WIFI somehow sapped the connection away from the desk top.  Also, there was a lot of rain/clouds when he was here and we have satellite internet at the moment.  Can't wait until our contract is up and we can switch to DSL which now comes all the way up our mountain.

Anyway...yesterday I woke up at 3 am feeling sick.  The miserable "I think I need to puke" sick.  Never actually did it but maybe that is worse.  Not sure.  I eventually went back to sleep at around 6 am and dozed off for another two hours.  Felt really sick when I awoke.  I was also very dizzy for most of the day. 

Claire was AWESOME!  I parked myself on the couch and she brought me water, an ice pack, blankets, popsicles, etc.  So sweet.  She also went (of her own accord) and made her bed.  She volunteered to make lunch for everyone (I passed).  She and James had very nice sandwiches to eat.  I think it's the first time that she's ever made a sandwich!  Later on in the day I had a hot bath in our awesome tub which doesn't get used enough...slept a bit after that.  Thank god for DS Lites...both kids were playing theirs while I slept. 

Felt much better when I woke up.  My mom called and she brought dinner over to the house.  I was able to eat a salad at that point.  I also felt good enough to tidy the kitchen, the living room and to vacuum both of those areas before she arrived.  The kids LOVED playing with Grandma after dinner.

All in all, it was a pretty good day.  Claire is such a good person...James was also pretty good but he's not at that stage where he helps out much yet.

We leave for Boston on Tuesday...and then we continue onwards to Virginia (to visit Heather) and DC (to meet up with three of my roommates from Brown). 

I hope to post about Claire & horses (with some photos) and the North Georgia Mountain Fair before we head out.

Camp, Pt 2

Claire had a much better day yesterday.  There were no falls involved.  (Claire has mentioned that the fall was pretty cool until she hit the ground.  That part kind of sucked.)  Claire did well in the arena and trotted a bit.  She's still nervous about trotting.  There was a change of horse in the morning.  Claire rode Mr. D instead of Domino.  I guess Mr. D is a gentler horse.  During the trail ride, the teacher went in front of Claire so that Mr. D couldn't start trotting.  Claire was scared but did well and her teacher told her that she was proud that Claire got back up on a horse.

When I picked her up, Claire was covered in dirt.  Very funny to see.  She's now walking like she's 95...I thought her jeans and boots had a lot to do with it but after she changed, there wasn't much of a difference.  Poor thing.  She hanging in there, though.  It will be interesting to see if Claire wants to continue with riding after this experience!

Horse Camp

I don't have a lot of time at the moment as I need to meet my mom at the gym in 30 minutes.

Yesterday was Claire's first day of Horse Camp.  We drove over to Track Rock (I thought we were going to be late but we actually ended up waiting around for awhile once we were there) and Claire looked very cute in her new jeans and boots.  She had her helmet, her lunch and her swimming stuff for later in the afternoon.  There were 5 cousins dressed in matching shirts hanging around when we arrived.  Later on there was another girl or two and a boy.

When I left, Claire looked a bit uncertain.  I was impressed when the boy's father told all of the girls "This is Chris".  Dead silence.  Claire waited a bit and then was the only person to say, "Hi, Chris". 

At about one o'clock, the phone rang.  I picked it up and was told that Claire had fallen off of her horse and had a bloody nose.  I didn't need to come get her but they were bringing her back to the stables.  (They were on their trail ride when this happened.)  James and I headed out to do errands and play miniature golf when Tom rang and told me Claire wanted to come home.

When we arrived, Claire was sitting on the couch crying.  Her nose was fine but her side/back on one side was scraped up and raw in places.  I stayed for awhile and Claire decided that she would stay.  James and I went and met Domino, her horse for the week.  When we left, Claire was taking off the tack.  The kids later had ice cream and went swimming in the lake.

I now know what Claire will look like when she's ninety.  She's hobbling around...one leg is very sore.  I think it's more from the riding than from the fall.  I hope today will go well.

More later...

Fifth of July

The jet lag is finally over but everyone is tired today.  Yesterday we went to the beach (Vogel State Park...there is a lake there with a man made beach area) with my mom.  Claire & James had a great time although Claire looked like lobster girl last night.  That girl can swim...she spent almost the entire time we were there in the water.  (I took the kids to Vogel on the 3rd as well...so two days in a row with a lot of swimming.)

James was the naughtiest he's ever been yesterday.  Not sure why.  But it was one thing after another...sigh.  Not sure if it's because we've switched continents, he's excited to have grandma around, he's still a bit jet lagged or if he's just decided to be plain awful.  Tom is definitely nearing the end of his patience with the James-er man. 

On Tuesday, I took both kids to see Kung Fu Panda and then they played at Fun World.  They loved all of the games and James especially liked sliding down the big inflatable slide in the Foam World area.  Claire's been impressed with all of the stuff we've already done this summer.  Horse Camp starts on Monday so that's another big thing for her.  Also, my mom is picking Claire up later this afternoon for a sleep-over. 

We went to the fireworks last night...they were excellent although Claire fell asleep early into the display, James a bit later and then me.  It was a LONG...I would say a good 30 minutes.  Also, they started very late this year...about 9:40.  Not sure why as it was dark before then. 

Here are a couple of photos from last night.  The kids played in the field near the bank while we waited for the fireworks.

4:48

Well, it was an improvement over yesterday.  Claire actually got up earlier (2?  3?) and wandered into our bedroom.  Turns out that she needed to use the toilet and didn't want to go in her bedroom as she was worried about waking James.  (She is such a GOOD kid...)  I thought she'd climb into our bed after that, but she went back to her bedroom and we didn't hear anything else until 4:48.  Then both kids turned up.

4:48 is only 12 minutes before 5.  However, psychologically, I have issues with getting up at 4 in the morning.  Five I can handle...I often do that in Hong Kong. 

Everyone hit the wall last night.  The kids fell asleep on the couches fairly early---around six, I believe.  We forced them up to eat dinner and then they went straight back to the couches and were asleep instantaneously.  Weird.  I also was falling asleep and finally made it up to bed around 9.  Tom carried James upstairs and then frogmarched Claire upstairs afterwards.  I was very thankful that I wasn't doing that.

I think the worst of the jet lag is over.  The kids played for ages yesterday. I've laid down the law about tv and video games.  The amount of time spent doing these activities will be greatly reduced.  We got into very bad habits in Hong Kong over the last month due to the amount of rain (a new record) and the fact that the kids were sick a couple of times.  Tom has ordered a Wii, though, so I know once that turns up we'll be gaming away.

Yesterday afternoon the kids and I tidied up the downstairs.  Almost all of the toys are away (other than the Little Tikes table that is full of clutter from Christmas holidays).  We seriously need to have a clear out---there are quite a few toys that are now "too young" for the kids.  We also picked more blackberries yesterday (which the kids love to eat).  Tom gardened and power washed like a champion.

Kung Fu Panda is on the radar for today.  Tom has two conference calls and I need to get the kids out of the house.  I LOVE our house but an open floor plan is not conducive to a quiet work space.  We should have had the office area closed in.

Still dark outside...am going to go make myself a cappuccino. 

3:30 am

I managed to keep the kids awake until 8:30 pm.  All was quiet and well until Master James was vocal and AWAKE at 3:30.  Tried to lull him back to sleep in my room but gave up at 4 am.  Ugh.  I told him at that point that he could get up but no DS Lite.  Can't handle playing head-to-head Mario Kart at the moment.  In addition, he's played WAY too much Mario Kart during the last several days.  Claire crept downstairs at 4:30 am.

About to go drink my second (very strong) coffee of the day.  Can I just say (once again) that I love my Rancilio Silvia???  I'm awaiting fresh delivery from Ancora Roasters but I did have two unopened packages (in the freezer) left over from Christmas.  I meant to take them back to Hong Kong but forgot..

Here's a photo of my mom taken by Claire.  Claire was also responsible for my mom's accessories and make-up.