Cycle of life

Yesterday we celebrated Asher's birthday. This morning Dawn's grandfather died.
The engine runs till it quits.

Happy birthday

Yesterday was Asher's 1st birthday! Personally, I enjoyed the majority of the day, after about 8:00. We had a long night prior to that, but we had a good recovery. Dawn's sister and her husband are a great blessing. They helped us a lot, and we enjoyed our time with them afterward. Tonight, the little family pocket will go to a restaurant and celebrate Asher's milestone. He will likely be oblivious to the moment, but should have a good time anyway.

New image

I was walking in to work and the ground was still wet from last night's rain. The air was cool and the sun was just clearing the cloud bank that had soaked us overnight as it headed East. I thought how idyllic the scenery was. Water droplets on leaves whose colors are just starting to change. Wet, reflective concrete underfoot. Shiny grass. At another time, in another place, this would be a perfect day. So I realized that my attitude was a product of my obligation to be at work instead of free to walk through this wonderland with my eyes wide open.
I work for the weekend. For vacation. For retirement.

World wide!

There is no end to the work. If I want, there are four or five websites to build right now! Problem is finding time to do it. I doubt I would do it efficiently to start with, so I will require even more time. I'm not ready to leave my insurance behind. Not ready to skip paychecks. Not ready to live in the basement all day, debugging my work.

Lofty

Next time we'll choose a room with a door. Opportunity doesn't knock. Opportunity runs past your door and if you're quick enough, you can throw the door open and tackle it before your neighbor gets the chance.

Cabin fever

The trip was good. Had a good night playing quiddler and talking, laughing. Korbin did well. Had a soapy eyed bath and went to sleep in the loft without a problem. This morning we woke before everyone and stressed over breakfast and tie dye project. After we ate and had a bit of coffee and relaxed, we're doing pretty well. Home is nice because you have no one but yourselves to evaluate your actions. In a crowd, especially of family, everything is fodder for advice or humor. Ill advised and in a black humor in the morning. Bless the evening. Pressure is off

Worth it

Vacation, albeit a short one, begins today. It's a lot of stressful over-preparing, followed by a long car ride. I'm hoping the ride is peaceful. I hope it restores our calm.

Bombs away

if smell is any indication, I'd say our latest flea fogger attempt is bound to succeed. Nothing quite like the odor of poisonous vapor masquerading as air freshener. So we have a lot of laundry to do or a lot of sanitary preconceptions to overcome. If it's anything like last time, i'm sure we'll find the middle ground and live to tell about it.

Peanut gallery

What does that even mean? I'll have to check wiktionary for the origin. I washed my hair with a soapy washcloth this morning and have finally noticed that it looks pretty wild. Ah so.
Trying to convert strings to integers. Trying to update my phone software so I can listen to radio, hoping to hear some Beastie Boys. My ipod is full of Phish, and i'm ready for a change.

Upgrade

I was listing the trendy services and appliances that our family uses. It seems like I need additional appliances to keep up with the services.
I feel like someday I will be skilled enough at something that I can sell the time I spend doing it. Dream

Labor day

Had a big breakfast at Machine Shed, went to little Mexico for a candy-filled parade, injured the baby, took a nap, got some coffee and groceries, expecting a nice dinner with family. Plus me and Korbin completed another level of Star Wars Legos on the Wii!

Brunch

Had a nice brunch with the wife's extended family. I helped cook and it was lots of fun. They're getting ready to play games now.
Church was good. It's nice to arrive with one attitude and leave with another. A better one, certainly. As much as group dynamics ensure a degree of political conflict, God is still over all and still helping and fixing his people.

Mental health day

Learning

I realize that I should be learning better methods. Specifically at work, but elsewhere in my life too, i'm sure. I've spent a lot of time doing things a certain way while other people have been busy doing the same things better and faster with a new method, a new set of tools. I must thank Ian for introducing me to jQuery.