The Schwarthoff Family 2008

December, 2008

This picture is a scan of a polaroid we got at the Micron kid's holiday party. An arena full of 2000 people, screaming kids, and brave volunteers. The kids are busy on a million inflated structures, climbing walls, riding toys, and toddler games, eating olives, carrots, yoghurt, tater tots, and chicken mini-hotdogs.

We return from that and prepare to fly away, to Germany over Christmas. Not planned at all, we decided on short notice, because Micron prescribed mandatory vacation for (almost) everyone. The production slowdown hopefully makes a contribution to stopping the price decline for Micron's products. Most auto manufacturers in the U.S. and Germany are doing the same, so we are not alone.

Merry Christmas everyone, and see you next year!

November, 2008

All Hallows Eve. Boys are firemen, and Helena impersonates a mini-cowboy. The candy is going to last a while. Good to see a bunch of neighbors again, some of whom we don't see very much.

Yay, the bathroom is done, with all the detours and negotiations. If you don't look too closely, it looks great. Ask me for a picture. Well, we are still waiting for the mirrors and lights.

The economic climate is getting more difficult, while the Micron leadership continues to be unable to call things by their name (furlough over Christmas). We are not making money - that makes it difficult to look ahead. We have to be patient to see how it's turning out. You will have heard that the U.S. car companies have noticed that they are out of money, while continuing to offer gas guzzling SUVs that "suddenly" nobody wants to buy.

October, 2008

Hello, world! It's birthday month. The boys are 3 and a half, daddy is 42, and wednesdays is Birthday lunch day almost all month at work.

That work is a piece, though: 15 percent layoffs worldwide is another blow. This time, it affects manufacturing, and the turmoil in Boise can be felt in the lunch crowd. Doing this now is a move to help the company overcome being broke - no consolation for those who are affected.

October is also remodeling month. Well, the contractors have been laboring on and off in our master bathroom since August. They promised by Grandma's knitting needle that they'd be done on my birthday. Pious wish that was. We had to stop them multiple times for various errors/screwups that will make this thing go well into November. But better do it right than on time. If the result is good, I'll post a picture.

September, 2008

Little girl's birthday was a day before September, but we celebrated later with a large horde in the yard. She is very eager to explore, currently mostly by crawling like superman. The first tooth has arrived.

The master bathroom is a construction zone. It will emerge in black-and-white tiles with a modern look. What a pain to babysit contractors... Bye-bye summer!

The U.S. financial system is at the brink of collapse, because the people have finally found out that being greedy is not a substitute for a brain. And the government forgives everything by letting everyone pay for it.

August, 2008

The folks have departed. Now we pack up everything/one into/onto one car to see beautiful central Idaho. Redfish Lake is good both for the scenery and the kids, with its shallow beaches and gorgeous Sawtooth Range backdrop. Helena is having the time of her life, while the twins suffer from temperature extremes: cold in the morning, water too hot at the hotsprings.

Hiking is the way to see the mountains and lakes. The trails are maintained very well and a joy to tread (except for the occasional whining).

July, 2008

Family is visiting in Boise.

Let's forget about politics and work, and enjoy the sunshine, warm air, and the Boise River. We see much of the city and the mountains. For a week, we see the peaks, lakes, geysers, and wild animals in Yellowstone. What a wonderful land we live in! The Grizzly Bear on our camp site was exciting but not so much fun. Fortunately, it was not interested in our dinner or baby.

June, 2008

Summer!

May, 2008

A few cool days, and then summer arrived with might. Record temperatures, grill for dinner every night, parties, and the car stays in the garage. It's Boise bike week, where the city tries to win a few more people over to the green side. We gladly show the t-shirts they are giving out at the bike stores and downtown.

My bike is all new, because the frame broke. Imagine that, with a lifetime warranty. So, the manufacturer sent a new frame, which was nice, but I still had to swap all the parts over and start over adjusting everything.

Green is in fact in everyone's ears right now. Gas prices have finally risen enough that people question their vehicle choices and are starting to make changes. The Prius sells at record rates. GM and Ford are chasing the fray, but they still advertise that truck that could. The media are bubbling with articles about green this and green that - so it's in vogue. Everyone, help keep up that momentum for a while, and we will see some improvements with our use of oil!

It was never more fun to bike on the greenbelt, although the spring thaw has flooded some short sections. The boys are impressed, as long as there isn't a dog running past their trailer. They have been enjoying their first weeks of preschool. I joined them one morning, seeing how great it is that they have some interesting opportinities to play and learn outside of home. They are also working on their individual biking skills in the backyard.

Helena thinks she needs to eat more.

April, 2008

You can ask Abraham and Noah "How old are you?", and they will tell you that they are three years old. The excitement is great, since they get their first glimpse of what a birthday is. Way too many gifts, if you ask me.

Three years does not seem to be enough to understand that you go to sleep at seven and stay in bed. The fence did not keep them in any longer, so why sleep, when we can have so much fun. That's a source of sleep deprivation with the kids and nerve deprivation with the parents. It does not help that one of my coworkers died unexpectedly, leaving a big hole in his family and at work.

The weekend was so nice that we could be outside without jackets all day. While mom was away at a seminar, the men used the opportunity to scale a mountain. And to sit in a fire truck at the playground for the rest of the day.

March, 2008

March wants to bring us sunshine and warmth, with limited success. A good time to replace and repair our home heating system. Excellent opportunity to anihilate large numbers of evening hours talking to contractors, requesting bids, researching the web, and babysitting the actual work. The master bathroom is next. Keeping the boys out of harm's way is quite a challenge. Well, of course, the noisier a machine is, the more interesting.

Helena keeps putting on pounds. She remains heavier than 95 percent of her age collegues. And it shows.

February, 2008

Finally, small and tall is healthy again. The bike commute has been a challenge for several weeks now; it snowed almost every day, and the City of Boise does not know what a snowplow is. That effectively shuts all bicycles out during times of winter weather. How wonderful, when Dwight, a neighbor, comes puttering through on his lawnmower-turned-snowplow, regularly clearing everbody's sidewalks on our street. He does it just for fun.

We have no shortage of silly Unsinn, perpetrated by the twins. Whatever they can get to in the kitchen cabinets is fair game. Fortunately, it's all done in pure heart, with the explicitly forbidden things largely untouched. But, hey, you can't think of mentioning every little thing that might be a hazard...

Micron is on the way to recovery from the crisis, but there is a lot of work ahead. The mood is "get busy" and "let's hope this works out".

Petra has played her first concert series with the Boise Baroque chamber orchestra. She enjoys performing again with this lovely group, while the boys are very interested understanding what Mama does when she is not home.

January, 2008

The new year brings celebration, viruses, and snow. Wonderful white mountains cap our city with all its activities. Micron has closed down the never loved office building that was my work place for 7 months. Oh, joy! I am back to puffing up the hill to the main site, which is where the action is. Only my new nexus is now another building about a mile further towards New York. The ride will be much safer and more pleasant than before, when I was threatened and yelled at on Overland Street, because of course that road is only for cars.

Helena obviously is trying out her legs. If only they were not so crooked. At home, we are discussing preschool plans for the twins. The school district is evaluating what to do with them when they turn three this year.

The spiel is on again: 50 presidential primaries and five thousand predictions by everyone. Time is running out for the Iraq war. Yesss.

Copyright Hubert Schwarthoff