Sunday, September 30, 2007

The Craziest September I Can Remember

Some people say we look a little bit alike, the 5 Thomas Girls...I just don't see it. :)

It's been hopping around our house all September, with school (and work) back in full swing, the husband taking classes 3 days a week, a fabulous Sisters-Only weekend reunion, and our two weeks with Anna, a wonderful almost 14-year-old from Lauenburg, Germany here for an exchange program with Lindsay. This being our first "free" weekend, my plans were to recover and grade the 300 or so student essays I've accumulated over the past few weeks. Molly helped out by getting a fever and waking up the house at 2, then 4, then 5am both Friday and Saturday nights. So...few papers graded, and little sleep.

HOWEVER.

Sisters weekend gets first dibs on my time here , because, as those of you with a close-knit family will understand, sisters just come first.

This reunion weekend is a tradition we are starting young, according to many of my friends, who didn't start having sibling weekends by choice until their 50s - - we are starting now, and I wish we could do it every month! With two of us in Chicago, two in California, and lonely me here in Cincinnati (though I get to hog Mom and Dad in Columbus), it takes a bit of planning and budgeting to get everyone together.

But we managed it, and had a fabulous time.

Highlights included: hanging out in pjs and glasses, cracking each other up, Sarah's birthday party and her stories of the Nip/Tuck set, driving to Indiana to visit Grandma and Aunt Pat (Grandma is 96, I think, and still enjoys chocolate cake more than a person should be allowed), sitting outside and barely listening to the annual outdoor mass, trying to use Erin's timer so we could all be in the picture...

You had to be there. But of course, unless you were one of the 5 Thomas Girls, you weren't invited. Sorry. We're a pretty select bunch, I guess :)

All the gals hanging with Grandma in Indiana - taken by the lovely Aunt Pat!!


Sarah showing off a favorite item at Grandma's house since we were kids - - the candy Hen.

Molly managing to look sweet and serious at the same time. Her hair IS growing, by the way...but it's almost a mohawk right now, and thankfully hidden under the hood.

Up next: the lovely Anna from Germany! But first...papers to grade before I fall over.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Oh No - it's OJ!

A few comments about OJ's recent troubles:

1) FORD missed a golden opportunity for product placement here - why not pick him up from the courthouse in a white courtesy Bronco?

2) OJ has apparently asked if people really think he's so stupid that he would openly try to rob someone. Yes. Yes we do think you are that stupid. And narcissistic.

3) OJ has also been quoted as saying that he didn't do anything wrong; he had the right to get back what was his. Add the word "at" after the word "what" and I think we have a pretty good idea what was going on in his head when he killed his wife.

It will be interesting to see how he plays the victim card this time around.

Speaking of victims - - how happy is Britney Spears to have OJ on the front page? She has a few weeks to get her act together before the media gets back to her. I hope she uses it wisely! (I suggest a correspondence course and an outfit that suits a mother of two.)

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

The Maine Event


Maine was outstanding. Our end of the summer trip has taken on some kind of mythical elements for the girls that can sometimes backfire. (Just ask Johannah, who sobbed on top of Cadillac Mountain because it was too foggy and windy to do our annual blueberry picking. "It's never been like this! Never!" she sobbed.)

The older girls had a grand time with their cousins, Aidan and Francesca. They wrote and performed a play, "The Jest," which was quite a hoot. It had all of the elements of our regular life - the older child pulling one over on the younger child, only in the play, she finds a way to get back at the older kids. Thanks to the pile of debris waiting for the junk man, they even had a set and props. Although they wanted more time to rehearse, the truck was coming at 3 to take the set to the trash heap, so they had to rush right into the performance.

All things considered, I was impressed.



















It was great to catch up with family members, especially as everyone headed in different directions. Now Portia is home from Haiti, Phil is in San Francisco for grad school, & Tony is somewhere in France (taking controversial pictures of swans which I quite liked).

We especially enjoyed living comfortably without air conditioning for 10 days; there were nights where we actually needed to pile on a blanket or two. Ahhhh. Molly loved the trip, too - from the ocean to the "big girl swing," from Nervous Nellie's Jams and Jellies to pulling on Uncle Phil's face - - she seemed to love it as much as the other kids.

Some random pictures for your amusement, with no explanation: