Cheryl's Big Day

Cheryl did a great job describing all the details, and it really was a fun day. I thought I might add my perspective a bit though! Cheryl loves birthdays. She does. Birthdays are an important event to her and it is a level of importance that has been an area where I have been challenged to adapt to. Last year was her big Three - O! We were all a tad violently sick, but the truth is that I didn't really plan like I could have to celebrate it in a big way. I really wanted not to make that mistake this year. For comparison's sake, when I turned 30, Cheryl took me to Fiesta Texas for the day and brought me home to a big surprise party with all of our friends. It was awesome! I was pretty ashamed after last year. My wife really deserves much more. She deserves this everyday!

So this year - the party was on! I started the scheming a couple of weeks ago and got everyone lined up. The plan was simple and the execution was flawless! After the day at the park, we would get the kiddos ready for bed and kick Cheryl out of the house on a rouse Jenny and Sara and I baked up. They arrived, dropped off a cake in my "conveniently" unlocked car outside and grabbed Cheryl. As soon as she left, the guys arrived early to throw up streamers and such. Man, the guys did a great job! If I'd known how fast they'd be, I'd have gotten more decorations! When the ladies arrived, we got ready for "the call." During the pick-up, Jenny had slipped her phone out of her pocket and given it to me which gave them a great reason to drop back by the house. The big moment: Cheryl gets out to run in an grab it so as not to 'disturb the guys' - HA! We were all waiting. Even Julia was in on the surprise!!! The rest of the night was filled with fun, food, the reading of the Birthday Book and games. I love our friends in the Singles Group - they are awesome!!!

We did take some video (although we forgot to film the "surprise") so here you go! If you weren't there you were certainly missed!



Cheryls Birthday

Can I Hold Your Hand, Papa?

Isaac asked me today, "Can I hold your hand, Papa?" I agreed, of course, and it got me to thinking again of something that has crossed my mind often lately. There will be a day soon when he doesn't want to hold my hand anymore. Like so many other airs of childhood, this one, too, will trail off behind him. But, for now I'm treasuring it. He is my son. My SON. I can't find a word to describe how deeply I love Isaac and Julia. At this age, his fickle attitude can shift wildly, but there is no doubt that he knows his Papa. At this age Cheryl and I are his "home."

So I do my best to remain vividly aware when Isaac or Julia want to connect. If it is to hold my hand, to be picked up ... whatever ... I'm paying attention. I'm actively trying to burn those memories in deep. He will not know what I'm thinking or how deeply it affects me until one day his child takes his hand and same part of his heart.

New Project - Monitor Stand

I had a chance recently to reorganize my office. In the process I decided that I needed something to get my monitors up about 5 inches. Of course, I could have gone over to OfficeMax and picked one up, but this looked more like a great opportunity for ... "Dun, Dun, Daaaaa" ... a PROJECT!

I'm going to be using the left over ply from Julia's Toy Cabinet for the body. But I'm also going to addsome support in the center and a hardwood face frame (red-oak; also left over from previous projects).

I did have some fun on the body - I didn't want to show the plywood edges on the top or the sides and I didn't want to run trim down the side to hide it. So, the solution was to cut the pieces at a 45 degree angle and join them with glue and nails. I happened to have some nifty little 90 degree angle clamps that came in real handy for this! The body is done now and awaits paint before I do the face frame.

Nerd Quiz - I Passed

Cheryl has a lot of fun with my nerd-dom. It is true. I don't deny that I'm nerdy. I like to think that I'm more of the "creative with funny musical tastes" species of nerd rather than the "I can't find my pocket protector until I get my glasses taped back together" breed. But, either way I like most things techy and list "Coldfusion" and "PHP" under foreign languages that I speak. That along with my strong tendency to choose fantasy, action and sci-fi movies over films involving sports, animal that talk and/or love stories pretty well pegs me for some level of nerd-dom. But if all that wasn't enough to prove it, my loving mate sent me a link to a quiz which apparently tests this:
http://www.toysforyourblog.com/quiz/6/How_Nerdy_Are_You.php

... and it is official...
This would be my 'results' after taking the quiz. ;-)

A Neeeewwwww Saw!

It's not a new car. It's not even new. But, I'm pretty stoked about it. I've been wanting a Compound Miter Saw for a while. I've even considered settling for an "el cheapo", but a good friend hooked me up recently! He had a saw in his garage that he was willing to part with and offered it to me for a pitance! It's not an 'el cheapo' either! It is a full size DeWalt 12 inch. Joy! Oh the things I can cut with that!

I have a special place in my heart for this particular model, too. One of the first scene shops I worked in had no real tools to speak of. After getting a couple of the basics - hand tools and a circular saw, this was the tool I bought for the shop! It is great to have one at hand again.

This is Me Lonely

This really is the blog that I intended to publish in the middle this last week while at convention. Just ran out of time to do it. This was a great idea though! What I wanted to do was take pictures of all the neat stuff and fun places that I saw while in Austin for the annual TCEA Convention (an edu-nerdy thing). But, I was going to make sure that I had a sad face in some of them to let my family know I wasn't having near as much fun with out them around. And that was the truth, I did get to enjoy a number of things, but I was always thinking, "Man, I wish Cheryl were here!" or "The kiddos would love this!"

All that said... here are the pics:

This is me lonely at the starbucks by the Hotel. :-(

This is me lonely on Congress Ave looking up at the State Capital.

This is the capital from the middle of congress. (Photo by Gabe - lonely and somewhat in fear for life due to crazy Austin drivers with no respect for my photographic pursuits )

This is me lonely at the Seattles Best Coffee across from REI! (no pic from REI - too busy looking at the neat things ... and being lonely)

The Adobe Booth ... ooooo... so much col stuff ( but I'm still lonely)

A Creepy Kind of Love

What would you do if you came across a very realistic looking rubber cockroach? Cheryl and I were confronted with this dilemma recently when she bought the decorations for Isaac's "Bug" themed birthday party. Of course, we did what any other normal loving couple would do and showed to the other laughing about how funny it would be to mistake that for the real thing.

Really?

No. Not Really.

From the moment we realized the mayhem potential of this little guy, all bets were off on what lengths we would go to in order to scare the other. The first attempts were innocuous enough but this would turn out to be a battle of escalation! ... in love of course!

• Gabe gets the game going by taping Roach to the back of a Milk Jug in the fridge.
• Cheryl retaliates by putting Roach on my hairbrush in the medicine cabinet.
• Gabe escalates by taping a string to the roach from the bottom of the bathroom door. When the door opens it pulls Roach out for a 'in motion' effect. This bombs, though, when Roach tumbles and looks more like one of Ollies' dookies! (Rats - foiled!)
• Cheryl hides Roach behind my shave cream in the shower.
• Gabe hides Roach on the spoons in the silverware draw.
• The most recent attempt was the most brazen though. I'm eating dinner, going through the salad when Roach tumbles out of the lettuce! ooo ... she's good.

I'll get you, yet, Cheryl-y Anne!

Wow - Great Eats in Austin!

Did I say Great Eats? What I meant was GREAT EATS! I'm in Austin for a couple of days for and Ed Tech conference. We had a lunch break yesterday and I wound up at this South American food restaurant that I've walked past dozens of times before when up here for conference - Dona Emilias. I ordered the stuffed chicken breast and didn't think any more about it. I fully expected to get the same thing you normally get at this type of place.What I got instead for my unbelievably reasonable $8 (considering the quality of the food) was a delicious and even beautiful meal!

Let me explain something at this point - my relationship with food is VERY utiliarian. I really don't dare much about eating. My style of eating could best be described as the "rushed disposal" technique. I'd take a pill instead if I could and enjoy the time I recovered. Consequently, I don't differentiate much between food quality. Chili's, Applebee's, TGI Friay's, et al mark the high end of my dining and McDonalds, etc. mark the low end and I have pretty much the same reaction to both ends - ambivalence.

For me to rave about cuisine, is not just rare, but completely out of character. I normally don't care about food, but this meal managed to break through my indifference and leave me wide-eyed. I'd love to give you a thorough break down of the flavors and textures that made it so great, but because of paragraph #2, I'm ill-equipped to discuss the topic intelligently. Let me just leave it at WOW! I mean it ... WOW!

A High Time at Lowe's

Our little town is growing up! Somewhere in the last 10 years Dairy Queen lost its place as the status symbol of a real town. Now, you now it's a 'real' town if you've got a Lowe's or Home Depot. We just got a Lowe's and I love it.

Cheryl and I had opportunity to be in the Lowe's the other day when they were doing a craft project for kids and decided to jump right in. Isaac loved it. They handed out aprons, goggles, hammers and a kit for a small project. Isaac and I could find room at one of the tables so we just set up shop on the floor! The kit had pieces precut and drilled to mat a little tool box and we got started. There were almost too many nails for the patience of a 4 year old, but I fought the urge to take over and helped him hammer each one in. Cheryl took a turn at it too and Julia enjoy playing with the parts that hadn't been used yet. In the end, we had a pretty good looking toolbox and some great family time on a Saturday morning.

Caution: Nerd with Power Tools

So I'll have to be honest, I do have quite the proclivity for all things techy (and big words like proclivity!). So naturally I carry a high-tech, shiney, black, does-everything-but-make-the-bed blackberry cell phone - the "Pearl", in case you wanted to know. But my gadget orientation has always included power tools as well. I really dig wood-working and most projects in general that involve tools that could remove one of your limbs if not handled properly. Blackberrys don't tend to do that.

I finally have found a project that properly unites these two domains - behold, the hand-crafted wooden cell phone cradle! This beauty is a one of a kind featuring hardwood construction using red oak and rosewood and a high gloss black lacquer finish. It is a thing of beauty that true nerds don't get ... and true woodworkers can't see the need for. Sadly, this is a one of a kind. I'll not be taking orders for more of these. You'll have to find some other techy-wood head!

Hey, That's Not Wi-fi! That's a Thermostat!

Just a random bit of humor ... I ran across this picture I took while in an airport a couple of years ago. I was walking along when I saw th Wi-Fi sign. I tend to notice techy things. I'm going to assume that they were intending to mark what might be the center of this particular 'hotspot,' but the sign was placed directly above a thermostat. I was pretty amused imagining the rip-off that might have been perpetraited against the airport there. Some shady contractor talking to the airport's non-technical purchasing manager:

Shady Guy: "Aaaa, Oh Kaaaa, Vinnie and I got 'cha Wi-ah-less Network set up, boss. 'dat'll be 100 grand - cash pref'rably."
Dopey Manager: "Well OK, but I didn't see you do anything but screw that thing to the wall and slap on the sticker.
SG: You gonna tell us how to do ahhr job, or pay up? (Vinnie cracks knuckles menacingly)
DM: Yeah, here's the money, but ... that sure looks like a thermostat to me!