ridlehoover.com

Jill > YOUR children won’t nap! Driving me crazy!
Alan > I’m sorry – want me to take them back?
Jill > LOL! Yes, please!
Alan > Ok – find the receipt and I’ll return them tonight.
Jill > I don’t think they’ll fit in the package they came in!

It's been a while since I posted an update on the kids.  Here's something fun that's been going on lately:

Hunter began referring to Gracie as "Gay-gee" months ago.  It's still cute, today, especially when he is looking out for her interests.  Tonight for example, when I gave him a cup of milk, he wouldn't take a sip until "Gay-gee" got her cup, too.  Once she had her cup, all was well.  But, up until Mom handed it to her, Hunter pointed at it with a look of concern and repeated "Gaygee!  Gaygee!"

It's taken Grace a long time to come up with a name for Hunter.  I guess the H sound is more difficult that the G sound.  But, the other day, while Hunter was finishing a nap, Grace blurted out, "Mama, Dada, Gaygee, Haha," then beamed as if she'd just won the Nobel Prize for "Best Spoken Toddler."  It was hilariously cute!

So, Gracie is officially Gaygee.  Both she and Hunter are referring to her that way.  And, Grace is now calling Hunter, "Haha."  (Though, Hunter has yet to refer to himself that way.)

In the days since Grace's revelation, she's repeated the quartet of names several times.  One of these days, I'll have a video or audio recorder handy and capture it.  It's absolutely priceless.

Should have more pictures up soon.  Been organizing our collection lately.  Lots of stuff that hasn't been posted!

I've re-animated my CodeGardener.com domain for professional posts.  Swing by sometime to see what's keeping me busy between 9 and 5.

Seattle played a road game today and beat Tuscon with an all-time best temperature of 103 degrees Fahrenheit (39 C).  Regional temperatures soared, with official readings topping out around 108 in Bellevue, and unofficial reports as high as 120 degrees!  Now, if only the Mariners and Seahawks could beat the Diamondbacks and Cardinals!

The extraordinary news of the "win" made both local and national news.  Here's a round-up of some of the coverage:

Local Coverage

• Seattle Post Intelligencer
• Seattle Times
• KOMO 4 (ABC)
• KING 5 (NBC)
• KIRO 7 (CBS)
• KCPQ 13 (FOX)
• Metro Transit Travel Advisory (only 30% of bus fleet has AC)

National Coverage

• Associated Press
• ABC News
• NBC News (MSNBC)
• CBS News
• FOX News (most relevant article I could find on the site)

Oh, and, apparently, the entire state is on fire!

Just a quick note to thank everyone who attended mom's remembrance ceremony today. It was great reconnecting with family and friends from long ago. We know that mom would have enjoyed herself immensely among the diverse crowd that came together to remember her today.

For those of you interested in the videos I showed today, you can view and download them at our MobileMe gallery (scroll to bottom of page).  I'm in the process of uploading them to YouTube, as well.  But that takes a bit longer.  (I'll update this post once the videos are available there.)

James, Mike and I would also like to thank TPC Snoqualmie Ridge for their generous hospitality.  Deke, in particular, was a great deal of help.  Thank you, Deke.

Love to all...

Alan

James Bradley is hosting a gathering of friends and family to remember Barbara Simon Bradley on Monday, June 15, 2009 at 10:00 AM at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge golf club.

Please RSVP to me via telephone, email or by leaving a comment here.

Nearby accommodations include: (in order of price)

• Salish Lodge & Spa
• Hilton Garden Inn Issaquah
• Holiday Inn Issaquah
• Motel 6 Issaquah

Note: Seattle is ordinarily a very casual town. But, TPC Snoqualmie Ridge is a private club with a dress code that prohibits jeans.

James and I are putting together a little get together to remember Mom.  James' employer, Snoqualmie TPC golf course, has graciously offered to host the event.  We've tentatively scheduled it for Monday, June 15.  We don't have a time, yet.  But, I wanted to communicate the date as soon as I could to give folks time to make travel arrangements.

Today, on NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, author and radio voice Tom Bodett offered this analogy for the claims being put forth by former Vice President Dick Cheney and others that so called "enhanced interrogation techniques" (a.k.a. torture) produced valuable information in the fight against al-Qaeda:

That's like... you accuse a shoplifter of stealing, [and] he says, "Well, call it what you want; but look at all this great stuff I got."

Listen to it here. The exchange begins at 5:32. 

Barbara Ann Simon (Ridlehoover) BRADLEY died peacefully on February 13, 2009 in Issaquah, Washington of nonalcoholic liver disease and diabetes.  She was 61.  Born March 28, 1947 in Athens, Georgia, she grew up in a Marine Corps family, moving from coast to coast, and returning home to Georgia while her father was deployed overseas.  She graduated from Athens High and attended the University of Georgia before marrying her college sweetheart, Edward Ridlehoover, in 1966 and starting a family.  A devoted mother, she was a stay-at-home mom, playground monitor, den mother and PTA president.  She ran the annual craft bazaar for her sons' elementary school for several years, invariably staying up the night before to bake miniature loaves of banana and zucchini bread for her boys to sell while she manned a booth of her own full of crafts.  As her sons grew, she ventured out into the workforce, starting as a part-time teller and eventually becoming a credit union branch manager.  After graduating her sons from college and divorcing in 1998, she moved to Seattle to be near family and opened Tussie Mussies & More, a florist specializing in the English Garden style.  In 2001, Barbara met her true soul mate - a romantic Scotsman named James Bradley.  She and James married in 2003 and moved to the UK, where she spent three years as "the one with the charming accent."  Upon receiving worrisome medical news in 2006, James brought her back to the states where she was diagnosed with end-stage liver disease and told she would need a transplant.  Despite her best efforts, she was ultimately unable to regain the strength necessary to survive a transplant.  When she passed, she did so only after hearing her husband and sons together at her bedside sharing stories, tears and lots of laughter.  Barbara is survived by her devoted husband, James Bradley of Issaquah, WA; her sons, Alan (Jill / Hunter, Grace) Ridlehoover of Issaquah, WA and Mike (Kristie) Ridlehoover of Coeur d’Alene, ID; her parents, Anne and Frank Simon of Camano Island, WA; and her siblings, Dana Simon of Bend, OR, Joe (Linda) Simon of Central Point, OR, and Gina (Craig / Brian, Zak) Simon of Bellevue, WA.  A celebration of life is planned for late spring.  Details will be published on the web at http://ridlehoover.com/barbara.  Please consider a memorial donation to Providence Marianwood Foundation (where the need is the greatest) or Swedish Medical Center Foundation (Charity Care).