The Greatest Compliment Ever

I have gotten the greatest compliment that I can think of twice this weekend.

"You look like a father. It fits you so well!"

The truth is that we waited and worked long an hard for Abby to be a part of our family. I won't go into that here, but that's an important part of why I'm so excited to have her with us now. She really has made our house a home.

I have begun to take the 2 am feedings in preparation for the school year starting next week (for teachers like Anny). Do you know how little there is on TV between 2 and 4 am? When it was 1:00 there were still the LateLate shows on. I have been watching all of the Last Comic Standing episodes and deleting them off of the TiVo as I go along. I have secret desires to try out for the show one year. I know that I have funny stories, but does that translate to comedy? I doubt it.

From August 2007

Here's a picture of us chillin on Friday afternoon.

I'm glad that I get to be her daddy.

How do You Drive Traffic to your Website?

At my church we are trying to prepare for an onslaught of new employees at Fort Meade through Base Relocation efforts in the works. Some are hoping that new people in town will translate to more people in the seats on Sunday. Some do not share in that hope. "We're okay the way we are." (I hate that notion, but that's a different post for a different day.)

I fall into the camp of open-armed members that would love to have some new folks with us each week!

We are located close enough to the base that we should be able to attract attention, but I certainly can't find any! When I google phrases that I think should pop up our beloved church, I get others that are farther away.

Being that we're a medium sized church we don't do much in the way of advertising. The denomination is slow to perform in that area too, which is disapointing. I have seen the UCC and United Methodist advertisements and they get my attention every time. Jealous? Yes.

I know that I have some churchy folks that read my blog from time to time and so I pose this question:
How are you using the web, specifically, to bring in visitors?
What other types of advertising do you do?

One Year to the Day

One year until the Summer Olympics. All of the news outlets are making a big deal about it.

I'm more of a team sport fan, so the summer games are not fun for me.

Do you care about the summer games?

I Have a Hard Time with Art

I have only been to an art gallery on purpose once. I went there to meet up with friends, not necessarily to see the art. (I have been to art galleries because we were downtown and didn't want to walk the Mall.) The art was a nice sideshow. (A REALLY nice sideshow, it was Georgia O'Keefe's tour at the Natioanal Gallery of Art!)

It is often hard for me to see art as art.

Pottery - YES!
Paintings - YES!
Sculptures - Most of the time.
Masking Tape - Hell no!

If you have not heard about this story, you can see video HERE.

This to me is some boring, lazy guy spending way too much time and money in his house. It's like a rubber-band-ball. It hardly ever starts out as a RBB, but once you have a dozen or so in a ball, it becomes fun.

Not art.

Am I way off base to think that this guy is more of an idiot than an artist?

What You Don't Notice Could Hurt Me

Take a minute and go grab your deodorant. No really, I can wait.

Have you ever noticed that line on the back before? No, well I have. "Please consult your physician if you have kidney disease." Wha!?

Do you remember being told when you were younger that deodorant would cause cancer? (If not, you must have had nice friends. Mine reminded us of it every day after Gym Class.) While it may not cause cancer, it can cause problems for people with kidney diseases of all sorts.

For years I ignored this. Then I decided about six months ago that it was time to at least find the one without that notice. People with kidney problems don't smell bad, so they have to be using something, right?

I settled on one and was pleased (Speed Stick, for those curious). When I made a quick run to Target to gather some final things for the St Louis/Iowa trip I grabbed up my SStick and, much to my dismay, discovered the same warning where there was no warning before. Bummer.

I decided that I needed to research to find out exactly why certain deodorants were a problem and some were not. I found out that deodorants that are also anti-persperants contain aluminum which can get into your bloodstream and further cause damage. Not a relief necessarily, but at least I have the information to find what I'm looking for.

After deciding that I really should wear some sort of anti-stink for the tight-quarters drive from St Louis to Iowa I made another trip to Target. This time I had the information I needed to make a smart purchase. As it turns out, Degree has just come out with two different Aluminum-free deoderants! Woo Hoo!

So, I want to know: have you noticed that label before? Have you cared? I have put up a poll on the right and would love to hear from you! (Yes, I am just trying out the Blogger Poll feature, thanksforasking!)

Whirlwind Weekend!

Last Thursday night began our long-but-short family weekend trip.

Thursday night the three of us hopped a plane from Baltimore to Saint Louis in the late evening hours. Much to our surprise, 3 1/2 year old Ellie was still awake and excited at 9:30 at night. She was mostly excited to finally meet her new cousin Abby. She was very pleased to see that we came along too. I think....

Friday morning we had a relaxed theme. A little shopping and a lot of playing with three little girls preceeded a nice time with Sarahlynn's mom and mom's friends. Really nice to have met them, they seem like they could get into a lot of fun and a lot of trouble all at the same time!

Friday afternoon we loaded up the van for the drive up to Iowa. Four adults, one toddler and two infants in the minivan. It was fun, but I think I watched WAY too much Finding Nemo! By the time we got back on Sunday, I was confident that I could go to a drawing board and map out the story for you, scene by scene.

Saturday in Iowa we went to a memorial service for Anny's grandfather. It was nice, though I must admit that I missed a lot of it. Abby was fussy, and it was much more important to me that she be fully there. I think/hope that she apreciated it. On our way back to the house we picked up a couple of copies of Harry Potter so that folks would not completely miss the train.

In the evening we enjoyed time just hanging out with family. That's the reason to make the Christmas in July trip every year. Kids playing, adults catching up. Just plain fun times!

Sunday afternoon we made a diversion stop to take a family picture with all of the grandchildren in Anny's immediate family side. All three girls were awake and alert through the whole thing! We could not have asked for a better time there, either. When we were done there, we loaded back up and headed for Saint Louis again.

Monday we caught a mid-morning flight home. By the time we landed and made it home, we were all pretty beat. After a quick dinner with Nadia and SuperUncle, we called it an early night.

We'll go back next year. There is even discussion about a spring break trip to Wyoming. That will have to be more than a quick weekend......

I love time with family!

Coupon Craziness

I assume that you have received "great coupons" at the checkout of your local grocery store, or perhaps CVS. I believe the intent is to target coupons to each customer based on their purchase. Get you hooked on a product that correlates. Easy marketing.

A good example is:
You buy a bottle of wine.
They reason/deduce/assume that you are drink wine.
The coupon is for a new, different wine company.

Another good example is:
I bought Tostitos Chips. (Can't eat potato chips because of potassium. I miss potato chips!)
They figured that I like me some tortilla chips. (And very right they are!)
The coupon is for Queso Dip. Good call.

In reality, though, I have experienced some pretty strange purchase-to-coupon transactions.

I bought five pounds of post-Halloween candy.
They reason that I like candy and sugar.
They should have give me a coupon for more candy, perhaps a different brand.
The coupon is for toothpaste!

I sure didn't like the implication there!

What sort of fun non-corresponding purchase-to-coupon's have you received?

Any Good Books Out There?

I need a book to read while we travel next week when we go to Saint Louis and Iowa. I am digging into The New Father by Armin Brott. His book on The Expectant Father was really helpful during the pregnancy.

The New Father is for fathers in the first year of fatherdom. I am reading the chapter on the second month, which we enter on Friday, but I don't want to get too much farther along in the book! When reading TEF I got too far ahead of myself, and got things mixed up when it came time to talk with Anny about things going on with her.

I was also reading a book, When Not to Build, about reasons not to build a new church building - and more importantly reasons TO build. I got halfway through it before Abby was born, but I think that most of my questions were answered and I am going to return that one tomorrow.

I need a book that is practical but moves along swiftly. I have never been good at reading fiction, I get distracted by the twists and characters. I tell people it's because I am too creative to grasp someone else's creativity. I get lost in movies, but that's because they don't last long. (Watching Stranger than Fiction right now.)

I don't want to read crap magazines that I normally do on trips. I'm bored with SI and ESPN since hockey season is over. I also don't want to just plug in the iPod buds and ignore the world. (Abby would probably prevent that)

Any book suggestions? (needless to say, it needs to be an in-store book so that I can get it in the next seven days!)

Surprise No More

Everything was worked out and timed perfectly:

On the Thursday we're flying to Saint Louis.
On the Friday we'll drive up with family to Iowa.
When we arrive, it will surprise the in-laws like nothing has ever before!

Info got out through several of the conspiring sources, so it is a secret no more. The factors:

Word was that it was only a surprise from MIL, so FIL knew.
MIL's father was in failing health, and she needed some good news.
MIL's father passed away, and she needed some reassurance that if she left early, we would be seeing her in a few very short weeks.

It's a shame, but a relief, that everyone now knows. I hate surprises, and therefore have always been bad at keeping them. If I get you a gift, I'll most likely tell you about it way before I will give it to you.

This trip will be a bit harder than the last couple of years, as we say goodbye to a beloved member. It will be easier for us, since this time we have been blessed with the baby. We tried long and hard, and were quietly jealous of the others in the family with little ones. This year, we can more easily share in the joy.

Surprise or no surprise, we're looking forward to the trip in a couple of weeks!

Wii Would Like to Play. Would You?

My brother is diligent if nothing else. He went to eight different stores in search for a Nintendo Wii for me last week, and was successful!


I'm now the proud owner of one of the coolest toys that I've ever played with. Info is here http://us.wii.com/

I have logged several hours while Anny and Abby are napping, and I'm very happy with my purchase. Anny has even played a few games while Abby is napping, so that makes it a family toy now! (She's great at bowling. We're going to have to work on baseball.....)

Anyway - I needed to publicly thank Jason for his hard work, and that's what this post is all about!

Do you have a Wii? What is your favorite game thus far?

If you live locally and would like to join in the festivities, let me know and we can try to rock some gametime!