On the way home from church today we asked Ellie what she learned in her Sunbeams class. She very excitedly and enthusiastically told us the following:
"We learned a story about the Lamanites who planted their seeds, but then the seagulls came and ate up all the bugs, and then they all prayed to God that He would say thank you to the seagulls and give them some food to eat!!"
Hmmm....
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Dancing Queen
At the recent University Village Health & Wellness Fair, Ellie really got into the music. I love her interpretive dancing!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
A different phone farewell
I was on the phone with my brother the other day and Ellie really, really wanted me to hang up and play with her. She kept repeating (loudly), "Say goodbye! Say goodbye! Say goodbye!" Finally, in exasperation, she said, "In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!!"
Guess that means closure to her--the end of waiting for something to finish. We'll have to work on the patience skills...
Guess that means closure to her--the end of waiting for something to finish. We'll have to work on the patience skills...
Friday, April 11, 2008
The Great Las Vegas Adventure
For your reading enjoyment (and to help you procrastinate whatever it is you probably -should- be doing right now), here's a slightly delayed report of our trip to see family in Las Vegas for Easter:
The drive there was uneventful--I didn't throw up even once! We left at about 9am and arrived in the early evening. Ellie soaked through a pull-up, but it wasn't anything a bath and a load of laundry couldn't fix.
Dan and Aranne's house is beautiful, friendly, and wonderfully comfortable. We felt very at home there. It's changed a lot since we were last there (the decor, not the friendliness level!)...I guess 5+ years can do that. We've got to get out to visit more often!
Holly and Mike A. were also visiting, and it was great to see them. Ellie made the most of her time with Grandma by begging to sit on her lap for every meal and to play with her every non-eating second. I've got to say, it was nice to not be the only go-to adult around during the day!
Ellie loved Easter Morning. As the only kid there, she really raked in the goods.
Easter dinner was scrumptious, and the weather was nice enough that we were able to eat outside. Actually, the weather was nice the whole time we were there. It was warmer in Las Vegas than I expected, and I didn't pack enough short-sleeve shirts for Ellie and myself. Wasn't much of a problem, though, since Dan & Aranne had this thing called a washing machine...in their house! Imagine that! We didn't even have to use quarters! It was super cool! Sure beats student family laundry rooms.
Monday morning the two Mikes headed off to do some male bonding in Death Valley. Mike-the-Older-and-Wiser was feeling sick and coughing a lot, but he hung in there and went anyway. Mike-the-Younger-and-Better-Looking (as he calls himself in response to his father's self-decided nickname) was enthused and ready to conquer some sand dunes or whatever it is you do in Death Valley. He'll have to post about that later. Maybe he can also write about how our trunk latch mysterious broke while they were driving 50 on a bumpy dirt road....
In any case, back to Las Vegas. My goal was to be able to say I'd taken my preschool daughter to a casino in Las Vegas for Spring Break, and happily that goal was accomplished when we went to go see a laser and water show at Sam's Town. Ellie loved every minute of it and still talks about it. I had to pick her up and carry her on the way out--those slot machines looked really shiny and fun, apparently. She asked what the people were doing with them, but I managed to distract her with a well-timed treat. I wasn't really sure I wanted her explaining "gambling" and "slots" to her preschool friends the Monday after Spring Break.
Other fun goings-on included feeding the fish at the marina, swimming/relaxing in the hot tub (the water was warm, but not hot, so Ellie could get it), visiting a spiffy new water conservation themed museum (that sounds SO much less cool than it really was!), starting Twilight (never begin reading a book your friends recommend at 10pm, no matter how low your expectations might be), and just talking and relaxing.
Mike and I reluctantly (and belatedly) packed up luggage and daughter on Wednesday, leaving around 3pm. The drive seemed longer on the way back...maybe it had something to do with getting home at 1:30am.
Anyway, it was a great trip, and one that we'll have to make again sometime.
The drive there was uneventful--I didn't throw up even once! We left at about 9am and arrived in the early evening. Ellie soaked through a pull-up, but it wasn't anything a bath and a load of laundry couldn't fix.
Dan and Aranne's house is beautiful, friendly, and wonderfully comfortable. We felt very at home there. It's changed a lot since we were last there (the decor, not the friendliness level!)...I guess 5+ years can do that. We've got to get out to visit more often!
Holly and Mike A. were also visiting, and it was great to see them. Ellie made the most of her time with Grandma by begging to sit on her lap for every meal and to play with her every non-eating second. I've got to say, it was nice to not be the only go-to adult around during the day!
Ellie loved Easter Morning. As the only kid there, she really raked in the goods.
Easter dinner was scrumptious, and the weather was nice enough that we were able to eat outside. Actually, the weather was nice the whole time we were there. It was warmer in Las Vegas than I expected, and I didn't pack enough short-sleeve shirts for Ellie and myself. Wasn't much of a problem, though, since Dan & Aranne had this thing called a washing machine...in their house! Imagine that! We didn't even have to use quarters! It was super cool! Sure beats student family laundry rooms.
Monday morning the two Mikes headed off to do some male bonding in Death Valley. Mike-the-Older-and-Wiser was feeling sick and coughing a lot, but he hung in there and went anyway. Mike-the-Younger-and-Better-Looking (as he calls himself in response to his father's self-decided nickname) was enthused and ready to conquer some sand dunes or whatever it is you do in Death Valley. He'll have to post about that later. Maybe he can also write about how our trunk latch mysterious broke while they were driving 50 on a bumpy dirt road....
In any case, back to Las Vegas. My goal was to be able to say I'd taken my preschool daughter to a casino in Las Vegas for Spring Break, and happily that goal was accomplished when we went to go see a laser and water show at Sam's Town. Ellie loved every minute of it and still talks about it. I had to pick her up and carry her on the way out--those slot machines looked really shiny and fun, apparently. She asked what the people were doing with them, but I managed to distract her with a well-timed treat. I wasn't really sure I wanted her explaining "gambling" and "slots" to her preschool friends the Monday after Spring Break.
Other fun goings-on included feeding the fish at the marina, swimming/relaxing in the hot tub (the water was warm, but not hot, so Ellie could get it), visiting a spiffy new water conservation themed museum (that sounds SO much less cool than it really was!), starting Twilight (never begin reading a book your friends recommend at 10pm, no matter how low your expectations might be), and just talking and relaxing.
Mike and I reluctantly (and belatedly) packed up luggage and daughter on Wednesday, leaving around 3pm. The drive seemed longer on the way back...maybe it had something to do with getting home at 1:30am.
Anyway, it was a great trip, and one that we'll have to make again sometime.
Monday, April 7, 2008
No Dissertation
"No Dissertation" is (as you will quickly hear) a parody of the Rolling Stones song "Satisfaction".Ironically, Pam, the female vocalist, starting writing the song about the same time last year that I completed "The Unfinished Thesis", which is very similar in message and feeling.
Stronger
"Stronger" is a parody of Kayne West's song, um, "Stronger".
My friend and classmate Vinci is the genius who edited the video (and "No Dissertation") and painstakingly added the special effects. As you will see, the finale is simply inspired.
Berkeley econ skit party, 2008
The eagerly anticipated Berkeley econ skit party took place last night (April 6th) in the Lipman Room at the top of Barrows Hall. Highlights included Prasad's hilarious impersonations of the faculty, a raucous new auction segment with heated bidding wars for various goods and services, and two new music videos from The Metrics Gang that I helped out with (the above posts link to them).
I also very much enjoyed being sneakily tricked into participating in the second-year skit of Faculty Quote Jeopardy by Juan Carlos and Charlie. It was a very funny skit, but it was also an especially funny inside joke that my friends had plotted all along to include me, not tell me as much, and then ask just as they were setting things up that they needed a third year to help them out with the skit. Oh, it was also fun to win (though in fairness, the game was rigged in my favor).
The finest moment of the proceedings was when George Akerlof--one of the winners of the 2001 Nobel Prize in economics--won the teaching award voted by graduate students and said in his humble, sincere George way as he accepted that it was the best award he had ever received. How classy is that? :-)
I also very much enjoyed being sneakily tricked into participating in the second-year skit of Faculty Quote Jeopardy by Juan Carlos and Charlie. It was a very funny skit, but it was also an especially funny inside joke that my friends had plotted all along to include me, not tell me as much, and then ask just as they were setting things up that they needed a third year to help them out with the skit. Oh, it was also fun to win (though in fairness, the game was rigged in my favor).
The finest moment of the proceedings was when George Akerlof--one of the winners of the 2001 Nobel Prize in economics--won the teaching award voted by graduate students and said in his humble, sincere George way as he accepted that it was the best award he had ever received. How classy is that? :-)
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