Janelle and the giant turkey.



Tom's new ride that took him to Brooklyn, New York for Thanksgiving.

(Images courtesy of Mark and his new digital camera!)

Stevie:
We are happy to hear your good news, although you probably think it would have been better news if they would have decided this before hooking you up. Being able to read the highly amusing account of your ordeal on the blog is an additional bonus. Don't wait for another near-death experience to write!

pain, suffering, death, etc.

yo whats up fam. hopefully you have already realized that this is not nancy. thats right, its yours truly, stevie. I am sure that you are all very eager to hear the latest news on my recent grapples with mortality so here goes.
after the lovely thanksgiving day festivities, which were so graciously hosted by matt and janelle, i returned home to check my email and watch conan. since I would not be allowed to eat or drink anything in the morning before my ct-guided needle biopsy, I ended up staying awake until 3:00 a.m. I ate every morsel of food that I could find and accidentally consumed a half pint of sterno(jp). my mother, nancy, awoke me from my rejuvenating slumber at approximately 9:07 a.m.

ok I am getting really tired of telling this story so thoroughly so basically I went to the doctor and they took some of my blood out and stuff and I had an iv in my arm. I even had to change into a gown and everything. then they were giving me a cat-scan and it was kind of weird because they had a sticker on my neck, some dewhickey clamped to my finger, an iv in my right arm and a blood pressure thingy on my left arm. I was in the cat-scan-o-matic for like 15-20 minutes and then they said, "we are really dumb so we arent going to give you the biopsy because your tumor got smaller and so we think that it would be best to wait and see what happens." then I had to get the iv out and all that jazz. the lady left me in a room by myself to change and so I stole some medical equipment. anybody need a flu-shot? so thats what happened today. I dont really know anything more about my tumor than I did before. peace.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Giving Thanks!

We had a wonderful time at Matt and Janelle's! Everything was terrific, and it was a fine time to celebrate all that we have to be thankful for! Thank you, M&J!!

The excellent turkey looked much like this one, but BIGGER and even better!:

Happy Birthday Joel

Happy Birthday, Joel - 7 x 7 candles for you!
Livvi's card is quite funny, but I happen to be one who thinks you are very young indeed! I hope you had a great day!
It's great to hear from you, Ingrid. Happy Thanksgiving to one and all. I'll be in St. Paul on the big day. Nancy

Happy Birthday Daddy!
I made my dad a card that had this pic on the front:

With the words: "Some things never get old..."
inside it said "You're not one of them. Happy birthday!"
I found it quite funny...
---Livvi'i

Hello from Bloomington

Hello Everyone,

Good work, Joel and Teresa! Thanks for keeping the blog interesting. Maria, is your cousin who is in Iraq from Indianapolis? I noticed that the article Peter posted a link to was from the Indy Star. That's pretty close to me, here in Bloomington. One of my friends' brother is in the 101st Airborne near Mozel, and it is quite amazing to hear about some of his experiences. How is everyone spending Thanksgiving next week? I'm planning on going home to Atlanta, and hopefully catch up with my parents before their big anniversary trip. I'm going to run the Atlanta Half-Marathon, and eat a big dinner and enjoy being home and taking a break from my plants! Hope everyone is doing well,
Ingrid

Hey! That is what I wrote!

Both Teresa and I were pleased (and surprised) to find things that we'd written get published online without signifigant editing.

Teresa's employer from the World Health Organization contacted her last week and asked her to do some more work (long distance). Although the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety decided not to link to other sites from their official website, they do want Teresa to evaluate other organizations' websites for possible inclusion on a separate WHO page. He mentioned that the website criteria she had developed for them in June had been put up on the GACVS's website. This was a total surprise to Teresa. You can find it on the GACVS web site here. (click on the link "New document: Good information practices," on the right hand side.)

My online publication is the "Klingon Language Version" of the World English Bible, that I mentioned before. It has been included in the online Bible Tool prepared for the American Bible Society. You can find it here. I was happy to see they used my short explanation/disclaimer, "Why a Klingon Bible," on their page (follow the Learn More.... .link under Just for Fun).

Check out Charlene's Angels, a movie starring Norris, Liv, myself and Janelle as well as Lisa and Emily Letourneau. Coming soon!

If any of you would like to write to my cousin in Iraq, here is his address:

SSG Vankleeck, Jason
194MP Co/716 MP Bn
(Babylon)
APO AE 09332

Any kind of letter would be greatly appreciated by him and by our family. Thanks!

We have told you about Maria's cousin in a couple of posts below. He was now written up in his local paper as well. click the link below to read.

Sally and Todd Van Kleeck are proud of their soldier son's bravery -- something that this month earned him a Bronze Star in the ongoing conflict in Iraq.

My cousin sent me this picture of him receiving some sort of medal for saving several of his fellow soldiers during battle in Iraq. He is the one in the middle. Just thought you guys might be interested to hear how he is doing. We are all so proud of him. Please continue to keep him in your prayers.

Does anybody know this guy? -- RHS grad wins Nobel Prize

Hey everybody,
Anybody know Peter Agre, RHS 67 and Augsburg 1970 who was just awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry? I guess he was a sophomore when I was a senior. I'll see ifI can find my yearbook...

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/press/2003/OCTOBER/031008A.HTM

First, the Governor, now this...

John

For all you Simpsons Fans out there, here's a story about another fan who has way too much time on their hands:

Simpsons Fan Creates Real Tomacco Plant

Our church, Evergreen Community Church, has been involved in a church movement called the "40 Days of Purpose". It is a movement designed to help people realize their purpose in life, and to show them that it lies beyond themselves, in a greater purpose that God has for their life. We are about 20 days into the track, and it has been very eye opening thus far.

Over the weekend the Star Tribune had a story discussing the Purpose Drive Life phenomenon. It is a good quick read.

Also, over the weekend, my parents, brothers, Maria and I went to the funeral of Charlotte Davis at Hennepin Ave. Methodist in Minneapolis. Charlotte was a wonderful kind-hearted woman who spread God's love to others for her entire 77 years. We have known Charlotte and her husband Harry (who once ran for mayor of Minneapolis) for many years now, through our involvement in the Minnesota Christian Ashram where they were very involved. She always had kinds words for you, and I remember her just taking Maria under her wing when she came to the Ashram for the first time. She died last week with her family around her, and we know that now she has gone on to a better place. Thanks Charlotte for your Godly influence in all of our lives. We will miss you.

Transportation Footnotes

Recently, I was also looking to upgrade my transportation to and from work. I found a good solution at Kohl's in Roseville - a nice new pair of shoes that look something like this: . These are very comfortable. I track my mileage using a "DigiWalker" purchased at Health Partners: (note: I don't walk ALL the way - I walk to the St. Paul campus and then take a bus .)

More Cars!

Maria had a 1995 Honda Civic LX (good choice on getting a Honda Tom- good cars!) that she has had for several years. She liked to call it her "baby car". Recently her mother decided that she wanted Maria to have something a little safer - something with side airbags and anti-lock brakes. So last week Maria got a 2002 Honda Civic EX (with a sunroof!). It is a beautiful beige color and is a great car.

So next time we all get together, we'll all have to show off our new cars!

Car troubles too

With three licensed drivers and one wanna be our transportation needs were being adequately served by two vehicles (99 Voyager& 86 Caprice) and my bike until one day several weeks ago when the Caprice started running too hot and leaking water. Not wanting to invest money in this longtime member of our family I parked it at the Roosevelt Auto shop with the intention of donating its remains to a worthy cause. This put us in a bad way since Tom must drive several miles to his work each day. Fortunately a woman from our church came to the rescue and loaned us her spare 89 Taurus for several days. Then some neighbors went to Africa for three weeks and gave us access to their Saturn, mini van and pickup truck. We started looking around for a permanent replacement. Tom found a Saturn station wagon that looked promising at a dealership. However when we took it for a test drive it quit a couple of miles from the dealership and we had to call for a ride back. Finally we found the suitable vehicle, a 95 Honda Accord with a five speed manual transmission. We bought it from a woman from our church who got it when it was new and has maintained it properly. To top it off the the auto shop guy at school thinks he can fix the Caprice cheaply so we may get few more miles out of it.

Misc. stuff...

Sorry to hear about your cousin, Maria.

Just wanted to let people know that the musical at Como Park this year is "South Pacific." Liv is one of the nurses. If anyone wants to come, the dates are Thursday, Nov. 13 at 7:00, Friday, Nov. 14 at 7:30, Saturday, Nov. 15 at 7:30, and Sunday, November 16 at 2:00. Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for students. As in previous years, there is also a 5:00 "dinner theater" option on Saturday night, in which you can get dinner in the lavishly decorated cafeteria, be greeted by the cast, dance to a jazz band, and get reserved seats for the show. The dinner theater is $20--if anyone wants to go to this they need to tell me so I can make the reservations. Otherwise, you don't need to buy tickets ahead of time. Hope some people can come!

Here is Koko in his Halloween costume.