Thanksgiving

NJEA

Well, obviously we're way behind on the blog.

Just a couple of days after our trip to Grandma Genevieve's, I had to go to a convention in Atlantic City, and since Sarah was still on maternity leave, she and the baby came with us. I was representing the New Jersey State Museum at the NJ Education Association's annual convention. This convention is basically a way for the teacher's union, which is huge up here, to screw everyone for a few more bucks. What do I care - I we got a free couple of nights out of town. It is such a big deal that the union has it in their contract with the state that all NJ public schools are closed for those 2 days so that the teacher's can go - what a croc! Like kids need more time off from school.

We don't have any pictures unfortunately - partly because the weather was crappy the whole time. Mostly, though, because AC is a world class dump! If you aren't into gambling, and we are NOT, there is nothing to do. Literally across the street from the casinos there is nothing but poverty, homeless people, seedy pawn shops, etc. The whole town is depressing. I really hate casinos.

The only redeeming thing about AC is that there is a small wind farm right on the edge of town, and you practically drive under the turbines on your way in and out of town. This is the 1st coastal wind farm in the U.S.

Fire Jay Jacobs

I'm so disgusted right now about Tubberville being fired. I'm embarrased of Auburn for the first time in my life. Right now I don't care if I ever give another cent to that school.

November 1-3

The weekend after Halloween we all went to visit my grandparents in White Stone, VA. I always love coming here. They have a huge yard with fig trees, a garden, and a beautiful view: their house is on a bluff that overlooks the Rappahonnock River entering the Chesapeake Bay.

Grandma Genevieve

Grandpa Rolf

They live outside of White Stone, VA - a tiny, 1 stop-light town on the central coast of Virginia. Once you get off I-95 in Fredricksburg, VA, south of Washington, it a beautiful country drive. This is one of my favorite parts of the trip - it seems like anywhere you go near a beach in this country everything is so touristy, over developed, and often tacky - it feels like a different world here. It's nice to know there are still places like this. It is very much out in the country. It feels like a country drive anywhere in rural America: farm land, old guys selling fresh corn and tomatoes along side the road in the summer, open spaces . . . And of course, being Virginia, there is so much history. It is everywhere - you can almost feel it. Just on the drive down you pass the birthplaces of multiple founding fathers, other historic figures, and their relatives - George Washington, Washington's mother Mary Ball, James Madison, Robert E. Lee, etc., etc., etc., It really is amazing.

Things haven't changed much in the area since we first started coming here ~13 years ago, although the pace of the change has started to increase. Since I was last here 2 years ago, a new Super Wal-Mart opened in the adjacent town, and numerous local mom-and-pop businesses have gone out of business are are in the process. I admit that I enjoy the convenience of Wal-Mart, but there is no denying the terrible effect it has on small communities. So much of a town's character is in its uniqueness, which is destroyed by big chains. if you drive through nearly any town in this country now, you'll find a major street that is nothing but Wal-Mart, Applebee's, Wendy's, etc. This street looks exactly the same no matter what town you're in. It's very sad.

Anyway, we had a wonderful time with my Grandmother Genevieve, and grandfather Rolf. They are doing very well, even better than the last time I saw them. They are getting along in years, but you would hardly know it talking to them. They are as sharp and funny as ever.

We arrived in mid afternoon on Saturday. They loved meeting their new great grandson Jackson, and grandmother held him a few times. Not for very long though - he's gaining on her very quickly in both height and weight (she'd only 4'10" with heals). It wasn't long before it was time for cocktails, a nightly ritual. My aunt Laurie joined us for the evening. We also had crackers, nuts, little squares of rye bread, and Sarah's favorite: raw oysters with grandmother's wonderful lemon-caper sauce. Delicious! For dinner we had a wonderful rock fish, couscous, and green beens, following a carrot salad that I liked much more than when I remember having it years before, and ending of course with a selection of amazing cheeses. As always, it was a wonderful dinner. Although she doesn't cook nearly as much as she used to, she still is an amazing cook and dinner are one of the things that I look forward to the most.

Jackson with Aunt Laurie

The next day after breakfast, Sarah, Jackson, Lincoln, and I walked down to the beach. The beach is small, but again, it is wonderful because it is only accessible to the few people that live in this culdasac, which are almost all retired folks, so there is almost never anyone on the beach. I've never seen more than 1 family on it. One of the coolest part of the beach is that there is a fossil oyster reef at the base of the bluff on which their house is perched.

Lincoln absolutely loves this place. Obviously, that mostly because he doesn't' have to be on a leash and he can explore. His favorite thing, though, is to chase rabbits. I brought him here only 1 time before, 2 years ago, so I though he wouldn't remember it. He obviously did. We were all disappointed because the rabbits had all gone into hibernation, so he couldn't chase them, but he searched endlessly. it is so funny to tease him. If you say "Lincoln, look, bunny!" He takes off running, head, ears, and tail high, sometimes he hopes like a fox, searching frantically for a rabbit. It really is hilarious.

We went into town on this afternoon to get some groceries and to make copies of some pictures that grandma has. We also went to a really good B-B-Q place there - there are no b-b-q places up here. That's what I miss most: b-b-q and sweet tea.

We had another wonderful cocktail and hors d'oerve hour, followed by a more subdued but wonderful dinner of veal.

The next morning was sad, as the last day always is. I love it here so much and never want to leave to go back to busy, crowded, polluted rat race and "civilization". We had a nice breakfast, packed up our stuff, and said our goodbyes. It was so nice to see Jackson with his great grandparents. Hopefully they will be around long enough for him to remember them, but if not, we have lots of pictures, movies, and memories.

Jackson's First Halloween

Sarah wrote: We (actually, Jason) had always thought it would be a great idea to dress up as Santa for Halloween…..so Jackson was Santa Clause for his 1st of many Halloween costumes, and Lincoln dressed up as a Christmas present

Ho Ho Ho! Merry Halloween!!!

We also dressed him up in various pumpkin outfits that were given to him from some of our friends and family members. All of the outfits were just adorable and this would be the only time he would fit into them so we just played dress up all day. Even Lincoln had a pumpkin costume too….of course! Lincoln was a very good sport and he loves his little brother. Here are some of the pictures….

We figured this may be the only year we can get away with this kind of thing, so what the hell!

JD's Visit

October 22 - 26

Just a couple of days after we got back from Cleveland, Jon David came up for a visit. The original purpose of the visit was to visit the baby of course, but also to go to the AU-WVU game in Morgantown, only a few hours drive from here. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I got very sick and couldn't go. We watched as much as we could stomach on tv. I think watching the game made me more sick. We suck. That's enough about the game.

We had a wonderful time with JD. I couldn't really miss work, JD, Sarah, and Jackson came up to Trenton to see where I work on Thursday. I walked them around the 2 or 3 blocks in Trenton that constitute the entire nice portion of the city, including the Museum. I had to back to work after lunch, so they walked back and toured the Old Barracks, which I've never gone to. They said it was great.

The Old Barracks Museum in downtown Trenton. This is the barracks that George Washington attacked in the famous story of him crossing the Delaware River on Christmas Eve, 1776.

That night we went to a great Cuban / Colombian Restaurant in downtown Philly, called Mixto. We were worried about it being packed, but there weren't many people there because they don't have tv's and the World Series was on tv.

The next morning I drove JD to 30th Street Station in Philly so that he could take a train to see a friend of his in NYC, and I went to one of our fossil sites in southern NJ with a friend to continue excavating a huge crocodile that we keep finding pieces of. That crocodile is called Thoracosaurus neocesariensis and looks like this:

Anyway, Jon David came back on Saturday morning and we went apple picking at our favorite orchard. We were a little late in the season, so they didn't have too many kinds left. It had been raining of and on all day, so I didn't think much about bringing a rain coat. Of course, as soon as we get out there, it starts to rain constantly with driving wind. Sarah and the baby stayed in the car, while JD picked apples in the rain for what must have been more than an hour. We were completely soaked and cold, but we got a ton of apples - granny smiths, staymans, and golden delicious. We also stuffed ourselves sick with apples we pulled off the trees.

That evening JD and Sarah had an apple pie baking contest. This was really just my way of scamming them into making me 2 apples pies. We caught JD trying to steel Sarah's secret recipe. Regardless, I, as an impartial judge, determined both to be equally delicious.

We were up to some ungodly hour that night baking and having fun. Jackson couldn't hang:

On Sunday we went into the city. We went to Little John's on 22nd and Arch for what I think are the best cheesesteaks in the city. There we met up with a friend of his from high school that goes to the University of Pennsylvania now. There was time to walk around the area:

We had a great visit with JD. It was over to fast, but we'll get to see him again soon in AL for Thanksgiving.

SVP: The End (& Cleveland Sucks)

Saturday & Sunday, October 18th and 19th.

We were starving by the time we left the Garfield Monument, so we stopped at a Cracker Barrel for some good ol' country fried steak and fixin's. Man it was so god, but it was a rather late lunch. I had to gt back to the conference for the last afternoon poster session, in which one of my fellow Drexel Ph.D. students was presenting her poster, of which I am a coauthor.

Sarah, Jackson, and he rest went to hang out in the mall for the evening, and had ice cream for dinner. I had to go to the banquet, which was nice and the food great, but I was full as a tick after eating that meal only a few hours after cracker barrel. I stayed for a while to see some of the awards, but left part way through to hang out with the rest of the family.

There is always a big party after the dinner, and I went down to check it out, but I felt bad for Sarah having to be in the room with the baby and packing, so I came up after not too long. We had a long drive ahead of us anyway.

The next morning, we said our goodbyes to the Wileys (that's when Isabela bit Jackson) and were on our way. It was a long day with the extra and extended stops for the baby, and my slow but fuel-efficient driving, but we finally got home early that evening after a 75 hour drive across the state. Another beautiful drive, but we were both tired. Another SVP in the books.

As for Cleveland, it SUCKS! If you ever get the urge to travel across the country and see parts that you haven't don't case you time. There is nothing to do other than the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but even that costs $22/person. I don't care that much about music. There really is NOTHING else to do there. I've seen a fair portion of the country, and almost ever area I like more than I thought I would - Cleveland was worse than I imagined.

James Garfield National Historic Site

On Saturday, October 18th, Andrew, Hazel, Isabela, Jackson, Sarah, and I all loaded up their car and took a drive to Mentor, OH, a few miles northeast of the Cleveland, to the James Garfield National Historic Site(http://www.nps.gov/jaga/). It was a nice drive with the fall colors, and the park was easy to find.

The babies on their way to the James Garfield National Historic Site.

James Garfield was elected the 20th president of the United States in 1880, and was the last president to be born in a log cabin which at that time was in the frontier of Ohio's Western Reserve. Born in 1831, he had been many things throughout his life - a canal tow boy, teacher, college principal, minister, state legislator, lawyer, civil War general and hero, congressman, etc. Though he had no prior military experience, when the Civil War broke out in 1861 he was immediately given the rank of lieutenant colonel of the 42 Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and later Brigadier General. He was a hero of the Battle of Shiloh (Tennessee)and the subsequent advance on Corynth, MS.

Garfield had a long career in the U.S. Congress. He was a life-long scholar, and one of his major accomplishments was to help create the Department of Education and served as a regent to the Smithsonian Institution.

Shortly after being elected to the Senate in 1880, he was asked to nominate John Sherman for the Republican candidate for President at the republican National Convention. The convention became deadlocked, though, and Garfield himself becomes nominated, completely unexpectedly. He became famous for having political rallies from his front porch here here in Mentor. Before this time, candidates never talked directly to the people - they had others do that for them. Obviously, it worked, because he won. He as considered by some as "the most qualified man ever to become president."

Early on in his presidential tenure, he became disenchanted with the way political appointments always had been filled. Essentially, anyone with enough money and ambition came to the White House and demanded political appointments, no matter how unqualified they might be. He wanted to change these old, corrupt way of doing things, and refused to play the game.

Charles Guiteau was one of those unqualified people who came to the White House looking for employment. Garfield refused him, and only days later, was shot by Guiteau in a train station in Washington D.C. as a result. At that time, of course, there was no Secret Service, and there really was little to no protection for the president. He was only 40 days into his presidency.

Garfield actually lived another 80 days with a bullet lodged in his back, but all of it in pain lying in bed convalescing, and most of it at the sea-side town of Elberon (Long Branch), New Jersey. Of course, there was little to no knowledge of medical sanitation then, and for much of that time physicians poked dirty instruments and fingers into the hole in his back, and he eventually died of blood poisoning, on September 19, 1881.

The house where we were was very nice. It is fully restored to the way it looked and was furnished during Garfields time. They have done a magnificent job of restoring it and some of the other buildings on the property. The house was pretty modest and the Garfields' were not wealthy. Upon Garfields death, family friends raised money for his widow from all over the country. (Mary Todd Lincoln became destitute after A. Lincoln's assassination only ~16 years before this, and the Garfield's family friends were determined not to let that happen again). With this money, the house was expanded and many amenities added, like flushing toilets and indoor, heated plumbing. They don't allow pictures inside the building, so that's why we don't have many here. Jackso just slept through everything anyway.

Sarah, Hazel, and the babies.

The property is quite nice, though only a small fraction of what it was in their time. My favorite part of the house was the library. It was amazing and he had hundreds of books on nearly every subject you can imagine. In fact, this was the first official presidential library.

After touring the house and grounds, we went into the visitors center and toured the museum. The museum was very nice, but we all thought it had a serious short coming. There was only a cursory mention of his death, and until we watched the video, I had no idea why he was shot. They really should address this - after all, it is likely that the only reason for this monument is that he was assassinated.

Sarah & Jackson in te Museum.

The park is $5/person, and well worth it.

Isabela playing in the grass at the Monument.

World Series

Go Phillies!!!!!

Andrew & Hazel in Cleveland

Sarah:
Andrew, Hazel, and Isabela came to meet us in Cleveland while we were there and arrived around noon on Friday the 17th. It was ~21/2 to 3 hour trip for them from their home in Novi, MI (just west of Detroit). It was so fun to see them and see how much Isabela has grown and changed. The last time we saw them was when we spent Memorial Day weekend at the Outer Banks in NC and Isabela was 8 months old. She is now 13 months and walking/running and full of personality. She smiles a lot and it was really neat to see the transition from baby to now toddler. It’s incredible….she seemed SO big to us since we have been so used to seeing Jackson even though Hazel said she is by far the smallest in her class at day care. She seemed to like her new cousin (Jackson) and would curiously look at him and touch him.

She liked Jackson so much that she even tried to see what he tasted like…. She was holding his hand while we were taking pictures and then she put his hand up to her mouth, giving him a kiss…and then a little nibble. I think it scared Jackson more than anything….he just cried for a second and then he was fine. His first bite….it was pretty funny. We took several pictures of them together but as most of you know….it’s so hard to get a good picture when the little munchkins move around so much.

Andrew and Hazel seem to being doing well and are enjoying Michigan. Hazel only has ~ 1 year left of her residency. We were all saying we can’t believe we have lived in Philadelphia and them in Michigan for over 3 years already. Here are a few pictures…

The Bite!!!

SVP Day 2 & 3

October 15, 2008 (SVP)

I got up early today to put up my poster, and then went to some talks. There weren’t many good talks today. However, my poster session went well. I got a lot of feedback on my poster, and I was pleased with it considering this morning was the 1st time I’d seen it printed. I used a new program to make it, one that I’d never used before I started this poster ~3 weeks ago, and it was too expensive and I was too late in completing it to have it printed before I left – you always find mistakes on the printed version that you’d never find on the computer screen, and sure enough, I found lots. However, almost none of them were ones anyone would notice, and I was pretty pleased with it. Ed Hooks found me during the poster session. Ed is an old friend that I used to do field work with near Selma, Alabama in the summers. He used to be the state paleontologist at the UAT, but he’s an Auburn graduate so he knows what a crap hope tuscalooser is. It is always great to see Ed, and it had been a few years. Other than that, the day was pretty uneventful.

This 1st night of every meeting is always my favorite. This is the night when we all get bussed to the local Natural History Museum for a private party. There is always good food, drinks, and a lot of fun. It’s a lot of fun to hang out under and around the dinosaur mounts and various other natural history displays. The museum was nice, but you can tell that it is old and many of the displays have not been changed in a very long time. Some are obsolete. It was fun regardless, and Jackson was great as usual. We hung out with Ed, Jason Poole, and some other friends and acquaintances, for most of the evening. We didn’t stay too long though because the Museum was very hot and crowded, and we were pretty tired. These meetings are always stressful for me, especially doing the poster. I’m usually pretty tired each day and throughout the week.

We came back ~9:30pm and just went to bed. We got back in time to see the Phillies win the pennant. That’s pretty awesome – I’ve gotten a little bit back into professional baseball for the 1st time since the strike. It’s pretty fun to go to a game, and the Phillies’ stadium is beautiful – right down town. I know people in Philly are going crazy right now. Philly hasn’t won a professional championship in any sport since 1980 (I think). They call it the “curse of William Penn” – I guess every crappy sports town or team has to blame it on some silly curse. Anyway, Philly has a beautiful old city hall building – the largest in the country. On top of the dome is a statue of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. There used to be a city ordinance that said you couldn’t build anything taller than William Penn’s top hat, but that ordinance was lifted in 1980, and since then Philly hasn’t won much of anything. It’s a great sports town – they just haven’t won much of anything. It will be exciting to be in Philly during the World Series.

As you can tell from how much I’ve written, there aren’t many interesting talks today either. Next year’s SVP meeting is going to be in Bristol, England. That’s the 1st time the meeting will be outside North America – a nod to the fact that SVP, once basically a small American organization, has really become international. It’s a little frustrating because it is still dominated by American and Canadians, and that trip will be prohibitively expensive for much of the group. I know I won’t be going – especially if the economy is still in the toilet, as everyone says it will be. The next meeting in 2010, though is in Pittsburg, which is even closer to us than Cleveland, so that’s good.

In case you're wondering, the shirt says "Jacksonasaurus".