Making Cookies

Another video of Claire being recorded in her natural habitat, unawares (the computer is recording her, but the screen is set to a screen-saver, so that's what she's staring at at first).

Things to look for:

She HATES my accents. Any accents of mine. Of any kind. Mexican. New York/Boston. She just wants me to talk in my "normal voice."

The sass. The incredible amount of sass she dishes out at me.

Poker-faced Kirsten. She is all business, all the time. All about making those cookies. She also doesn't really approve of my accents.

From Grandma's Vault

Memories of Bill

Memories of Bill Thompson
by
his Brother, Leroy

1. When Bill was around six or seven years old he had a fondness for beans that was well known in the family. Once when Mom served green beans he protested strongly by saying, “Why do we have to eat those old bean hulls?” Someone said, “Bill, why do you like beans so well?” His reply was, “Because they taste Tangy.” Through the years I have teased children in the family while they were eating by asking them: “Does that taste “Tangy?”

2. The most humorous thing that I remember was when Bill, a little older, set off a Roman Candle he had gotten for Christmas in the house. It was a farmhouse with doors between living room, dining room, kitchen and pantry all in a row. Dad was fearful Bill was going to burn down the house with the Roman Candle. However, Bill had the common sense to line the shots from the candle through all those doorways until it burned itself out. Needless to say, it was scary to Dad but funny to the rest of us.

3. In that same farm house, something happened to Bill that makes me cringe to think about it. He was a teen and rode his bike to what was called, “Hoovers Landing,” on Black River. A man lived in a house boat in that area. Though he was strange we never thought him dangerous until that day. We looked toward the landing and saw him throw Bill’s bike into the river. Our worst fear was that he had already thrown Bill into the river. While we were watching we heard a shot from the rifle hit our house. A little later, we looked to the left toward a Levee a little distance from our house. It was the greatest sense of relief one could feel
when we saw it was Bill somewhat casually walking home toward us. Our relief soon turned to great concern when we realized that Bill had been hit in the shoulder area by one bullet from the strange man’s rifle. We got him to a doctor as soon as possible but at that time a decision was made to treat the wound and leave the bullet in the collar bone area of his body. (The strange man was taken to jail and later to an Institution for mental treatment).

The point in telling this story is to show how Providential it was that Bill’s life was spared that day. We can only imagine our loss had God not spared this
good man’s life to bless us in so many, many ways.

Love always, Leroy

Changes

The idea behind this blog was that if it just existed for long enough, it was bound to capture all of the changes that happen to families over time. Hopefully most of those are good-news kinds of changes. But occasionally there are bound to be sad things to report as well. It's just the nature of life. This week is a good example of that. First Matt had a promotion and now Stephen has been promoted as well. But sadly, we've lost Bill, Grandpa Thompson's beloved brother, and the second of his brothers to pass away. I hope nobody minds me making mention of both the sad and good news in the same post. To me, it makes more sense that way because it's an analog to life.

---

Bill was suffering from complications from Vascular Dementia. The condition causes his blood vessels retract and the blood flow to be cut off to his brain. It apparently affects different people different ways. With Bill affected his muscles and caused him to draw back and have spasms. It can progress slowly or go fast. In the end he would sometimes contract into a fetal position and could not or would not eat. He eventually developed pneumonia and this is what too his life.

In the next day or so, we are going to have some of Grandpa's recollections of Bill posted. I wish I would have gotten a chance to know him as an adult, and I'm looking forward to learning about this great uncle of mine who I never knew.

---

Many of us were waiting to find out the news on Stephen's pitch that he had been preparing for just before the Thanksgiving break. I still haven't gotten a final word on this, but his performance for the company must have been exceptional because he's just been promoted to Executive Creative Director. I know we're all in awe of Stephen's talents and the hard work he puts into his career. Congratulations!

Here is the note that went out with Stephen's promotion, within the company.

As iCrossing continues to build its reputation as a full service digital agency,
we must consistently perform on the promise of our key differentiator: deliver
informed creative that leads to measurable results. In parallel, we must fine-tune
our staff mix to reduce overlaps in roles and responsibilities, put the right people
in the right positions, and spread our most experienced staff across accounts.
To these ends, I am pleased to announce the promotion of Stephen Thompson, currently
senior vice president and executive creative director, to executive vice president
(EVP) and executive creative director. Since joining iCrossing in August of 2007,
Stephen has worked to build, reinforce, and sell our strategy as well as redefine
our creative processes and deliverables. As a result of his leadership, we are seeing
interactive agency of record opportunities and increased consideration as a full
service digital agency.
Over his 25-year career, split almost evenly between traditional advertising and
interactive, Stephen has led award-winning creative for such notable clients as
Intel, Iomega, Kellogg's, Hewlett-Packard, Keebler, Red Lobster, and most recently,
Vail Resorts. His personal mantra, be religiously strategic and wildly creative,
has served him and his teams well over the years. Stephen knows what great work
is and how to produce it.
Reflecting the increasing strategic prominence of creative, Stephen now oversees
all creative in North America. He will proliferate and reinforce our differentiator
of delivering informed creative both within iCrossing and to external audiences,
and he will ensure that we consistently perform on this promise in our work for
clients. In addition, Stephen will be a key contributor to iCrossing strategic
initiatives including helping to manage key accounts, developing new business, implementing
standards and best practices, improving processes, increasing performance to our
values, furthering our thought leadership, and guiding our corporate branding.
Stephen will continue to report to Ann Gaglioti, EVP, delivery.
Eric Wegerbauer will continue working closely with Stephen to build our design capabilities
and reputation. Eric will report to Stephen, and will help him lead our talented
team of group creative directors and their staff.
Please join me in congratulating Stephen on his promotion and offering support as
he transitions into his new role.

Don

Bill Thompson, 1932-2008

The Thompson family lost one of its originals yesterday, Bill Thompson (far right). Bill was brother to Leroy, left and Carroll, center. 1932-2008, age 76.

New Job

My brother asked me to put up a post about this so here it goes...

I just accepted a new job at the church where I have been working. For the last four years I have been the pastor of youth ministry and young adults (along with many other responsibilities). I will stay over these areas but now I am also the Executive Pastor. This new position will mean that I will oversee the staff at our church and help in the overall structure and leadership of the church. I will have two assistants to help me oversee all of these areas and I am really excited for this opportunity and challenge.

I work at a great church and can't wait to help focus our ministries and train our leaders.

More of Grandma Phyllis's Thanksgiving Pics

Christmas Tree Cut Down

Here's some pictures of our yearly tradition of cutting down a fresh tree as a family. We then go to Bob Evans restaurant for lunch.

Tree Time

A Note On The Population, From Grandpa Leroy

Top Ten Earth Population Periods
by Samuel Leroy Thompson

1 To time of Christ, 250 Million
2. To time of Lincoln (1850), 1 Billion [Editor's note: always with the Lincoln this guy. I love how historical epoch's are measured off as "Time to Christ," and then "Time to Lincoln."]
3 To time of my birth (1930), 2 Billion
4 To time of our move to Il. (1960), 3 Billion
5 To time of move to Clinton (1975), 4 Billion
6 To time of move to Rockford (1986), 5 Billion
7 To time of move to Mahomet (1995), 6 Billion
8 To time of our retirement (2002), 6.2 Billion
9 To 2008, 6.725 Billion
10 To beginning of Thompson Madness blog... If the number increases it is up to you. Grandpa and Grandma are tired of doing all the work.

Exchange Culture

I have a new piece in Metromode on a new movement that I'm calling Exchange Culture. It's everything from resale shops - which are actually doing better in the recession - to bartering between larger businesses to recycling movements like Freecycle. This was one of those nice story assignments where most of the topic was new to me so the act of research came from real curiosity and was as simple as scratching an itch.

Chzek it out if you'd like.

Grandma Phyllis's Picture Show

This is my Kirsten. As you know from the blog she is a go getter. Here she is just whipping up some cream for her homemade pumpkin pies she baked for the family...

Gabe...see what I can do with a camera....

Two generations of sweetness.

This picture even captured mom....

Sepporah in a bucket

My dad just sent me this picture of Sepporah from a couple of summers ago. I thought it was very adorable so I wanted to put it on here. 

Let the Recap Begin

At the risk of getting too meta-textual, I'm going to post some of the great pictures I've been receiving from the fam of the past week's visit. But first, I'd just like to say how happy I am about it. This trip is always one of the highlights of my year, but this year was extra special for a lot of reasons. The big one was that this was the year that Stephen was diagnosed with and fought back cancer. It's too bad the rest of his family couldn't attend (I haven't seen Kristen in forever!), but I was really happy he made the trek this year to hang and play Catch Phrase.

This was also our first T-day visit with Jessica in attendance. It's kind of mind-blowing to think that a year ago Chris was having his first date with her.... and that weeks later he was driving me to work and telling me he was getting a ring. Of course I thought he was being rash, but it turns out he was just following his heart. My favorite thing about Jessica is getting her to laugh so hard that it borders on a health issue. This was achieved several times this week, often at Chris's expense.

To add to the firsts, both Scott and Sarah brought new squeezes. We already knew that Scott's Amy was Emily- and Gabe-approved, so there wasn't much concern, and it was cool to see Scott dating again. (He really is a God-given gift to the female species. The guy fixes up old Italian sports cars and motorcycles, listens to the Clash, raises his two great kids seemingly effortlessly, dresses fashionably and works on his masters in the spare hours after his day job. I mean, come on.) As for Sarah's Jason, he was pretty quiet but judging from the amount of back rubs that guy was throwing Sarah's way, I think it's safe to assume he cares about her as much as we do. And honestly, how could you not love a girl that beautiful and kind?

What else? Kirsten and Titus made their sophomore appearances. I split my time adoring both.

Cole was in effect, in a big way. As serious as ever, and totally confused by me. When he states, "You're silly, Uncle Daniel," it's more of a question. As if he's saying, "Right? There must be some explanation for why you're acting so crazy? Please let that be the explanation."

Richard informed us that nobody actually calls him Richard Scott and that he's just been too nice to correct us all these years. So, everybody, consider yourself informed. The new, sleek, Richard 2.0 does not actually go by a two-name moniker anymore.

We didn't really get to the cutthroat competitive side of Mary that I'm always hearing about, but she was pretty fierce in Friday's Catch Phrase match. Mary cracks me up how calm she is. If somebody could bottle that calmness, I'd buy it.

Gabe. Gabe announced plans to join the Army National Guard. And everybody thought, hmmm. (He also made this declaration to have his identity stripped down and himself turned into a fighting machine while in freshly bleached blonde hair.) We all just got done marveling at his graphic arts skills, and I was just making plans to go snowboarding with him. I think the jury's still out on Gabe and all the amazing things he's going to do, but whatever he does, I support it. In the same way I feel especially close to Scott, I feel especially close to his kids. I adore Emily and her super fresh style and her really open, happy demeanor. I hope she and Gabe will do me the favor of making blogs or something in the next few years so I can follow their lives through the upcoming life changes. That or just calling me once in a while.

Uncle Mark and Aunt Trish should get the Thompson Gold Medal for consistency. They just seem to take an interest in everybody but themselves and they are some of the best listeners I know. (Uncle Mark has the kind of intelligent curiosity and willingness to engage people about ideas, without combatting them or trying to change their mind, that I would love to have some day. I've always looked up to him for that reason.) But I couldn't help but notice that he and Trish were both more tired than usual. I know it's been a stressful year for them. Uncle Mark mentioned "sleepless nights" and by Friday night, after just springing for the family dinner, Trish was about to pass out on the Kitchen table. I hope things settle down for them a bit this year and there worries are fewer. Jack seems like he's already stressing enough for the whole family.

I have a bunch of little Sepporah moments floating around in my head from the past trip. Some of her really sweet expressions in particular. Of course, I get to see Sepporah year round, but she continues to change so rapidly that I'm always discovering what she's about. I love how she can go from totally outgoing and physical one minute to contemplative and engrossed the next. I'm thinking of the way she stares at Kirsten when she's knitting and asks questions about the process. I wish Claire could have been with me this year (next year though!), because you guys really need to see them together. They are going to be an adorable and hilarious combo for a long time to come.

I've been noticing more and more how Scott and my mom are such powerful forces in the family in a quiet, non-flashy way. Scott loves the family traditions (Thursday night movie, Friday trip into town) and helps keep them alive. He doesn't make a lot of noise, but the older I get the more I see how devoted to his whole family Scott is and I hope I am learning from him in this way. Scott calls me to check in all the time. And I have a feeling I'm not the only one getting this treatment.

My mom is such a giving person. She is the one to take on the responsibility of the littlest children so that the rest of us can do the things we want without worrying. For one, she lets Sepporah sleep in her bed. This is a form of torture, so I wasn't surprised to see her dragging a little bit - but joyfully - by the end of the visit. And on Friday when we were all playing Catch Phrase, she was the one entertaining a toddler and two little kids in the other room so that we could play our game uninterrupted. I'm really thankful for that. My mom rules.

Let's talk about Matt and Chris and I. There's been some controversy about our ribbing each other on the blog. You all should know that we rib because we love! For instance, Matt and I annually have a 2-and-a-half-minute wrestling smackdown in Grandma's kitchen, which always somehow moves into the livingroom with Grandma and my mom following and shouting at us to please stop, every year. This year was no different (Matt schooled me, I'm not going to lie). But as soon as we get done punishing each other's bodies and dealing out injuries, we leave it on the field. There are no hard feelings. Consider it a life lesson for the rest of you.

But yeah, I love my brothers and their amazing families. I'm proud of both of them and happy to be the older brother they both look up to so much.

At first I wanted to say that Grandma and Grandpa might have been showing their age a bit more this year than in the past - Grandma stopped dying her hair and Grandpa's leg pain had him grimmacing a few times that I saw. But the truth is they're both as sharp and good looking as ever. Grandpa continued his recent streak of dashing casual wear (did anybody else peep that super GQ brown pullover he busted out!!!), and Grandma delivered, food-wise, as always. In fact, it was borderline gluttonous the way things went down.

It seemed like a lot of Thompsons are enjoying the blog, and the connectivity it provides. It's nice just to be reminded that you're part of a family. Especially one as vibrant and interesting as ours. I hope the next year we continue to use it and that everybody gets involved when they can.

One last note. Kirsten and I couldn't help but notice that the country house has a ton of room and places to sleep. We were thinking that those who can should meet there sometime when it's warmer, possibly this spring. We could all sleep out there and there is a large kitchen and living room area to play games. We'd also have access to Grandma and Grandpa's house obviously, as well as whatever fun stuff there is in Champaign. It'd be a good mix of country quiet and city features. I think spending three or four days there would be a ton of fun. I always come away from Thanksgiving feeling that two days is not enough so maybe a spring or summer visit would be something great to try this year. Think about it.

I love you all.

Daniel

New Game - Five Places I've Been

I need each of you to email me FIVE places that you have been/traveled to and WHY you liked/disliked it. FOUR need to be true and ONE needs to be a lie.

For those of you that sat out last round, we would really love to have you join in the fun.

Results - Two Truths and a Lie

Best Lie Detector - 57% - Daniel Johnson
Worst Lie Detector - 21% - Grandpa

Best Liars - 0 Correct Guesses- Chris Johnson, 0 - Jessica Johnson, 0 - Grandma
Worst Liar - 8 - Stephen Thompson

Overall Winner - Grandma
Overall Loser - Stephen & Nate Thompson (Nate due to not voting on a few)

Lies Revealed for Round 2

Here's the answer to the last round of Two Truths and a Lie. The "LIE" is in bold.

Mary Johnson

1 - When Matt and I were in Aruba we went offroading with a rental SUV and decided to go up a rough, rocky mountain. We got stuck the SUV stuck with all the wheels off the ground and had to push the SUV down off the rock, causing damage to the SVU in the process.

2 - A good friend of mine asked me to be a part of the home birth of her second child. I accepted and it was a crazy but amazing experience.

3 - While horseback riding in the countryside of France my horse sprinted away from the group. I couldn't understand what the French guide was saying to me and couldn't get the horse to stop. The horse weaved through the woods and took me far away from my group.


Nate Thompson

1. I have an "N" shaped scar on my right wrist that I received while trying to lift my old bulldog Sluggo into a bathtub.

2. As a consequence of my increased class hours this semester, I now routinely dream in numbers and variables, with my dreams consisting entirely of me trying to solve some imaginary equation or problems that gave me trouble in my homework that night.

3. I worked at Menards for a while pushing carts, and since I was relatively quiet most people had trouble remembering my name and often confused me with other people. I got tired of correcting them so I just went along with it. Depending on who you ask my name is Luke, Dave, Ryan, Mark, or Nate.


Trish Mueller

1. While in Switzerland a young man enjoyed himself at the village pub a bit too much and fell off his bunk in the middle of the night injuring himself. Some of the other residents called me to his room and with 100 eyes watching, a spelunking light on my head, crouched under the bottom bunk, and without a first aid kit of any type, I improvised and cleaned his many wounds and put his almost totally severed ear back and secured it by wrapping a clean shirt torn into strips around his head like a mummy. The following day we drove him 30 miles up the mountain to the closest physician who sutured the ear back in place, stitched his other open wounds, and set his broken bones.

2. Having one day off a week, yet wanting to see as much of Europe as I possibly could my friend and I rose way before dawn to cross the alps into Italy; destination Milan; goal to see the painting of “The Lord’s Supper” . Arriving at the church we discovered the only showing left with tickets was the last showing of the day. No problem lots to see and do and a great subway system to get us there! Day done and only minutest to spare, we sprinted off the subway into the train station to catch the train home. We were met by a party of several policemen who inspected our subway tickets. Not knowing you did not have to revalidate your subway ticket at every juncture we had macerated ticket stubs. The police decided to make us an example exposing our fraud of using the same ticket over and over (anyway we think that was what it was). Unable to communicate at all I finally comprehended the small sum of 50euro would get us off. Paying up we caught our train aware money is a universal tool/language.

3. The kids and I tagged along with Mark on a business trip to Boston. We saw the sights by day while he worked. (Very scary as I have no sense of direction) Catching a train back to return to the suburban location where we were staying we got on the wrong train. By the time I realized it we were very much in “the country”. We got off at the next stop. Bad move there was no real station, no real town, no taxi, no phone, and I did not have a cell phone. Not knowing what to do we started walking back the way we came along the railroad tracks. Much later a policeman saw us and stopped us telling us we couldn’t walk the tracks and also telling us he couldn’t drive us anywhere. Frantic to get my kids back before dark we disobeyed and got back on the tracks. If he arrested me I would get a phone call! Further down the road he stopped us, let us know he was risking getting in trouble, and drove us all the way back to the hotel.


Kristen Thompson

1. Kristen once boldly interrupted a circus act when the man pulled out a long knife as part of his magic act. She stood up and screamed at him to stop. It ruined his act.

2. Kristen's favorite time of year is the Fall and her favorite fall pastimes are visiting haunted houses, being scared, going to apple orchards, horseback riding, and cooking Pumpkin pies.

3. As a very small child, Kristen, on a long drive to her favorite apple orchard, boldly exclaimed while pointing to a distant field, "Hey, look--that's a Toro chipper vac!" And she was right.


Karen Thompson

1. Karen hooked her husband by pretending to hurt an ankle and having him carry her for a half mile. She felt it was important to test his true feelings by blatantly lying to him.

2. Karen has done all of the following by herself; Maytag repairs, set up our trailer, bought a house, bought a car, put in wood floors, fixed electrical, put in drywall and replaced a sump pump.

3. Karen once drove a Chevy Prism, full of women, over a rocky mountain pass in Utah--meant only for Jeeps. The pass connected 2 mountains, was on a ledge, and was a one way.


Matt Johnson

1) I was on the Department of Homeland Security watch list so when I flew, I had to show my ID at every check-in.

2) I was investigated by the IRS for tax evasion.

3) I had a warrant for my arrest issued in Missouri.

Thompson Mecca

Thompson Madness is going on holiday for the week. Thompsons everywhere will be in transit, en route to GG's house. I think I speak for everyone when I say, Can't Wait!

Daniel

The Thompson Questionnaire is Back!

Call him a bulldog-obsessed madman, call him an unsuccessful recluse, call him a man with the soul of a ranch hand in an ad exec's body. Just don't call him Steve. Ladies and gentlemen,

STEPHEN THOMPSON


Describe your hairstyle in two words or less.

Managed chaos.

What is your favorite song?

What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong version)

What is the last thing that totally blew your mind.

Karen asked for another cat.

How's your love life?

Well, after 30 years Karen still talks to me so that's a good sign.

If there's one dessert you could eat until it hurts, what would it be?

Doritos.

When is your bedtime?

When Karen asks me to help her fold the laundry.
Einstein said: "A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin. What else does a man need to be happy?" Customize this quote to fit yourself.

A happy wife, pencils and paint, and bulldogs. What else does a man need to be happy?
What is your most under appreciated attribute?

My gentle disposition.

What is your pet's name?

Lola, Otis, Elmo, Lily, Skyler and a cat to be named.

How much can you bench press?

1.5 pounds--what a bag of Doritos weighs.

Quick, how old are Betty and Leroy Thompson?

Old enough where one shouldn't ask.
And what are they really doing with all that free time?

I am pretty sure it has something to do with Polka.

Will you announce your candidacy this year?

Yes. I am a die-hard socialist and will be running for the neighborhood board. I want to outlaw any form of work done before 10:00 a.m. on Saturdays. I am tired of listening to Karen complain about the neighbors mowing their lawns a 7 a.m. Remember what I said about a happy wife? Well, if she aint happy, aint nobody happy.

Another Artist in the Family

I just saw this on Gabe's MySpace and poached it. Awesome!

Claire Models My New Fake Polaroid Camera

Polaroid is going the way of the polar bear in the age of digital cameras. Maybe it was a concern for relevance that led them to develop, and give away for free, a new computer application that takes your digital pictures and processes them so that they look like old-fashioned Polaroids. I love this ap. Claire was my test-subject Sunday. Here she is at a nature-themed birthday party that involved a walk through the woods for the children led by a nature guide.