Preparing for Halloween

Halloween is coming at the end of this month. We have a lot of decorations that we have collected over the years. When I got home last weekend, it was time to take them down from the attic and prepare for the holiday. Celeste and the girls bought some pumpkins for decoration while I was out. After last Halloween, Celeste bought some decorations at special sale prices that we are using for the first time this year. In the picture below, Ina is helping open up some of the new decorations.

The girls spent a lot of time trying to decide what to wear for their costumes for Halloween. Ina tried to convince Bethany to dress as a prince with Ina as the princess. However, they changed and now Ina will dress as Marilyn Monroe and Bethany will be a ladybug. Hayley told me what her costume would be, but I can't remember.

Rachel (who helped us paint Ina's room last August) is having a birthday party on Halloween night. The older girls will go to that party, while we find something else fun to do with Hayley. We have to make sure that Ina gets to go Trick or Treating to get candy while walking from house to house.

- Rob

Don't mess with her chocolate!

I traded places with Ina for the last two weeks. While she was in California, I was in the Nordic region (Finland to be exact). I have been to Sweden twice in the last year and now Finland once (with two more trips planned before the year ends).

Whenever possible, I try to bring home some sort of small gifts for the family. This is my way of thanking them for taking care of things at home while I am away. On my first trip to Sweden (December 2007), I picked up some bars of chocolate to bring home.

These chocolate bars were a big hit! When my customer from Sweden visited California in March 2008, they kindly brought some chocolate bars with them. Now when I go to the area, this is a common request from the family.

When Ina arrived, she brought the family some very nice gifts. This included similar chocolate bars from Norway that were also a big hit. Ina received a care package from home with similar chocolate too. She shared a piece with me one day with crunchy bits in it, so I knew that she liked that.

On my trip to Finland that just ended, I picked up some chocolate to bring home. Bethany and Hayley each got the same bars as I brought before. Ina got a chocolate bar with the crunchy bits in it. However, I got a different brand of chocolate for Celeste that was a little smaller (Karl Fazer).

It turns out that Celeste likes the chocolate bar with crunchy bits too. She has not tried the Karl Fazer bar and I'm sure that she will enjoy it. However, she looked at Ina's bar and said that she would be sharing it. :-)

I have seen videos of mother bears or mother lions guarding their young. Ina had the same look about her chocolate bar. She quickly retreated to her room for the first taste of her new prize and to find a suitable spot to guard it.

Of course it was all in good fun. No one is really worried about sharing chocolate. There is plenty for all!

- Rob

Senior Paper

At our high school, the students have to write a "Senior Paper" in their Civics or Economics class. The intention is to prove that they can use critical thinking to analyze some information and draw conclusions. Another intention is to make sure that our High School graduates can actually read and write!

Ina is taking Economics right now and is working on her Senior Paper. I think it is valid to make sure that she is capable of critical thinking and can draw conclusions, but I also think it is fair for me to help her in several ways.

First, English is not her native language. While a goal of this year is for her English to improve, I feel that it is fair to help her with her grammar and the words that she chooses.

Secondly, she has not grown up around our political system like most of the Seniors at the school. Therefore, I feel that it is fair to help her understand the basics of our political system and guide her with the research that she needs to do.

Beyond that, the assignment is hers. I gave her suggestions on what to research, but she is doing the research (although I am doing the research in paralle with her). She is then doing the writing. I am reviewing what she writes and making the grammar and wording suggestions. I am not planning on changing her conclusions -- those are hers and not mine.

The assignment calls for her to analyze the economics of 5 proposals from each of the main Presidential candidates: Barack Obama and John McCain. That is a LOT of work! By doing this, she will actually be more informed about the candidates than a majority of Americans!

The other fact that I have to admit is that I am becoming a more informed voter by helping Ina with this paper. I have had to review the candidate's web sites, review articles about their positions, try to help Ina find out how they will pay for their proposed policies, and similar research that takes a lot of time. It's easy to make a choice without really understanding the details of the choice. I am learning more details about the choice than I ever have before!

I don't intend for this to be a political blog, so I will not comment on the choices. However, I am sending a big "Thank You" to Ina for helping me do a better job of using my right to vote.

- Rob

Diet Pepsi

It's amazing what we take for granted here. Having someone with a fresh point of view helps us think about things again.

We found out that Ina really likes Diet Pepsi. In Norway, they serve watered down sodas and you pay for every one you get. Here in the US, it's hard to find a place where you do not get free refills of soda.

We realized how special this was when we asked Ina her preference for a restaurant one day. Her reply was anyplace that had free refills!

- Rob