We're Otta-here!

Well, as you might have guessed, we have left Normal, Illinois and moved on to Ottawa, Ontario. Consequently, I have ended the Situation Normal blog. I admit that my Situation Normal posts have been getting few and far between. (Yes, Facebook ate my blog, too.)
I have started a new Fish Ottawater blog on a trial basis. If anyone other than my mother (hi Mom!) is interested in keeping up on what we are doing in Canada please let me know, and I will try to keep posting.

less Normal, more Canada

After much consideration, I accepted a 2-year postdoc at the University of Ottawa, ON. Danny and I broached the subject with the kids by festooning their dinner with little flags. The kids knew that we were likely moving somewhere next year, and they were fairly mellow about the whole thing. I asked them for a rating of their feelings about moving to Canada, and this is what I got:

It looks like a neutral from Sam. Joseph very precisely oriented his thumb slightly north of neutral, which is a good sign.
Joseph then drew my attention to a previous conversation in which I told him that I was hoping to get a job as a professor, and that when I did, we could buy our own house. Erm...

Balmer Merlin

After leaving New York, we visited Baltimore. Here are a few of the many pictures that we look in Charm city.
An unscheduled group picture of the ladies.

Sam on the couch reading Far Side comics with Aron and Ron.

Sam with Benjamin on the couch. Sam was enamored of the Playstation. (As you may recall, we live in lame land with no such thing.) I am trying to recall whether or not Sam actually left the couch, but various people came to visit him.

Rich with Alexa--so far so good...

Joseph, Sam and Grandpa Saul

Grandma Martha, Sam and Joseph. (Two pictures--each one had a different person looking in the wrong direction.)


Joseph, Grandma Dorinda and Sam

Christmas and Staten Island

After leaving Cleveland, we headed for New York. After the massive snowstorm, road conditions were not too bad, although there were giant snowdrifts everywhere.
The kids had a great time playing in the snow. We all made a massive snowman at the park. All of us except Sam, who erected a series of shrunken snowman heads on posts.



We went to Olde Historic Richmondtownville. The kids enjoyed parts of the toy exhibit, but I don't think that they were that interested in the historic hand-tooled nail collection.

Christmas! Much chaos and presents!
Mike and Karen resting after presents.

Victoria and Joseph playing with the little dogs.

The cousins. Yes, that is Joseph's butt. I cannot tell you how many of our family photos feature Joseph's butt.

Chanukah and Cleveland

This year Chanukah was so early that it came and went before winter break. And what can be more fun than children lighting things on fire!

This year we started our trip in Cleveland. We had a great time at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. We enjoyed many taxidermied animals and miniature dioramas, which are pretty much the same as when I was a kid.

The kids got to hang out with the otters again. It looks like the otters get bored during the winter and have figured out how to keep kids at their enclosure with a seemingly endless array of tricks.

We met Michelle and Rich for dinner at Lopez (no y Gonzalez. I wonder what ever happened to Gonzales, anyway).

Not too bad a visit. Danny and I found a new regular bar within walking distance of my Mom's house. I did some shopping and got sweaters and various and sundry things (Chanukah decorations!) not to be found in Normal, IL. Argos and I had a bunch of good runs around Shaker lakes (and I didn't get lost once!).