Interestingness

It's all just coming up roses around here.

Except for that part about Rachel screaming herself to sleep every night, but I'll get to that on the 9th when I berate her for causing us so much trouble write her monthly newsletter.

Anyway, the creative Scott is striking it big. First the documentary, and now this.

One of my photos made the "explore" set on Flickr.

In case you're not familiar, the "explore" set is the top 500 photos uploaded on any given day. It can change, but just to have one of my photos in there is really cool.

This one is currently on page 43 of 50, so it's definitely not the most interesting picture from Sunday, but just being in the top 500 is an honor!

And the winner is...

I make movies.

To me, this is no big deal. It's just something I do.

I like playing with audio and video, and I like making stuff for the family to watch. I teach teachers how to do it, and it's fun...a hobby, like photography.

Last summer, my Uncle Jeff approached me about helping him put together a video about some Minneapolis Moline tractors that our family once owned. The tractors were experimental, meaning that they were never in production, and the fact that our family owned them was a pretty big deal.

I told him I'd love to help out.

Over the past 9 months or so, he's provided me with photos of the tractors, and video interviews with my Great Aunts. I started picking up steam in February, putting together the story and script, and I worked a lot on it in the weeks before spring break. Over the break, I worked a bunch to finish it up because Jeff wanted to submit it for a big Minneapolis Moline collectors convention which was this weekend.

But it's really all about Jeff. Without his work over the past several years uncovering this story, this documentary never could have been made. He has done all of the legwork, all of the research...I just put it together in the 10 minute nugget you'll see below.

I found out last week that the video was going to receive an award. It got a preservation award from the Minneapolis Moline Collectors Club.

It's funny, because I've never really received an award for anything I've done for fun. I once submitted a photo to an art show, but didn't win anything for it. I just did this to preserve a part of our family's history, and here it wins an award.

So here it is...my award-winning documentary. I guess I'll have to put that on my resume.

Spitting Image

So, in case you don't check out my latest photos from Flickr over there on the right side, you really need to see this.

Last night, Monica pointed out this old picture of her with her mother. As soon as I looked at it, I started laughing. I couldn't believe how much the little girl in that picture looked like the little girl in the next room.

The photo she pointed out to me was the one on the lower left.

And we're back...

I think that driving to Illinois this last time was the cure for driving to Illinois ever again.

In other words, we're flying the next time.

Our trip back wasn't bad, but the trip up...my oh my.

We left on Friday night, which was planned, but what wasn't planned was that it would take us damn near 20 hours to get to mom and dad's.

This is usually a 17 hour drive. I've made it in 15 1/2 hours before.

Not 20.

We left around 6:30 and we expected to hit traffic in Austin. That was around 8 PM. Then at 10, we came to a standstill outside of Hillsboro (not even to Dallas yet) and traveled at anywhere between 10-30 mph for the next 10 miles because there was construction. But there wasn't any construction actually going on...just reconfigured lanes which evidently confused EVERYONE who was driving north.

Around midnight, we had finally made it through Dallas, and were traveling at a pretty good clip. Then, suddenly, everything stopped. I was trying to see what was going on, but it wasn't until we had sat for almost 45 minutes that we saw all 5 lanes of the expressway were being forced off onto the access road.

After we got past that (now 6+ hours into our trip) we headed up the road some more trying desperately to get out of Texas. Then at 1 AM, the road was closed again, this time in Sherman, Texas, just south of the Texas-Oklahoma border. This one was really big because they even had the access road closed...an air life helicopter was sitting on it. So we had to traverse through Sherman to get back on the expressway.

We finally made it out of Texas 7 hours into our trip. This portion of the drive usually only takes 6 hours max.

And so went the rest of our trip. Between having to stop in BF Misery (or Missouri) to sleep so I didn't run off the road, and having to rescue a runaway truck that some kid forgot to put in gear, WHILE keeping Sparky's leash in my hand, it was one hell of an adventure.

But we made it there, and we made it back. Grandma Connie and Grandpa Rick enjoyed having their granddaughter around, and Sparky enjoyed playing with Rhett.

We had a great week, and enjoyed visiting with the folks we saw and I'm sorry that we didn't get to see everyone, but when you're traveling with a 9 month old, everything is on a tight schedule. We had a limited amount of time at each of our destinations, and the only days we didn't travel somewhere were Monday and Thursday. Every other day we were on the road for at least 4 hours. I think our next trip is going to be just to Bloomington.

And have I mentioned that we're flying?

Month Nine

Dear Rachel,

Today you are 9 months old. You've now officially been in the world longer than you were inside mommy.



What a month. You started crawling. Except for us it has been more like: HOLY CRAP! YOU STARTED CRAWLING! You have no idea how much this has turned our lives upside down.



We think it's hysterical now that you can go after the dog, but we've had to completely rearrange the house because there was all kinds of stuff that wasn't kid frienly just lying around. For instance, we had to put our collection of razor sharp Ginsu Knives up high so you wouldn't be tempted to swallow one, or slice off Sparky's tail. Same thing for our stash of dynamite.



Of course, along with the crawling comes you pretending not to understand when we tell you no. And, OH the Humanity if we ever tell you no and pull you away from something we don't want you doing, like sticking your entire arm into the VCR. Being told no is something you don't like very much and we've gotten used to your little fits when we take you away from your mischief. We just sit there and laugh maniacally at you and wring our hands...bwah ha ha ha. You mom also makes fun of you when you throw fits and starts mocking your crying. Just remember, when we're 80 and in diapers, it was your mother who tortured you.



I guess we've been telling you no quite a bit because one of your 'things' this month was to start shaking your head back and forth violently. You don't know what it means yet because you do it all the time. "Hi Rachel" (shakes head no). "Do you want food?" (shakes head no, then opens mouth).



You are starting to make different noises with your mouth. Last night, when I got home, I swear I heard you say "Hi Daddy." It really sounded like it. And how cool would that be if you actually did say it? Of course, your mother is devestated because she carried you around for nine months, and This Is The Thanks She Gets? You'll never hear the end of it.



Your eating patterns are pretty well established, and you've started eating some different solids. One of your favorite things is Wagon Wheels, which are like little airy snacks that melt in your mouth. You hold onto them and suck on them until they melt, and usually, you end up with more than half in your mouth. Of course, the parts that don't end up in your mouth end up everywhere else, and if we don't catch them right away, they harden again into little crusty nuggets that the dog tries to lick off you.



Speaking of the dog, he's figured out that being under your high chair at dinner is a gold mine. You're not feeding yourself quite yet, so he hasn't discovered the full potential of dropped baby food that is sure to come along after we give you a weapon spoon and let you have at it on your own.



You went to Austin again this month, and got to meet your friend Annika for the first time. YOu also managed to pick up a cold, which lead to a sinus infection, which lead to your first time being on anitbiotics, which lead to us finding out you're allergic to them because you were pooping everywhere. That incident lead to us realizing that your doctor wasn't part of mommy's insurance anymore so we had to switch doctors. Now you're fine, and we just had your 9 month appointment this morning. YOu got a glowing review from your new doctor, and by the way, I love how quickly we're in and out of these appointments. Less than 30 minutes for this one.



This evening, we're leaving on our first real road trip with you. You'll be making your second visit to Illinois, but your first really long trip in the car. In order to pull this off, Mommy and I are going Old School and driving through the night, like I used to do when I was in college. Except I'm not in college anymore, and I haven't pulled an all-nighter in years. But you'll be asleep and I'd rather make the drive when you're asleep instead of making you sit in a car seat during the time you'd normally be awake and moving around.



If you're (not) lucky, you may actually get to see snow for the first time in your life. Grandma Connie and Grandpa Rick are looking forward to seeing you, and they've already bought you a bunch of stuff because that's what Grandparents do...they spoil the grandkids rotten, then give them back to their parents who have to deal with the aftermath.



Then they sit back and laugh maniacally and wring their hands...bwah ha ha ha.



We love you very much.

Love
Daddy

Goings on in the extended family

Congratulations to my cousin, Ben. He was recently promoted to Sergeant, and his mom, my Aunt Linda, got on a plane to go see him. This is a Big Deal, and judging from the photo of the two of them together, she made it out to Washington, DC just fine.


Congratulations, Sgt. Carter!