"To tha HOOP, y'all!"

Hi folks, Wendi here. I know Matt and I haven't been participating in the March Madness activities, but I thought I would submit the following link for your enjoyment (sorry, couldn't post the video directly on the blog -- also, there's a commercial you have to sit through first).

OK, Kurtis Blow is singing about professional basketball as opposed to college, but hey -- the spirit is there. And the breakdancing is cool too. :-)

Enjoy!

The Skype's the Limit - I.M. serious!

This is Jeff writing:
As we all know, the internet is the greatest invention since orange juice flavored breakfast cereal(thanks, Al Gore) and it is high time the Foster Clan started using the "net" to it's full potential.

I recently took part in a 5 way "Skype" session with many members of Angie's family and it was a blast. It was like we were all in one room chatting, instant messaging, watching family videos and having some laughs. It was awesome! For the uninitiated, Skype(and I'm sure there are other services) is totally free and allows you to have a video conversation with 1 other computer, or an audio only conference call conversation with up to 5 computers-and it's all for free! That's right, totally free. Skype makes it's money by charging to call real phone lines from your computer. All you need to use Skype is a computer, high-speed internet connection and a microphone and/or webcam. It's possible to get a half-way decent webcam with built-in mic for under $50!

So here is my full proposal:
1. All Foster family households purchase a mic and/or webcam.
2. All households download Skype and sign up for an account at skype.com and clicking on "download." It's totally free and easy to set up and use. After you get signed up, you can add friends and family members to your contacts and then calling them is a piece of cake.
3. We all enjoy talking to each other(not conference calls, though) using our "video" phones whenever we want. It will be like StarTrek.
4. Once a month on a Sunday evening (maybe the 1st Sunday of the month?) Adam goes to Drew and Kristen's and Matt and Wendi go to Mom and Dad's and we all have a super fun Skype session. Everyone could take turns updating everyone else on events and we could discuss family plans, debate heated political issues(or not) and crack some funny jokes. The dynamic of having everyone able to converse as if we were sitting around the dining room table in Denver is really cool, trust me.

I really think that this could be a fun way to stay in touch and enjoy each other's company more often than when we can all get together in person, which distance and schedules make difficult. I don't think this should or will replace the blogs. In fact, it will enhance them because it will increase communication and give more reason to post thoughts for discussion and video and pictures for sharing. I have some more specific ideas about how to structure our monthly sessions, but I will leave that for another time. Please comment on this post to let me know what you think.

Jeff(not Mark)