Due date visitors!

So, the weekend of Isaac's actual due date - we had lots of visitors!

Kev and Mon came to visit...and they brought us the coolest "custom made" onsies. Isaac is now the coolest kid on the block with his own NIN, Metallica, Red Wings and "I can't read" onsies. Definitely a cool kid.

Then, the next day, Uncle Tim, Aunt Missy and cousin Will (who is 51 weeks to the DAY older) came down to visit. The weather was awesome, so we went for a great walk, and ate some very yummy "take n' bake" pizza. I can't believe how BIG Will has gotten! Just think, in a few years, he and Isaac will be best buds!

It's a good week....

Not much to report this week...except I started taking some Yoga classes - it felt so good to be physically active again, and, the class was very relaxing. I can't wait to go again next week!

Currently, I am able to get back into my old clothes, but unfortunately, just because I can button my pants, doesn't mean I am comfortable in them. I am looking forward to getting active so I can loose these last couple pounds. I know, I know, it's supposed to take a while, but I am impatient!

Last night, I attended a baby shower for our friend Heather. Just before the shower, the hostess said "I have a baby scale, do you want to weigh Isaac?" - um...OF COURSE! So we weighed him, and he is at 6.5lbs! HOLY COW - can you believe it? He is growing so fast!

Now, we prepare for another day of visitors, and an exciting weekend adventure to another baby shower....and maybe, if we are lucky, a visit from Grandma on Sunday!

2 Weeks, 2 days!

Well, some people were harassing me for pictures of the nursery. Granted, I still haven't gotten anything up on the walls - there just hasn't been time! But here it is...





...and here is Brian and his boyz. :)

Well, another week is almost over, and Isaac is still growing like a weed! He has the cutest double chin! He will be over 6lbs before we know it!

2 Weeks! Appointment Update!

Today we had Isaac's 2 week wellness check. He measured 18" (up 1/4" since last Monday!) and weighed 5lbs 9oz! Holy cow - that's 10 oz in a week! The doctor said whatever I am feeding him is liquid gold, because she never imaged he would grow so fast!

So, all is well and happy in the Spratke house!!!

One week, 5 days!

Well, 2 weeks ago today was Brian and I's last Sunday as DINKs (double income, no kids). Little did we know that night, as we sat watching TV that 24 hours later, we would be on our way to parenthood.

Here is little Isaac, now weighing over 5lbs! We can't get over how fast he seems to be growing - by next week, he may actually be in newborn sized clothes!!!

We had a very low key weekend, with some more visitors...a few neighbors stopped by, our friend Christine from Chicago (who is expecting!), and Chris and Mindi (who are also expecting!). Friday night, we took Isaac out on his first adventure to Babies R Us and Toys R Us...he was quite the trooper! Also, we managed to get a lot of tasks done this weekend, and get a fair amount of sleep in too. No complaints from the new parents so far!!!

Brian posted more pics on our webpage tonight! www.blueskymi.com

Pix w/ Aunt Sarah

Here is a picture of "Aunt" Sarah with Isaac from Sept 15th, taken by "Aunt" Kathy.

1 Week, 2 days...

Well, today Isaac is 1 week, 2 days old - and he went for his first walk! Blue, Isaac and I did a quick tour around the block and enjoyed the incredible weather today!

He has been growing like crazy - it's hard to believe all the clothes that were so big on him, just a week ago, are now all starting to get snug! I am finding myself changing his clothes just so I can see him in the little outfits before he grows out of them and into the next size..."newborn". Ha ha. He continues to be the most perfect baby, and every time I have to wake up at some strange hour to feed him, I am reminded of how lucky I am. So, next time you wake up at 2am, think of Isaac and myself, sitting in our green chair listening to the NPR while he eats. :)

Also, yesterday we scheduled Isaac's baptism. We are doing it at the same place where Brian and I were married - St. Matthew Catholic Church. If you are interested in coming to mass, it will be November 11th, at 4:30pm.

Last, I just wanted to say, I have always known that I have been blessed with a wonderful husband....but in the last 10 days, I will say, I have been reminded daily of how blessed I am. Brian has been the so supportive, helpful, and involved - even more than I could have imagined. Every step of the way, he has taken with patience and humor. He's the one everyone can thank for the fun videos and pictures....the hospital updates, etc. I love seeing him holding Isaac, and thinking about how great of a Dad he is going to be...and every time he does something so simple, like brings me a glass of water, I feel like the most loved person in the world. Because of him, I have this little bitty tootin, pooin, mini-version of Brian on my lap....Does it get any better than this?

Email Issues

If anyone is trying to email us today at our blueskymi.com accounts we apologize, but there are some technical difficulties.

It appears that the company hosting our domain screwed with some of the routing values and now our email is bounced right back. I hope to have this fix tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks.

Ah - that's better.... / First doctor's appt.

Ok - here is a picture of me from last Friday, Sept 8th. A little more flattering than the pink stripe photo! ha ha.
(don't ask me why that whole line has an underline...)


Today was also Isaac's first doctor's appointment. My Dad was over, so he went with me. Isaac weighed 4lbs 15oz and was 17-3/4" long. His doctor said that he is doing exceptionally!!! Apparently the normal gain is an ounce a day - so he has gained 7 oz since Thursday!!! At that rate, we will hit 5lbs tomorrow! She was very impressed with how he was doing - and I was very relieved!!!

Stripes not so flattering...

Here is a picture from the cookout at the Gerlach's on Saturday, Sept 9th. The stripes were not so flattering on me, however, since I am only 2 days from going into labor, and my clothing selection had thinned out - it was cold and most of my maternity garb is summer stuff! I am excused, right? Believe it or not, I was actually measuring smaller at this point than 2 weeks before, but that is probably because at my previous appt, I was already starting to dialate!

This is me at 37 weeks, Heather at 27 weeks, and Mindi at 26 weeks.

Today is Isaac and I's first day at home alone. It's going pretty well! He had (2) 4 hour long sleeping stretches last night which were amazing! This morning, we surfed the internet a little...had a shower (for me) and bath for him...and now we are just chillin out (ok, he is sleeping). Later today we go to his first doctor's appointment, and hopefully we will find out that he has gained some weight! If his appetite and diaper changes are any indication, I would say he has!

Finally Pictures!!!

Well we finally made it home. Around 1:30 we finally made it home safe and sound. At this point it is very nice to be home. I'm very proud of how Becky & Isaac have done the last couple of days.

Since being home I have posted a few pictures from the hospital. They are on our website. If you go to the main page you will see a link at the top. I hope you enjoy them.

In case there is anyone that hasn't heard by now. There was a little bit of a humerous mix up at the hospital. It appears that the people that took the initial hospital photo had a little mix up with Isaac's picture. If you google Spectrum Health, go the the baby images and look at Isaac's picture for the 12th, well, we'll just say that isn't Isaac.

I'm off to sleep!

Well I've been hounded for an update. Not much new to report. Becky and Isaac are still doing fine. He's doing all the things he's supposed to at this point. He lost a few ounces the first day which is normal. With his size though, they don't want to see him loose much more. Now he is getting a some formula supplement which he seems to be eating right up. His job for the next day is to eat a ton and maintain his weight.

Sorry I forgot to bring the camera home to download the pictures. So I will post a older picture I have from Tuesday morning.

Isaac Joseph Spratke

Well Isaac has already started out as in impatient little guy.

Becky thought her water broke around 8:30 last night. She called the Dr. and they had us go to the hospital. Around 9:15 we got to the hospital and were admitted. A few contractions later and some walking around we were moved up to the labor room around 11:15. All of a sudden the contractions got a lot harder, and around 11:45 they paged the Dr. At 12:27 Isaac was born. He's just a little guy at 4lb 13oz an 17in.

Mom and Isaac are doing fine. They are planning on them being here until Thursday morning. If anyone wants to call the room the number is 616-391-7287

I'll post pictures when I get a chance

37 weeks....

Ok, ok...I know, I owe more belly pix, we just haven't downloaded them from the camera lately. Brian did put a video of the "bellah" moving on You Tube (privately) - if you would like to see it, drop him an email (brian@blueskymi.com) and he can send you an invite....

Little guy doesn't move much these days. He likes to wake me in the early morning hours, and he keeps his knees firmly planted in my ribcage. He is completely in position and according to the doctor, could come out any minute now...or 3 weeks from now. Wowsa. The anticipation is the worst part!!! In the meantime, I am still downing half a grocery store's stock of fruit every week and craving the days of drinking coffee with reckless abandon again. ha ha. The nursery is done, except for waiting on a lampshade from Pottery Barn and getting the motivation to hang some things on the walls....We own more diapers than I can ever imagine, and the tiniest collection of t-shirts ever (the little newborn ones!). And...my hand is still cramping up from all the thank you cards I have been working on! Hard to believe - a month from now, Brian will be a daddy. :)

Anyways, i will try to get nursery pics and belly pics up this week - promise!

Becky

Showers, vacay and more....

Well, since I wrote last...we have been sooooo busy!!!

On the 26th, Brian, Sarah and Jon ran the 8K Crim road race! Brian ranked in the 90th percentile! The rest of us cheered them on from Michael's house!

That night, we had a bbq to celebrate Brian's 29th birthday - and it was one of the few occasions that ALL my siblings and my parents were in one place at one time! WOW! Lots of friends came to visit too - Scott, Jonquil with Toby, Melissa, Courtney, Jon, Dawn with Sam, Julia....along with Brian's mom.

Then, Sunday, we had our shower in Grand Blanc - and the turnout was great. I love seeing all my friends and family in one place! Special thanks to Kathy and Sarah for helping out! ;) The picture is from my shower...Jenny, Dawn, Wendy and Renee.

Then, a week at the cabin. The weather wasn't as warm has it has been this summer, and the waves were crazy-big for a few days (ranging from 3-5 feet!), but it made for entertaining Sea Doo'ng for Brian...and lots of good reading time for me. We had lots of campfires....Mom visited for a night....we (Mom, Brian and I) went out in Tawas Bay on the Tall Ship Appledore - which was very cool.

Now...back to reality....went to the doc yesterday, and it seems that I am starting to dilate. How crazy is that! For months and months, you fixate on a date...then all the sudden...it could happen any time! I can't take the anticipation!!!!

Well, I will keep you posted!

Railing....

We have railing! We have some tweaking to do on the staircase, but for the most part - it's done!!! Props to everyone who helped out - especially brother Timmy!

Overdue updates!

Ok...trying to go in chronological order...

The first weekend in August to Tim and Missy's for a visit. While we were there, we got to go to Weber Lake campground to hang out with some of the Spratke cousins during their annual camping trip. The weather was great, and we had a good time seeing everyone!

Nephew Will is getting bigger and bigger! He's such a sweetie!

This week in review....

It's been a busy week. We went to week 2 of baby class, which pretty much amounted to learning about the stages of labor, and practicing "relaxing" laboring positions...ie, becky in different positions getting backrubs. Ha.

Wednesday night, we had dinner with the GR clan....got a pic of all the prego girls...

Myself, at 30 weeks...Heather at approx. 20 weeks and Mindi at approx. 18 weeks. (I could be off on their weeks, but it's close!)

Yesterday, Brian and I went to the neighborhood block party - which was fun. We were there until 9:30pm! It was nice to mingle with neighbors that we normally just pass and wave...borrow the occasional tool, etc. Especially now that the Twarozynski's have moved! They were our family away from family!! ! We will miss them tons, but we are excited for Sarah, David and lil David to move in!!!

Nuff for now....

Rob's Graduation Party

My cousin Rob graduated this year. Here are some pics from his party on June 17th!

First picture is of my brother Michael touchin' nephew #2. The second is a picture of Grandpa Giacalone. The last is of of Rob, Uncle Jim, his friend Crisco and his son.

A few pics from the 4th of July...

Here are a few pictures from when we were at the cabin over the 4th.

This is what we look like at 5:30am...yes - half asleep!....our kayaks made a good backrest! The picture is what we were waiting for...which was well worth it. :)

Alma Baby Shower

Here are a few pictures from the shower that my mother in law threw for me in Alma. :)

Grand Rapids Baby Shower

I finally downloaded the pictures from my first baby shower on June 28th, in Grand Rapids, hosted by Tonya Price. It was attended by local friends, as well as some college friends. During the shower, everyone made a scrapbook page for me to later add pictures to. It turned out really great, and I can't wait to have pictures to put in it!!! I recieved some wonderful gifts, and had a great time!!!

Week 27 and Fourth of July...

Brian and I spent Friday through Wednesday morning at the cabin - and we couldn't have asked for better weather!

Brian's parents came up for a night, and we spent the day on the beach soaking up the rays. Brian even got his parents on the Sea Doo!

Blue couldn't get enough of the beach. At one point, he actually WALKED HIMSELF down to the beach without us!!! What an independant guy!

The rest of the weekend was full of lazy days on the beach, sleeping in late and good food.

On the 4th, we went into town and watched the fireworks with the local yocals. What's funny is, when the fireworks went off, I could feel the baby moving around. I am not sure if that means he liked the booms or didn't!!!

The day we came home, we went down to the beach to watch the sunrise....it was so pretty and so worth it. When we download the pics, I will post them.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend!

Funny....

When I worked at EarthTech, my boss "modified" this comic strip and gave it to me. It cracked me up then, but it's even funnier now.

Man terms

So, in a recent observation, a friend and I decided that our husbands definitely had a "man crush" on each other. Seemed every time we were together, they were all about each other and how fabulous each other was. This was highly entertaining to us.

Naturally, this lead us to noticing this type of behavior between other men. Thus, a new term was coined... "manpanionship". This is when any two or more guys hang out together. Usually, during this event, there is a great amount of "manversation". Manversation is conversation amongst men, which would bore the average woman to tears.

I am sure with time, there will be more "man terms" to be coined...however, for the time being, I felt these terms could be useful to others, so I would toss them out there.

:)

Buddah Bellah's Everywhere!

In the past few weeks, an astounding number of our friends have annouced that they too, are pregnant! Must have been some spring, because they are all due in December!!!!

Congrats to Chris and Mindi, Christine and Brian, and Heather and Andy!

Thanks for giving my kid some buddies! ha ha.

A little behind...

It dawned on me that I never put up pics from the weekend of the Dexter-Ann Arbor run...

As it turned out, Brian did not run the half marathon...but not because he didn't train - he was up to 13 miles the week before the run - however, a nasty slide into second base the Thursday before the run made him decide to pitch the idea - along with the fact, everyone else decided to run the 10 mile. So, 10 mile they ran. While I watched Samantha....off went Brian, Dawn, Jon, Mike, Renee (with Erica and Raquel in tow) to run their hearts out.

Below are some pics:
First: The whole gang - Jon, Dawn w/Sam, Renee, Raquel, Erica, Mike and Brian.
Second: The princess cousins - Samantha Moyle and Joy Cullen
Third: Post run fun - Abir Biswais and Brian
Fourth: Brian and Jon, post run.

Next challenge: The CRIM!

Hot, hot, hot...

Well, it's saturday morning, and I am sitting on the "new" deck enjoying the weather - and I can't believe how warm it is already. Here is a view of what I am looking down at - my surprisingly healthy and lush perinnial garden.

Today we have a long day of treking to Ann Arbor, via Flint to cousin Rob's graduation party. While we are there, Blue gets to spend the day at Father Frankie's Doggie Day Care. Today is supposed to be uber hot - I guess it's not a bad day to spend in an air conditioned car!

The great deck reformation

This past weekend, with the help of family and friends, we started the great deck remodel of 06. Our sad and pathetic deck was in a sad state of affairs, and we figured now was as good a time as any to tackle it.

With the guidance and instruction of brother Tim...(on HIS birthday no less)...we successfully redecked the whole thing. Now we are just waiting for the railing to be delivered!

A huge thanks go out to Missy and Tim, for coming down, letting us cuddle with lil monkey Will and sharing Tim's birthday with us. Leslie and Bill - for hard work, wood for the fire, and provision of cheap celebrity magazines. Mom, for making the drive over for dinner and staying the night. Jon for all his pain and suffering (has the tenus set in yet?), in addition to his constant good humor...and for Brian - who had to work for 2 since I am somewhat useless in these affairs these days!

Here are some pics:

Sarge inspects finished decking (trex decking, posts ready for railing when it arrives)

The guys working hard! Brian and Jon, Tim and Bill (in the shade).


Wee Will "on the go!" - isn't he just the cutest little monkey?

Kicks and bumps in the night.

Well, "Agent 10" has been an active little bugger! Since late last week, I have discovered that when I am still I can feel him moving around. First is was always bumps in the upper left side - near the ribcage...last night it was down below my belly button. I am certain he is a kickboxing fan for sure. Every time I feel it though, it makes me start laughing, and I am certain people around me think I am on the verge of insane. That will be my most memorable symptom of this pregnancy...a lot of laughing. :)

Week 22 pics

Here are a couple pics that Courtney took of me at Week 22. We were up at the cabin for memorial day weekend with friends Courtney, Sarah and a friend of hers. The weather was unbelievable - 90 in the shade on the deck! So, needless to say, we spent a lot of time at the beach with the sea doo, the kayaks and the doggies! :)

It's a boy!

Brian and I are going to be the parents to a boy!!! Whoo hoo!!!

I will post more later! I post ultrasound pics soon!

Boogety Boo

Saw this picture on CNN today. I couldn't help but burst out in a fit of laughter.

"Boogety -boo....you shall believe everything I say now... "

Charleston, SC!

We had a wonderful weekend in Charleston with Molly and Robert. Robert, as always, is a walking encylopedia of southern history, making his tales more interesting than the tours we paid for! The weather was wonderful....we walked, talked, ate, drank (not me!)...and the weekend went by too fast. When we get pics up, I will be sure to share them!

The picture is of a plantation that we visited. It wasn't open for tours, but it was still really cool to see.

Here is a really mini-picture of me at 19 Weeks. We were at the beach. The water felt as warm as our lakes were. (I can't figure out why it came in so small!)






Here is Brian and I, at the same beach.
















We miss you Molly and Robert!!!

Habitat, Friends, Cleaning and More!

Ok...here I go to rewrite this again...

On April 21st, Brian wrapped up the week of volunteering by spending the day framing a Habitat for Humanity house in Grand Rapids. I stopped by to visit, and was excited to see it was 2 doors down from a house I had designed the structure for!

That weekend, Sarah visited, and we had a great time of chatting, cooking and walking. She made me baby's first afghan. :)

Last weekend, Brian, Dad and I were at the cabin doing spring cleaning. We cleaned and reorganized the shed. The kayaks now have a new home there for the summer. We also did all sorts of misc. odd jobs like fixing water faucets, light fixtures, outlets, etc that have needed repair for a little while. I spent the majority of the weekend cleaning and washing a plethora of towels and sheets inherited from Grandpa Spratke. It was a very productive weekend! Blue got to play on the beach for a while, despite the cold, and we got to have a big campfire with Dad. I can't wait to go back, it was so hard to come home!!!

Here is a picture of me at 18 Weeks with wet hair!

Here is a pic of the cabin with a fresh new paint job (Oct 2005)

The biggest challenge - reorganizing the shed! See - our kayaks found a new home!

This upcoming weekend Brian and I are flying to Charleston, SC to visit our friends Molly and Robert for the weekend. We are very excited to see them!!!

WGVSU Auction....

Last night, Brian and I volunteered for the WGVSU auction, along with a bunch of other Dematic employees (formerly Siemens Dematic). Brian and I got to help calling the winning bidders, finalizing payment and shipping information, etc- so we weren't on TV (which was fine by us!) - but we had a lot of fun doing it. Everyone was great. We were there from about 6-10pm, and the time absolutely flew. We could not believe what great deals people were getting, which lead us to go home and watch the auction! Something which was formerly skipped over and boring has become intriguing and fun to us! Hopefully we will get to do it again next year!

WGVU's website
http://www.wgvu.org/

Brian has the best job in America!

How interesting!!!

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestjobs/?cnn=yes

Week 15

Not much new to report these days. The change in temperature has definitely been nice - and helpful, considering I am in this ackward stage of inbetween clothes. Too small to wear maternity clothes, too big for most of my other clothes! What a bizarre feeling!

I started cleaning out the room for the nursery. We have to pull some evil disco mirrors off the walls, so when Dad has some time he can come help me patch the walls and prime them. Then, when we find out what sex "the monkey" is....we can paint the walls. The most bizarre thought: we will probably know by June what we are having. :)

Heading home (Flint) this weekend for Easter - then to AA for a kiddy birthday shin-dig with friends on Sunday afternoon....another crazy drivin' weekend for the Spratke's!

Hide and Go Seek Monkey

We went to appointment #2 today. It was a rather uneventful appointment actually, but we did get to hear the heartbeat again.

Naturally, while she is moving the little unit around, I hold my breath until we hear it, and today, it took a few minutes to find it - naturally feeding into my normal worry wart paranoia. But alas, the monkey came out of hiding and we heard it's heart beating away. I would compare it to the sound of someone in a pair of corderoy pants walking fast; the sound of the cloth rubbing together. Does that make sense?

We have started getting gifts from people...how crazy aye? I suppose pretty soon we will have to start on the bedroom, although, I am semi-waiting for Dad to have some free time to come over and help us tear the hideous mirrors off the wall (left by a previous owner, naturally). The doc says that the next 12 weeks are our chance to get things done - we better get on it!

Oh - and another thing, baby will be heading to concert #3 - as we got tickets to go see Pearl Jam in May. Whoo hoo.

Week 14 and wedding congrats!

Here is a picture of myself at Week 14. We were attending the wedding of Mike and Stacey Wise on Saturday, April 1st - when we took a second to snap the first "side shot".




We had a great time at the wedding, and everything was beautiful! Congrats to the new couple who are on their way to honeymoon in Hawaii (oh envy!) This is my favorite shot from the wedding.

Ultrasound Picture

Here is a picture of the little "monkey" from last Friday (Week 12).

News from the House of Spratke

As of Sept 30, 2006, the Freeman-Spratke families will be one member larger. :) Yup, we are having a baby.

It's taken me a while to post because of course, one wants all their friends and family to find out in a non-webpage means of communication, so posting here is mostly just doing it for the fun of it...

Currently, I am 11.5 weeks along, due Sept 30th (just 11 days after nephew Will's first birthday!). This means, our summer plans of sitting up at the cabin every possible will include me sporting a collection of as non-matronly of maternity bathing suites as I can. :) Of course, it also means we will have to drag lots of friends up, so Brian can have someone to play on the new Sea Doo with (as I am pretty sure pregnancy and high speed water sports are a no-no).

March 7th, we had our first appointment, and were able to hear the crazy little heartbeat...it made me laugh, so it was hard to hear it for too long at a time....but heard it we did. :)

Friday, we get to have our first ultrasound. I am excited!!!

Well, nuff for now...that's our news!

Article about concert...

Great NIN show ends on sour note
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
By Troy ReiminkThe Grand Rapids Press

See what happens when you throw things at the stage?
Nine Inch Nails' show at the DeltaPlex Entertainment and Expo Center ended rather abruptly Monday night after a projectile thrown by someone in the audience struck frontman Trent Reznor in the face.
Reznor was alone on stage, playing the opening strains of "Hurt." The song was approaching its crescendo when the object hit him. Reznor pushed over his keyboard and stormed off stage, not to return. The house lights came on almost immediately.

And who could blame him? You play your guts out for almost two hours -- only to have some clown ruin it. We'll be lucky if NIN ever decides to come back. A show official said Reznor escaped serious injury but got a black eye from the tossed object. The band is scheduled to perform tonight in Toledo, Ohio.
Fortunately, all this happened 21 songs into the show, so it was presumably close to the end anyway, but now we have to speculate about what an encore might have included (I'm guessing "The Hand That Feeds," "Piggy" and "Head Like a Hole").
The end notwithstanding, this was an intense, almost perfectly executed concert. Reznor and company came out roaring with a one-two-three punch of NIN classics: "Mr. Self Destruct," "Sin," "Terrible Lie."
Hearing these songs, it's almost unfathomable how ahead of its time NIN was in the '90s. Can you believe it's been a dozen years since "The Downward Spiral" popularized industrial rock, and that "Pretty Hate Machine" will turn 17 later this year?
Obviously, much of the band's audience exists because of "Closer," whose famously crude lyrics supplied one of the least romantic choruses to ever appear in a top-40 single.
NIN got "Closer" out of the way relatively early, preferring to perform cuts from the overlooked 1999 opus "The Fragile," a few obscurities ("Suck," a song Reznor co-wrote for the industrial band Pigface), and several numbers from the 2005 album "With Teeth."
Backed by a solid, four-piece touring band Reznor, as always, was a compelling, menacing presence on stage, performing new and old songs with equal ferocity. And no, he hasn't gotten any happier over the years.
The older material has aged remarkably well. Maybe that's because so much of what's been on rock radio in the past decade has either been influenced by the NIN aesthetic or has stolen it wholesale.
That aesthetic -- pummeling percussion, searing guitars and keyboards, shout-along choruses and angst aplenty -- made for a thrilling show. Equal credit goes to the visual presentation, a dizzying spectacle of pulsating strobe lights, gloomy atmospherics and not very comforting video footage.
Mid-show, a scrim dropped to cover the stage and, as the band explored some melodic corners of its catalog, a projector showed juxtaposed images of war and creepy domestic serenity.
A projected clip of George W. and Laura Bush dancing at a black-tie event generated a big yell from the near-sellout crowd of about 5,000. Whether it was a cheer or a boo was unclear, but I'm assuming boo. Whatever your opinion of the president, it's worth noting he's provided an impetus for a lot of otherwise introspective artists to turn their intensity outward.
And Reznor's as introspective as they come. No one will ever accuse him of being a great lyricist, as he leans pretty heavily on nebulous, overwrought rhyming couplets, but it all somehow works as a package. The anger, the noise, the visuals, the catharsis, all melting into a seething stew of rage.
Obviously, I'd like to have seen how the show would've ended, but what we got was outstanding.

Concerts...whoo hoo.

Well, we have had an adventerous couple of weeks...we had 2 concerts, 2 Monday's in a row. Last Monday, we went with Bill, Leslie and their friends to see Nickleback (opened by Trapt and Default). I have to say, I wasn't sure what to think, not being a huge Nickelback fan, but I will admit, they put on a good show, and had some mighty cool pyrotechnics (sp?).

Last night, we capped off our concerting adventures, for the month of Feb. with Nine Inch Nails. Once again, with Bill and Leslie in tow. (Kudos to Leslie for putting up with my music taste!) I have to say, I very much enjoyed it...I have been brushing up on my old school NIN lately, combined with the new album, which I really like...I will admit, the venue left something to be desired, and the security was laughable (walmart greeters trying to make extra money?), but the proximity to the stage was pretty good...

...now for the shocker...it was about 3/4 into the show...a couple hours at least...and all the sudden, halfway through the sound hurt...some idiot threw something on the stage at the lead singer...who promptly threw something and left the stage. Everyone seemed to think it was a dramatic lead in to the next part of the song...but then, the house lights came up. People tried to encourage an encore, but no go. HOLY COW. Very disappointing...although, I will admit, at that point, my feet were tired, and I had heard a good many of my favorite songs...so I can't say I left lacking a good show....and hey- we were home and in bed early, so can't complain about that...

Anyways, back to the normal world, sans stinky concert halls and expensive merchandising.

COLD!

Holy cow, is it cold or what!?

Entering another month of winter, still, pretty much snow-less, but we have the cold for a change. Yipes.

We had an uneventful Super Bowl with some friends in town to visit. We were bored to tears over the commericals and thankful for Tivo, so we could forward through the boring portions of the game (which to me, was pretty much all of it).

All has been well in other aspects of life. We have just been putzin' along, trying to keep warm and not go broke over a heating bill. ;)

Not much else to report out there. :)

Greets!

Well, it's been an uneventful week, following an eventful weekend. Jon, Dawn and Sam were up on Friday night - we had a nice dinner to celebrate Brian's promotion and then Brian did some work on their computer. Saturday morning, Sam and I spent some quality time looking at the "Cold snow", and playing with Cabbage Patch Kids. ;) Dawn and I got a nice trip to the mall where we created havoc at NY&Co. We returned home with 50 B-dubs wings for lunchtime snacking. Good times.

Then, later, after they headed home, we drove up to Christine and Jon's for a little dinner soiree. Cara, Chester, Kathyrn and a couple local friends joined in. We played some games (which we were all aparently too genius for) and hung out. Brian and I stayed the night (of course, Blue was in tow) due to the long drive home - and the next morning we got up, had a great greasy breakfast in a little nearby town - and headed home.

Finally...we got to rest!!! So, we are enjoying the fact that this is a very low key week.... :) Thus far, we have no plans for the weekend, a rarity for us, but of course, that could change in the blink of an eye!

Holiday Haze Is Over.

Well, it's been ages since I have posted. Seems we were caught up in the haze of the holidays. We spent Christmas in Alma and Flint...then New Years, with the Blue Sky group at Jon and Dawn's....the following week, I got a horrible cold, and it rained..and rained...and rained!

Last weekend we went to Detriot. On Saturday, we watched the Clare high school basketball team (coached by a fellow Almanite) play at the Palace. Then, we stayed to watch a Piston's game. I had never been to a basketball game before, so it was a new experience. It was a good time, but I will admit, I enjoyed watching the kids better than the professionals! We stayed at Kev and Mon's for the weekend, and as usual, we managed to stay up til 3am talking about a whole lotta who knows what! Sunday morning, Monica made us breakfast pizza, which was pretty good!

Now that we are out of the haze of the holidays and a cold....we resume normal, and somewhat dull life! Not much to report....