Mmpmph.....sleeeeeep

Long night last night. Steeler game went to about midnight or so. But we won. Big Ben looks like he's hurt, so we'll see how that turns out.

I did manage to vote this morning. Nearly a straight Democratic ballot with the exception of the School Board candidates (they're required to run as Independents by state law). So I picked who I thought would be best there. And, just like the last Presidential election, I am likely the only person to use the computer to cast my ballot. We have a fancy electronic ballot machine that nobody seems to be comfortable with running. Mrs. Ashton, my high school government and history teacher, was again a bit flubber-whoomped by the thing. But, with some help, it all worked out. And I was nice enough to warn her I'd be using it again for the next election.

And I completely forgot to tell my story about this weekend. Yvonne's sister Nicole and her husband Justin came to visit. They arrived Saturday morning and left Sunday morning. While not the nicest way to put it, you know it was a good visit when Elizabeth cried when they left. And Nicole and Justin seemed to have a good time with William too. Me? Well, I spent most of Saturday holed up in the room writing a school paper. Yuck.

And Sunday we went shopping after they left. We wanted to get some ideas for Elizabeth for Christmas. We'd still like everyone to put some money into both her college fund and William's (which we have yet to setup). They have plenty of toys and clothes. Not that you can't get them toys, we'd just like to see some of the money spent on their educations.

And the most interesting story from Sunday? The story which I completely forgot about until now? For the first time ever, I was asked by a police officer for my gun permit. Such a pleasant surprise. We went to Panera for lunch and I was wearing my gun under my jacket. I picked a seat (a cold one mind you, right by the door) and there was a state trooper in the next booth. Funniest part was he asked "What agency?" and Yvonne thought he asked "What age?" Anyway, he was very professional and, as expected, talked guns after making sure I was legit. Such excitement in such a boring life.

Here's a picture of the rig. Mind you, it's black. And I was NOT wearing a tie. That would be worse than writing a school paper.

Kvothe - Chapter 11

Chapter 11 – The Binding of Iron

Now we begin to learn sympathy. Simply put, you can control one item by binding it to another. The more similar the items, the easier it is to control and the less energy it takes. So a branch broken in half would be more similar (and easier) than a piece of glass and a branch. Sympathy also requires energy. So by binding two items together and lifting one, the other will also rise. You will feel the weight of not only the item you’re lifting, but the item it’s bound to being lifted; and you will also feel the weight of using sympathy to do the binding. The easiest example to understand was when Kvothe linked a piece of chalk to a piece of glass. Being very dissimilar, lifting the two pounds of glass and chalk felt like lifting sixty pounds.

We also learn that while Kvothe’s time with Ben appears to be the only thing he did, it wasn’t. He still had his chores and other duties to perform with the troupe and spent his free time with Ben. But it’s clear that his time with Ben was important and exciting enough to be the center of his life at this point.

--Read more about the detailed analysis here--

Your Dental Health

Like many people, I don't enjoy going to see the dentist. As a kid, I suffered through many extractions, braces, and various other scenarios of oral torture. And compared to Yvonne, I had it easy.

So in the interest of your dental health and reduced discomfort during your next visit, I'll be giving you two toothy topics to think about today.

First up, grinding. I've been a tooth grinder for as long as I can remember (I'm sure Mom can attest to that). Well, about a year ago, the dentist broke the bad news that my years of grinding were taking their toll on my teeth. They were starting to gather minute cracks from the intense pressure. So they recommended I get a night guard. I said no. Six months later, same story. So I finally said yes. After nearly choking to death while they made the molds of my teeth, I nearly choked to death on the cost. Over $500. And the best part? Insurance didn't cover it. So I wore it a few nights, got tired of the pain from wearing it, cleaning it, and simply remembering to put it in. Well, after grinding some more and waking up in worse pain than from wearing the guard, I decided to take the lesser of the two evils and wear the night guard.

Second, brushing, flossing, and the impact of chewing gum. Like many kids, I loved to chew gum. I'd rip open my Topps baseball cards and chew on the crummy piece of gum that was tucked inside. I'd chew all sorts of gum. Flavored gum. Gum with juice stuff in the middle. Gum in the shape of cigarettes. Gum in a big long roll. Gum that was shredded like chewing tobacco. But I never liked the Trident my Dad chewed. Just wasn't sweet enough and the stuff lasted forever. Good gum is supposed to lose it's flavor after half an hour, right? So anyway, as I got older, I began to chew more Trident. The plain kind. The sugarless plain kind.

Well, to make this long story short, I now chew between 2 and 5 pieces of Trident a day. After every meal, snack, and drink, I chew a piece. Well, the results are astounding. The dentist thinks I not only brush 3 times a day (I don't), they think I floss everyday (I don't). So, save your teeth, and chew some Trident.

Now if Trident would only pay me for this endorsement.

Knock knock, anyone home?

Yeah, I'm home, just running late. Okay, running very late. I've been meaning to post all day and never seem to get a free minute to do what I want to do at work. Guess that's why they call it work and not fun.

Anyways, aside from work being busy, I've been trying to keep in the habit of walking. Until Wednesday. I think I'm literally off my stride because my left knee started hurting after my walk Wednesday. Then my heel starting hurting. Turns out I got a blister on my heel. So I'll be switching shoes to take care of that. As for the knee, it's still a little sore, but I did okay with a slow, normal walk today. Maybe I need to slow down.

And in other news....I'm still progressing nicely with Innocent Mage and Meeting At Corvallis but have yet to get back to Name Of The Wind. One thing at a time I guess. And school take priority.

I think I had some contaminated food today. After lunch I developed a headache and slightly upset stomach. Motrin took care of most of the headache, but it still twinges. So I'm wondering now if my roast beef panini touched some turkey. I can still breath, so I'm still alive.

And, it's the beginning of a new month, which means I get to look at a new picture of Colonial Williamsburg. Sadly I'll need a new calendar soon and have no idea what I want. Time to shop for something different I think.

And that's about it. My sister-in-law and her husband are coming tomorrow to visit. They leave Sunday so it'll be short. But Elizabeth will enjoy the company and I'm sure they will too.

Laters!

Hallween photos

Check out the photos from Halloween here:

From Halloween 2007

Enjoy!

My scary story

This morning I was listening to T-Bone and Heather as I usually do and T-Bone told a story about a blue light from his childhood that was kind of scary/spooky/unexplained. Well, the story made me think of my own scary story from childhood.

This is a true story, not something I drummed up for Halloween promotions. I have not talked about this with anyone since it happened. I'm not asking you to draw any conclusions from the story, just take it as I tell it.

My grandmother (my dad's mom) died in April of 1987. Which made me all of 11 years old. The summer after she died, my dad and his brothers (three of them) all spent some time at her house going through her estate and distributing things, cleaning up, etc. It was a small house, just 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, living room, and utility room. She had one of those old, 60s era couches that was kind of pale green and slippery. Like it was made from polyester or something.

So during one of these cleaning and sorting sessions, I was playing in the hall or the bedroom or something in the back of the house. My dad and his youngest brother were in the kitchen eating or talking or sorting or something. I was suddenly unable to walk. I don't know how, I don't know why, but for some reason I couldn't feel anything below my waist. I couldn't walk, I couldn't even crawl. I couldn't move my legs. I couldn't even move my waist to twist around.

I may have already been on the floor, I'm not sure, but that's where I remember being when I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to walk anymore. I pulled myself into the living room (about 10 or 15 feet away) and tried to climb onto the couch using just my arms. I wasn't strong enough to pull myself up, so I yelled to my dad for help.

He and my uncle came running out to see why I screamed. Dad lifted me onto the couch and my uncle called for the rescue squad. I got even more scared as I realized this was serious enough to call for help and was terrified I'd never walk or run or play outside again.

Somehow, someway, I was able to regain control of my legs while my uncle was still on the phone. I distinctly remember him calling, asking for help, my dad seeing I could move my legs, and my uncle telling them never mind, everything was fine.

I don't know why I couldn't use my legs or why I was able to again. I don't know if my dad or uncle remember this, I've never talked to them about it. Sometimes I think this was all a dream. Everything happened quickly. But everything was very vivid. If it was a dream, it's one I remember better than any other I've had. And I do remember some of those weird ones more than others, but I think this is an actual memory.

So, that's my scary story. With a little insight into my childhood.

Pre-Halloween 2007

Some new photos are up!

From Pre-Halloween...

William has the hiccups-edited-

Well, he had the hiccups when his Aunt Monica came to visit (she's the one that took the video).



On a side note, if you want to feel stupid in a few seconds (or minutes if you read slow), read this:

"Center for Biologically Inspired Materials and Materials Systems, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science"

Umm, yeah. I know what those words mean, just not when you put them together.

In other news, I've accomplished the following recently:
1. -edited-
2. I have consumed 6 salads in the last 3 days. Sunday's dinner was taco salad. Monday's lunch was taco salad and regular salad. Monday's dinner was taco salad. Today's lunch was taco salad and regular salad. I think that's enough salad for a bit. Give my tummy a rest.
3. I've exercised 5 times in the past 9 days. Nothing too extreme, but enough to work up a mild sweat. Last week I walked 3 days. The last day of walking was too cold to go outside in shorts, so I walked on the treadmill and lifted a few weights. Yesterday and today I've repeated the process of walking and a little weightlifting. Too bad Yvonne is too congested to smell my new body spray, "sweaty old man."
4. I've paid the bills for this month. Oh, crap. Next month starts in 2 days. Oh well. Sounded good, didn't it?
5. I'm really enjoying The Innocent Mage by Karen Miller. It's good enough to entertain me while I'm walking on the treadmill. I have high hopes for the rest of the series. I know, that really wasn't an accomplishment, but 5 is such a nice, round number.

Finally, I'm working on my Christmas list (Yvonne's working on hers too). So far the only thing on mine is The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. I might add The Sunrise Lands by S. M. Stirling, but I'm trying to avoid hardback books (thus my not buying the most recent Star Wars book - gasp! - I know, what a shocker!).

Homemade Salsa

The long awaited homemade salsa post has arrived!

So, here's a little back story behind the recipe. My mother-in-law made some wonderful salsa and I enjoyed it nearly every night I was there during our last visit. She got the recipe from the neighbor across the street (who's daughter was our maid of honor). Well, it's not a precise recipe, but I'll give you the low-down on what you need.

Ingredients

10 to 12 beef steak tomatoes
5 to 7 garlic cloves
1 medium onion
1 green bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 pablano pepper
5 to 7 jalapeno peppers
5 sprigs parsley
6 leaves cilantro
1 sprig oregano
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup sugar

Utensils and Tools

1 sharp knife
1 large mixing bowl
1 cutting board
1 food processor
1 large spoon

Now, a few disclaimers up front.

1. This is a rough guess at the ingredient amounts. I didn't measure much of anything, just used what I had on hand.
2. This makes a HUGE amount of salsa. Expect to freeze a portion or feed a crowd.
3. This is geared for those with weaker tongues like me. It isn't very hot.

On with the mixing! I took the above ingredients and cut them as small as I could. The cilantro was minced pretty good. Everything else was cut into small pieces. The tomatoes were hard to cut small, so I left them in slightly larger chunks.

As the disclaimer said, this makes a lot of salsa. I used a large mixing bowl to dump my cuttings into. A quart is too small, so think 3 or 4 quarts. All of the ingredients are fresh, so expect to get a little messy. I used our large cutting board and had plenty of room.

So, the garlic gets pressed. The onion gets peeled and cut. The bell peppers (you can use any variety, green, red, yellow, your choice) were sliced, but I removed all the seeds and white innards first. For the jalapeno, I just cut it up and didn't bother trying to de-seed it. Parsley, oregano, and cilantro were coarsely to finely minced. Careful with the cilantro, it'll kill your salsa if you put too much in (like I did with my first batch). Salt and sugar just get dumped in.

Now, the tomatoes. I used romas in my first batch (that was so bad I couldn't eat it). They were not as watery inside and much firmer to use. But they're smaller. Like half to a quarter the size of a beef steak tomato. The beef steaks worked fine, but there's a catch when you cut them up. The first two, I just diced into large chunks, seeds, juice, and all. Well, I noticed how much water was going into the salsa, so I changed technique for the rest. I sliced the top and bottom off. Then I stuck my finger inside the little hole-area (where you see the seeds) and squeezed everything out. But be careful. It's easy to created a positive pressure zone inside the tomato. In other words, it'll squirt all over you and the counter if you're not careful.

Once I cut everything up as much as I could, I used the mixing bowl to toss the ingredients. This helps mix it up a bit. Then I scooped portions into the food processor. This will need to be done in stages as there is so much to process. I used the lowest Low setting (I think it was Grind or something) to cut everything up. I would spin it a few seconds and stop to push it back down then spin again. Then I'd empty it out into my dish.

In all, I made about a quart or two of salsa. I eased off the cilantro this time and had a lot more tomatoes. So batch #2 (this batch) was actually edible. You can use different peppers or add more if you want. It's up to you how hot you want it. I froze about a quart and still have plenty in the fridge to enjoy.

Oh, and don't forget to empty the trash when you're done. Don't want the house to smell like peppers all week!

What a weekend

Oh, I don't know where to start with this past weekend. I guess this morning (I know, not technically part of the weekend, but I still hadn't made it to work, so that's close enough for me). What happened? Two things. First, we had frost. Which means winter is knocking on our front door. Literally. And second, Yvonne gave me a shower this morning as I was buckling Elizabeth into her seat. Gotta love those early morning spritzes from the window washers!

Moving on to last night, Yvonne and I were watching Cars around 10 when I heard this weird sound in the hallway. At first it sounded like Henry scratching at the carpet or a mouse scratching at the wall. I turned and looked down the hallway and what do I see? Elizabeth laying on the floor. Watching the movie. I do have to give her credit, she was there and I didn't know it. And she comes by her sneakiness honestly (or genetically at least) as Yvonne and I have been known to sneak around a bit ourselves as kids. I used to stuff t-shirts under my door so the light wouldn't show as I stayed up way later than my bedtime to read books. I can't say what Yvonne did as her parents still don't know.

And we heard some sort of creak or pop last night just as we got into bed. Yvonne wanted me to check it out but I said it was just the house making noise. And she was better equipped to investigate a potential intruder. All she would need to do is give them a hug and the Vicks on her chest would knock him out. Don't you want to get with this?

And what else happened. I took Elizabeth to swim class while Yvonne went to the doctor for some meds. Then we all went home, ate lunch, and went to town to shop. Got some groceries, some books (Elizabeth had somehow saved $14 and bought 3 books - and still had money left over), and a few other goodies. Sunday was spent doing laundry and watching the Steelers beat the Bengals. I only watched the first quarter of the Redskins game and got too depressed that the Patriots were winning again.

And I made some home-made salsa (I'll post that later today) and generally tried to keep the house running as Yvonne tried to rest. I did take apart the kitchen faucet last night. It looks like it might be a bad sprayer connection (under the main faucet) so I'll see what I can find at Lowes.

Chocolate making went well Friday night. Again I impressed Yvonne's lady-friends. For those that are not familiar with our particular arrangement at home, I'm usually the one that does the dishes and we both share laundry duty. So when I asked Yvonne if she wanted me to do the dishes or a load of laundry Friday night, there was a bit of ohhing and ahhing. It's nothing special to me. I grew up helping Dad do dishes and laundry (see, only children aren't spoiled). And honestly, I can do dishes faster than Yvonne. But she can cook a hell of a lot better than I can. So I have dinner waiting for me when I get home and I clean up afterwords. It's a good deal in my book. So all you single guys out there looking for a nice lady, make sure you offer to do the dishes on occasion. You might make some brownie points.

But don't offer to do the laundry just yet. She might not want you to see her dirty underwear.

Blah, well that was longer than intended. So stay tuned for my salsa story later today. It's pretty hot!

Mt. Rushmore

It's Friday and I don't have much to say. Yvonne's been sick for the past few days, which means I'm trying to pick up some of the slack when I can. We've had rain and rain and more rain. I know we need it, but I still hate it.

Anyways, here's another photo from the family archives. It's Mt. Rushmore, circa 1937-1939.

And here's a close-up of the heads to give you an idea of what's been done.

And on a side note, I read more of Karen Miller's The Innocent Mage and so far, I've been enjoying it.

Programming line-up

Not to worry, there's a photo at the end of this rant.

So, here's the general list of programs I watch at any given time and how I feel about them.

Monday

Chuck

Chuck is a good action comedy. Nearly as good as Psyche or NCIS, but not quite there yet.

Heroes

Heroes is awesome. Well, last year was, this year is still working up to that status. I'm sure it will be good, but I still hate that damn kid that can fly (not Nathan, the teenager with Claire).

CSI: Miami

Horatio has a son. A bastard son. Whoopee. Let's work in a serial killer or something. And why can't we have more Speadle?

Tuesday

NCIS

Still a solid show, but needs a meta plot to mix it up a bit. Haven't seen one of those in awhile.

The Unit

A surprise addition to this year's line-up. Good enough to keep me watching. The only thing I would change is the wives. Ditch them until they start carrying guns and getting in on the missions.

Wednesday

Mythbusters

Out of season right now but still a great show.

CSI: New York

Another break-out surprise for this year. There's now an assassin on the loose and the mysterious "333" caller. Are they the same person?

Thursday

CSI

CSI is still the top show, but it's going to lose Gil's girl soon and might not be as exciting. And how can you top the miniature killer from last year?

Friday

Monk

Psyche

Both are off the air until January and both are hilariously funny. Monk is very much like me (or vice versa) and Psyche has one of the best casts I've seen in ages. Like M*A*S*H in its later years, but not as many people.

Stargate Atlantis

Another show that's still in my line-up and still plugging along, but it may not survive. Right now I have no other sci-fi show to replace it with so it stays.

Survivorman

Off air at the moment, but by far the best non-fiction show out there. Even better than Mythbusters.

Saturday

Cops

Off air until the World Series is over but I'll watch it if I think about it or if there's nothing else on.

Sunday

Steelers Football

After last week's loss, I'm not to happy. Hopeful we'll win the game against the Bengals.

And as a reward for hanging in there, here's another photo from the family archives. This is Arthur and Loyd Piester in 1916, standing in front of their parent's new car. Can anyone identify the item on the left? And what's on the right?

Kvothe - Chapter 10

Chapter 10 – Alar and Several Stones

Another very short chapter, this one showing Kvothe learning the mental skill of Alar. Essentially this is a way to make yourself split your thoughts into two different areas of your brain so you can concentrate on two different ideas at the same time. Sounds simple enough, but it appears to be a bit more complicated.

--Read more about the detailed analysis here--

Today's Deep Thought-edited-

Today's deep thought?

When deaf people speak, they use their hands. So when they go to the dentist, can they speak more clearly when asked a question?

This is what went through my head today as I sat in the dentist chair for my 6 month check-up. Everything went fine, no cavities, just plenty of clean teeth. Well, not plenty, I think I actually have 2 fewer than the average person because my teeth are so large and my jaw is so small.

-edited-

Rambling on, after the dentist this morning, I browsed through the newest Target in the area, just a few lights from work. And what do I see on the shelf? These:

I couldn't believe it. All those memories of cutting the backs off to save the files, playing with (and losing) the weapons, and making all my own sound effects came rushing back. I'm sure Mom remembers those sounds.....

Rambling on, William got up at 0430 this morning. I wasn't too happy, but, he had a full 6 ounces and didn't scream his bloody head off when I tried to burp him. He also seems to be burping less, which I'm taking as a sign he's growing. And from what we've seen, he'll be rolling over soon. And yes Mom, I can actually see that he's grown.

I'm reading three books right now. Well, technically I'm re-reading one (The Name Of The Wind), but two new books is still a chore for me. I'm just getting to the good part in Meeting At Corvallis. The big battle is brewing and I can't wait to see what happens (even though I know a main character is going to die - ruined that my own dumb self). The other book is The Innocent Mage. It's a bit different in writing style than I'm used to (like spelling, grammar, dialect, etc.), but I'm getting used to it. Not as bad as Shakespeare, but not as easy as P.D. Eastman (kudos if you remember him).


And my final ramble, I can't really think of one right now. So here's the closest thing I could find for a ramble.

New Photos and Video Posted

There are a few new photos posted. Mainly Elizabeth's new playhouse, but there's also one of Aunt Monica and one of my newly signed copy of The Name Of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

From Play House

And here's the latest video of Elizabeth reading a spooky, scary Halloween story.

Wow, a late night post!

And during Heroes too (sacrilege I know!).

Weekend Report
Anyway, here's the weekend report. I didn't get to accomplish everything on my list (which consisted of emptying the gas can into my car and raking leaves). But I did get the leaves raked. Well, some for them anyway. There's a statewide burn ban, so I couldn't do anything with them except put them in a box and leave in the back by the shed. Elizabeth also got a surprise from one of Yvonne's friends. A new playhouse! She was so excited when we got home from getting groceries, she made me run outside and put it together. What a nut.

And of course there was the standard grocery run to Wal-Mart. Yuck. But I did pick up a new Fiskars rake at Lowe's. It has a small head to get in between plants in the flower bed. Works great.

And the Steelers lost Sunday night. El Sucko. And we discovered that something is leaking under the sink. Major El Sucko. And a good friend found out he may be out of a job in two weeks. Colonel El Sucko.

But, the good news on my end....Saturday evening. It was one of those things that you experience that is so hard to describe. I was actually nearly brought to tears. The sky was clear except for a few puffy, white clouds. It was such a vibrant blue it almost hurt to look at. The leaves on the trees were turning shades of brown and orange and red. Some were lightly falling in the breeze like snowflakes. The breeze was gently blowing making those leaves still holding on rustle about.

Anyway, it was nice. I just wish I could bottle it up and keep it like that so I could sit on the porch everyday and read.

Heroes
So what the heck does Parkman's dad know? Oh, he's evil. Locking them in the dream room. And what's up with the new girl chasing Peter? And I do like the new girl who learns things from TV. She's much better than the teenage boy who flys. Not very original there. And I miss DL. Can't beat walking through walls!

Everything Else
School is progressing along at the moment. Chuck is still a good show, I just wish I could watch it more. CSI is going south. Miami is boring watching Horatio's son. Vegas is boring with Sara on swing shift. Only New York is interesting with the 333 caller. NCIS started good, but I'm not sure where it will end up. I tried to make some salsa (with the help of my mother-in-law's recipe) and ended up making something with way too much cilantro and way too little tomatoes. Hopefully the next batch will be better. I'd really like to buy a pick-up or SUV. I've decided (awhile ago) that any car we buy will be used. After two sets of brand new cars, I've learned that they do nothing but lose value. Not a good use of your money when you're still paying for it. I'd like to get something that takes E85, despite the fact that there are no E85 stations around here.

Well, that's all for now. I still have Heroes and CSI Miami to watch and some more of A Meeting at Corvallis to read.

Uncle Red

Uncle Red passed away yesterday (Red was his nickname). He was a great-uncle (or grand-uncle depending on how you want to look at it) to me. My grandmother's brother-in-law on my dad's side.

It's always a sad day when news like this arrives, but I never really knew Uncle Red. I knew OF him, but didn't really KNOW him. In fact, I can only remember meeting him once, and that was last year at Uncle Denny's funeral.

Well, I wish I could share more about him and his life, but I really don't know that much. So I'll share what few photos I have of him.

Here he is with his wife (Aunt Blondie).

And here he is (holding the cake) with Uncle Danny.

Here he is with the "in-laws" (my grandfather is in the back row, far right - Uncle Red is in the front on the far left).

Friday Double Feature

So I was pondering which one of these to post and decided, what the heck. It's Friday, I'll just post both. So here we have my namesakes, Aunt Wilma and Uncle George circa 1940s (I was named after his first name and her middle name):



Then we have one of my English class journal entries from April 2, 1993 (that would be my junior year in High School):



Don't laugh too much, there's much worse in my collection.

Up, Down, and All Around

Ricky Gautier died yesterday. No, he wasn't a close friend or anything like that, but I did know him and his family. Back when I was a kid, my Dad took me to Antigua twice. During one of those trips, Ricky and his family came along. He was a few years younger than me so I never knew him in school, but I remember him from the trip. His dad ran an auto-body shop in the area where Dad bought the Mustang.

In more positive, local news, Colonial Beach has a candidate for office that's 18 years old. I wish I lived there just so I could vote for her. Her competition is 54, 54, and 53.

And in personal news, I was able to accomplish a bit more than expected yesterday. I got my haircut before meeting Dad for breakfast. And I was able to pickup Elizabeth and William and go to the local McDonald's for dinner without a major disaster (and considering I didn't have a diaper bag with spare diapers, that's pretty risky). And William was able to sleep until 0330 this morning. I changed him but did not feed him and actually got him to go back to sleep. He woke up again at 0430, but I again got him to go back to sleep. When he woke up at 0530, I gave up and fed him. It was time to get up anyway.

And in the spirit of sharing and the upcoming holiday, check out Paul's comic today for some interesting decorations.

And I'll look for an interesting photo or newspaper article to post later today.

Random Newspaper Article

So in my scanning of more family history today I came across this advertisement:

It appears my grandmother won a diamond pendant.

Source: Custer County Chief, March 12, 1964

In other news, I went to bed early last night in an attempt to catch up on some sleep. In fact, I think Yvonne and I were both asleep before Elizabeth. That little turkey has a tendency to lay in bed and play and talk and bounce around.

And I'll be leaving work early today (in about an hour) to pick up Elizabeth and William while Yvonne does her work thing tonight. I think we'll be dining out at McDonalds to keep things easy.