Excellent Xmas

It was an extremely excellent Xmas, because Grandma Harriet and Auntonia visited their Missouri kinfolk in St Louis. A new gas stove was installed by W and his friend Duke, just in time for Xmas eve dinner. Dinner featured salmon mousse, filet Americain, and excellent chocolate pudding cake. The night before Christmas, feverish work on an extremely difficult and frustrating jigsaw puzzle of Zion National Park was completed. Accompanied by a Ben Stokes soundtrack, the puzzle team Marcel documented the proceedings in a highlights film. This accomplishment seemed to excite the puzzle instinct and work began on another ambitious Statue of Liberty puzzle that was also completed. Auntonia was impressed by the free art museum, and W had forgotten the nice collection upstairs, so he enjoyed the works with new freshness.

At some point it was decided to visit the Laumeier sculpture park. W being W, had to search for a geocache as well.

Auntonia enjoys her sole nephews

Grandma with her favorite sculpture

Ice Storm Encases Blume's

A huge ice storm encased the Blume house in ice, but still left the family with power as the rest of St Louis began to freeze. W had gone to the RSNA show in Chicago and missed the beginning of the storm, though he still felt the effect because his return flight was canceled. Fortunately, he and a colleague were able to rent a 4x4 and drive back to St Louis. Eight hours later, they arrived to a St Louis encased in ice with downed trees littering the streets. Schools were closed as the first "snow day" in three years was issued.

A large falling branch narrowly missed the house, leaving lots of yard work.







However, no more raking is necessary...

Historic Visit By WMES

Perhaps embarrassed at being seen in Missouri, WMES (William, Margaret, Emily, and Stella) arrived in disguise to watch the annual Turkey Day Football Game, which Webster Groves won. A traditional Thanksgiving dinner followed with turkey and associated fixings. Earlier in the day, the visitors were kept busy by running in a three mile race through historic Kirkwood. W ran a personal best of 24:15, but Renny still finished two minutes ahead of him. Margaret and William and Nichole also managed to finish the race, running almost the entire distance, despite being unaccustomed to Missouri's harsh unforgiving weather.
Official race results

Renny Blume 22:47 104th place 21st in age group

Walter Blume 24:16 134th place 29th in age group

Nichole Blume 31:17 169th place 32nd in age group

Aunt Mag and Uncle Shag chose not to run down the "competitive" chute, so do not have official times.

Then, on Friday, the collective group visited the Arch for a traditional game of football, followed by lunch at the Crown Candy Kitchen and a visit to the awesome City Museum.

Blumes Strike Back

In a two day assault, WNMR struck back at the fall leaf invasion. The back part of the yard required 27 tarp loads to clear on Saturday, and the side yard with its mere thirteen trees was conquered on Sunday with less than 20 tarp loads. Celebration was had by watching the extremely violent James Bond film and throwing Aerobies extremely long distances. A second triumph occured when Marcel's room was finally completely sanded and he was able to move his bed back in, setting the stage for a visit from Emily, Stella, Margaret, and William.

W and N Blow it Big Time

W and N went to the movies Saturday night, finally pausing to relax together after a hectic day doing chores. W carefully switched his cell phone to vibrate, just in case he got a rare phone call. The movie was a rather overly hyped comedy making fun of people from Kazakhstan. After about 15 minutes W felt a vibration, and reaching for the phone noted that the number was not one that he recognized, so he decided to ignore it. But about 2 minutes later, the phone vibrated again, and this time it was Renny calling. Feeling extremely important to be called up during a movie, W hurried out to the lobby to see what could be so important. Renny calmly informed W that they had forgotten that Saturday night was the "Fortnightly" dance. This would not be so bad in itself, but W and N were responsible for dance cards. Dance cards inform the middle schoolers of their social fates for the evening, and W and N generate these cards approximately once a fortnight for approximately 100 middle schoolers. Despite W's best efforts at computerizing the process, it is never smooth, as middle schoolers are extremely unpredictable and tend to pop up even when they are supposed to RSVP.
W and N rushed out of the movie and back home. In the meantime R had expertly put on a tie and coat in preparation for the evening's events. R still managed to get three dances, despite being an hour late, and the show had gone on without the dance cards.

Seven Days Later...

  

W Completes Task Worthy of Sisyphus

W managed to briefly feel good about all the leaves he had raked up, but the trees purposely held on to a few for the next round...

4:15 p.m.

9:55 a.m.

R symbolically illustrates house deal status

House deal falls through

The possible house that WNMR might have possibly purchased is no longer a possibility. Long discussions on the cell phone while driving to Iowa drove home the point. Many factors came into play, highest on the list being the slowing housing market and the heat of negotiations.

Halloween pumpkin burning tradition continues

Renny Blune Seen at Webster Jazz Fest

A Renny "Blune" was reported to have been seen at the Old Webster 2006 Jazz Fest by a rival newspaper. See picture and story in the Webster Kirkwood Times.

More CC Results

M, running in two more cross country races recorded times of 18:34 (Fox Invitational) and 18:54 (Ladue Invitational). He ran for junior varsity as the number one runner, and placed 16th overall in the Ladue Invitational, a huge race over a winding slightly hilly course. Webster Groves finished in fourth place out of about 12 teams. M has been hampered recently by a sore Achilles tendon, but still managed to receive a medal in his last two races.

Fenton Found!!

After a 4 day absence, Fenton has reappeared as mysteriously as he disappeared. Anxiety about his absence had been high, as a deceased malodorous possum had been recently found in the backyard. He is healthy and enjoyed being spoiled by his owners with canned cat food. However, as soon as he had finished the cat food, he was quite anxious to get on with his life in the great outdoors, grifting for food at other people's house.

Marcel runs PR of 18:32

M, running varsity this week, blazed to a new personal record of 18:32, scoring a medal for placing 40th overall and third best on his team. N was able to see the finish, but W was unable to reach the meet in time after driving for 50 minutes in terrible traffic.

Flash! - Fenton Reported Missing

The extremely cool cat Fenton has disappeared, not having been seen for 72 hours. Posters have been posted in the neighborhood. Fenton is the all time favorite cat of W, despite the fact that Fenton gave him a black eye.

Marcel Places First in Webster Invitational

M raced to a new personal best of 18:59 while winning first place in the Junior Varsity division of the Webster Invitational (15 high schools). Starting in the middle of the pack, M moved to the front by the first mile and never trailed thereafter. M managed to shake his nearest pursuer and finished with a comfortable lead of perhaps 75-100 feet. M commented that he was glad that he fell the previous week, since it gave him a chance to run in JV and actually have a chance to win a race. Webster Groves won first place team honors in the JV division, as several other Webster runners placed in the top 10.

Billy Diagnosed With Cancer

Ultrasound scanning revealed that Billy the cat has large growths both on her liver and pancreas. The prognosis for this is not good, but she at least still has an appetite and does not appear to be in pain yet.

Marcel Survives Cross Country Fall

Marcel was well on his way to a new PR time in the first cross country of the season when a single misstep shattered his dreams, turning his ankle and collapsing to the ground. With the help of a fellow runner, he was able to collect himself together and finish the race, albeit walking, resulting in a time of approximately 21:26. He had some soreness in his knee and ankle, but it seems to have healed, and he is looking forward to his next race. The accident may have been at least partially caused by old shoes, and he has since gone to the "Running Store" and obtained new shoes along with spikes to provide that extra little edge.

Major Growth Discovered on Billy

Billy, the 17 year old cat with at least 9 lives, was diagnosed with a major growth on her spleen early last week. It is uncertain what the prognosis is, but N is planning to get an ultrasound to see if the growth is contained.