Assorted pics from vacation

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE DUSTIN

CHEESER





CINDERELLA




Robinhood and Little John

Fireman

We had a great trip to CA and back. It was short but sweet. Too bad we didn't get up to the ranch but we were all sick and not too excited about spending more time in the car. We did manage a trip to IKEA and Trader Joes. We got a new table which I will feature in the next post.

If you have some time a fun thing to do is to spend 15 hours in a sitting behind the wheel of a car. It is even more fun if you you choose to drive southeastern ID and northwestern NV. So basically the route was Boise to Stockton to Oakland and back to Stockton. With 2 previous nights of short sleep it was actually not that bad. It is also better considering that we are in a nice car and that we are not driving a wagon with a team of oxen.

Grandparent plague

It has been a consistent pattern. The grandparents come and everyone gets sick. We made it through the entire winter without a single cough or runny nose since the grandparents left last fall. As I predicted within a week of the grandparents arrival the noses started to run and the coughs started to bark and throats turned sore. It starts with the kids, then moves to the the grandpa and the dad and eventually to the grandma that has the cold until the next season we see them. So no more sickness is expected until later this summer when the granparents might return.

For those requesting pictures of the "No Roof Car"

I have posted a few pictures to the new blog "No Roof Car". I decided to document improvements and maintence etc on the blog so I can see how far we have gotten and where we have been. So far a few little things have been fixed and the 5 times over the car washx2, clean, polish, wax. There are many things to get it into the shape it should be but these things will take time and money. At least it is now able to legally ride on the road and it doesn't act like it will leave me stranded yet.

Back from blogging vacation

I am back froma blogging vacation. It is not as if I have been too busy working or due to lack of Bloggin ideas it is merely laziness and time spent doing other things. the grandparents are here and we try to get in a Settlers game each night. I finally lost tonight. We have done a couple of home projects and also some auto work. I will try to get some pictures up tomorrow.

I have also been losing weight which takes up a lot of my time. In the last year I have dropped around 20 lbs. So you are all dying to know the answer. For me it has amounted to portion control and watching what goes into the mouth. the less you eat eventually you get used to it and aren't as hungry. So now I am in the normal weight range and no longer over weight. I am guessing it has been about 13-14 yrs since I have been at this weight and I am still losing. Now if only I could get myself to exercise and gain some muscle mass I will be set. The weather is great so that excuse is gone. So for those of you keeping score at home I am at 191. Ten years ago at my fattest I was pushing 230. I was looking at my passport photo today and noticed my face was pretty chubby.

Ok enough of that. I will try to get some pictures up.

For those of you that are wondering we did get a "No roof car" and it has been pretty fun. It needs some working over and the projects have begun. I will get some pictures up tomorrow.
I am comtempating a blog regarding the car to help me document resoration and maintenace etc. I haven't thought of a perfect title for the blog but am thinking about "The no roof car" as this is what we refer to it in our house. I will keep you posted.

Howdy Pardner!

Spring has almost Sprung

This is the time of year when you think it should be spring. When we lived in MI it was hard to get to March and know that spring was really another month and a half away. Well, apart from having an easy winter it is exciting to see the bulbs poking up and buds swelling on the trees and a weather report that says 67 degrees by Sunday. And the good news is that I don't have to work this weekend. Anyway, the worst part of the MI winter was that it would not go away. There was usually a thaw this time of the year followed by a couple other winters before spring came. When spring did come it was wonderful.
The old grandparents are coming on Thursday afternoon for a few weeks. That will be fun as we have had no company since late summer except for a one night stay by the FIL sometime late fall. No one in the house has been sick this entire winter. That is a new record since kids have been with us. I am sure that when the grandparents come everyone will get sick as this has been the general pattern. Well, I think this post is dull enough for 2 or 3 of my usual posts. I will sign off for the night and remind our dear friends in MI that time cannot be stopped and spring will be there soon......only another month or two.

Confucius says: "Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart."

Figured I would start out with a quote....Not that it means much of anything in relation to the post but we met our son's Cardiologist today. Many of you know that when our son was a 20 week old fetus we found out that he had some interesting abnormalities. Not what you want to find out about your 20 week old fetus. Anyway, to make a long story shorter he has a number of abnormalities that are totally functional and the only thing he has to worry about is Endocarditis with dental or other invasive medical work that could cause infection. Given all the other scenarios this is pretty easy to live with. Our son will have a repeat cardiac echo in the next year to determine if he has a bicuspid or tricuspid heart valve.
The Cardiologist was a young personable man that went over everything with us and talked about what further plans might be. I already mentioned the need for my son to take prophylactic antibiotics but the other main concern of the doctor was not medical but financial. We hadn't even remotely thought about this. He said that people like our son can have a hard time getting life insurance if it is not spelled out in black and white that his condition is not really any great threat to his life expectancy. We had never even thought about that but interesting none the less. The other interesting thing we found out is that we found out that our Pediatrician (who we haven't even met yet) is the fairy God mother of the Cardiologists son. Small town, small world.

The case of the wet underwear

It is 2AM and as my conciousness rises to the surface I hear the padding of feet. It is not the sound of solo feet but of two kids runnning into the bedroom. My wife is the first to respond. "You guys can lay down here on my side of the bed but you need to go get your pillows and blankets." The padding retreats except I notice one diverts to the bathroom. In a minute there is the unmistakable moan/cry of someone half asleep that has wet their pants. So the dad jumps into action. He finds the girl in the bathroom with the classic jumpsuit footy pajamas zipped to the very top with the girl standing and moaning, "I wet my pants". Yes this is obvious and we start to take off the pajamas. At this point I say, "You need to get your underwear off and get new ones." To this she acts very suprised and says, "But my underwear are not wet." Hmmm. Not wanting to start a debate about how it is not possible to have wet pajamas and dry underwear I decide to take another approach. "OK. I am going to go get some new pajamas then" Of I go to get pajamas and underwear. By the time I get back an astonished girl exclaims. "Daddy, my underwear are wet." Yes, I know and here we have a new pair." Isn't it amazing the things parents know. Sherlock Holmes she may not be yet but perhaps a strong Dr. Watson in the making.

Budding Artist

This post needs a little background. Our son is 2 and a 1/4 yrs old. He still takes a nap each afternoon from 2-3 hours. We have found recently the longer the nap the longer it takes him to get to sleep at night. He and his sister sleep in the same room. She goes right to sleep. She no longer naps. She does not allow the door to be closed and I think this keeps him up. It didn't used to bother him to have the door closed when we had an extra bedroom. So usually she goes to sleep and he plays around in his room with cars or something and eventually goes to sleep. He will sometimes come out and get taken back to bed 2-3 times but it hasn't been a big issue.
So.........tonight we hear the little whispers of conversation with himself and we tell him from the living room to be quiet and go to bed. We figure he is up to his harmless play and will eventually fall asleep. Well, eventually he pops his head out of the room and in the faded light I can tell something is not quite right. I ask him to come a little closer for inspection. This is what I find. I am guessing this is is his self portrait (literally).
So we go to the bathroom and wash up and find he had already been working on that project with red hue soap all over the bathroom. He also had done some nice free hand work on the bathroom door. I got his hands clean and the door cleaned while giving the lecture (probably for the 100th time) about how we only write on paper. Then it is back to the bed where I find his masterpiece on the popular pillowcase medium. He may be the next Christo.

This time we click a few pictures, try not to giggle, while continuing the stern lecture about it is not ok to write on things other then paper. The door was closed and a budding artists creativity was stifled for another day.
The plan is to skip the nap, endure the late afternoon whining and put him to bed early without late night adventures in his art studio.
P.S. And yes there are worse things for toddlers to paint/draw with than markers that wipe clean with soap and water.

Tintin Addicts

Sleeping poses

Hmm..... So what's new?

I have been shirking my blogging duties and am not sure I have much to add today but feel guilty for lack of posting so I will pretend to blog something of interest. I am going to go with the hodge podge approach today.

1. I had a good laugh this last week when I decided to measure the kids to see how tall they were. Girl= 43 in and Boy= 36in. Then I thought I should see what the height limit is for tubing on the ski hill. It is 36 inches. So the kids and I checked out the tubing hill and looked at pictures online. Later on we were talking about someday else and my daughter said, "Dad I think that Tuliping really looks like fun!" I gave her a confused look. "You know tuliping on the ski hill."

2. I am in my classic long planning stage for some home remodeling. Yes, I went to the art store and got grid paper and measured out the entire house to try to figure out what to do. By the time we figure out what to do we won't have the finances to do it.

3. Speaking of finances I am planning to sell my Passat. So if any of you are interested in a fine European Sport wagon let me know. It is a great car but the verdict is that we don't need two expensive late model cars but rather sell one and get a little runabout as my wife is now just 2 miles from work and I am just 5 miles. My wife also claims she is going to ride her bike to work but I will wait to see the day on that one. So we can bank the money from the Passat for more home remodeling. So the question remains...what are you going to replace the Passat with? Well, this will shock most of you but I am thinking about a VW. So you are probably wondering about my past cars (or not) I will list them here for you:

1. 1978 VW Rabbit diesel

2. 1986 VW GTI

3. 1990 VW Golf

4. 1990 Ford Explorer

5. 1997 VW Jetta

6. 1997 Jeep Wrangler

7. 1991 Honda Civic

8. 2002 VW Passat Wagon

9. 2005 Honda Pilot

So you note a certain pattern here. Mostly German with a few Japanese and American cars thrown in. So I figured that I should go back to our roots and get a classic. I am in the process of looking for a 1992 or 1993 VW Cabriolet. This would be the car to run back and forth to work with. It will take a little work to find a good one. Let me know if anything pops up in your neighborhood. I have a few helpers looking for me and I check craigslist often. I found some guy that bought a 1992 for less then blue book with 10,000 miles on the odometer. Not likely to find one of those but will keep looking.

4. Winter has returned unfortunately. We have had snow the last 2 mornings. It is not supposed to be above freezing tomorrow. So much for our 60 degree days last month. Although I think it is still warmer than Michigan. One of our recent bedtime routines is to warm up these hot packs (the kind that have rice in them) in the microwave and take them to bed for our feet to keep our toes warm. I need to improve on the concept so you can actually get your feet all the way inside. I can make up some catchy marketing phrase and sell them by the millions.

5. Speaking of making my millions. I was looking on CafePress the other day and saw that someone had stolen my Obama campaign slogan and put it on a tshirt. So much for that get rich scheme.

Ok that is enough for one night. Maybe I will try to add a hodge podge of pictures tomorrow.

For those of us that have more education then smarts

What Is Intelligence, Anyway?

Isaac Asimov

What is intelligence, anyway? When I was in the army, I received the kind of aptitude test that all soldiers took and, against a normal of 100, scored 160. No one at the base had ever seen a figure like that, and for two hours they made a big fuss over me. (It didn't mean anything. The next day I was still a buck private with KP - kitchen police - as my highest duty.)
All my life I've been registering scores like that, so that I have the complacent feeling that I'm highly intelligent, and I expect other people to think so too. Actually, though, don't such scores simply mean that I am very good at answering the type of academic questions that are considered worthy of answers by people who make up the intelligence tests - people with intellectual bents similar to mine?
For instance, I had an auto-repair man once, who, on these intelligence tests, could not possibly have scored more than 80, by my estimate. I always took it for granted that I was far more intelligent than he was. Yet, when anything went wrong with my car I hastened to him with it, watched him anxiously as he explored its vitals, and listened to his pronouncements as though they were divine oracles - and he always fixed my car.
Well, then, suppose my auto-repair man devised questions for an intelligence test. Or suppose a carpenter did, or a farmer, or, indeed, almost anyone but an academician. By every one of those tests, I'd prove myself a moron, and I'd be a moron, too. In a world where I could not use my academic training and my verbal talents but had to do something intricate or hard, working with my hands, I would do poorly. My intelligence, then, is not absolute but is a function of the society I live in and of the fact that a small subsection of that society has managed to foist itself on the rest as an arbiter of such matters.
Consider my auto-repair man, again. He had a habit of telling me jokes whenever he saw me. One time he raised his head from under the automobile hood to say: "Doc, a deaf-and-mute guy went into a hardware store to ask for some nails. He put two fingers together on the counter and made hammering motions with the other hand. The clerk brought him a hammer. He shook his head and pointed to the two fingers he was hammering. The clerk brought him nails. He picked out the sizes he wanted, and left. Well, doc, the next guy who came in was a blind man. He wanted scissors. How do you suppose he asked for them?"
Indulgently, I lifted by right hand and made scissoring motions with my first two fingers. Whereupon my auto-repair man laughed raucously and said, "Why, you dumb jerk, He used his voice and asked for them." Then he said smugly, "I've been trying that on all my customers today." "Did you catch many?" I asked. "Quite a few," he said, "but I knew for sure I'd catch you." "Why is that?" I asked. "Because you're so educated, doc, I knew you couldn't be very smart."
And I have an uneasy feeling he had something there.

Favorite games?

This is a poll to see what are people's most favorite games. We go through phases and then get bored and then modify the games and then eventually start on a new one (or Spring comes and we go outside). Winter time is the perfect time for playing games.

Currently, we are on a Settlers of Catan kick which we have been on for a while. We have recently been introduced to Blokus which is fun but we are still in the learning curve for strategy. We have been reintrduced to UNO because it is a game 4 yr olds can almost play.

So, I guess I am looking for a list of games from people that include games we don't know or forgot that are fun to play. Please indicate how many players required. My wife and I are also looking for good 2 person games that we can play without adding too much marital strife. Here is a short list of games I came up with.

1. Settlers of Catan - A fun boardgame that in our opinion best with 3 or more people.

2. Blokus - board game we have just started to learn. Not bad with 2 people. As I said we are still learning.

3. Rook- old standby card game that I could play in my sleep. It is nice because I don't have to think too hard and so it can be more social.

4. Books and Runs - this cardgame we played with regular cards but it looks like somegame company marketed it as Five Crowns. It is another old standby that it fun

5. Canasta- here is a card game that we used to play a lot but haven't played for years

6. Euchre - this is a Michigan favorite card game that we played a couple of times and I think we could have gotten into it but just never played enough but we could always try it again.

7. Cribbage- I found this board/card game in the closet. We bought it years ago to play as a couple and now we have forgotten how to play.

8. Spite and Malice - This is a card game that we played with my Great Aunt after school. My great Aunt was a great game player.

9. Aggravation - This is a board game that we played with my great aunt. It is a Milton Bradley version of Parchesi also known as Wahoo. My Aunt had her own custom board made out of board and had a whole bag full of dice some of which she had named. Some were probably loaded as she used certain die to roll certain numbers. My favorite wass "Dead Eye Dick" used to roll "1" when needed.

10. Clue - There was a version of Clue that was different then the basic board game that some friends of ours had in Reno. We were never able to find it to buy for ourselves. The unfortunate part is that I don't really recall what was different about it except that it was more fun then the original. I just tried to look on Ebay w/o luck.

These are just a few I could come up with over my years. Let me know if anyone else has some favorites. We are always looking to learn a new one or relearn one we forgot.

What things do we sleep with?

This question was posed on Will Ya or Won't Ya. I thought I would post a picture of our #2 with some of his bed mates.

You will note:

3 books

1 stuff elephant

1 firechief hat

1 doll aka Baby Bob

1 pillow

2 blankets not actually on child

various other things likely underneath child but unobservable

Three Cheers for CASIO

I like to applaud companies for good service just as well as I like to slander companies for bad service. Well here is one on the plus side for CASIO. We bought a camera from them nearly 2 yrs ago. It is a EX-Z750 we have loved it. It is small has a huge screen and battery life is terrific. So my wife was taking pictures and dropped it on the carpeted floor with the lens out (it has an automatic lens) and it wouldn't go back in. So I got online to see if it was going to cost more to fix it then to buy a new one and it looked like it fell in the range between 30-110$ to fix. I decided that that we reasonable as we could get an estimate prior to having it fixed. It wasn't under warranty as it had been two years but I threw in a copy of the original receipt when I sent it to Dover, NJ on 1/19/07. So a couple days later I get an email saying they had received it. So far so good. A couple days later they say it is fixed and we owe.......0$. I was not sure if they thought it was somehow under warranty as I had put the receipt in or if I was the millioneth person to have dropped a camera and had to have the lens assembly replaced or some camera repair lineman knew that we could use 100$ to buy food instead of camera repairs. Whatever it was, I am glad to have our little camera back and in working order. The impressive part is that this all took place in 11 days with half of that time taken up in shipping. Oh and they also upgraded the firmware (I am not sure what this did to make it better but I am happy none the less. There is my endorsement for CASIO.

Musicovery

My wife just sent me a link for this website:

Musicovery

It is kind of interesting.

I like how I don't post for a week and then do 5 posts in one day.

Obviously I am avoiding something else I should be doing. But what is it?

Blackmail Pictures

The first picture is pretty girly (notice the pink princess shoes). The second looks kind of like a Sumo ballerina.

MORE RECIPES

I have been posting some of our favorite recipes to Thyme in the Kitchen. My main motive is to have an alternate place to find these recipes when I can't find them in the recipe folder. I can't tell you how many times I have lost my recipe for Granola. Anyway, I have posted one for Marion's Granola and the famous Chocolate Idiot cake.

Little critters

We went out of a little bike ride today. It was a bright sunny day with no wind and it was good to be out in the fresh air. We ran down to the university as my wife had left something in her office. It is about 20 mins. We saw lots of geese, ducks, fishermen but no fish. I keep thinking I need to get a license and get out on the river. I really need some new waders but them are not in the current budget. I suppose I could try again to see if I can fin the hole or holes in the old ones. My wife likes it when I put on the waders and get in the bathtub to try to figure it out.
So on the way home the peanut gallery in the back got quieter and eventually silent. When I pulled in and opened the hatch here is what I found.

Dry Spell

It has been a bit of a dry spell since the last posting. Unfortunately, we weren't on vacation. We weren't turning over a new leaf and spending our time exercising and getting in shape. We haven't been working on remodeling our house. The one excuse I can come up with is that we broke our digital camera. I dug out the old one so thatreally isn't a good excuse.
Last weekend we did go to a BSU Basketball game. They managed to dig themselves into a hole at the beginning of the game that they couldn't quite crawl out of by the end of the game. I think that I am bad luck for the basketball team. I just listened to the last 2 mins of their game at Utah State. They were up by 9 pts with 2 mins left and they managed to lose. They did not score the last 2 mins. They missed 5 freethrows. The other team scoreed 10 pts. Pathetic. Well, I guess on the other hand I am good luck for the football team given their dramatic win which I am sure would not have been possible except that I watched the game and told them what to do. I guess we will find out Sat night as we are going to their home game against Hawaii.

*WARNING* SOAPBOX

Having played high school basketball I can't understand how any basketball player can't make at least 70% of their freethrows. BSU has lost 5 or 6 games this yr by 4 points or less. If they made their freethrows closer to 70% they would probably have won more of those games. I used to shoot freethrows every night until I made 8/10 or I kept shooting. If you have down the fundamentals it is basically all in the head. Focus, focus, focus. So I just heard they had 47% for the game at the line. Interesting since they shot 59% from the 3 pt line. Hmmmm. Look, I don't even think that the excuse of a hostile environment should make a difference. If you spend time shooting lots of freethrows you should be in your own little world on the freethrow line and put them in even if there are 10,000 people yelling at you. I just have the feeling that the BSU players will be shooting more freethrows this week or at least they should.

Skiing again after a 8 yr hiatus

I haven't been skiing since we left Reno except for Nordic skiing which we tried for the first time in MI. I found Nordic skiing to be fun but lots of work as well. When our company was here for New Years we decided we should go skiing. We have a local ski resort Bogus Basin and I didn't have too high of expectations as it is only 40 mins away and it would be too good if it was nice. I came away very impressed. It is an interesting resort as it is a nonprofit and caters to the local community. The also did an interesting thing a few years ago by slashing their season passes to less the 200$ and their profit more then doubled. It has 2600 acres, 1800 vertical drop, 60+ runs, and a couple of high speed quads. It looks like a great place to teach or relearn how to ski. They also have a deal where you can get 4 lessons, equipment renter, and a season pass for some ridiculous low price.

So the day of skiing was great. The sun was out. It was cold enough to keep the snow good but not too cold to freeze you to death. I didn't fall and injure myself and I felt like my ski legs were returning after 3-4 runs. I am still a little sore after the fact but am excited that we have such a nice resort so close and as reasonable as skiing can be. It is a fun source of exercise. I am envisioning in a few years going up with the kids for a midweek morning or afternoon of skiing and getting chores done with the rest of our day. it will also be a fun place to take our out of town company. for the none skiers they have a sledding hill and for the non skiers/non sledders I didn't check out all of the lodges but I bet there is a place to put up your feet by the fire and look out the windows at all of the skiers/boarders.

My wife has made the comment that she thinks that she can be as bad of a snowboarder as she is a bad skier so she wants to make the switch as she has not skied in 10 years. So maybe we will all try to learn together. By next year all the kids might be potty trained and ready for lessons. I sounds like lots of fun.

This clip actually has all of the most exciting plays from the last few minutes of the game

Last few minutes of fiesta bowl

I'd Sooner be a Bronco.......

WAY TO GO BSU

A lot of people have commented that this was one of the best football games they have ever seen and they are not BSU fans. We had a great football party with lots of blue and orange. The food was great as was the game. It seemed in the last 10 minutes that every improbability happened both good and bad. After the last minute interception it seemed like time to pack up and Byran went home (personally I credit him for the win). The rest of us stayed but marginally hopeful they could pull it off. I found the highlight clips and posted here for thos ethat missed it.

Highlights

All in all a great year and much better to be a BSU football supporter this year then an EMU football supporter like last year.

Hot chocolate recipe

I have a fantastic recipe for hot chocolate. This is not Swiss Miss or Hershey's but real hot chocolate. I posted the recipe in Thyme in the Kitchen. I can vouch for the tastiness and the richness. Give it a try when you have a chocolate craving.

Reunion

We had a great day out at Hidden Springs. Natalie and Weston had the community barn reserved for a big group and we had a long day of eating and playing. Starting with brunch then dinner and then snacks. It was great to see and visit with everyone. We didn't get group pictures which would have been nice but I did take a few pictures. Some we hadn't seen in 6 years and some probably longer. Frank and Delores we haven't seen since Crystal's wedding I suppose. There were nearly 20 kids mostly under 8. There were also 2 dogs. The amazing thing is that with china place settings only one dessert plate was broken.
I took my recipe for hot chocolate which is very rich and you really only need a small glass full but it kind of turned from rich hot chocolate to ganache to pudding. I had put it in crock pot so we could sample it throughout the day and it steamed off little by little and got thicker and thicker. I will post the recipe as it is very good for chocolate lovers. I kind of overdosed and it may take a while to post the recipe as I don't even care to think about it at this time as it makes my stomach turn just thinking about it as I overdosed on it.

Xmas Eve Fondue

We thought we would start a tradition of fondue on Xmas eve. We over cooked meaning we made twice what we needed so we ate 1.5 times what we should have. I am surprised I don't feel worse right now given the sludge in the bottom of my stomach. fondue poured on top of cookies, candies, other treats.

After the fondue there were a few presents from the grandparents and then one present for the family. It should be great fun especially when the weather improves.

Tomorrow is our big shindig with the Lehman's and friends. I don't think I have seen Norm since they hosted our going away party in Reno 6.5 yrs ago. I don't think I have seen Crystal since her wedding. So it should be lots of fun with a repeat of the whole overeating all over again.

More pictures tomorrow

Fun with sugar and children

Needed - An experienced tracker

This morning I came out and saw tracks on the back porch and in the back yard. My oldest daughter took a look and thought initially Bear but then after another look and further consideration she decided more likely it was Kangaroo. I will admit I am not too sure. the pictures could be better but I will ask our readers what they think. I was guessing deer or raccoons but ????

This is a closeup. It looks like little hands.


The interesting part is that these tracks are spaced 4-5 feet apart.

Still getting things put away

We found a place to shelve two kids. If only they would stay on their shelves.

Bowling at BSU

BSU has a little bowling alley in the student union. We met mommy after work as well as one of her colleagues and his family for some bowling. The sad thing was Remy almost did better then I did and my wife actually beat me.

Big Father Daughter Day out to the Nutcracker

We joined some friends of ours for a Saturday matinee performance of the Nutcraker. I haven't seen it in years (probably almost 20) and of course this was the first time for our sugar plum fairy. You would not have believed all of the young girls her age dressed in very similar costumes. It seemed to hold her interest fairly well. There sure was lots of dancing. There were some slow parts for me I will admit but I did enjoy the music and overall it was worth the price of admission and a special day out with an enthusiastic 4 yr old. She did admit she was, "A little bit of scared with all of the mousies". There were some pyrotechnics and explosions that startled her but nothing that really scared her. BSU has a nice theatre and it will be fun to have return visits. Another picture here with our local Ent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ent) of which we have two. One in the front and one in the back. They are a little funny but we like them and will keep them around.

Nerd Alert

These two have become quite the computer nerds. In the last month my daughter wants to be using the computer to play games, look at pictures, etc. She has been hooked on sesamestreet.com and some other website my wife found. She will sit for an hour plus engrossed in playing the games. I am amazed at how well she has picked up trackpad use and how to navigate browsers on her own with minimally taining. Her brother will crawl up next to her and watch but his attention span does not last nearly as long. I don't know where they get it?

Demotivational posters

Wondering if anyone is familiar with this website. It is one of my favorites.
http://despair.com/lithographs.html

My personal favorites are:

Mistakes Lithograph
"It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others."

Wishes Lithograph
When you wish upon a falling star, your dreams can come true. Unless it's really a meteorite hurtling to the Earth which will destroy all life. Then you're pretty much hosed no matter what you wish for. Unless it's death by meteor.


Ambition Lithograph
"The journey of a thousand miles sometimes ends very, very badly

It seems the founder has added a book and some obnoxious training videos. I can longer look at those posters hanging in offices yesterday without thinking of a good demotivational saying.

Will post blog for critiscism

OK, I am likely to get some flak for this post. If I were smart I would stop right here but....
I didn't. I have noticed with the onset of the Xmas season that there is always an increase in so called homeless people stationed at intersections with their placards requesting money, food, work, beer, etc. Now, I am aware that I am privileged and considered middle class. I don't want for food, shelter, etc. I also realize that some of these people do have legitimate problems but I have also noticed that a fair number of these indigent people are wearing nice name brand clothes that I can't afford. Maybe they are just lucky and someone gifted them a nice North Face jacket and some Timberland boots. Maybe our homeless in Boise are better off then those in Michigan. Every time I sit there at the intersection I just think to myself that there has to be a better way to make a living then standing in 35 degrees at an intersection hoping someone will give me money, work, food, beer, etc. I am sure the reason why many of these people are there instead of at a more conventional job is because they have problems with alcohol and or drugs and or mental illness and they can't hold down a job. I guess once again, I am thankful that I don't have any terrible addictions, significant mental illness (notice I didn't rule it out), or other issues that require me to stand at a corner soliciting passersby for my money, work,food, beer, etc. There was one time that I thought I might get laid off from work. I told my coworkers that if I was laid off I would sit at the intersection by the hospital I worked at with a placard that would read, "Will do Speech Therapy for food." Thankfully it never happened.
I thought I was done but one other thing popped into my head. I always wonder how much these panhandlers make in a day. It has to be worth it. I heard on NPR one story that is only slightly related but I found interesting. I heard that during the holidays that doorman in NYC can make $15,000 in tips during the Xmas season. That seems insane to me but I suppose it may not be the greatest job and you do live in NYC with a high cost of living but but but. I am one that in my 12 years of working has not once received a holiday bonus except for a free ham, turkey, or 20$ gift certificate to a grocery store all of which I was thankful for. Just think if you were the doorman and you happened to get sick in the month of Dec. that would really stink. OK, I am done now.

Successful Deer Hunting Trip

We are quite enjoying our new house. The commute is great and we have met a few of our neighbors and they seem great. Most of the neighbors are of the senior variety which I think is not a bad thing. They are home alot and like to watch after the place and know the area well as they have lived here forever. I went out walking today with the kids. I think I have said before how much I enjoy the river. We met a lady out walking today. She was probably in her 70's. She had 2 walking sticks and reported to me that she had had 2 knee replacements. She complained that she wasn't what she was and she could only manage a 3 mile walk instead of 4 miles. She was very spunky and we enjoyed talking and walking with her.
One of the impeti (does that count for plural of impetus) for our walks was to see some wildlife, most specifically deer as my daughter had missed the deer the rest of us had seen the night before. I am glad to report we were not disappointed. We say 3 deer on th eother side of the river down by the water getting a drink. We also saw countless ducks and geese on the river. I think in th eyears to come we will really enjoy the river and the animals. We have also had a couple of raccoons that fight like an old married couple outside our bedroom door. This is not so great but it might be fun for the kids to see one one of these days.
There is nothing much else to report. We have lots going on this weekend with a dad and daughter day out to the nutcracker on Sat afternoon and two xmas parties and maybe a basketball game if we aren't worn out. We haven't made any games this year but might have to venture out and support the local team.
I guess that is it for the night. I will try to get some pictures together for the next post. Of course if I would have taken the camera tonight on our hunt there wouldn't have been any deer.

Red letter day for our 2 year old big boy

Today we had two major accomplishments:

1) We had the first poop in the potty
2) He went to sleep in the big bed (aka toddler bed)

Now that being said, we realize that this does not mean that he is potty trained and that we can throw away all of our diapers and by a bunch of spiderman or superman underwear but it is a good start and positive progress toward the day that we can do the above mentioned. It will be a joy not to have to spend 30$ worth on diapers every 2 weeks or however often it is. He seems to be more interested in the whole potty thing so we are encouraging it as much as possible with a few successes we will be on our way.
With the bed thing I set up the old toddler bed in the room along side the pack and play that has been his bed since near birth. The rule is he has to stay in the bed or he goes back to his old bed. After 4 nights of losing the privilege of staying in the big bed he managed to stay in the big bed tonight for the first time. Just when I was thinking we should change our strategy to the Bill Cosby method which is to inform the child that there are snakes under the bed and if you get out of bed they will bite you. "Snakes - Don't bite. I am just going to stick out my toe and you give it a little snakey lick"

Not too many blogs but lots of boxes and work.

Well, the postings have been pretty sparse if not nonexistent. We have lots of good excuses. The biggest being that in the last 6 days we have moved, cleaned new house, cleaned old house, and attempted to put away boxes upon boxes of stuff. Thrown in between was work. I had good intentions to get some pictures to corroborate my excuses but alas. You will just have to believe me.
We are very much enjoying our new house in that our commute times are cut in half for me and in 1/6th for everyone else. It is also great to be so close to the greenbelt although because of unpacking and poorly timed naps we have only made it 1 time but it was a glorious evening with a almost full moon with crisp air and lots of honking geese and ducks looking for places to spend the night. The moon was coming up on one side and the sun was going down on the other. I think it takes me back to growing up by a creek and I very much enjoyed spending time there. The main difference is that I had free run of my creek for the most part but this river I have to share with lots of people. The good news is that this river also happens to have steelhead, rainbow trout, and brown trout that could eat the rainbows I had in my creek. We are within walking distance of some good holes that we need to explore. I need to get some new waders as my current ones have some nice holes in the crotch that you can't see but you feel when the 35 degree water leaks in on a 25 degree day. I also need to have some of the locals take me out and show me the ropes.
Speaking of having wet pants. The other day I did a good one. At work we carry around containers of fruit cocktail to test our patients swallow function with soft solid consistencies. I usually carry a couple in my back pocket but frequently take them out of my pocket when I get where I am going to be more comfortable. I then load them back up before I go on to the next pt. So I checked out the pt using one of the containers and I am cleaning up putting things back in my pocket and as you have already guessed I put a seemingly full and sealed container of open fruit cocktail in my rear pocket. I quickly figured it out and got a towel and sopped it up after removing the offending container. The good news is that it doesn't take scrubs long to dry and my behind gave off a nice fruity aroma for the rest of the day. It also made the day of the nurse that had the pt as well as some of my other coworkers that enjoyed my misfortune. This is not a mistake I am likely to make again and if I do I am not likely to admit it.