Yippee, we're diaper free!

"Without a net ladies and gentlemen,"--in the words of my father in law. Whitney is potty trained. That means no more diapers in our house. No more buying diapers. This is great! I remember learning in elementary school that a diaper takes like 25 years to decompose in a landfill. Well I looked it up and my memory failed me--it's actually estimated to be anywhere from 250-500 years. So yes, our little family is saving the environment too. (Not like I can get on my high horse, we've used disposable diapers for both our kids, so we've done our equal share of destroying the environment too). In any case, life's good with our big-kid kids. Let's hear it for Whitney!

Congratulations Steve!

Well, as of today, Steve is no longer a student but a doctoral candidate. That means he never has to take a college class again! It also means that over the past two weeks Steve finished his compreshensive exams and today passed his oral defense. Hooray! Just one more year of dissertation and teaching and then we're off to a job. Crazy!

Watch out for Canadians!

...Or apparently their money. Early in January the U.S. suspected espionage when a few U.S. contractors found Canadian quarters "planted" in their rental car and "planted" in their coat pockets. They thought the coin was a radio-transmitting device and called the defense department to investigate. Well don't worry. All's well. Apparently no one looked into the fact that this was a REAL commemorative quarter put out in 2004 to honour the Canadian war dead. Yes we Canadians are a little quirky. We like our coloured money. Apparently we're the first country in the world to put out coloured coins. Oh yeah, and that blue rectangle shown by ultra-violet light is just the protective coating to prevent wear. After all, it's the ever-so-important poppy-- forever a national symbol given by Colonel John McCrae, author of "Flander's Fields."

CNN Report

And the Ultra Violet View showing the radio-transmitter :)

Steve and the Burning Bush

Yesterday Steve was eating lunch outside with some other KU students when a nearby bush suddenly ignited. Students started pouring their beverages on the bush to help put out the fire. Then the Fire Department showed up. What do we learn from this incident? A few things. First: Obey the Word of Wisdom. Second: If you are a Word of Wisdom breaker, throw your cigarette butt somewhere else. Not in some highly flamable foilage.