The latest on Baby G!

Update from Karen at 9:08 a.m.

Nick just called...broke her water...things are moving along...I'm taking off soon. Will keep you up to date...all is well.


Written by Grandma Karen early Tuesday, Sept. 30...

The "kids" have been at the hospital since last night. Nick has been in contact (whew) and things are progressing very slowly. They will probably induce this morning/today.

Heidi (Beata's mom) just called and they are leaving for the airport within the hour. They won't be here until about 6 p.m. and I'll be picking them up in Flint (another whew...hate Detroit Airport).

Dad will be leaving for home on Saturday and sister will stay until about Wednesday. Mom will be here for at least 3 weeks.

I have an air bed from Dan to take down for me when I'm there in the next days/weeks. Janet A. and I are working the Obama rally on Thursday morning so this baby should definitely arrive before then!

Heidi said she and her sisters had fairly long labors (36 hours) so we'll see. Heidi told me a funny story this morning. When her brother's wife gave birth to the first girl in forever she said that there were about 100 people at the hospital waiting and when the nurse announced it everyone started giving her money and coins, etc. (tradition in Iran when girls are born because they are so treasured). The nurse said "where are you from anyway? I think I'll move there!"

The plan is that I will take off here before noon and hang out at the hospital and then retrieve the family when they get here. I get the feeling that Beata is in no rush because she so wants her family there.

Another funny story from Heidi: She said when Beata was born they took her home and laid her on the bed and looked at each other like "ok...what do we do now?" They had no training, no books or classes, etc. Got that "plastic" changing table put together but every time they put her on it she screamed. Turned out that it was "cold" as hell because they didn't know to put a blanket or towel on it.

They began to scramble reading books but with the language barrier some things were not that clear. When they ran out of lotion to put on her they really panicked because they thought without it she would die...in other words, every single thing was crucial in their mind...thank God for friends who calmed them down. They had no family here at the time.

Enough for now...I'll keep you all informed and lets keep our fingers crossed that it will be sooner rather than later.

Harriet & June 2008 (aka Baba & Gigi)

Our “Thelma (Paula) & Louise (me)” trip commences from Ionia on Saturday, Oct. 4, returning Saturday, Oct. 11. We will not be driving off a cliff because we would never leave our grandchildren (kids, yes, grandchildren, no). And it is highly unlikely that we will meet the likes of Brad Pitt, although I will be “looking” for someone to hog tie and bring back to Ionia so I can cook him terrific meals and bake awesome pies with my new appliances in my almost done kitchen

…most things will be done this week. (The first two apple pies were baked last night in my new oven….not like baking in my 38 year old gas stove but it will do).

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the movie, please read the synopsis below. We will report in when we return (if we return).



"Thelma & Louise" 1991
Thelma is a passive, goofy housewife, married to a controlling husband, Darryl. Louise is a single waitress who appears organized and strong, with some unnamed trauma in her past. The film follows the women as they head out in Louise's blue 1966 Thunderbird convertible for a two-day vacation of fishing in the mountains that nosedives into a nightmarish situation before they even reach their destination, but which sees them change from victims of circumstance into outlaw heroines of the road.

At the Silver Bullet, a cowboy bar and dancehall, Thelma meets a man, Harlan, with whom she dances. She gets drunk and the man attempts to rape her in the parking lot. Louise finds them and threatens to shoot Harlan if he doesn't stop, using a gun Thelma brought with her. Harlan stops, but then defiantly tells Louise that they were "just having a little fun." Louise replies that when a girl is crying like that, she's not having any fun. Harlan mouths some obscenities and at that, Louise shoots and kills him. Thelma wants to go to the police right away, but Louise is worried that because Thelma was drunk and had been dancing with Harlan, no one would believe he was trying to rape her. Afraid that the authorities will prosecute her, Louise decides to run away, and Thelma follows.

Louise is determined to reach Mexico but is unwilling to do so via Texas, despite the fact that they are in Oklahoma and the fastest route to Mexico leads through Texas. It is revealed that something bad happened to Louise in Texas years ago, though Louise refuses to say exactly what it was. They flee west, and on the way they meet a handsome young man, J.D., whom Thelma immediately likes. She convinces Louise to let him hitch a ride with them.

Louise, meanwhile, contacts her boyfriend, Jimmy, and asks him to send her life savings via Western Union. But when she goes to pick it up, she discovers that Jimmy has come to see her in person. They go to talk in his room, while Thelma guards the money. Thelma invites J.D. into her room; it turns out that he is a robber who has broken his parole. He and Thelma become intimate, and Thelma experiences a sexual awakening. During their time together J.D. describes how he conducted his hold-ups.

Meanwhile, Jimmy asks Louise to marry him, and she refuses, as well as refusing to tell him what is going on. They spend the night together, and then he leaves after breakfast the following morning. The next day, J.D. is gone and so is all of Louise's money. Louise is distraught, and a guilty Thelma decides to take the lead while Louise is frozen with fear. She uses what J.D. taught her to rob a store. All this time the FBI has been tracking them and getting closer and closer to their trail. Det. Hal Slocumb (Harvey Keitel) finds out what happened to Louise in Texas, and appears to be sympathetic to her predicament.

Their actions continue to spiral out of control as the two of them make their way across the country, particularly with the ever more daring Thelma, who has shed her giggly, goofy personality for a determined, aggressive, hard-drinking one. When a policeman stops them for speeding, Thelma threatens the policeman with her gun, steals his gun, and locks him in the trunk of his cruiser.

Another character they encounter is a truck driver who repeatedly makes obscene sexual gestures to them on the road. They pull over to demand an apology from him, but he refuses and they shoot his tanker truck, which explodes. In the end, with the police on their tail, Thelma and Louise are cornered near a rim of the Grand Canyon.

Rather than be captured and spend the rest of their lives in jail, they make a final choice. They decide to drive the car over the cliff into the canyon, which would either injure or kill them both. Before the car drives over the edge the women firmly brace hands and kiss. The film ends with a freeze frame of the car in midair. End credits begin over a montage of their happiest moments together during the weekend.

The latest from the West Coast

You won’t believe this….Joe went on Craig’s list and signed up to be a “filler” in audiences for shows that are taping. They called him today but they don’t tell you what show you are doing until you get there and guess what…he was in the second row of the Dr. Phil Show and he had to go because he was going in for another taping. These older women were there and asked him if he was excited and he said, “Not really, but my mom will be”. They pay cash about $8 an hour. He was having a lot of fun obviously.

- Gupp

And the latest from Milford:
(Close up by Aunt Kirsten, distance shot by Lucas)

Way to go!

Happy Birthday Uncle Dan and Happy Anniversary Sarah and Loren!

Update on Gupp's kitchen

Here are the latest. I expect more in the next week or so!

He made it!

Joe made it out to L.A. all in once piece! Here are a few pics from his 2 nights with Kirk and Charlotte Bennett in Arizona, a few hours from L.A.

Joe said he and Kirk bonded over guitar hero and Joe apparently ate the biggest burger on the planet.

Fun at the Baidases

Just thought I would share some photos taken recently at Sarah and Loren's.

The first group was taken last weekend when I was hanging out with Sarah and the boys. Believe it or not -- these were not staged!







Anthony thought it was hilarious



Then Uncle Joe and Lucas did some "dancing" and spinning around in the basement.






My camera was all wet and fogged up, but when we arrived for Joe's farewell dinner, Lucas was burning some steam running around in the rain and Claire joined in the fun. The photos are hard to see, but I think they're clear enough to see the absolute elation on their faces.