Computer Trouble Again?!

You'd think I had a Windows computer or something!! (Just kidding.)

Remember that issue I had a little while ago, where my computer just shut down with no warning? Well, it came back. Yesterday, and then two times again today!!! Last time we attributed it to a possible faulty hard drive. I lost an old drive that had been making some noise. But, apparently (since that drive is gone now) that was not the case. My next best guess now is a problem in the power chain. The power supply, the logic board, or something like that. Whatever it is, it's annoying. BUT, it is VERY VERY COOL that I did not lose anything on the main hard drive in the computer.

So, I have been spending lots of hours rebuilding files and things that I lose when the computer shuts down. That's been my past two days.

That, and:

1) We got the kids photos at Sears Portrait studio last night
2) We went to the Apple store on both ends of that photo shoot :-)
3) Kids did great, so they got a treat. After the Apple store closed, we stopped at Friendly's on the way out for some ice cream. :-)

4) Slept in today (Cause I was up late last night watching Kingdom Of Heaven. Pretty good movie. Just crazy. Lots of killing. Over religious places and fervor. Crazy.)
5) Took Julia to the doctor today. New doctor place. That was fun.

We had a nice dinner, then Jen went to Staples to get ink cartridges. The four kids and I watched an A-Team with some ice cream. :-) Then we went to bed.

More tomorrow...

[Posted from the PowerBook in our bedroom in Palmyra, NY.]

Kids! Lots of Kids!

Last night I got a call - around 4:15pm or so - from a friend who has three daughters. His youngest was having some trouble with an ear infection or two, and he needed to take her to the hospital. He wondered if we could take his other two daughters for the night, and I said we certainly could.

So, at 5:30 or so, the two girls arrive, having already eaten dinner. (At 5:30, we haven't even really thought about what we'll even be making for dinner...) :-) So now there are 6 kids in our house. Fun! We all got to having a good time, and Mrs. Campbell was going to head outside to play with everyone while I got dinner ready.

As I was about to do that, the phone rang. It was another friend from a couple blocks over who wanted to bring us some clothes for our kids. Very cool. So, she was going to head over with three of her four kids. In the mean time, our next door neighbors came outside, and their two kids joined our 5 who were outside (Julia was sleeping.) So, once the other friends arrived, we had 8 kids and 5 adults in our tiny little back yard! :-)

Fun! :-)

It was a nice night. And, our ear-infected little friend was ok as well. They got her some stronger medicine, and hopefully that will help.

Also yesterday I had some fun with an old Sega NHL Hockey game. You can create players in that game, so for a while I have had myself in the game - my created NHL persona is quite a player, really - and a friend from high school (Kevyn Adams) who really does play in the NHL (currently for the Carolina Hurricanes). (I enhanced his abilities a bit as well.) :-) Well, I got the crazy idea to reassmble the old Sabres teams I remember. So, I made trades to get Pierre Turgeon, Benoit Hogue, Christian Ruutu, Uwe Kruup, Phil Housley and a few other players who all formerly donned the Blue and Gold. Even cooler than that, I created players who had retired by 1996, when that game was made. I created guys like Mike Ramsey, Mike Foligno, Rick Vaive. Cool! So, after the kids went to bed, I had some fun playing with that for a while. :-)

The ankle continues to improve. I took some aspirin before bed last night and I'd say the swelling has significantly gone down. That's good.

I also just finished editing the content for the second book. I plan to write another chapter, and an introduction and some closing remarks. But other than that it's done! We're getting there!

Now I have to get to some other stuff.

More later...

[Posted from the HOME OFFICE in Palmyra, NY.]

Apple, Ankle, Another Angle

Just a quick update for the everydayness of this blog.

I got word yesterday that the Apple store does not need my limited availability. :-) While that was sad in a way, it's also probably really good. I don't have the time for it right now, but I was going to suck it up cause I know I'd love it, and there's a great employee discount! :-)

My ankle is less bruised today, but still BIG. And big means it don't bend just right. And that means it's uncomfortable. And actually, right now it's sorta painful. So I am taking a break to elevate it while I work on my book.

I have mentioned my books. One is complete, and has been proof-read once, and is in the hands of the master proof reader now, our sister-in-law Connie. She is a master grammatician. So, I'm kinda scared to get it back, but it will be very well written once I make her suggested corrections. :-) My other book is going to be slightly more controversial... or not. I can't figure it out. It's essentially presenting the church from another angle. One that we all agree is true, but don't necessarily live out. I feel like people won't really disagree with what I am saying in the books, but will probably say they don't come to the same conclusions. But see... that's the different angle. I think we have a disconnect that we're not even noticing.

You'll have to read my book to know what I'm talking about. :-)

It will be called (Something like) "There's The Steeple... Here's The Church: Selected Thoughts on the Various Manifestations of The Church"

Something like that.

Stay tuned...

[Posted from the PowerBook in my comfy chair in the HOME OFFICE in Palmyra, NY.]

Almost Lunch Time

I forgot how much stuff I do.

It was kinda nice for a little while to think that all I had to do was be a Dad. Now, don't get me wrong... there were times where I thought, "AAAAHHHHH!!!!!", or something to that effect. It can be overwhelming to take care of three tiny people all day long. With no breaks. Definitely. But it was nice to not be all of the things listed in my Newsvine header.

I got through all my emails yesterday. That was really cool. Had about 65 I needed to reply to. (That was already thinned out each night during the two weeks. The 65 were ones that took some time to reply to.) Got that done, and now today I have been making lists in between uploading and moving and renaming files for our Buffalo Bills podcast. There have been issues with the host over there, so I decided to move ALL of the shows to my basicmm.com host. It can handle it much better. So... thats done.

But that's where I'm noticing... the lists I am making continue to be quite spread out. Buffalo Bills Review, various web clients, my books, basic stuff, etc, etc. And don't forget that I applied for ANOTHER job at the Apple Store. Whoopeee! :-) Ha. I guess I just can't sit still, eh?

Well, it's time for lunch now. The afternoon will be filled with actually getting stuff done now! (Not just making lists or answering emails.) :-)

More tomorrow.

[Posted from the HOME OFFICE in Palmyra, NY.]

March, In A Nutshell

I'm going to try and pick this up again. And, in order to do that, I figure a recap is in order.

• March 12: We were sent home from the hospital (at our request) on Sunday afternoon, and had a nice day at home with the grandparents. Jen's parents and my parents were there to meet the baby and help out however they could. It was a great first day with Julia at home! But, we were tired at the end of it for sure!
  
  
• March 13: Our niece Sammy's birthday (she's 14 today, and her cousin Julia is 2 days) :-) It was my first day of being fully responsible for three kids, a recovering wife and a house that really needed some help. Somehow we made it through - even with several errands to run. We even made our regular trip to the library... just, later than we hoped to! :-) Alex got to join the pre-school reading group that night. We were tired at the end of that day.
  
  
• March 14: Ian had a piano lesson. The days are beginning to blur together. They are all a jumbled mess of kids, meals, laundry, taking meals up to Jen in bed and various and sundry errands. We also had some visits from friends, to see the new baby. I was tired at the end of this day.
  
  
• March 15: I did not play basketball as I usually do on this Wednesday. I was too tired, and didn't really want to leave Jen alone with all the kids, even if they were all sleeping. So, I didn't go. But the kids and I went up to the gym after we all had breakfast. That was fun. We called Mr. Stupin to wish him a happy birthday, but found out that Mar 15 was the day he picked for JULIA to be born. Her birthday, not his. That was funny. We are also enjoying the new walkie talkies we got for easier communication with Mom. :-) It was a nice day, but I was pretty tired at the end of it.
  
  
• March 16: My Dad's birthday. On his birthdays he's 25 years older than whatever I am. We called and wished him a happy birthday. Sent him a cool Amazon gift certificate too. We're so "e". :-) I really don't remember anything else about that day. I think we were just trying to survive still. :-) I do know that at the end of the day, I was quite tired.
  
  
• March 17: St Patty's Day! We all wore green! It was great! Michigan State played their first (and last) tournament game that night. We watched on our neighbor's laptop, since it wasn't on TV, nor were they smart enough to use a CROSS PLATFORM VIDEO FORMAT. (That angered me.) It was also the first day Chill and Grill (our favorite local eatery) opened - so we went up there for lunch. It was Julia's first offcial outing. And, ours as a family of six. I got the one-pound hamburger. With everything. Wondrous. Such a great day. As I recall, though... I was still quite tired at the end of it. See, what I did that entire week was, take care of kids all day, then clean the house and do dishes, laundry, check my work emails, and other stuff I needed to do from about 11pm till 2 or 3 am. That made me tired.
  
  
• March 18: Saturday. We did mostly the same routine... wake up, read the bible with the boys, get everyone dressed, get breakfast, clean up after breakfast, do some morning activity, a few household chores, get ready for lunch, eat lunch, clean up after lunch, do some quick thing before Kirstie takes a nap, me and the boys do something while Kirstie naps (it might have been a Superman movie - we watched Superman I, II, and III over the past week), get kirstie up, do something fun with everyone, get dinner ready, eat dinner, clean up after dinner, do some fun evening activity (sometimes Jen and Julia would join us at this point), 9pm head upstairs to get ready for bed (which might include bathtime/computer time), I'd get Kirstie dressed for bed, read her a book, then the boys and I would read something together, pray together, then I leave their room at 10pm. After that, I would check email for the day, answer anything I needed to, and then clean up the house before going to bed to do it again the next day! Crazy, eh?
  
  
• March 19: According to my financial records, we went to Wegmans this day. Out shopping as a family. And since we were out near lunch time... we also ate at McDonalds. As I recall, that was fairly enjoyable. :-) Nothing really spectacular other than that on this day. I do recall that at the end of the day, I was tired. :-)
  
  
• March 20: A friend of ours offered to take our kids while I got to take Jen out for lunch (along with Julia, of course) and get her out of her mom role for a time. That was nice. Except I was sick. Real bad. (That phrase made me think of Mr T for some reason...) We did have a nice lunch (other than that) at Wegmans Cafe. They have great subs. After lunch we got the kids, and went up to the Apple Store for fun. Kirstie had been asking to go all week. I'M SERIOUS. Every time we would go near our coats or shoes, she'd point outside and excitedly say, "APPLE!!!" She really likes the Apple Store. :-) So we went, and then came home and spent the rest of the day recovering from so much activity! Oh... we did get out to Chill and Grill, too, though. :-) I was VERY tired at the end of this day (I was also sick, so that's probably why I added the "very".)
  
  
• March 21: Ian had another piano lesson this day. I was recovering from being sick. The two middle kids were sick. Not too bad, but definitely "off their game". I'm not really sure when but, somewhere in these two weeks, Chris and the Stupin girls came over for Skyline and the new VeggieTales video - I think it was this night. We'll just say it was. I went to bed that night not as tired as other nights - but still tired.
  
  
• March 22: Ouch. I went to play basketball at 8am on this day and... sprained my ankle. Real bad. I pity the fool. It was quite swollen. And painful. So, I went to the hospital with the boys to see if it was broken. Not broken. That was good. But, it still hurt. Since we were in Canandaigua at the hospital, and it was lunch time, we went to Taco Bell to get some food (we don't have one close to us). And since we were there, we went to Aldis to get some groceries (we don't have one close to us.) That was quite a site. Dad with a freshly sprained ankle hobbling through the grocery store, loading up the cart and trying to verbally restrain to small boys. Spent the rest of the day icing it and elevating it. We watched a Superman movie. Actually, I think that's when we watched the first one. I slept for some ... no... most of it. :-) I was tired. OH! Funny part of the day was our friends were to bring us dinner - which was good timing with the ankle injury - but they FORGOT! Ha! :-) They ended up bringing it out (and I think making it!) late that night! It was quite alright... we had lots of other food... but it was definitely a funny story! :-)
  
  
• March 23: A recovery day. An errand day. A full day. We also bought a new TV. It went in our living room. The TV that was there went up to our bedroom. The TV that was there went down to our basement, where the Nintendo NES and Sega Genesis systems are. That was a lot of stairs and carrying on a bum ankle. Jen thought I was dumb. (Perhaps I was, but it was a fun project.) :-) Our babysitter and friend Kristin Anderson brought us dinner that she cooked. She's 14 I think. Very nice. And... as I recall... I was quite tired at the end of that day.
  
  
• March 24: My sister and her family came to visit. They have three girls who are 4 years old and younger. Needless to say, it was chaotic. But, we had a great time. Went to our local pizzeria with them - all 11 of us. Quite overwhelming, I am sure. And loud! Argh! :-) They left about 8pm, and I was tired, so we did not go to the hockey game I was hoping to go to with the kids. Instead, I took the three older kids to the local coffee shop - Coffee Creek. Nice place. We got some hot chocolate and chocolate chai and played Pass The Pigs and the Dukes of Hazzard card game. We had a blast. Then we went to sleep. :-)
  
  
• March 25: Grandma Walker came over to make lots of food, and bring lots of food and she even kept the three older kids so Jen and I could go out shopping for MORE food. Oh my. It was a very nice day though. We watched some basketball and ate chicken pot pie. My ankle also continued to improve. I was also starting to get sad that my days with the kids would soon end. I think I was less tired at the end of this day.
  
  
• March 26: Jen's brother Andy and family came to visit from Buffalo. They bought us pizza and wings (and a sub for Jen.) We watched some hoops and just chatted. Aunt Connie loves little babies, so she just held the baby. :-) We had a great time again, and when that was done, I recorded a Buffalo Bills Review. So I was up kinda late already - and decided to spend my last day away from the office by watching Pirates Of The Carribean, which I had borrowed weeks ago from a friend, but had not yet seen. Fun movie. But at the end of the day...

I was tired. :-)

So, now you're caught up... and I'll try and do this daily as was my original plan. When I came up with this idea, I wasn't counting on the COMPLETE change of life that the new baby (And me taking time to be Mr Mom) would have on me. It was all quite nice though - so, I'm not complaining. :-)

[Posted from the HOME OFFICE in Palmyra, NY.]

Whoa... This Is Quite a Glitch

Well...

Not sure this can be called the "Everyday" blog anymore, eh?

I might get back to posting here, but can't hardly keep up with one blog these days. I am being Mr. Mom. Check out the main blog for a few more details.

[Posted from the Living Room couch on the PowerBook in Palmyra, NY.]

Julia Gayle

All that you need to know about today is here.

[Posted from Crosswinds in Canandaigua, NY.]

Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are!

Still no baby. Jen's getting tired of telling people that I think. :-)

We went to the doctor today. A little progress, but not much. Doc says no way she's letting Jen go past next week though (the real due date is 3/17). I'd say we'll go here in the next couple days. But what do I know? :-)

Working on my book still. Actually, after careful thought, it is now TWO books. :-) Two 150-200 page books is better than one 350 page book, according to most experts. (I made that last part up.) So, one book will be much like my last one, A Journey Shared. We'll call that one Life In The Rear-View Mirror. The other book will be focused on the church, and what we have been pondering in that arena over the past year. No title just yet. Some ideas, but nothing solid.

Got to finish a few web things... who knows, might be going to the hospital today? (You can always hope...)

:-)

[Posted from the HOME OFFICE in Palmyra, NY.]

No Baby Yet (is there any other appropriate title?)

Really, I think that might be most of what we are thinking about at the moment in the Campbell household. :-)

So, no baby yet, but it's coming soon. I am taking some time today to try and finish my rough draft of the next book, and if I can do that, then the baby can come. Maybe that's what he's been waiting for... :-)

I slept in a bit today, in part due to some advice from my Dad, and in part due to two different dreams that I had last night that just made me question my recent priorities. So, I slept until the rest of the family awoke, and then went to work. It was nice.

We have been following with some interest a few evolution/creation debates at Newsvine, and now the response on a parenting forum to the EzzoTruth.com site that I was able to help get online. I am just fascinated at how people are so eager to squash opposing view points? Crazy. I posted an article to newsvine about that today. Check it out at my newsvine column.

I have to get working on my book!

More later...

[Posted from Coffee Creek in Palmyra, NY.]

Toe Surgery

Well, I don't know if it qualifies for "surgery" but, yesterday I had a section of my toe nail removed from the big toe on my left foot. About an 1/8" section! I had an ingrown toe nail that had gotten quite irritated and now infected, and I could not reach it, so I found a podiatrist, and he injected me with some numbing stuff and in just about a minute, had removed all of the stuff casusing me toe pain.

He wrapped it up in a bandage, and gave me instructions for toe care over the next week or so (involving lots of soaking in cool water mixed with vinegar) and we were off. (In fact, as I type this to you, my foot is in cool water with vinegar...) :-)

We had a little less than an hour before the next appointment (wtih our dentist) so the boys and I headed over to the gym at Crosswinds to run around and play with the balls real quick. Our friend John Gallagher was there, so he and I chatted while the boys were busy being athletic. (Ian was hitting several of his shots from the free throw line... quite impressive!)

We headed out and got to the dentist at just the right time, and got our teeth cleaned - good as new! And then, as is our custom, we picked up the Velasquez girls (this time Ellie got to come, too) and headed to McDonalds for a Dentist Day lunch. :-) Let me tell you... this started when it was two older kids (Ian and Hannah), but now that it's me versus four kids, including a 3 and 4 year old... that's a different dynamic! :-) But it was fun! We're already looking forward to our date in September. :-)

The rest of the day seems like a blur for some reason. I am still inexplicably tired. Really. I have tried to get some sleep, but I am just worn out by the end of the days these days. (And I don't mean MY end of the days. I mean by 9:00 or 10:00pm!! I usually press on, but I am already tired by then.)

I continue to do analog to digital conversions. I did a couple more movies yesterday, and simultaneously, I have been converting the Preparation For Parenting audio tape series from the Ezzos to a digital format for our iPod on my G3. I told Jen yesterday that I could be regularly employing about 5 computers upstairs. I use two for web and graphic design (one to create, one to test) and one for video conversion, one for audio conversion, and I could probably use a Windows box for checking certain web pages I design (for compatibility with those of you who insist on using Internet Explorer for Windows XP. It is quite flawed, I tell you. Please check out FireFox. You will be much happier. (Even if you didn't know you weren't happy now.)

So, we don't have the money at the moment to get another computer, but I could definitely put it to work if we did. :-)

I think my foot has sufficiently soaked. Time to take a shower and start the day.

[Posted from the PowerBook in our Kitchen in Palmyra, NY.]

Absence

I think the unprecedented absence from this blog should give you some insight into this season of our life. BUSY. And tired. Normal life continues to go on while Jen slows way down - growing more and more weary of carrying the baby on the inside - and I grow more and more weary from trying to prepare for taking two weeks off when the baby arrives. What I do is cram that two weeks worth of stuff into the week or two prior to the birth of the new baby. So, I end up living twice as many weeks in the short time leading up to the baby's arrival.

Not sure that's a smart thing to do.

But, the family needs me more, so I am doing a good deal more of the house work (though Jen is hangin in there! she just can't do a lot of it anymore!) The kids are a bit restless as Mom is no fun to play with anymore. :-) (Nor is it easy for her to help keep them disciplined during the day, so they do get a bit unruly...) And that's just added on top of my normal work load, and now I have taken on my book project (I am making progress there!)

Like I said... the absence in the blog world is a good indication of the activity in the real world. :-)

So today we're going to get fixed up. First, I have an appointment with a podiatrist to fix my toe. It's a "simple procedure" they assure me, but we'll see about that! Second, the boys and I have another dentist teeth cleaning appointment. We actually look forward to those. The boys love it, and I tolerate it. Then we take the Velasquez girls out for lunch at McDonalds after our appointment! (That's the fun part) :-)

So, I won't get to my office till about 1:30 today! That's not really going to help anything at all....

No baby yet - but we're only 10 days away from the due date, so we're really, REALLY close!! :-) :-)

OK, gotta go wake up the kiddos.

[Posted from the HOME OFFICE in Palmyra, NY.]

Books and Babies, and Books about Babies

It's been a crazy long weekend!! I've been pulling some really late nighters working on my book. I am about half-way through the rough draft! That's really good! At this point, I am just checking everything to be sure it's the way I wanted to say it and stuff. I really am enjoying this, it's just hard because I am either giving up sleep, or time with my family - which at this point, Jen really needs, cause she's just focused on getting that baby out.

So I did a bunch of household things today too. Besides the meals today, which is a normal part of my weekends, at least, I also did a few loads of laundry, and much-needed vacuuming of the floor, as well as a few loads of dishes. Our dishwasher is still not quite right. I tried a few more tricks tonight with that. We'll see how it does with the end of the day dishes.

No baby yet. We're still waiting. But I fully expect the baby sometime this week. We'll keep you informed.

I was able to finally publish the EzzoTruth.com website. We had finished the main layout back in July, and I put a link on my main blog to that page, but it has taken this long to make sure the info was correct and that every piece was in place. It's really sad that there is so much really hateful, mean-spirited words thrown around on the internet at the Ezzos. We have really enjoyed their parenting tapes, and they also seem like nice people. I think the saddest thing to me is that a lot of the daggers are thrown by fellow believers. :-( That's just sad. So, hopefully this site that my client put together will be a balancing voice, and a source of a different perspective on the Babywise and Growing Kids God's Way material than is currently available on the internet. Unfortunately, they are going to be blasted by the critics as well, but at least there is a good amount of accurate info on the Ezzos and their material on the site they created. That will be good.

I will do a bit more on the book tonight, but my goal of having the rough draft by the end of the weekend was a bit ambitious I suppose. :-)

And tomorrow morning, it's back to the regular grind. :-)

We'll see how that goes, as it seems like Jen is needing my help more and more these days.

[Posted from Jen's eMac in our Kitchen in Palmyra, NY.]

Slow Down!

I feel like I should listen to myself sometimes. I know that I am trying to do too much right now. I know that my family needs me more than usual. I know that I really just need to sleep. But, I also know that I am not going to. Last night, my body took over, and I woke up at nearly 5am, still ready to work on my book! Ha! I just fell asleep! That was funny.

I am still working on my book. We are still waiting for the baby. The kids are still waiting to get their mom back. We're still waiting on the baby. Many of my clients are still waiting for me to do more work for them. Jen made dinner tonight (which was great) but in general, I also provide meals and take care of much of the household duties these days. (Have I mentioned we're waiting for a baby?)

So, I'm tired. Worn out. Fried. And yet, weighed down by all the stuff I have to - and want to - do.

I should just go to sleep, but, I won't.

I missed yesterday, so here's a recap of the past two days...

After the doctor's appointment Friday afternoon, I took Jen to her favorite restaurant pretty nearby there. I told her it was her "last meal" (out, at least) before the baby. :-) That was very nice. No kids, just me and Jen. Then we had Carne Mechada (the Venezuelan national dish) for dinner. Another of Jen's faves. (She had a great food day!) :-) We went to the mall in the evening to just walk around and get that baby out. That was nice. Saw some folks there we had not seen in a while. Was fun to meet up with them by chance.

We also went to the Apple store, of course.

Oh, fun story... my two year old daughter knows good stuff when she sees it! We were heading to the Apple store, and as we were approaching the hallway where the store is, Kirstie blurts out, "Ap-pullllllll!!!" Ha! And then she starts putting her hands up in the air and shrugging her shoulders - her sign language for, "Where is it??" He he. We do make many trips there, and apparently, Kirstie likes it! :-)

Today we all slept in a bit, but I worked on some clients' websites as well as putting my book together. I am finished with the first section. Only about six or seven more to go. :-) Actually, it's really coming along, and I will be doing a lot more work on it tonight.

No signs of baby yet, but it's coming soon. I'm sure we'll post something about that here when s/he arrives. :-)

[Posted from the PowerBook on the big couch in our living room in Palmyra, NY.]

No Baby Yet

Well, both Jen's and my predicted dates for the baby's arrival have come and gone. (Well, technically, since Jen predicted the 2nd and it's only 10:30pm, she still has a chance, but I'm not counting on it.) :-) The baby is still hanging in there, so if you want to put in your guess, the odds are getting better that you'll be right. :-)

Aside from waiting for the baby, I continue to make progress on the book. I actually took a little time to work on that today as well (I have just been doing it from about midnight till 3 or 4am for the most part) so that was cool and different. I'm still on pace to finish the rough draft by the end of this weekend.

We went grocery shopping tonight. It was nice to do that as a family. Kirstie was a bit out of sorts... just ... cranky. But when we got back we put her in bed and the rest of us watched another A-Team. :-) :-) (Thanks, iTunes!!) :-)

Going to make Carne Mechada for tomorrow. The meat simmers overnight. Mmmmmmm.

The days are long these days, but that's a good thing. God continues to provide web work for me. This is certainly where he wants me at the moment. So, I'm just trying to keep up and enjoy the ride. :-)

Lots of smileys today. :-)

Oh, we went over to the Velasquez home last night, and spent the evening with them. That was nice. We also had a nice dinner out at a favorite eating establishment of ours - Leonardo's Pizza! They have the "Beat The Clock" deal where you pay the time you call. From 5 till 8. If you call at 5:09, you pay $5.09 (plus tax and toppings). Good deal! :-) So, the five of us enjoyed a nice meal out, and then a fun evening with the Vs.

All for now... more tomorrow...

[Posted from the PowerBook on our couch in Palmyra, NY.]

Another Day

My head is spinning. I came down from a day in the office yesterday, and I literally felt like I was spinning.

This is the first opportunity I have gotten (taken?) to write to this blog today. There are about a thousand things I need to/want to do in a day it seems. I know I am certainly feeling a bit more pressure as Jen grows ever larger. I am having to help more with the house and kids - and I really don't mind at all. I love to help, and I want to. But I think it's making me feel all spinny.

Yesterday was a lot of fun. (Aside from the spinning.) Kirstie turned two. We celebrated with presents, a birthday poster, a cool cherry-chocolate cake (it was great!) and a fun night at the community center just running around with lots of balls. (Kirstie liked the yellow one, which she callled, "Blue-eeee") :-)

It was definitely a fun night.

I worked on my book a bit last night. It's coming together. I am probably too optimistically hopeful that I will have a rough draft by the end of this coming weekend. Once I have that, I'll send it to a few folks who can check for errors. Then I'll correct them and send the book off to the publisher! Yippee!!!

I also sent in a resumé and application to Apple yesterday. :-) I'm not really looking for a job. (Read those first two paragraphs again.) But I really keep thinking that it would be so cool to work even just one day a week at the Apple store. :-) There was an opening posted on their site, so I figured... why not. :-) Even as a part-time employee, I get a discount! Whoohooo! :-) They even give me a discount for a select few friends and family! Nice.

So today is a super full day, and I really need to get back to it, but I can't shake this super strong desire to blog out some thoughts today. I think I will do that, and then grab lunch a do a little longer afternoon shift.

Oh yeah... ball with Scott, Steve, and Alex was a blast this morning. We are getting much more competitive these past few outings. We all leave with a little less blood, and the intensity is quite fun, actually. :-) Scott and I won two of three games today. Nice.

[Posted from the HOME OFFICE in Palmyra, NY.]