Age-maps

I think these photos are just as interesting as they are disturbing ... two pictures of the same person at different ages spliced together to make one picture.

The value of copy editing

I was reading an AP article about the Super Bowl and it talked about Drew Brees pulling for Peyton Manning and mentioned that Brees was in Miami "at an event sponsored by Visa to teach teenagers about the pratfalls of misusing credit." I'm sure the writer meant "pitfalls" but in my mind, I imagine the Saints quarterback flopping and falling in classic physical comedy pratfalls made famous by Dick Van Dyke and Chevy Chase while talking to college students. "You see, if you ruin your credit, you'll fall on your butt."

Blingo movie ticket

Well I'm totally dorked! I finally won something off of blingo. Dean won a movie ticket a year and half ago, but I've never won. Doug and Cathy have won a bunch of movie tickets, but this is my first. Honestly I had given up on the idea of winning anything by using blingo, so I guess I'm off to some searching.....maybe for a movie to use my free movie ticket.

Happy Birthday, Morgan!

Eleven years ... wow!

The crib saga pictures

You really do need the pictures to truly appreciate the before and after of the crib...

This, obviously, is the model crib. I guess if Lisa and Brian could have found a bottom for it, it might have worked for about a month. You'd be sure the baby wouldn't be rolling around much.

Here's the finished product. You can see a drastic improvement. Didn't Brian do good with his first paint job? The green looks great in the room. And OCDean hung the wall hangings all even and spaced right and level. (I have a problem.)

This is the other side of the nursery. At the bottom is the changing table, which went together surprisingly well (although I had my fears when, as I pulled out the lettered pieces, I saw they went from A to Z) and the dresser that we were trying to match from the beginning (it's all the dresser's fault!). The little shelves on the wall are very cute, and I think the lamp on the dresser adds a nice touch, too. Now they just need to add a baby, and I'd say that room's done.

Four Wal-Marts, a Target and a Babies R Us

We went over to Lisa and Brian's Saturday to help get the nursery ready for Clara Ann and to get Gracie's room put together. Well, with the best intentions, the afternoon quickly deteriorated into quite an adventure. First off, we attempted to turn Gracie's 4-in-1 bed from a toddler bed to a full size bed, but it turned out that three years ago they were given the wrong bed rails. So now Gracie has a half built bed in her room for the next two weeks while we wait for the right bed rails to come in (they were out of stock and had to be re-ordered).

So we decide to tackle Clara Ann's nursery instead. Brian and I brought in the crib and changing table. The crib was a "floor model" but was the perfect match. In our mind, floor model meant it had been a display, but was the last one and was re-boxed. No, we could only be so lucky. The first piece out was small side rail, about one foot long with a picture on the side of what the crib would look like. The next piece was the headboard, again with a framed picture of the crib. Finally, we pull out all the pieces, line them up, and realize that the crib was a miniature of the actual crib -- a floor "model." Well, that won't do. Thus began the evening of four Wal-Marts, a Target and a Babies R Us.

We promptly returned both the model crib and the changing table to the Camden Wal-Mart (they didn't have a full-sized version), then headed into Columbia to check Target. No luck at Target, so check Wal-Mart (where the car-jacker got shot in the butt), but no luck there. Drive through Chick-fil-a and head across town to the Babies R Us. Nothing was right there, either, so hit the next Wal-Mart. No dice, even though their display showed a picture of the crib we wanted. It appears that they carry the crib, but in the wrong color. They also carry the changing table in the color we wanted, but with no cribs to match. When asked about this, the sales associated could only say, "Yeah, I can't explain it either."

Jeni decided to call the last Wal-Mart in Columbia, and they said they actually had two cribs in the style we wanted in the walnut finish we wanted so we loaded up the crew and headed back across town and back toward Camden. Once we got there, I took Gracie off looking for lobsters (yes, it appears some Wal-Marts have lobster tanks, so a trip to Wal-Mart for Gracie means a visit to the lobsters). While I was pushing Gracie, I head them page a flatbed to children's furniture! It turns out that, no, they did not have the one we were looking for in walnut, but they had a comparable crib (and one we ended up liking better), so we bought a full-sized crib for Clara Ann, re-purchased the same changing table from before (I'm sure this one is better, though), loaded up the Tahoe and hit the road.

Almost six hours later, seven stops, but we got what we needed. Just to be sure, Brian and I put the crib together that night (we got home around 10:30), but wisely waited until Sunday morning to do the changing table.

Jeni and Lisa went through all of Gracie's old baby clothes, washing about 10 loads and sorting them by size into tubs. Lisa has enough clothes for triplets (not that I'm trying to jinx her).

We also hung another shelf in the laundry room for the detergents to get them off the dryer, reversed the dryer door so it opens the right way, hung shelves in the nursery, hung hooks in Gracie's room, hung decorations in Clara Ann's room, and built two sets of cabinets and a toy box for the play room. Overall, I'd say it was a successful weekend, and with Clara Ann carrying so low, I think it's a good thing we got this stuff settled when we did. From here, I think it's just the little stuff.

Oh, and if Jeni and I hadn't sworn off Wal-Mart already, we definitely have now. It's like locking a kid in the closet with a pack of cigarettes until you know they'll never touch them again...

It's Peyton's Day!

Dean and I are so excited for Peyton Manning and the Colts. It's been a long time coming, which makes it all the sweeter.

Carjacker shot in the butt

Yep... carjacker shot in the butt five times ... right here in Columbia a few miles from our house.

$205 million

Powerball is up to $205 million. I cannot resist buying a handful of tickets. I am confident this is our time to win so start working on a wish list!

Blowing stuff up

Thanks, Doug, for getting me addicted to this game!

Grilling people

Last weekend, when it was 70 degrees in January and I was wearing shorts, we finally put gas in the tank for the grill, so the other night Jeni and I fired up the grill and Jeni said, "I'm so glad the be grilling people, again." Just to clarify for the neighbors that may have been outside and overheard this, we are not grilling humans, we are people who grill. We inaugurated the grill with hot dogs and Double Gates chili!

Blades of Glory

I can't wait for this movie!

Start with a bang

This morning started out with excitement. I usually carpool with Tish, but needed to drive myself this morning. As I'm leaving the neighborhood, Tish calls with a flat tire, so I meet her and change her tire. We scramble to make sure the office will be opened by someone and that they know I'll be a few minutes late (still beat Dr. J in). I get in to find out one of our laptops' battery is "dangerously low" and it shut down. We needed to use that laptop today. Then one of the Activators (adjusting instrument) stopped working when I was adjusting a patient. That's three things, so I assume I'm done with broken for the day.

Chef's mat

Jeni needs one of these for the kitchen.

Today I am...

...unmotivated.

Thursday mornings are generally a slow time at work. We'll get surges of patients, then quiet times. I crossed one thing off my to do list and started another, so I feel successful.

I have had too many meetings this week. We meet every day for about an hour, from 1-2. Tuesday, we also met from 2-3 (1-2 meeting ended at 1:30 so we could eat). Today, we'll meet from 1-2 and 2:15-3. Plus I have a seminar this weekend. Eventually I start to get selfish with my time and lose my motivation (like right now... blogging at work... oops).

Bad movies you love to watch

I was flipping through the channels the other day and ended up on Weekend at Bernie's. It got me thinking, because, really, this is not a good movie, but it's one I can't help but watch when it is on. So I'm wondering, what is your favorite guilty pleasure, bad-but-you-love-to-watch-it movie?

Fair warning

Consider yourself warned: if you come over, I will turn on the garbage disposal and smile proudly and expect you to say, "I can't hardly hear it."

After several false starts by other people, Dad helped me install Jeni's new garbage disposal. It wasn't as hard as I expected it to be, but it does seem very daunting when it is sitting in that box looking at you. I'm sure I couldn't have done it on my own, but Dad did make me do more of the assembly and now I have something else I can say I've done, and that's pretty cool. Next up, lighting fixtures...