I Won! I Won! I Won!

I have been watching the reruns of Star Trek spinoffs on TV the past several months and finally decided that I wanted to watch the original Star Trek series. I've ordered the DVDs from our local library and have started to watch the first season. I'm really getting into it and maybe I'm becoming a trekkie! So, when I heard the local radio station was giving away tickets to the premiere showing of the new Star Trek movie coming out next week, I decided I had better give it a try.

The radio competition was to have 3 callers in a row stump the judges with a question they couldn't answer. It could be any question, but I had a great Star Trek one ready to ask. It took me 21 times to call before they answered. The screeners asked me what my question was and then they said, "ok, you're next." I then started with my question (and could hear that weird sound when you are live on the radio), "What was the name of the vulcan who was betrothed to Spock?" They guessed the wrong name (but it was close). I told them the correct answer and they asked me who the person was they had said (and I knew who it was). I was the third caller in a row to stump the judges so we each got 4 tickets to the premiere! And Chelsea sat in her car between seminary and school and heard me on the radio!

Hmmmmmmm, I think I'm pretty excited about this. Oh, I didn't give you the answer did I? How good are you at Star Trek? Let me know your guess (or you can listen to me on the podcast: http://www.star941sandiego.com go to jeff and jer show podcasts for April 28 7AM. (It's not up yet but should be shortly.)

Here's lookin' at you kid

Chelsea took this great picture at the Absecon Lighthouse in Atlantic City. It was a little rainy that day, can you tell?

I love my sisters

Can't you tell:

What a long weekend, Guess it's good I'm an engineer.

Brent came out with Mom and Dad to help me pack up, load, and unload all my stuff. He was the load manager and did such a great job figuring out how to get the most out of the space in the truck and make sure everything fit.
For our wedding, Brent gave us a nice embroidered flag. WE haven't been able to hang it at the apartment (didn't want to make holes in the stucco), so we were excited to get it up at the new house. Brent took on the task drilling the holes and getting the bracket in place, so that we could fly our flag.
Thanks, Brent, for all your help!
-Tamara

Grandpa's Staghorn

Yesterday evening after I mowed the lawn, Dad and I decided to try and hang up Grandpa's staghorn fern. It was hanging up in the magnolia tree in the front but the wire basket rusted apart and it fell to the ground several months ago. Last week Dad and Mom tried to make a nylon rope macrame hanger for it but it turned out to be a cylinder - wrong shape. Dad and I went out and measured the plant and then using algebra I calculated the lengths between rows of knots for them. Last week the fence guy put in a metal post next to the house for us to hang the staghorn on. Now to hang the plant!

Dad and I used the old garage wood shelving to drag the plant onto and then used other shelving to slide it along the grass to the pole. That was the easy part. We tried various ideas of how to hoist the staghorn up to hang on the pole. That is one huge and heavy plant! Finally, I came up with a kind of pulley system (without pulleys because they haven't been unpacked I guess and who knows where they are) just using a nylon rope. I looped the rope several times over the pole and through the metal chain links that we are using to hang the macrame holder. Dad tied the end of the rope around him and did the pulling. It took a lot of work and time to slowly haul that monster up there - but we did it!

The macrame plant holder worked out really well but some of the leaves are caught between knots. Mom's carefully trying to pull them through but some are breaking. Hopefully it will just fill back in and look round and beautiful once again. Mom's grateful I have Grandpa's engineering brain to figure out how to haul Grandpa's plant up on that pole for everyone to enjoy!

Oh, just a sec. Mom is going to go out and take a picture of the staghorn to put on the blog. She would like it up higher off the ground so we'll probably raise it slowly up on the chain links; another challenge!