Well, another year has come and gone. It's hard to believe. Each year seems to go by faster than the last. And when you look back, it's amazing to see just how much your life changes in that year.
With the new year comes the proverbial New Years Resolutions. I always thought that resolutions were a good thing, but I have noticed a trend when it comes to the New Year. It seems that each year it's the SAME thing. Get in shape, eat healthier, get out of debt, blah, blah blah blah. And it always ends up the same. You last for about 2-3 weeks, and then it's back to the same old grind. It seems to me that New Years Resolutions never seem to stick. Am I right, or am I right, or am I right?
So my plan this year is the same as it was last year---to not make any resolutions. The way I see it, if you find yourself needing to change, why wait until the new year? Why not just start now? I did the same thing last year, and it worked out great. I never felt guilty for breaking a resolution 2 weeks into it, and I found that I could just find new or different ways to improve whenever I needed to. I found I could improve myself not just because the clock was ticking into a new year and telling me I had to, but because I wanted to.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Christmas came a little early!
knite20 just had a new addition to their family this week. She is quite the cutie! We wish them all the best with their newest addition to the family! We love you guys! Give us a holler if you need anything at all!
Saturday, December 16, 2006
The 12 Days of Christmas
The Wife surprised me with a little something different this year. The other day I find this present with a tag that says, "On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me....."
She done and did the '12 days of Christmas' on me! How sweet is that?? I love that woman!
So, in honor of this joyous occasion, I will be updating the blog with each day of Christmas. Stay tuned!
Here is where I stand so for:
1. Pirates of the Carribean 2 DVD
2. Two beef sticks
3. Three little notes from each of the family, including Chunk and Petunia
4. Four GooGoo Supremes (Chocolate, Pecan, Caramel) Yummmm
5. Five Candy Bars! (100 Grands to be specific)
6. Six Pairs of Socks
7. Seven Homade Brownies
8. Eight Garage Storage Hooks
9. Nine Holes of Golf
10. 'Ten Cow' wife, from Johnny Lingo!
11. Eleven cans of soda
12. Twelve music downloads
She done and did the '12 days of Christmas' on me! How sweet is that?? I love that woman!
So, in honor of this joyous occasion, I will be updating the blog with each day of Christmas. Stay tuned!
Here is where I stand so for:
1. Pirates of the Carribean 2 DVD
2. Two beef sticks
3. Three little notes from each of the family, including Chunk and Petunia
4. Four GooGoo Supremes (Chocolate, Pecan, Caramel) Yummmm
5. Five Candy Bars! (100 Grands to be specific)
6. Six Pairs of Socks
7. Seven Homade Brownies
8. Eight Garage Storage Hooks
9. Nine Holes of Golf
10. 'Ten Cow' wife, from Johnny Lingo!
11. Eleven cans of soda
12. Twelve music downloads
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Fun little Website found
A coworker of mine showed me this cool little website. It is called GiveawayOfTheDay.com. Every day there is a new fully licensed program that you can download for FREE. The only catch is that it is free for that day only. I have downloaded screensavers and some fun little utilities. They even have games, too.
Blogging will be light for the remainder of the year because of deadlines at work and the Christmas holiday. The family is doing well and Petunia can't wait to open her Christmas presents. We know because she already opened some of them once already. We had to re-wrap and hide them. She's forgotten about them anyway, so it was no big deal. Kinda funny, though. This will be a fun Christmas for us. Hope it will be for you too!
Merry Christmas!
Blogging will be light for the remainder of the year because of deadlines at work and the Christmas holiday. The family is doing well and Petunia can't wait to open her Christmas presents. We know because she already opened some of them once already. We had to re-wrap and hide them. She's forgotten about them anyway, so it was no big deal. Kinda funny, though. This will be a fun Christmas for us. Hope it will be for you too!
Merry Christmas!
Friday, November 24, 2006
'Tis the Season
Well, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It is always great to be with the family this time of year. Good food, good fun. We spent the day with my family, then came up to The Wife's family for the night and day after festivities. I made a chocolate fudge pecan pie courtesy of knite20 and it was a hit at both families!
The Wife got up at 3:30 this morning to go with her sisters for the door buster sales at Wal-Mart and Shopko. They always go just for the fun of it, to watch the people fight over the latest toys. But every so often, they actually find some good deals. And this year was no exception. She saw some ads for a mountain bike for less than $40 and was able to snatch two of them! We have been talking about getting some good bikes for the family that we can hitch a jogger stroller to for the summer, and now we can! She is enjoying the fruits of her labors now by going back to bed.
The family is doing well. Chunk is now eating mush, and is getting better at sleeping, but we are still waiting for the day he sleeps all the way through the night. Petunia LOVES the Christmas lights that are starting to show up on houses all over the neighborhood. We put up the Christmas tree this week just so she could enjoy the lights a little early then have it there when we come home from Thanksgiving.
We love this time of year! Hope you do too!
The Wife got up at 3:30 this morning to go with her sisters for the door buster sales at Wal-Mart and Shopko. They always go just for the fun of it, to watch the people fight over the latest toys. But every so often, they actually find some good deals. And this year was no exception. She saw some ads for a mountain bike for less than $40 and was able to snatch two of them! We have been talking about getting some good bikes for the family that we can hitch a jogger stroller to for the summer, and now we can! She is enjoying the fruits of her labors now by going back to bed.
The family is doing well. Chunk is now eating mush, and is getting better at sleeping, but we are still waiting for the day he sleeps all the way through the night. Petunia LOVES the Christmas lights that are starting to show up on houses all over the neighborhood. We put up the Christmas tree this week just so she could enjoy the lights a little early then have it there when we come home from Thanksgiving.
We love this time of year! Hope you do too!
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Airport Oddity
I was sitting in the Austin airport awaiting my flight back home, and I noticed some unusual activity a few gates down. I noticed some airport security standing around and what appeared to be very bright lights shining in the terminal (the lights were noticeable because it was raining pretty heavily outside, and definitely not bright enought to be sunlight).
As I moved a bit closer, I noticed a bunch of film equipment and the lights were such that it appeared they turned the terminal into a movie set. I am always fascinated with that stuff, and having plenty of time before I had to board the plane, I watched closely for a while as they were setting up the scene. It appeared they were filming a scene where 4 school friends were getting off the plane.
I didn't recognize any actors, but the director was Quentin Tarantino. I only know him from reading all about him in the entertainment world, and from seeing him in some TV cameos. Here is a photo from my camera phone, not very good quality ('cruddy-cam'), but he is the one sitting up on the camera boom.
It's not every day you see a movie being filmed in an airport.
As I moved a bit closer, I noticed a bunch of film equipment and the lights were such that it appeared they turned the terminal into a movie set. I am always fascinated with that stuff, and having plenty of time before I had to board the plane, I watched closely for a while as they were setting up the scene. It appeared they were filming a scene where 4 school friends were getting off the plane.
I didn't recognize any actors, but the director was Quentin Tarantino. I only know him from reading all about him in the entertainment world, and from seeing him in some TV cameos. Here is a photo from my camera phone, not very good quality ('cruddy-cam'), but he is the one sitting up on the camera boom.
It's not every day you see a movie being filmed in an airport.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Bueller? Bueller?
Wow. Could I BE any worse at blogging? You'd think I was the Ferris Bueller of blogging. In a way, I guess I am. Maybe I thought I could never top the Hamster entry. I don't know. At any rate, life has been pretty crazy lately, and I finally have a minute to fill you in.
Right now I am sitting in a hotel room in Austin, TX attending a conference for work. Just got off the phone with The Wife who is back visiting her family in my absense and she tells me that Chunk is quite the mover. He can now roll over from back to tummy. She says he's been doing it over and over and he won't sit still long enough for her to change his diaper even! Boy, I am sad I missed that. Luckily, this travel thing is not a regular part of the job. I missed the conference last year, and I don't know if they send us back every year or if it is just a select few. So far it is good, but I am missing home badly. I seriously don't know how people can do this for a living. I still haven't recovered from my training travels back in April.
The thing to do in Austin is to watch the Congress Avenue bats. You'd think it isn't such a big deal, but seeing is believing. According to BCI (Bat Conservation International), this is the largest urban bat colony in the world. At dusk, over a million bats fly out from under this bridge every night to feed. I thought it was impressive in April, but October is even better. There are twice as many bats because the mommy bats take the baby bats out with them. I never thought i'd see a swarm of bats in my lifetime, and it really is quite awesome.
What else....What else....Oh, I did turn another year older since my last entry. The Wife and I had an actual 'date' that night sans BOTH kids for a couple of hours. It was nice. Very nice. Really nice. We had a wonderful dinner out on the town. Best birthday present ever. You need to do that once in a while. It makes you appreciate each other even more.
Well, it is late for me, with the time difference and all, so that'll do for now. As Ferris once said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
Right now I am sitting in a hotel room in Austin, TX attending a conference for work. Just got off the phone with The Wife who is back visiting her family in my absense and she tells me that Chunk is quite the mover. He can now roll over from back to tummy. She says he's been doing it over and over and he won't sit still long enough for her to change his diaper even! Boy, I am sad I missed that. Luckily, this travel thing is not a regular part of the job. I missed the conference last year, and I don't know if they send us back every year or if it is just a select few. So far it is good, but I am missing home badly. I seriously don't know how people can do this for a living. I still haven't recovered from my training travels back in April.
The thing to do in Austin is to watch the Congress Avenue bats. You'd think it isn't such a big deal, but seeing is believing. According to BCI (Bat Conservation International), this is the largest urban bat colony in the world. At dusk, over a million bats fly out from under this bridge every night to feed. I thought it was impressive in April, but October is even better. There are twice as many bats because the mommy bats take the baby bats out with them. I never thought i'd see a swarm of bats in my lifetime, and it really is quite awesome.
What else....What else....Oh, I did turn another year older since my last entry. The Wife and I had an actual 'date' that night sans BOTH kids for a couple of hours. It was nice. Very nice. Really nice. We had a wonderful dinner out on the town. Best birthday present ever. You need to do that once in a while. It makes you appreciate each other even more.
Well, it is late for me, with the time difference and all, so that'll do for now. As Ferris once said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
Monday, October 02, 2006
Productivity Enhancer
Dave Barry recently posted a link to a 'Productivity Enhancer', which simply means he found a fun little flash game on the internet. Well, I found it quite entertaining, and, well, addicting, so I just had to shared the joy:
Flight of the hamsters
Don't say I didn't warn you.
UPDATE: I set a new record today: 634 feet total, including one flight of 293 feet!
UPDATE: I have been a couple of days Hamster-free, and just decided to try again for fun tonight. Get this: 842 feet! The first flight was a whopping 375! The key is hitting those rockets just right.
Flight of the hamsters
Don't say I didn't warn you.
UPDATE: I set a new record today: 634 feet total, including one flight of 293 feet!
UPDATE: I have been a couple of days Hamster-free, and just decided to try again for fun tonight. Get this: 842 feet! The first flight was a whopping 375! The key is hitting those rockets just right.
Friday, September 22, 2006
Kabab-o-rific!
Last night we had some good times. We got together with knite20 and some of The Wife's old college roommates and had dinner. But it was no ordinary dinner! Oh, no....It was Kabab night! We grill up these shish-kababs made of tri-tip steak, mushrooms, onions, potatoes, peppers, zuchini, and a marindate that it out of this world!
And for dessert, we grill up a whole pineapple with vanilla bean lime marinade.
Kaba-o-rific, indeed!
And for dessert, we grill up a whole pineapple with vanilla bean lime marinade.
Kaba-o-rific, indeed!
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Talk-Like-A-Pirate Day! Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Ahoy, Mateys. It be Talk-Like-A-Pirate Day. I jus discoverrrrrrred me pirate name, and ye can tooooooo.
Avast!
My pirate name is:
Dirty Davy Flint
You're the pirate everyone else wants to throw in the ocean -- not to get rid of you, you understand; just to get rid of the smell. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!
Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network
Avast!
My pirate name is:
Dirty Davy Flint
You're the pirate everyone else wants to throw in the ocean -- not to get rid of you, you understand; just to get rid of the smell. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!
Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network
Sunday, September 17, 2006
It's a Festivus Miracle!
For the first time in I don't know how many weeks, Petunia actually made it all the way through nursery without me and The Wife having to be within a 50 foot radius! We actually got to enjoy Sunday School and Priesthood/Relief Society. Granted, as time went by, we kept wondering, "They are going to come and get us any minute now...." with a screaming girl in tow, but it never happened. Sacrament meeting was still an adventure in keeping her occupied, but we are so thankful for small miracles.
We were in Ferron, UT this weekend for a family reunion (my in-laws). It was a fun little road trip for us, but we are glad to be home. We stayed at Camp Bert, which is this 'compound' originally built in the late 1990's by some religious group that claimed the world was going to end in 2002. When that didn't happen, they sold it, and now it is a hotel, of sorts. We stayed in a small room that felt like we were a part of a polygamous family. Central Utah is known for that kinda thing. There was a huge kitchen and dining room area, and a 'chapel', that has been converted to a huge rec room, with a big screen TV. The organ and podium are still there, which was kinda creepy, but it was fun to get away. Petunia had fun with the cousins and there was no shortage of hands to hold Chunk. We were grateful for the little reprieve.
All-in-all, a good weekend. Can't wait for the next one!
We were in Ferron, UT this weekend for a family reunion (my in-laws). It was a fun little road trip for us, but we are glad to be home. We stayed at Camp Bert, which is this 'compound' originally built in the late 1990's by some religious group that claimed the world was going to end in 2002. When that didn't happen, they sold it, and now it is a hotel, of sorts. We stayed in a small room that felt like we were a part of a polygamous family. Central Utah is known for that kinda thing. There was a huge kitchen and dining room area, and a 'chapel', that has been converted to a huge rec room, with a big screen TV. The organ and podium are still there, which was kinda creepy, but it was fun to get away. Petunia had fun with the cousins and there was no shortage of hands to hold Chunk. We were grateful for the little reprieve.
All-in-all, a good weekend. Can't wait for the next one!
Monday, September 04, 2006
Chunk's Day
Yesterday was a great day for the family. Chunk was blessed in church, which is an important event for us in our church. I was a nervous wreck all weekend, just because of all the preparations, but everything turned out just fine. I am so glad for the extra day off. The house is still in pretty decent shape, so The Wife and I are just planning on a nice relaxing day. We'll run down to RC Willey for free hot dogs and soft drinks for lunch, grab one last Snowie for the summer, and probably watch a movie while Petunia and Chunk nap. That's a nice way to end the summer, I think. Just by being together.
UPDATE: Well, the movie didn't happen, but we thought it would be fun to go out to a park for Petunia. We found one in Kaysville called 'Castle Heights' or something like that. Petunia had a great time in the swings and climbing in the playground. We are definitely going back there again soon.
UPDATE: Well, the movie didn't happen, but we thought it would be fun to go out to a park for Petunia. We found one in Kaysville called 'Castle Heights' or something like that. Petunia had a great time in the swings and climbing in the playground. We are definitely going back there again soon.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Presidential Buzz
President Bush is in town. That is always a big deal around here. We got an email today about changes to the traffic downtown tomorrow as he speaks to the American Legion convention and visits Church Headquarters. Roads will be closed and i'm sure traffic will be a mess.
That's OK, though. Tonight I witnessed quite a sight. I knew that Air Force One was going to be touching down tonight sometime, and I am one who is quite fond of aviation. I love to watch airplanes, big and small. As I was puttering outside, unloading the van, taking the garbage out, etc...I saw an aircraft approaching in the distance. This is not an uncommon sight where I live, simply because our neighborhood is directly in the flight path of the Salt Lake International Airport.
On a hunch, I wondered if this was, in fact, Air Force One. As it approached, I noticed that the tail was illuminated so you could see the American flag. Sure enough! It was indeed Air Force One! It came in very low, lower than regular commericial aircraft and it flew directly over our house! I was pretty impressed. For one, we just don't see 747's in Utah. And second, it was POTUS! ("President of the United States" for short--for you non Tom Clancy fans) Too bad our digital camera didn't have batteries!
That's OK, though. Tonight I witnessed quite a sight. I knew that Air Force One was going to be touching down tonight sometime, and I am one who is quite fond of aviation. I love to watch airplanes, big and small. As I was puttering outside, unloading the van, taking the garbage out, etc...I saw an aircraft approaching in the distance. This is not an uncommon sight where I live, simply because our neighborhood is directly in the flight path of the Salt Lake International Airport.
On a hunch, I wondered if this was, in fact, Air Force One. As it approached, I noticed that the tail was illuminated so you could see the American flag. Sure enough! It was indeed Air Force One! It came in very low, lower than regular commericial aircraft and it flew directly over our house! I was pretty impressed. For one, we just don't see 747's in Utah. And second, it was POTUS! ("President of the United States" for short--for you non Tom Clancy fans) Too bad our digital camera didn't have batteries!
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Noisy Neighbors
It probably isn't appropriate to blog on the Sabbath, but I have to vent some frustration. Plus, both Petunia and Chunk have a bit of the sniffles, so we both decided to keep them away from spreading the wealth at church.
We've always had a struggle with one of our neighbors and their loud parties in the past. On a regular basis, they always invite friends over and sit out on their back deck to visit, which we have a direct line of sight (and sound) to from our upstairs. Last night was no exception. They actually started early around 8:00 PM and had kids jumping on the tramp making all kinds of noises. While this didn't necessarily bug us, the weather cooled down enough to allow us to finally open some windows for some fresh air, and the noise was especially loud.
The party continued well into the night, with people yelling, laughing loud, and dropping all sorts of F-bombs and other vulgarities. The Wife would try to yell out the window for them to please keep it down, but either they didn't hear us, or just plain ignored us (the most likely scenario). Just after midnight, The Wife and I just couldn't take it anymore. I stormed over there (fearing for my life because of the caliber of individuals involved) and told them as nice as I could to please keep it down. The resident feigned ignorance ("What? Too noisy? I had no idea!"..Please!) He didn't even apologize, but I came away unscathed and relieved that no other confrontation took place.
It was effective to a point, because soon after my return, they all went inside (or so we thought). It was quiet for about 5 minutes, and then we heard the same annoying chatter coming from the FRONT of their house, as loud as ever.
That was the last straw. We called police dispatch to report a disturbance of the peace, and I watched intently for the cops arrival. It was just our luck that the front sprinklers came on and drove them all inside. Around 1 AM I saw a cop car pull into our neighborhood and park a few houses down, lights off, so as to not raise suspicion, then watched intently as the officer approached the house. I wasn't in a position to hear if he actually made contact with the people inside, but it did my heart good to know that they were on the case. It must have either been a slow night for the police or serious enough to call for backup, because I saw another squad car arrive and meet up with the first officer. They spent some time chatting in their squad cars, then one of them drove by, spotlighting the cars parked in front to check things out, but no other activity ensued (thank goodness) and the police left. Shortly after 1:30, the party broke up and everyone left, leaving our neighborhood quiet and peaceful once again.
Surprisingly enough, both Petunia and Chunk slept through all of this.
I love our neighborhood, with the exception of these characters. Every neighborhood has people like them. The wife and I admit that we are homebodies. We don't do alot of socializing around the neighborhood, which is fine by us. I consider myself one who goes the extra mile to make people feel comfortable and at ease, and I guess I just don't understand why people can be so inconsiderate sometimes. That really gets to me. In a way, I'm glad we did what we did, because I did something that I never thought i'd have to do. I guess it's good to get out of your comfort zone every once in a while. When it happens again (and I can guarantee it will), I don't think I'll be the least bit nervous about reporting them again. Hopefully, they'll get a clue.
We've always had a struggle with one of our neighbors and their loud parties in the past. On a regular basis, they always invite friends over and sit out on their back deck to visit, which we have a direct line of sight (and sound) to from our upstairs. Last night was no exception. They actually started early around 8:00 PM and had kids jumping on the tramp making all kinds of noises. While this didn't necessarily bug us, the weather cooled down enough to allow us to finally open some windows for some fresh air, and the noise was especially loud.
The party continued well into the night, with people yelling, laughing loud, and dropping all sorts of F-bombs and other vulgarities. The Wife would try to yell out the window for them to please keep it down, but either they didn't hear us, or just plain ignored us (the most likely scenario). Just after midnight, The Wife and I just couldn't take it anymore. I stormed over there (fearing for my life because of the caliber of individuals involved) and told them as nice as I could to please keep it down. The resident feigned ignorance ("What? Too noisy? I had no idea!"..Please!) He didn't even apologize, but I came away unscathed and relieved that no other confrontation took place.
It was effective to a point, because soon after my return, they all went inside (or so we thought). It was quiet for about 5 minutes, and then we heard the same annoying chatter coming from the FRONT of their house, as loud as ever.
That was the last straw. We called police dispatch to report a disturbance of the peace, and I watched intently for the cops arrival. It was just our luck that the front sprinklers came on and drove them all inside. Around 1 AM I saw a cop car pull into our neighborhood and park a few houses down, lights off, so as to not raise suspicion, then watched intently as the officer approached the house. I wasn't in a position to hear if he actually made contact with the people inside, but it did my heart good to know that they were on the case. It must have either been a slow night for the police or serious enough to call for backup, because I saw another squad car arrive and meet up with the first officer. They spent some time chatting in their squad cars, then one of them drove by, spotlighting the cars parked in front to check things out, but no other activity ensued (thank goodness) and the police left. Shortly after 1:30, the party broke up and everyone left, leaving our neighborhood quiet and peaceful once again.
Surprisingly enough, both Petunia and Chunk slept through all of this.
I love our neighborhood, with the exception of these characters. Every neighborhood has people like them. The wife and I admit that we are homebodies. We don't do alot of socializing around the neighborhood, which is fine by us. I consider myself one who goes the extra mile to make people feel comfortable and at ease, and I guess I just don't understand why people can be so inconsiderate sometimes. That really gets to me. In a way, I'm glad we did what we did, because I did something that I never thought i'd have to do. I guess it's good to get out of your comfort zone every once in a while. When it happens again (and I can guarantee it will), I don't think I'll be the least bit nervous about reporting them again. Hopefully, they'll get a clue.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Busy Busy Busy
Wow! This week just FLEW by. We had stuff going on all week, and before we knew it, it's the weekend. I picked up my brother-in-law at the airport (coming home from a business trip to India). He had quite the time getting back--20 hours in flight from Bombay, Mumbai, Amsterdam, St. Paul, to Salt Lake City. I couldn't help but think of The Amazing Race. Don't ask me why.
We had dinner with Rainbow and a few other friends, which was very nice. Rainbow is heading off to England to work on her masters degree. This blog wishes her, hubby and Hershey all the best!
I started a new project at work, which is going to be keeping me extremely busy. On top of that, I got a brand new laptop, so I have been having fun getting it all setup for this project. By the end of today, I was finally making progress, and now I am blogging from it while The Wife and I watch the season finale of Psych. Funny show. The windows are open and it is finally cooling down a little bit outside. Petunia and Chunk are sleeping soundly, and we are waiting for Chunk's next feeding time before we all settle down for the night.
Nothing too exciting for the weekend, just cleaning house and doing some yard work. Fun stuff.
Well, I spoke too soon....It looks like Chunk just woke up, so I best get ready for burping duty.
We had dinner with Rainbow and a few other friends, which was very nice. Rainbow is heading off to England to work on her masters degree. This blog wishes her, hubby and Hershey all the best!
I started a new project at work, which is going to be keeping me extremely busy. On top of that, I got a brand new laptop, so I have been having fun getting it all setup for this project. By the end of today, I was finally making progress, and now I am blogging from it while The Wife and I watch the season finale of Psych. Funny show. The windows are open and it is finally cooling down a little bit outside. Petunia and Chunk are sleeping soundly, and we are waiting for Chunk's next feeding time before we all settle down for the night.
Nothing too exciting for the weekend, just cleaning house and doing some yard work. Fun stuff.
Well, I spoke too soon....It looks like Chunk just woke up, so I best get ready for burping duty.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Petunia's Birthday!
Today is Petunia's birthday. I don't think she has any idea what is going on, but she seems excited anyway. This morning we put some new bed sheets from Grandma and Grandmpa on her 'Big Girl' bed and she loved the pillow. Soon we will start weaning her from the crib (or 'the baby bed' as we are starting to call it), so we are getting her used to the idea now.
I just finished wrapping her presents (a bubble blowing toy, some peek-a-blocks, and a book), so we should be set. I still need to put together her tricycle, but it is in the van, and The Wife took it so she could pick up some baloons while Petunia is napping. The Peaches are coming over for some hamburgers and cake later (and hopefully some XBox time, if the ladies permit).
I can't believe she is two! Time sure flies. She is really growing up too fast. Before we know it we will be celebrating Chunk's birthday!
Speaking of Chunk, he smiled for the first time yesterday. Yes, he's smiled before, but this time it had nothing to do with gas. He only does it in the morning first thing, but it sure is fun to see!
This week we are having dinner with Rainbow and some other friends in Salt Lake, so I am looking forward to a night out on the town. We haven't eaten out in a long time, so this will be a nice treat.
My Virtual Villagers are doing well. I have about 78 of them and have solved 10 of the puzzles. The Wife's villagers aren't doing so good. They just don't seem to want to do much of anything. Oh, well. That's the nature of the game I guess.
I just finished wrapping her presents (a bubble blowing toy, some peek-a-blocks, and a book), so we should be set. I still need to put together her tricycle, but it is in the van, and The Wife took it so she could pick up some baloons while Petunia is napping. The Peaches are coming over for some hamburgers and cake later (and hopefully some XBox time, if the ladies permit).
I can't believe she is two! Time sure flies. She is really growing up too fast. Before we know it we will be celebrating Chunk's birthday!
Speaking of Chunk, he smiled for the first time yesterday. Yes, he's smiled before, but this time it had nothing to do with gas. He only does it in the morning first thing, but it sure is fun to see!
This week we are having dinner with Rainbow and some other friends in Salt Lake, so I am looking forward to a night out on the town. We haven't eaten out in a long time, so this will be a nice treat.
My Virtual Villagers are doing well. I have about 78 of them and have solved 10 of the puzzles. The Wife's villagers aren't doing so good. They just don't seem to want to do much of anything. Oh, well. That's the nature of the game I guess.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Home Alone
The wife and kids decided to go to Tremonton for a few days to visit family before they go back to school for the year. My mother-in-law is a teacher and my sis-in-law goes to college, so she thought it would be nice to spend some time up there. Plus, she'll have some extra hands to hold Chunk.
That leaves me here home alone. But it has been nice and productive. I've been able to clean the house a bit without Hurricane Petunia messing it up behind me. So, at least for now, things will be in order. Plus, i've been able to relax a bit. I wasn't feeling very good last night, so I went to bed WAY early and was able to get a full night's sleep. I feel much better today, and I know that sleep helped. I love my wife dearly!
And, it's not all work around here. I've had time to cook my dinner (from My Girlfriend's Kitchen) work on the Blog (do you like the new title?), checkup on some other blogs, play with my Virtual Villagers, watch some of my Tivo'd shows (The 4400 has been exceptionally good this season), and just relaxed. I don't know if i'll even have time to play XBox. If I don't, no big deal. Did I tell you that I love my wife dearly? I owe her big time for this!
Being home alone has its pluses, but I am also realizing just how much I miss the fam. I know The Wife won't believe this, but it's true. By this time, I would have watched an episode of The Little Einsteins with Petunia (her favorite show) and read her stories before sending her to bed. I would have burped Chunk at least three or four times by now, and I would have spent some good quality time with my dear sweet wife. I miss that. I feel like i'm on a business trip, yet, sleeping in our house. Weird. Good thing i'm going up there tomorrow to pick them up. One more day of this, and I would have gone crazy.
That leaves me here home alone. But it has been nice and productive. I've been able to clean the house a bit without Hurricane Petunia messing it up behind me. So, at least for now, things will be in order. Plus, i've been able to relax a bit. I wasn't feeling very good last night, so I went to bed WAY early and was able to get a full night's sleep. I feel much better today, and I know that sleep helped. I love my wife dearly!
And, it's not all work around here. I've had time to cook my dinner (from My Girlfriend's Kitchen) work on the Blog (do you like the new title?), checkup on some other blogs, play with my Virtual Villagers, watch some of my Tivo'd shows (The 4400 has been exceptionally good this season), and just relaxed. I don't know if i'll even have time to play XBox. If I don't, no big deal. Did I tell you that I love my wife dearly? I owe her big time for this!
Being home alone has its pluses, but I am also realizing just how much I miss the fam. I know The Wife won't believe this, but it's true. By this time, I would have watched an episode of The Little Einsteins with Petunia (her favorite show) and read her stories before sending her to bed. I would have burped Chunk at least three or four times by now, and I would have spent some good quality time with my dear sweet wife. I miss that. I feel like i'm on a business trip, yet, sleeping in our house. Weird. Good thing i'm going up there tomorrow to pick them up. One more day of this, and I would have gone crazy.
Friday, August 11, 2006
The weekend!
We made it to the weekend! How glorious! And, what's more, Petunia went to Grandma and Grandpa's yesterday afternoon, so my wife had time to focus on Chunk. She naps when he naps and just relaxes.
Petunia loves it in Huntsville. She plays in the park, pets the horses, jumps on the trampoline and has an all-around good time. She was worn out, though, because she slept for 12 hours. That was nice for me and the wife.
In other news, we downloaded a very addicting game yesterday. It is called Virtual Villagers. It's kind of a cross between Lost and The Sims. You are trying to establish this new civilization on an island, and train them in farming, construction, etc... Very fun.
Petunia loves it in Huntsville. She plays in the park, pets the horses, jumps on the trampoline and has an all-around good time. She was worn out, though, because she slept for 12 hours. That was nice for me and the wife.
In other news, we downloaded a very addicting game yesterday. It is called Virtual Villagers. It's kind of a cross between Lost and The Sims. You are trying to establish this new civilization on an island, and train them in farming, construction, etc... Very fun.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Burning the midnight oil
After more than two months of agonizing over an issue at work with one of my projects, we were finally successful in upgrading it. It required us to do some work in the middle of the night (which was just completed-hence this very early post), and I just had to blog about it. Aside from a few minor glitches, it appears to be working! I won't bore you with the details because if I did, you would do like my wife does and just nod your head with feigned interest.
A lot of people have put in long hours to make this a success. Even though we never did nail down what the exact problem was, we found a way to make it work regardless, and I am very pleased with the results. I'm sure the Lord had His hand in making it happen when it did. Looking back on it, maybe there was a reason why it wasn't supposed to work the first time. But I am sure glad it works now. Now I can move on to other new and exciting projects without this monkey on my back. I'm sure that feeling is mutual among all members of the team.
I didn't even have to set my alarm to get up at this early hour, because our son decided he was hungry at about the same time. He's my backup alarm clock!
Well, hopefully I can get a few more hours of sleep before heading into work again. This can only be described as the "Sigh heard 'round the world".
A lot of people have put in long hours to make this a success. Even though we never did nail down what the exact problem was, we found a way to make it work regardless, and I am very pleased with the results. I'm sure the Lord had His hand in making it happen when it did. Looking back on it, maybe there was a reason why it wasn't supposed to work the first time. But I am sure glad it works now. Now I can move on to other new and exciting projects without this monkey on my back. I'm sure that feeling is mutual among all members of the team.
I didn't even have to set my alarm to get up at this early hour, because our son decided he was hungry at about the same time. He's my backup alarm clock!
Well, hopefully I can get a few more hours of sleep before heading into work again. This can only be described as the "Sigh heard 'round the world".
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Putter Day
It's been a busy week, and I realized that it has been a long time since my last entry. 6 days in blog-world is a long time.
Today has been a putter day. Done a lot of things around the house. We always make a list of things to do, but never seem to quite get all of them done. There is something about crossing things off a list that feels good. Weeded the garden (which was a monumental task--we've basically ignored our garden this year because we've wanted to finish the basement), cleaned the house a little, went to the library, played in the sprinklers with Petunia. I still need to balance our checkbook. Oh, well. It'll happen eventually.
Just noticing outside the window that there is a good amount of lightning going on. It is so fun to watch the weather change around here.
Family is doing well. Can't believe our baby is already over 3 weeks old! His night feedings continue, and Tivo has been a big help. We Tivo shows that we can watch during his feeding so we can stay awake. I found one that was most interesting. It was on ESPN called 'The World Series of Darts'. I was fascinated at how accurate these guys can be! One of my posts will be devoted to our Tivo watchings, so look forward to that.
Well, it's late, and for ONCE both kids are asleep at THE SAME TIME. So this is prime sleeping time.
Today has been a putter day. Done a lot of things around the house. We always make a list of things to do, but never seem to quite get all of them done. There is something about crossing things off a list that feels good. Weeded the garden (which was a monumental task--we've basically ignored our garden this year because we've wanted to finish the basement), cleaned the house a little, went to the library, played in the sprinklers with Petunia. I still need to balance our checkbook. Oh, well. It'll happen eventually.
Just noticing outside the window that there is a good amount of lightning going on. It is so fun to watch the weather change around here.
Family is doing well. Can't believe our baby is already over 3 weeks old! His night feedings continue, and Tivo has been a big help. We Tivo shows that we can watch during his feeding so we can stay awake. I found one that was most interesting. It was on ESPN called 'The World Series of Darts'. I was fascinated at how accurate these guys can be! One of my posts will be devoted to our Tivo watchings, so look forward to that.
Well, it's late, and for ONCE both kids are asleep at THE SAME TIME. So this is prime sleeping time.
Monday, July 31, 2006
New look, etc.
Things probably look a bit different on the blog. I am just playing around with different templates and trying to find one I like. This one fits a little bit better.
I wouldn't want to waste a good post on just that, so here is a family update.
We are adjusting well to a newborn. He seems to not like his bassonet very much at night, so we tried putting him in his bouncy-seat and he only woke up once! Well, once before I had to get up and go to work, then he woke up again soon after I left, so it was twice for my wife, but it wasn't too bad. He is a good kid.
I wouldn't want to waste a good post on just that, so here is a family update.
We are adjusting well to a newborn. He seems to not like his bassonet very much at night, so we tried putting him in his bouncy-seat and he only woke up once! Well, once before I had to get up and go to work, then he woke up again soon after I left, so it was twice for my wife, but it wasn't too bad. He is a good kid.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Family Addition
So, we just had a new baby boy join our family! Our big boy joined us on July 13th, weighing in at 9 lbs 15 oz and a whopping 23 inches long! We went to his 2 week appointment this week and he gained another half pound! We've given him the nickname 'Chunk'.
Here we go!
Well, it's official. I've been passively viewing a handful of blogs and vlogs for some time and thought it would be fun to jump into the blogosphere now. I will be posting thoughts, musings, experiences and even family photos on occasion. That's what a blog is for anyway, right? Think of it as a Family Christmas Letter all year round! Feel free to comment, and enjoy!
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