We are here, too!!!

Yes, we are late. But, we live in "Old Europe". I hope you can accept this as an excuse. ;-))

All jokes aside. Elisabeth and I are a little bit stressed out at the moment:

Elisabeth has her last weeks at work, before she is on her maternity leave. She has to prepare her students of her "Leistungkurs" (intensive course) in English, who will have to write their "Abitur" (last diploma from German secondary school qualifying for university) soon after she leaves.

I am a little bit tired too. The building of our archives in Minden, which was built in 1905, has been reconstructed in- and outside for the last three years: The slated roof has been renewed; the facade has been restaurated; the electrical installation, which derived from 1905, has been replaced etc. etc. All works caused tons of dirt and dust. Therefore our archives are closed for the public since mid-January. During the last weeks my colleagues and I had to clean all the records (charters, files, newspapers, books, maps, plans etc. etc.). And this work will continue for another two weeks.

After work Elisabeth and I are taking preparations for our baby, which is sheduled to be born in mid-April: We have started to decorate its room etc. etc.; Elisabeth has been to her gymnastics and swimming courses ("elephant's gymnastics").

Vinzenz & Elisabeth

A Blog User's Guide is here!

In case you haven't already received it by email, I put together a basic User's Guide to Blogger.com so that everyone who's already an administrator, or waiting to be one, can learn the basics of posting a new entry, editing an entry and adding comments to entries. If you didn't get it, or if you're pretty sure I don't have your email address, let me know and I'll send you one! (smacdonald@cinci.rr.com).

To post photos? Look under the "Blogger Help" link on the dashboard page (the page you get to right after you log in), and it should give you step-by-step instructions on how to do it.

Hey! It's Working!!! How Cool is THIS!?

This is actually working! Thanks to all who've responded. To those still having technical problems (wouldn't you know, it'd be VINCE!), keep plugging away. Teresa, too. Can't figure out if I sent the invitations wrong or if something in Blogger is keeping them from getting the invitations to accept. But we WILL prevail.

Let all the other cousins know. I'll try to find the time to send actual snail-mail notices, too...in my copious (ahem) free time. Let's keep this puppy going!

Not much news from Cincinnati, but I will make this official motion: I hereby nominate three people for 2005 Cousin of the Year. Sharon and Hopper are first on the list, simply for being incredibly resilient, loving, tough people who keep each other (and the rest of us) going. LOVE YOU GUYS! And I also nominate my sister, Carol, who only two months into the year, has already handled at least a year's worth of "issues" at the real Old MacDonald's farm. Ask her to send her Monday morning e-mail, if you want gory details. I laughed. I cried.

Joke of the Day (warning: it's political)

If you're a red-stater, you're warned. But I had to share this:

Did you know?...."Ground Hog Day and the State of the Union address took place on the same day this year. This is an interesting juxtaposition; one involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to a creature of little intelligence for prognostications, while the involves....a groundhog."

Keep 'em coming!

Sunday update: So far, at least 5-6 more cousins (including the international connection) are waiting to get on board....be sure to send information about this blog to all the other cousins in your email list. Some of my emails are old or not working (Tim Hausfeld's for example...anyone have it?).

I'll keep you posted on who's in...or you'll start to see the names appear as people start posting stuff. Steve Hausfeld (Eric's son) also says he has a bit of experience with blogs, so if you have technical questions, consider asking him.

All my life I've wanted to be a blogger

Great idea, sis. Welcome aboard everybody. I'll keep you posted on the happenings at the MacDonald funny farm. Some days are funnier than others. We're doing swell. Kate's loving Colorado. Paul's continually aggravated with Ohio State. Brian's always happy. Tom and I just keep paying the bills!
Love ya
Carol, Tom et al

Here a Blog, There a Blog....

If you really want to know, I intended this to be a blog titled "If I Were President of the United States," and each day I'd opine about something I would do -- or NOT do -- as president.

But alas, that name was already taken. So was "Queen of the World" and "If I Were in Charge." So I defaulted to the family name and just picked Old MacDonald's Farm instead. And THEN I had a great brainstorm: how about a blog where all the Hausfeld cousins can stay in touch on the Internet, all under the roof of Old MacDonald's farm?

So here it is. Welcome to the Hausfeld cousins' blog.....you've already been sent an email either telling you about the blog or officially inviting to join it. If you get the official Blogger email, accept/say yes, and then I can set you up as a contributor, too. Once you figure out how to post new information, it's easy. And it's OK to make mistakes. We just want this to be a place to hang out together in the blogosphere and stay up-to-date without all that old-fashioned technology, like phones and stuff.

For the first entry, let's just say that all's well in Cincinnati. Kids are good, job's busy as heck, it's startin' to feel like spring, and the sun stays above the horizon just a bit more each night. Life is good. Hope you're all well. Join me here, won't you?