The Junior Park Ranger

During our trip to the Grand Canyon last month, we were missing our favorite little boy a lot. So when Jeff saw a cute little park ranger costume at the shop in Grand Canyon Village, well... he bought it for Vinny.

Luckily, Vinny's really too young to understand what's going on, so we could get away with picking his costume for him (this is probably the last year for that). So Daddy dressed him up as the cutest little park ranger out there, and took this outstanding picture of our junior park ranger examining his sunglasses:

(Shouldn't that just win the cutest costume for two and under award?)

I think he's just as cute as his first and second Halloweens, but maybe I'm just biased. But no picture is as outstanding as this one of our cute little devil from last year:

(Clearly, this is a contestant for best picture ever.)

Before we took him trick-or-treating, I explained the rules. "We ring the doorbell, say 'trick or treat,' and then we get a piece of candy and put it in the bag." He really didn't understand what I was talking about, and at the first house, refused a piece of candy but wanted to go inside the house. Eventually he started to understand not only that people were offering him something, but that that something was CANDY, and then had I left him to his own devices, he would have taken everything from the bowl. He still didn't catch on that we were supposed to just stand at the door and not go in, though. He managed to give me the slip and go into several houses before I realized what was going on. A lot of people thought he was dressed as an explorer and just commented that he was acting in character.

Anyhow, it was the most engaged that he's ever been with Halloween. The first year, he mostly slept through the trick-or-treating. The second year, he wasn't walking yet so it was kind of a hassle to get him in and out of his wagon and carry him to people's doors. This year he's walking on his own and he really enjoyed seeing the people and walking into their houses (much to my embarrassment).

This post encouraged to be posted in a timely manner by the Parentbloggers Halloween costume contest, in which you can win a gift certificate for blurb -- where you can create a coffee table book custom-designed by you!

Caught in a Loop

Here's a clear explanation of the ridiculous loop that people with chronic illnesses can get caught in under our current healthcare situation.

Basically, if you're so ill that you can't make enough money to support yourself, then you become eligible for disability payments from Social Security, and Medicare (eventually) and finally get the care you need. Then, you get well enough (thanks to the expensive care and medication paid for by Medicare) to support yourself, at which time you become ineligible for Medicare. But your job doesn't provide health insurance benefits that will give you the care you need, and you can't afford to pay out-of-pocket, so you get ill again, go on social security and Medicare, and then once again become eligible to receive the treatments you need...

Anyone who wants to reduce the number of people on Social Security disability would do well to support a single-payer health care system. In that way, people would get the treatments they needed from the beginning, and those whose chronic conditions are treatable would never need to rely on disability payments.

Dear Voters of California

Today is Write to Marry Day, in which bloggers write about their opposition to Proposition 8, the proposed amendment to the California constitution that would take away the rights of same-sex couples to marry.  This is a post I've been working on for a long time in my head, and thanks to the impetus of the day, is finally coming out on the page!

Dear Voters of California,

This coming Tuesday, you will be voting on an issue that is near and dear to my heart.  I really wish that I could be one of you so that I could vote against Proposition 8.

Why?  Because if there's one thing in this world that's important to me, it's my family.  I love my husband, I love my son, and my sisters and my parents too.  I love my in-laws, my bonus family members, and my outlaws too.

Outlaws?  Yes, I have outlaws.  They're people who, in my mind, are in-laws, except for the whole lack of legality business.  You see, half my first family is gay.  This means that the loving, loyal, supportive lifetime partners of my family members are considered complete strangers to my family members under the law, because between the two partners there is not exactly one Y chromosome.

But in California, my same-sex-coupled family member/outlaw pair could be considered as legitimate as my husband and I, and share the same sorts of rights and responsibilities that he and I do.  They could be considered first-class citizens with the same rights toward each other that any single-Y-chromosome pair of adults who love each other can have by paying a modest fee to the County Clerk's office.

That is, provided that you vote down Proposition 8.

Proposition 8 is designed to take away rights -- rights that anyone should have -- to marry, regardless of the content of their chromosomes.  And that, Californians, is just plain wrong.

The opponents of marriage equality, knowing that there is no legitimate legal argument for their opposition, have resorted to lying -- saying that legalizing same-sex marriage would force churches to marry same-sex couples or lose their tax exempt status.  That is untrue.  Churches could choose to not marry same-sex couples, just like they can choose not to marry couples who don't follow any of their other religious tenets.  If a church doesn't have to sanctify the marriage of an atheist, they won't have to sanctify the marriage of a same-sex couple, either.

No, this is not about upending other people's religions.  This is about respecting the civil rights of people who are different from you.  This is about leading the way in tolerance, love, and justice.

I hope that you in California vote down Proposition 8, and that it energizes the country so that sometime soon, I will be able to weep with joy as I watch my family members and their same-sex partners united in matrimony, not only spiritually but legally.

Sincerely,

Rebecca, loyal sister, daughter, and friend to LGBT people

Sleep Slippage

Dearest Internets, I am at my wits' end! I appeal to your wisdom. Seriously, any advice is welcome.

We are having trouble with getting Vinny to go to bed. Here's the situation:

He sleeps (or, I should say, ideally he would sleep) in a toddler bed that is simply his crib with one side off. We removed the side about six months ago, because we thought it would help in the mornings when he woke up and was bored. That way he could just slip out of bed and play.

Well, he figured out a couple of months ago that if he wasn't really tired, he could just open the door of his room and leave. So we installed a child-proof doorknob cover on the inside of his door. But this just made him angry, and if we put him to bed, he would run over to the door and kick it and hit it, while screaming and crying. Eventually he would get tired and fall asleep right in front of the door. If you opened the door a few hours later, you would hit him with the door. I did manage to squeeze through and put him in his bed but it was hard to do so without waking him up.

Then we decided to install a gate in his doorway, because we thought he might be afraid of the dark and need some light from the hallway. But that actually made things worse, because he can hear what's going on around the house a lot better, plus he can see you leave.

Here's what I've tried.

• I can go through the nighttime ritual and then put him to bed awake, which results in him screaming and crying and doing what I have described above.
  
• After the nighttime ritual, I can continue to hold him and rock him to sleep in his rocking chair, and then set him down in his bed. He will sleep for a few hours until he wakes up in the night and realizes that I'm not there, and then begin screaming and crying and rush over to the door. The crying is genuine, or at least, he does produce tears.
• I got him a nightlight, thinking that it could be fear of the dark that's bothering him. But unfortunately, he tends to pull the night light out of the outlet, which scares me that sometime he'll end up shocking himself.
  
• I can take him to bed with me, and (usually) he falls asleep and sleeps through the night. Sometimes, such as this past Friday night, he does not want to fall asleep and then we don't get to bed until obscenely late (2 am, in this case).
  
• If we move him to his room when he's fast asleep, he will wake up in a few hours and cry and rush to the door. If he does fall asleep with us, sometimes he lies completely still and sleeps peacefully; other times he kicks us in the head all night. Usually he is very mobile when he is close to waking up.

So we do have a solution that usually works: letting him sleep with us. But it is not the most convenient for us, and I would like for him to sleep in his own bed. Any suggestions?

Weekend Adventures with Grandparents

In honor of our beloved son's second birthday, Jeff and I decided to rent a cabin at Big Ridge State Park and invite his four grandparents to join us. Jeff's parents and my dad and bonus mom came down on Friday.

On Friday afternoon, they went on a tour of my lab, including a tour of the area I work in. Then we headed for the cabin. We got there after closing time, and didn't know how to get the key to our cabin. Luckily, there was a ranger from a different park coming out of the restroom at the time, and she was able to find out with a phone call that our key could be found in the mailbox.

After unpacking our bags and putting our food in the fridge in the cabin, we headed out to a nearby town for pizza (Vinny's favorite food). We found a local pizza place and shared two pizzas before returning to the cabin for the night.

In the morning, I had planned to make some pancakes for us all to enjoy. I'd mixed all the dry ingredients at home, and would mix in the wet ingredients at the cabin. But I realized that I had forgotten my two-burner griddle, and sent Jeff back to our house for it and a few other things (such as allergy medication). Then, after he got back, I realized we had forgotten the eggs, so Dad and Marvis went out to get some eggs. Finally, we had all the ingredients for our breakfast, which we enjoyed at about noon.

In the afternoon, we took Vinny down to the playground at the park. He really enjoyed slides for the first time. He figured out how to slide down a slide by himself, which is a pretty big development. In fact, there was a corkscrew slide that he was somewhat intimidated by, so I offered to help him go down it, but before I could get seated, he'd accidentally fallen down it. I was worried that it would freak him out but it seemed to have the opposite effect. He couldn't get enough of that slide, and he must have gone down it a dozen times or more.

That evening, we cooked hamburgers and brats on the charcoal grill for Vinny's birthday dinner. We enjoyed the hamburgers and brats along with some red potatoes with rosemary, potato chips, and fruit salad. After dinner, we opened Vinny's presents to give us some time to make room for cake and ice cream.

I had made Vinny a cocoa devil's food cake (my standard chocolate cake) with raspberry filling between the layers and white frosting on the outside. As it turns out, my son is more of an ice cream eater than a cake eater. He ate all his ice cream and some of mine, but ate only a few bites of the cake.

Having so much sugar so late made it a little difficult to put Vinny to bed, but eventually he did fall asleep. In the morning, Jeff and his parents went to Quaker Meeting, while the rest of us cleaned up the cabin before taking Vinny back to the playground one more time. Then, we drove back home, where Dad and Marvis assembled Vinny's new Vinny-sized table for him.

Eventually Jeff and his parents arrived home again, but we discovered that Jeff's dad had left his camera at the cabin, so Jeff and his dad drove back there to retrieve it.

Over all, it was a really fun weekend together. We all had so much fun getting together and appreciating Vinny. We may all differ when it comes to politics, religion, or other matters of opinion, but one thing we all agree upon is that Vinny is a fantastic little boy.

Richer Than God!

Confused about the credit crisis? Need an explanation that even Barbie and Ken can understand? You are in luck, my friend!

My sister Rachel and her friends teamed up to provide a video explanation of what happened and why we're now in this financial pickle. It will help you to understand what we're all being asked to pay twelve figure bailout payments for. Click and learn!

Adventures in Interval Arithmetic

I realize that some people read this blog just for the math. Those people have been mighty bored for the past several months as I've prattled on about Vinny, the fact that I am really busy, my vacation, etc. I need to remedy this problem and get talking more about math, as this blog's title implies it is about. So, math fans, this post is for you!

When you take a measurement of something (such as the temperature of your sick child, the height of your house's ceiling, or the RPM level of your car's engine), this measurement is not exact. For example, the thermometer we use to measure Vinny's temperature is digital, and displays the following: xyz.t (where x, y, z, and t represent any of the digits 0-9). Assuming that its method of measuring temperature is completely accurate, there is still error inherent in reading this measurement, because the precision of the readout is limited to increments of one-tenth of a degree Fahrenheit.

For example, if Vinny's actual temperature were 101.138˚F, we would see only 101.1 on the readout, because the temperature would be rounded to the nearest tenth of a degree. Therefore we would be unable to distinguish the temperatures from 101.05 to 101.149999.... They would all show up as 101.1. If we say that a is the actual temperature and â is the measured temperature, then for a in the interval [101.05, 101.15), â = 101.1.

Rebecca, you might say. Your parentheses don't match. You are correct! I did that on purpose. In mathematics we use [ or ] to mean "closed interval" and ( or ) to mean "open interval." Any number between 101.05 and 101.15 is within the interval. The only questions are about the numbers at the end of the interval. If a = 101.05 exactly, then it falls within the interval. But if a = 101.15, then it does not fall within the interval. A number infinitesimally smaller than 101.15 falls within the interval, but 101.15 itself does not. This is because a temperature of 101.15 would be rounded up to 101.2.

This is what we have to work with in interval arithmetic: these ranges. So, for example, if we want to figure out what Vinny's temperature range is in Celsius when the thermometer reads 101.1˚F, then we can convert the interval to Celsius.

Recall that C = 5/9 (F-32), where C = the temperature in Celsius, and F = the temperature in Fahrenheit.

So, we could take the minimum part of the interval and convert it, and then convert the maximum too, to create the Celsius interval. This works because [a, b] + x = [a+x, b+x], and µ [a, b] = [µa, µb] for non-negative µ. Thinking about it in geometric terms, picture the number line, and place a and b arbitrarily along the line such that b is greater than a. If you add the same number to both a and b, all you're doing is translating the interval to a different place along the line, but not changing the ordering of a and b. If you multiply by a non-negative number, you're just stretching the interval to be µ times its original width (or shrinking it, in the case of a µ less than one). Multiplying by a negative factor simply reverses the ordering of the interval, i.e., -µ [a, b] = [-µb, -µa].

So, if we do the interval conversion we obtain [101.05, 101.15)˚F = 5/9 {[101.05, 101.15) -32}˚C = 5/9 [69.05, 69.15)˚C = [38.36111…, 38.41666…)˚C.

Multiplication of intervals creates an interesting situation. Suppose you've measured the height of your ceiling and the length of a wall and you want to calculate the area of the wall. If the wall is 2.50 meters tall and 4.63 meters wide, and your measurements are accurate to the nearest centimeter, then the intervals are [2.495, 2.505) and [4.625, 4.635), respectively.

So how would you figure out the range of the area of the wall? When multiplying two intervals [a, b] and [x, y], there are four possible numbers to consider as the maximum or minimum of the interval: ax, bx, ay, and by. In general, we can't just take [ax, by] as the interval; for example the range for [-3, 1] [-1, 2] is [-6, 3], not [3, 2] -- which doesn't even make sense as an interval. In the case of the wall, though, there are no negative numbers to worry about, so the wall area is anywhere from [11.539375, 11.610375) m².

The examples I have given here may seem silly or unimportant, but there are actually some very important applications of interval arithmetic. A big one is computer arithmetic.

Computers have a limited capacity to express numbers. A number such as 1/3 cannot be expressed as a fraction on a computer; instead it is expressed in a form similar to a truncated decimal representation (i.e., like 0.3333). It's not actually a decimal representation because computers represent numbers in base two, but the concept is the same.

As a result of this, if you subtract two numbers that are pretty close to one another, you may end up with a grossly inaccurate result. This phenomenon is known as catastrophic cancellation. For example, if we had a computer that had four digits of accuracy, and we used it to take the difference of 13/12 and 14/13, we would get 1.083 - 1.077 = 0.006. The real answer, 1/156, is approximately 0.006410, so we are not far off. But if our computer had only three digits, we would have 1.08 - 1.08 = 0.00 as the answer!

We can use interval arithmetic to see that while our answer is far from accurate, the interval of uncertainty contains the correct answer. So, in the case of the three-digit accurate computer, we would have [1.075, 1.085) - [1.075, 1.085) = [1.075, 1.085) + (-1.085, -1.075] = (-0.01, 0.01). (Subtracting is like adding the negative of the interval. And when we have the sum of an open and closed bound, the result is open, because (a + almost b) = almost (a+b).) As you can see, the interval of uncertainty contains the true answer, so using interval analysis we can find an upper bound on the margin of error for our calculation.

There are other cases in which an analysis using interval arithmetic is also useful, and I hope to write another application up soon. In the meantime, I hope you have enjoyed learning about interval arithmetic and if you have any questions feel free to ask!

Two Years of Vinny

At this moment two years ago today, I was in all kinds of pain because I hadn't yet given in to common sense and requested an epidural.

Today, as I scrubbed the kitchen floor, I thought about how different from that day two years ago is today. I'd much rather scrub the kitchen floor than give birth, I mused.

Yet, that labor was very much worth all the pain. From it came someone who has changed my life for the better: a little person from whom I have learned so much.

I had forgotten that everything is wondrous. I did not remember how satisfying a drink of milk could be, or how fascinating a button is, or how beautiful music sounds. I never knew it was possible to be so happy upon seeing someone you love after a day of separation. I didn't realize that I was worth loving so much, so purely, and so unconditionally.

I am truly fortunate to have this little boy in my life. All the pain and sleep deprivation -- it was worth it. Happy Birthday, sweet boy.

Mariachi Night

Today was a big day: it was performance night for our Mariachi band. It went really well!

We had a rehearsal in the afternoon in the auditorium. It is in the local high school, but it is no ordinary high school auditorium. The auditorium, along with the rest of the high school, has been recently renovated -- the ribbon cutting ceremony was just last month. The auditorium is bigger than some University venues I have played in, and the acoustics are wonderful.

Then we attended a pre-performance reception sponsored by my employer's international friendship club. I had to leave early because I was asked to speak at the pre-concert discussion of the music. I explained how our group was formed and a little bit about the music to an audience of interested music lovers.

Then, it was time for the orchestra concert. We Scientificos Locos (mad scientists) sat in the audience during the first part of the concert. During intermission we got our instruments and waited back stage while the orchestra played a short piece. Then, we were on stage.

I suffered no stage fright (after all the recitals I've done, this performance was nothing). My fellow Scientificos Locos did not freak out either. We went out there and just had a lot of fun, and thanks to that, we did great. Oh sure, there were a few mistakes, but nothing major. Our enthusiasm more than made up for it. We got a lot of applause when our three pieces were over.

After another piece by the orchestra, the concert was over. As the audience enjoyed some Mexican desserts at the after-concert reception, we got lots of compliments and gratitude for performing.

I had a really good time performing. The only thing I wished was that Jeff and Vinny could have been there. I had some complementary tickets reserved for them, but unfortunately Vinny was too tired and cranky to make it through the concert. Jeff wisely took him home after the pre-concert reception.

Checking In

I really am still alive, just very busy with crazy things like WORK!  I have an interesting post planned on a movie that Jeff and I recently saw, but it takes time to work these things into final blogging form.

So instead, I'll leave you with an anecdote.  The other day, I was talking to a man who made an inappropriate joke (i.e., racist, sexist -- it doesn't matter what exactly).  I had once read, maybe at Thus Spake Zuska or somewhere else, that when you encounter an inappropriate joke, a good tactic is to feign ignorance and ask the person to explain the joke.  I thought this was a perfect opportunity to try out this tactic.

So I put a puzzled expression upon my face, and said, "Was that a joke?  I see you're laughing, but I don't get it."  

"You've got to be kidding me," he said.

"Oh no, I really don't understand what's funny.  Perhaps you could explain it to me."

He grew uncomfortable and embarrassed.  "It was an inappropriate joke that I shouldn't have made.  Never mind."

In this way, I was able to make him realize that what he said was inappropriate, without lecturing him (which would probably make him unreceptive to the message) or coming off as self-righteous.  So thank you, whoever had this idea!  It worked well in this case.

Photos, As Promised

Jeff took well over 400 photos during our vacation. (I took maybe a half dozen, all of him. My photography skills are... limited. Jeff, on the other hand, is really good with a camera.) So, without further ado, here are some pictures!

The above picture is from Hoover Dam, which we saw on our first day. It was really an amazing feat of engineering.
This picture is us at the Grand Canyon, as taken by our bus tour guide. Behind us is Duck Rock.
This picture illustrates just how huge the Grand Canyon is. It's really amazing and it's something everyone should see if they can.
This picture is from Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. Most of the terrain was cinder, as in the foreground and on the hillside. But there were also large chunks of rock lying around like that.
This is from Wupatki National Monument. From a distance, the ruins just looked like rock formations, until you got closer and saw the individual bricks.
These are some of the dinosaur tracks. To highlight them, our guide sprayed water into the prints.
This is a picture of the Meteor Crater. It's pretty amazing that such a small meteor (relatively speaking) made such a large crater.
This picture is from the Painted Desert. The colors are more vibrant in real life.
This is Newspaper Rock in the Petrified Forest National Park. Ancient peoples scratched these petroglyphs into the weathered rock, revealing the lighter colored rock below the surface. Jeff took this picture from something like 200 feet away, because you had to stay on this observation deck to see them.
These are some of the sky blue petrified logs at the Petrified Forest.
This is a scene from Sedona, which is absolutely gorgeous. The cliffs are redder in real life.
This is me with Elvis. This Elvis impersonator seemed to be a really nice person. There were some developmentally disabled adults who were at the show, and afterwards, he cheerfully and willingly posed for pictures with all of them. Then, when they were done, he graciously posed with me too. He asked if I was a computer programmer and I said yes.

Pseudorandom Bullets of Vacation

• As you may have surmised, we made it home all in one piece. Vinny was happy to see us but he had definitely had a good time with Grandpa and Grandma.
• Jeff discovered a new personality within me, that he has named "Beatrice." Beatrice doesn't like to miss her connecting flights and will haul herself across airports at high speeds, after our three-hour layover has been whittled down to 20 minutes by plane delays.
  
• Our last day of vacation was spent in Las Vegas. There are many shows in Las Vegas, a large percentage of which seem interesting, but in the end, we decided that when we thought of Las Vegas shows, it made us think of Elvis. So we decided to see a show with an Elvis impersonator in it. We found one that had six different celebrities being impersonated, including Jay Leno, Madonna, Ann-Margret, and (of course) Elvis. They also had Justin Timberlake, but I am such an old fogey that I have never really seen Justin Timberlake, so that part of the show was somewhat boring to me. The Elvis guy did a really good job, though.
• We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express instead of one of the casinos. Why? Because they provided a free breakfast and free wireless internet, and cost less than any of the casinos. They had a complimentary shuttle to and from the strip.
• After the show, we had to book it to catch the final shuttle of the evening. It was an athletic event: we walked two miles in about 25 minutes. That may not seem like a big deal until you factor in the fact that we had to weave in and out of heavy pedestrian traffic, going around herds of really slow people; and the fact that I run only when being chased. (Beatrice, however, was spotted running down the Las Vegas strip.) We thought we'd missed the shuttle but sat for a few minutes trying to cool down, and when we'd nearly given up, the shuttle showed up.
  
• Our opinion of Las Vegas: we're glad we went once, but that was plenty for us. We don't gamble, drink, or engage in licentious acts, so other than buffets (which we try to avoid anyhow) and shows, there's really not much for us there.
• We rented a Prius for our travel needs. We really enjoyed it! It's fun to drive, and has a surprising amount of pep to it. We drove more than a thousand miles and used less than twenty gallons of gasoline. The rental price was higher, but the gas savings made up for that.
  
• Starting and turning off the Prius took some getting used to, because instead of turning a key, you have to push a button, and the transmission shifting lever thing is very different than any other car. The only drawback is that it doesn't have very much trunk space. It was fine for us and our two suitcases but things could get a little crowded if you had much more to carry. I also didn't like the size of the steering wheel. The diameter of the actual wheel (the donut cross-section) was too small for my hands to grip onto for long periods of time.
• We did not get fully integrated into Pacific Time. (Arizona is on Mountain Standard Time year-round, and MST = Pacific Daylight Time, so we were effectively in the same time zone for the entire trip.) This was actually a good thing because we were able to get up at the crack of dawn and go to bed within three hours after sunset, and since the majority of our activities consisted of enjoying nature -- really something that can only be done during daylight hours -- we were able to take advantage of all of the daylight hours.
• It was still really hard to get up for work yesterday morning.
  
• The consensus: it was a really fun trip and we're both glad we went.
  

More Arizona Adventures

Yesterday, we started our excursions with Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, followed by Wupatki National Monument afterwards. You pay admission to one and you get to go to the other one too. Sunset Crater Volcano was pretty interesting. The volcano had erupted maybe a thousand years ago, but because of the dry climate, the particulates from the volcano have not really been broken down very much. You can see a lot of ash particles, as well as large rocky chunks of lava. At Wupatki National Monument, there are a bunch of pueblos from roughly 800 years ago. It was interesting to see these structures, and to try to imagine how the people lived at that time. Apparently they meticulously collected rainwater, and watered these gardens that they placed in small patches of fertile soil around the area.

After that we continued north, stopping at the Cameron Trading Post for lunch. They have a restaurant there that serves Navajo dishes, and we each ordered a Navajo taco -- a piece of Navajo fry bread with beans, beef, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and chilies on top. They were so enormous that neither of us could eat more than half a taco, so we got take-out boxes and saved our leftovers for dinner.

Jeff had heard about some dinosaur tracks near Tuba City, so we went up there and were shown around by a very inebriated guide. He managed to remember where the tracks were, and could almost pronounce the dinosaur names, despite his impaired state.

After that we drove on some back roads and made our way to Winslow, where we stayed the night in anticipation of today's destinations: the meteor crater and the Petrified Forest.

After an uncomfortable night in a hotel room that was mislabeled as a non-smoking hotel room, we drove to the meteor crater. It was really interesting to look at that crater and think about how a small (relatively speaking) projectile made such a big crater. Then we went to the Petrified Forest National Park. It was really interesting to see all the petrified logs there. Some of them looked like regular logs, with believable coloring and still-visible ring formations, but others were mottled with reds, oranges, purple, and a blue hue that matched the sky. In some places, we saw a lot of petrified shards lying on the ground, and it looked as if that area had been mulched with wood chips.

Then, we made our way to Sedona, where we are right now. In the morning, we'll head out and see some of the beautiful sites around here before heading back to Las Vegas, where I have a hotel reserved for us for tomorrow night and the next night. It will be one full day in Vegas before we fly back east on Wednesday!

Grand Canyon

Our Grand Canyon Excursion was a lot of fun. I had purchased a nice package deal from the Grand Canyon Railroad, which included a stay at the hotel in Williams, round-trip luxury-class tickets on the Grand Canyon Railroad, a coach tour of the rim, and one night in a rim hotel. We took the train to the south rim of the canyon on Thursday morning, and returned to Williams this afternoon. We had a bus tour of the canyon rim highlights after we arrived, and then stayed overnight in a nice hotel at the canyon on Thursday night. We walked around and saw a lot of beautiful views of the canyon, from many different angles, and we checked out some of the exhibits about the geology of the region and the like. I also ate ice cream for dinner on my birthday. I don't think there's a better birthday meal than that!

I should add that I was very careful to drink at least two full glasses of water at every meal and a bottle of water between meals, and despite all the hiking and hot sun, I managed to avoid getting dehydrated and did not get another migraine! (I did, however, use the restroom about 270 times.)

We (mostly Jeff) took a lot of pictures of the canyon, the wildlife (lizards, condors, and other raptors), and each other. We didn't bring the cord to connect the camera to the computer along on our trip, so I don't have any pictures to post right now. But I will after we get back, I promise!

Tonight we are in Flagstaff and our plans are to see some of the sights around here, such as Wupatki National Monument and the meteor crater. I will keep you posted!

Greetings from Arizona!

I'm writing this from our hotel room at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel. We're on our fabulous week-long, adults-only vacation. My dad has graciously agreed to watch Vinny for us while we celebrate our tenth anniversary and our birthdays on this trip. (Today is Jeff's; mine's tomorrow.)

So far it's been fun. We got in to Las Vegas yesterday evening, and spent the night at the Boulder Dam Inn in Boulder City, an historical inn that was built at the time Hoover Dam was being built, as a place for visiting VIPs to stay.

We left there in the morning and drove to Williams, Arizona, where we are right now. Tomorrow we take the train up to the Grand Canyon, spend the night there, and come back on the train the next day.

The only thing that has gone wrong so far is that I got dehydrated and suffered from a migraine this afternoon. So it's an early bedtime for me tonight...

I don't know how much internet connectivity I'll have on the rest of this trip, but I'll try to keep you updated, my vast blog readership!

Adventures in Painting

The previous owners of our house had... interesting... taste in wall decor. They had painted some faux bricks on the walls of the living room and dining room, which could have been cool but just ended up looking tacky instead. They were going for a sort of French Bistro look, I think -- a look that is incongruous with a basement ranch house from the 1960's.

We've been in the house for nearly three years now, and it wasn't until today that we finally got rid of the final remnants of this disaster-in-paint that was our walls. We had redecorated the dining room, where the bulk of the ugliness was, just before Vinny was born, but we hadn't done anything with the living room until this summer.

This was in part because we do not use the living room. The living room furniture from our (much smaller) house in Illinois is downstairs in the family room, and we hadn't bothered to buy any furniture for the upstairs. So it is basically an empty room, which confused our nosy neighbors when they tried to figure out if we'd moved in yet. Right now, it has become a de facto toy room, where Vinny's indoor swing/slide and kitchen set live. We have a piano in that room too, one we bought from our next-door neighbor when he was moving away. But that's really all the furnishings we have for that room right now.

The non-faux-brick sections of the walls were a tannish mustard color -- sort of on the Grey Poupon side of the mustard spectrum, vs. the radioactive yellow color of fast-food mustard. We have now painted the room a light blue -- a color that perfectly matched the sky this afternoon as we were painting.

It looks beautiful. We are really pleased with the color and with our excellent painting job. It was a joint effort. In the morning, I watched Vinny while Jeff painted, and then when Vinny was napping, I took over painting from Jeff. He did the majority of the painting, because he's just a lot faster than I am at it, but I did do the majority of the top coat of the paint.

We did only the living room, but at some point we'll have to paint the hallway too because the interior living room wall extends into the main hallway. But for now we just blocked it off at one point and called it the edge of the living room.

The plan is to make the living room into a really comfortable, relaxing space. Vinny's toys will probably have to go elsewhere. We are not in a huge hurry to furnish it, so we'll take our time and get what we really want. Tentatively, we're thinking of a relaxing fountain, some better blinds, and some really comfortable furniture.

Vinglish

• Toe bye-bye: go bye-bye (out, anywhere!)
• Doe fwoo: go through (e.g., crawl through a tunnel such as under my bent legs)
• Doe ah-side: go outside
• Waw hanns: wash hands
  
• I touch twee: I want to touch the tree (did he get this love of trees from his Grandpa?)
  
• I sit, Mama: Mama, sit down
• Sure!: yes (he's recently changed from saying "okay" to saying "sure" for the affirmative)
  
• Teek ooh: thank you
• Wan thum: I want [some]
• dwapes: grapes
• yogo-toast: toast with yogurt on it
  
• Wat Dummmmm: watch "Jack's Big Music Show" ("Dum" comes from the part of the theme song where they sing "Dum ditty dum")
• I wan talk Gwama/Papaw: I want to talk to Grandma/Grandpa
  
• Weed Hi Guy: read "Good for You" -- a Sesame Street book with Guy Smiley in it
• Moh deck: let's go out on the deck
• Pee polly: pee in the potty
  
• Top Wiiinih: stop whining (yes, he says this to himself sometimes)
• Listen Mmmmee!: listen to me, now!

Mariachi Update

So my regular readership may recall that I formed a mariachi band. I had been asked to participate in Hispanic Heritage month, and found a book of mariachi music that exactly fit the volunteers -- two violins, a guitar, and an electric bass.

I gave my band members copies of the music quite some time ago, and then created CDs of the music using GarageBand and iTunes. I transcribed the music into GarageBand, one note at a time, exported the songs to iTunes, and made a playlist which I burned onto CDs.

Today was our first practice. It was held at the house of one of our band players, who has a lot more space than I do, and who sometimes reads this blog. (Your house was great! Thanks for hosting us!)

Since before we've added another guitar -- the original guitarist has a grad student who plays too, and agreed to join the band without any arm twisting or paycheck witholding. Both guitarists are really good, as of course, are the electric bassist and the other violinist. The music is tricky in places but not too tough I'd say.

You may be wondering how my arm behaved itself. It endured for quite some time, but by the end of the practice, my arm was killing me. I was glad that we had some doughnuts and talked for a while before I had to get in the car and drive. I will probably take some tylenol or something before going to bed, and make sure that it stays unbent all night long.

Actual Conversation

(As reported to me by Jeff)

Vinny: Milk!

Jeff: You want some milk?

Vinny: Sure! and cake!

Jeff: We don't have any cake.

[Vinny looks at him and points toward the kitchen.]

Vinny: Make cake!

Jeff: I can't make cake, Mama makes cake.

Vinny: Mama make cake, home.

(FYI I think when he said cake, he meant pancakes.)

Labor Day Labors

This morning, Jeff mowed the lawn. In the lawn, he discovered that there was some poison ivy that had spread from the Evil Poison Ivy Patch in the corner of the yard.

That was the final straw. That poison ivy had been spreading for a long time, and I'd long been afraid to touch it. I'm not allergic to poison ivy (surprising, given my other skin allergies), but I was afraid to expose myself to it and become allergic. Also, today is a really hot day and I wasn't that excited about going outside. But I realized that I needed to just get over it and do what needed to be done. I decided to exterminate the Evil Poison Ivy Patch.

I got dressed in a long shirt, overalls, long socks, and shoes. I tied all my hair back, put on a face mask, and donned two long rubber gloves. Then I went outside and tackled that poison ivy.

I wasn't able to completely destroy it but I made quite a bit of progress. I filled a large black trash bag with poison ivy leaves, branches, and runners. There was even one big runner that was probably an inch in diameter that I was able to pull up and throw away. There's still quite a bit more to dig up but I'd say the war is on, and I'm winning.