Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium--Tacoma, WA

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playground

the first haircut

Time Efficient News Stories

I thought this was a very insightful line in this news story:

And in Afghanistan, the Taliban.

It is brief, to the point, and covers just about all news - past, present, and future - coming out of Afghanistan. Why report anything more about Afghanistan. And, as I am only just learning to read, I find it quite easy to get through and understand without taking a lot of my valuable time.

Other complete news stories of quotable note:

• Israel illegally fired missiles in response.
• In the senate a measure to increase taxes.
• At the appellate court, injustice perpetuated on an unsuspecting public.

Perhaps you have some favorite news stories you would like to share with me. Post them here if you do.

JEO

Daddy's Bane

This is a very late post as it refers to something that was completed in January. But my daddy seemed to be very pleased to have it completed as was I for it gave him much more time to spend with me. It is because of his great pleasure that I present this post now.

Since the beginning of the Providers' project to make their home a better place for me to live they had planned on doing a lot of the bathroom work themselves. Actually Daddy was to perform those tasks. To do this, he enlisted unsuspecting, kind relatives to help in his endeavors. At one point his Daddy and step-brother came from lands far away sometime in early 2006 to help put ceramic tile on the floor. In 2 days they had it pretty much kicked. Gravity makes floors easy.

But it was the shower that created the most angst. There's all sorts of complicated slopes, unfriendly gravity, and moisture to consider. Not to mention getting the shower door hung just right. At any rate, Daddy said he would pretty much do anything but tile the shower. So there it sat for months on end. Sometimes Daddy would spend the whole day working on a small thing like cutting one piece of tile. Sadly, it would actually take him the whole day to do this. He was actually known to make dental appointments so he wouldn't have to be forced with the necessity of the decision to complete the shower. This dragged on for what seemed an interminable amount of time. Friends and family would ask him how the shower was coming and he would get a very dark look on his face, mumble a few monoslavic phrases, and stomp off with a tear in his eye. His daddy would occasionally come to visit and offer his help. But, as it was Daddy's Bane, Daddy knew he couldn't share his dysfunctional home improvement project with anyone if he was to remain on good terms with them.

This continued until January of this year. Finally Daddy's daddy informed him that he was coming to help Daddy finish the shower. Daddy realized that alone it would never get done and that without getting the shower done the plumbing could not be inspected. Without the plumbing being inspected he could not get a final inspection on the house. So, with fantastically grim determination, he accepted his Daddy's offer and they completed the shower in a couple of days.



I think it actually came out pretty nice. See what you think. I can't wait until I am old enough to use it. For now I'll continue to use my tiny tots tubby.

JEO

Sad News

For those of you who do not already know, we received word yesterday that JEO won't be having a sibling as soon as we had desired. His sister (possibly brother) would have been 10 weeks old this week. Jeanette will be going in for a DNC on Thursday. Please pray for us during this time. We know that God is good and that His timing is perfect so we rejoice in that.

JEO in SFO

I just took a trip with my providers to San Francisco. It was a place full of new sights, smells, experiences, and wonders. Most of which I don’t have the vocabulary to effectively describe so I am going to let the provider I call “Da da da da…” write it down from my dictation in this post.

The very long trip from our home in Medford, OR to San Francisco by car took many days to finish [it was only a 6 hour journey – editor]. I was strapped into my chair the whole way which kept me from climbing over everything. I don’t like that. In the restriction of mobility I vote a hearty “nay” to.

It seemed we spent quite a bit of time in a room, perhaps 2 or 3 weeks, after the driving in the car was finished [JEO only spent 2 days in and around Pleasant Hill before getting on the BART that he is describing next - editor]. One day, however, the provider that wants me to call her “Ma ma” but that I call “da da” in spite, took me in the car seat to a place where we got into some sort of room that had lots of other people in it. It went really fast. I made lots of friends with people I have never seen before.

We eventually left the room and ended up in a place where there were lots and lots of people. All of them seemed to be moving very fast and talking to themselves. Some seemed to have devices attached to the sides of their faces. Others had growths on their ears that glowed when they were talking. I tried smiling at all of them but there were just too many of them. Most didn’t seem to notice me anyway. They mostly looked straight ahead with empty eyes. I don’t know how they kept from running into each other as they didn’t seem to be able to see what was right in front of them.

There were some that noticed me. Most of them had hair on their faces, or just a few teeth like me, or perhaps had a funny smell, like I sometimes do when I need new pants. Sometimes it was a combination of those three. Most of these Ma ma seemed a little afraid to talk to. And she would speed up my chariot to get by them. I think I made a lot of friends with them anyway. One of the things that I really liked was riding one of the moving rooms that seemed to go straight up and down the huge mountains. I was so happy that I made friends with everyone in the room [that would be the SF cable car – editor]. They all thought I was great – which I am. I was so happy that I did my Happy Dance – the one where I violently throw my head back and forth and bounce up and down. Unfortunately I tossed my head into Ma ma’s head which I didn’t like so I had to let everyone know. But I was happy so I didn’t scream too long before I did the Happy Dance again whereupon I again banged my head. I alternately did the scream/Happy Dance for the remainder of the time that we were in the mountain climbing/falling moving room.

One time when I was with both providers we were walking for a very long time and we started seeing lots of the people with beards, funny smells, and no teeth which, lacking any other vocabulary, I will call Flufflesmellins. Some of them would come up to me and say things. They seemed to be nice but they looked a little crazy. Some with really big eyes that looked like they would never blink. Sometimes they would be yelling to themselves but without the devices attached to the sides of their faces or the glowing growths on their ears. I will similarly call these Yellfullmellins. They seemed to be very angry. My providers made the effort to put a lot of space between us and the Yellfullmellins. I think I could have made friends with them but I guess we’ll never know for sure.

One time we saw a Flufflesmellin making a little yellow river on the sidewalk. I would have offered him one of my special pants but I can’t speak and I don’t think it would have fit. Another time we were on a noisy moving room [a trolley – editor] and one of the Yellfullmellins got on and started yelling at the man who made the noisy room go. The noisy room driver said a few things in a strong voice to which the Yellfullmellin said a lot of loud, angry words and then jumped out of the room.

There were lots of interesting sounds, people, and smells in San Francisco but it got very boring for me to have to be in my chariot most of the time. I got a little cranky a couple of times. I’ve found it is most effective to get cranky in places where there are lots of people. The providers then seem to be very focused on making things better for you. We took one of the fast moving rooms [the BART – editor] back to the room where we were staying. On the way home I did my Jekyll and Hyde impersonation with the Happy Dance thrown in for effect. A strange man decided that it was his responsibility to try to make me happy so he made lots of funny, ridiculous faces. To humor him I smiled back and laughed. This seemed to make him want to make even stranger funny faces and play peek-a-boo. Fortunately he got off the moving room at the next stop. After he left a man came up to the providers and said some things and handed Da da da da a card.

From what I can gather from my providers, and this makes no sense to me – I only relate it to you here as it seemed to be quite important, the man making the faces was deranged and had a long history of derangement. The man who came up to my providers and gave them the card thingy was the Deputy District Attorney for the State of California and was well acquainted with deranged man’s activities. I don’t know what all that means – they were both just people to me.

Well that was my trip. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them on this blog. When I’m not playing, napping, or eating, I’ll try to make time for you, my adoring fans.

JEO

Visitors

Grandma Joan, Cousin Anna, Uncle Matthew and Aunt Betsy came to visit me. We had lots of fun. Uncle Matthew's Blog goes into more detail. http://lobiwan.blogspot.com/

Where's Linda's Mark?

I know I've only been around for less than a year, so, being the new kid in town I don't want to step on anyone's toes (though one would hardly notice if I did - if I do say so) but I have to ask, "where's Mark?" Sure, there's lots of grand pictures of everyone else in the Lobmeyer clan and friends and family that they hang out with - but no Mark. It would seem to me that Mark, at this point of "relationship," is an important person. But is there a posted picture on a blog somewhere that we can see him? I submit to you - No! If there is, nobody has pointed him out so we may salute him. I don't think he really exists. At least there is no empirical evidence that I can use to support his existence. He has a strictly theoretical existence on the Left Coast. That lots of people have seen said "Mark," doesn't hold up with me. That someone else has "seen" or "talked to" or had a "latte with" doesn't qualify as an empirical or scientific proof - and I don't care; I need to see. I, therefore, don't believe he is real. He is a mirage, or an apparition, or perhaps a musician.

We are in a digital, information age for heaven's sake! Somebody, for the love of God, take a picture of Linda and Mark together - that is if he really exists. Then use your multivarious talents and resources to post his picture on all that is called the blessed internet. We're not living in Darfur, people - we have dial-up and DSL so let's get to it!

I need to take a nap. If you need me I'll be drooling on my chew toys.

JEO

Christmas Day

Christmas Eve Nativity Bath