House project

Subject of the e-mail from my mother this morning: "We have drywall!"

Evidence:

This one is pretty obviously taken from in front of the new east wall looking toward the fireplace (they are going to clean up tomorrow).

From House Project

This one is looking from the fireplace towards the new coat closet.

From House Project

And finally... standing at the far north end of the dining room and looking towards the new front of the house. This isn't the best picture of the window seat area, but you can probably get the idea. Maybe I'll try another picture of that tomorrow. I think it's going to be a nice touch!

From House Project

So there you have it.

Sad Kohwak news

I can't wrap my brain around this one. I hadn't seen him for years, but Maidul was a terrific friend, a wonderful fraternity brother and a perpetual optimist. The world is a sadder place without him.

Man dies after chain-reaction accidents on I-380

CEDAR RAPIDS — Maidul Islam, 33, of Marion, has died of injuries suffered in a chain-reaction accident on Interstate 380 during this morning's commute.

Islam's vehicle was struck by a car driven by Christopher Lamb, 25, of Hiawatha, near the Wilson Avenue overpass on I-380 shortly after 7:40 a.m., police said. Both motorists were driving south.

The fatal accident was one in a number of chain-reaction accidents in both the southbound and northbound lanes. One factor in the accidents was construction equipment blocking one lane of I-380, police said.

Carey Lewis, construction engineer for the Iowa Department of Transportation's East Central Iowa office, said crews were working Tuesday night and this morning on the guardrail on the inside lane of southbound I-380 in that area. But crews and equipment were supposed to be off the interstate by 7 a.m. But, as many motorists noted, they weren't.

The first accident happened at 7:40 a.m. on southbound I-380 at Highway 30, police said.

Adam Hebl, 33, of West Branch, did not see traffic backing up because of construction and traffic control equipment on the road.

Hebl's vehicle rear-ended a car driven by Michael Thul, 32, of Eagle Grove. Hebl was taken to Mercy Medical Center with minor injuries and charged with failure to maintain control of his vehicle.

Then, a four-car crash in the area of Wilson Avenue SW started a chain reaction of other accidents as drivers either failed to slow down, didn't see others stopped ahead or became distracted by the four-car crash, Cedar Rapids police Sgt. Cristy Hamblin said.

While officers were working at that crash, a second and more serious multicar crash happened, also near the Wilson Avenue overpass in the southbound lane.

It started when Lamb's vehicle struck a car driven by Islam, causing Islam's car to go into the median. Lamb's vehicle continued on, striking a car driven by Melissa Wright, 46, of Cedar Rapids. Wright's car was pushed into the vehicle in front of her, driven by Kylee Rathje, 19, of Atkins.

Islam was taken to St. Luke's Hospital and then transferred to University Hospitals in Iowa City, where he died.

The accidents are still being investigated, police said.

At one point, traffic was backed up for nearly two miles, from Wilson Avenue to the Cedar River. Earlier in the morning, delays were reported south of the first accident because of road construction.

All lanes were reopened and traffic back to normal by 10:30 a.m.

Got the story from the CR Gazette, here. There's also a Facebook group in Maidul's memory.

Picture pages

No column this week. But... cute pictures of the kids in loosely chronological order:

From Pops and K's

From Pops and K's

From Hollands at Home

From Hollands at Home

From Hollands at Home

From How's House

From Hollands at Home

Jack, the disoriented boy

Note: This post will say it was posted by Scott because I am too impatient to wait for it log him out and log me in, but it is actually Kristie posting this.


Today Jack had the unfortunate experience of falling asleep on the couch at five. Right about dinner time. Very not cool. What was even more uncool is that he woke up at six saying, "Mommy, Mommy", so I went out there. What I found was a still half asleep boy sitting straight up. I asked him if he needed to go potty or get a drink and he said nothing but laid his head back down on the pillow and shut his eyes.

Not five minutes later he woke up whimpering, so I went back in and found Jack with wet pants, so I grabbed him and put him in front of the potty, took his clothes off, took them to the hamper and when I got back in the bathroom not 5 seconds later, Jack was standing next to the tub on his tiptoes peeing into the tub. I believe in his half-asleep stupor, he forgot where he was at and thought the tub was the potty and couldn't figure out why it was so tall.

Then I cleaned the tub. Then he took a much needed bath. And proceeded to fall asleep naked on the bathroom floor right afterwards.

Grumpy young man

Column originally published in 2003 and reworked for Nov. 11, 2008

I used to like Christmas.

That was, of course, before the Christmas shopping season started in October, outdoor lights went up before Thanksgiving and Christmas music assaulted my eardrums as soon as Dec. 1 rolled around.

Wait a minute, you’re asking, aren’t you far too young to be a crotchety old man? Frankly, no. Christmas is a wonderful time of year, but 12 days of Christmas is about all I can handle anymore.

Maybe I’m bitter because I don’t get Christmas vacation anymore. Sure, I don’t have to work Dec. 25. But when I was in grade and high school, there was a guaranteed two weeks of freedom every December. By the time I got to college, it was up to three or three and a half weeks, depending on when finals were over.

But in the real world? In the real world, Christmas vacation is a bit of a myth. I’m sure the retailers know this. For them, Christmas isn’t so much a time of happiness and relaxation, but a four- to five-week make-or-break period that sometimes decides if the store can stay open another year.

For many professional people, Christmas vacation is a possibility if they either take no time off the rest of the year or have earned enough vacation to burn some time for spring break, a summer trip and winter holidays. Even so, it often means a stack of work before you leave and a bigger stack the first day back.

But my bitterness isn’t all about vacation. I have some personal days off I can spend before the end of the year, so I’m doing well. I just don’t understand why Christmas keeps growing and growing, eclipsing Thanksgiving and Halloween.

Continue reading "Grumpy young man."

Weekend work

We took advantage of a free weekend to bop out to Fulton and spend time with Kristie's family. How came out to see us Friday afternoon (and deliver a cooler full of frozen breast milk for the Moose), and Kristie decided to let Jack ride back with her Mom. You could have given the kid a puppy and a semi-load of mac and cheese and he wouldn't have been any happier. Kristie and I cleaned the house and followed with Max a few hours later.

Kristie got a chance to go out to lunch Saturday afternoon with her aunt Pam, cousin Emily and Emily's husband Kyle (last seen by me in March when they let me crash at their place while Max was in the NICU). A rare shot at an uninterrupted meal with adult conversation being too good to pass up, she jumped at the opportunity. What she missed, though, was Max playing on the living room floor for almost two hours in almost complete happiness. Let me stress this to you: this never happens in real life. Usually getting 15 happy minutes from Max is amazing. (I should clarify that we're talking about playing by himself. You can get a solid hour of smiles if you carry him around and provide near constant attention.)

Jack capped off the weekend with a trip to Kristie's dad's parents' house, a new habit he developed over the summer. They love having him, even if he decides to w3atch "Phineas and Fewrb," whatever the hell that is.

In my free time, I took advantage of some high-speed Internet and Microsoft Office Picture Manager, which allows for resizing of digital photos in large batches. I uploaded about 160 photos spanning from the end of our "Jack's First Seven Months" album to Christmas 2007. The following albums have new entries:

Hollands at Home

Elizabeth, Ill.

On the Road

Coe

How's House

Pops and K's

And, an all-new entry, the 103-photo bonanza...

Clinton Life

...which features Jack at his cutest. See classics such as "First Haircut," "Helping Mom Cook" and old Halloween costumes. Also, the album is great if you want to know what Max looks like, since the boys apparently are identical twins.

New Link

Coe pal Angie (Fullarton) Benson and her husband, Michael, are now online with their blog Our Life as the Parents of a Preemie. They've shifted over from CarePages updates now that their Max has hit two months old -- and he seems to be in great health.

Happy reading!

Fun with Leaves

This is one happy Jack...



And a bonus:

Wise words from a pretty smart guy

Column originally published November 4, 2008

My dad is a pretty smart guy. He'd be quick to point out how many times in my life I wouldn't be caught dead making such a claim, but I'd point out there might have been a few times he wouldn't say the same thing about me, so I suppose that makes us even.

He suggested the name for this column, which I've been writing for the better part of seven years, though not all at the same paper. But through the wonders of modern technology, I'm able to occasionally go back and reread some of my old stuff.

Sometimes I page back to search for ideas, sometimes I want to find a particular sentence or paragraph I can trot out again for new readers. Sometimes I spend more time than I should reliving the past. Sometimes I can't believe how clever I am. Sometimes I can't stand to read my own sentences.

And sometimes I come across something worth repeating in its entirety. So it is with these words of wisdom from my dad, which I made into the second professional column I ever wrote. He sent this to men in an e-mail in June 2001, just after I started my first real newspaper job. I think its holds up remarkably well, and it gives me a chance to tell everyone something I already know: My dad is a pretty smart guy.

Continue reading "Wise words from a pretty smart guy."

More house project photos

The first three are mine from the weekend, the last two from K sent this morning.

There's a whole mess of stuff shoved in the living room, and it all has to come out so the new floor can go in. Also, the ceiling needs to be replaced.

From House Project

A view from the fireplace looking out toward the driveway.

From House Project

An up-close profile of the new front entry. Columns to be added later.

From House Project

This is a view of the wall that used to have the white bookshelves on it. It's really hard to believe that the small floor area in front of that wall once housed a full bathroom and a coat closet!

From House Project

Here's what the view now looks like from the east wall of the new entryway looking across to the fireplace... with the north wall, the floor and the ceiling removed (that was incredibly noisy work for 2 days).

From House Project

And yet, it's even more impressive in person.

Did you?

From Hollands at Home

Me and The Boys

Believe it or not, the grunt is a happy sound.

Office Max

So, it's way before dawn in Libertyville. Max, who didn't go to sleep until 11 p.m., decided to wake up before 4 a.m. This coming the night after he slept the soundest he has in months. I suppose I should be happy he slept in the car -- especially since the drive came just after a nap, and he never sleeps in the car unless he's totally bushed (compared to Jack, who still gets knocked out just by being in a moving vehicle for more than 10 minutes).

Anyhow, because Max spent a few hours hogging the middle of a double bed between me any my beloved (which often is how we milk the last several hours of sleep out of him), he made both of us uncomfortable enough to be awake. So whilst I was at K's computer doing other stuff, Kristie was holding Max as he explored the office (which he's already done from his vantage point and found several of the major "No" items). I shot this film of him being mystified -- and eventually solving -- by the enigma of something he could see but couldn't touch.



I'm pretty proud of him for figuring it out as fast as he did... and a little worried he might be another one too smart for his own good. Creativity and porblem solving are excellent traits, but they also can be ridiculously frustrating for parents who think they ought to be able to outsmart someone without teeth.

Also, for reference, a post written from Libertyville the day before Jack turned 8 months old, is right here.

Baby 1, Baby 2

Can you guess which Holland boy is which?





Aside from the obvious clues (notably, picture two is clearly set in the living room of our Clinton house, and the date in the corner shows 2004...), the glaring difference is that the second photo features a 6-month-old baby who is standing with the support of one parental hand, and quite happily so. The first photo showcases an 8-month old babya who, although filling out the costume much better, has no real desire to be set on te ground on anything other than his terms, and don't even think about trying to help him "walk" around the house.

Also, Max has more hair (which we never thought possible).

"Halloween" ... the movie

(My favorite part is when he's coming back down the sidewalk. "Hey, it worked!")

Halloween

This Halloween, we went trick-or-treating at Pops and K's house, and man oh man, did Jack have a good time. He started off by having Scott and I stay back behind and he marched right up to the door all by himself and rang the doorbell. He said, "Trick or treat?", held out his little bag and usually said thank you. Then he asked to go to the next house.

At some houses, he took out his little play hammer and measuring tape, AKA "Stretch," and "fixed" their sidewalks, which got a lot of laughs and chuckles from the people handing out candy. Jack went as Handy Manny (cartoon character from the Disney Channel), a costume of his own choosing and was thrilled with it. Max, not really into the whole thing, went as Pooh. A very cute one, I might add.

The first pictures on here are Jack as a ghost, the costume he wore in the preschool party and parade today. They made the costumes for the kids out of pillowcases. Very, very cute, I think. Jack completed the outfit by showing me a very convincing "Boo!"

From Hollands at Home

From Hollands at Home

A picture of the actual Handy Manny...



And Jack as Handy Manny:

From At Pops and K's

From At Pops and K's

And finally, the first time we actually got all four of us in a picture, although Jack was not happy about it. Happy Halloween everyone!

From At Pops and K's

More house project photos

More from K...

Lots of progress today... here's the view from the new front door into the dining room.

From House Project

I stood in front of the window on the driveway side of the house to take this one. (My attempts to keep Maggie out of the area did no good. I thought she was afraid of the plastic they left on the floor, but not so. Underneath all that stuff is a long strip of carpet tack with all the nails in it--that needs to go SOON!)

From House Project

For this one, I stood in the little area between the kitchen peninsula and the wall with the cabinet in it, and looked out toward the new front door. The kitchen is still closed off from the dining room with plastic. (It's a good thing, since they spent the day knocking the ceiling down in there!)

From House Project

This one is taken from over in the corner where you usually sit at the table. Now you'll be able to see straight out two windows from there! Tomorrow they are going to change out all the other windows that are being replaced... and we have to keep ahead of them to move stuff away from each one so they have room to work. I imagine we won't get much HSE stuff done tomorrow!

From House Project

Have I mentioned this whole thing blows my mind?

My sweet boys

Jack has a new thing right now where he gives me a big hug and says "Mom, you're the best!" Some days he does that and then 30 minutes later throws a huge temper tantrum, but it certainly gives me a fantastic feeling when those little arms are thrown around my neck.

And, Max gives big, sloppy kisses. The kinds of baby kisses that leave a trail of drool on the side of your face. But, we've never been so happy to be drooled on. Especially when he follows it up with a smile. That toothless grin is priceless.

These are the types of moments where I feel so lucky to be a mom to two of the best little boys around. We're just going to go ahead and leave the other moments out of this particular post.

House Project

New pictures of the house project from my mom, who either bought the digital camera she was threatening to buy, or figured out how to get much higher quality shots from her laptop. Here notes in italics.

Here's what the outside of the house looks like today... the old front door is there temporarily. The front porch and steps were poured today, but you can't really see them. Also, there will be bricks covering them at some point! I'll send you a few other photos of the inside, though it's kind of tough to capture how it really looks. The two old walls came down today!!

From House Project

Standing at the new front door and looking in towards the kitchen (that big ball of light is the "chandelier").

From House Project

Standing about where the corner of the window seat used to be, and looking towards the hanging plant and fireplace in the living room.

From House Project

Standing at the old front door, looking out the new living room window (that's my guess, from what I recall).

From House Project

Upstairs, looking from the door into Pops & K's closet out through the new space. A new furnace for the upstairs (the old one died) is going in behind that short wall you see.

From House Project

Don't get nervous about coming this weekend... everything is really well contained behind plastic "walls" that are held up with spring loaded poles. We still have use of most of the living room and we can eat on the porch!

Can't wait to see it in person. Also, be sure to clock on the album link to see some super old photos of the place I uploaded last time I was home (I plan to get some more done this weekend, Max willing. A taste:

From House Project

Happy Max

As Kristie alluded to in her last post, she's to blame for the sideways video.