Back to the basics…

So far, our trip has been great! We left our house at 5 am Saturday morning and caught a flight out of IAH to O’Hare. Our flight from O’Hare to Dubuque almost got cancelled because the stewardess got sick, but luckily, some one-stepped in.

Erin did great on the plane. Flying into Dubuque was fun. It’s a Podunk airport – one runway. Its one of those airports when you get ready to land you still see no sign of an airport and begin to wonder if it’s a strip mowed in the grass buffer between fields. But Dubuque is moving up in the world, the runway was paved and they actually have a luggage carousel.

My parents met us and dropped off a car and dad directed us on the back roads so we didn’t have to “fight” the “heavy” city traffic of Dubuque. And it was a good choice. The way home took us past several quaint churches, and old monastery that is still running and a seminary nestled in the hills far from anything. It was a beautiful drive and made us realize how much we miss this place.

Sunday Max graduated from high school. The commencement ceremony was so long and boring, makes me happy I did not attend my own college graduation. But it was cool to see him finally walk across the stage and start his next stage of life. Leave it to Max to place a remote controlled fart machine under the stage at graduation. Every time the principal stood up to speak they triggered it. The sound only carried to the third row but those three rows were laughing so hard, it was noticed.

Sunday night we drove to Des Moines to see Renshaws. Jared’s grandpa got out of the hospital after two months so we stopped by to see them. He’s doing well. We have just been hanging with family. Erin is getting spoiled and is loving every minute of it. Today we are heading to the zoo and tomorrow back to NE Iowa.
Till Next Time…

Heading Home....

In less than 24 hours we will be on a plane heading home…. I am so excited! Its been a rough week. I had several deadlines to meet prior to leaving and I finished up everything yesterday. Erin has been sick with a stomach virus all week…lets just day some days I am thankful I live in an apartment….need I say more.
My baby brother graduates from high school Sunday, its hard to believe he is that old. So I am heading off for two weeks of low air pollution, non-existent traffic with people who actually wave with all five fingers, few stoplights, lots of cows and miles of gravel roads…

BIRD FLU HITS TRAILER PARK IN FLORIDA

Someone sent this to me via email. I thought it was hilarious and it was worth sharing

Children's Museum

Erin got to go to the children’s museum again this week. We went with a group of friends and they were wild. She had a blast. Her favorite thing was the wheelbarrow (yup, I got myself a dirt digger :)
Her second favorite thing was the Mexican van. They have an exhibit about Mexico and the main attraction is a stripped down 1970’s baby blueVW van. It seems like a broad cultural assumption to put an old party van in the Mexico exhibit, but all politics aside it was the hit of the museum. Driving the Mexican Van
Besides that things are crazy here. I am working like mad trying to meet some product deadlines before leaving for home. Speaking of 10 days until I see the rolling hills of Iowa, I can’t wait. I was doing great until I was stuck in traffic this week and I thought to myself I soooo need some fresh air and gravel roads before I break out in a major episode of road rage. Well may be not that major- its Houston, serious road rage involves guns….:)
Kylie & Erin Riding in the Party Van
So for all point people, we’ll be home for Max’s graduation and the following week.
She has her Daddys sense of fashion.....

Dead Man Walking

Last week I got the chance to attend Body Worlds 3 - The anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies. Morbid, I know…..but after reading Mary Roaches “Stiff – The curious life of Human Cadavers” this exhibit caught my interest. It is the first time the exhibit has toured the US and since its just a hop, skip and a jump (okay a 30 minute agonizing drive in bumper to bumper traffic) from me, I went. Dianne had to go for her biology class and Jared pretty told me there was not a chance over his dead body I could drag him to something like this, so naturally I went with Dianne and Jared happily babysat for the night.

We went late at night because the admission is cheaper ($15.00). After getting our tickets we walked through a maze of dark hallways and back elevators until we finally arrived at the exhibit. We were met the entrance by a praying cadaver at an alter as a tribute to all the Christians who have donated their bodies to the project (now over 6,000).

The exhibit had two main focuses - strictly medical and the odd cross between science and art. The medical part was amazing. It was a look into the complexity of the human body. Many of the organ displays included genetic deformities, different stages of cancer and physical deformities from accidents. There was a regular brain sitting next to alzheimer's brain for comparison and smokers lungs and just a lot of really fascinating stuff. That was all good and very interesting.

Aside from the individual organs, which were kept under plated glass, there was about 15 full bodies on display. This is where the exhibit got plain weird. All the bodies had the skin stripped off (the first guy was carrying his tanned skin like a spring jack over his shoulder, see photo) so the muscles and tendons were exposed. Some cadavers were missing exterior muscles so you could see the internal organs and their placement and function. But the first thing that got to me was they would glue the eyebrow, nipples and ears back on (I am guessing to give it a humanistic feel.)

The full cadavers were not behind glass and there was no touching (but lets face it how often do you get to touch something like this)? I didn’t know if I should stand there and stare completely enamored with these cadavers or feel sick about what I was looking at. It wasn’t the bodies that got to me, it was the explanation of how the bodies are run through saws and then plasticasized with pretty much the same substance you varnish you kitchen table with.

The plastinization process stop the body from decomposing, they think more than 1000 years. Which brings up another question why? Plastinization used as a learning tool is a tremendous advancement. But as a person, why would you do it? The thought crossed my mind while looking at an exhibit with three cadavers playing rummy at a big mahogany table….1000 years of playing rummy in a museum….why is our society so possessed with avoiding death? I guess this is some people way of continuing.
Anyway, if you get a chance( It is coming to Minneapolis later this year). I highly recommend it. Besides the oddities of it, it is an amazing look at the complexities of the human body.

Check out more info about bodyworlds at www.bodyworlds.com