Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Another year has come and gone. It seems like yesterday I was celebrating on New Year's eve 2004. Hmmm, time does go by fast when your busy. Anyway, my family and I had a nice Christmas. Because of a busy Christmas day (church services, dinner at Mom's, etc) we decided to open our gifts on Christmas Eve and take our time to relax and enjoy. Taylor, our daughter, mainly opened up clothes and the like. She's no longer in the Barbie doll & Bratz stage. Wow, time is going by very fast! It seems like yesterday I was swinging her over my head with one hand as she gleefully giggled.

Has anyone else noticed how nervous, or should I say reluctant, everyone is about saying "Merry Christmas"? Maybe it has always been this way, but this year it has really been noticeable. "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings" is choked out like they just tasted something bitter. I have made it a point to reply with, "Merry Christmas, and have a blessed New Year." Most of the time I'm met with relief and have even had some returned thank you's for a pleasant reply and the acknowledgment of the CHRISTmas season. In my opinion, we need to remember the whole reason for this holiday season, Christ Jesus. Without Christ, CHRISTmas just isn't the same. Well, it would be non-existent. So don't be afraid to wish someone a Merry Christmas. Jesus is the reason for CHRISTmas. Celebrate His birthday joyously!

OK, I'm off my soapbox. Anyway, I'm enjoying my Christmas break (not winter break - I couldn't resist) from my classes. I'm finishing up some projects that have just been nagging. Our roof was finally finished and the leak has stopped. I can now finish the drywall in the living room which will lead to finishing the crown molding which will lead to finishing the basebaords. It's funny how these things just grow and seem to never end. Although I'm glad I did decide to tear down the old lathe and plaster walls. If I didn't, I probably wouldn't have found the leak for quite some time, and boy is the house a lot warmer with proper insulation and vapor barrier. Who knows how much damage could have occurred if the leak wasn't repaired? There's not too much more to do to this old house. We are moving the laundry room up to the main floor and out of the basement. After that, some minor kitchen work and we're home free! Of course, those of you out there who do your own remodeling are laughing at me because you know IT'S NEVER DONE! OK then, until next time. . .

Anyone out there?

Time Is Flyin'

The longer I am in school the faster the classes cruise on by. It seems I just started this 6 week long session, and I'm already at the end of my fourth week! I was stuck in taking Java and Advanced HTML at the same time, but it isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I have bad memories of the last time I took two programming classes at the same time. There were way too many projects and too little time. My week always ran out before the work did. Anyway, time just seems to be rolling on. I have about another year of this before I have the piece of paper hanging on my wall that says I know what I'm doing. It's scary because I really don't! I know a lot about everything, but really don't have any expertise in any one thing. Oh well, experience will come.

My brother and dad are doing well after surgery. My dad is getting around much better. His one major complaint was how tired he used to be. He told me the other day that coming up the basement stairs doesn't make his legs burn anymore. It's amazing what a new kidney will do.


I'm off to do more homework. By the way, how's the drop shadow effect and first letter capitalization? I thought I would play with some of this stuff. In line styles are great! See ya next time. (If anyone is even listening?)

Dad & Brother came through great!

I haven't really written about my dad who was experiencing kidney failure due to agent orange exposure in Vietnam, but he was scheduled for transplant surgery in August. I'm not sure how to explain it. It was like I didn't want to jinx anything. Anyway, my brother volunteered to be the kidney donor. No one else in the immediate family was a viable candidate or had the wrong blood type. Anyway, the surgery was rescheduled, postponed, and then finally happened. It was a long day, but my brother and dad came out great. They were both released from the hospital in less than a week. The transplanted kidney immediately began urine production, and my dad is feeling the positive effects. My brother is in the process of adjusting to only one kidney, but he is doing well.

With all of this going on, our vacation plans were stunted. Our original plans were pushed out because of the surgery being rescheduled, so we rescheduled. Unfortunately the surgery was postponed because of problems at the hospital, and again we pushed out the vacation. When the surgery happened our vacation was too close, and we (my wife and I) just couldn't reschedule the vacations again. So, we just dumped the Florida plans and spent some time in the Erie Islands to stay close to home. I just wouldn't have felt right traveling thousands of miles away with my brother and dad fresh home from the hospital and still recovering. We had a good time anyway. It was nice to get away from the hustle and bustle for a few days. (Of course, I still had to my homework.)

I'm finishing up my summer classes in about 2 weeks. I believe I have a short break before the fall quarter begins. I only have a few classes left to obtain my associates degree. It doesn't really matter - my final destination is a Bachelors of Computer Science. With the price of gas increasing, I'll need a new job to afford to drive. Onward I go . . .

Movin' Along!

So here we are, halfway through summer. We're getting ready to leave in mid-August for Florida. My family and I are soooo ready for a break. It seems like I'm always working, or going to school. My wife is surprised if I come to bed before midnight.

Anyway, I just thought I would drop a quick post. I haven't been keeping up with 'em because I just haven't had the time.

I'm right in the middle of SQL databases and Speech classes. Neither one is too difficult, but there is some work involved. I'm still trying to figure out why I need Speech for a Comp Sci degree? There must a method to the madness somewhere. If I want the degree, I guess I have to take the good with the bad.

Hey, if you know my sister Dawn, give her a shout. She busted up her leg playing volleyball and just had surgury to repair her ACL. She's in the process of therapy and getting back to walking normally. Hey Dawn, if you read this - Get well soon!

Until next time . . .

Happy Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

I have hit 35 years on April 20^th. Funny think, when I was my daughter's age (13) I thought 35 was O L D. Now that I'm 35, it doesn't seem that old.

My mom and dad took me out to dinner last night and had a big fat rare steak. I kept my string alive with lottery tickets. I never buy lottery tickets but whenever someone gives me some, I win. My sister-in-law Anette and my sister Dawn both bought me some scratch off tickets and I won $6! I know, not a bank roll but I still won. I'm still waiting for someone to buy me a Mega-millions ticket. I promise, I'll share.

My daughter, Taylor, has began her soccer season. (Here comes the proud dad) Last week, she was named the MVP of the game. She played goalie all game and the other team must have shot on goal at least 20 times. She was able to stop all but one. The defense was collapsing and this team was a very aggressive shooting team. Our team only shot three times on their goal and scored once. So, our scoring percentage was higher but we tied. Oh well, to walk away from a game like that with a tie is a good thing.

We're still working on our living room. Most of the drywall is up, and most of the painting is done. I say most because after removing one of the walls I noticed some water damage. I did some temporary repairs to the roof, but it didn't rain for a week or so. Well, it rained yesterday and the water is still coming in to the house. I'm glad I didn't put up the new drywall. It would just be wet drywall now. I was planning an addition on the back of the house and this now has accelerated my plans. I see $$$$!

Enough for now - I'll catch ya later.

I need a break!

I'm getting an unintential, but truly needed break from my classes. Because of a scheduling conflict, I can't schedule any classes for the next session. Oh well, I've been taking 2 classes per session for about 8 months now and I'm burnt out. I'll get a six week break to try and finish the remodel of my living room (my wife will be happy). I have all of the dry wall back in and two coats of mud. Some more mud and paint and I'm home free.

There is some good news - I only have 3 - 4 classes to go to finish my associates degree. I'll then begin knocking out the classes for my bachelors. It should be another 1 1/2 years to finish all of my classes and then on to my new career.

I did learn a very important lesson this past round of classes - I don't want to be a sociologist nor do I want to work with the AS/400 (if you don't know what it is, I won't try and explain). These two classes had to be the worst classes I've ever taken. It's not that the instructors were bad, but I just didn't like the subjects. The AS/400 was about programming which I thought would be fun (I know I'm stange, I like to program). But, because it is an antique system, it was cumbersome to do anything and the class d r a g g e d. I'm truly happy that I do not need anymore AS/400 or Sociology classes.

Well, until next time
Goodbye!