Belgium humor?

Just saw this on CNN. A spokesman said "the plane is very seriously damaged." Duh.

Boat!

We did it! We picked up the boat today from the Wisconsin Dells. We bought a 2000 Crownline 180BR. That's an 18foot bowrider (open at the front so you can sit there). We towed it back with the minivan; we just had a hitch placed on it by U-Haul earlier this week. We have several pictures of it on our photos page. We've also finally got around to posting a bunch of pictures--3 more albums, all the way back to Easter.

Katie heads to KC and Lawrence this coming week, so Robert will either be stuck with a boat and no way to transport it (Katie will take the minivan) or else we'll have to find a slip to keep our boat in during the summer months.

Additionally, my next year's schedule came out, so now I know when I'm free to have guests come up. So, start making plans to come visit us in Madison! You can stay in the new guest room in the basement and then go out on the water!

Images to Savor

Congraulations and Thank You, Coach Self

Super Mario!!

Welcome Back, Danny!

Rock Chalk Roy!

Rock Chalk World!!!

National Champions! There were yells, screams, tears and shouts of joy (followed by a rapid flickering of the porch light) to signal the Jayhawks amazing win over the Memphis Tigers. 75-68, I've never seen sweeter numbers! A dream come true! Rock Chalk!!

Traitor

Well, it's almost here. Final Four Weekend. It seems to me that the 2 best teams are playing each other on Saturday: North Carolina and Kansas. A poll on ESPN had people rank who they thought would win the championship; North Carolina got the most votes, then Kansas. It's really too bad they are already facing each other. I wouldn't want to face Benedict Williams until the most important game of the year. Facing them in the semi-finals is like the US facing Russia in ice hockey, another semi-final game. I mean, who cares that they beat Finland for the gold medal? While I would rather win the championship than beat Roy (if I had the choice between the two) it is a little bit of a letdown to face UNC on Saturday and not Monday.
But still, I will be rooting for KU and against Roy. UNC used to be a team I would root for, and I probably still hate Duke more than UNC, but the feeling of betrayal is still there.
I remember from years past Roy would get emotional if people criticized him. Hopefully all the comments from Kansas fans in the last week have hurt Roy's concentration, though I doubt it has. Still, any edge is still an edge.
Rock Chalk Jayhawk!!

Life is Good

A couple of momentous events have taken place in our lives, well at least momentous for us, so I wanted to make sure they made it into the family record. The first is that Katie finally ran in her second 5K race (Shamrock Shuffle) and despite the more hilly than expected nature of the route finished with a satisfactory time of 35:06. She's now looking forward to participating in annual Madison Crazylegs Classic, an 8K race that ends at the 50 yard line of Camp Randall, the UW football stadium.
Also for the first time ever, Robert and Katie completed without error or cheating the Sunday (3/16/08) New York Times crossword puzzle. A last minute memory from Robert that the French word for water is eau saved the day! There was much rejoicing.
We also just had a couple of great visits from Liesel and Dominic (despite the fact that illness took over our house for a few days and their return to Ohio was challenged by a blizzard) and Stacy, Amanda, Ashley, and Meghan who made the trip up from Salina. We had a great time with all of you! While they were here we went to the KidsExpo where Mary Ann got to ride a miniature circus train and a pony and Rose became infatuated with the Oscar Meyer WienerMobile and we all got Wiener Whistles! Hurray!
Also, while I'm on a roll blogging here, I'll let you know that we also just got our carpet installed today in the new room, so now we (i.e. Robert) just need to put in the baseboards and it will be all ready for Mitzi!!
We wish you all a Blessed Holy Week!

Basement

Well, the basement is changing. My dad and uncle came up from KC and Salina to help work on our basement renovation. I had the studs and wiring done (and almost all the insulation) by the time they got up here last Sunday. The 3 of us were able to hang the drywall, mud and get primer and paint on. Today I (with Mary Ann's help) was able to get a coat of our "accent" paint on 1 wall. We have light blue/off white on the ceiling and 3 walls and a darker blue on one wall. It's finally looking like a room. But, it sure is long and thin. We still have to put up some caulk around the window, get carpet, put up baseboard and crown molding (or maybe just quarter round...). And get doors for the closets. It's a pretty nice room.

Vacation is over for Robert. 2 weeks off from work now gone. Who knows when the next vacation will be--the next school year's schedule isn't out yet. Any requests anyone?