Happy EOY

I have a new beef. This year, I refuse to say "Happy New Year". I mean, sure, we're glad the last one is over, because it smacked us around a little, but why the heck are we celebrating about this new one so much? We don't know a darn thing about it yet. We might find it'll be rougher on us than the last one. Shouldn't we stick with what we've got? For better or worse? I know that I could sure use a bit more time with THIS year so that I can actually get finished with it on my own terms instead of having it run away from me all incomplete and untidy-like.

So, I'll do alright by saying "Happy End-of-Year" in mere acknowledgment of getting through yet another one. But I refuse to be happy about a whole new one being thrust upon me unwantingly. How do I even know it's a "new" year, instead of a refurb or "certified pre-owned" model?

Until I get a little bit of this next year under my belt, I am NOT going to be happy about it. I'm okay with "cautiously optimistic", because that's just the kind of person I am, but to earn my happiness, this year really needs to "show me the happy". Give me something to be happy about, preferably something this last year neglected to share. And resolutions? Peshaw! Give me something to be resolute about Mr. Brand New Year (we hope), and then you'll have earned my unabashed happiness.


Before I go, I suppose I must give 2005 it's due (even though it didn't let me finish with it). I am still alive (and doing fine). My children are safe and well. I have a good job that continues to reward me, though I sometimes take it for granted. And for the most part, things could certainly be worse. So, thank you 2005, for not leaving us noticeably worse-off than when you found us curled-up and whimpering a year ago (2004, if you recall, was not so good to us).

Sweet ride

In mid-September, my dad put his El Camino in the shop for serious paint job that was supposed to take 4 to 6 weeks. 14 weeks later, leading up to this past week, dad finally got his ride back. The body shop has to give preference to insurance claim work, and we had some snow awhile back and claims went up, thus part of the delay.

I must say, while I'm not too big of an El Camino fan myself (this is like the third or fourth one my dad has owned in his lifetime, so he's obviously a big fan), dad's car is now looking quite sweet in comparison to how it looked back in September. Dad is SO giddy about it, too. It's hard not to notice how very proud he is of his born-again little baby. He still has a lot of internal restoration work to do, but his project car is nearly complete.

Friends from the "Old Country"

My former team member that moved to England to marry an Englishman is back in town for the holidays. She met with some of us from the old team for lunch, which is always pleasant. I like to hear the stories about the living/working differences between the two countries from someone living it. I asked lots of questions. I got a little jealous about some things. Not so much about others. She's getting married across the pond in March. If I could afford to do so, I'd use attending her wedding as a good excuse to have myself a little British adventure. Hey, I WAS her supervisor for more than two years. I sat right next to her all that time. Not TOO much of a stretch.

All hired up

We finally got all of my positions filled as of yesterday (or two weeks from then anyway). Coincidentally, we heard on the same day that yet another team member might be added... while that's good, I'm getting a little tired of interviewing.

Prince Kong

I saw King Kong last night. Not bad, but not exactly super great either. As in living up to the hype. I'm not sure if it was overhyped or if they just tried too hard in the making of the film. It was clearly a quality film in terms of effects, cinematography and direction, and much of it was down right entertaining. But while I can't put my finger on it, there was something I felt that was missing.

They kept the action moving along to make a 3+ hour movie seem a more tolerable length. But there were a few plot aspects and some superfluous silliness (leaping-kicks while running from dinosaurs, "Kong Fu" -- King Kong seemed to know kung fu at times while fighting off the T-Rexes, impractically shifting odds, the list could go on) that annoyed me, but the clear quality of the movie making as well as the unexpected humorous aspects saved it for me.

I'm not going to say it wasn't worth the cost of admission. But I've had better values. If you see it as a matinee you'll feel less guilty. Or better yet, catch it on Tuesday night (1/2 price movie night) at the dollar theater when it gets there and it'll be like they're paying you to watch it.


One last thing, a parental warning. I don't think this movie should have been rated PG-13. I've seen R movies with much less violence. It was VERY violent at times, far too much for the younger ones I'm afraid. For example, Kong quite graphically crushes the skull of a T-Rex, then plays with it like a toy, and there's a part where giant insects are eating humans alive (in one case an insect larva eats a guy head-first while he's still screaming). I know a lot of parents (like myself at times) stretch the ratings and take their 7-10 year-olds to PG-13 movies. I might recommend against that in this case if your child has any sort of nightmare issues like one of mine does. I'm quite glad I did not have the kids with me at this show.

Spring tease

It was 71 degrees this afternoon and the sky was that perfect clear blue. I wore a t-shirt, no jacket, and drove around with the sunroof open. The only thing missing was leaves on trees. You can fool yourself for a bit thinking Spring is here, but then you catch a glimpse of those bare trees and reality sets in. Oklahoma may be "down south", but we have our share of crappy winter weather. In fact, we've had a number of snowy days already, but everyone from around here knows darn well that the Winter has not yet had it's way with us. It's teasing us with this taste of Spring only to dump something or other on us a week from now.

Teasing aside, I really enjoy such days. Were the kids with me, it would have definitely been a park-going day. But they have gone back to their grandmothers for more Christmas spoils, and will stay for a few more days.

I suppose I shouldn't complain, given Winter could behave more Winter-like on a whim. But still, Spring ol' buddy, please, get here soon.

Two days, two accidents

It's a disturbing trend. Car accidents. First mine in September, then a close friend had a similar accident in October. November saw my little brother getting into an accident. And here in the last two days, my dad got into two. One his fault, one not.

He was t-boned by someone running a red light ON CHRISTMAS DAY, on the way to family Christmas musings. Fortunately that someone was turning, so the impact was at a lower velocity. I think if it weren't for that, dad's car would not be drivable. Although if it were rendered non-drivable, perhaps he would not have had that second accident today. Cause today's deal was just... well, dumb (and I think he'd agree). He backed out of a driveway into a parallel-parked car. He's going to have some serious insurance issues here soon. Three accidents in less than 30-days.

I don't know about you, but we're all hoping for an accident free January.

Not quite a top-five Christmas (but close)

The holiday has come and gone (thank goodness), and while I couldn't peg it up near the top, it wasn't anything to scoff at, and in fact was probably not too far off the mark. In the very least, I've got a couple happy campers. They got all kinds of cool stuff, from ChatNow "cell phones" to game boys to boatloads of girlie stuff and more. The girls are actually not quite done with Christmas. Monday afternoon they've got to go to their grandmother's for even more presents, like they need them.

To all a good night

Merry Christmas to all.

(Screaming) children's mass

We had to attend "Children's Mass" this evening, as Darby and Shelby are both in the choir and were singing. They did well in their performance to a completely packed house, which seemed to have more screaming babies/young ones than last year. It was quite... almost intolerable. I know it was children's mass, but there is a "cry room" for crying out loud (pun[s] intended).

All wrapped up

Okay, so it took all bloody night (or so it seemed). But it's done. The seemingly masochistic ritual of meticulously placing decorative paper and other ornamentation upon product packaging so that it may be shredded away a short time later by foaming-at-the-mouth-for-gifts kids. I rejoice at my completion. But my joy will be far greater in about 48 hours, for my favorite part of the holiday season is always its conclusion.

Yard on fire

I was at a friend's house this evening, helping with some computer issues, when we heard what sounded like firecrackers going off. We're talking like after 10:30pm here. So I looked outside toward where the noise was coming from, and I saw fire. The neighbor's yard was on fire. Within a few seconds, one of my friends was outside with the hose, spraying down the neighboring yard, though not before a good 2x2 foot area was burned. The neighbor stepped outside shortly thereafter and was thankful for the assistance. We just generally couldn't believe what had happened, which we attributed to neighborhood kids. Personally I would have called the police to file a report, though that was not my call to make. I just feel like under different circumstances the house could have been damaged, so you need to track that sort of thing.

What a way to turn an otherwise uneventful day/evening into a bit of an adrenaline rush. Sheesh.

First ticket

As if his first accident, one month after getting his driver's license, wasn't enough, little bro got his first traffic ticket today. For running a stop sign that he allegedly didn't see (dad's going there to take a picture tomorrow). Dad is pretty darn ticked. To make matters worse, little bro had 4 passengers in his non-extended-cab pickup. Meaning he had two people in the back, something he was explicitly told never to do by dad before he ever got his license.

I'm sure it didn't help my little brother's opinion of me that our dad was rubbing in the fact that it's been 1992 since I last got a traffic ticket (not to jinx it).

Childless

After Shelby's fencing lesson (during which she got a second-place medal for her skill level), the girls went with their grandmother for a few days, so you what that means... present wrapping time!

Nervous? Here, have some fire.

This morning was Darby's first altar serving duty at church, and she was very nervous about it, especially considering what happened at her piano recital yesterday. I was amused by the fact that they gave a nervous rookie a flaming stick. Okay, it was a candle, but still, they gave her something that was on fire, and that had the potential to cause damage if she wasn't careful. Fortunately she did fine, and no church-goers were harmed in the making of that experience.


The otherwise uneventful day was interrupted by a solitary noteable event (aside from the Eagles actually winning), a crazy teenaged driver.

I was driving on a residential street, going the speed limit (25mph), when I was passed by an impatient young woman that then ran a stop sign. After I stopped at the stop sign, I pulled up to a guy standing in his driveway, and asked if he saw her run the stop sign. He confirmed what I saw.

In the meantime, she actually pulled into a nearby driveway, so I pulled up to the driveway as she got out of the car, rolled down my window, and simply asked if she realized that she ran a stop sign. Her reaction? She flipped me off and went in the house.

Had Shelby not been with me, I would have put the car in park, knocked on the door, and asked to see the flipper-offer's parents. Instead, I went on my way to my destination. I have more to say about the matter, but I'm realizing that it's not worth further effort.

Early rise from a late night

Considering travel time, it was rather late when we got home last night. Traditionally we would have slept-in, but the girls had mandatory choir practice at 9am. And we BARELY made it.

Of course, it didn't help that Darby had a piano recital at 10am. We barely made that, too. Though we probably should have skipped it. Admittedly, in the last few weeks, Darby hasn't been practicing as much, mostly due to science projects and other factors, and it really showed. She messed-up early on playing her piece, then started crying, and it snowballed from there. It's all on tape, though she wishes I'd erase it. The teacher did have her try again once everyone was done, and she did better, but it was still clear that she didn't know her music very well. And to make matters worse, the second to last girl to play chose the exact same piece, and she played it exceptionally well.

So what does a girl do when she's down?

She shops! :)

We went Christmas shopping after we got some lunch, though I wish we'd made some different choices about where we shopped. We ended up getting stuck in much traffic after several hours of shopping, which I definitely don't recommend.

Most of the shopping was on behalf of the girls. They had to get gifts for various school activities and for teachers, etc. We did a great deal more looking than buying, so the girls were actually quite a bit tired of shopping by the end of it.

Hmmm... maybe I should do that more often, to create a shopping aversion in them while they're young. Could save me some money in their teenage years.

Parties, interrupted (and nearly missed)

Shelby was picked-up from school at 3pm by a classmate's mother for a birthday party that was supposed to be a sleep-over as well. However, after I picked up Darby from school ~6pm, we headed to pick up Shelby from the party. It seemed like a good idea at the time to even let her go to the party, but we definitely had to pick her up because she has choir practice in the morning.

For whatever reason, Shelby's classmate lives very far from where she goes to school. We live near the school, here on the southeast side of the OKC metro, but we had to travel to the far (and I mean far) northwest side of the metro to get to Shelby. Once we found the neighborhood, which took some doing, we were greeted a closed road, so we had to find an alternate route to somewhere we didn't know how to find to begin with (we had a Google Map, but... GASP... it was WRONG!). So, though we said we'd be there between seven and seven-thirty, it was nearly eight before we traveled to, and then found the place. Let's remind everyone that OKC is 600+ square miles, so it can take some time to traverse the sprawl if you can't take highways.

We were also supposed to make an appearance at a friend's for a Christmas party. By 8pm. But on the (pretty) far northeast side of the metro. Because of all the delays, it was after 8:30 by the time we got there. We missed food (but there were plenty of leftovers), Dirty Santa, and some of the company. The party actually started at 6pm, and by the time we got there people were starting to leave. We did get to participate in some games, and didn't leave until almost midnight, so it was worth the trip. Plus it was fun for the girls as there were MANY kids there. I think Shelby eventually forgot that she was mad that she didn't get to sleepover at the sleepover.

No bonus points for being scientific

Today was Darby's school science fair. For being one of the top projects in her grade, she got to move on to the fair. While she did place third today, unfortunately she will not get to move on to the next level, as they only take the top two placements.

I was a little peeved that the top selection at the fair today was not even experimental. While we did have the option of writing a lengthy report instead of doing an experiment, I felt Darby would be most scientifically well-served by having to perform an experiment. I also feel that those who did experiments (i.e. were actually being scientific) should have gotten some bonus points over those that chose not to familiarize themselves with the scientific method. However, as I am not in the decision chain, I'll have to go on gnashing my teeth every time I think about how this went down.

Hornet swarm

We went to another Hornets game tonight. While our seats were not nearly as good this time, technically -- we were at the VERY top row -- the view was really not too bad.



In some ways the view tonight was better than the view from our previous seats.



It started out a little slow, but before we knew it the Hornets were ahead by 19. Their lead flunctuated, and went as low as nine, but in the end it was a veritable blowout, with OKC winning 102-89.

Roots not (entirely) lost

Chief among the most impactful losses resulting from the theft of my computer back in November 2004 were the loss of our 2004 digital photos, as well as the loss of our genealogical data that had been compiled over a number of years (beyond any paper records that still exist).

Though I had previously searched extensively (2004 backup missing, presumed stolen, 2003 backup corrupt), last night, while looking for something else entirely, I found a 2001 backup of our genealogical data. It was a huge relief. It's still missing three years worth of updates, but at least I don't have to start from scratch.

I had been procrastinating the re-building of that genealogy resource thinking it was such a major task, but now that I've got a baseline, I have already spent hours on updates, with many hours of updates in my near future. In a way, this is like an early Christmas gift.

GM meltdown collateral damage

As you may know, General Motors recently announced the imminent closure of its Oklahoma City plant. While it's a completely terrible thing that 2,000 Oklahomans will be out of work as a direct result of this closure, many don't realize the peripheral impacts. There are many small businesses that operate in and around the Oklahoma City metro area in direct support of GM plant operations, and as a result of the GM shutdown, many thousands more people will be out of work soon if not already.

I was informed today that some VERY close friends of the family (a married couple) were recently given their pink slips because the company they work for, Unit Parts Company, is moving part of its operations to Mexico. I don't know the details, but as UPC is one of those GM supporting organizations, I suspect that, since this action comes on the cusp of the GM announcement, they have been impacted by recent events. I imagine being recently acquired didn't help.

It's a shame because our friends had done so well with the American dream until now. I'm sure they'll endure, but this will certainly slow their progress. As immigrants from Ghana, they became U.S. citizens, worked VERY hard (multiple jobs at times), raised two great kids (one now a student at OU [fortunately on a scholarship], the other in high school), bought a house, were always very active at church (the church my kids attend), and have continuously been among the most generous, selfless people I know. And I am honored to know them.

Now they find themselves a family without a bread-winner, a potentially devastating scenario. If you are the praying type, please add them to yours. Trust me, they've earned it.

2 out of 3 ain't bad

Shelby's fencing center had a practice tournament tonight, and Shelby won 2 of her 3 bouts. I was VERY impressed with her performance, as she was being very aggressive, charging in for the kill, all fearless-like, even when faced-off with a bigger kid. Historically, she has performed tentatively during tournaments, particularly when crossing blades with older kids.

Sixty to zero

It was all going so well. I picked up three more gifts at lunch time and had five more I was going to get this evening. But one of them required a trip to Norman. There was a particular video game I was getting for one of the girls that was sold out at every single metro area Best Buy except for the one in Norman. So I had purchased the game online for in-store pickup in order to reserve a copy prior to making a trip down there to get it (the only smart thing I did all day).

My first mistake, though, was NOT getting dinner before heading down there. I figured after picking up the girls from school around 5:45 that we'd go ahead and get to Norman, then get some food, then hit the BB. But my second mistake, taking the highway to get down there, got in the way. I didn't realize there was major construction between OKC and Norman, so it took us 45 minutes to travel less than five miles at one point. Also, I was completely boxed in by six different semi-trucks, so I couldn't even abort the whole highway endeavor. By the time we got down there it was after seven, and the kids were quite hungry. Fortunately, I had some chips in the car and we had been snacking while at a standstill on the highway.

The whole bit took so long that I had the girls do their homework while we waited for food as I was afraid it'd be too darn late if we waited until we got home (and it was after we made all of the shopping stops).

The good news is that I've only got three more things I plan on picking up in the next couple days, which should conclude my sorry excuse for Christmas shopping.

Zero to sixty

Prior to today I had done NO Christmas shopping yet. The kids and I had browsed, but nothing had been purchased. After spending several hours at the mall, and after an online buying spree, I'm done shopping for the girls, and am mostly or near-mostly done with everyone else. I hope to be done in the next couple days.

Oh, Shelby, what the heck is that in your mouth?

Ah, yes, it's a dirty worm.

Eeeww.


We had lunch at TGIF, and one of the kid-menu desserts is "Cup O' Dirt", which is chocolate pudding, with crushed Oreo cookies, and gummi worms (plus she added whipped cream). Shelby decided to gross us all out with her foul-looking treat.

Holiday Christmas partying

It's that time of year.

Again.

Already.

Company Chr... er, Holiday(?!?) Christmas Party time. The company, at least in OKC, has had a less prosperous year than years past, and it showed in the prizes (no DVD players or camcorders this year). Not that I'm complaining, because it's not about the prizes. But the food was good, as always, and as was the company. Difficult to complain about a free meal. Rude, actually. So I shall not.

Even more photos

The pictures we took in Arizona a few weeks ago are now posted in the album. These include pictures of my sister and I, the likes of which haven't occurred (professionally) since we were kids.

Bricktown in December

The girls and I headed promptly to Bricktown after I picked them up at school, as we were intending to see the 7:15 showing of Narnia. Unbelievably, that showing was sold out at the Bricktown theater. I found it unbelievable because that theater seats 600+ (I KNEW I should have bought tickets last night), and we tried to pick up tickets an hour ahead of time, which has worked out okay for other highly anticipated releases in the past.

We had to settle for the 8:15 showing in the MUCH smaller theater, but even then we had to stand in a line that wound through the lobby, though we were there 45 minutes before showtime. So obviously our seats weren't so good.

We probably could have gotten much beter seats had we gotten in line at 6:15 when we got our tickets, but we chose to get some dinner first, and then afterwards we checked out the Bricktown Christmas scenery (here's one with the girls).

The movie was pretty good. I'm not sure it lived 100% up to the hefty hype, but it was a darn good movie. The girls enjoyed it, though Shelby got pretty scared at times (but she scares easily). Though it was a 2-hour movie, it almost didn't feel long enough, in that it seemed like they rushed through some detail for the sake of keeping it near 2-hours. Maybe we should have waited for the Saturday matinee for better seats, but all in all the girls had a good time, so I'm not sure there was a real downside (except maybe for having to walk more than a quarter mile to the car after the movie in the 30 degree weather).

Little lambs

The girls had their Christmas musical tonight at school. The were both lambs. It's funny, though, because I could tell in my video recording of the event that at times both of them were just mouthing lyics instead of singing. In the car, with the radio on, I can't get them to STOP singing.

White and cold

Our first snowfall of the year. Bleh. At least it's less than an inch. But man is it bloody cold. 15 as I type (-2 windchill).

A day later and the girls would have been dressed perfectly. Tomorrow they have a school musical and they have to wear white sweatshirts and sweatpants.

We had dinner with the girls' mom tonight as she is having minor surgery tomorrow, so they'll miss their regularly scheduled weekend visit.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Eagles have left the season

Tail between the legs and all...


Seems to me that a forfeit would have resulted in a better score for them... not sure why they bothered going out in the cold.

Catching up

Shelby was STILL working on make-up classwork into this evening. We're finally done, but sheesh.

Watching her run around, you'd hardly realize she was recently ill. I keep telling her it's because of the shot, but she's not buying it.

Lots of photos

Our recently taken family holiday photos, as well as a few others, have been posted in the album.

Clash of the Philadelphians

Historically, I'm not a big basketball fan. Therefore in all my years as a Philadelphian, I didn't bother to go see a Philadelphia 76ers game. Plus they stunk back then.

But having an NBA team here in OKC, however non-permanently, and wanting to support the effort, I expected to go to at least one game this season. Prior to the season starting, I looked at the schedule and muttered to myself something to the effect that if I went to one game this season, it would HAVE to be the Sixers game.

Well, about three weeks ago, I checked on ticket availability for the Hornets-Sixers game here in OKC, and it was ALREADY sold out. Bummer. So I expected to NOT be going at that point.

That is, until SuperSteph and her connections came through (yet again). I was notified at about 4:45pm that there were (REALLY GOOD) tickets available to me if I was able to use them. Ironically, while I originally planned to take Darby, I got word that she wasn't feeling well just before hearing about the tickets.

So I went to her school to see how she was doing. Apparently she had an upset stomach earlier in the day, and she was still moping around with the after effects. I asked her point blank if she were feeling well and she said no. So I looked at her mother, who I met there, and said I guess she's not going. When she inquired as to what she was missing, her sister blurted out "basketball game". So as you might imagine she puckered up real quick and said she wanted to go.

After a tearful negotiation, I decided to go ahead and take Darby, so I called Steph and arranged a ticket exchange. When we made the exchange, there was something like fifty minutes left until tip-off. Plenty of time in theory. That is, until you throw a Shawn into the equation.

The fact that I don't usually have cash on me (I'm a check card junkie), is not often a problem, but when it is a problem at all, it's typically a really big freakin' problem. Much as it was this evening when I pulled into the parking garage without cash. In case you were ever wondering, yes, they actually make you back-up if you don't have cash. There's no honor system for that sort of thing. And yes, it's a complete pain in the butt backing out of a parking garage entryway when there are lines of cars behind you.

Of course it was embarrassing. But I'm used to that by now.

After driving miles out of the way, mostly to avoid traffic, to get to an ATM, I found myself right back at the same garage, and amazingly got a great parking spot that was just sitting there unwanted. I was so stunned I had to get out and look around for signs or other markings indicating that it wasn't actually a spot. And that act was so noticeable that someone walking by said to me, "yes, it's actually a spot, I know, you can't believe your luck, right?"

Well, I couldn't.

So Darby and I walked the block or so to the arena, where we got into the game amazingly fast. I've had it take longer for security checks at seemingly less high profile events. Immediately upon getting in, we passed a souvenir stand, where we promptly picked up some shirts, followed by finding bathrooms before we got seated.

Turns out the bathrooms we used were directly outside the entryway to our seats, which was convenient, so in little time at all we were enjoying our view, with three minutes left until tip-off. I couldn't believe we made it.



Let me just say that it was an amazing game. The Hornets led the whole first half, and by 13 at half-time. But the Sixers came back strong in the 3rd, leading by 10 or so by the 4th. With less than 3 minutes left in the game, we tied it up, and we took the lead, by two, with 50 seconds left. From then, the defense did it's job, and amazingly, we won!

I wouldn't have believed it before hand. And though there were a surprisingly high number of Sixers fans there that would have rooted along with me, I was standing behind the home town team the whole game. Which I find ironic since I was probably one of few with any actual connection to Philadelphia.

For her part, Darby had an excellent experience. She LOVED it. It was probably one of the most exciting experiences she's had in her short life. And, of course, you wouldn't have known she was ever sickly by looking at her at the end of that game.

Here's my best pic of Mr. Iverson.



And here's my coolest pic of the game, one of the mascot types jumping through a hoop to make a slam dunk.

Streppin' up

Shelby was still sick this morning. As she was with her mother yesterday, I took her today and figured I'd be out from work for the day. I made a doctor appointment for Shelby and asked her where she wanted to eat. She barely ate anything the day before and I wanted to get some food in her, so I asked her to name the place. She didn't really come up with anything, so I suggested that scrambled eggs might go down easy on her sore throat. We ended up at IHOP, and she did eat some eggs, but she ate more hash browns than anything. At least she was eating.

We hung out at the IHOP, which was near her doctor, until her appointment. She did school work (we stopped by her classroom to get her two-days worth of work before heading to breakfast), and I used IHOP's free wi-fi to keep up with work email.

Once at the doctor's office, it seemed like we'd never leave. I had Shelby working on her classwork while we waited to be called, and she got a few things done. I think it was an hour before we were called, and then we were in the "little white room" for quite some time as well. Finally the nurse came in and did a "rapid strep" test. Right away the results showed positive, so there wasn't much for the doctor to do except confirm things.

The doctor asked Shelby if she wanted a one-time shot, or chewable pills (times 30). Naturally Shelby chose the pills, but I expressed that I'd rather do the shot and get it over with. The doctor said she'd like that as well since her strep was pretty bad, but Shelby was shaking her head "no way" the whole time. We took a vote, and Shelby was out-numbered. Immediately she started crying and kicking. Two nurses were called in, one to hold Shelby down, and the other to administer the shot. But that wasn't even enough, as the hold-down nurse asked me to get Shelby's hands. She was really kicking and screaming.

Shelby was pretty broken up about the whole experience, and I hated doing that as I have bad memories of a similar experience myself (when I was 6, in the hospital with asthma, being held down by several nurses that were trying to insert an IV), but I was pretty sure that her recovery would drag into next week if we didn't take the more drastic option. I know she'll thank me later (sort of).

While at the doctor's office, I got called into work to deal with a high-priority issue. So Shelby got to work on more classwork at the office. Towards the end of the day, I learned I would be trading Shelby for Darby, though not without complication.

Movin up

Shelby is sick. She had a fever this morning, so we didn't even put school clothes on. As I had a new employee starting today, I needed to be at work. Fortunately Shelby's mother was able to take Shelby for the day.

After work, when I picked up Darby from school, she informed me that her science project had been accepted for the school science fair, one of only 8 fourth graders to participate. She is VERY excited, which is why I put in the late hours the other night.



Speaking of new employees, I still have one more java developer position open!