Hey Nick,
It was great to hear from you and Emily. It made our day! We’ve been thinking about you and checking the blog regularly. No baby yet, I feel like this is the calm before the storm. So being the queen of free time, I intend to have a Sopranos marathon. Take care,
Steph
dear uncle nick,
congratulations! and congratulations to dick and kate on becoming grandparents; what a thrill. i’m looking forward–BUT NOT YET.
and most of all congratulations to scott and steph. welcome to the hardest job you’ll ever adore, and best wishes for getting a little sleep.
love martha
Hey Nick,
It is your sister in law. We are glad you are doing well and that you have received our good news. Sydney is very content with Grandpa Dick right now because he is giving her a bottle. Scott is sleeping first shift, then I’ll wake him. Heh He! Have you learned any Indian phrases? How was your trip to Mumbai? Give Emily a hug for us!
Love and take care,
Steph
hi nick,
you’re such a good sport to tell this story. i figured you wouldn’t mind me repeating it, seeing as how you’ve already posted it on the web. everyone i’ve told wants to know if it was the last window on the bus.
love martha
It was the last window on the bus, thank Krishna, but that still didn’t help the poor bastard below us who had his window open. As it turns out, the best spot to let fly on a sleeper bus in India is all the way in the back… on the bottom.
nick, the new photos are beautiful. you really have a good eye. that dandelion puff is so nice. i hate to be the demanding one, but how about more pix of your girlfriend?
love martha
Hey’a “Ninny”–This is Abby Merlis writing (like, totally, duh). I caught wind of your blog from aaron reser who caught wind of your blog from jordan pender. all miss you and are jealous of your travels (travails?). your bus story is some funny shit (which, not having had to bear witness to said event, is painting the most dazzling picture in my mind). Hey–I was driving in St. Paul about 6-8 mos ago and I’m pretty sure I saw you waiting for the bus…I went around the block to try to say hello, but I just missed you. if it was you. anyhow–nice work with the blog and it’s great to get a chance to see what you’re up to. i recall some funny times. take care and cautious eating. long live the chapati (they remind me of z’bar). later nerd…
once again the photos are gorgeous. i just love the trip through the tea plantation. and thanks for including photos of you both. you both look great– brown as a nut, as my mother would say.
tell emmy to check her email. i’ll send shots of our florida trip, including tony hooking a pelican while fishing for spanish mackerel off a pier in naples, and the orchestrated frenzy of freeing it.
love martha
Hi Nick,
Your photos are just gorgeous! They look like they have come from National Geographic….you must submit some for publication when you get home. I loved the Where’s Waldo. Your mom wondered of she was looking for you in the photo! I told her it would be about the exact opposite. It looks like the two fo you are thriving in India.
Hey Nick,
It’s Steph. Even though I may not respond often, I check your blog regularly. We all are thinking about you and Emily. I am really glad you made it to your volunteer destination and were able to go on vacation immediatly. It is so cool you got to ride an elephant. Your niece is growing a little stronger everyday and becoming more expressive. She makes lots of cooing sounds. Take care!
Too bad Arivu didn’t work out, but now you will have extra time to travel. Sydney is getting stronger. She has good control of her neck and can focus her eyes. She really likes to stare at the bookcase. I think the contrast of dark wood and light walls are easy for her to see. Sydney is hitting all of her developmental milestones and she is almost eight weeks old. Scott is a pro at changing her diaper in under thirty seconds. I go back to work in early April, and we are moving to Cedar Rapids. Take care and say thanks to Emily again for the hat, booties, and gloves. They kept Sydney warm during February.
Emily just received 1,000 points! A letter! We love it. It was so good to hear so personally from Em. I’m so glad you are taking care of each other and having this unique and amazing experience. Looking forward to face-to-face. xxxooo mom
Love to you 2.
Tomorrow Scott, Steph and Sydney are moving to a townhouse in MV. They’ve hired Coe & Cornell students to help. We’re thrilled they are staying close! Steph started work on Mon. So far so good. Likes her colleagues, the volunteers and her work so far. Sydney seems to be adjusting to the sitter, Jennifer.
The Easter bunny came to Sydney today because her G’ma couldn’t wait two more days and because she has no idea what day it is! The low tonight is 14 degrees so not very Easter-Spring-like here!
A couple nights ago at dinner we all agreed it would be just great if Sydney met you at the airport and said, “How would you like it?!” Miss you, love you and really appreciate the photos! Interesting for your folks to think back to when they were your age and what it meant to be in
Cambodia; but of course the U.S. was not in Cambodia…xxo mom
“Wikitravel is a project to create a free, complete, up-to-date, and reliable world-wide travel guide. So far we have 14,547 destination guides and other articles written and edited by Wikitravellers from around the globe.”
Your writing about your travels is fab. As I was reading, I was thinking about the Jonathon Gold, the food critic who just won a Pulitzer.
Keep the stories coming!
Sue Arthur
(Em’s aunt)
p.s. then I went back and saw that Emily wrote at least one entry, so tell her you’re both reminding me of David Sedaris and other thoroughly enjoyable essayists.
hey suze,
nice comments about their writing. after i praised nick’s writing several times, emmy let me know she was writing the blogs too, as well as taking many of the pictures. so i have to say that as a team, they are awesome, aren’t they? if this whole law school thing doesn’t pan out, they could always be travel writers.
love martha
23 Comments
January 13, 2007 at 12:20 am
nick the whole website is awesome. i’ll be sending the link to several friends, including loretta.
January 16, 2007 at 2:23 pm
Nick, snow and cold yesterday and colder today.
Hope Indie is cool and everything you were hoping for.
dad
January 24, 2007 at 10:56 pm
Hey Nick,
It was great to hear from you and Emily. It made our day! We’ve been thinking about you and checking the blog regularly. No baby yet, I feel like this is the calm before the storm. So being the queen of free time, I intend to have a Sopranos marathon. Take care,
Steph
January 27, 2007 at 1:24 pm
dear uncle nick,
congratulations! and congratulations to dick and kate on becoming grandparents; what a thrill. i’m looking forward–BUT NOT YET.
and most of all congratulations to scott and steph. welcome to the hardest job you’ll ever adore, and best wishes for getting a little sleep.
love martha
January 28, 2007 at 10:46 pm
such a handsome, strapping lad. and to think: you’re now an uncle, thus slightly more strapping, but less handsome.
January 29, 2007 at 3:18 am
he was never that handsome.
in the last 30 seconds your niece scared the hell out of herself with a loud chirp, farted, and fell fast asleep.
cheers.
January 31, 2007 at 3:42 am
Hey Nick,
It is your sister in law. We are glad you are doing well and that you have received our good news. Sydney is very content with Grandpa Dick right now because he is giving her a bottle. Scott is sleeping first shift, then I’ll wake him. Heh He! Have you learned any Indian phrases? How was your trip to Mumbai? Give Emily a hug for us!
Love and take care,
Steph
February 2, 2007 at 3:32 am
Please don’t take me on any “out of bowel experiences” in a packed creaky bus across the desert plateaus.
*From North America With Love*
February 2, 2007 at 8:58 pm
hi nick,
you’re such a good sport to tell this story. i figured you wouldn’t mind me repeating it, seeing as how you’ve already posted it on the web. everyone i’ve told wants to know if it was the last window on the bus.
love martha
February 4, 2007 at 9:47 pm
I can’t wait to see you change a diaper.
Thanks for sharing the beautiful photos.
February 5, 2007 at 4:57 pm
It was the last window on the bus, thank Krishna, but that still didn’t help the poor bastard below us who had his window open. As it turns out, the best spot to let fly on a sleeper bus in India is all the way in the back… on the bottom.
February 12, 2007 at 12:27 am
nick, the new photos are beautiful. you really have a good eye. that dandelion puff is so nice. i hate to be the demanding one, but how about more pix of your girlfriend?
love martha
February 16, 2007 at 12:08 am
Hey’a “Ninny”–This is Abby Merlis writing (like, totally, duh). I caught wind of your blog from aaron reser who caught wind of your blog from jordan pender. all miss you and are jealous of your travels (travails?). your bus story is some funny shit (which, not having had to bear witness to said event, is painting the most dazzling picture in my mind). Hey–I was driving in St. Paul about 6-8 mos ago and I’m pretty sure I saw you waiting for the bus…I went around the block to try to say hello, but I just missed you. if it was you. anyhow–nice work with the blog and it’s great to get a chance to see what you’re up to. i recall some funny times. take care and cautious eating. long live the chapati (they remind me of z’bar). later nerd…
March 1, 2007 at 1:49 am
hi nick,
once again the photos are gorgeous. i just love the trip through the tea plantation. and thanks for including photos of you both. you both look great– brown as a nut, as my mother would say.
tell emmy to check her email. i’ll send shots of our florida trip, including tony hooking a pelican while fishing for spanish mackerel off a pier in naples, and the orchestrated frenzy of freeing it.
love martha
March 2, 2007 at 4:12 am
Hi Nick,
Your photos are just gorgeous! They look like they have come from National Geographic….you must submit some for publication when you get home. I loved the Where’s Waldo. Your mom wondered of she was looking for you in the photo! I told her it would be about the exact opposite. It looks like the two fo you are thriving in India.
PS Your baby niece is gorgeous!
Leslee
March 2, 2007 at 4:13 am
Hi Babe,
Photos are just remarkable. Do you have a contract w/ Nat’l. Geo. that none of us know about?
Love you.
Mom
March 9, 2007 at 7:09 pm
Hey Nick,
It’s Steph. Even though I may not respond often, I check your blog regularly. We all are thinking about you and Emily. I am really glad you made it to your volunteer destination and were able to go on vacation immediatly. It is so cool you got to ride an elephant. Your niece is growing a little stronger everyday and becoming more expressive. She makes lots of cooing sounds. Take care!
March 9, 2007 at 10:37 pm
you rode an elephant? did emily ride an elephant? can you please tell her that when she rides elephants, she should tell her mother?
martha
March 21, 2007 at 4:41 pm
Too bad Arivu didn’t work out, but now you will have extra time to travel. Sydney is getting stronger. She has good control of her neck and can focus her eyes. She really likes to stare at the bookcase. I think the contrast of dark wood and light walls are easy for her to see. Sydney is hitting all of her developmental milestones and she is almost eight weeks old. Scott is a pro at changing her diaper in under thirty seconds. I go back to work in early April, and we are moving to Cedar Rapids. Take care and say thanks to Emily again for the hat, booties, and gloves. They kept Sydney warm during February.
March 26, 2007 at 11:26 pm
Hi Nick and Em,
Emily just received 1,000 points! A letter! We love it. It was so good to hear so personally from Em. I’m so glad you are taking care of each other and having this unique and amazing experience. Looking forward to face-to-face. xxxooo mom
April 7, 2007 at 2:46 am
Love to you 2.
Tomorrow Scott, Steph and Sydney are moving to a townhouse in MV. They’ve hired Coe & Cornell students to help. We’re thrilled they are staying close! Steph started work on Mon. So far so good. Likes her colleagues, the volunteers and her work so far. Sydney seems to be adjusting to the sitter, Jennifer.
The Easter bunny came to Sydney today because her G’ma couldn’t wait two more days and because she has no idea what day it is! The low tonight is 14 degrees so not very Easter-Spring-like here!
A couple nights ago at dinner we all agreed it would be just great if Sydney met you at the airport and said, “How would you like it?!” Miss you, love you and really appreciate the photos! Interesting for your folks to think back to when they were your age and what it meant to be in
Cambodia; but of course the U.S. was not in Cambodia…xxo mom
April 24, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Nick,
Do you know about Wikitravel?
“Wikitravel is a project to create a free, complete, up-to-date, and reliable world-wide travel guide. So far we have 14,547 destination guides and other articles written and edited by Wikitravellers from around the globe.”
Your writing about your travels is fab. As I was reading, I was thinking about the Jonathon Gold, the food critic who just won a Pulitzer.
Keep the stories coming!
Sue Arthur
(Em’s aunt)
p.s. then I went back and saw that Emily wrote at least one entry, so tell her you’re both reminding me of David Sedaris and other thoroughly enjoyable essayists.
April 25, 2007 at 11:43 pm
hey suze,
nice comments about their writing. after i praised nick’s writing several times, emmy let me know she was writing the blogs too, as well as taking many of the pictures. so i have to say that as a team, they are awesome, aren’t they? if this whole law school thing doesn’t pan out, they could always be travel writers.
love martha