The Reluctant Blogger

I'm living in Interesting Times

2008-11-23T00:41:00.004-06:00

This has been an interesting week.

Last weekend, someone backed into my car while it was parked in front of our house and drove off (minor paint damage on my bumper by the rear wheel; haven't had time to get an estimate for fixing it). Then on Friday evening, I was going to help my mom pick up her new TV, and she was going to take Theo for the night. She picked him up, and we drove our separate vehicles to Best Buy. Along the approximately 2 mile trip, I noticed that it didn't feel right while I was driving; so after I parked, I took a look around my car... and notice that 3 of the lug bolts on my front passenger-side tire have sheared off.

No, I don't know when it happened. I can only assume it was on this trip, but maybe that was just the last one, and the other two have been broken off for a week or more. I don't typically look at my lug nuts to make sure they're all there. I look at the tires to see if any are losing air, but not the lug nuts themselves.

So today was a learning experience in trying to replace the lug bolts. They are technically replaceable, and the replacements are only about $1.50 each, plus another $1.50 each for the new lug nut to go with it. The problem is that they apparently never expected you to want to replace these on your own. You can knock them loose from the hub/bearing assembly, but there's no clearance behind that to get them out. You have to remove the entire hub/bearing assembly... for which you need a 35mm socket and then a torque wrench that can handle 250+ N-m for when I need to put it all back together. So I went and got a 35mm socket (cheap, from a local warehouse tool store) and got a torque wrench, and brought them home and then.... it didn't fit. I happened to find a 1 3/8 socket while I was looking through the tools that are in my mom's garage, and tried that one and it fits almost perfectly. If you do the math, 1 3/8" = 34.92 mm. So the cheap socket I bought is apparently cheap for a very good reason. On the bright side, I have a socket that fits, but by that time it was too dark to do anything.

I am really grateful to Graham for his help in all of this learning today, and hopefully there's not too much more learning involved tomorrow and I can get this behind me.

To top all of THAT off, Andrea got sick today, and that's never a good thing, no matter how many times it happens (I think this is at least the 4th time in 3 months).

Well, I hope the next week is nowhere NEAR as interesting as this week has been.

Our cute little pumpkins

2008-10-29T20:57:00.003-05:00

Here are a couple of pictures of our boys in their Halloween costumes, and aren't they adorable? Here's one with them posing together, and another of them posing with the pumpkins that we decorated (Theo and his Mama painted the little ones and he helped me carve the big one).

Professional Beach Bum

2008-07-22T23:40:00.002-05:00

This kid didn't need a vacation; he was this happy to begin with!

How I spent my summer vacation, part 1

2008-07-13T20:35:00.001-05:00

We're on Vacation! We made it through 2 flights with 5 adults and a three year old and a three month old, and all made it with all of our luggage. It was questionable for a while when there was a delay in leaving OKC for the first leg of the flight (to Detroit). Because of weather, they re-routed the flight to go all the way over Nashville before turning north to Detroit; this resulted in a 30 minute delay while they reprogrammed the route in the plane and then realized we wouldn't have enough fuel to make that new route. So we had to taxi back to the terminal to add some fuel.
All of that meant that we only had about 15 minutes to make it 30 gates in the Detroit airport with the aforementioned three year old, three month-old, and the associated car seats. We were the last ones on the plane, but 'luckily' we were also in the very last row at the back of the plane, so that was fun.
But we did make it to Maryland at the scheduled time, stopped for food on the ride to PaPaw and Mimi's house and then everyone went straight to bed. We all got up and PaPaw made pancakes for breakfast before we went to their church (which has been around since the 1600s). After church we went back to their house, loaded everything back up and went to lunch before we got on the road for the 3.5 hour trip to the beach.
We made it to the beach house and after unloading the cars, we all made our trips the half a block to the beach. Theo didn't really care for his first trip, but he was very tired after a long day in the car with not much of a nap. After a pizza dinner for the first day, we all settled down with our separate activities: John on his laptop, Adam holding Max and then bathing Theo, Erin and Andrea each reading a book, Mimi and PaPaw went to bed, and I'm typing this blog entry.

And now we're all headed to bed, so good night from our vacation in Maryland!

I'm amazed

2008-06-16T22:23:00.000-05:00

One of the books I ordered, Learning Python, is already here! I just ordered them Friday evening. It isn't the most recent edition of that book, but still, hard to beat for the price.

And now I bet you're all amazed that I've posted again!

Father's day

2008-06-15T20:57:00.002-05:00

I had a pretty good Father's day. Andrea finished painting the trim on the outside of the wall, and it looks excellent! If you haven't seen it, you can see a picture on her blog, here. I didn't do a whole lot, Theo helped his mom paint, and I got to cuddle with Max on the couch for a while.

This afternoon, Max was having some fun laying on his playmat thing, and he almost rolled himself over from his back to his front. I think if he'd straightened the arm he was laying on out a little more, he would have gone right over! He probably would have started screaming at that point; he's not fond of being on his belly.... we keep trying it, since according to the professionals, we're supposed to do that to help them work those muscles, but he really doesn't like it. I'm guessing that once he figures out that he can start moving that way, he'll enjoy it a lot more.

My new office

2008-06-13T23:14:00.002-05:00

I recently got to move into an office at work. Ever since I've started, my desk has been out in the operations area with two of my co-workers and next to the printer room. I like the office, it's a bit quieter. Just to the right of where I was standing when I took the picture is my new bookshelf. It doesn't have much on it at the moment, so for Father's Day, I'm getting myself some new (work- and computer-related) books from half.com. The "under $0.99," used book section is dangerous; but I did just order 5 books for under $25, including shipping!

I've been busy

2008-05-28T23:50:00.004-05:00

(FYI: I started this post back on the 28th of May, I just didn't actually get it posted until now, 6/13)

So. It's been 2 months since my last blog posting. I think this is both because I've been very busy and just don't really have much to say. Work is going well, but that's most of the busy-ness. The rest is the fun (usually) part: potty training Theo, occasionallly progressing on the garage conversion project, and spending time with Andrea and Max (who's 2 months old today! It definitely doesn't seem that long.)

We have been having some fun, though. We went to the touch-a-truck day they had in Edmond a few weekends ago. Theo had a blast with a lot of the vehicles there:

He promises, he'll just take it around the block:

Here he's taking over in the sheriff's control center truck:
I REALLY didn't envy these guys in the all - black outfits climbing up on the roof at the Air Show:

And here Theo learns about the air tanks that the firemen carry into fires:

Other than the large empty moving truck, I think this was Theo's favorite:
It was a little hard to get him to leave this bus; he got distracted by the little mini trampoline by the door on the way out.

Max is here!

2008-03-28T10:55:00.003-05:00

Max was born today at 1:06 am, after approximately 40 hours of labor (only one hour of pushing). He weighed 8 lbs, 12 oz, and he was 21.5" long.

Walgreens stole my identity

2008-03-05T23:14:00.003-06:00

...or at least gave it to someone else. This Wacky Wednesday would have been better if it had stuck to just shoes on the wall, but no. At about 2:30 this afternoon, I got a phone call from my wife because she was experiencing enough unusual pain that she wanted to go to the doctor and have it checked out. Firstly, everything is fine, no baby yet; as if you wouldn't know by know if there were. So we go to the hospital to the urgent care section, and sit in a sauna for about 3 and a half hours... until they finally said, "Eh.. you MIGHT have a urinary tract infection, here's a prescription for antibiotics."

We managed to make it to our 8pm appointment at the photography place (we wanted a picture of the three of us before there are four of us). After taking the pictures and while we were apparently waiting on the photographer to print, mat, and frame a sample of some of the pictures that we weren't going to buy, I went and waited in line at the Sonic at the food court at the mall for longer than I should have had to to get us some food. By the time I was back with the food, we needed to go back to the photography place to look at the printed, matted and framed pictures we weren't going to buy. So we fed Theo a few tater tots to tide him over and picked out a cute picture of Theo pointing to his momma's belly and got a single 5x7 of that picture.

After we made it home and momma went to bed, Theo and I ate our dinner and then I got Theo into bed. Then I realized I didn't have any diet cokes, so I made sure everyone was ok and went to Walgreens. I was going to pick up the prescription while I was there since their pharmacy is apparently open 24 hours. I went to the counter and gave the girl there my ID, my Insurance card, and the prescription itself. She filled in whatever information she needed from me in the system, and told me it'd be about 20-25 minutes if I wanted to wait. I figured I could waste that much time wandering up and down the aisles in the store, so I did. A little later, I saw that same girl walking towards the front of the store; I guess it was time for her to leave. She saw me and told me that she'd forgotten to give back my ID and insurance card, but they'd just be in the bag with the prescription when it was ready. I went and wandered for about 20-30 minutes before I was out of aisles and decided to just sit back at the pharmacy and wait. A guy who was in the pharmacy finally asked my name and it looked like my stuff was ready, even though they hadn't called my name. I mentioned to him that I wanted to make sure my ID and insurance card were in the bag since the other girl had forgotten to give them back; he then let me know that "they were busy" and somehow, my ID and insurance card had "fallen into" someone else's bag and that customer had found it and called in to say they'd bring it back into the store tomorrow... I don't really have any response for that. I thought he was joking, but he was not. All he had to say was that he was "really sorry" and that "they were busy."

It's been quite a day. I don't know what they could possibly do to fix that situation short of going to the other customer's house and bringing my cards to me, but I don't see that happening. I do think this will make me think, not just twice, but at least 3 or 4 times about going back to that pharmacy after I go back tomorrow to (hopefully) pick up my ID and insurance card.

Any thoughts?

P.S. since I've been "tagged":

"Of which problem do you speak?"
"I have come to believe that our peoples are dying needlessly," Tavi replied. "This war profits neither your Realm nor mine."

It really looks like a wall

2008-03-01T18:51:00.003-06:00

Turns out, it's possible to build a wall yourself... I may have complained some along the way, but if you don't look too closely or critically, it's not too bad.

I'll probably want to do some touching up in some spots to smooth out the mortar joints, but we've got a half full bag of mortar mix that I can use for that, I suppose. Now we'll let it set for a while and then put some trim around the window and to fill in that gap at the top. But I guess now I get to finish hooking up the electrical so that's ready, but we still aren't going to do much more inside until we make sure the roof isn't going to leak and let whatever we do get soaked. Since it's starting to get warmer, though, it might make sense to get the AC brought into that area. I wouldn't be able to stand much work out there otherwise. We'll see.

More testing...

2008-02-22T21:25:00.002-06:00

Testing another way of blogging with my Nokia n800. It's a program called MaemoWordPy. It lets me write and save posts, it will even upload pictures to a flickr account. Then Whenever I'm around a network connection I can post them all at once. But it lets me do all the formatting and editing I want without having to go to the web interface.

So far, I like it

2008-02-08T21:47:00.000-06:00

So now I get to learn how to be a bricklayer. Should be fun. And then we also need to repair/patch a spot on the outside wall of the garage where water is getting in behind the bricks when it rains hard.

After that, we'll get the electrical worked out and then we can insulate and cover up the walls and ceiling. When that's done, we'll be able to start working on cutting the door in the wall. Exciting and scary stuff.

We'll probably get finished about the time we're ready to try to get a new house (that's mostly sarcasm; we're going to get as much of it done as we can by the time Max gets here, which is getting closer and closer way too fast. Only 7 and a half weeks until the due date! On that note, I better get some sleep, since we're bricklaying in the morning.

New accessory for my new toy

2008-02-04T21:16:00.000-06:00

Now I can get into all kinds of trouble. I've got my folding bluetooth keyboard. It makes things like making this blog posting a LOT easier. I can just type away.... it's not much different than my laptop keyboard. The hardest part is entering numbers; they are set up as functions of the QWERTY row on the keyboard. Then to get the symbols that are typically on the number keys, you have to use the OTHER function key that's on the right side of the keyboard. But this test is pretty good; I'm able to type at almost full speed.

My new toy

2008-01-31T21:51:00.000-06:00

I got a new toy the other day. It's a Nokia n800 internet tablet.

It's a lot smaller than my laptop. But it can do quite a lot. There's a lot of software out there for it; I can email, browse the internet, play doom, write programs, etc. I'm even posting this blog entry from it! This will be easier when I get the accessory I've ordered, a portable, folding bluetooth keyboard.

Other than that, the electrician should be coming out to see if we've really screwed anything up or if we can finish insulating and drywalling in the new room.

X-ray vision and other ways of looking through walls

2007-12-25T22:28:00.000-06:00

Thanks to help from Adam and Seth, we now have windows in our wall. Don't they look Beautiful?

Merry Christmas, Honey!

Now that the Theo pics are out of the way

2007-12-24T00:25:00.000-06:00

I'm sure you're all wondering how the garage project is progressing, so here's an update:

After the stemwall was poured, the next major step was removing the garage door. So we lifted it up to the top and took off the side vertical tracks, then we carefully lowered it down to the ground. The bottom section folded up almost completely flat against the next section up, but the rest wouldn't fold as neatly. Since we needed to be able to lift it and get it out of the garage, Adam and I took the top section off of the rest of it and that made it a little more manageable. We then carted it over just off the driveway where our neighbor collected it later (he's going to help out with the tree limb removal from the backyard). Then we had an audience while we removed the rest of the hardware and added it to the pile:

We also pulled down all of the trim around the door opening (by the way, "demo" is fun). After the opening was all cleared up and the stemwall was hardened, we started framing the wall. That moved along pretty well, but was interrupted by a slight ice and snow storm that Theo seemed to enjoy:

Today we were finally able to get a little more work done on it and we got it "sheathed." That's getting the plywood sheathing over it and then a weather resistive barrier (in our case, some asphalt felt paper). Then we covered it up with the tarp from the outside again, and the windows will be installed sometime this week. Here is a picture from inside the garage, now that there is a wall:

So.... What do you think so far?

This one belongs in a Christmas card:

2007-12-24T00:21:00.000-06:00

Does this one even need a comment? Look how cute he is.

He REALLY likes his yogurt

2007-12-24T00:19:00.000-06:00

It does get the yogurt on his nose, but that's a small price to pay.

So.... what's the plan?

2007-11-10T15:59:00.000-06:00

Is anyone planning this thing, or are we just going to make it up as we go?

Let me try it

2007-10-30T11:28:00.000-05:00

Andrea tried to post this, but it hasn't shown up, so I thought I'd try it.

Just to make sure everyone's seen these:

2007-10-12T09:15:00.001-05:00

First, there was this video from the BOB radio station's website, back when this whole thing first happened.

And then today, someone at work sent me this, and I felt I had to share:

Arrrrr!

2007-09-19T13:27:00.000-05:00

Talk Like a Pirate Day has been on our office calendar since last year sometime. So we were aware it was coming. To celebrate the occasion, the spouse of one of my coworkers made this:

Oddly enough, no, it wasn't a rum cake.

Here's the recipe for a similar cake, in case you want to make one of your own.

More Fair-goers

2007-09-18T17:21:00.000-05:00

We managed to sneak in a trip to the State Fair on Saturday afternoon. Theo seemed to enjoy it. He liked pointing out the cows and the pigs and the chickens, and some of the other things we saw that weren't animals. He hadn't napped yet that day, but he did kinda perk up when he got to do this:

Has he been watching the animals too much?

2007-09-15T22:35:00.000-05:00

They've cut down on it since we stopped letting them on the furniture as much (if at all), but Lucy and Emma each used to perch up on the back of the couch just like this:

I prefer when it's on TV

2007-09-09T19:03:00.000-05:00

So after we'd done our yard work and were relaxing around the house, I looked outside and there were 8 police cars within view of our front porch. Then there were the police officers with their guns drawn; apparently there was a standoff of some kind in the apartments across the street (the north end of them; about 5 houses away). I didn't hear anything, and we still don't know what happened yet, but they finally walked a couple of people out in handcuffs.

I'll post more if I find out what happened.

**Update**
According to the news last night (all 30 seconds that pertained), there was a man who was involved in a fight somewhere, the police were called to that, he ran off on foot, dropped his gun on the way, and shut himself in the apartment of some acquaintances (who were not home).

Life coach?

2007-08-22T09:55:00.000-05:00

Your Aura is Violet

Idealistic and thoughtful, you have the mind and ideas to change the world.
And you have the charisma of a great leader, even if you don't always use it!

The purpose of your life: saying truths that other people dare not say

Famous purples include: Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Susan B. Anthony

Careers for you to try: Political Activist, Inventor, Life Coach

What Color Is Your Aura?

Misfortune Cookie

2007-08-17T13:28:00.000-05:00

Usually fortune cookies are happy, cheerful little things that aren't even fortunes. You know, like "You are well liked." Not exactly a prediction or anything. But the other day, I got the following, and it's not like any I've ever seen before:

"Your problem just got bigger. Think, what have you done?"

Never read it...maybe I should.

2007-08-16T10:04:00.000-05:00

You're A Prayer for Owen Meany!

by John Irving

Despite humble and perhaps literally small beginnings, you inspire
faith in almost everyone you know. You are an agent of higher powers, and you manifest
this fact in mysterious and loud ways. A sense of destiny pervades your every waking
moment, and you prepare with great detail for destiny fulfilled. When you speak, IT
SOUNDS LIKE THIS!

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Chocolate chip pancakes: Yum!

2007-07-07T09:43:00.000-05:00

For breakfast this morning, Andrea made chocolate chip pancakes (from scratch, by the way). They were delicious! But one of the best parts of the meal was the entertainment:

We think he liked them:

Birthday Videos

2007-06-28T21:58:00.000-05:00

It's probably past time I finally got these up here, so here's a start

Multimedia message

2007-05-12T12:42:00.001-05:00

Heartwalk 2007 - Taking one for the Teeb

2007-04-28T16:09:00.000-05:00

Here's Tank getting warmed up and ready for the walk.

This is right after we started.

This is how Sarah and Angus started out...

And this is how they continued the walk:

No roller skating!

And then Theo was making a call just before the finish line:

Hi Grandpa!

2007-04-28T14:03:00.001-05:00

Did we not get the memo?

2007-04-19T23:11:00.000-05:00

I'm just wondering what's with all the limericks?

Elephant Ride

2007-04-01T16:55:00.000-05:00

Andrea, Theo, Erin, and an unknown little girl rode an elephant together today at the Medieval Fair in Norman. Everyone had fun (except maybe the little girl who was a bit scared; Erin took care of that though).

First is the permission slip for the guys...

2007-03-08T15:16:00.000-06:00

I got these in an email and just had to share:

And then there's the one for the girls...

2007-03-08T15:15:00.000-06:00

My four things

2007-02-13T11:26:00.000-06:00

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Bethany Public Library
2. Creative Labs
3. Stillwater Public Library
4. OSU Help Desk

Four Movies I have watched over and over:
1. Singin' in the Rain
2. The Incredibles
3. Romeo Must Die
4. The Matrix

Four Places I have lived: (beside Oklahoma)
1. Bethany, OK
2. Stillwater, OK
3. OKC, OK
4. OKC, OK (different address)

Four T.V. shows I love (d) to watch:
1. How I Met Your Mother
2. John Doe
3. CSI
4. HEROES!

Four Places I have been on vacation:
1. Michigan
2. New York
3. Florida
4. California/Las Vegas same trip

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Chinese
2. Pizza
3. Sushi
4. Indian

Four Places I'd rather be right now.
1. Home with Theo and Andrea
2. A Bookstore
3. A Computer store?
4. with Andrea anywhere (Also cheesy! but also true)

And I think only 2 people will comment on this, my mom and Andrea. Prove me wrong :-)

Merry Christmas to Theo

2007-01-20T21:49:00.000-06:00

Theo got a new tricycle for Christmas... unfortunately, it hasn't quite been nice enough outside for him to try it out yet. Spring should get here eventually, though.

Dailymotion blogged video

Testing Video Blog entry

2007-01-14T15:52:00.000-06:00

Here's my first attempt at posting a video on here. Using an older one from back around Theo's b-day.

Theo
Theo_misc

Fun in the Snow pt. 2

2006-12-02T15:18:00.001-06:00

Tank running in the snow
Originally uploaded by MauerBlog.

And here's Tank having some fun in the snow. He really likes it when the weather is like this.

Fun in the snow pt.1

2006-12-02T15:07:00.001-06:00

Theo Standing in the Snow
Originally uploaded by MauerBlog.

Theo Sitting in the Snow
Originally uploaded by MauerBlog.

Here's Theo having fun playing in the snow in our front yard. He was having a great time!

Christmas Survey Results

2006-11-19T16:50:00.000-06:00

What is your favorite color(s)? Green, Orange, Black, Blue

Favorite Candy/snack? Beef Jerky

Magazine? Linux Journal, Maximum PC,

What size sock do you wear? size 12/13 shoe

Hobbies? Electronics, computer stuff, and reading

What is your LEAST favorite flavor/smell?

Do you prefer to write with a pencil or pen? pens-.5 size rollerball style

Are you collecting anything these days? books

What is your favorite candle scent? something cool and light, not spiced or heavy

What bookstore do you go to – Borders or Barnes and Noble? full circle and borders

What else do you want us to know? i got a new car!!!

Picture(1.jpg

2006-11-19T13:06:00.001-06:00

Here's the new car! 2004 Malibu maxx

Picture(1.jpg

2006-11-15T20:59:00.001-06:00

Look! It still fits!

Picture(4).jpg

2006-11-13T00:52:00.001-06:00

Just because everyone needs more Theo pics

Hooray! I'm more than half generic!

2006-11-10T13:00:00.000-06:00

Your Linguistic Profile:

65% General American English

15% Dixie

10% Yankee

5% Upper Midwestern

0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Although, that question about "Route" left out the "Both" option, because it really depends on what we're talking about which way I say it. I mean, Route 66 is like "boot", but my wireless router is like "outer." I wonder which number that affects anyway.

Sneak peek (attempt 2)

2006-10-27T11:22:00.000-05:00

Either it's a problem with how I'm posting this
or it's associated with all of the recent blogger
problems, but the system just never really seemed
to think that this blog existed. It showed it,
for a while, but no one could post to it, and I
couldn't edit it or anything. So here goes again:

Stealth posting

2006-10-08T23:19:00.000-05:00

Let's see how long it is before someone happens to read my blog and see these posts... I just like to wait until everyone gets lulled into thinking I'm not going to post anything, and then BAM!

It's pictures like this that make me realize just how big he's getting.

2006-10-08T23:07:00.000-05:00

Theo_and_Ethan
Originally uploaded by MauerBlog.

This is Theo with Ethan (and his dad, Paul). At the time of the picture, Ethan was just over 6 months and Theo was almost 16 months.

He's an excellent driver.

2006-10-08T22:20:00.000-05:00

Theo Driving
Originally uploaded by MauerBlog.

Don't worry people, it was securely in park. But his favorite thing to do is hit the buttons for the windows and door lock.

It seems like a lot of this is true so far...

2006-06-28T20:38:00.000-05:00

I ran across this article the other day and just had to share. I was going to paste the whole list into a post, but that was just WAY too long...

Theo's Birthday Party

2006-06-27T23:23:00.000-05:00

Theo's cake face
Originally uploaded by MauerBlog.

I thought I'd finally post some pictures about this. Here you can see Theo's first good sugar high.... doesn't he look happy?

And for a little more background on the cakes at the party:

A week or two before the party, Andrea thought again about changing the theme to an animal theme. Mostly this was because she saw a cute giraffe head shaped cake pan kit at Hobby Lobby. And because I usually try to make her happy (even though she really just wanted to go buy a cake... ) I thought I'd see what I could manage. I never did decorate it, but I think it turned out pretty well. And it all started with a basic 9x13 yellow cake (recipe from wilton.com).

Then, for the actual party, Andrea bought me (since I do the baking in the family) a car shaped cake pan. So I mixed up that same yellow cake recipe and made a car shaped cake. And then I had the fun of making some blue cream cheese icing and decorating it.

And, since there's no point in baking cakes unless there's a chocolate one, I made a chocolate cake as well, covered it with chocolate icing and then used the tube of yellow icing to write on it.

All in all, I was pretty proud of myself. But I still think Andrea wants to order the next cake we need.... spoilsport :-)

Ignore the dirt

2006-06-27T23:11:00.000-05:00

Ignore the dirt
Originally uploaded by MauerBlog.

So... it's been a while. How's everyone? I seem to have fallen behind on my blogging. I usually just let Andrea fill everyone in on what's going on, so I don't have much need to post things. But I know you've missed me, so here goes...

My aim was slightly off for this picture, but I think it turned out pretty good. When he's not outside or chasing Lucy, this is what Tank likes to do.

Aren't they cute?

2006-04-10T20:16:00.000-05:00

Magic Fingers Jr.
Originally uploaded by MauerBlog.

He's learning a new way to make his mommy happy, with a nice relaxing massage.

And the finished project (at least the flowerbed part)

2006-04-01T13:41:00.000-06:00

The After Picture
Originally uploaded by MauerBlog.

And here's what we ended up with after a little work.

This is how we spent our Saturday morning...

2006-04-01T13:38:00.000-06:00

The Before Picture
Originally uploaded by MauerBlog.

We started with a trip to Home Depot and the original idea was to get a shrub or two for the front flowerbed, but we altered that as we kept looking and didn't find any shrubs we liked.

Andrea has a new boyfriend :-)

2006-03-29T21:46:00.000-06:00

Andrea has a new boyfriend
Originally uploaded by MauerBlog.

Here's a shot of her cuddling with her new beau on the couch. No room for me...

Maybe this is a good read?

2006-03-29T21:45:00.000-06:00

Maybe this is a good read?
Originally uploaded by MauerBlog.

Theo just can't decide what he's going to read yet... But he's very good at pulling the books off the shelves.

Theo and his Daddy

2006-02-23T13:45:00.000-06:00

Theo_and_Daddy
Originally uploaded by MauerBlog.

Aren't we cute?

Tank in the Snow

2006-02-18T14:23:00.000-06:00

Tank in the Snow
Originally uploaded by MauerBlog.

And here, for your viewing pleasure is a new picture of Tank enjoying the recent weather.

Bumper Stickers

2006-02-16T12:17:00.000-06:00

Ann's post made me think of a sticker I saw not long ago. It was on one of the new H3 Hummers, and it said "My comfort is more important than your child's clean air." And that one is both funny and offensive.

Sorry I haven't been posting more frequently... I keep pretty busy at work and don't usually think of anything to talk about on here.

Tank's new blanket

2006-01-31T23:32:00.000-06:00

Tank's new blanket
Originally uploaded by MauerBlog.

He started out just laying on the floor NEXT to the couch, and kinda worked his way under there. But I'm pretty sure that it's going to be funny when he tries this as he gets bigger...

So what is that top thing supposed to be on here?

2006-01-22T11:05:00.000-06:00

I can't help it; someone posts one of these tests, and I go take it myself.

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Your personality type is RCUAI

You are reserved, calm, moderately unstructured, accommodating, and intellectual, and may prefer a city which matches those traits.

The largest representation of your personality type can be found in the these U.S. cities: Washington DC, Oklahoma City, Raleigh/Durham, Louisville, New Orleans, Greensboro, Austin, Albuquerque/Santa Fe, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, Denver and these international countries/regions Luxembourg, Iceland, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Slovenia, Netherlands, Greece, Puerto Rico, Denmark, Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Turkey, Sweden, Ireland

What Places In The World Match Your Personality?
City Reviews at CityCulture.org

Who and what am I?

2006-01-20T10:23:00.000-06:00

So I did each of these tests twice. Once in a hurry with only 8 questions, and got the following:

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

and

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Then I took my time with the version with 45 questions and came up with these results:

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

and

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Tank, a.k.a. Our new bear-skin rug

2006-01-18T22:02:00.000-06:00

New rug
Originally uploaded by MauerBlog.

In case you were wondering where the name came from.

All in the family...

2006-01-18T21:58:00.000-06:00

Tank
Originally uploaded by MauerBlog.

And now, in his blogging debut, the newest member of the family, Tank, the St. Bernard mix puppy! Yep, this is Andrea's new buddy that's been getting her up and out of the house so early in the morning. (And as unbelievable as it sounds, it is a male!)

My previous post may have sounded like this was all her doing and that I was just an innocent bystander, but I really do like this (not so) little guy. He also seems to be getting along with Lucy well, which is pretty important.

New Years Resolution

2006-01-14T14:55:00.000-06:00

I must learn to say "No" to my wife.

That is all.

Doesn't this make 42 things?

2006-01-10T00:41:00.000-06:00

As you may recall from one of my numerous previous posts, I promised to provide a "7 things" post. I started working on this several days ago, but it is surprisingly hard to come up with 7 for each of these categories. I am also slightly dismayed to have learned that there is an entirely new set of these to labor over simply to attempt to appease Andrea's desire to read my blog postings. The things I have to go through to keep her happy... (after that, I'd better start this off with a good one)

7 things I want to do before I die:
1. Take Andrea on a honeymoon/vacation
2. Create something (book, invention, etc.)
3. Learn another language
4. Always be able to provide for my family
5. Get more organized
6. Start an active hobby (reading and computers aren't great exercise)
7. Retire (maybe then I'll have time for the above)

7 things I cannot do:
1. I can't believe how wonderful and natural it is to have Theo
2. I can't believe how hard it is to come up with 7 things for most of these categories
3. No matter how late I stay up, I can't make the day any longer
4. I can't keep my desk clean
5. I can't get enough Chinese food
6. I can't resist including the cheesy answer that immediately came to mind:
7. I can't stop loving Andrea and Theo

7 things that attract me to my spouse:
1. Her sense of humor
2. Her persistent need to rearrange the furniture
3. Her family
4. Her outlook on things
5. The way I always feel better seeing her after a long day
6. The way she says "frittata"
7. Her son ;-)

7 things that I say most often:
1. "Honey..."
2. "I don't care, what do you want (to do / for dinner / etc)?"
3. "Ptbbththttlbbth"
4. "I love you"
5. "So what's for dinner?"
6. "I'm just saying..." (Darn you, Erin, and your infectious way of talking)
7. "What?"

7 books or authors that I love:
1. TERRY PRATCHETT (If you haven't read any, please do! Favorite is Good Omens)
2. Robert Jordan (Good long story, even if he does have a tendency to repeat himself)
3. Dave Barry (His novels are hilarious)
4. Tim Dorsey (Another crazy south Florida author)
5. Christopher Moore (Lamb and The Stupidest Angel are very funny)
6. Douglas Adams
7. John Sandford

7 movies that I watch over and over and over again:
1. Emperor's New Groove
2. Grosse Pointe Blank
3. The Incredibles
4. Almost any Jackie Chan or Jet Li movie
5. The first Matrix movie
6. The Court Jester
7. Singin' in the Rain

GreenBeans

2006-01-07T12:28:00.000-06:00

GreenBeans
Originally uploaded by MauerBlog.

I know, most of you have seen this on Andrea's blog, but I felt it needed to be included here as well. I just can't get enough of this picture. It kinda makes me want to feed him more green beans, just to get him to make this face again. Is that wrong, or is it just part of being a parent?

Joining the club

2005-12-31T00:36:00.000-06:00

So I finally did it. I am, as of this post, a blogger. I'll give you a fair warning now, I don't know how frequently I will add to this, or if I'll say anything worth reading. After all, who needs this blog when they can get all the Theo they want at Andrea's blog?

For now, I'll leave you looking forward to a '7 things' list in the near future.