The Summer Is Here Let's Go Outside Edition

Well once again I have obviously changed the look of the TGIF. The old layout didn't allow for lengthy prose so I've changed to this one (at least for now). But hey...at least I'm keeping the look of the thing fresh- which should make up for the stale commentary! (Sorry I still haven't found my intellectual stride yet...though I've been reading and thinking and perhaps soon I'll write something of import and be back in the saddle as it were. Till then you must suffer with generic updates.) Summer has hit us here with a full vengeance. The temps went from about 60F to 95F in a matter of days- the first of which was our patio opening this past Saturday. We had a lovely turnout of family and friends, though not as many as we'd hoped. Plus there were a few flying interlopers that seemed to torture our guests, especially poor Julia. Jon and Christine came from the Great Trials class, plus Renee, Jeff and Tyson and Brad and Jenn, and a little later James, AJ and Xavier stopped by as well. Gracie and I are settling back into our routine as Shell has gone back to work on a new project. GG continues to amaze us with how fast she seems to develop. She's finally started to crawl, say a few whispered 'dada', pull herself up to a standing position, clap on command, and wave bye-bye. All my grades and my GPA are finally in and calculated. I had a very good semester and was quite pleased with the results. I have to single out a few people who gave me great encouragement this year. First and foremost of course is Shelley who is the inspiration for everything and she, above all, deserves credit for any success I might find. I also have to thank Lalitha and Morghan from Shelley's studio who always offered encouragement and interest in how my studies were progressing. Mo is always there for a smile and a 'how's it going' and Lal on several occasions pulled me from the Egyptology suicide watch last fall. Very special thanks to two fellow travellers in academia- Elise and Rabia. Last year when I got perhaps the worst grade I'd ever received on a paper, I poured my heartache and misery out to Elise on a chilly evening walk to the library. She encouraged me perhaps more than she realized and helped me to see the forest rather than just the trees. She's going to attend Stanford starting next year and I'll miss the fact that she's close by, but want to wish her all the best in her sojourn to the Bay Area. I got my best mark at U of T this semester in Great Trials thanks in large part to Rabia. She edited and proofed my big essay for the class and was always there on MSN during late night writing sessions to cheer me up and push me forward. She was an intellectual sounding board and a fellow American nomad who could catch my eye with a knowing nod of Southern solidarity. As of last week my Dad officially retired from CBN. When you consider this is his second retirement (he retired 25 years ago from the Navy after spending 21 years in service of his country) all one can say is...it's about time. My Dad was always a workaholic type. His years in the Navy meant that for a decade after he left, he was still getting up at 5am and looking for something to do. For the longest time I'm was fairly certain he did not know how to actually relax. I spoke to him a few days ago and asked how it was going and he convinced me that he finally understands what it means to take it easy on himself. Happy Retirement Dad! Softball is rolling along. My new team, Wanner's Wackers, are 5-0 and I'm having a blast. We finally got our uniforms this week and for the first time since I was 11, I'm wearing a number other than #17. (not of my choice mind you). My other team, Mike's Painting, is only 1-2 and we've been rained out 3 games already so it's been rather a downer but luckily Dad Snyder has been able to play a few games and after his eye surgery was successful will hopefully be pitching us to victories again in July. Though he's been a great catcher so far this year, he's our ace pitcher and we desperately need him back on the mound. Saving the biggest and most important news for last, my brother David and his girlfriend Diane are officially engaged. As far as I know no date has yet been set and I believe they are looking at next summer. Congrats to Dave (and of course condolences to Di...why you didn't run when you had the chance is beyond me...didn't Jason and Shelley teach you ANYTHING about marrying into this family??) Oh well, you were fairly warned, my conscience is clear. Now on to some pictures... Gracie playing mind games with Willow... The teasing does not stop at the water's edge either... Grace the Impaler shows off her Shampoo Horn of Death... Building the patio...Tony shovels, and shovels, and shovels... Greg is the foreman so he watches Tony shovel and shovel and shovel... No Tony, you cannot hear aliens on the baby monitor...that only works in the movie Signs...sheesh...(oh hey look kids...free advertisement for a certain animation company!!) Tony and Gracie... Laying the stones...and before you say anything...I *DID* my share of work too. I broke up the concrete that we had to remove, I moved stones from the pile in the driveway, and I looked after Gracie...so I wasn't just snapping photos... Oh and I taught Gracie how to eat a puck... See.... Willow poses on the finished patio...and apparently enjoyed a beer?!? After a long day, time to enjoy some quiet time and hugs... New day, time to play... Pretty smile... A thoughtful pose... Look, I can stand up now...mommy and daddy are in big trouble... Funtime at the cookout... Is that Lance Malibu??? Or his alter ego Cousin Brad???... Julia, Jonathan, and Christine... Think Jonathan is going to make a great daddy someday?? Yeah, me too... Want some pepper, mama?? Ty is getting soooooo big... A new and even hotter day...poor Gracie got a slight sunburn... The new uniform and number... Gracie comes to watch Daddy's softball game... Well that's all for now...till next time... Cheers

The In Between Days Edition

Joy and sadness. My classes are over for the semester (except finals)- joy! But my classes are over for the semsester- sadness! See while I'm happy that I have a break from the massive amount of schoolwork, I'm very sad that I won't have these 3 great classes I had this year. The professors this semester were fabulous, the discussions/seminars/lectures were all great, and I met some amazing people, fellow travelers who always challenged me with their own ideas or critiques of mine. It's been a long semester with a lot of stress, but I think I did some of my best writing this year. I hope that shows up in my grades and if I can do well enough on my finals I think it will. As of Wednesday I finished my last final. All that work has left little time for much else, specifically keeping in touch with people in one form or another and for these purposes even more specifically this tgif. The problem for me at the moment is that I feel intellectually tapped out which doesn't make for the most interesting of posts. I've got lots of reading that I want to do this summer, but now that Shell is back to work and I'm back being stay at home Daddy again, there's not much time during the day to relax and read. Virginia Grace takes up nearly every second- though luckily she's been going down for her afternoon nap at a fairly regular time so at least I can find a few minutes (I hope) to update this thing and send along some pictures. April was a pretty hectic month, and Shell and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary. I can't believe it's been 3 years already. Her parents came over to look after the baby for a bit so Shell and I could steal away for a few hours. We had a lovely dinner and walked around a little on what was one of the first lovely evenings weather-wise we'd had this year. The rest of the month was spent prepping for finals. I've managed to get 2 of my marks back already. I got a B+ in my Modern Espionage and an A in my Great Trials class. I likely won't get my Reformations grade for another few weeks, so I won't know just how I did overall until then. But this was by far the best semester I've spent at University of Toronto. It doesn't match the grades I received at Utah mind you, but as I've stated before Toronto tends to be a tad fierce in their grading system. Nonetheless I feel good about this year as a whole and I look forward to next year when, if all goes well, I'll finally graduate. At the moment I'm putting together a list of classes and as you can imagine in your last year it's quite difficult finding anything you can or must take that actually fits into any sort of reasonable schedule. But I shall endeavor to find them. Gracie is nearing 8 months. She's just a little weed, growing faster than we can keep up with. She's starting to seek out her independence by slithering about the house- she still can't 'crawl'. She's also very vocal in her displeasure- so clearly she takes after her mommy. (just kidding, dear). Shell has really been working up a storm outside in the yard of late. She's started to build up a raised garden in the back corner, and fixing up the front gardens as well. Also we're about to finish the patio next weekend, so we've been removing some concrete that has to go to make way for the new patio stones. Once it is all complete it will look fantastic I have no doubts. Also we're looking forward to having our friend Lauren visit us next month from Australia. It's been 5 years since we've seen her so we just can't wait for her arrival. I'm a few weeks into softball and I love my new team. We're 2-0 and everyone just seems to enjoy playing together and there's no stress like the team I played for last year for half a season. My other team that I play on with my father-in-law had our first game also this past week. Sadly we lost our opening game but I've been slotted in as clean-up hitter so I feel like I've got a bit to prove this year. Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll get some pictures of both teams and maybe even some video to share with you. For now though, its time for baby pictures YAY! [as always, click on a picture to enlarge it] That's all for now...sorry about taking so long. Til next time, Cheers