Distance is Relative.

Winter in Canada: It's For Serious!

2007-01-28T00:39:00.000-05:00

The temperatures have dipped below 0ºF finally, so I can say I'm impressed with the weather. I doubt that I'll ever have to live through another cold day like the one Cincinnati got for Superbowl XVI. Remember that? It was January 24, 1982 (I had to look up the date). My mom had the brilliant idea to sell Girl Scout cookies door-to-door that day because everyone would be home. They were, but the temperatures were sub-zero. My brain wants to say it reached -64ºF with the wind chill, but that may have been at night (after selling cookies). Anyway, it's not that cold here, but it's been hovering around 0 for a few days. Cincinnati doesn't get this kind of weather, so I thought I'd "write home" about it.

Took some pictures, too:

This is a shot of the river (it's about half a mile from the house). Not cold enough for ice fishing yet, but if the weather stays this cold much longer, I'll be able to get pictures of that soon.

After the snow but before the really bad cold snap, I took Mister outside. It lasted for less than 5 minutes, and ended with me carrying him back to the house, his widdle paws in my hand to warm them.

This snow fell on Jan. 15th, and hasn't melted yet. I should get pictures of some of the giant snow mountains in the parking lots here. Darren's wielding the Scraper of Doom here.

This is a shot of the driveway and the street we live on. Yeah, I couldn't see them, either.

Congratulations to Lisa and Josh!

2006-12-09T23:36:00.000-05:00

We're up here in Canada and couldn't make it, but Darren and I want to offer our best wishes to Lisa and Josh on their wedding day. I hope my family took lots of pictures so we can post them here.

Also, just a quick update on the blog: I upgraded to the new Blogger format, which is almost exactly the same as the old. There shouldn't be any problems logging in or posting, but if you encounter anything, please let me know in an email or comment. My email address is sarkasmo AT gmail DOT com.

The biggest difference you'll notice when posting in the new format is that you can now put "tags" on your posts. I don't have any categories for posts set, but we can certainly create them as we go along. For example, if you post with news about your family, type (without quotes) "Talmage" or "Strupe" or "Koebbe", etc. If you update with pictures, use the "pictures" tag. There's a field at the bottom of the text box where you enter your post where you can type the tags (now that I look at it, Blogger likes to call them "labels", but it's all the same to me). You can use all lower case, and separate tags with commas. There's no limit to how many tags you can use.

Finally, if you comment on this blog now, I've activated Word Verification. That means that before you can make a comment on a post, you have to look at a picture of a bunch of letters and type them into a field, then click on the Publish Comment button. This is because the blog has been receiving spam comments and it bugs me.

Strupe Family Thanksgiving Pictures

2006-11-26T17:03:00.000-05:00

These were sent to me by Mom, so she'll need to fill in the details for you. All the photos can be clicked for embiggenment.

This would be the White House where the buffet was held.

Here's Beth, getting her RDA of turkey and Saran Wrap.

I don't think I know this guy, and there's a limited number of blondes in our family - but behind him, I can see Steve, Brandon, and Dad.

Adorable turkeys. Before clicking on this picture, I thought the turkeys were showing us their butts, but if you enlarge it, you can see their faces.

The buffet line, featuring Steve, Brandon, Colleen and Connor, my dad, and a line. Is that Helen Koebbe in the back, there?

Steve and some puppy with ears on its head.

Here's Chris, showcasing Colleen's senior picture. I hear that background is a dumpster! Whatever makes the red hair look good, right? :)

Colleen and Connor at the buffet. See what I mean about the red hair?

Greg at the buffet.

Finally, Alex and Morgan.

Chili Cookoff Pictures

2006-11-21T16:38:00.000-05:00

Here are the rogue photos that wouldn't cooperate with my mom last week. To set the scene, the contest is held in the ~~basement~~ cafeteria of the school at Our Lady of the Rosary. Here you can see The People (judges in their own right) tasting wares (that's Mike's back on the left, Greg's on the right, and Joe Singler is facing Greg):

My uncle Mike won 2nd place from the judges. Here, he's being awarded his prize (a set of potholders, it looks like) and certificate by Dave (a judge):

And my mom, Karen, who seems to always win, is shown here with Judge Dave while she receives her coveted silver ladle and certificate:

Congratulations, Mom and Mike!

Just pictures for Nov. 15th post...I hope.

2006-11-16T17:01:00.000-05:00

Okay. Nevermind. The first one (use your imagination) is Mike being awarded 2nd Place Best Chili. The second photo is Karen being awarded a certificate for 1st Place Best Chicken Chili. The third photo is a shot of the cafeteria with Mike, Greg, Joe Singler and a few others.
(stupid blog.)

November Updates!

2006-11-15T14:28:00.000-05:00

Where has the time gone? It’s almost Thanksgiving!

Kristen drove down to Cincinnati for a visit, stayed just shy of a week and voted for the last time (for a while) in the USA and went back to Canada. Purpose was to drop off “Big Blue” the 92 Buick Park Ave. We’ll try to sell it for her.

Kristen posted the previous article about Quatman Café in Norwood. Tom’s cousin Ken co-owns the bar. Grandpa (Tom) Strupe use to visit the bar after WWII when it was known as Ella Mae’s. Grandpa Faust used to live just down the street on Homer Ave. in Norwood. I remember my sisters and I took mom (then in her late 70’s) for a Sunday afternoon drive through Norwood. We stopped at Quatman’s for a cheeseburger – she loved cheeseburgers - and in an incredible effort she ate a half-pound burger and washed it down with a draught Hudapol beer from a frosted mug. I’m glad Kris found the article.

Fall is Chili Cook Off time at Our Lady of the Rosary Church. The 11th Annual Chili Cook Off was held on November 11th in the school cafeteria. Karen’s brothers Mike (entered his chili!) and Greg, with his girls Alex and Morgan, attended this year. Karen, also the church secretary, usually attends, enters and wins… (because dang it, I just make good chili!). So, here are the pictures taken at the Chili Cook Off. well, I posted them...technical difficulties. Kristen help!

The Koebbe’s (Beth Strupe Steve Koebbe) are hosting a Thanksgiving buffet at their homeowner’s clubhouse for the combined families. This could turn out to be “big” but the White House, as it known, will hold the gang. More news of this later. Happy Thanksgiving!

Quatman Cafe turns 40!

2006-10-30T11:45:00.000-05:00

This article is from ChannelCincinnati.com:

They normally don't bother with fancy, but for this occasion -- Quatman Cafe hitting the big 4-0 --arrival by limo seemed well-suited for Kenny and "Albo."
Since the mid-1960s, Albert Imm and Ken Talmage's place -- as unpretentious as a paper plate -- has been a gathering point for everyone from the president's brother to anybody's brother.

Drop a name, and that person's probably been here.

"Marge Schott, maybe. Yeah, she was here and the dog. We had to keep the dog outside," Albert Imm said.

It is common here to find three generations at any one table.

No frills and no bills -- you order, eat and tell them what you had at the register.

"When we first took over, you could get a cheeseburger, a chili and a beer for a buck. No tax. Tax was included," Ken Talmage said.

In an age dominated by big chains that serve up everything from mocha latte to sushi, Quatman survives on simplicity.

"The chili, vegetable soup, turtle soup, the beef soup is awesome. It's all homemade," Jimmy Belmont said

The service is swift; the selection is pretty standard. Imm and Talmage just plain like it that way.

They got a mayoral proclamation, a party and a limo ride. But at 40, Quatman doesn't really require such fuss.

Part of how a community identifies itself is where it chooses to eat and meet.There's no identity crisis in Norwood, not with Quatman still around.

"It's a big change when you say I want a cheeseburger and I want it on rye. That's living on the edge, brother. That's living on the edge," Tom Williams said.

Personally, I always enjoyed going to Quatman for hamburgers and using the squeezy bottles to make condimentary artwork on the burger before squishing on the top bun and eating it.

TALL STACKS @ PORT OF CINCINNATI

2006-10-11T20:42:00.000-05:00

Tom and I took off work last Wednesday October 4 to go down to the Ohio River and check out the Tall Stacks Riverboats. We went on a lunch cruise on the Belle of Cincinnati with the Red Hat Society ladies of the Tri State area. They certainly added color to my picutures. It was a wonderful, sunny, breezy day. A total of 16 riverboat participated from Cincinnati, Newport KY, Pittsburgh PA, Galveston Tx, Peoria IL, New Orleans and Tennessee and places I can't remember. There was a Civil War reanactment group camped on the Newport shores by the Licking River. You can check out the official website www.tallstacks.com OR http://rodeo.cincinnati.com/tallstacks/ for more information.

Update on Judy's hip replacement from Jeannine (Melia) Imhoff

2006-10-03T23:55:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't been keeping everyone up on news about Judy. My daughter Kathy's wedding is Oct. 14th and needless to say, I've been overwhelmed with all the little, as well as big details. But we are in the final days, and things are going a little more smoothly (knock on wood). Also, I've only looked at the "blog" once early on, so I don't know whats going on with the family. I've never done any blogging (is that like clogging on the computor?)

Anyway, here's the update on Judy.....

She had a total hip and femur replacement on Mon. Sept. 25th. She left Mercy Anderson that Friday and is now rehabbing again at Mercy St. Theresa. The surgery went well. She needed a couple of units of blood (she was a few pints low). That really seemed to give her the strength back faster than last time. I'm not certain how long she'll be there. Usually it's 2-3 weeks, then home and out patient ohysical therapy. Her neighbor Jennifer and her young daughter have moved into Judy's house for now to watch the pets etc. and Jennifer said she'd stay with Judy until she gets back on her feet, which may not be for 12 weeks! We shall see.
If you want to visit, call or send a card, her address is:

Judy Melia
Mercy St. Theresa
7010 Rowan Hill Drive
Room# 232#2
Mariemont, Ohio 45227-3380

phone:513- 272-4907
Thanks for asking.
She's a real trooper!
Jeannine

this was from an email sent to Karen

Hi from Jeannine

2006-10-03T19:40:00.000-05:00

I've just looked at the blogs since the first notification that is was beginning. I didn't know about Emily...How brave is she! Nor did I know about Kristen and her husband's move to Canada. Best of luck to them on this exciting adventure. Tom and I lived in Buffalo for 5 years a couple of years after we were married. It was sometime lonely, but a great growing experience.
I sent Karen Judy's surgery info. So far so good.
Jeannine

Distance is Relative.

2006-09-29T21:11:00.000-05:00

Distance is Relative.
Hi, Kris and Darren. Glad to hear you arrived safely and are getting settled.
This is my first time to write to the blog. Just wanted to see if it worked. If so, I'll try to send pictures soon. May call and get help from you, Karen.
Tricia

...and now this just in from Jeannine about cousin Judy's upcoming hip replacement on Sept.25

2006-09-23T08:59:00.000-05:00

This is a picture taken at Judy's 50th birthday celebration.

Judy's surgery on Monday Sept. 25th has been moved up to 2:30 in the afternoon. I'll get her to the hospital by 12:30 and stay that night. I'll call as many of you as I can after surgery, and when she gets to her room. Or maybe some one can just email you all for me. So check your phone/email. My cell # is 607-3252. Judy seems ready to get this over with. Wants to ask Dr. Sorger to save the "not so old" prothesis so she can sell it on E Bay. Hey, a girl has to make money somehow!
I'll keep in touch,
Jeannine

WEBN FIREWORKS XXX RIVERFEST!

2006-09-05T23:10:00.000-05:00

Karen & Katie in our Purple People Bridge "Jump" suits

Labor Day 2006 – Riverfest! WEBN FIREWORKS XXX
It’s taken me 30 years, but I finally made it to Riverfest. Katie and I stayed at the Hilton Sunday evening after the fireworks. (I won a one night stay at the Hilton and requested Labor Day.) We met some of Katie's friends on the Serpentine Wall. We had seats about 4 rows up from the river directly across from where the bardges were. It was awesome.

On Monday we went “Over The Top” of the Purple People Bridge. Check it out at:
http://www.purplepeoplebridgeclimb.com/

awesome holiday

Living in Long Sault, Ontario

2006-08-31T18:02:00.000-05:00

This water tower only shows the SAULT part of LONG SAULT. Check out how blue the sky has been. Very beautiful and breathtaking.

I just wanted to let you know that we're here and we're doing well. The internet connection is working at home now, and Darren and I have been spending time exploring the town. Long Sault is a tiny little residential village, but if you take a 15-minute ride into town, you can visit Cornwall. There's a small mall there, and a WalMart, and a couple of shopping centers.

I posted an update on my own blog today, too.

We Made It

2006-08-22T12:20:00.000-05:00

Hello, this is Darren checking in. We finally made it home last Thursday around 4 AM. Since then we've been unpacking and organizing boxes, finding a place for things, etc.

We've ordered Bell Sympatico for our internet access (right now we're at the public library) and we expect to be online shortly... I hope.

We're alive and well, and so are the cats. Many thanks to Karen for helping us out during the trip, what with keeping the cats company in the Park Avenue during the long drive home. We only have an hour available for 'net access so I have to be polite and get up from this station, so catch you later. Tarrah!

Judy Melia to have surgery 8/28

2006-08-21T23:30:00.000-05:00

I received this email from Jeannine (Melia) Imhoff regarding her sister Judy. Judy needed more are repair on her hip.

Just wanted you to know that Judy's next (and hopefully last) surgery is
scheduled for Mon. Aug.28th @ 2:15, at Mercy Hospital in Anderson. Keep her in
your prayers. Let you know more detailsas they develop.
Jeannine

I'll post more when I hear again from Jeannine

Kristen and Darren and cats safely transplanted in Canada

2006-08-20T16:30:00.000-05:00

The Morin branch made their move to Canada on Tuesday, August 15.
We set out Tuesday evening around 10:00 p.m. and drove through the night and made it as far as Detroit MI to customs around 4:00 a.m Wed. Aug. 16.
We had to stop at U.S Customs for:
the transfer of the car (which I drove transporting their cats)
declaration of their belongings
and to Kristen's and Darren's surprise, Darren had to surrender his Green Card (he's Canadian). They were not aware he would need do that.

Then we crossed into Canada over the Ambassador Bridge and they had to go through Customs there: declare the belongings, show the cat vetranarian papers, and then Kristen received a paper that is good for 6 months stating that she is a visitor in Canada. Darren, as a Canadian, will need to start the process for Kris to become a Permanant Resident, which is like a Green Card in the USA. (This is just all my understanding of what was going on.)

After being processed the sun was coming up and we decided to get motel rooms and get some sleep before we struck out again. The next 10 hours of our journey would be driving east taking the northern route over the two great lakes, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. We were headed for an area above New York state.

Wednesday we drove route 401 all the way to Darren's parent's home in Long Sault, Ontario. The nearest "big" town is Cornwall. This is along the St. Lawrence River/Seaway(?). They will be staying with Darren's parents until they find employment and can get a place of their own. I will let Kris and Darren post about their new life in Canada. We will need to be patient however, because Dad and Mom Morin weren't connected to the internet. Darren and Kris are working to get them on line and up and running.

I just wanted to let folks know that we made it up there safely, taking our time driving and transporting the cats. The cats did well traveling. Darren's mom, Jenny, is a cat person and began bonding with her "grandkitties" when they arrived. I just hope the kitties are nice guests.

Saturday morning bright and early we headed for the Ottawa airport and I flew home on US Airway via Philadelphia and landed safely in Cincinnati without any sign of my luggage. The airlines delivered my luggage to my doorstep by Monday morning. So even that turned out well.

Please keep Darren and Kris in your prayers during this time of transition in their lives.

2006-08-14T11:44:00.000-05:00

Hey, I'm posting a post! I've never blogged before, but I'm pretty excited to finally participate. I also learned today that Mom (Karen) has a website! Sweeeet. There's a link to it on the green family blog, on the right-hand side, on the bottom. Maybe I could do one of those someday.

Breakfast with the Fam was great this morning. It was neat to hang out with Trish and Marilyn again. And of course, Kristen and Darren will be moving to Canadia tomorrow (with Mom driving their car behind the moving truck). Hopefully everything will go smoothly and safely with the move, and hopefully customs will let Mom back into the country. You guys will be missed (Love ya!)!!!! I will come and visit you in Canada sometime- maybe Springish? I don't know if I'll brave the snow of a Canadian winter. I would like to take the train from Windsor- that sounds awesome! Well, I have to go back to work now! Blog at cha later!

Taking a break from the packing

2006-08-13T17:20:00.000-05:00

Darren and I are still putting stuff in boxes and bags. I cleaned out the car today so that Mom will be rollin' in style (it was surprisingly clean, with the exception of the entire bag of kitty litter all over the trunk, but I vacuumed that).

Yesterday was the Collett-McKay picnic, and I'll get to that in a minute, but at Picnic Marilyn and Tricia pointed out that they weren't sure how to post an update to this blog. I can help!

You can either go to http://www.blogger.com directly, or do what I do and go to the blog first, then click on the Blogger logo in the upper left corner:

You might need to log in with your username and password. Once you do that, or if you've previously told Blogger to remember you, you'll see your Dashboard, which lists the blog name (Distance is Relative). Click on the green plus sign to start a new post. From here, these instructions will show you how to create and write your post.

Blogger will automatically save a draft every minute or so. That way, you don't have to remember to save anything. If you have other questions about how to post to the blog, you can find answers here or email me (sarkasmo at gmail dot com).

On to the pictures of the picnic!

This one is of Katie and me:

And here's some of the Talmage family:

And here's the whole Talmage family (the ones that were there, anyway):

The Talmage girls:

And a great picture of Darren:

Tricia and Marilyn are having breakfast with us Monday morning (early...oh, so early) and then they're hitting the road again. I hope they have a safe trip back, just like the drive here. After breakfast, Dad and I will be picking up the rental truck. Anyone who wants to help us fill it up is welcome to show up. I realize it's Monday, though, and people have jobs and stuff.

Our internet and cable will be disconnected starting on Monday morning. You can still send me emails, but I won't get them until we get an internet connection up in Canada. Until then, take care!

Hurrah!

2006-08-09T16:22:00.000-05:00

I'm happy now. People are signing up. Be sure to spread the word to get everyone in on this, if you can. I don't want anyone feeling left out.

Things going on:
On my list? Moving. This weekend is the Collette-McKay picnic, and Darren and I are planning to go. On Monday morning, we'll be picking up the truck in Tri-County, so if we can roll out of bed early enough we can make it to breakfast with Marilyn & Tricia. Until then, we're packing.

If you can think of anything else that's going on, post an update!

Hmmph.

2006-08-07T22:01:00.000-05:00

I'm not giving up on this blog yet. Not for a while. After I created this blog, I changed my Blogger display name to Kristen so that people would know who I am. That means, however, that all the invitations were sent out saying they were from Sarkasmo, right? I'm betting that most people didn't even read those invitations. It doesn't look like anyone has been to look at the site.

And so, when I get a moment or 700, I'll resend the invitations using "Kristen", and hopefully this time the emails will at least be opened. Remember, you can accept the invitation without any obligation to write anything! Just accepting the invitation will at least let me know if someone - ANYONE - thinks this blog is a good idea.

OK, keeping it going...

2006-08-04T00:49:00.000-05:00

Darren and I had our seventh wedding anniversary on Monday. If you were at our wedding, you'll agree that the weather is exactly the same now as it was that day. Ah, nostalgia.

We also set a date and rented the moving truck. We're going in the middle of the week to ensure that we can make it through the border more easily: Tuesday, 8/14/06. Anyone capable of lifting is invited to help carry, but we're aware that people are working during the week.

Only two people (Katie and Darren) have accepted the invitations I've sent out so far, and not so many people are even visiting to look at the blog. I hope I didn't just get sent to everyone's junk mail folders! I'm not ready to give up on this yet.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!

2006-07-30T11:39:00.000-05:00

I'll get things started. Today is dad's birthday (Tom Talmage), so everyone should wish him a very happy birthday. :)

I've been wanting to start a family blog that we can all use as a big bulletin board for a while now. Marilyn said she'd be willing to give it a try, and this morning Mom said it sounded like a good idea, so that's how everyone got volunteered for this little project. You can post news, pictures, jokes, whatever you want. The rest of us can leave comments on any of the posts.

Blogger has been easy for me to use over the past year (my own blog is http://sarkasmo.blogspot.com). If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them for you.

Things you should tell me:

If you have a site or blog that you want to link from here on the sidebar
If you don't want to be an administrator for this blog (I'll give anyone admin access as long as they don't think they'll go around deleting other people's posts)
Once you accept the invitation to this blog, you can see the list of people who have been invited/are contributing. If anyone's missing, tell me.
Mike Strupe's email address (does he have one?)
John Giesting's email address
Martha (Strupe) Miele's email address
Saren Erdmann's email address
Brandon Koebbe's email address
Chris, Colleen, and Connor's email addresses (mine aren't current)
John Strupe's email address
Fiancees and significant others count! They can be added as contributors if they want.

Darren and I are moving to Canada next month. He and I will definitely be updating here as we get more information, but I also want everyone to use this blog to keep in touch with each other.

Kristen