Schmit Family
Welcome to schmits.org: , , , and virtual front porch. This web site is just that; a place to visit for family, friends, and anyone, who are too far away, to stop by in person. Pull up a chair and stay a while....
 

4 January 2010 8:46 pm

Second Half Photos

I recently updated the family photo index to reflect all of the photo albums I posted in the second half of last year (2009). Since this included seven albums, I am going to be lazy and not include direct links to them all. The family albums index can take you to them.

The pictures include vacation photos from the summer, Dylan's first day of kindergarten, two trips into Chicago, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Over 800 pictures in all!

If you need a username or password, please don't hesitate to send an email.

Posted by geoff at 20:46 in /family
 

11 November 2009 6:38 pm

Popcorn Teleconferences

I had a brilliant thought last week. At least I thought it was brilliant.

While on a teleconference, I made a comparison between microwave popcorn and, well, teleconferences. For those who aren't familiar with large teleconferences, a bit of background is necessary.

As people join a teleconference, we have two options to announce their presence. One is to play their recorded name, so you actually know who is joining. The other, which is more widely used for large calls, is to simply beep when anyone joins or leaves.

At the start of the teleconference that I was leading last week, there was the beep---beep-beep----beepbeepbeep--beep as the thirty or so participants started to join. I wasn't exactly sure how many people were going to join, and was debating when to officially start the meeting. As the meeting start time passed, I heard the beep-beep----beep---beepbeep to announce the arrival of yet more participants. Then, slowly, the pattern changed to beep--------beep-beep---------beep---------------------beep. And, like microwave popcorn, I knew that it was ready.

Posted by geoff at 18:38 in /rants and raves
 

4 October 2009 8:40 pm

Mama?

This weekend, Geoff commented on how it's cute the way that Andrea calls me "Mama." Mama?!? I thought that I was Mommy.

Much to my surprise, I then noticed that she calls me "Mama" significantly more frequently that she calls me "Mommy". In fact, "Mommy" might be my description and not really my name. I will be paying close attention to this in the coming week.

For now, I'll take comfort in that I still have a two-syllable name. Before long, I may just be "Mom."

Posted by geoff at 20:40 in /family
 

23 September 2009 8:39 pm

License Plates 2009

It's been a while, five years to be exact, since there has been any mention of the license plate game in these pages. While this year's season is over, it was a notable one worth capturing.

This was a long season for the license plate game, since we had an early Memorial Day and a late Labor Day. Fortunately, I did not need the entire time to complete the task. As an individual, I saw all 50 license plates this year! Unfortunately, the official competition is a team sport, and my final two plates were not witnessed by any other participants. I saw Alabama while on a business trip in Texas, and I saw Alaska while with a friend on the way back to work after lunch. Ironically, both of these plates were viewed with the same friend.

It was nice this year to have Dylan able to spell words. He was able to confirm the presence of Idaho and Hawaii, and I even got picture evidence of Hawaii outside of the YMCA in Naperville. That was a success early in the season. Perhaps next year he will be able to identify license plates while driving! Before long, we'll have internal Schmit-family competition, instead of merely competition with the New-York-based Schmits.

Posted by geoff at 20:39 in /family
 

9 August 2009 7:37 pm

When I Grow Up...

... I want to be...

The first time that I heard those words from Andrea was the day that we visited a dairy farm on vacation. That night, the answer she offered with no prompting was "a farmer and a cooker." By "cooker,' I certainly hope that she means a chef and not simply a burger flipper at a fast-food joint.

Tonight, Andrea added two more variations to the mix. The first was, "When I grow up, I want to be an author, ... and a farmer and a cooker. A food cooker and an ice cream cooker." Shortly after, she indicated that she wanted to be "Curious George, a farmer, and a cooker."

I was surprised that she did not forget about being a farmer and a cooker in the month since she first shared her aspirations. It'll be some time until she's all grown up, so for now I hope that she enjoys being a kid!

Posted by geoff at 19:37 in /family/andrea
 

8 August 2009 8:52 pm

Lots of Pictures!

I've been on a photo editting and posting spree. I have been secretly putting up new albums over the last month and a half, with the majority in the last week. Here are some new albums to enjoy. As with a good drink or meal, be sure to savor them, since it might be a while since you'll get any more.

If I continue at this pace, there is a chance that I can edit pictures from vacation and the rest of the summer by Labor Day weekend. Good thing that Labor Day is late this year!

Posted by geoff at 20:52 in /family
 

3 August 2009 6:55 pm

For Sale?

Today, I dropped Andrea off late at school, and stayed for her class group time by her request. Group time was interesting...

Last week Andrea's class had a pizza-making fundraiser. On Thursday, they made English-muffin pizzas -- all cheese. Well, they had sauce on them, too. On Friday, the pizzas were cooked and sold them to parents. I don't remember the exact price, but I donated a dollar to get four and I overpaid.

Today, the class was discussing and voting on what they were going to do with the $9 they earned. The two options presented by the teacher were: (1) ice cream party, and (2) buy a fish for the classroom. Each child was given a choice in turn to voice their preference. They were also given the option for a "write-in" idea. Andrea passed on her turn to vote. Andrea's friend, Aaron, did not. He was the first (and only) to say, "I have an idea."

Aaron's idea was to "Buy Andrea's mommy." The idea got a vote from Aaron and two of the other children. In the end, "Buy a Fish" also had three votes. (Un)fortunately, "Ice Cream Party" ended up with six votes, so I don't have to worry about being owned, and cared for!, by a pre-school class of three-year-olds.

Posted by geoff at 18:55 in /family/andrea
 

24 July 2009 8:19 pm

What Comes Around...

Call it what you wish, but I wish people would keep the golden rule in mind. Two relatively recent incidents make me wonder sometimes...

Without going into detail here, I learned through an incident in May one reason why insurance premiums are high: to pay for people who file ridiculous claims to repair their cars. All I'll say here is that I expect that there will be a day when the woman, who's car got a minor scratch on it, is the one who causes similar "damage." I certainly hope that she'll be treated with more reason and more respect than I was.

The other incident was yesterday when I was on a Southwest Airlines flight. In case you aren't familiar, Southwest has no assigned seats. Toward the end of the line boarding the plane was a woman with her daughter who looked somewhere between eight and ten years old. At this point, there were only center seats available not near each other on the plane. The woman helped her daughter sit in one seat not too far from me, and then went to find one for herself. The daughter was visibly upset, but neither passenger sitting next to her offered to help, nor to switch seats with the mom. When the flight attendant indicated that we needed to find two seats together before we could depart, neither passenger made a move. Fortunately, someone else with an empty seat near them offered to move to a different seat. The girl, with tears streaming down her face, was able to move and sit with her mom. Unfortunately, those two unhelpful passengers got to sit next to one of the few empty seats on the plane. I'm not a big fan of a center seat, but I'm willing to sit in one if it helps someone else out!

I guess I can just keep trying to do the right thing... and hope that goes around too!

Posted by geoff at 20:19 in /rants and raves
 

7 June 2009 9:34 pm

Math of Ages

"Mommy, when Dylan is six, will I be four?"

"Yes, Andrea."

"And, when Dylan is seven, will I be five?"

"Yes, you will be."

"When Dylan is eight, will I be... six?"

"You will be, Andrea."

"Mommy, when Dylan is nine, will I be seven?"

And, when Dylan is ten, will I be eight?"

"You sure will be."

"When Dylan is twenty, will I be ten?"

"No. When Dylan is twenty, you will be eighteen, Andrea."

"When Dylan is one hundred, will I be seventeen?"

"No. When Dylan is one hundred, you will be ninety-eight."

So went the conversation when I was pushing Andrea on the swing this afternoon. I didn't think much of it at the time, but now that I think back on it, it is impressive to me. Granted, Andrea's math ability became constrained when she crossed the boundary of ten. However, she was either able to keep straight incrementing two sets of numbers. Or, she was able to subtract two from each number in her head. Either way, I'm impressed.

Both Dylan and Andrea are currently in the mode of challenging my addition skills and keeping me sharp. We often start simple, with something like "What's one plus one?" They then take the answer and add it to itself. Well, they ask me (or Geoff) to add it to itself. They don't seem to get bored with it, so I often find myself adding numbers in the thousands. In my head. While driving. Perhaps there should be a law against that.

Posted by geoff at 21:34 in /family/andrea
 

24 May 2009 8:55 pm

Beer

Scene: Jewel grocery store on the Sunday afternoon before Memorial Day
Characters: Daddy and Andrea

Daddy: "Let's get some beer and then we're done."

Andrea: "Don't drink too much."

Daddy: "Ummmm, why not?"

Andrea: "You'll be sick."

Daddy: "Okay, should I just drink one, then?"

Andrea: "No, five."

Daddy: "Five?"

Andrea: "Five is okay."

Daddy: "Okay."

Daddy wonders with whom Andrea has been discussing drinking beer....

Posted by geoff at 20:55 in /family/andrea
 
Previous 10 entriesNext 10 entries