Happy 1st Birthday Branden

OK, so we jumped the gun a little last week ... maybe we were just a little excited for the little guy. So here, again for the first time, Happy 1st Birthday Branden!

Happy 1st Birthday Branden!!

You know I'm cute
Originally uploaded by jenianddean

Missing Halloween

It looks like we'll be missing Halloween this year. Jeni has been working at the theatre trying to keep things afloat while they search for a new executive director, and the next show opens on Halloween night. Jeni has to be there, and there's something special about going to a show on opening night. Unfortunately this means that we'll be missing out on the trick-or-treaters coming around. Now the debate is: do we put out a big bowl of candy for the first group of teenagers to plunder, or do we just leave the house dark and make up for it next year?

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Breast Cancer
Awareness

I can't remember where I read it now, but it was one of those slogans about Breast Cancer Awareness Month that said "Every month is breast cancer awareness month." I don't think that could be understated. There's so much that could be said about breast cancer awareness, but most of it is said somewhere else probably better than I could right now. My hope is that people are truly making a concerted effort toward early detection and not just buying the pink stuff because it is trendy. Anyhow ... I'll stop before I ramble.

Mah Jong modular couch

I think I found the perfect couch for Jeni (on a very dynamic and unfriendly website)... If you can, search for the Mah Jong series of couches. Very cool, and like a bunch of tuffets.

Update stat tracker

I really need to update my stat tracker. I went to it today and there was a very adamant message saying my version was way way out of date. Sadly, I think I lose my old stats when I update. So, after 1712 days of tracking activity (since Feb 3, 2004), here are my stats to this point. Averaging 169 visits a week ... I'm OK with that, although I know my posting frequency (and quality) has declined recently, which is why my visits are less. But I don't do it for the stats. I just think they're interesting.

I know I have some template upgrades Blogger wants me to do, too, but I'm being lazy, and want to make sure I have the time in case I lose some formatting and have to troubleshoot something, which I can't do right now.

Summary Period: 1712 Days
Daily Unique:		Totals:
Today	1 / 14 Oct, Tue, 2008	Unique Visitors	42332 - 71.40%
Yesterday	36 / 13 Oct, Mon, 2008	Visits incl. Reloads	59282
Average	24	Reloads	16950 - 28.59%
Highest Day	98 / 21 Nov, Wed, 2007	Visitors via Referrers	10945 - 25.85%
Weekly Unique:		Website Referrers	1609
Current Week	37 / Wk 42, 2008	Javascript Enabled	41781 - 98.69%
Last Week	204 / Wk 41, 2008
Average	169	Most accessed:
Highest Week	441 / Wk 51, 2005	Browser	MSIE 6
Monthly Unique:		Operating System	Windows XP
Current Month	367 / Oct, 2008	Screen Resolution	1024x768
Last Month	820 / Sep, 2008	Screen Color	32 Bit (16.7M)
Average	742	Searchengine	Google
Highest Month	1483 / Nov, 2007	Keyword	cauliflower
Highest Hour of the Day	17:00 - 17:59	Domain/Country	.com / United States
Highest Day of the Week	Wednesday	Continent	North America

A reason to watch ER

A former Columbia boy that I met a few times is going to be on ER this Thursday. We gave up on ER after Dr. Green died. Things really started to decline from there, but I think I'll have to turn in this week.

10-9-8

I like today's date ... it makes me feel like I'm counting down to some exciting event.

Wild Target adventure

Last Friday, Jeni and I were heading over to Target. Jeni was talking to Tiff on the Bluetooth through the Xterra so we were sitting in the parking lot while they finished their conversation. All of a sudden you head the thumpa-thumpa-thumpa of a helicopter and three police cars come tearing across the parking lot. The police heliocopter spotlights the front of the store and all three police cars screech to a stop in front of the store. Well, you can call me a coward if you want, but this sure looked like a scene out of Grand Theft Auto that I didn't want to be a part of, so we started driving away (looking very guilty, too, in retrospect). But we looked back as we were pulling away and saw that people were still just walking out like nothing was going on. So we turned around and sat in the parking lot for a while. The cops brought out a child, put him in the back of a car and drove off, then another car drove off. We figured the coast was clear, and we went in. Apparently there was a custody dispute or some domestic issue with the child in one car, dad in another, and mom in the third. Can't figure out the helicopter yet, unless they were expecting someone to run. I was really expecting a shootout, gang activity, masked gunmen, something. He said-she said about a child, though, was a little anticlimatic.

The Graveyard Book

I rushed out last night after my workshop and stopped by the closest Books-A-Million to get the new Neil Gaiman book (just released on the 30th) The Graveyard Book. But the Books-A-Million I first stopped at didn't have it. It seems that they put it out early, then realized it was out too early, then pulled it off the shelf and managed to somehow lose it. But they called the other Books-A-Million (the one just beyond our house) and they had it, so we went out there and picked it up (thanks Tiff for the gift card!). Thanks to a discount on the book and a coupon and a gift card (thanks again Tiff!) I was actually able to get my book, plus the new Laurie Notaro book for Jeni (The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death -- really if you haven't read any of her stuff you must -- brings Jeni to tears laughing). A lot of running around meant we didn't get home until almost 10:00. I figured if we went to the second Books-A-Million first they would have been the one without the book and we would have run back the other way, so it all worked out.