First Loss

Today, Caleb lost his first baby tooth. Joy was having him brush his teeth when he spit some blood out. Upon seeing this he, naturally, freaked out beyond reason. He was screaming and crying so loud that Joy had to tell him he would either have to calm down or one of the neighbors would end up calling 911.

Sadly, I was at work so I didn't get to witness any of the chaos. Eventually he calmed down and Joy was able to pull the tooth out without incident or any violent outbursts.

Ah, how we cherish moments like this long after the years have softened our minds' focus so we can look back and laugh.

In honor of this event, here's a picture of Caleb before he had any teeth and when he enjoyed chewing on plastic toys.

Big Wheel

For my own personal enjoyment, here's another picture from our much ballyhooed Disney World trip of 2007.

Another picture from the Pop Century Resort. In this one, Joy, Molly, and Caleb are walking up to the larger than life Big Wheel (non-functioning, I think...).

Another Two Year Old Picture

For some reason, I suddenly enjoy posting pictures from my flickr site to my blog. It's sort of like a "double post" since I am "posting" information along with a picture that I already technically "posted" almost two years ago.

A view at the Pop Century Resort Hotel in Disney World. Although slightly obscured by trees, you can still make out the gigantic Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head and the (very) cool huge Rubik's cube.

A Flashback From My Flickr Archives

I just felt like posting one of our pictures from our uber-great Disney World trip from April 2007. Man, that was a good time. This particular one is from our first full day at Disney World which we spent at the Animal Kingdom. (Plus, I just like the way photos look against the background of this blog. Did you know the background color is called ocher?)

Birthday Eve

Joy went to work this morning and I got up with her. Of course, instead of doing something really productive, I decided to work on organizing some of my photos on my flickr site. I've been putting photos up on flickr for almost four years now but sometimes I wonder, what if flickr suddenly just goes away sometime? I'm sure it won't be that sudden but that would really be irritating considering all of the pictures that I have on there, all tagged and organized. I mean, it wouldn't really be too devastating since I'm not really using it as a real back up plan but I do like the way all my pictures all fairly organized.

On another useless note, I finally adjusted the width on the main body of this blog. Now it won't cut off pictures that I happen to post (which always irritated me).

Anyway, tomorrow is Michelle's and my birthday. I'll be 35 and she'll be 35 minus 7. We're not planning anything extravagant other than going to lunch today with our parent's after church. Also, we played Rock Band 2 last night for a while which was pretty fun. Especially when Caleb was on drums and really started freaking out that he couldn't do one of the songs since it was too hard (he was able to do it by the way).

It was also funny that, while we played the game, we had Sophie lying on her little playmat and she has really started trying to roll over. So much that at one point, we thought someone had repositioned her since she ended up 180 degrees out from where Joy had initially laid her but, no. She is rolling herself around. Although, not really rolling around. It's more like rocking back and forth and slowly moving around. Kind of like the minute hand on a clock: you don't see it move at a glance but if you really watch it, you can tell it's moving.

This weekend has been pretty nice. I don't know if it's just because I'm getting more and more boring but I really like the weekends where we don't have anything in particular to do aside from just hang out.

Good times. Goood tiiiiimes.

Baby Grabbin'

Sophie, three months old, is now grabbing at things. While this may not seem monumental, consider this: her usual hand pattern is a clenched fist. So I was pretty happy to see her to be (apparently) voluntarily opening and closing her hand when she her hands were resting on the table.

Of course, I could be wrong about all of this. Maybe it's just some automatic response. Who cares? It's still pretty cool.

Anyway, here's some photos that I recently uploaded to flickr.

Here I am talking some sense into sense into Sophie. "Listen to me, Sophie. Listen to meeeee!!!" I was really just trying to support her so Joy could snap this piture. Cute, right?

Molly in her creepy plaster mask that she made at school. Creepy.

That's all for now.

Countdown?

Yes, I am looking forward to getting our tax refund. No, it's not just basic materialism. It's just that we rarely get tax refunds. Praise the Lord Joy wasn't self-employed last year. That's what's killed us for the past six or seven years: self-employment tax.

I guess I'm anxious about getting the refund because I want to make sure we get it before the U.S. government goes totally broke. Also, I just want to do my small part in stimulating the economy. So, really, it's not about me. It's about my country. I'm just trying to help.

Honest.

Just a Post

Well I haven't made any entries since something like January 3rd of this year. Not that that is a problem. I was just on my blog reading the posts I made from when we went to Disney World in 2007 so I decided to post something.

Here's my real issue though: should I even bother with the blog? I mean, I want to keep a journal I guess, but I could easily keep one on my laptop. There are plus and minuses to both, I suppose. If I use my computer to store my journal, I have total control over the journal but it's only available when I use my computer.

If I use my blog, there is always the risk that Google could shut it down, effectively erasing my journal. On the other hand, I really like the format. Maybe there's a "journal" format or template available for Open Office. Hmmm...

Until next time...

Bye.

Anomaly or Harbinger?

The following pictures show a dark chocolate M&M (a.k.a. M&M Dark) in its exact condition when it was extracted from the bag. At first I was repulsed by this misshapen mass but I was soon drawn to it. Could this be in the shape of some dead president or other famous person (living or dead)? I wish. It did not seem to resemble anyone, or anything for that matter, so I threw it away.

Do you think it shares any features with anyone? If so, please let me know so I can fish it out of my trash can and list it on eBay.

Thanks in advance.

Check out the cool grey area. I think that's where the words "M&M Dark" were supposed to be. Creepy.

Silence Is Gone

Everywhere I go I see people walking around with something in their ears: earbuds, cellphones. Perhaps it's mainly due to the Christmas season. I'm sure a lot of people got iPods or some other MP3 player for Christmas this year. Maybe this is why I keep seeing so many teenagers with earphones walking around with their parents at the grocery store.

In all honesty, I haven't been around to too many places to draw these conclusions, I just believe it's a growing trend. Regardless of this unscientific method, I have to ask, How many people spend any amount of their waking hours in quiet? I would guess not very many. I'm guilty of it myself.

I've been off this past week (which I've been thoroughly enjoying) and not long after getting up, the computer is on. Not much longer after that, the TV is on (usually for a video game). Why is this? Is it because of habit? Is it because, since I'm off, I think the only way to truly enjoy it is to constantly be doing something? I hope not.

With all this noise in our houses, in our cars, even when we are out walking around, can anyone really ever stop and think? Can anyone ever really ponder anything, meditate on anything? I believe that's difficult now, especially for younger people, and it's only going to get worse. Technology, for all of its advantages, is steadily becoming ridiculously ubiquitous.

We are losing something and soon we won't even be able to remember what it was.

Using Ubuntu

So this is my first post using the Ubuntu operating system. I'm totally new to this platform, but so far I really like it. It was a bit of a challenge to get my wireless network card up and running but figuring it out was actually kind of rewarding.

Anyway, just felt like typing.

See ya.

Happy Thanksgiving

So, we're watching the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade or, as it should be known, the extended NBC lineup commercial. Seriously, it's getting kind of old seeing Al Roker interview one NBC tv show actor after another. I know I could turn it anytime I want but, in a way, doesn't this qualify as one of those 'captive audience' situations. I mean, I just want my kids to see the parade. Specifically, I just want them to be able to see all of the giant floats and balloons.

Which reminds me, I really don't care to see yet another Broadway show translated into street-parade format. Yuck.

Anyway, back to the three hour long NBC commercial (that's an exagerration, I know).

Happy Thanksgiving.

All Smiles

Here's a great (in my opinion) shot of the new baby.

Pretty cute, isn't she?

Blu-Ray Player For Under $150

Sounds crazy but, according to a scan linked from over at theblackfriday.com. Apparently, Wal-Mart will be selling a Magnavox blu-ray player for $128 on black friday, November 28th 2008. If you're looking for a blu-ray player, looks like Wal-mart might be your place. Good luck!

Pregnancy Journal? Oh, Riiiight...

So, I claimed I was going to use this blog as a pregnancy journal for our third child. I had good intentions but, I just didn't follow through. Basically, our baby was born two weeks ago. I don't feel that bad about it since I have been taking plenty of pictures. The only thing is none of those pictures are here on my blog yet. But they are all on my flickr site. I may or may not have a link to that here. If not, I've fix it.

So there you go. A slight explanation.

See you later. Pictures to come soon.

Maybe...

Very Funny Video From The Onion

I thought this was particularly funny. Especially given the fact that none of the actors are well known. It adds a bit of realism to it all. Enjoy!



Congress Debates Merits Of New Catchphrase

Some Thoughts

Brownies are good.

I am tired.

Work is bad.

I cut the grass today.

...in my non-grass-cutting shoes!

I feel bloated since I ate a brownie and drank some milk.

The milk was 2%.

Milk stays around $3.59 at Harris Teeter.

Dexter's Lab is on.

Very funny show.


Bye.

No More Classes!

Well, almost. Tonight I am studying for my last two tests (Physics and Ship Construction II). I honestly want to take more classes but, for now, I am happy to be done with studying at night after working all day.

Hopefully the tests will go well tomorrow.

Another Week Gone By

Well, that was nice weekend. With the exception of painting and caulking at our house. I don't actually mind doing work around the house, I just dislike the investment of time involved. Here's the bottomline: I need a vacation.

We had originally planned to take a vacation of sorts this spring or sometime in the summer but, now that Joy's pregnant I will be saving the vacation for something a little more important. Something like the birth of our child.

Anyway, this is my last week of classes, which I am very excited about. Non-stop classes for the last two years with only a week break here and there has really burned me out. I would like to go back to school someday but I'm being very liberal with my use of the word "someday".

To my sister who has been having some computer-related frustrations this week:

I was going to post a link to that laptop I saw in Best Buy's ad but it is only in their ad. I don't see it on their site. It's $449, Dual Core, 120GB hard drive, reads/writed dual layer DVD's, 15.4" "Brightview Widescreen". By the way, the 15.4" is the same size/orientation as the screen on my laptop. The only thing it would need would be another Gig of ram (about $35) since it only has 1GB with Vista Home Premium.

Have a great week.

P.S. If anybody has any tips on how to widen this main column a little so that the pictures I post won't get cut off, let me know. I don't know much about HTML code and I don't want to go poking around and mess the layout up (which I happen to like).

Just a Post

Work went fine today. I'll be getting a little overtime tomorrow but I guess what I'm being faced with is the fact that it's never guaranteed. I always knew that you shouldn't plan on overtime but, in my defense, we never bought this house thinking I'd be getting any overtime. We did, however, bank on Joy's job which pretty much ended over a year ago. Uh oh, I think I'm getting a little too "real" here.

The most important thing is that the more I face the day to day barrage of the unknown, the more I realize that I should have been relying on the Lord all along.

I've been posting pictures from my flickr site recently because I started trying to organize them a little more.

By the way, I think the layout of this blog messes up the way pictures are displayed. Basically, if the picture is wider than the main text column of the blog, the right side of the picture gets cut off. How do I fix that?! It's kind of annoying.

Here's some pictures anyway:

Here's a picture of Caleb from December 2003. He has really grown.

Molly, November 2003. Such a cutie.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow I start my next "rotation" at my job. It's a new supervisor, a different area, different people, and so on. Sadly, the main thing I'm worried about is overtime. Hopefully I will be able to get enough. I never thought I'd actually want to work overtime so much but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Joy is still feeling sick which I'm really praying she gets over soon because it is really kicking her butt.

On a lighter and cuter note, Molly has been playing her Animal Hospital game today for her Nintendo DS. In this game, the player acts as a vet trying to heal sick animals. Well, one of the animals, a cat named Chloe, has been at Molly's hospital since Christmas when she got the game. Today, Molly took care of it enough so that it was able to go home. This upset Molly enough that she got a little teary. Joy and I weren't laughing at her. We thought it was sweet. She really has a good heart.

Caleb has been playing the game Trouble a lot since we got it for 25 cents at a yard sale yesterday. Good times, good times.

That's all I have for now. See ya.

Just a Couple of Pictures From My Flickr Page

Nothing really out of the ordinary to see here. I just felt like posting a couple of pictures from my flickr site. Wait, did I just repeat the title of this post? Oh well.

Molly and Caleb feigning surprise over their Easter baskets. Yep, this was totally staged. Can you tell?

This is the "I can't believe it! I just can't believe it!!" routine.

Pregnancy Journal, Part II

Yes, I've been taking my time updating this blog with respect to Joy's pregnancy. It's been a little hectic, I guess. Joy's been feeling pretty sick lately. Yesterday, she was especially nauseated. Although, we're not totally sure that was just from the pregnancy. It could've been the spaghetti she and kids ate Thursday night. The spaghetti that Molly vomited all over our bedroom floor around 1am Friday morning. Who knows?

Anyway, Joy went to her obstetrician last week and she had her initial ultrasound. Here's a picture I took of it since I don't own a scanner:

The large black void area in the middle (the part that looks like a pinto bean) is where the placenta, baby, etc. is starting to form. The area near the top of the pinto bean that looks like two short horizontal lines is actually the little "yolk sac". I put "yolk sac" in quotations because that is what the doctor called it, although I'm not sure if he would have put a "k" on the end of "sac".

At the time of this ultrasound, the doctor estimated the baby to be only about four weeks old. He/she is so small in fact (about 1mm) that the doctor couldn't take a measurement. We have to go back in about four more weeks to have another ultrasound. Then, we will get a more accurate due date.

Until then, there is nothing really new to report other than Joy feeling pretty darn sick all the time. Yuck.

Until next time, I'll leave you with this peaceful portrait of our current youngest child. See ya!

News Story: Dead, Then Not Dead

I ran across this story while browsing Yahoo's "most emailed" photos. Pretty amazing story.

Here it is.

Does That Count?

Does it really count as a "blog entry" to simply link to an article? I mean really, that's too easy. Then again, why shouldn't it be easy? I mean, it's not like I'm getting paid for this. Or am I...

(I'm not.)

Hilarious Onion Article

I read this article about a year ago but after seeing a pug (or whatever that dog is called) on an episode of "Bringing Home Baby" on TLC (my wife was watching it, I swear) I was reminded of just how funny this was.

My apologies if you are a pug lover. It's still funny.

Dog Breeders Issue Massive Recall Of '07 Pugs

Dawn

No, I'm not talking about a dish detergent. I'm talking about my favorite time of the day. Ever since I started in my current job about two years ago, I have had to get up before dawn. Sometimes ridiculously early but I have grown to really enjoy the pre-dawn to sunrise hours. I have always loved seeing the sun come up but, in the past I was staying up pretty late so the sunrise was something I rarely saw.

I'm not sure why I like it so much but it's probably most related to the lighting. Everything takes on this bluish color before the sun comes up. The most ironic thing about all of this is the fact that I'm going on and on about the sunrise and yet, here I am sitting at my laptop typing instead of standing outside.

I think I'll change that. See ya.

Pregnancy Journal, Part I

As I mentioned above, Joy is pregnant. So, as I sort of promised, I plan to start and try to maintain a sort of photo journal. I'll be uploading pictures that document her pregnancy up to my flickr site and then linking them here.

This picture is of the second pregnancy test Joy took. The first test was taken at night but the "you are pregnant" line was rather faint. So I told Joy, "That's awfully light. I wouldn't trust it." Anyway, she took another one the following morning (they say your mornin' pee is best for a pregnancy test) and this showed up. The second line was originally a little stronger but it's faded since this test was taken well over a week ago.

There is another test Joy took that her mom purchased without our knowledge. I think it was called Clear Blue. On this type of test there are no lines, only a small LCD display. A display that reads "Pregnant" or "Not Pregnant". Sadly, I waited too long to photograph the "Pregnant" display so it has since faded. Oh well. The real test comes next Thursday when Joy goes to the doctor for a preliminary ultrasound and a due date.

We've been through this twice now but it's still exciting.

See you later.

Weeping Willow

My favorite tree, if a person can have one, is the weeping willow. I'm sure there are countless others that share my fascination with the unique look this tree has. Anyway, we were at Busch Gardens today and I was able to take a picture of a weeping willow. I shot it with my Canon S2IS set to "foliage" (surprise!). I was then able to use Microsoft Picture It to remove the color and mess with the contrast.

I always loved shooting black and white photos with infrared film and I still love high contrast black and white photos. Hope ya like it.

See ya!

An Experiment

Well, Joy is pregnant. Let me be more precise: a few over the counter tests show positive as do a couple of other biological/natural tests. She goes to the official appointment next week for a due date, etc.

We kind of want to keep it quiet since, this early on, many things could go wrong and we don't want to get anybody overly excited if something goes awry.

Anyway, if everything goes okay, I want to do a sort of photo journal of the pregnancy. It will be fun and cool to look back on later.

Hopefully, I will be updating soon on the pregnancy. I'll also still be doing more of my more useless posts so this blog won't be entirely pregnancy related.

See you around.

Funny Story

Yeah, you know the deal with The Onion. Hilarious but sometimes vulgar. The following article is clean but I don't make any guarantees about the ads in the background.

Seriously, this article is one of the funniest ones I've read in quite some time.

Enjoy!

Packers Tell Fans They Gave Favre To A Nice Farm Family

Changes? Yes? No? Maybe? So?

Big changes on the way at home? (For me and my family, I mean.) Maybe. There's always something new and, in some way, huge going on at my house. Stay tuned...

...Maybe I'll update this blog before November.

How...?

How can I put into words...

...how much of a headache these contact lenses give me? Oh wait. I just did (put it into words that is.)

Anyway, I was reminded that I have a blog when I recently received an email from sort of 'bot attempting to get me to let them advertise on my blog. I'm sure I have so many readers that it would only make sense to run ads on here, right?

Nah.


I saw a t-shirt for sale on despair.com. It pretty much sums up my opinion of this blog:


Have a good day!

Finally, Some Feedback

Shortly after I published my last post about our house, our realtor's office called. According to them, the showing we had last night went "really well". He also reiterated that our house is in a really good range, under $250k. Tomorrow night we have another showing from 5:30pm to 6:30pm.

It's amazing how just when you need it, God sends along a little encouragement.

So, as always, everything's going great, it's just a lot of work keeping the house up.

Hopefully, I'll be posting more news here later.

A special thanks to Michelle for reminding me to post on here.

Later!

Nothing Yet

We've had our house on the market for about two weeks now and we don't have any contracts on it yet. It's only been two weeks so I shouldn't get all antsy I guess. We've had several people come to see our home (we had to be gone, of course) but we haven't gotten any feedback yet.

I know the news keeps reporting that the housing market is really slowing down, but I'm of the firm belief that there are people out there buying houses still. Also, the price range we're in allows us some room to lower the price if need be.

So when do we lower the price? I have no idea. Of course our realtor isn't going to want to lower right away or for very much. After all, this is how he makes his money but, I'm ready to sell and say, "Well, BYE!"

At least we're not talking with any of those "Get Out Of Your House In 24 Hours. You Pay Nothing! You Lose Money" types of businesses.

...Yet.

Did I mention that it's hot today? I mean it's very hot outside. Thank the Lord I was able to spend the day glued in front of my computer at work in an air conditioned trailer. In fact, my hands started to get that don't-want-to-move-very-fast-because-they're-so-cold feeling.

I can't wait for fall.

Some Pictures

Bodie Lighthouse in North Carolina's outer banks. I'm not sure if it's pronounced "body" or "boadie". Oh well. I don't actually care.

Another shot of the Bodie Lighthouse. I think it's about 130 years old but I can't remember exactly. I guess I could look it up on the internet right now, but, mreh. That's too much trouble.

I know this one is kinda blurry, but it's Caleb's finger-man. He really got a kick out of playing with me when I first helped him to realize that he could pretend his index and middle fingers could be manipulated to emulate a person walking around, falling, jumping, etc.

For Sale(?)

It seems like only last year that we sold our house and moved into a new house. Now, here we are, a little over a year later and we're putting our house up on the market.

We didn't reach this decision on an impulse. I've been toying with the idea for about six months now. It's just that now we actually need to sell our house. Not for profit but to "simplify", as my wife loves to say.

We're going to be moving into a townhouse (Lord willing) where we will be renting. There are some who will say, "Oh, that's too bad. You'll just be throwing money away on rent." To them I say: Hey, you have to live somewhere!

To be quite honest, I'm very excited to be headed back to the apartment lifestyle. No cutting grass, no raking leaves, no cleaning gutters; it's great. I'm not looking forward to sharing walls with other people but I guess that comes with the territory.

What I'm most looking forward to in the renting lifestyle: no more worries about home repairs. If the sink leaks, call the maintenance man. If the A/C breaks, call the maintenance man. Awesome!

Did I forget to mention Renter's Insurance? It's soooo much cheaper than Home Owner's insurance. Also, if a hurricane rips the roof off of my house (which I own) I can't just leave town. Oh no! I am actually expected to repair the house and continue making my mortgage payments or face foreclosure. What planet are these mortgage people from?! However, if the roof of my townhouse suddenly flies away in a strong breeze, guess what? No worries! I can just move (assuming I'm not in a binding lease). Bye bye rented property where all of my personal belongings were destroyed!

Anyway, to all you renters out there: owning a house is awesome. My house is actually very nice. I'll miss it. Wanna buy mine? The more renters that move out, the more available units there will be for me to choose from.

Hopefully I'll be able to update this blog with good news about the house for sale story very soon.

Later!

No Recent Activity

Thank you for your interest in this weblog, or "blog". Unfortunately, the originator has become lazy and has opted to not make regular entries. Due to this, you will notice large gaps between post dates.

Thank you for your interest.

Check out this Article

Sparrow Aviation Administration Blames Collision On Failure To Detect Pane Of Glass

Funny Video

I may have mentioned the satire news site The Onion on here before but they now post videos. These videos are presented in the typical cable news station format. Anyway, they've posted one of their funniest ones so far (in my opinion). Here's the link: Something in Haiti.

Enter: Gordon II

Actually, I think he's going to be named James, another train from the Thomas the Train world. I'll be sure to post some pictures of the critter for posterity in the event of some unforeseen tragic event.

G' night!

Tragedy

We experienced a little tragedy tonight. My son had his hamster, Gordon, rolling around in his hamster ball. After a couple of minutes, I asked where the hamster was. Caleb didn't know. I searched and searched and finally found him. Our dog, Beth, had killed it.

Molly and Caleb are taking it pretty hard. Surprisingly, Molly more so than Caleb. Anyway, I'm typing this sitting up in our bed with Joy, Molly, and Caleb all beside me. There's not a lot of room here but, hey, they are sad.

Anyway, my initial feeling is to get rid of Beth. Naturally, I know that Beth is just a dumb dog and that she didn't kill Gordon for any reason other than pure instinct. I guess. I still go back to wanting to permanently say "Goodbye" to Beth, but I'll make sure that any decision like that isn't based strictly on emotion.

Have a good night.

Gordon the Hamster
R.I.P.

Some Pics from Today

Joy and me in line for Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride.

Molly and Caleb with Chip of "Chip 'N Dale" fame.

In front of Cinderella's Castle at the Magic Kingdom.



Caleb with his beloved toy knight that's been lost at Magic Kingdom.

They still make Monchichi?! Well, these were for sale in the Japanese area of Epcot.

Here's a close up of Caleb's brave "Sir Knight". I really hope we can find another one for him.

The Magic Kingdom

I'm sure I mentioned it in another post but I still say that the Animal Kingdom is the best Disney World park. We spent the day at Magic Kingdom today and I came away the impression that the park resembles more of a carnival or older amusement park than an "amusement" park. I guess, for me, it's really showing it's age.

Many of the rides like It's a Small World, Peter Pan's Flight (name is probably wrong), and even Pirates of the Caribbean smell old. Kind of like going into an attic. Nothing really wrong with that because I still enjoyed the rides but I think they are definitely starting to show their age. Although, it is cool to see effects that don't rely on computer generated images projected onto screens.

I think we will be going back tomorrow to see the parade and fireworks show at the end of the evening. We left right when the fireworks were starting tonight so we could beat the crowd.

Well, I'm uploading some pictures to my flickr site right now and I hope to show some pictures right here.

See you soon.

Here's one of the many pictures I've uploaded at my flickr site. This was taken at the Animal Kingdom Park on our way out. More pics to come.

We spent the day at MGM Studios yesterday and a great, exhausting time. We rode the Tower of Terror, saw a bunch of shows, and a bunch of other stuff. But the highlight of our day was the first ride we rode: Star Tours, a silly simulator type ride.

I say this was the “highlight” because Caleb cried almost the whole time. Despite how much I tried to explain to him what was going to happen on the ride and how much I tried to tell him that it was all fake, he still came away saying that he thought we were really going into outer space. He was screaming things like, “I don't like this ride” the whole time. Poor guy. Then again, he was already acting scared while we walked through the (very short) line.

Overall, though, we all had a great day. Today, I think we're going to Epcot.

Talk to you later.

April 22nd PM/April 23rd AM post

We went to Disney's Animal Kingdom park yesterday. I wasn't sure what to expect; I wasn't expecting much to be honest. I thought it would be a semi-lame attempt at a zoo. I was wrong. That was a very, very fun park. Especially the Kilamanjaro Safaris ride. I swear we were actually RIDING the ride for close to ten minutes. Although it doesn't fit the typical mold for theme park rides since it's more of a zoo-like tour, it's my favorite ride so far.

It looks like we're going to MGM Studios today which is a pretty fun park.

By the way, the kids are having a great time. They love the pools here at the hotel. Which reminds of fact I'm sure everybody already knows: kids will play in water no matter what the temperature is. Molly and Caleb wanted to play in the pool last night and since the depth is close to four feet, Joy and I got in, too. The pools are heated, which is great. However, getting out was pure torture. We were freezing all the way back to our hotel room. But do the kids really care? No. They would shiver violently and risk hypothermia if it meant they could just play in a pool. Psycho.

I hope to be posting some pictures to my flickr site today. If I think about it, I'll link a couple here.

See you later!

April 22nd AM Post

Up at about 7am today. I walked down to the dining area (can't remember what it's called) and poured coffee for Joy and me. The coffee isn't great and they don't have crème brulee creamer for the coffee but it'll do.

So, today we're heading to the animal kingdom. Unfortunately, it's already 8:10am so it's already going to be pretty packed at the park. But at least we don't have to worry about parking.

Hope to be posting some pictures on my flickr site tonight.

1-800-CYA!

First Day of Vacation

Greetings from the Pop Century Resort Hotel in Orlando, Florida.

Yes, we are now in Orlando, Florida. The flight(s) here weren't too bad; no turbulence, no delays, etc. However, Caleb had to go pee “really bad” a total of nine times between our house and our hotel.

Let me be specific: Caleb peed: twice at Newport News/Williamsburg Airport, twice on the flight to Atlanta, once in the Atlanta airport, twice on the flight to Orlando, and twice at the Orlando airport. That brings the grand total to nine bathroom visits during our trip. It was probably just his nerves but still, that's a LOT of peeing. The reason Caleb even had a chance to pee twice in Orlando was because of an issue we had with our rental car reservation.

I reserved an Alamo rental car through Expedia.com which wouldn't really be all that big of a deal except for the fact that we had also reserved Disney's Magical Express. Disney's Magical Express is basically a bus that takes you directly from the airport to your hotel. It's purpose is also get your luggage directly to your hotel room. That's all fine and good except for the fact that there was a conflict: we were scheduled to take the Disney's Magical Express from the airport AND we were supposed to pick up our rental car from the airport at the same time!

After three calls to Expedia, I was able to cancel my rental car. The second lady I spoke with told me no, “we can't cancel the rental car since it is part of your package”. The third person I spoke with seemed amazed that someone told me they “couldn't” cancel the rental car. Anyway, we are currently rental car-less but we're quite happy. Since we're staying at one of Disney's resort hotels, there are buses constantly running to all of the theme parks. Basically, we made end up spending a little extra on dining but it will in no way equal the cost of the rental car plus eating.

Well, I've got some pictures taken and loaded on my computer but I don't have internet access right now. I'm debating whether or not I actually wanna do it. There's a small fee associated with it so, I might. I might not.

I hope to keep this vacation journal up to date so I can sorta remember the details later on.

See ya later!

Caleb's Quote o' the Day

Caleb (to his sister, Molly): "We were twins but not twins in the same belly."

(Note: Molly and Caleb are not twins.)

Soooo Sleeepy

I'm getting very tired. I don't know why exactly. I think... I think it's because I'm tired.

On an entirely different subject, Microsoft is implementing Windows Messenger into Xbox Live. I'm not sure how cool or crappy that will be. I don't know if I know anybody with Windows Messenger but I'll give it a try. Although, it's probably a waste of time since I rarely IM anybody and lately I haven't been gaming very much. Oh well.

See you later.

(three more days)

Four More Days

Yes, four more days until our vacation. More importantly, only three more work days. The kids are really excited about the trip and so am I. I'm mainly excited about being off of work (had to be there at 5am today - ouch.) and relaxing with my family.

Relaxing. We might not get a whole of relaxation but I'm very happy that we're going to be going at our own pace.

Until next time.

Well... BYE!

Privatize My Blog?

Blogger now has an option that allows (ahem) bloggers to make their blogs available only to people they choose. So, I'm considering it. I've never posted here hoping to get noticed by the world. I've posted here mainly for entertainment and a detached form of communication.

So, anyway, I am considering it. Unless, of course, the public outcry is so great that I am forced to leave my blog open to the public. Hardy har har.

See you soon! Or not, depending on whether or not I choose to turn this blog into a private thing.

That Felt Good

I set up a myspace account a little while ago just out of curiosity. Tonight, I finally did what I've been meaning to do since about a week after I set up the account: I canceled it. I got so sick of getting those "friend" requests in my email box from spammers.

So long, myspace. I hardly knew ya. And I hardly wanted to anyway.

Blogging While On Vacation?

Should I do it? I plan on taking my laptop with me to Disney World with my family. Mainly so I can keep a lot of free space on my digital camera. Anyway, maybe I'll take time out each evening for a quick recap of the day. A sort of vacation journal, I guess.

Anyway, six more days to Disney!

Twelve Days to Disney

No, I'm not a big Disney fan or anything like that. It's just that we're going to Disney World in twelve days and I thought that the title of this post sounds like a movie title or a band name or something cool like that.

I don't know why I've gotten back into posting stuff on my blog again... oh, wait. Now I remember: my sister. My sister has posted a couple of comments here and it's made me want to post some junk on here. Thanks, sis!

One thing before I cut short this already short entry: I am sick of "Baby Story". "Baby Story" is a series on TLC and each episode follows a couple as they go through their pregnancies. My wife apparently loves it, but I am tired of the annoying couples that act like their the only ones that have ever had any kids before. "Oh, look at us! We're having a baby! This has never happened to anyone else in the entire world! And even if it has, we are the only ones who can do it right!"

Here's some more of the dumb crap people say on that show: "We want to have our baby naturally so we're not going to have an epidural." How sweet! And when you go to the dentist for a root canal, do you tell your dentist, "I want to have this root canal naturally. I do not want to have any anesthesia. I want to feel everything.

One last thing about "Baby Story" that annoys me: Why do the producers of the show regularly find people that want to have their baby in a bathtub or jacuzzi? Are the fish? Are they mermaids. Or do they just love the beautiful colors that will inevitably float around in the water during and after the birth? YUCK!

Until next time... Well, BYE!

Snow... In April? Here?!

Yep. It snowed this morning. It actually stuck to the ground a little bit. I can't remember the last time it actually snowed in April in this part of Virginia. It wasn't enough to make a snowman, or a snowball, or even to hear it crunch beneath your feet (it was a very wet snow) but it was cool nonetheless.

Here's to springtime!

There's a Fire in My Home!

It's right there in my living room! Thank goodness it's relatively contained within a hearth-like structure that's built into the wall of my house. It's also quite fortunate that the smoke from said fire is going straight up a chimney-like shaft running from the floor of my house and out through my roof.

Although this is terrifying, I must admit that it's quite cozy.

Six Months Since a Post

Wow! What an amazing six months! Actually, what an amazing past ten days. I've been off from work for the Christmas shutdown and it's been great. The hardest part is going back to work. It really, really sucks. Oh well. Can't have vacation without work, I guess.

I decided to blog a little since Joy and I were wondering about some exact dates of when we sold our old house. Well, I guess this blog comes in handy once in a great while.

Later.

New Photos on My Flickr Site

As the subject line suggests, I've uploaded a ton of pictures to my flickr site. Some may seem a bit repetitive but, again, I'm really using the site as more of an archive than a showcase (although I sure don't hesitate to push it here). Check it out here or the link on the right hand side of this page.

Goodnight

I accidentally ran across a cool little "thingie" for my blog. Over to your right you'll notice a new "flickr badge". Basically, all it does is advertise the pictures I have posted over at my flickr site (which is, for me, evolving into more of an archive than a showcase). Anyway, to all of you out there that read my site (I'm looking at you Michelle and Joy) have a great night and a great day tomorrow!

Some Pictures on My New Camera

Here's some real quick photos I took with my new digital camera (which is a lot of options kinda like my old Canon SLR). Anyway, we're getting ready to go, so here are a few quick images.

Molly and Caleb riding the train at Busch Gardens.

Croquet anyone?

Caleb has Monchichi hair.

Mom and Molly reading some sort of book.

QVC= Quality Value COMEDY!

Check out this QVC blooper. I know, I know. Somebody got hurt. But you have to watch it until the end (it's only 32 seconds long) to see the cameo appearance by a guy that obviously is not in front of the camera very often. It's on the youtube.com site and here's the link right here.

Our Trip

We went to Luray this weekend and had a great time. It was really wonderful to spend so much time with my wife and kids. Anyway, here are a few select shots from the trip. There are more available for viewing at my flickr site.

Here we are at one of the mountain overlooks on Skyline Drive.

Joy and Caleb checking out some of the stalactite formations at Luray Caverns.

Here's Molly reading a book at our room/cottage/whatever. I tried to get the background in the shot since we had an awesome view of the valley below but instead it just looks like any other deck. Oh well.

Here's the handsome couple in the television-less, telephone-less room at the Skyland Resort located at the highest point on the Skyline Drive. Or so the signs claim.

Molly standing in front of Star the pony just before she went for a ride. Ain't she a cutie? (I'm talking about Molly, not the pony.)

There she is riding Star the pony. Oh, and that's me leading way through the maze of equine excrement. It was actually very fun despite the fact that it was pretty chilly that morning.

Another one of Molly.

And one of Caleb.

Until next time (when I decide to stop being lazy and post something more) have a great evening.

Hooray for Luray!

Clever title, don't you think? It will seem even more clever once I reveal the following information: We are driving to Luray, Virginia this weekend.

You remember Luray right? The quiet one that nobody ever really noticed in school but now runs a multi-national, multi-million dollar business? Yea, that's the one.

I'm tired.

Artoo Dee Tow

That's how my son pronounces "R2-D2" when he's playing Lego Star Wars (a very good game by the way).

By the way, check out my Xbox 360's blog. There are a couple of new entries. Worth a chuckle or two. I mean, worth a chuckle or tow.

My Xbox 360 Has a Blog

Well, I just started it today so it may not have much of anything. But, it seems like a pretty clever idea. Basically, it tracks my gaming habits/history and generates blog entries automatically. Pretty cool. Check it out right here.