Pure Abby

Melon head

These were not done on purpose. Both taken the same day.

Abigail likes to see pictures of herself. I am posting these for her so she can look at herself online.

I was just reading earlier this week about the National Park in American Samoa and was thinking this might be a good place to work. A tsunami hit there today and many of the workers are missing. Quite sad. Even though it's so far away I feel like they are our neighbors. It could have easily been us.

Zombies

Marnie zombie?

Night of the Living Dead zombie girl.

What is it with Zombies? Ok, so I happen to believe this particular version of Armageddon will be the one, but why am I not the only one to be particularly fascinated with these blood-hungry dead people? It seems like I should be the only one drawn to the horror of postmortem cannibalism.

It began with George Romero's Night of the Living Dead, well, I guess it did for most. For me, it's the way the terror begins, the young couple unknowingly driving to meet their end. Then of course subsequent popular films continued prepping us for the infection - Resident Evil (Mila is hot!), 28 Days Later, and there's many more, everything from Redneck zombie's to Astro-zombies.

Exploration of possible past and future outbreaks of zombies is found is a variety of forums. For example, there is a page on Archaeology.org website: http://www.archaeology.org/online/interviews/zombies/
Now, I work at an archaeological repository, and everything we say is true, so how could I possibly ignore the archaeological record of zombie outbreaks?

So what is it about Zombies? They don't feel any pain and unrelentlessly pursue their desired object to no end.

Almost two

Here's Abigail on her 1st birthday. I can't believe in just about a month she'll be 2. I am very excited for my little darling stinker.

This is what I saw the most actually - tin celing. Lucky I had it to look at. I had just two thoughts in my head.

Victorian schoolhouse where my parents are living temporarily.
I actually lived there before, so it felt like home. My apartment was the one with the rounded windows. My parent's is just across the hall (not shown).

Inside - note slate chalkboard. Those windows are like six feet tall, or more, huge.

Air Force Museum

Those runway pieces should look familar, for those of you in Kodiak.

No surprise where we spent our stay - WWII wing.

Marnie likes it. It's shiny.

Failure

Another word of the day -

Failure refers to the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as the opposite of success. Product failure ranges from failure to sell the product to fracture of the product, in the worst cases leading to personal injury.

Silly Sully

My parent's Golden Retriever, Sullivan, LOVES Abigail. Normally a reclusive dog who hides in his "den", he waits for Abby to wake up, and barks until she does sometimes! He loves her so much he likes to steal articles of clothing, toys, stuffed animals, dirty diapers, just about anything.
He really wanted her bunny that my friend Jessica gave her when she was four months old. It's the one stuffed animal we brought from home. Well, he finally got it. As he does with his toys, he ripped an eye out, torn off an ear, and nipped its fluffy tail off. It looked straight out of a Rob Zombie horror film. My friend Joan came over for a visit yesterday, and decided she would help repair poor bunny. Apparently some of the behind is being used to patch the eye. It now also has the end of a Santa hat for its tail. It's back in Abby's arms, and Sully still wants it.

Cat pooping

Abby's cat

Darke County Fair

Greatest County Fair

It is confirmed, by at least three other people, that the Darke County Fair is the best fair.
What makes it so good?

It is old fashioned entertainment at its best. The best hay, corn, melons, pies, crochet, antiques, crafts, food, bunnies, dogs, cows, pigs, and chickens.

Despite Abby's constant crying, she got to pet a few cows and a pig. She liked the elephant ear too. Me, I got a work out from carrying a squirming, fussing, fighting baby.

As you can see, as my co-worker predicted, I went back home, fell in love, and got knocked up!

No, that's just me pregerrs with Abby in 2006 at the fair. A much more relaxing experience.

Back home

Journey
Abby and I have been stumbling through the first few days back home. Our schedules are off and we feel a wee bit disoriented. New places, different time zone, different people..... The flight went well. The worst for me was when Abby insisted on running around the Anchorage airport for the entire 6 hour layover. Then we only slept three hours on the flight to Indianapolis. Then we had what seemed like a three hour drive to Dayton (only 1.5). I am just glad we made it safely.

Background

My parents have moved out of our family house. In case you didn't know my parents were rehabbers. I grew up in an inner city historic neighborhood (South Park), which started out as crack central, and slowly changed to half-crack border zone because people like my parents restored homes.

We moved into the big behemoth on Park Dr. boulevard. It had no bathrooms, no kitchen, etc. There were even used needles in one bathroom as it had been a nursing home at one point. We lived in one common room (a hot plate, TV, and table) and of course bedrooms for about 6-9 months. It slowly became a beautiful overly grand residence. Although most definitely not rich, I felt like it. The house was so big and had some pretty cool features. The front parlor fireplace had full oak ionic columns with a large beveled mirror. There was an entire stairway room with wrap around stairs. A lovely backyard with fish ponds they rebuilt like fours times to get them to work right, a tree that arches over the yard because it must have been blown over yet still managed to grow to full size, and flowers.

Anyway, due to economic pressures they had to move. They are currently and temporarily living in a renovated Victorian school. I used to live here! It's strange to be back in the same building. Who knew?! Fancy tin ceilings, a real slate chalkboard, wainscoting, huge windows and doors, and nice details overall (brickwork on the exterior, etc.). So, perhaps needless to say at this point, although I am not at "home" as I knew it, I am still quite comfortable. Also, our family dog Gideon passed away last year, and they have a new dog who is quite nice so I am not missing him as much as I thought either.

First Few Days
One of the first excursions Abby and I made was to the National Airforce Museum. Abby said airplane every time we saw an airplane. Let's just say I know she knows the word as we saw a lot of airplanes. Of course we spent most, well practically all of our time in the WWII gallery.

Today we all went to Wegerzyn Gardens where there are not only fabulous gardens, but a whole interactive area for kids - I am talking like a half acre or so and it seems bigger as there are so many plants and so much to do. Waterfalls kids can play in, fake caves, outdoor musical instruments, large table sandboxes with all kinds of sand toys, and a whole lot more.

Food has also been another highlight. Corn, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes so sweet I ate them with nothing on them, no salt or anything. Delicious. Another "of course" is that I got to eat Indian food!!! Oh how I love thee. The bummer is that I think I have a dairy allergy, so it may very well be the last time I eat Graeter's "French pot" ice cream, have yummy tomato creamy Nav Rattan Korma, Amish cheese and butter - I could go on and on. Starting tomorrow I have to stop eating dairy for a few weeks to figure this out. I could pay for a blood test, but think I will try the free version first to see if my symptoms go away.

Iki

I thought for sure I wrote about iki before, but can't find it. No, iki is not icky, but rather the opposite. The way the Japanese concept was explained to me is that it is a feeling of anticipation, in a good way. The events leading up to the culmination, e.g. the moments before a kiss, the moment before you jump out of an airplane. Once you hit the ground it's over. It's all those fuzzy feelings, which tend to go away after the whatever action. Today my friends, iki is a good thing, and I look forward to more iki-ness.

Claws, spit, and fur

Tufts of fur at the bottom of the stairs - this is what is leftover from Lucky's wild night. He apparently snuck out, and when I saw him this morning he looked like he had been up on an all night binge, of cat fighting! He is an old crotchety guy. I admire that.

Caught in the moment

Notice the vampire-like canines.

Photography can be funny. It captures people in mid-expression. I haven't taken pictures in so long that I didn't realize how much Abby has grown. Here she is visiting me at work.

V

I just finished V for Vendetta. Needles to say, the movie was quite different. I actually had no idea it was a graphic novel (like a comic, at times comical).

Likes: Helen Heyer. Wow, what a psychopathic man-beater :)
V. Although his dramatic and mysterious nature in the movie is more pleasing than his crossword puzzle-type of mystery in the book.

Dislikes: Evey Hammond. The author made her obtuse and the artist made her ugly beyond her years. I am supposed to believe V loves her? Maybe I am more like Helen. I would’ve knocked her tooth out.
Crossword puzzle plot. I guess I am like Evey, I had a hard time following it sometimes.

Obsolescence

Word of the day, word of the week, or word of my life?
Obsolescence is the state of being which occurs when a person, object, or service is no longer wanted even though it may still be in good working order. Obsolescence frequently occurs because a replacement (or another person) is available that is superior in one or more aspects.

Pretend Working Works!

Today I found out the the photo of me "pretend working" will be blown up into a poster and used at conferences throughout the country!!! Look for me in your town!

Lucky

One green eye, one blue eye, all white, deaf, and I want to say dumb, but I know otherwise. How did I get dickturd? One cold winter day, Shawen Jr., then abo. 12, let him run in Rita’s (Jr.’s grandma’s) house. He weighed just four pounds or so, had frost bite on his ears and nose, worms, and some kind of gross skin condition. He didn’t come out of his padded cardboard box for weeks.

Over time he gained strength, started fighting with Venus (Shawen’s other cat), and rekindled his habit of meowing for food, constantly. Shawen did not like this. Suddenly, I had a new cat. Seven or eight years later he’s still here. The mewing persists and he won’t seem to go away.

He has a killer instinct. He wants to kill most living things besides human, only because we feed him. There is this cat that would come around all winter. They would fight – claws scratching, hissing and spit spraying, fur on all ends flying all over – through a glass door.

The other day they had the opportunity to go at it for real. I was busy trying to clean up the other cat's pee (Shawen's cat), and I accidentally left the door open. Since it is warm, Lucky meandered out. The cat was around. The next thing I know I hear cats yelling and hissing, but it broke up quick. I went to shut the door when I noticed blood splatter on the porch. Lucky fucked that cat up. He still has his claws. Don’t worry, I saw the cat yesterday. Lucky tried to jump off the porch to fight with him again. The cat is fine.

Ah, to be young again......

Well, it looks like I was once having fun. Check out those skinny thighs! And I should mention I was modeling, i.e. being asked to pose.

Miss Twin Peaks