Summer Spiraling Towards Us

Here I sit, it's the last day for students. In about 4 hours I can walk away from this place - well, I have to come back on Tuesday for a workday. But another school year has come and gone.

I have to say, it's been one of my best. I've really grown a lot as a teacher this year and am actually looking forward to continuing to improve next year. Hopefully next year someone will notice...

At any rate.

Summer is right there waiting for us. Can't wait. Stay tuned to see our continuing family adventures:

* How often will we use our Coney passes this summer? I might start a contest to guess.

* Will the family survive a 4am departure and nonstop 12-hour drive from Cincinnati to Hilton Head? And how much sand will Robby eat while we're there?

* Will Faith and Mari like Primanti Brothers?

* Can the lovely Lake Superior Picnic of 2006 be recreated?

* Will I finally run out of good music for the family videos?

See you all in summer. Love life!

MS





Just FYI, the youtube channel has been reorganized, making the playlists more easy to find. Enjoy the movies when you get a chance.

A good season

Two weeks with no illnesses.

Summer is all but here. Things are looking good. Steph is done with her first year at her new job, and she really enjoyed it a lot. I have a week left, Faith has a week and a half left, Mari has a couple days left. Then the season of travel will begin again. For those wondering, this summer will contain no epic road trips as in 03, 07, or 09. But several little trips will help us enjoy the freedom of being teachers.

We're taking trailer out for a weekend jaunt to southern Indiana in a couple weeks. Just to get it out and celebrate the coming of summer. Then our week at Hilton Head in late June. Soon after that dad and I will be taking the big girls to Pittsburgh for a few days. And then the big trip this summer will be up to Mackinaw for a week and a half. Nothing exotic, but after last summer, it will do us good to not be schlepping across the country again. Next epic road trip looks to be in place for 2012.

Looking forward to more time to post. Don't forget to check out the videos:

Matt

Here Goes Nothing

Okay, the big news (that's really not all that big, to tell you the truth) is that the family videos are once again finding a home on youtube and in larger numbers than ever before. One and all are invited to check out the growing library of trip videos dating back to the original epic 2003 Road Trip.

All the fun can be found at:

www.youtube.com/user/specfam

Some disclaimers/notes/advice:

Because of the somewhat chaotic upload process, the main page is a bit haphazard. If you're looking for something specific chronologically, I suggest you click on "Playlists" and then choose a year. The playlists are very well organized. For example - Cliff and Gina - want to see our picnic from 4th of July last year? Click on "Playlists" then "2009" and scroll down to "2009 Road Trip - Day 2 - Playground, Picnic, Fireworks" and there you have it!

You will find that some of the videos are muted. I am painstakingly taking care of these – if one is muted that you particularly wanted to see (and hear), please let me know and I will make fixing that one a priority.

If your connection is good, the quality of these vids is such that you ought to be able to watch them full-screen. I encourage you to do so.

Some people have experienced 'jumpy', video from the specfam page. If this happens, try this: Once the video is playing, right-click on it, and then choose "Watch on YouTube". You might have to allow popups. This seems to work better for some.

Remember that these movies are primarily created for our own family to remember special moments. Many of them also have a certain amount of interest and appeal to the average Joe who wants to see what we’ve done. But I will be the first to tell you that there are some videos which taken out of context may be hideously boring to the average viewer…or at best just really confusing. There’s no way to know before you watch. So if you’re picking one at random and it doesn’t do much for you, I encourage you to try some more before you write the whole thing off. And of course, if there’s something you want the backstory on, please feel free to ask me for details. There’s usually a good story behind each bizarre thing I’ve done.

Lastly, please let me know what you think – these things are a passion for me, and very few people have had the chance to see them. Being able to share them with friends is why I’m going to all this trouble. I don’t ask many people to sit through the whole thing in one sitting – but this way you can check it all out a bit at a time, at your convenience. So leave a comment, email me, whatever. Let me know you stopped by. It will mean a lot.

Again, thanks for your time – and enjoy!

Matt

A Milestone

We have had our Pontiac Vibe for almost 7 years now. It has guided us through many an adventure, both in travel and in life. Before dad's big RV, before our travel trailer, before even our minivan, we had the Vibe.

Without a doubt its greatest moments were enjoyed carrying Steph and I, before kids, on the 2003 Road Trip, the one that started them all. It took us 7,501 miles from Cincinnati to Seattle and down the west coast, bringing us back safe and sound with a tire blowout in 105 degree Kansas heat on the way back being the only mishap.

This car has been through it all with us. Ironically, this car outlasted its own maker. Pontiac is no more. But our Vibe, at least for the moment, lives on.



Today, on the way home from work, just before the intersection of OH-32 and Glen Este-Withamsville Rd, our Vibe's odometer turned over and crossed the 100,000 mile mark. I beamed with pride and nearly had to pull over for the tears that welled up in my eyes. So many memories. So much time. So many trips, so many miles. So much has changed.

Thanks for the memories and the miles, you old grey beast. And...here's hoping you can last to give us a few more.

Matt

April Begone

May provides hope. We might get through this yet. Feeling better than I've felt in a long while. A little weight lifted. We're getting there.

Can't keep the house clean, but hey.

Matt

The Sickness

We just can't seem to lick things around here. More strep. My first sinus infection. It's time to quarantine the whole house.

Anyway, all of life is getting shook up by these little illnesses. We soldier on. Big things are still afoot - I'm still a little spooked that I'm going to jinx things, but pretty soon I'll just point everyone in the right direction regardless.

Later,
Matt

Big things are afoot...

...not really big things, but some big things in the online Specter Family Universe. It is a slow process however, so be patient.

No, I'm not starting to use facebook.

But, in the meantime, you can view all the 'real' photos (not taken on a kiddie camera) from our Tennessee trip on our travelpod page.

There are the skeletons of other entries there too but I haven't had time to flesh them out. This is a temporary solution - but all I know is, it took me about the same amount of time and effort to upload all those pics as it normally does to upload about 5 to this site.

Forgive the fact that I never really weeded out the silly photos - there are some really goofy and bad ones, but wade through and you'll find some good ones too.

In the meantime, hang tight - big things are afoot. Stay tuned.

Might as well do it now

I have decided that as much as I love blogger, it is a very inconvenient way to share photos. I am exploring other options.

So sorry

I know there are a handful of people who really do follow this thing but sometimes I just can't keep up. I'm trying, really.

After the last post, the last couple of days of the trip were much improved. Hannah was still a bit of a handful but things did get better.

After we got back we had a decent couple of days hanging out at the house, and then Faith came down with another case of what sounded like croup. Well, she started having trouble breathing, so Easter evening we took her to the ER just to make sure nothing extra was wrong. The tech at our local hospital read the x-rays and found something he was worried about - and sent Faith straight over to Children's Hospital where we spent most of the night, before finding out the xrays were normal and it was just croup as we expected. Made for a fun day of work on Monday too.

Everyone is fine now.

I will try my darndest to post pictures soon from the trip, including a few really good ones that the kids took with their camera.

Matt

A trip to forget?

Okay, so.

Hannah has an ear infection and possibly a sinus infection. Mom has a stomach/flu bug. The bakery up the street is literally closed the whole time we're here. You can't buy tequila without a trip to Gatlinburg which is messing with my chicken marinade recipe. Today was cold and rainy. All in all, this has the makings of a major disaster. We've been here for 2 whole days and basically have done nothing but sit in the trailer, drive to meals (which in all fairness have been amazing) and drive to get groceries or take Hannah to the medical clinic. Mom doesn't look to be getting any better.

Maintaining a positive attitude out of sheer stubbornness. Still nice to be with the family...even if the big girls are whining, Hannah is screaming, and Bud has turned into a little devil. Still better than the last couple weeks at home.

Keep us in your prayers.

Matt