Oh yeah...

By the way...Happy Belated Birthday Tom!

Birks

The birds!

Ok...so the Birks made it to Jackson to see the birds that Grandma now call her babies! They are pretty cute, but we found a few more they didn't know were there. Grandpa's trellis in the front is housing a nest with at least one baby bird, and the gourd in the front tree might be but Audrey wouldn't look again after the mother came flying out at her face the first time. Poor thing was a little shook up...

Grandpa's new mower is very nice but he tried to push the old one off on me. I told him I didn't want the hunk of junk but he is trying to fix it (rig it) up just the same. Maybe some poor ol' chap will take it off his hands soon. Some neighbor lady was getting rid of her push mower and well, he thought he could fix that one up too.

We got to talking about how there are quite a few lefty's in our clan. Grandpa said it was nice when he was working with his dad in the field because they could each be on one side husking corn or baling hay and never got in each other's way. It was also their strong side so they were able to work better I assume...

I found death certificates for some of our family members we never got the chance to meet. First I found Gertie Ann McClain, grandma's mom. She passed on April 15th, 1944 from shock of blood loss following a hysterectomy. Gertie Ann's dad, grandma's grandpa, died from heart disease on Feb 1st, 1929. She (grandma) was only a year old. On grandpa's side I found Ethel May Bond's death certificate, Reva Marie's mom? grandpa's grandma?, that shows she died from heart disease on Feb 24th, 1950. (Note: She also had diabetes so it runs on the Baker side) I also found Great grandpa Eddie's mom, Eve Adeline Baker. She died on April 2nd, 1940. She had pneumonia. Grandma was really interested in what I found so I will see if I can find more.

Hope all is well with everyone!
Reva

Oh joy!!

Oh how exciting to see my oldested on the blog. I knew sooner are later he would come around. Blogging just does something to you. Welcome Jamie!
I took pictures of Mom and Dad's birds the other night. I will need to go back over Caroline's instruction's to figure out how to post them. All four have now hatched. Daddy is very protective of them. He wants to make sure Mom does not touch them.
We are going to look at a house tonight. It has 4 bedrooms and two baths. A sunroom and a basement. There is no garage, but there is room to build one. We'll let you know. It is on Bellevue Jamie, off of main street. Infact, you have mowed the yard at one time. There are a few minor things that need to be done to ours to get it on the market, but nothing major. We will wait until we get back from Ryan's graduation to get serious. As a matter of fact, you can go to...Houseviewonline.com and look at it. It will be in the top 10 list. Lana it will need some landscaping.
I talked to Mother and Dad a while ago. Dad bought a new riding lawn mower, since Monday mind you. He said his was "crap". A piece of junk to be exact. He has put his out in the yard for $25.00. He really thinks Tom needs it though.
I am on my lunch hour, so I better close and get back to work. How goes it Reva? Any word. Where have you been?
Jo-D

Weekend update

Paul and I went to Cape this last weekend. First we stopped at Mom and Dad's to change clothes and pick them up to take with us. I had taken Mom some new clothes, some I had bought, and some that Linda had bought. She wore a periwinkle blue sweater with a scarf. The color was perfect for her and the length of the scarf was slenderizing. She was very happy with the look, and several people at the party commented on how pretty she looked.

She is doing so well on the medicine that she is taking. There is a new spark to her eyes, and she is much more aware of what is going on around her. I was very pleased and so was Jodie.

Paul mowed this morning for the first time this season. The grass is beautifully green, but patchy yet. Hopefully, the sun and warmer temps will encourage heavier growth. I have buds on my lilac bush. I only put it out last year so I haven't seen it bloom yet. I will take pictures and post them, then we can all enjoy the beauty.

We leave for Hilton Head this Friday. We are stopping at Jamie's on the way out, but coming home a different way. We plan to golf, bike, maybe even fish if we can rent the right kind of fishing gear. Paul says that mine probably isn't suited to coastline fishing. Again, we'll take pictures.

LC

Birthdays!!

Happy Birthday Sara. I hope you had a good day. Your Mom was telling us what a hoot Nat was last night for his birthday. We just left grandma and grandpa's. I gave Daddy a haircut. He was afraid I was going to cut his hair like I cut your Uncle Tom's.
We had a good meal at Margaret's party. Mother looked great in the new outfit your mother bought her. Even Daddy commented on how good she looked.
Love you:
Aunt Jo-D

Satuday Morning

Tom felt the tremor on Friday morning. He was up getting ready for work. For some reason he felt the need to wake me so that I would know there was an earthquake! He said my dishes in my hutch rattled and our pictures on the shelf shock. OOOKKKK!!! And you woke me up, Why? The second one I was at my computor at work. I jumped up and took off for the front of the school, sure there would be a student or a teacher go nuts, but no one felt it. So I queitly went back to my office.
Tom and I watched the ball game with Mom and Dad last night. They have a Robin that has built a nest on the garden hose hanging from their privacy fence. There are 4 eggs. Their question is..How long will it take for the eggs to hatch. And how long will it be before the birds will fly after they are hatched? They are enjoying having the bird so close to the house so they can watch her. Dad has become very attached to her. I think he is ready to name her. He keeps telling me to bring the kids by to see her.
Mother remembers when her mother used to take a pencil and mark the eggs that were laid so that she would know when to expect them to hatch. Dad said his grandma hatched hundreds of eggs in an incubator.
Tom and I, along with Cheri and the kids, are going to SC in 2 1/2 weeks for Ryan's graduation. The boys are excited, because I made reservations at a motel that has an indoor Putt-Putt golf. How cool is that.
Jo-D

Sleepy Saturday

We didn't feel tremors here in KC, although my friend at work swears that is why she woke up at 4:30 Thursday morning.

It is a lazy Saturday morning as we tried to sleep in a little, 6:30 am is actually an hour and a half later than usual so I guess I did. Brian is still in bed, I'll let him sleep as long as he wants today. Then when I make him do chores around the house and run 100s of errands today he cannot complain. Or better yet, I go run the errands and he entertains Keaton.

Brian and I went to the Tiger Ball last night - the KC Alumni Chapter's fund raiser for the Tiger Scholaship Fund. We had a great time with our friends Kristi and Jon. Check out the blanket I won in the "super" silent auction. The live auction was very exciting, it was very hard not to participate, but the opening bids were out of our price range. The live auction raised $43K. We didn't hear how much was raised from any of the silent auction items.

Have a great weekend.

Caroline and Keaton

PREPAREDNESS!!

Back in the day when the guy in New Mexico was predicting earthquakes, we had earthquake drills all the time. This was in Advance and Fredericktown. Just inside the door of my room we kept a bag on a hook that contained rosters, medical supplies, even medicine that some of my students might need in case they couldn't get home. We had a trailer in back of the school in Advance that contained bottled water, blankets and such. We experienced a 4.5 one morning while I was taking attendance. At first we thought that it was a delivery truck for the kitchen. Then I realized what it was. I kind of vibrated across the tile floor. My students and I were in shock. This prompted the safety measures.

Paul and I went to a ballgame one Wednesday night. We have a package of seven games. Our seats are really quite good. Two on the aisle only one row in front of us. We are over an entrance, so there will be no one walking in front of us. Just to the left of the right field foul pole. They won, which was a plus.
The metro was packed after the game, so we took one train with the intentions of changing trains at Forest Park and DeBaliviere. Some guy offered me his seat. I almost turned it down, but took it. The guy next to me asked for my name. I gave it to him, then asked his name. "David" he said. I was quick to introduce him to Paul. David said that it sure was good to meet new people. He told me that he was getting off at Grand and then taking a bus home. We chatted for a minute, then he showed me a badge that labeled him as an OFFENDER. He said that he had been in prison for 5 years. When they let him out just that day they put him on the metro without a dime. Could I see it in my heart to give him bus fare. I told David that I was broke also, without a dime.
He guesses that the bus driver will let him ride anyway. I said that maybe he should squeeze out a tear. Anyway, Paul was not paying any attention to our conversation. So when we got to Grand, he thinks we should get off there and catch the next train to Lambert. I didn't want to be with David any longer , but didn't know how to gracefully tell Paul that we were in the company of a sheister. We stood next to the metro police until our train came. End of story, we made it home.

Today is Nathaniel's 2nd birthday. Tomorrow is Sara's hmmm birthday. I don't know if she is telling the year.

LC

Earthquakes

How much did you folks in KC and Mexico feel the quake? What about the Alabama Kimbels?Did you feel the aftershock at 10:15? I was in class during that one, which I was kind of glad for because I was disappointed that I had not been conscious for the beginning of the first. It was neat feeling the waves of the aftershock roll through the stool I was sitting on. Beth was not even aware that the midwest ever had earthquakes (my fault for not educating her) so then I told her about the New Madrid fault and the giant quake someone predicted for Missouri in the early 90's that of course never happened.

Did they ever have earthquake drills in the 60s and 70s, or were you too busy with hiding under your desks to protect from nuclear attacks? Both are pretty useless, as far as I'm concerned.

Thanks for the birthday wishes Aunt Lana and Caroline! I spent Thursday at home studying with my roommate, Kate. It's so funny to live in a sorority with 75 girls and having each of them telling me happy birthday... multiple times! :) Friday night I ventured out to Aggieville. (Caroline, I see why you wrote in my graduation card you and Brian would "always be up for a visit to Aggieville!") It was very fun and I was very safe and responsible! Overall, it was a wonderful birthday!

The weather here has been absolutely ridiculous. Yesterday, it was sunny, beautiful and 70+ degrees. Today, it's rainy and disgusting with temperatures topping out at 50 degrees. It's been like this all semester... but it's getting old now. It's really putting a cramp in my style, ya know?

Pistol has been a very good boy lately (even though I'm sure he feels slightly neglected!). He's patient and brightens my day when I have a chance to visit him. He has already told me he is very excited to go home to St. Louis in a few weeks and spend lots of time with dad. (He also misses mom because she likes to spoil him with lots of treats!!)

School horses have been pretty good too. I've seen lots of babies come into the world and have done a ton of post-partum work. The guys are finally accepting me into the "Horse Unit Cowboy World"... Basically they're not ignoring me or being mean to me anymore. It's a pretty big step in our "relationship."

I'm heading home this weekend to see my parents one last time before I head off to Europe. My trip is only about a month away!

I hope all is well, that everyone is safe and happy on this fine Thursday.

Love you all very much,
Katie

Hi guys,

I talked with Mother last night, Daddy was going to go out and take a tour of his back yard and see if it was OK to mow yet. (dry enough) I agree Caroline, some of the Motel/Hotel gym's are questionable at best. I prefer the treadmill but I am becoming a liker of the elipticle.

My daughter was searching the net for somthing, I don't know how she wound up on the site that had obits from 1910 on it. Any how, she found death certificates from some of Mother and Daddy's family. Moms mom and dad and some of daddys as well. She printed them off and will take them down on our next visit. that will give daddy some new topic for discussion for the next few visitors.

Just had a minute here in Pacemaker world. Blog soon,
GMB

Late Night

I think my peonies have died, I didn't see any sign of life during my last tour of our yard. I'll try again tomorrow when I get home.

I am in Dallas doing some training with a new Director of Revenue Management. This is what happens when you've been in your position too long and your company doesn' t know what else to do with you because you aren't "transferrable." If I had only listened to the wise words of Paul David Parmenter, "You can marry more in 15 minutes than you can make in 15 years." I could be a trophy wife who does charity work and dresses her child in Burberry and Ralph Lauren. BTW, they don't let you put "trophy wife" as your next career move with Starwood Hotels. I do, however, mention to Brian Niemeyer every now and then, but he hasn't seemed to catch on.

Katie Baker, you are 21 years old! I hope you spent your birthday at home in the sorority house drinking hot chocolate and eating chocolate cake. That is exactly how I spent mine.;)

I guess I should try to get some sleep, the alarm goes off very early to hit the gym. Unfortunately, there is a hotel full of drug reps and they all go to the gym just in case their manager is there and they may need to impress him/her. This morning, I had to use the stairmaster because nothing else was available. I hate the stairmaster. If I have to use it, it is a good sign that it might be a "horrible, terrible, no good, very bad day."

Good night.

Caroline

What happened Chris?

I have been waiting with baited breath for Chris' decision on teaching positions. As a teaching major I made a good state trooper but I am still interested in your decision. I don't feel qualified to give advice but I do know that math teachers are considered a precious commodity and once you get on that tract you may never get out. You might also consider Reva's experience in north St. Louis County. Good luck with what ever you decide.

Please don't stop!

The posts certainly did slow down, but I think that can be expected, you know activity, inactivity, activity. Don't you love my philosophy. Chris, please continue to post. We love hearing from you and everyone else.

LC

The trees, they are a leafin'

Paul and I just took a tour around the yard and discovered that many things are thrusting through the soil. The trees are leafing, albeit slowly. The peonies are up, as are the hydrangas. We sat on the porch to have our afternoon coffee, the front porch that is. The sun was shining, but still a cool breeze.

We are planning our wardrobe for our trip to Hilton Head next week. Paul mentioned today that we should get the bikes out soon and see how our legs are going to fare on the biking trips we plan to take around the island. He got his golf shoes all spiffed up and shiny.

We went to the lake this last weekend and froze our tails off. We couldn't play golf and fishing in the sleet wasn't any fun either. I had on five layers of clothing at one time and was still cold. The fish were smarter than we were.


We're going to Cape this weekend to Margaret Makin's 60th birthday party. It is hard to fathom that the friend I have had for the longest is going to be 60. Jodie, Tom, Mom, and Dad are going also. I bought Mom a new outfit maybe we can get her to wear it.

I must wish Katie a belated birthday. She turned 21 on the 10th. That is hard to believe also. Our youngest niece is 21. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KATIE.

I must wrap this up here before, I get too morbid .

LC

There is light at the end of the tunnel !!!!

Hi Guys, I am so excited. My daughter (Reva) graduates from College on May the 9th. Yipee!! I can not wait for her struggles to be over. She is already astounding me with her nursing knowledge. Of course look at the tutor that she had. I have had some fun with her studies. She will be at the computor studing and state a question out loud. I give her the answer I think it is and she sometimes disagrees with me. Most times I am right. I am cutting backt o part time at my second job so that I can spend more time with Mom and Dad. I am ready for warm weather and fun time with my grand kiddos too. Thank you, Jodie and Lana for the complements. It is a work in progress. I hear Caroline is very awsome looking as well. Can't wait to see her as well.
See all soon, GMB

Hey Caroline...thanks for the card. Very sweet!

I can't believe the honeymoon phase of blogging is over already! No one is posting info about their days, family, etc. I guess since spring has hit everyone is outside gardening??

The girls have a dance competition this weekend in Collinsville. Audrey is taking her duet which should be hilarious and then Shelby has 2 numbers. Shelby is really oblivious to all the hype...I think she'd rather be a "soccer girl". That's her terminology. Maybe next year we will try that instead of dance, who knows!

Reva

Interesting Job Opportunity (Finally!)

As many of you know, I have been graduated from Mizzou with my BS in Education since August 06 and even more obviously, am not teaching in a school somewhere.

I'd been quite frustrated with the apparent "drastic teacher shortage" that politicians and media talk about often because here I was, ready to teach some social studies and I was gettin' no love! I had been sending out resumes and such to schools for a year and a half and had not even gotten an interview.

Sometime in February I decided that it was time push my pride aside and try to add some other certifications to my qualifications so I could get a job somewhere! I took both the middle school math and science tests on March 15 so I could be eligible for those positions for next year. Lo and behold, that seems to have been the magic move because I am finally getting some contacts; schools are actually calling me!

Here comes the dilemma - I had a terrific interview for a math position at Westview Middle School in the Riverview Gardens District. Quite unexpectedly, they called me 2 hours later and offered me the position! My struggle is that I know I have at least one other interview (but not exactly when) for math and probably one at Lindbergh High School for social studies. I would not have a problem with missing out on the other math opportunity, but I would hate to take this position right now and miss out on a social studies job (my #1 preference).

Any help?

Finally!

I had hoped to post earlier in the week, however time got away from me. Work is incredibly busy and I usually post from the office.

Brian and I went to Chandler, AZ, over the weekend. We took advantage of the free airfare that I had as I flew out on Wednesday for a meeting. We stayed at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort. It was fabulous! It was so nice to sit in the sun in 80 degree weather. I can say without a bit of remorse that we did nothing but sit by the pool. Next trip we'll try to get in some golf and hopefully a horseback ride. The resort is owned by the Gila River Community, two Native American tribes, the Pimas and the Maricopa, that came together pre-civil war. The history is fascinating. BTW, the Pimas originally grew Pima cotton.

Keaton is refusing to use the potty, yet begs to be moved to the Beetlebug room at school. A little person cannot be a part of the Beetlebug room without being potty-trained. We are trying our first shot at bribery with a new backpack if he will use the potty all the time. I don't have high hopes as I am pretty sure that I am going to be considered a failure at potty training. I am willing to live with that, so I hope Brian will take over those duties.

The picture was taken from our balcony of the hotel room.

Caroline

Ditto Reva, Happy birthday. I called Ashley today, but sorry, I forgot to call you.
Yes, Lana your new suit was fabulous. I too was envious of Gail. But hey, I got a new pair of Tommy capris. I have decided Tom and I need a new pillow top, king size mattress.
Everybody loves the pictures of the Alabama Girls. I am getting the pictures in my camera
developed Friday and get you all a CD.
Mother remembered that she has a DR. Appt. tomorrow. I'll let you know what the Dr. says.
Now that our Trip to AL is behind us, we will beginning making our plans for South Carolina and Ryan's graduation.
Jo-D

Happy Birthday, Reva and Ashley!!

April 9th is a very good day for Reva and Ashley. Ashley had a cake and some presents with her cousins over the weekend, but I'm sure she'll have a big day today also.

The Alabama girls will become the St. Louis girls next year, as we have decided to move the site of the gathering annually. Next year we will do it tin the fall so that we can do different types of activities. Yeah, that means Ella and I will only have to drive for 1 3/4 of an hour. We had an unforgetable time, but the drive was a killer.

Ella, too, has been talking about her weekend. She named a dinosaur at pre-school, Julia. She and Tony had a big fight over whether she was going to wear her new flip flops to school on Monday.

Keaton was here when I got home, but Paul had already put him to bed. We got to sleep until 5:30 on Monday. Then we played lots of games before we took him to meet Caroline at noon in Boonville. He was ready to be home also.

I don't know if any of you have seen Gail lately, but I couldn't keep from looking at her all weekend. She looks fabulous!! I am anxious to see Charlie and Sue also.

Jodie and I are working on a healthier life style, wish us luck. Oh, my bathing suit was great.

Paul is getting ready to hit a golf ball. I'm seriously considering a nap.

LC

Alabama Girls

For those of us not privileged to go to Alabama with the great cousin migration of this last weekend I thought I would share a couple of the pictures with you. For greater clarity of pictures you should see one the the Baker sisters.

PDP

YIPPEE!!!

This is Reva Birk, labor and delivery nurse at St. John's Mercy Medical Center...how can I help you??!!

I GOT IT! I had my second interview this past Tuesday and then went in for clinical Wednesday. The manager came up and said she forgot to ask me something Tuesday which scared me because we were in a classroom with a few other people and I didn't want it to get personal! She then said she forgot to ask me if I wanted to work Labor and Delivery and I almost fell out of my chair!

I won't start until June 3 or so, but that will give me a few weeks off after graduation and Disneyworld. YEAH...can you tell I am excited??

Tech blog? I really don't mean to...

Paul, there are three solutions for you.

1. Download a copy illegally from a file-sharing website using a torrent program. (Which opens makes your computer to the outside world and places you at great risk for being attacked by spyware unless you are militaristic about your security software and firewalls. But really, who wants to hassle with that?) I'm going to go out on a limb and guess this doesn't seem like the option for you. :)

2. Download an open-source alternative to Microsoft Office. The one that I have used is OpenOffice and is available at www.openoffice.org.
From this front page you would click on "I want to download OpenOffice.org," and then follow the instructions. There are several things about OpenOffice that I like besides the fact that its free. The best is how they allow you to choose what you download from the package. You could download all of the applications they have developed, or nicely for you, you can choose to only download the word-processing application. They also offer a lot of support if you get stuck or lost while becoming acquainted with the application.

3. Use the web-based Google Docs. (Another incentive to get a Google ID.) docs.google.com












This route gives you fewer features when creating documents, but you can access your documents from anywhere and any computer because you actually save to Google's servers instead of your own computer. You also will need to be connected to the internet to use Google apps, so if you needed to type on the road or somewhere without Wifi you would not be able to access the program. Google also has a tour/tutorial you can follow from the frontpage of Google docs.




This is what the interface looks like when you are word-processing.



I like OpenOffice as the best option because its more of the features you're accustomed to using on traditional word-processing applications. Also, it's difficult to take a document created in Google Docs and save it to your computer. (It's a little easier to import documents created on your computer into Google Docs, but if you could make a document on your computer, you wouldn't have a need for Google Docs!) It got really annoying when I was playing around with Google Docs and wanted to use a document I created there in a software-based word-processor.

Thanks Chuck

We appreciate your help with the blog. It makes it a lot easier, even though I am not sure what you did.

As long as you and Doyle (lol) are the computer gurus maybe you would answer another question. What software can you buy for you laptop that does word processing alone and not the spreadsheets and other misc. stuff that Microsoft Office provides. We don't need most of the stuff for the laptop and Office is expensive considering we won't use most of what it provides.

Thanks
PDP

Posting with your own name

The reason my name came up on my last two comments instead of "baker blog says," was because I was logged in using my google account. Because Google owns the company the owns blogger, they have the two systems linked.
That method only worked for comments, however, so I decided to research the site for alternatives. I took the liberty to enable anyone to comment, which in theory would let any random person to comment, but that doesn't seem very likely. It does allow you to just enter your in a box when publishing your comment so that you may identify yourself without a Google account.
Even better, I discovered that we can have as many as 100 authors to the blog, so you can generate posts that have your name tagged on them. Becoming an "author" on the blog is as simple as clicking on the "settings" tab at the top of the new post page and then choosing the "Permissions" tab after that. There is then a box where you can invite yourself via email. Follow the hyperlink from your email account and you'll be directed to a page that will help you create your google account.From this screen make sure you "create your account now," because if you sign in with audrey03 you'll just be logging in with the info you already use. The thing I like best about Google accounts is you don't have a new login name you have to use - it will be your email address just as Reva's was when she created her account.

If you go on to create a Google account you can now use your Google account to login to Baker Blog and write to your heart's content.

Ready for the weekend

I FOUND A BATHING SUIT. Now this may be an oximoron, but I found a really cute old lady bathing suit with a skirt. I am ready to wow them at the hotel this weekend. I haven't packed my panties yet, but I'm thinking about it.
Shelby and Audrey would be proud.

Paul put in two new faucets for me this morning. Since we're on a fixed income, I'd be happy to hire him out as a faucet-putter-inner. He's not cheap though, it costs a lot in gas for the number of trips he makes to the hardware store. He can also install light fixtures. Any takers? There are a couple of draw-backs to hiring Paul. I have to come too, and you must feed us.

We have baseball again tonight!
LC

well giddy up ya'll

hey guys , hows everyone? have'nt been on for a while. Been playing on the computer a lot , trying out a few things, honing my skills, you might say. learning a lot too. got students paying top dollar to do thier homework for em. just takes a couple weeks per page, hope thier not in a big hurry to graduate.

talked to kate out in kan. a lot, she's had to spend the night at the barn a few times waiting for another foal. but she'll tell you all about that i'm sure.

hey , i'm still trying to figure out how to label comments. you know, instead of the header saying "Baker Blog said" it can say "doyle said" . chris, you seem to have the answer to the

question, cause you did it on your comment to jo-d. help us out