My first blog entry

This is a first ever for me: I've never "blogged" before. I had read about blogs in my alumnae magazine, an article for which I was grateful. It gave a whole who, what, when, where, why and how for blogs so I finally learned (in theory) about them. I've been directed to others' blogs that have shown up in searches, but here I am contributing! I laugh because I was always the kid to ask when my father's watch needed to be set, when the video camera wouldn't work right, when something didn't record on VHS, etc. I was technologically advanced...up to year 2000 when I "retired" from graduate school and had my second baby. It seems a lot has happened in the field since Y2K! The description no longer fits at all!

Jeff, I enjoy your contributions. I got a laugh from the math joke. Like Monica, I'm hoping any and all will post some things (consecutive or not). It makes for fun reading.

As far as random family news, the following comes to mind:

*We enjoyed the baptism and celebration of Andrew Tong Myung Kim last Sunday. Even Kateri and Elizabeth came to NJ from Boston. (Steve and Maura couldn't make it b/c of illness.) The rest of the family was there, and it was a good time. He's a cutie, and it was great party. Sue and Tony were the Godparents. We all gathered around the baptismal font for the pouring of the water. I think the average age of our group must have been around 9 years old, and the average height somewhere around 46 inches. I still don't know what Tong Myung actually means, but Joe and Max have been going around the house saying it. I think they just enjoy the sound. Every now and then I'll hear "Tong Myung, Tong Myung".
I had fun playing "Set" at the party with a few of my kids and some of my nieces and nephews. Anyone with kids ages 5+, this is a great game that's sort of mathematically based. The object is to look for sets that either match or are opposite in shape, shade, count and color. My classmates at Hopkins used to play it obsessively in our student lounge. So it's one of those games an adults can play with children, all try their best and a kid may still win! It also travels well since it's just a special deck of cards. [No, I don't have stock in the company, I just really like the game and thought you might too!]

*Wednesday, March 5, will be the first birthday of my daughter, Teresa Anne. How the year has flown by! I've read it takes a full year to get used to a new family member. We're certainly "used" to her, but I wouldn't quite say the house runs smoothly or anything! It's mostly contained chaos. Teresa doesn't walk yet--all the Harkins have proved to be late walkers--but she's learned to push a large toy truck around the house. She's quite a sight, walking hunched over this monster truck, and she zooms around. It cracks me up that she can't walk on her own but can go so fast and change directions so competently with this truck. She loves it! The other thing she's becoming known for is her growl. She used to say "HI!", but ever since she learned to roar at these new dinosaurs we got, she's gotten her signals crossed. She now growls/roars whenever she's happy. She loves baby dolls and growls (like an angry dog) at them! We haven't heard "Hi" in a long time now.

*We just got back from a week visiting Mike's parents in Colorado. We had a great trip, although traveling with the whole gang wasn't simple. Next time we go, I think we'll try to fly LaGuardia to Denver and drive from Denver to Colorado Springs rather than do LaGuardia to Minneapolis, Minneapolis to Colorado Springs like we did. It had been 3 years since we were there. I enjoy seeing pictures in their house: it's like a big scrapbook of our lives. Whereas most of the pictures we have up at home are only the current ones, his parents have spread the new and the old out throughout the house so we see our wedding pictures, all the babies' pictures and many of the photos we've sent through the years, all on display. The highlight of the trip was our 3 day expedition at Ski Cooper. Everybody skied except Teresa. Little guys learn so quickly on skis not much bigger than my shoes. Jerry and Pete are little madmen and are drawn to any path that goes through trees. We opened the place and closed it down each day, and those two didn't stop except for about a 15 minute lunch. With fresh snow and temps near forty, the conditions were ideal all three days. Mike's parents ski too, and the four adults just alternated watching Teresa in the lodge. Yours truly had a great time and definitely is now nursing the skiing bug! The other trip highlight for the kids was washing the car when we got back from the mountains. As Mike's Dad put it, "It's a half hour job, but with help it takes an hour and a half." Max could barely stand up, he was so gleeful squirting the hose. ...I wouldn't be surprised if their house is still shaking a week after the visit ended! It's used to a lot more quiet than we provided, but I think the grandparents had at least as much fun as the kids.

*This is the first time in several years that Mike isn't toying with a career change. This year he has a new attitude toward teaching Math that's more accepting and positive. He admits to enjoying it more now that he's decided to stay in for the long-haul. I'm delighted and hope it continues. This is his sixth year at Mahopac High; his eighth year teaching in New York.

*Mae is in half-day Kindergarten. She informed us at dinner last night that sometimes when her teacher "doesn't have anything planned for the class", she lets Mae read a book to them. Mae gets to choose the book, and she sits in the teacher's chair while her classmates sit on the carpet. She's read at least 4 books to them to date. I would love to be a fly on that wall!

Duty calls, but I've enjoyed my first blog contribution. If we all do our part, I think this will be a great way to stay in touch with the family.

P.S. I'm sad that we're scheduled to miss the family picnic at Ken and Audra's July 11. That's the date of Mike's 20 year high school reunion, and we're supposed to return to CO for another visit. After 3 years away, we'll go twice in one year. Go figure!