RichC | February 18, 2017
We have high ceilings in a couple areas of our house and one of the challenging chores is dusting or "de-webbing" the corners and edges some 20 feet up. Oh you would think it would be easy with a ladder, but you would be wrong. First, I don’t have an indoor ladder capable of reaching […]
RichC | January 24, 2017
Having just returned from my mother-in-law’s funeral in western New York has me thinking of my late mother and now on January 24th … particularly my father. Today would have been his 88th birthday if he were still alive … although I’m not so sure many of us want all that many more years as […]
RichC | January 18, 2017
It was a Baby Shower weekend, and what a wonderful one at that. Terrrific family and friends … and a beautiful mother to be and a “Babygirl” shower a few notches above (well my opinion). My wife Brenda and two of Katelyn’s friends from medical school put on a classy baby shower and turned our […]
RichC | January 2, 2017
This Time.com post isn’t brand new, but since my daughter is due in March, “we” have an interest in baby names. Have you ever wondered how popular your or your child’s name was when named “back in the day?” We you a “Trendsetter” or named “after its time?”
RichC | December 27, 2016
After a bit of a delay in maintaining daily blog posts, Brenda, Taylor and I returned from our family Christmas with Katelyn and Drew in Wayzata, MN on Monday night. It was a whirlwind trip and thankfully without incident. First thing first … our growing granddaughter is definitely noticeable as a “babybump” (an overused word). […]
RichC | December 20, 2016
A chill is in the air, but likely that has more to do with our 21 year old 80,000 BTU furnace acting up. We have three furnaces so I’m hoping it is the "pressure switch" once again; it does seem to be the weak links on modern high-efficiency furnaces (or could be all furnaces for […]
RichC | December 17, 2016
The cold weather is upon us (it is in the single digits today) and with a little snow on the ground in Cincinnati, it is beginning to look and feel a lot like Christmas. We are in the "prepare mode" and in the middle our checking the list twice festive shopping and wrapping routine, but […]
RichC | December 13, 2016
Katelyn and Drew are back home in Minnesota after a great time in Europe. Drew’s lung cancer presentation went well in Vienna and they enjoyed the extra couple of days traveling by train and transit back to Paris before flying home. We are looking forward to a few more photos but they sent enough photos […]
RichC | December 8, 2016
Tis the season to be starting to think about a “Jolly Christmas” as Katelyn and Drew sent back a couple photos from Vienna, Austria this week … and from the looks of it, they are enjoying themselves. I sure hope little “Baby Oostra” likes long flights? It just so happened that Dr. Drew was invited […]
RichC | November 28, 2016
Chuckling at the difference between how relaxed Taylor’s “walk” on Kauai looks (while on his backpacking trip to Hawaii) compared to the walk Katelyn and Drew took this weekend in Wayzata, MN (our September trip). Taylor’s message to me after a few days “offline” — “We made it!” A photo of the Three Amigos […]
RichC | November 8, 2016
The highlight of this past weekend was in getting together with the Oostra family on a sunny and beautiful Sunday afternoon where Katelyn and Drew had a “Baby Oostra” reveal party. A popular trend nowadays is for young couples to make the gender reveal “an event” … and creativity seems to be the key. A […]
RichC | October 26, 2016
The advancements in unmanned aviation continue to impress me as a new generation of pilots is flying by remote control rather than “stick and rudder,” “yoke and peddle” … but all can still fly by the “seat of their pants.” I’m still unsure what to call these computer controlled devices nowadays … quadcopters, quadrotors (what […]
RichC | September 22, 2016
First off, I am not a snob when it comes to coffee. I have my likes (and quirks) when it comes to coffee, but drink all coffees … even the cheapest boiled campfire coffee will do. That noted … I do enjoy a few of the specialty roasts like the Jamaica Blue Mountain and Kona […]
RichC | September 16, 2016
Continued from 9/14/2016 and 9/15/2016 — This is PART 3: Instead of heading home, we picked up pizza and headed over to my nephew Justin and his wife Keity’s new house (photo above) about 25 minutes from Wayzata. He and his son Evan gave us the grand tour while we waited for his wife […]
RichC | September 15, 2016
Continued from 9/14/2016 — This is PART 2: Sunday was fully planned as well. Katelyn and Drew had scoped out a car show in previous years and they knew it would be something I would enjoy. So before going to a ballgame, “we” (well at least “I”) enjoyed the old cars — and shared a […]
RichC | September 14, 2016
Tempus fugit (Latin phrase) for "Time flies" when you’re having fun! … and we certainly had a good time this past weekend with our pregnant daughter Katelyn and husband Drew. This trip to Minneapolis was the first since Thanksgiving 2015 — shame on us — but at least we waited for great weather to visit. […]
RichC | September 1, 2016
My son-in-law Drew shared a really impressive Phatom3 movie clip on YouTube after his July 2016 vacation in Michigan. There were some incredibly beautiful views, sunsets and shoreline video … of course it didn’t hurt that the weather was perfect for Katelyn and Drew’s vacation at his parent’s “cabin” (as they call it). Although I’ve […]
RichC | August 31, 2016
Now that I’m going to be a grandfather, it is time to start reading (or re-reading) all those important articles about babies again. Eating Fruit While Pregnant May Boost A Baby’s Intelligence By DANA WECHSLER LINDEN Aug. 29, 2016 9:00 a.m. ET New research raises the intriguing possibility that eating more fruit during pregnancy […]
RichC | August 4, 2016
Brenda and I are SO excited for our daughter Katelyn and her husband Drew — they are having a baby (photo above “just a couple years ago”). They called us with the good news last week that they are expecting (considering both are doctors, I assume they are pretty sure). Katelyn has not been to see […]
RichC | July 31, 2016
While Katelyn and Drew were vacationing in Michigan, they included this very cool photo! It is a perfect filler for a missing Sunday afternoon blog post.
RichC | July 21, 2016
Brenda and I are looking forward to an upcoming trip to Minnesota to see Katelyn and Drew … especially after seeing the many summer activities they are enjoying this summer. Last week after work they even headed over to Wayzata for the evening concert, just like my mom and dad did in Sidney. Maybe it […]
RichC | July 6, 2016
My daughter Katelyn and husband Drew were in Iowa over the July 4th holiday weekend with his family. Since they were visiting the old farm homestead, it was a perfect time to get his new Phantom 3 quadrotor out and take a little more video. The time to visit northwestern Iowa is obviously the summer […]
RichC | June 28, 2016
I’m not sure how the whole "drone" future is going to turn out, but it is exciting to watch the improvements over a short period of time. The ease of flying, improvements in batteries and quality of video have really advanced. It will not be long before we’re "jumping" around town in a quadrotor. I […]
RichC | June 21, 2016
My son-in-law Drew had a special treat after an evening at the Ridgeview Medical Center fundraiser in Waconia, Minnesota. It looks like my daughter Katelyn persuaded her colleague, fellow pediatrician Dr. Adam Weber, to take Drew up for an evening flight in his Bellanca Citabria (Of interest: When the original manufacturer Champion Aircraft derived the name for this […]
RichC | May 14, 2016
I love glancing at old photos especially when looking for something to add to a birthday wish — here’s a photo from about 10 years ago when Katelyn was in med school and living in an apartment with her roommates in Kent, Ohio. As you can tell by the "tiny toys" on the address sign, […]
RichC | May 10, 2016
With the passage of another birthday came a bunch of appreciated well wishes from long time friends. While I was including a couple old photos with my comment back to a couple high school and college buddies, I realized how much we had changed. I also spotted a few other photos of myself (with my […]
RichC | April 13, 2016
It is hard to believe that 3 years have come and gone already, but time does not stand still. Katelyn and Drew will be celebrating their wedding anniversary over the weekend rather than today; they have a special getaway planned! I’m so glad they found each other (Pumpy Umpy is glad too).
RichC | April 3, 2016
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RichC | April 2, 2016
We had a few wicked thunderstorms last week while in Florida and enjoyed watching this one “from a distance” in the cockpit of Encore (also a very short clip of Katelyn and Drew heading off to explore distant shores in the Zodiac – below the break). —
RichC | March 28, 2016
A bit delayed in posting to the blog, but we’ve been a bit distracted. Brenda and I met my daughter Katelyn and her husband Drew for a few days on the boat to enjoy some time together. Way too much time goes by between visits for my taste. The weather was nice with a few […]
RichC | December 14, 2015
“Tis the season” that many of us are franticly shopping, decorating, cooking and finalizing all the trimmings associated with December and weeks leading up to Christmas. Perhaps we should be a little be more focused on the reason we celebrate rather than all the trimmings — Christ’s birth! It is easy to get lost in all the preparations than […]
RichC | December 13, 2015
Looking at this sunrise photo at the Grand Canyon on a small screen does not do it justice, so click so it’s full-size; that’s a great photo from Drew’s new Nexus 6 smartphone. Perhaps its not just the amazing view or stunning sunrise photo … but the fact that my “crazy daughter” (as Drew titled his email) […]
RichC | December 10, 2015
20s?? Well for Drew (photo) … for only a few more days! Katelyn and Drew are in Arizona celebrating Drew’s 30th birthday with his family this week and they sent me a couple photos from the desert and in a hot air balloon flight — beautiful! It is great to see all three kids (Taylor […]
RichC | August 19, 2015
Well … one of the positive things that happen at funerals (and weddings) is that families get together. Taylor took a funeral day (plus weekend) from his job and Katelyn and Drew drove home from Wayzata (Minneapolis, MN) and brought along his “new toy” … quadcopter with a camera – what a great distraction. We […]
RichC | June 22, 2015
Taylor 2.0 … on his way to work (left). Monday, June 22, 2015, is my son’s first day as Planner for Clermont County, Ohio. Hopefully the last two years of high paced work in Williston, North Dakota have set him up well? He should be the perfect fit … but every new position has its […]
RichC | April 13, 2015
It was interesting while it lasted … the launch of the SpaceX Dragon CRS-6 Falcon9 was scrubbed this afternoon and scheduled for tomorrow, April 14 at 4:10PM; weather could be a problem again. My daughter Katelyn and her husband Drew were at Kennedy Space Center (photo below) to watch it on their 2nd wedding anniversary […]
RichC | January 7, 2015
My daughter Katelyn and her husband Drew were in town to visit this week and we pretended it was still the week of Christmas and exchanged a couple gifts. Brenda had already shipped a box of presents to them, but saved back a frame and print for them. It was an artistic photo taken down […]
RichC | December 20, 2014
Merry Christmas to those who continue to check the blog for whatever desultory thoughts I try to type daily in my computer, iPad … or occasionally my smartphone each day. It has been an enjoyable year online for me and my addiction. Although social networks have made posting text, photos, audio and video easier, I’m […]
RichC | November 27, 2014
I couldn’t believe it, but Katelyn and Drew have picked out and set up a real Christmas tree already. I know she is probably anxious for Christmas, but before a tree before Thanksgiving seems a little crazy … but then it is Minnesota? Christmas aside, it is time to celebrate Thanksgiving … like they did […]
RichC | November 10, 2014
One of the highlights for parents who have “some” technological prowess is that we can stay in touch with our children no matter where they are living and working. Between instant cellphone, emails and text messages with our kids, Taylor, Katelyn and Drew, we also enjoy sharing photos and Facetime calls even for small things. […]
RichC | October 8, 2014
It is nice to stay in touch with family and now with cellphones, email, text messaging and video calling, I communicate with both children often – probably more now than when they were in college? My daughter Katelyn calls regularly as she is driving (just like me) and seems to enjoy updating me on the […]
RichC | September 16, 2014
We had a quick but great week with Taylor and his friends. He was home for a scheduled weeks vacation from Williston, North Dakota primarily and for his long time friend Kara and Simon’s wedding. We had a great time Saturday as the weather was perfect for the outdoor wedding and for the many guest […]
RichC | August 2, 2014
There aren’t many things that makes parents happier than to “see” their children with big smiles enjoying life (thanks for the photos). Katelyn and Drew sent me this summer photo from Lake Minnetonka this past week and the two of them look pretty relaxed in their new surroundings. They found an ice cream shop in […]
RichC | July 19, 2014
Katelyn forwarded a few of her photos from our visit to Minneapolis. We really did have a great time visiting and KNOW that they will “enjoy” at least the next three years while in Minnesota for Drew’s hematology fellowship; at this point I can see them staying far longer … but then again, it’s […]
RichC | July 18, 2014
We’ve been having a wonderful time enjoying what Minneapolis, Minnesota has to offer “in the summertime” with Katelyn and Drew. Our couple of days has been filled with activities from picture hanging and yardwork to bike riding and fine dining (photos above from 6Smith in Wayzata). Another evening we we were off to […]
RichC | June 30, 2014
After blogging about my kids for years, it is difficult to stop archiving events in their lives, so I might as well mark another milestone for my daughter. Katelyn completed her pediatric residency at Columbus Ohio’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital (seems like she just matched) and is anxious to start her practice at Wayzata Children’s Clinic, […]
RichC | June 29, 2014
Drew sent me some photos from a festival in Wayzata in Minnesota after getting a few chores like expensive auto registration done ($60 in Ohio vs. $300 in MN … based on the value of a car). He said he is already enjoying himself, but looking forward to Katelyn being up there (she is […]
RichC | April 13, 2014
Congratulations to Katelyn and Drew on the first anniversary of their wedding day. It is hard to believe a full year has passed since their wedding. The two of them are celebrating by looking for a place to live in Minneapolis and enjoying time together. Besides normal hotel accommodations (and an inside father-daughter chuckle about […]
RichC | February 5, 2014
It is about time that I wrapped up the numbers for the recent Florida trip in order to work on the boat. One of the “high level” decisions that I had to make (snicker), was whether to drive my own car down and back with my 300 or so pounds of batteries and gear, or […]
RichC | February 3, 2014
My apologies to Peyton Manning … probably the most complete football quarterback to ever play in the NFL … but you and your team stunk. The fine performance by the Seattle Seahawks aside, Super Bowl XLVIII was a dud of a game to watch. The festivities that now are part of the entire Super Bowl […]
RichC | December 29, 2013
My cousin Diane and I exchanged Christmas greetings and updated each other with the goings-on of our families on Friday night. While talking about gifts, I realized that I didn’t have a photo of the “Tool Stools” that I made for Taylor and Drew. Since one of them was still at home, I took a […]
RichC | December 25, 2013
What a wonderful time we had over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year. We were happy to have Taylor, Katelyn and Drew home together with us for a couple days holidays (photo above) … and thankful some in the Corbett side of our family with us for dinner. It was a great to be […]
RichC | December 16, 2013
Merry Christmas to those who regularly read my “desultory” daily posts or may have just stumbled onto my blog. It has been a busy year and although my Google Analytics stats are no longer growing (they are actually down), the AdSense revenue is up? That aside, I am including more archival information “for me” than […]
RichC | December 4, 2013
We are anxiously waiting to find out where Drew and Katelyn will be living next year, but more importantly … I suppose [grin] … which Hematology fellowship program my son-in-law will be in. After talking with him about each of the interviews, there are pluses for each medical program (of course he’s a positive guy). […]
RichC | September 5, 2013
Zip, zip, zip … thank goodness we have airports and jet aircraft, even if air travel isn’t as comfortable as it once was. Taylor is off to North Dakota interviewing for a city planning position in the rapidly growing city of Williston ND … where his education would be seriously tested, as well as his […]
RichC | August 19, 2013
I had one of those “knight in shining armor” moments this weekend after a call for help request came in from my wife Brenda. She planned a weekend trip with her mother with a stop to visit our daughter in Columbus then to the farmhouse in New York. The primary goal is to begin taking […]
RichC | June 30, 2013
Click for larger panarama at Aaron’s (Growler) VW TDIClub GTG on Saturday Owning a diesel car again after a couple year hiatus (Katelyn’s doesn’t count) was a weak excuse to go to a TDIClub GTG in Millersport, Ohio on Saturday, but took the Mercedes Benz 300D to the Volkswagen diesel gathering just the same – […]
RichC | May 3, 2013
The first 50 professional wedding photos from Shuey Mills Photography have trickled in to be reviewed. I know I’m not suppose to be sharing the previews, but can’t help myself and will include two, ok THREE since they are so good (but here were a few photos from our guests – thanks for sharing on […]
RichC | April 28, 2013
We drove Brenda’s parents home to western New York last week and opening the farmhouse after a week or so of staying with us in Cincinnati. They were glad to finally get home from Florida. Brenda and I then hitched up the trailer and headed up to Columbus for Saturday. Our project was centered around […]
RichC | April 23, 2013
After the big wedding weekend (4/13/2013), my daughter Katelyn and husband Drew, no longer fiancé Drew, left the Savannah Center in a helicopter for a short flight looping counter-clockwise from West Chester, Ohio. They circles south over downtown Cincinnati, the Ohio River and then looped back north over Kings Island, Mason, our house in Liberty […]