Well we had our first Halloween with Neel and it was a blast. First of all Neel got to be the devil (and the part seemed quite fitting). We participated in the parade around the playground, and we hit all 16 floors of the high-rise. Neel’s costume was a huge hit! Neel seems to like candy and understand that you get to take one from each person at the door. Although, once we told him, “okay Neel, take just one piece”, but he grabbed two pieces and immeadiately sneezed on them (sneaky little devil). Also, since he cannot have any peanuts yet, I made off with some of the candy ;-) Kim showed up in her well done “Where’s Waldo” outfit on her way to the JP bike ride.
The long awaited Glacier photos.. just about to be posted!! Now that I am all settled (for now that is) in San Diego, CA and the race is out of the way.. Oh, and I have a new chrager/cord for my computer.. let the uploading begin. Enjoy the photos but first, let me brief you all on the adventure Mol and I have indulged ourselves in this time…
Hitting the road a few days shy of July… molly and i were mountain bound! A sneak preview of the west and the wonders it holds, through the short day stops at The Bad Lands National Park and Mt. Rushmore, was all it took to fuel us for the remainder of the 33 hr road trip! Arriving in Montana, Big Sky Country, was absolutely breathtaking. As the road stretched through the wide open spaces of this scarcely inhabited land I began to question if the sky really was bigger ?
Our arrival at the park..It would be a lie if I told you I was completely comfortable of our new mountain lodge accomodation. Described as rustic, the employee housing description never mentioned.. 7 bunk mates and a 6ft by 2ft bunk bed. Molly and I had not met our roommates prior to our tour of our new “home.” The floor of the bathroom swamped with clothes, lawn chairs, bottles of beers, and make up bags quickly reminded me of how I did not miss college dorm life. Culture shock set in for 24 hours as Molly and I raced to town the next morning to use our cell phones. A summer with out technology? The adjustment to the my new mountain lifestlye set in sooner than expected and Molly and I were hitting the trails within days of our arrival!
I have mentioned the book “Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen” by Christopher McDougall, to a few of you over the phone. In short, I think it is an awesome book, especially for a family that does a lot of running. It gave me some new perspectives on running and why we, as humans, do it. I will soon put to the test some of the things that this book (while not a training manual) has inspired me to do. I don’t want to give spoilers, so just give it a read. P.S. I am stealing Natasha’s thunder here, because it was actually her that found this book, which I subsequently took and read before she got the chance ;).
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This is a book written for popular audiences that condenses a LOT of recent studies on the behavior and development of children. I initially decided that I should read it so I could learn more about how to be a good mother to Neel, but I think the book would be interesting to anyone. It’s 250 pages and covers a lot of topics—from infant language acquisition to teenage rebellion. One of the most interesting parts of the book is the discussion on why kids shouldn’t be praised constantly and how to praise them in a constructive way. The book also talks about sleep deprivation, lying, bad gifted programs, talking about race, sibling rivalry, bullying, and self-control. I think this book is particularly good because it describes how parents are doing some things thinking it’s really good for their child and it’s instead having a negative effect. For example, in order to help their children learn language, parents are often talking to their infants all the time (I tried this too). But this is not as helpful as some parents think because it’s more important to respond quickly to the babble and other cues of the infants than it is to talk at them. A lot of it seems like common sense after reading the book, but I hadn’t known or thought about a lot of these ideas before reading it. I would definitely recommend!
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The continuing saga…Nicholas Graduation
The next major event of the summer was Nick’s graduation…Grade 25!! Suffice to say we are extremely proud parents…
Grandpa, Maggie, Dad and I ventured up to Boston on Wednesday June 3rd. We were armed with Dad’s new garmin this go round ( I did not think that we really needed to take it and later saw Dad become garmin dependent) I believe in maps and planning my route ahead!
This time we were staying in Boston at the Park Plaza…a posh older hotel. We checked in…I gave the desk clerk strict instructions nothing above the 8th floor (per Grandpa as fire truck ladders don’t go higher) Anyway Grandpa was given a room that no longer existed…it was turned into a vending machine room. We straightened that out and headed to Nick and Natashas -2 miles from the hotel. Neel was experiencing some stranger anxiety…I did not take this personally as all babies go through this ..not that I did not feel bad anyway.
The next morning we headed to Nick’s hooding. Kim met us there . Natasha, Nootan and Neel were in the back. All in all a pretty good crowd to cheer Nick on. I don’t remember much about the speakers and I do know that Grandpa and Dad snuck in a nap. All in all a very nice ceremony on a beautiful day.
I think that night we had the BBQ in the courtyard but it could have been Friday night. After a fun evening and some pinochle playing we headed back to the hotel…I knew how to get there just a few turns right on Mass Ave left on Commonwealth etc but no Dad had to use the garmin. Storrow was closed for construction and the garmin didn’t know it. It took us a while to get back. In his defense we had taken Maggie and Kim back to Kim’s place so we weren’t starting out from Nicks. We were all tired and tomorrow was the big day. We needed to get into Cambridge before Memorial Drive was shut down.
We got up early. We had been going to Au Bon Pain for breakfast as the hotel was too expensive. After my cup of java we headed to Nicks. We were able to park in the lot near the apartment and walked over to the dome. It was quite a sight to see the graduates marching down Memorial Drive. Deval Patrick was the keynote speaker…speech was a little too political for me but hopefully motivated the graduates to do great things! We were actually able to pick Nick out of the crowd probably due to that wide grin on his face. The day had finally come…no longer does he have to put up with us asking “When do you think you are going to graduate?” Words cannot express how thrilled we are Nick!
Nicks department had a very nice lunch after the graduation where we were privileged to meet that enigma “Nicola”. We had heard so much about him over the years.
On Saturday we decided to head up to Quincy to see the USS Salem a decommissioned navy ship. We toured the ship for a few hours. Grandpa really enjoyed it as he had been on a similar ship when active in the Navy reserve. We had a late lunch at the Pizza Hut in Quincy…all in all a great day.
Neel finally was warming up to us . Unfortunately we were leaving in the morning but we did get a few pics with him!
Once again reality … we were back on the road to Erie, PA on Sunday June 7th …
Maggie returned to Fairfax the Tuesday after Mother’s day…we departed Erie Thursday for her graduation. I was really looking forward to this as all the sibs would be there with the added bonus of Melanie, Grandpa, Uncle Mike and Amber. We arrived in the afternoon at the Courtyard Marriott. We ( Dad, Molly,Grandpa and I) had just gone to our rooms when I received a call from Maggie confirming our room number. She had been pounding on the door with no answer…It didn’t take long to figure out she, Uncle Mike and Amber were at the wrong hotel. I had mistakenly told her it was the Marriott she used to work at…oh well !!! Our hotel was great..breakfast included. During our 3 night stay there we made ourselves at home, took over the lobby area, brought in the beer and wine and played our favorite card game..pinochle.
We started Thursday evening off with dinner at Maggie’s place of employment..the Coyote Grill..the best guacamole and margaritas in Fairfax.
Mike and Melanie arrived late Thursday ( in time for a card game) Kim and Nick came in early Friday at breakfast. Later Friday morning we headed to Maggie’s convocation –specific to her college of tourism and events management. We were extemely proud of her, not only did she receive her degree (well almost with 2 classes to go) but she also was awarded the “Outstanding Student” in her major.
Later Friday we went to Georgetown to celebrate Maggie’s graduation…at a restaurant on the Potomac called Sequoia. Great views and great food!!
Saturday we opted not to attend the full graduation ceremony at the Patriot Center but to head into DC to see the sites. Some of us drove in as Mike and Melanie were leaving Saturday evening so it made sense as we were close to Reagan airport. We eventually hooked up with the metro group and proceeded to do it all…walked all the monuments, hit the Holocaust museum among other things.
Saturday evening we kicked back at the hotel for pizza and more pinochle.
Sunday was departure for the rest of us. Kim and Nick headed back to Boston early. Maggie drove Uncle Mike and Amber to BWI as the rest of us headed back to Erie PA. As only the Miller clan can we did it all in a few short days…
Maggie was staying in Fairfax to finish her 2 classes and her rabies shots of course…
Well summer is almost over is I decided I had better sit down and make some blog entries.
Our summer started with Maggie arriving home from Panama/Costa Rica on the Saturday before Mother’s day. I breathed a sigh of relief to have her back…like I always do whenever any kids?! are traveling. Following her activities like rock climbing and crocodile spotting on her blog was enough to give me panic attacks. Sunday (Mothers Day) Molly, Maggie and I did the Mothers Day 5K at Presque Isle. Well we sort of did it together..the first 10th of the first mile. To the best of my recollection, Aunt Julie and Jen ran too. It was a nice race and always helps justify any overindulgence food wise later in the day. At some point and I can’t actually recall when…Maggie told me that she was bit by a stray dog a few weeks earlier in Panama…Oh My God!!..she had sought no medical attention and obviously did not understand the critical nature of this situation. A stray dog could not be observed for 10 days, rabies is endemic in Central America and rabies once symptoms appear is fatal. In mother/nurse mode I called my friend who happens to be one of the Infectious disease nurses at SVHC. Fil advised that we head to the ER immediately. The PA in the ER initially was only concerned about Maggie’s wound which had already healed until I point blank told her that I was worried about rabies. ( I do have a personal bias against PAs they seem to have a very narrow focus depending what type of doc they work with unlike nurses who have a more holistic approach.) Anyway that got the ball rolling with the health department. Maggie received 4 shots..the first of her series. Additional shots would be needed on specific days…day 3, day 7 etc. Of course were talking Maggie so things are never simple, the complicating factor was that on Tuesday she was returning to Mason to turn in her internship stuff and prepare for graduation. So the next day I was talking to the Fairfax Health Dept to find out where she should go to get the shots. Several conversations occurred because no one was really sure who was to track the data regarding her case. Non compliance was not an option and Maggie can attest to the fact that I kept on her to complete the series of shots. I am very grateful that she happened to tell me about the dog bite as things could have turned out very different. That Sunday ER visit and rabies shots were my Mother’s day gift from my darling daughter…
Molly and I arrived safe and sound at Mike’s Albany Park apartment earlier this evening. After an 8 hour drive, crossing 3 state lines and hours worth of country music listening (molly’s doing..) we made it and ONLY have 25 more hours to go until we reach our final destination: Montana! .. so the Montana Millers (Montana Millers is what my friend pat refers us as) have set off on the latest and greatest adventure driving 33 hours from Erie, PA to Glacier National Park, which we both have seasonal job positions for the summer. Excited for the crisp air and solitude of the mountains, Molly and I have nothing but high hopes and positive attitudes for the Big Sky Country!! Having a FREE place to crash in Chicago with the added bonus of visiting with Mike made our first stop a must! After a semi-long first day on the open road I am happy to report there were ZERO twin fights. The drive time was split nicely between the two of us, while the license plate game and stopping at each state line suited to be fun diversions for us. A delcious meal at the whole in the wall taqueria below Mike’s place accompanied by a good wheat beer to call it a day! Look forward to writing more!
Family News | nedward | 
November 3, 2009 4:34 pm | 
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This is a biography of Johannes Kepler. The witch part is in reference to his mother who was tried as a witch, later in Kepler’s life. The book really paints a great historical picture of the time and place that Kepler lived, with plenty of focus on the importance of his contributions to science — proving Copernicus right and paving the way for Newton’s laws of gravity. It also ties in the faith of Kepler and how he tried to find the beauty and simplicity of god in all of his science. All in all it is a decent read, but parts of it get redundant. One really nicely done part of the book is that letters written by Kepler himself are inserted at the chapter breaks.
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