Just browsing

Greetings to you who let your fingers do the talking.

Over the weekend I thought I would check my e-mail. I was not expecting any besides the normal spam. I sign into my account. See that I have spam and occasional forward. There is an e-mail I was going to click on. Yet when I clicked on it nothing happened. It would not let me read the e-mail. I could get into my e-mail account, but could perform no action. I tried another e-mail account same thing. I could sign in, but when I tried to open an e-mail, nothing. After a few moments of waiting I had to shut the browser down. Yet I would go to other sites and it would be working fine.

It must have been something with the browser I was using. I was using Google Chrome. Then I tried Firefox and I was able to read my e-mail.

The good news, at least for the spam senders, is that I am able to read my e-mails.

String'em up

It is easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than for a man to thread a needle.

I have a button up shirt I purchased from a thrift store for about a dollar. The other day I noticed one of the buttons was becoming loose. I stored in the back of my mind that I needed to sew it. Today I word the shirt to church and the button became loose. It was basically hanging by a thread.

So tonight I get out the sewing kit Wendy received as a wedding gift. Wendy was talking through me the process. The thread had not been opened. It was a little difficult to get the thread started. I was able to thread the needle after a few attempts. I put the needle through the shirt and button hole. My first pull causes the thread to come out of the needle. So I have to rethread again.

I was able to get the button on the shirt. I may have sewed something before, but if so I do not remember. I do know it is not one of my favorite things. I am not a big fan of needles.

The highlight of my experience, at least for Wendy, happened a few minutes in. I pulled the needle through the shirt and felt a tug. I look down and the thread is hanging on my finger. That it is to say it is through my finger. I am not sure how I did it. I must have put the needle through the top layer of skin. Fortunately, it did not hurt. It scared me more than anything. I pull the string out and continue.

Wendy said the look on my face was the best part. Glad I could amuse.

In all honesty this should have had a better title

Dear parents, parents to be, wannabe parents, did not even cross my mind parents,

I have to say that Sharon, the baby we met this weekend, was a good baby. She would fuss just a little bit, but never too much. Then she would go right back to smiling or sleeping. I have seen a few babies that do not fuss too much. I know it is rare thing. Every baby has moments of fussyness where the parent thinks she will lose her mind.

I will be the first to admit I know nothing about babies. I am getting to that stage in life where I have more contact with them. Friends and other family members have them in their lives. Of course in a couple of months I will have a baby of my own.

So needless to say I am a fumble fingers when it comes to babies. I have never dropped one. It has been two. Just kidding. However, I feel I have no idea how to hold a baby. I know I do not do it exactly right. The parents must be thinking how is that IDIOT! holding my child. Hopefully it is a skill developed by practice. I know I will have a lot of practice. Holding a baby and being called IDIOT!

As we were sitting around the house yesterday Caroline and Paul were mainly holding Sharon. Of course it is their baby. Wendy held her some. Then she passed Sharon to me. I fumbled a few seconds, but then mainly rested Sharon against me. I have no idea if she was comfortable or not. Fortunately she did not cry or fuss. One time later in the evening while I was holding her she did start to fuss. I handed her back to the mom. Mothers are pretty good about making excuses for their babies. "She is getting sleepy."

Sharon was a good baby. She would sit there. Smile occasionally. Then nap. Basically that is what I do all the time. I think Sharon fussed less than I do.

I know that all babies are different, as well they should. I hope that Wendy and I are blessed with a good baby. I hope that Joy is even tempered and well behaved. So her parents can be too. Just kidding. I do hope we are blessed with a healthy and happy baby. I do not want to learn about parenting the hard way. There will be enough challenges.

So to all you baby mommas and daddies out there...Thank you for taking care of us when we are happy and fussy.

Hold me now

I have to hand it to you. Food, money, fussy baby.

If you suffer through my blog, then you probably ready Wendy's blog. You know through her beautiful way to tell and a story that we had some friends come to our area. It was a pretty good weekend.

Before we met our friends Saturday morning we went grocery shopping to have something to prepare for dinner. We never really keep much in the house, especially by the time the weekend comes. I doubt they would want a pop tart for dinner. Wendy thought it would be a good idea to get a lasagna, bread, salad, and dessert. So we found the lasagna. It was a good size so we could have leftovers. We found the bread. We pick up brownie mix and vanilla ice cream. Of course we have to pick up more oil. That is how shopping is, you go to pick up one thing and have to pick up several. Then we picked up the salad. So we have everything for a quick and easy meal.

We met yesterday morning at a restaurant not known for its expedient service. However, I did not notice anything amiss. The food was not bad. Two pluses for a restaurant. While there a young woman came up to the table. I thought she was part of the wait staff, but no. She was a balloon artist. She wanted to know if anyone wanted a balloon animal. So Caroline and Paul got one for their daughter, Sharon. They said a turtle would be cool. So the young woman made a turtle. I have never seen a balloon artist in a restaurant. If you think about it is pretty interesting. It is a neat way to earn extra money. I doubt she gets tips as much as she would like, but do we get as much money as we like?

After breakfast we go buy (okay just browsing) a store that has a baby section. Wendy loves to look at what suppliers have to offer to baby Joy. Caroline and Paul had good advice on what to look for and avoid since they have recently experienced what we will go through in a couple of months. It was a fun shopping time for me because I did not have to spend any money.

Then we came back to our house. We just sat around and talked. Then we went out for a walk. Ate dinner. Talked some more. Passed around Sharon. Caroline, Paul, and Sharon left around 9:30. You are probably saying, "Why did you mention in two sentences what happened for eight hours and what took an hour you blabbed on all that space?" I say can you not sum up your 8 hour workday with a sentence or word?

It was a good weekend. We had decent food. Saw decent friends. Learned a lot about what will be coming to us in a few months. Now we have a day to rest.

The answer is oblivious

Nothing much to report here. Yesterday was a pretty unproductive day. I could have gotten more done by lying in bed all day. When I do have to do work again I think I will forget how to do it. However, I did make it through a week feeling weak.

Wendy and I visited with some friends and their 6 mo old. They are in town for the weekend and staying at a Red Roof Inn. It was a little interesting at first because we were not quite sure how to get in touch with them. Fortunately, the number they called from was a cell number. So Wendy and I picked up a couple of pizzas for dinner and took them to the hotel. We knew what room they were in, but not were the room was. That particular Red Roof Inn, it maybe all for what I know, was split into two buildings. I had never seen that before. So we go into the side with the lobby. Up the elevator to look for the room. The hall ended a few numbers before their room. So it is the next building.

Wendy and I go to the next building, but it is a door that requires a key access. Which not being paying guests, we do not have. Also we do not have our friends' cell number in our phones. All the communication was through our house phone. I go back into the other building into the lobby to call their room. Fortunately, they answer and are able to let us in.

It was a pretty good time of catching up. Wendy and Caroline were swapping baby stories. We had pizza and ate it on tissues because we had no plates. It will definitely be different traveling with Joy. Right now Wendy and I do not carry much. I am sure with Joy we will have a little bit more. Now there are constantly times when we have not brought something with us that would be beneficial. I wonder if always having extra materials is a parent thing or individual trait. I will find out in a few months.

Wendy and I plan to see our friends again today. Other than that we have no definite plans. Since they are the guests we will let them decide where we all will go. That is fine with me. I think they at least want to eat at Bob Evans and visit the mall.

Not enough to the fill the space

I really do not have much to say at all. Just thought I would throw at few words at the screen and see what sticks. Di
d i
t
wo r k
?*

So much space to go, but so few words.

I wonder what lock the keyboard opens?

*I was hoping that would look better, but the formatting did not turn out right.

Oh synapses

There is something about memory, but I cannot remember it right now. That is the way it always is with me. I will be talking to someone and not remember some key element of the story. Then after talking with them I remember what I wanted to say. I am also like that with things. I mean to do something or grab something. Then I walk out and forget it.

The bad part about forgetting is you seem like an idiot twice. First, when you actually forget where you are going in the conversation. Then it never fails that you remember what you wanted to say minutes, sometimes hours, after the conversation. So you blurt out some random thing. Of course it was not random during the previous conversation.

Usually when I remember something I snap my fingers. I do not know why I do this. Sometimes I will also point. Maybe it is my brain firing and working through my fingers.

The good thing about a memory is that it is only as good as you remember it.

Plugging my own product

I read somewhere on some baby website that babies are protected by something called a mucus plug. It helps keep the baby safe. So I wonder if you have a stopped up nose than you are better protected. It certainly seems sometimes like I am in the womb with the weird numb feeling I get. I am not sure about you, but when I am congested and breathe I feel somewhat shaky.

I nose this is snot what you what to hear. Since I am stopped up, I will stop here.

Falling asleep

Greetings to those in the prone position.

I am not sure if it is taking my body a few days to adjust to the new sleeping arrangements. The first few nights after moving to the new bedroom I feel like I had more dreams than usual. I cannot remember them now of course. Usually I do not remember having any dreams during the night. Wendy said I also tried to fling myself out of bed. I am not sure how often I try that. At least I will not have as far to go when I hit the ground. Now we are closer to the ground. "The bed would be the same height, right?" Good point.

I think I have been sleeping okay. I have been waking up a few times and looking at the clock. With the new bedroom right down the hall I have to be careful about the noises I make. It is probably bad enough the way my body creaks as I sneak down the hall. I do not want to wake Wendy. She needs all the rest she can get. I am usually able to get mine around 7 pm. Of course being so boring helps also.

Talking about putting people to sleeezzzzzzzzzz...

Taxing

Be sure to keep your cents about you.

Today is the last day for people to file their taxes. Hopefully Uncle Sam and your state of affairs have been good to you. I am sure the post office will be crowded with people sending off their love letters to the government.

I will be glad when this week is over. It has been a long week. Much longer than this post will be.

Not too much going on here. Probably that is a good thing.

Nosey

Not that any of you care, but my throat issue is working its way up to my nose. This morning at work my nose felt like it was leaking. Only for a few minutes. Later I sneezed a couple of times. Now my nose is sore because I have been rubbing to keep myself from swallowing snot.

Oh well there could be worse things.

European or African swallows

Shouldn't coconuts have chocolate? Or is that a different kind of cocoa?

I do not think that I am getting sick, but who knows? Yesterday morning I woke up with a weird feeling in my throat. It sort of hurt, but when I swallowed. It was kind of a numbness. It last most of the day, but when I did other things I did not notice as much. This morning I feel the same sort of taste in my throat.

I will be fine in a few days. I will have to juice up probably or at least drink enough to float away.

Cashing in

Well I signed up for another round of surveys. I had not taken any for awhile. I have just been deleting them from my account. Today I fell for one. I saw an e-mail that said you get money for surveys every time. So I thought why not.

Sure they may offer you money. The offer. Most of the time you will not qualify for the survey. So since there is no survey there is no cash.

Oh well they say time is money. I will not be wasting 20 minutes answering questions. Now I can waster 20 minutes on something else.

It grows on you

Hello to those who run with scissors.

Do people really use scissors anymore? With some many cutting utensils on the market I never see anyone use scissors. Even people who give haircuts do not really cut with scissors. I was thinking about that because it is getting to bed time for a haircut. The hair on the back of my head grows faster than the front. So it hangs over my collar or curls up. The good news is I only notice when I look in the mirror. I do not look in the mirror that often.

Another thing that sneakily grows on me are my nails. I usually cut them once a week. I am not one of those who cuts them all the way to the quick. I do not think I could do that. When the time nears for me to cut them I spend a couple of days before wondering if I should cut them. At certain times they look long and then they look like they could go a couple of days.

If you would like you can spend all your time looking at the documentation or just ignore it.

It is my new goal

Greetings dribblers.

Last night at church after the youth meeting I went outside with a few of the younger boys to supervise. The church has an outdoor basketball court. With the warmer weather the guys love to go out and shoot hoops. The basketball goal is adjustable in its height. Most of the time is about six feet high. That is shorter compared the usual nine or so foot high goal. The youth like it because they can dunk. There is nothing more satisfying to them than to be able to "power dunk."

The time before I went out with the youth I was only adult supervision. They did not need me to play. That was fine. I am not even sure the last time I played basketball. Last night to make the numbers even I played. I was okay, but not great. I made a few points and even dunked once. Of course I was wide open at the time. I did make an air ball or two. To my lackluster defense I threw it over the goal.

It was pretty interesting to play. It had been a long time since I have played. I probably would have embarrassed myself more if the goal had been regulation height.

The cable guide

Greeting viewers.

You may know that Wendy and I tried to plug in our television to the guest room cable outlet and it did not work. We tried what we could think of to get it to work, but it did not. So at 10:30 pm I called TWC. The operator said someone will be out between 2 and 4. I said fine because Wendy and I would be at home all day. You can check previous posts and Wendy's blog to see activities.

Well 2 in the afternoon rolls around. We get a phone call. It is a friend who is coming into town next weekend. Wendy and her talk for a few minutes. About 3:30 the phone rings. It is TWC. The technician is running late. About 4 the technician calls and says he will be here between 4:40 and 5. We say no problem. About 5:30 the technician shows up. He apologizes for being later than the appointment. I understand how it happens.

We tell him the situation about not receiving cable in the guest room. The technician was very through. He checked each outlet. He had to replace each connection. Apparently every one of our connections was loose. The wire sticking out is supposed to be flush, but ours was reset. He had to do about five other things before looking at the outlet in the guest room.

After fixing the connections inside we go outside to the cable box. He has to fix those connections. He finds the wire for the connection of the guest room, but I guess was not getting a good signal. He has to go up on the roof to look at some wires. I am not sure exactly why. I do not know if it had something to do with the previous owners having satellite at one time.

Then he goes to the main cable line out in the yard. It was not even in our yard, but is in the neighbors. He takes at look at it and laughs. He says he wishes he had his camera phone so he could e-mail this sight. The wire was cut in three places and one of the connections was broken. This is the main cable to our house! He did what he could to correct that, but said some will come out and replace that box. He went back to the side of our house and grounded it. Apparently it was not grounded. It is amazing and sort of disturbing to see the cable guy shaking his head and wondering what is going on with the previous wiring.

The cable technician expressed his amazement how we even had cable or internet at all. We had so many loose connections and the main wire was cut. He said our internet should be fast now and our viewing should be better. It is strange because we have not had any problems.

It is just one of those strange things about this house.

Clean living

Well hello glides and brooms.

Wendy and I spent most of yesterday cleaning up our act. Once waking up and enjoying breakfast, we decided it was time to...run quick errands. The cats were in need of some litter. Wendy wanted to pick up some deep cleaning liquid. She was also interested in a steam mop to clean the floors. Two of three are not bad. We picked up the litter and Krud Kutter. The steam mop was a little more than we wanted to pay.

After our semi successful ran at shopping we returned home where we got down to business. We started in the kitchen. Wendy moved the appliances off the counter. We mixed our cleaning solution. Then sprayed and wiped. It will pretty much that easy. It is amazing how much grime can be located under an appliance. Talk about feeling crumby. For the time being the counters are pretty clean. We even cleaned the burners on the oven. I was surprised how tough they were to scrub. Then I moved to the bathroom and wiped everything down. We also did the floors to the kitchen and bathroom. We then picked up the assortment of items taking residence in our living room and vacuumed the floor.

I have to say it looks a lot better. It is amazing how the house looks different. We even had the rest of the night to sit back and relax to watch movies.

Moving on down

Well strange bedfellows,

Yesterday Wendy and I moved our bed downstairs. With help from my brother. The actual moving of the bed downstairs was not as bad as it could have been. My brother knew exactly what he was doing. The hard part is going to be rearranging everything. We had, and have to, shift a lot of things around. It seems that our junk room just keeps getting bigger.

It is going to take a little bit of time to get used to being downstairs. Plus having the cats try to climb on top of everything and making noise. When I see all the junk I have it makes me not want to buy anything else. I either want to trash it or try and sell it. I do not know how I pile up so much junk.

It was a pretty frustrating night trying to figure out where to put things. I think the room is coming together. The next problem is the cable. Their is a jack, but it did not work last night. It was only the fuzzy channel. I called TWC and a technician is coming by. I will see what he says. I hope I do not have to pay anything more. I do not mind paying five dollars one time, but I do not want to pay any more monthly. I am trying to cut down and cut out.

Well today is a clean up day. It will probably take all day. You never realize how much you have to do until you start messing with it. Maybe we can do something with this mess.

Rearrange my place

Hello all you bed bugs.

Wendy and I have been discussing what to do about our sleeping arrangements. Joy's nursery is downstairs and our slumber chamber is upstairs. It is a long way from room to room. Especially at 3 in the am in a dark house. We are going to transfer our bedroom to what is to become the former guest room. Well to the three guests we had.

Our plan is to at least move the bed and a nightstand to the room tonight. Thanks in advance and post to my brother who agreed to help. I am not sure what we will do with the other furniture.

Due to our odd collection of assortments we may be running up and down for out things. At least we will have what we need for Joy downstairs.

An odd thought for Friday or any day of the week. I hear about nursery rhymes, but does nursery actually rhyme with anything?

Jump around

Greetings to you cool guys and girls.

I mentioned my issues with my thermostat the other day. I think they are resolved. Yesterday I called a number for Honeywell, the manufacturer of my thermostat. I thought well they might be able to help me or maybe someone has had this problem before. When I called it was an operator who sounded like she was from India. Fortunately she was nice. She tried to help me, but being at work I was not in front of the unit. So she suggested I call back later.

While at work I made use of my time and googled my thermostat. I stumbled upon some forums of people who had issues with my thermostat. Most of them were issues in heating. I did see questions about the cooling. There were a few answers, but not exactly the one I was looking for. My supervisor, who is a handy guy, and I were looking at the manual. I told him about the problem of no fan in auto mode. We thought about the jumper. For some reason my just had three prongs. I had no idea what to do with them. My supervisor mentioned using a wire to connect two of the prongs. These prongs told the thermostat whether it was gas or electric. Apparently most thermostats have a switch, according to my dad.

Once I arrive home I immediately call Honeywell. I get another Indian representative. She asks me questions about the wiring. She tells me it is correct and wants me to get someone to look at the fan. I tell her I was able to get the fan to come on when I wired it another way. She has me remove some wires. I think she wanted the fan to come on. It did not. At first she said the thermostat unit worked, then she said the problem was the thermostat. She wanted to return this one for a new one. I thought to myself how could it have worked in heat but not in cooling? I asked her about the jumper switch. She said that had nothing to do with the cooling. It only effected the heating. Apparently there is supposed to be a plastic cover you can move according to your heating system. Mine did not have this. I am not sure if I lost it or it never had it.

I am distressed because I don't think Lowes will take back the thermostat. It has been since October. I have no idea where the receipt is, plus I no longer have the box. I was under the impression the thermostat was functioning. It produced heat for the past months.

I call my dad about the results I got. He suggested using a bread tie,stripped of course, to wrap around the prongs. In the manual it said this jumper 2 helped with the fan. I had a hard time wrapping the wire around the prongs, but I got it. I put the thermostat back on the wall. Turned it too cooling. Waited a few minutes. Then the fan and my unit came on. It dropped the temperature a few degrees. It worked! My dad suggested I get a plastic piece to cover those prongs, like I am supposed to have.

So I call back Honeywell hoping to get the piece. This time I get an Indian man. When I ask about getting the jumper piece he tells me it has nothing to do with the cooling. Yet I know that when I used the jumper it worked. He wants me to return the thermostat to Lowes. So I just say thanks and hang up.

I cannot believe they will not send me a cheap plastic piece. I guess I will have to find one. My dad says those plastic pieces can be found on computer motherboards or modems. I know I have seen them. They just cover metal prongs to protect them. Maybe I can track one down or find one in a store.

At least the thermostat is working. I would feel better about having the plastic piece on the prongs. I ran the thermostat again once Wendy got home. It was previously warm in the house because of the temperatures and the use of the dryer.

I knew it had something to do with the jumper. I could not figure out why it had prongs that went nowhere. Now I know. They were meant to be covered. I knew just enough to not get anywhere. My dad has an extra thermostat. I might get that from him and install that one. If my Honeywell is "not working." I will not be spending money on a new one. Would Lowes take the old one back? I am not sure, but I don't really want the hassle if I can avoid it.

Losing my cool

I cannot remember if I have already used that title or not.

Last night was not a good night for me and technology.

First Wendy and I were going to watch a movie we received through Netflix. I put the disc in the player. After a few moments of nothingness, it tells me cannot play disc. I take out the disc and wipe it off. I put it back in the machine. Nothing and then the same message. I take out the disc and it looks like there is a groove not supposed to be there. Wendy takes a look and feels that the disc is bent. Netflix is beginning to hurt my feelings. This is the second mishap in two movies. Just the other day Couples Retreat was in the queue. They sent Observe and Report in the Couples Retreat sleeve.

The next thing to set me off involved the thermostat. Wendy decided it was time to turn on the air since it was 90 degrees outside. She did not sleep that well because of the heat. So I switch the thermostat from heat to cool. The cooling icon comes on. The outside unit comes on, but the fan does not come on. This is a digital thermostat we recently acquired. We installed along the time right before the cool weather. So I know the heat works. I had to get some help in installing it. I could not figure out how to put the wires in.

I have a feeling the wires are right. So I went to the panel and flipped the switch on and off. Still the same result. Everything would come on except the fan. The fan would come on in the on position, but I only want the fan on when it is needed. So I check the wires and they seem to be right. Just out of curiosity I switch some of the wires. Then the fan worked on auto, but the outside unit did not come on.

Needless to say I was not happy last night. I was hot under the collar and not because of the heat. I am going to get some input about this. I did find a number to call on the manual. When I called it last night they had already closed for the day.

I do not know why it is not working right now. I may not be able to figure it out myself, but I will certainly ask someone. It will be solved one way or another. Even if I have to pry the solution out of my cold dead hands.

Got any cheese?

Hail mail.

As I was sitting here waiting on Wendy to arrive home from work I decided to be productive. Not too productive of course. A few weeks ago Wendy and I cleaned out a spare bedroom. Most of it was my junk. Mainly papers and old mail from my college days. This was the box I was going through. I had letters from my freshman year in college. That was 1997. That is almost 13 years ago! It does not seem like it was that long ago. It is weird how yesterday seems so long ago, yet 10 years does not seem very long ago. Most of the mail was from my mom. She was pretty good about sending a card around once a week. I hope that I am that prolific in expressing my love for Joy as she ages. I doubt it will be on paper.

I don't know why I seem to hoard paper. I think it is one of those things I look at for the time being and set aside. Then it just builds. In my reasoning I think that is neat (Who says "neat" anymore?) so I will save it. Then I forget about it for 10 plus years. Until Wendy says it is time for a clean up. Then I recycle it.

I was also looking through old photos. You know the ones you actually had to develop. I took horrible pictures. Most of them were so blurry that I cannot tell what they are. I was notorious for having 32 shots of film, but only 5 came out. I think the digital age has improved my picture taking. I am still not the greatest. I should take more pictures. Occasionally I drag around a camera, but never use it. With my bad memory I need some evidence. Although it depends on the situation.

My advice as someone who never reads mail, send it anyway. The person may not read it now, but they will enjoy going through it later. Even if it is not a letter people like to receive something. It helps if they can read.

Hopefully I am not the worst pack rat. Although I can be quiet as a mouse.

Hard to come up with the right words

So I just left them.

I really have nothing much to say so I will just let me fingers type.

I am ready for the weekend again. I think it is going to be a long week. It seems like it will be a slow week. Although when I think it is going to be quiet, that is when things seems to happen.

What is the deal with all the pollen? I have not seen too many people sneezing yet. I pull into the parking lot at work yesterday and the whole lot was covered. Everything was green. The cars are completely covered.

I think that having cats are getting me used to a future child. They get into everything. You have to feed them and clean up after them. Just when they make you mad they do something cute.

Duke did win. Barely.

Big game. Big hype

Hello to those who are looking to go to court.

The basketball court.

It is interesting how all the national news is making a David vs Goliath reference in tonight's NCAA championship. I can see the big story. Duke has won a few titles while Butler has never made it to the Final Four. However, the local news makes a show of Duke crushing Butler. Of course that is because I live in North Carolina.

Most of the time the lower ranked team does well. You cannot tell by this year's brackets though. That is why the David vs Goliath references are used when they can. It does not happen too much.

I cannot figure out why the game is not until 9:21 pm. That seems really late. It might be because of where it is playing and it is earlier there. I think it is because they are college students after all and used to all nighters.

I will not watch the game, but I will at least pay attention to the results tomorrow morning.

I'm not loving it

Greetings to those after the chocolate high.

Well the weekend is over. Why do the so called long weekends pass by the fastest? It seems like it was just Friday. I do not even remember doing anything over the weekend. The hard part about traveling over the weekend is that part of the weekend is taken up by getting to and from your destination. Then you have to acclimate yourself back to your house. Oh well, one day at a time.

Speaking of traveling, Wendy and I went to McDonald's twice over the weekend. Technically three times. Each time it was crowded. I was shocked. The first time we could not even get in the parking lot since the drive thru line was so long. Wendy and I agreed it was not worth the wait. The next McDonald's had a long line also, but it went quickly. This was lunch Friday. Then Saturday morning since we were out and about with Wendy's parents we went to Happy Meal land for breakfast. As we pulled in the parking lot it was crowded. It did thin out as we were there. I guess everyone was traveling and wanted something quick. I heard Wendy's mom say they are getting rid of Ronald McDonald. I think someone joked over the weekend and said people were sending their condolences.

Wendy and I came back to Cary down I40 probably at a bad time. It was Sunday afternoon. Of course traffic was bad. It always seems bad. Although it did not take too much longer to get home than normal. I guess it looked worse than it was. It was annoying to me because traffic would stall and then take off. I guess it was people trying to access I40. I saw a guy with Tennessee plates get cut off about five times. That was annoying to me.

I am surprised at how many cars just have one person in them. What a waste of cars. I am guilty of traveling by myself most of the time. I believe in highway reform. Why not make people travel together if on the highway. It would decrease the level of traffic. If people had to start riding together I would invest in deodorant stock. I don't think people will give up their car to ride with others.

I guess it is all about riding in style. Better than riding in anger.

No, I won't talk about the IPad

With all the hype it was the only title I could come up with. I do not even own an Apple product. Would I love one? Sure. Am I going to get one? Probably not.

This weekend Wendy and I are visiting her parents. It is a pretty quiet weekend. Usually they have big plans. So far we have not done that much. Of course for a few hours we were busy. Going out to eat, trip to Walmart, and Easter egg hunt. A little less than the usual.

Tomorrow is Easter. A time to remember new life. It seems noteworthy at this time for us because of the new arrival we are expecting.

By the way I did get my Cadbury egg. It is not the creme, but caramel. Walmart was out of the creme. I have not had it yet. Good things come to those who wait, at least some people say that.

It is what is on the inside that counts

Greetings to all you hunters.

Many of you have busy weekend plans. You search to get sugared up. Fortunately it is the weekend so you have a couple of days to burn off the energy before Monday morning. I wonder if churches do Easter egg hunts on Saturday so the kids will be sugared up to wake up their parents for early morning services. Just wondering.

Wendy and I have not had our Cadbury Creme eggs yet. I went to Big Lots the other day hoping to pick up some. Unfortunately, they did not have any. I think I saw some with fudge, but it is not the same thing. I will have to make a trip somewhere to pick some up. Of course I could get them after Easter when everything goes on stale, uh, I mean sale.

This is the first Easter weekend that I remember that is actually warm. For some reason Easter is always cool and rainy. I guess it does mark the transition of new life. We go from the cold and dying to the warm and new life.

I hope you find what you are looking for.

Your phone is talking to you

I know the majority of you could care less and the majority of you do not read this anyway, but I heard something interesting.

Wendy came home from work the other day telling me that her phone told her who was calling before it rang. She said at first it scared her because she had no idea what was going on. I told her that my phone had not done that when she called me. So I went through her phone settings to see what I could find. The phone has a call alert feature that will tell you who is calling if selected. Now you know when to ignore your phone. However it tells everyone who is calling you. I say make your contact list full of famous names. It will make your friends jealous.

It is sad that I had to call myself to test the feature on my phone.

It is a first.

Well we made it to April. And temperatures in the 80s.

For most people I think it will be the end of the work week. I hope to the others that have to work tomorrow you get Monday off. Everybody should get a 3 day weekend or is it a 3 day work week? I can never remember.

I hear a lot of people warning that pranks and jokes are on the way today. You can either completely ignore everything you hear today. Or you can completely believe everything you hear. Then the joke will be on the person who told you the joke. Because he did not believe you would believe it.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, lawsuit!
*That reminds of a joke. Why are attorneys well dressed? Because of all the lawsuits.

Some people joke, other people are jerks. I think it depends on how much you like them.

Baby talk

A Goo goog A ga ga.

I hear it is important to talk to the baby in the womb. I know that it helps development and probably helps to recognize you when the baby makes a debut.

As you can tell from my babbling and incoherency here I do not have much to say. I am not very good at conversation. I can never think of anything to say. It is strange because I do read, okay skim, and I like to listen to podcasts.

I know I need to do a better job of talking to Joy. This may be the only time she listens to me. I better take advantage of her being a captive audience.

Come and go

Wendy and I were talking this morning. We do that from time to time. We were thinking about the employees at my work. I have been there longer than about half of them. I have only been there full time for five years, but a couple of years longer including part time.

If you think about it I have seen a lot of people come and go.

It's the eighties ladies!

I don't think elderly women are attacking everyone, but I cannot be sure. In a few days the temperatures will be in the 80s. The heat will on and I am about to lose my cool. I am ready for the warm weather. I enjoy warmer temperatures.

I do not remember it getting so warm so early. Usually Easter is cool and rainy. According to the forecast it may be close to 90 on Good Friday. That would be a good Friday.

Hopefully this is shaping up to be a good week. Warmer temperatures. Payday on Wednesday. No work on Friday. Easter weekend.

Energize

Hello to all of you made of molecules. Who am I to say if they are in the right place?

This morning I am taking some time off work to go with Wendy to a doctor's appointment. If she wants she will tell you more about it. All I know is that she has to chug some solution that is supposed to taste horrible.

I know that I talk about being worn down a lot. These couple of days I have felt it more. I had quit my habit of passing out on the couch for a few days. Now it is back. I get tired around 6:18 every evening. Wendy and I have been going to bed earlier and I still feel tired. I used to could get up in the morning and actually do things. Now I get out of bed and feel like taking a nap. I have no idea how it will be when I have to function on a lot less sleep.

I guess if I do start to yawn a lot, throw some food my way.

Mow em down

Well it is getting to be that time. I need to begin mowing the grass again. I have not done it yet. I thought about it at least. Does that count for something? It always seems that parts of the yard grow faster than others. Then the other three fourths do not really grow.

At least I get some exercise. Sometimes I am such a push over. Other times I use a push mower.

Severe is near

Greetings to those who breathe the air.

Wendy and I noticed yesterday that the wind was pretty strong. It was blowing and shaking a lot of the trees. I could feel the gusts hitting the car on the drive home. As we were sitting around our house we saw the effects of the wind. Wendy and I wondered if there were any warnings. Wendy checked online and they was a tornado warning for our county.

During the night the rain started. It came down hard at certain points. I almost wondered about our skylights. At some point Wendy turned on the tv to check what was going on. The news had extended the warning. I did notice that the rain slacked off right after she turned on the tv. Then it started up again.

I am glad that we did not lose power. Looking at the forecast it does look like a wet day. I am thankful we did not get the damage some places received.

Weekend finally...but now over.

I know you thought you had heard the last of me. Not quite.

Wendy and I have had a busy end of week and weekend. It has been pretty productive.
Thursday night through Sunday we were house and animal sitting for some friends. It is usually good to get away. We do not have internet access at their house. We are out of the loop.

I do not remember Friday at all. Which I guess is good. Then Saturday was busy. We updated and downgraded our phones. We are no longer Blackberry users. We have just generic phones. Although they do slide out with a Qwerty keyboard. I think Wendy really likes the phone. I already like the bill. It is much cheaper than our previous bill. We did not use the internet enough on the phone to warrant the expense. Now we can save the extra money or use it for another bill. After that we met a friend for Wendy to do some clothes shopping. She found one outfit and still has money leftover to get another outfit. Saturday night we watched "The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons." It was okay, but long. Fortunately, for our bodies Friday night we went to bed very early.

Sunday, which I guess is today, was another busy day. It is Wendy's mother's birthday. Plus her church was honoring her for 25 years teaching Sunday School. So they wanted the family there. Wendy and I surprised her mother by attending. It was pretty nice and the food was good.

I am ready for the week to be over. It will be the end of March, plus we do not have to work Friday.

Feeling a little short

Greetings people with nothing up their sleeves.

I think I will try to wear short sleeves today. The thing that gets me is the cool temps in the morning and then it is warm in the afternoon. Well at least for today. It is supposed to be cool all weekend. I guess I should take advantage of the warm weather as I can.

I really wish today was Friday. I do not like why March is crawling. I am ready for next week. You cannot beat payday and a day off in the same week.

Snuggle with the hand that feeds you

Better to have hand to mouth than foot in mouth.

One of our cats, Metro, has been snuggling with us recently. He will stare at us for a few minutes and then jump in our lap. He will lie down with Wendy before bedtime. As I am typing on the computer he will nose his way to the keyboard. This is the cat that used to randomly bite us. He has calmed down a lot.

Okay it is mainly because he is hungry. He knows when it is getting close to feeding time and we off course are sitting there. He is the dinnertime alarm clock.

In a completely unrelated event-What is going on with the weather? It is supposed to be cooler and wet over the weekend. I guess we need to take over the rest of the week and work the weekend. Or maybe not.

At least if the weather is bad, you have animals to keep you entertained.

March is more like walking

Dear March winds,

I wish you would blow on through. It feels like this is such a long month. And we still have to go into next week. I think I am ready for April because of the day off. It will be good to get a break from work. Plus I am hoping for the nice weather. I am not looking forward to the weeds growing in my yard. They are already here.

Plus there are more exciting things happen later than now.

Health me please

Well I have no idea what the future holds.

I do hope that tomorrow is a better day than today was. Everything I touched today turned out wrong. It is a completely frustrating day.

With the new passage of health care bill I can get a better premium with Dr. Death.

Room to breathe

Hey space savers.

Yesterday was a productive day. We started to straighten up the extra bedroom which had become a junk room. We already had a bunch of old things that we were going to get rid off. The boxes were sitting in the floor taking up a lot of room. You could not even walk around in the room. Wendy was off work Friday so she had cleaned up some. So we finished going through the things laying around.

Then we ended up going through my closet. Wendy and I got rid of several old shirts and pants. I was surprised how many clothes I had and do not wear. It still feels like I have a bunch of clothes in the closet. I had two previous bags to get rid of from a clean up last year.

So we made our way to the local thrift shop to drop off our former belongings. It was a pretty big give a way. It was about six bags and four boxes. Mainly clothes and miscellaneous items. It is amazing what we had collected over the years.

The room is for the most part clean. At least everything is out of the floor. I think it will always be a work in progress.

After dropping off the materials we went grocery shopping. We had nothing in the house to eat. Now we have a few things to munch on. Then we came back to finish straightening the room.

We also went to contemporary worship service at our church last night. It was pretty good. Then we came home to watch Seven Ponds. The movie was pretty strange. For me it was a little hard to get into. It is a pretty depressing movie with a few happy parts. It is amazing to me that Will Smith plays characters who are so versatile. One minute is doing action scenes and the next minute is a genius. I guess it is all in the script.

Priced to move

Greetings to those with taste.

This week it seems that restaurants are trying to maximize there customers. You may know what I am talking about. IHOP and Denny's have had cheap specials in the past hoping to draw people in. Most people will buy something else instead of the special.

The other day Jimmy Johns was having a dollar sub. The sub was pretty big. So looking for a deal Wendy and I went. We found a crowd. The line did move fast and we got out food. We both got sandwiches. Wendy bought a drink and I bought chips. We both paid two dollars. I am thinking that with the line out the door for most of the afternoon they made money or at least broke even. If you have ten people buying one dollar subs compared to one person buying a five dollar sub.

Cici's pizza is dropping their buffet price for a few days. It is back to the price when they first opened. So last night Wendy and I went for dinner. The crowd was not too bad. When we first got to the restaurant, there was not much pizza on the buffet. It had pretty much been wiped clean. I was thinking if you are going to have a promotion of a cheap buffet at least keep it filled so people do not have to wait in line. Fortunately, they did a better job later that night. It must have also been two for the price of one night because we saw about eight pregnant women there.

Rita's Italian Ice is doing a promotion also. We will be there today. I will let you know how it goes.

It is good to get more food for less.

At last

Greetings to those in the human race.

It has been a long week. I am glad it is Friday. I do not think we have anything planned this weekend. We will probably clean up a guest room which became a junk room. Hopefully we will find some things to give away. Most of it we do not want. Plus we need the room. We have not looked at it in years anyway. Only to say, "We still have that."

Wendy gets to enjoy some needed time off today. I would join her, but all the jobs I have been working on this week need to be done today. Of course the materials are coming in today. I think Friday is sometimes the new Monday.

According to the forecast it is supposed to be nice. I am glad for the people who have outside plans. Most of the time I sit around the house. At least it will be naturally comfortable in the house, hopefully.

Alive and kicking

Hello to all with feats of strength.

Joy is doing well. According to Wendy she is kicking like an all star. I have even felt her movement. Wendy loves to lie in bed at night and watch Joy's progress. I will be just about asleep and Wendy will ask, "Did you see that?" I did happen to see movement last night.

It is interesting to hear from other moms about mannerisms that the babies have. Then they say, "Oh, that is what was going on." It will be interesting to see in a couple of months what Joy has been doing.

Shaken not stirred

Greetings to those who see the glass full.

It may be full of the particles leftover from you mixed in. I can never completely dissolve packet mixes that I put into my liquids. Every time I put a packet of mix into my drink I stir. I think I get everything mixed well. Then I finish the drink and on the bottom of the cup is clumps. Most of the time it happens with hot chocolate. It always happens with a powder mix that Wendy has.

Sometimes I can turn up the cup and the clumps will slide. Other times I can tap on the cup and it will loosen. Every once and awhile I will poke at the residue with my finger. I usually try to get it all. Even though it is basically powder. They say it is good to the last drop. I always wonder how the last drop is supposed to taste then.

There is a cup-le things to get you going today.

They call it a plan

Hello to all with your listening ears.

Wendy and I are talking about changing our cell phone service. We are only about a year and a half, if that into our current plan. We want something a little cheaper. We use some of the services our phone and plan provides, but not enough to warrant the current cost.

Yesterday afternoon Wendy was on our carrier site and saw that one could change the plan with change of contract. So last night we thought we would give it a try. We look around on the site. We choose the button to change plan. We wait. For some reason it was so slow. Then we it finally loaded there were only three plans.

We did find a family plan that looked to suit our needs and it would save our money. For some reason they wanted us to update our phones. We were not sure what that meant. The phones they showed us were well over 200 dollars and into the 400s. So to save 30 dollars we would have to shell out 200?

I guess we will have to go into the store. I hope it will be a better experience than the website. We did not want to get abused why we do not like our current plan. However, the lack of personal interaction did not help us this time. A couple of times we have gone into a cell phone store we have not had the best customer service. I guess you could say they were trying to phone it in.

Why the long face?

Greetings gassy ones.

I noticed coming home from work that fuel prices are increasing. Last Friday I had to tank up so I went by a fuel station that is usually cheap. But to my horror it was one penny more than a gas station I passed closer to my house. I put in my little bit of money and went to work. Then that afternoon I was driving home from work and the gas price was nine cents cheaper. Today it started with its normal price and by the end of the day was close to what it was Friday. Why is it playing yo-yo with the price and my emotions?

Cars are a lot of trouble. I should get a bicycle. They seem expensive, but think of the money saved after a month or two. The only thing is they are not great for carrying things. Plus you have to pedal. As I learned watching the Amazing Race, I could get a horse. Hay, neeiighbor! I wonder if they eat grass or just poop in it. That way I could get rid of my lawn mower.

Just horsing around with some ideas. Maybe it will keep my emotions stable.

Hourly employee

Well it is time for another one.

Over the weekend we went through daylight savings time. It was the spring forward. I guess you think about it as completing tasks an hour earlier. Since it hits around 2 or 3 am most people think about the hour of sleep they have lost.

The good thing is the longer daylight. It will be nice for it not to get dark until later. Not that I go out much at night.

Good enough to eat twice

Salutations stuff,

Wendy and I had pretty good weekend food wise. Earlier in the week work had a bunch of activities. So of course there was free food. I was able to snag some leftovers and bring some goodies home to Wendy. It made a couple of good anniversary presents, though I doubt Wendy saw them as that. I brought home a large pan of fettuccine alfredo. Apparently the caters brought way more than needed. The building was begging people to take some home. Wendy and I have eaten a couple of meals off it and have not made a dent.

Then of course was the barbecue dinner at church Friday. I helped a little bit with the cleanup. So I was able to score some dessert and a carton of potatoes. We also took home some of the cake from the baby shower the other day.

I think we will be set for awhile on the food front. How is it that the desserts get eaten faster than the other food items?

Tickled pink

Hello girls and guys.

Yesterday our church had a dual shower for us and another pregnant couple in our Sunday School class. That was one of the many activities that the church had going on this weekend. I think it was possible that with everything going on some people of the church could have been 48 hours.

The shower was very nice. It was pretty well attended. We had no idea what to expect. We were almost late because we took a late afternoon nap. There were the mints, veggie trays, crackers and pimento cheese. Of course there was cake and punch. The women of our Sunday School class did a great job. We found out later they had been there most of the afternoon.

I am sure you are interested in the presents. Well I am also. It is apparently a tradition at the church for the gifts to be placed in a crib during the baby shower. That was pretty neat to see a crib full of gifts. We received diapers, blankets, onesies, outfits, lotions, and other baby memorabilia. I cannot even tell you want some of it is. I hope Wendy knows what it is and the use for it. I can tell you it is greatly appreciated.

There was a party game of guess the flavor of the baby food. There were seven jars of baby food with the label peeled off. The winner received a basket of items made in North Carolina.

It was a great kickoff for the shower season.

Shower the people you love

I suppose that would be us.

Today is going to be a busy day for us. Wendy has a haircut appointment in the morning, errands to run, and a baby shower in the afternoon. It does seem that everything happens at the same time. There is no in between. We sit around the house bored or we are gone all weekend.

The church is hosting a baby shower for us. Any gift we get is a gift we do not have to buy. Plus I guess there will be little cakes to eat.

I am glad it is Saturday. Sunday will be a day of rest though.

Out in the field

Hello Friday feelers

Wendy and I watched the movie "Cloverfield" last night. Yes, there was material on this disc. I am still not sure if that was good or not. The movie was bizarre. I could not really make sense of it. It was on of those thrillers that throws action at you but not much plot. I think it was meant to take a look back at what happened. However, I am the one saying what happened.

I have no idea why it was called "Cloverfield". Did the alien destroy just New York? How many aliens were there? I am not a big fan of movies where they do not wrap everything up. I guess I like everything explained to me.

There have been a lot of movies where the plot is that the viewer is watching what happened to the characters after they died. I guess if you think about it that is the same thing as a book.

The good news about this movie is it was only an hour thirty. A little bit of a time waster. It did the one camera action like one of the characters was filming a movie. I guess it was a nice camera, but it would blank out at random times.

If you are reading this then it probably got posted.

The rain reigns

Well it looks like we might be soggy bottom boys. I saw that rain is projected in the forecast through Saturday. The good news is that the temperature will be warm. Is that fog in my head or is it outside?

Wendy and I watched the movie "Precious" last night. It was an okay movie. The main character went through a lot. I cannot remember how it ended. I think I say it was based on a true story. That is the way life usually is. You go through life and face struggles. Things for the most part work out. However, you are not exactly sure how.

I am not sure if I mentioned this or not, but the other night Wendy and tried to watch "Cloverfield." However, the disc was blank. I put in the movie and the counter started, but nothing on the screen. Not even the menu or previews. I have never seen that before. We are supposed to get the movie again today. Hopefully we will see what happens.

Three-dom

Years ago, it was three, Wendy and I were married. It has been my best decision in my three decades.

Wendy is helping me to improve. No matter have much screaming and sleeping I do. Who knows what I would be doing without her? Probably even less than I am now.

I know that I am not the easiest person to live with, but Wendy does a great job at putting up with me. I should show Wendy more that I love her. At least I have the rest of my life.

I love you Wendy. Here is to many more years together.

Road is paved good intentions

Greetings visitors to our streets.

After four months the streets are finally paved. A paving company came something in November to work on the streets in our neighborhood. However, the streets required more care than at first thought. There were not only cracks, but apparently the curbs needed attention. The crew would come out for a day. Then it would rain for two days. Imagine the process until our frigid winter. Then we did not see the paving crew for 3 months.

We did see evidence of their work. The potholes were raised about the road. Something to avoid. There were barrels in the middle of the street. Something to avoid. Along with the cars parked on the side of the street.

We had no idea what was going on. There was not much communication. Finally about a month ago we received a letter saying the paving company would come out sometime. They needed dry weather and highs above 50 degrees. Of course we did not have this. Then last week on the mailbox was a letter saying the paving company would be back to finish the job.

Today was that day. The streets are paved and clear. It is safe to drive again. Well maybe.

It is a reel mystery...until the last five minutes

Hold your questions until the end. I know they squirm which makes it difficult.

Sometimes I will read or watch a mystery series. I usually just sit back and enjoy the show. I can never really tell who the culprit is. They often throw in characters just to make you wonder if that is the villain. Then in the last bit of the show the main characters resolve the situation or find out who committed the crime. That is the beauty of editing. You can condense a lot of work into a brief amount of time.

It seems these shows always have the same themes.

The main character gets some realization by talking to a friend or family member. Take "House" for example. I wonder consider that a medical mystery show at least. He talks to Wilson and figures out the missing connection. I guess the lesson there is if you cannot be great, have great friends. Inspiration is one of those moments. You are stuck on something and all of sudden you have your answer.

Another scene one always sees in the legal dramas is the breakdown. The culprit has gone all show without any remorse or emotion. Then in the last five minutes of the show the trail is getting warm. The investigator makes one statement then the accused breaks down. Usually it is an angry diatribe how the person was jealous or felt cheated. It always ends in "I didn't mean to kill him!"

I am glad that the shows wrap up after an hour. That way you get to see a new guest star next week.

Waking up is easy to do

It is getting out of bed that is the hard part.

Greetings bed bugs.

I know a lot of people think about sleep. I would like to go back to sleep right now. Fortunately, I do not toss and turn to wake myself up during the night. However, in the early hours of the morning I do wake up. Sometimes I will go back to sleep. I know it is time to get up when I try to go back to sleep only to look at the clock fifteen minutes later.

Sleep time is strange. Sometimes it seems like you slept several hours, but it has only been 30 minutes. Other times you think it has been a few minutes, but hours have past.

I do not know how I will be when forced to operate on a few hours of sleep. I have never by one to thrive on an all-nighter. I feel like I walk around like a zombie anyway. Drains.

Well it is time for my sleep study. The best way is with my eyes closed.

Miss communicate

Dear somebody else.

I do not understand why other people try to get involved in conversations. I am probably guilty of it myself. If there is a problem then 9 times out 10 more people get involved than need be. Either someone brings a person in to solve the problem, which can be a benefit. Or the person brings in another person so the first person does not have to do anything. That is the scenario that I see most often. Or at least how I get sucked into things. Most people will make me the intermediary. Then I have to report to both parties when they could just talk to themselves. Oh well at least it is a chance for me to practice the English language.

Today was a day. I had a frustrating time a work dealing with a machine. I am stupid enough to try and kill myself to make something work. I know I should take a break before I break something. Knowing something and doing something are two different things.

At least one part is over. I am not sure which part though.

Doing my warmups

It is finally happening. The temperatures are catching up with the season. I saw in the five day forecast that we are supposed to be in the low to mid 60s for the highs all week. The plus side is that the lows will be out of the 30s or 20s.

I think it will take my body time to adjust to wearing a short sleeve shirt. I have been wearing long sleeves and most of the days a sweater.

Like Glenn Frey once sang..."The heat is on"

Baby, I am tired

Greetings crybabies.

Well the nursery is a few steps closer to being completed. Now we just need the baby. That will be a few moths though.

Wendy's parents came into town with the crib in the truck. Wendy's dad and I put together the crib. It only took us a little bit of time. However, it took longer than I thought. We had to turn around a few things, but it is up now. Her dad also hung up the valance in Joy's room.

If putting together things for the baby is this hard now then I am in trouble. I know the toys and things only get more completed. Hopefully the dad gene will come through when I am a dad. It seems that most dads know how to fix everything and moms give the best advice.

Who knows what kind of father I will be? Only Joy will know in about 30 or more years.

Oh yeah, we did lunch at K&S cafeteria. It was good. I was the only one who did not get turkey and dressing. Then I went with Wendy's dad to a train store. He loves model trains. That store was expensive. I saw model trains for about 300 dollars. They will choo-choo through your money. Wendy and her mom went shopping. Wendy's mom bought us a mattress for the crib. Now the crib has the mattress and the bedding set is in the crib.

Joy we are ready. Well, for the most part.

Cat nap

Hello to my dozing fans

I like to sleep. My body shuts down early. Just ask Wendy. I am sure she would like to put me down a few times, make that many times.

This morning I did get up around my usual time. I was thinking about lying in bed for a few minutes. I kept hearing the cats around the room. I am not sure what they were doing. They would jump on the bed and jump off. I figure that I would get up and go downstairs so the cats would follow me. I am not sure if they woke up Wendy, I know she rolled over. It is one of those things that you have to do something before something else happens.

I am not too selfless. I am sure that I will get a nap sometime today.

At least these crazy cats give me practice for our bundle of Joy.

Hanging at the crib

Yo Yo Yo. What up and down?

This weekend Wendy's parents are coming into town. They are bringing Joy's crib, see the nursery, and I guess visit us. Wendy and I do not have big enough vehicles to transport a crib. So her parents are nice enough to bring the crib to us. They are even nice enough to help us set it up. I am sure I need all the help I can get.

Wendy's parents are also picking up a red chaise lounge from us. It is Wendy's favorite piece of furniture, but she does not get to sit in much. Right now it is located in Joy's room. We do not get to use it because the chair is larger than the space requirements of our house. Especially if we want to use other furniture.

I get week

Dear working stiffs (those that get paid and those that do not)

I am glad that this week is nearly over. At the time of this post I still have to make it through today. Will I make it? Place your bets now.

The past several weeks have been awful. It seems Mondays and Tuesdays have been a week all by themselves. I keep wondering how many mistakes I can make in one day. Every thing around me is going wrong also. Maybe I am on nerves, but it seems that everyone is on nerves also.

I am going to try and knock myself into next week. I will let you know how it goes...from the future!

Handsome

If you are happy and you know it, clap your hands.

This winter has been extremely rough on Wendy's and my hands. Our hands are both chapped and sore. She has to wash her hands several times a day due to her work. I am always banging my hands on something. They are so dry and chapped that they bleed easily. Wendy is constantly putting lotion on her hands to heal them.

On my left hand, at the pinky knuckle I have had a rough patch of skin for several weeks. Yesterday I noticed it was moving to my right hand. It does not helps that I have several cuts on my hand. I notice immediately after applying hand sanitizer. They should call that stuff cut locator.

It is interesting the style of hands. It is surprising to shake peoples' hands. I do not do it too often. I am faced or handed two different scenarios. One people has such rough hands that it almost hurts. The other person has such soft hands, I wonder how that person got them.

My hands are usually cold, at least that is what people used to say. They may have changed temperature now. I know that if my hands get cold, then I am done being in the cold. It ruins the rest of my body. Usually I can handle touching hot items, but last night I could not pulling dinner out of the oven.

Well that if enough of letting my fingers do the talking.

Nowhere to go

For the money we want to spend...Or don't want to spend.

How in the world is traveling so expensive? Wendy received some airline vouchers from a previous trip. They expire at the end of April. We have been wondering how to use them. Several people have suggested great ideas. Only problem, the places are expensive!

So last night Wendy sat with the computron and did some research. Most of the flights to where we thought about going were well past our voucher amounts. There were only three places under our amount. Two of them we felt meh, maybe and the other we have been several times.

The other difficult decision is that we have the flight voucher. However, when we get there we have to pay for lodging and meals. What a ripoff. It would be spending a couple of hundred to save a couple of hundred. Why are hotel rooms at $150 a night? Do they do the sleeping for you?

I am not sure what we want to do. We would love to get away, but where to go? Our weekends are filling up with other plans. However, the mental breakdown will be scheduled in soon.

Keeping tabs on me

Why does new technology that is supposed to make your job easier make it harder?

The other day at work we got a new tabbing machine. It is a lot more complex than the old one. The old one you just put in the pieces and turn it on. This one has more moving parts. It is also heavy. I have not gotten the hang of it yet. It is pretty frustrating. Of course I get frustrated pretty easily. I might figure it out by the time I return. If the machine does not kill me first.

Missed the mark

Hello bullseye shoppers.

Yesterday Wendy and I went to Target. Wendy had collected several gift cards because she is important. She had a couple of things in mind that she wanted to get. So we head over to Target to see what our gift cards can get us. Apparently not much.

It Wendy several tries to find the items she was looking for. She had some things in mind, but could not find them. She is not picky, but she does know what see wants.

We did find a couple of things. We bought a sheer curtain and some curtain rods. We also picked up some diapers and wipes. To help stock up now.

Wendy also increased her registry. So now you have plenty of opportunities to get us something. Hopefully, it will be in stock.

There is no I in paint

If you are a viewer of Wendy's blog then you know that we have completed our project. We have worked in the baby's room and two bathrooms. The best part was that we were able to use most of the supplies we already had.

I admit I do not like to paint. I guess if you took out the i it would be pant. I do breathe more than normal while painting. It is not the fumes, fortunately.

I am glad the home improvements are done. At least we have a week or two before starting on something else.

Today Wendy and I taking turns passing out on the couch. I went first, now it is her turn.

Not a fan of the draft

Greetings you breathers of air.

I noticed last night our house has temperature issues. I have noticed this for awhile, but it because practiced last night. I was upstairs and Wendy was downstairs. The upstairs felt about 10 degrees warmer than downstairs. It almost got hot upstairs to me, while Wendy said she was freezing downstairs. I am convinced it is something to do with draft somewhere downstairs. It is like a breezeway in the house. I can sit in a part of the house and feel the cold air. So part of the house you feel warm and wonder why the heat is on. Then the other part you are ready for the heat.

If we could reach the yin and yang, instead of yanking our chain. To the wallet.

There is some kind of smell from the bathroom

Yep, it is paint or at least primer.

Yesterday after work I picked up my brother and we went to work in our upstairs bathroom. It needed some attention. We had to sand and spackle some parts that needed extra work. We were able to finish the trim and at least prime the walls.

I was hoping to do more, but the time ran out on us. I am sure my brother had better things to do than hang out here all night.

I think by today we will have it done. It is difficult because of some many narrow spaces. It seems that something is crammed on each wall. Plus the ceilings are much taller in the bathroom.

Wendy commented that the work looked good, so that is a relief.

March on

It is nearly the end of February. My question is how can the shortest month be so long? I know the month is not even over. I think it is the Olympics. Or at least the coverage. By the way that skier, he may be a skier, Shaun White freaks me out. I would post a picture. However, I do not want the IOC after me and I do not want to look at his picture.

The good news is that it is Friday and payday. I hope that March steps up the pace. Left, right.

Early to bed, early to rise

Greetings pillow pals,

Last night I was extremely exhausted so I car-ried myself to bed before nine. I admit I do often nap before nine, but last night I just went up to bed. I just have a normal day at work, but Wendy will have a long day with her job.

I do not mind going to bed early because I like getting up early. The only thing about getting up early is that it makes for a long day. I have to wait around for things to get started. I am often at the mercy of other peoples' schedules. At least I can get the things I want to do out of the way.

See you around now or then.

It pays well to be unnoticed

Or at least you break even.

I wonder how time and money factor with popularity. If a person is not popular then no one will bother him. Then he can save money and have lots of time. However, he will probably waste it looking for ways to entertain himself. On the other hand, if he is popular a lot of people bug the person for time and money. Yet the person gets noticed for things that can earn money and help with time. Hmm, a question to ponder when I get the time or money.

I hear a lot about the phishing attacks that people devise to get into your accounts. To my knowledge I have not been a victim of one. I wonder if I would know. Fortunately, I do not have much to offer that people would be interested. Just ask the survey e-mails I receive.

Identity theft can be a big problem. Or if you do it right you can have a career in Hollywood.

Put the pedal to the medal

Greetings to those who wear the Olympic rings.

I have not been watching the 2010 Winter Olympics. It is not really my thing. Wendy does have it during background noise as I fall asleep. Her complaint is that every time she tries to watch, it is skiing. I am surprised that the coverage is still on. I think it runs two weeks. I wonder how many athletes there are in the Winter Olympics? Because I keep hearing the same names. Maybe it is that way in the Summer Olympics. I do not really watch the Summer Olympics either.

I did hear that the speed skater Apollo Ono did win a medal. So he became the all time medal winner for the Winter Olympics. I think he won seven. I know this is a major accomplish and I could not do it. However, in a small part of my mind I think that most are bronze. Here he is squeaking by to take his place on the stand and make history. It is a sport that the difference between a medal or not can be a thousandth of a second. In the long range of things it is the number of medals that count in the history book.

By the way a special programming note. If you are easily disgusted, then do not watch the first five minutes of Saw VI while eating dinner.

Room with a nice view

Wendy and I have been busy this weekend. Of course we had a lot of help from friends. We have finished Joy's future room. Well, we do have to finishing getting the paint out and moving the furniture in. The painting is done. Wendy finished the touch ups yesterday. I was working in the bathroom. All that is left in that room is the trim and a few touch ups. It looks way better than the bare walls we have had for the past year. We only have left the upstairs bathroom and eventfully the guest bedroom. Someday we will get to the kitchen and then we will have worked with every room in the house. I guess until we decide to change it again.

We squeezed in a grocery run after church. We had nothing in the house. It was time for our weekly shopping trip. Then once home we worked for a few hours on the house projects.

We worked pretty much all day Saturday and most of Sunday. I think it was a pretty good weekend, even if I did have to work hard. It will almost seem like a vacation going back to work. Wendy enjoys the home improvement bug. I am relieved that it is nearing the end. However, one of the drawbacks of ownership is that once you fix something you realize another thing is not working.

Someday when the house is ready we might have people over. For now you will have to settle for descriptions or fuzzy photos.

Brush with greatness

For those that like to watch paint dry (especially after applying it to the wall) come over to our house.

Last night Wendy and I did a little bit of renovating in Joy's room. We cleaned out the room. Of course that means the other spare room is now a junk room. I guess when we finish one room we will move to another room. My brother and his girlfriend came over to help us. I picked up some BBQ plates from a fundraiser for dinner.

My brother and his girlfriend were a big help last night. After I arrived home and before Wendy arrived, I took the leftover painting supplies we had. I did an inventory. We had enough to get started. We for some reason had a bunch of primer left over. Wendy and I cannot figure out why. On the bright side, it is something we do not have to buy. We had a few brushes, one rollers, and a few used liners. I then moved most of the boxes Wendy had packed out of the room. See previous paragraphs for details. Then my bro and his girlfriend arrived. They helped remove outlet covers and tape the walls.

After this Wendy arrived and we at the BBQ plates. Then it was time to go to work. We had enough primer, even though it was old, to finish the room. At least the first stage. It did not take us anytime at all. The room is pretty small, but they were fast. My bro's girlfriend had the roller and made quick work of the walls. My bro was on one side getting the spots near the ceiling. I was on the other struggling to say in the lines. You can tell the nice coverage of the roller and then my weak brush strokes.

I think today Wendy and I will purchase the paint. We might try and tackle the painting today. My brother and his girlfriend have other plans so they will not be able to help. Fortunately, Wendy is pretty good with a roller. I hope we have the success that we had last night.

I'm a survivor therefore I whine

Greetings people on the island.

I know that I do not really watch Survivor much. I have only watched to support Wendy in her viewing habits. So the in new Survivor Redemption I have no idea who most of the contestants are. They have divided the people into Heroes and Villains, at least for the time being.

The thing is they are all annoying. These are people who have been on the show before. Granted it may have been many years, but they act like they have no idea what to do. Everyone of them is pretty much getting injured.

Also the so called "Heroes" get on my nerves. They are the ones who seem to be not getting along and backstabbing one another. I think they were miscast. However, to their defense they are the ones losing the challenges so they have to vote people off.

So far it is a dull season. I guess that is why they have 40 days. Or it gives you something to do during Lent.

Paint me into a corner

Prepare for your brush with greatness.

I think Wendy and I have narrowed down the paint colors to put in the nursery. Wendy yesterday found the tan that she wanted. One color down. We know we want one pink wall. It is amazing how light the pink is. I am sure it will take at least two coats. It is probably good it is light so it does not look like Pepto Bismol or extremely bright.

We did put some samples on the wall, so we can get a good idea of what it will look like.

I guess know we can rock and roll. Well at least roll the paint.

No voice of reason

Hello audio people reading this.

Since Friday my voice has been strained. It sounds like I am very hoarse. I do not necessarily feel that bad. I have the occasional drip from the nose. Most of the time my nose is very crusty. Ponder that as you are eating your breakfast cereal. Yesterday I had that weak cough. At one point it felt like something was in my throat, but it must have passed. It is one of those things that I almost wish I felt worse. At least then I would know what it was.

I told a few people that my almost lack of voice was Wendy's valentine present. Maybe I cannot say "I love you." I guess now I have to show it.

Let the chips fall they may

Hello you crunchy crowd.

Well taking those random surveys may have come in handy. The other day I received two bags of chips. They are barbecue and sour cream and onion. I took a survey on potato chips and it asked me would I like to receive some chips and then later take another survey. I thought, why not? I wish I could trade in the chips for cash. At least they were free.

Speaking of chips, Wendy and I last night went to Lowes to pick up paint samples. We were deciding between greens, pinks, light browns. Those are the colors in Joy's bedding. We did decide on colors. I will let Wendy tell you that. She knows the exact colors.

Now the work begins...after I finish this bag of chips.

You are the closet thing I have got

Well after a decent weekend Wendy and I made it back to the home in the ground. Apparently we did not miss much, except grief. Not five minutes after we get home my evening gets shot.

Wendy was putting some items away in a closet located in the hallway. She remarked that the door was hard to open. Then all of a sudden the door comes off the track. It is one of those bifold doors, I guess. That is what Wendy calls it. I call it other four letter words. We tried for an hour and a half to get that door back on track. We had no luck though. I can get one side in, but not the other.

Now I cannot even get the door slammed in my face. I cannot wait to get that door back up so I can kick it down.

Something tastes fishy

It is that day. I will let you figure out which one.

Last night Wendy and I went to a Valentine's Day dinner at her parents' church. It was senior citizens. We were allowed to go because Wendy's mom teaches the Sunday School class that was serving the food.

It was a pretty good meal. Trout, pork chops, baked potato, slaw, and hush puppies. Of course there was dessert. I had chocolate pudding with whipped topping. It was a pretty good time even if we were the youngest couple there.

They had a raffle and Wendy won a prize. She won a $5 gift card to Bojangles.

Spread the love, with or without the germs.

Eat yellow snow

I did something I have not done. At least not in my short memory.

With the powdered snow on the ground, I put some of it in my tummy. We made snow cream. It is pretty easy to do and surprisingly easy to make. It looks pretty weird, but does taste good.

At least there is one good excuse for snow.

You take the good, you get the bad

Well hello snow angels.

Go away!

I want my normal temperatures of 54, not 30. All the newscasters are saying the snow is beautiful. Most often there is the relationship between something beautiful now and annoying later. Snow is the perfect example.

Wendy and I did make it to her parents' house with seeing any snow. After we ate dinner, Wendy's dad looked out the window and the ground was covered. We had errands we wanted to run today. I am not sure that will happen.

This white stuff has me seeing red. I want green.

I'm loving it or at least a strong like

Greetings lovebirds or other animals.

I thought of a few random things. Of course you may have these before.

If you have nobody this Valentine's Day at least you are ahead in life.

Talk to me like lovers do. Not yell at me like my wife does.

I heartly knew her.

They say love makes the world go round. I say because it feels like you are running in circles.

They say a way to a man's heart is through his stomach. The way to a woman's heart is through her friend's ear.

Remember dates. Or you are doomed to repeat the bad ones.

Valentine's Day is one of the few times people do not mind getting carded.

These are just a few things that I thought of this morning. They are humorous in attempt. In no way are they meant to be taken as advice, unless you are desperate.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Strung along

Bling me back to you.

This Valentine's Day I got Wendy a charm for her Pandora bracelet. Yeah, I am not ruining the surprise. I gave her the charm last night. I do Valentine's Day is not until Sunday. If I have a gift for someone then I like to go ahead and give it to that person.

It was a dramatic moment when I received the charm, for me anyway. I ordered the charm off Ebay. I was not exactly sure when the charm would arrive. I knew I had ordered in plenty of time, but you never know. The shipper put the shipping information online so I could track it. It was in Maryland and then the next day I saw it was on the truck to be delivered.

I thought part of the surprise would be to go ahead and have the charm on Wendy's bracelet. So I unlatched the bracelet. No problem. Then I try to put on the charm. By the way it was Pandora Little Girl charm. Back to the story, I could not get the charm on the bracelet. I struggled for what felt like 30 minutes. Each minute getting more desperate. At one point I thought I broke the bracelet. I thought my inexpensive gift would cost me a lot more. I even called my sister-in-law to get advice on how to put the thing on.

By the way it did work out. The charm is on the bracelet. Wendy is happy.

Almost there

Hello all you achoo-ievers! What do you nose?

This has felt like a long week, but we are almost there. Tuesday felt like it ought to have been next Friday. I know I am looking ahead. Maybe I am looking forward. What is to you? The question is what is it to me.

It appears I know just enough to get myself in trouble. Most of the things I do I know just enough to get myself stuck. I know a few steps, but still have to grip the banister of advice. Most of the time I get fortunate and it works out. After of course having a temper tantrum. It is my breaking point that leads to the breaking point of the problem. Please do not try this a home. I am a professional. Or is confessional? I can never remember.

Remember to bring to a boil and stir occasionally.

You are the wind beneath me

Well blow me down.

The wind is supposed to get pretty bad today. I did not see many trees out the window blowing at me while at work. However, I did met Wendy for lunch today and saw limbs in the street. Of course they were not large limbs. I did see a large trash can and mailbox down, but I am not sure if the wind played into that equation.

I do not want to see the wind knock down trees because then they will fall on power lines. I want the wind to produce power not to knock it out.

Until I breeze by next time.

Weather got you hot and bothered?

I wish.

I am ready for some warmer temperatures. Usually we are supposed to be in the 50s, but that has not been the case. I think we have more of a wet winter also. I am not used to all this cold and wet. I wonder how people who usually have to deal with those conditions do it.

Stop giving me the cold shoulder. Show me the hot stuff.

We interrupt your viewing schedule

Well hello people who are enjoying the view.

The past couple of nights, okay more than that, I have passed out watching television. I watched about 30 minutes of the Superbowl. Then I passed out and woke up near the end. It did not peak my interest. I usually at least like to see the commercials. I do not remember any of them. Since I watched so little of the game coverage I missed the commercials that everyone is talking about.

It is discouraging when there are programs that you watch that come on with a gap between them. For example, Wendy and I watch House at 8. I like to watch Castle at 10. There is usually nothing on at 9. so I end up falling asleep and missing Castle. Yes, I should set the DVR. I think about doing it and then figure I will do it later. However, most times I do not. The reason for this post is that I did not do it last night.

Game. Set. Match.

At least I can watch reruns.

A taxing weekend

I sure hope this makes cents.

Wendy and I did make it to see my parents this weekend. The weather did cooperate with us. One of the purposes for us to go visit was to see my parents of course, but also to get our taxes done. I admit that I do not understand the complex forms. Put this in line A if you are excluded from line B. Fortunately, my dad does understand taxes and enjoys doing them.

It was not that painful of a process. Plus we did get a little bit of money back.

Surviving the slush

Well wet ones.

Remember to wipe your feet. Now that the snow has melted and the rain has lifted. At least for a few days. Check your local listings. It is that time for the ground to be saturated. There are still a bunch of puddles all around. This morning the ground was frozen so all the leaves and grass made a crunchy noise. This afternoon the temps thawed out and the crunch became a squish. It does look like when are in for some dry weather. Finally.

I got tired of wetting my pants.

In the middle nowhere to live

Hello to all you homees.

Over the weekend Wendy and I were house and animal sitting. The house is located on a paved driveway with one way in and out. As I was walking the dog with not much around me, I was thinking I could live in a place like this. I probably could not afford the current place I was.

Sometimes I would not mind living in a secluded place. Not much around but a few neighbors. Perhaps a nice sized yard. First I would have to learn what to do with a yard. I can see being in the middle of nowhere. The only thing that would get to me is the drive to places you need to go. I am not much of a driver though. If there was a severe storm you would be stuck there.

I could see the aspects of living in a city. Sure it might be a little crowded and noisy. You have everything right there. All that you need, with a few exceptions, are right in the neighborhood. I would not mind public transportation, or at least I say that right now.

Currently, Wendy and I have somewhat of a compromised living. We are in the middle of nowhere, but close enough to a quick drive to so called civilization.

Deliver me to evil

Here I am to live another day. Barely.

It probably is not as bad as it looked yesterday, but I am still here. After work I was on my way to the library. I had to stop by the house to pick up the books I wanted to return. So I enter the house only to leave again.

I drive toward the library. Traffic was not too bad until I get across from the library. The only bad part about going to the library is I have to cross a highway. There seemed to be a break in the traffic, but a FedEx van arrives. It is in the left turning lane and I am wanting to go forward. The problem is that I cannot see what is coming in the left lane. I probably pulled up to far because I thought I could before the van arrived. Of course there were several cars in that lane. From my point of view it looked pretty close to my hood. Of course there was a car behind me. I was able to put it in reverse, wait a few minutes, and the proceed to cross. I am sure I could have many things different, but I made it.

So in the grand scheme against me I survived. Now to look for other ways to express myself to the ground.

Girl power

Hello boys or girls.

Well one of the answers has finally been revealed. In about five months a new girl will be in our possession. Wendy had an ultrasound yesterday and she is far enough long that we could find out the gender. Joy Olivia Parker.

Joy seems to be doing quite well. You can look at Wendy's blog for all the specifics. Now we have five months to get everything ready. The first thing Wendy and I did leaving the doctor's office was to pick up some outfits.

Our next question is how to decorate Joy's room? I know we will think of something. Now we have the inspiration.

I also have to figure out how to save the amount of money I make in five months.

In case you missed it, here is the debut picture of Joy.

Wait for it.

Well folks it is almost here.

Nothing to report yet. Keep your fingers crossed, but not your legs.

See you in a couple of hours.

Working on it

Greetings for the meetings.

Yesterday I spent a few hours out of the house. I helped my supervisor clear some of the sidewalks at the building. A lot of places are still closed or delayed today. It looks like they should be. Most of the main roads are clear. The only problem is getting to them. Most of the neighborhood side streets still had ice on them.

Wendy and I did make to my station of work. Then my supervisor, another guy, and I spent the majority of the day cleaning of the sidewalks. It was pretty tough. The hard part was the layer of ice stuck to the sidewalk. You had to take a shovel and chip away before you can move the snow. We got the sidewalks clear. My supervisor had a crew come in and clear the parking lot. Wendy and I left at 3 and I guess they still worked until close to 5.

The building is under a two hour delay this morning. That is good because the temperatures are still cold. It is supposed to be rainy today, but over freezing. Then the warm up begins. Well until Friday where there is a chance for more wintry mix.

Something that surprised me was there was a few people at work yesterday. Granted they did not stay long, but they were still there. If I had not have to helped with cleaning the sidewalks, I would not have been there. I guess some people cannot stay away.

Wendy and I came back to the house and I tried to shovel my driveway. Our driveway is a slope. Mistake number one. All I have is a small digging shovel. Mistake number two. I will get a snow shovel. Hopefully I can wait until they are cheap and not overpriced. After a few attempts I was successful in getting Wendy's car out of the driveway.

To paraphrase an old song... "Take this snow and shove it."

Snow news

Well let's just plow ahead.

All weekend Wendy and I were in the house. I went outside a couple of times to take out trash and try to clean off the cars. Wendy's car was in the sun, so most of the snow had melted. I was parked in a shade so I had to work to clean off my car. I noticed most of neighbors driving around. I have no idea the state of the roads. I hear people say the main roads are drivable. The main issue seems to be neighborhood roads. Fortunately we had nowhere to go. It is getting a little boring sitting around the house.

Both Wendy and I are off work today. When the sun comes up, hopefully the snow will start melting. I think we are supposed to be above freezing, at least during the day. It will probably take most of the week, but we should be back to normal. My town did say they would scrape neighborhood streets, but according to the trash collection schedule. I am not sure if they can get down our road due to the road destruction in our neighborhood.

Later this morning I will probably have to venture out to help shovel the walks at work. I hope by then the sun will be up and doing its thing. I plan on taking Wendy with me. At least we can get out of the house.

I do not like driving on snow and ice. I do not really have the know how. So I am hoping the roads will not be as bad as they look. I know crews have been out and trying to get everything back to normal. I feel bad for people who had to get out in this weather for work. I guess that is the price of being important.

I did shovel some snow on our steps. It came up as blocks of ice. It looked to be about 2 inches thick. This was two days after the snow. I guess when the temperatures stay below freezing the ice has nowhere to go.

It does look like we are in for some warmer temperatures, but also some rain. At least we can go back to playing nice instead of in ice.