Holidays roll on

Kathy and I are back in Goshen. I'm watching the Colts who will hopefully pull out a win, despite resting a lot of their starters. A win for the Colts means the Browns are in the playoffs.

We spent the past week in Ohio, visiting family, celebrating Christmas. We spent a few days in Hartville and a few days in Millersburg. I also spent one day on the road. Kim flew into Atlanta and Bruce was going down to pick her up since tickets were expensive. I went along with him to help out driving. We left at 4:45 AM on Friday and arrived home with the peripatetic (they walked everywhere, up to 10 hours a day) at 6 AM Saturday morning. It was a long trip with poor weather.

Kathy and I are both working partial days tomorrow. I was going to have the day off, but a client needs some work done before the beginning of the year. So I'll do that project and then call it a day. Kathy wants to get an early jump on the work for the year so she will spend at least half the day working.

It's time for a snack and some serious rooting. The Titans just kicked a field goal to tie it...

-cgm

Friday Night Lights

Okay, it's not quite high school football--it's women's rec league volleyball. I came up to watch Kathy play in Mishawaka. Mostly she wants me as a chauffeur...especially against the team they're playing tonight. It's currently 7-3 and that's the closest it will be all night.

We're headed to South Bend to finish our Christmas shopping once we're done here. Probably Best Buy and Barnes & Noble.

Did I mention the other team only has four players, and their one fan is complaining because Kathy's team is talking strategy?

Only five more days of work until Christmas vacation! And it is looking to be a busy week. Hopefully the busy-ness won't be as obnoxious as today's. I went to a client's at 1:30, expecting to be done in a couple hours. Instead, I spent 3.5 hours installing a Quickbooks update. And I only finished four of the six computers. The install isn't particularly difficult--it just takes forever. Fun, fun.

Ooh, their fifth player just showed up. Right after one of the others twisted her ankle.

So this is one of those teams that yells "free free free" when there's no point. It's just short of a pet peeve of mine... Their offense is a get-it-over -the-net offense with no transition between offense and defense. Ergo, no real reason to yell free. Ah, well.

Kathy just called a lift on herself...

Well, the battery on my phone is getting low. I'll sign off for now. Have a great weekend!

November's Over

In case you missed it, November is over. Which means that NaNoWriMo is over. Which means that I don't feel guilty for not working on my novel. Kathy and I actually didn't get very far into our novels--we decided to have a life instead. However, we both did get good starts and somewhat got into the habit of writing. We are going to try to keep it up and finish the things. Keep asking us about them!

We are now well into December, and I am just now getting to my first blog entry. That's the way it goes sometimes. Right now, Kathy is playing Ratchett and Clank on the PS3 and I am sitting by the fire with my laptop. It's nice and cozy with the sound of smashing boxes in the background...

The past week we had the Aptica Christmas. My boss Jason bought a pedicure and a massage for us. It was very relaxing and soothing. As you can sort of see from the not-so-great picture, I got my toes painted. My pedicurist--as well as everyone else, except maybe Kathy--were very surprised. She told me that she has never painted a guys toe nails before, except her dad's and he was asleep at the time.

Have a happy holidays!

short

I win!

Snow already?

Craig & Lindsy, I lose the short post game.

Well, it's hardly December and it's already snowed multiple times. There's snow on the ground now, though it might be gone later in the day if the weather does what they say it's going to. Yesterday I walked to my bank and discovered that the city doesn't seem to plow all of the sidewalks, even in the downtown area.

Our fall/winter schedule has filled up again this year. We eat supper with my sister on Mondays, with Kevin & Katrina Graber on Tuesdays, small group on Wednesdays, and then I play in a co-ed volleyball league on Thursdays and in a women's volleyball league on Fridays. Technically I'm just a sub for the women's league, since it's in Mishawaka and I said I didn't really want to be on the team & commit to playing every week since it's a longish drive, but they asked if I'd be the regular sub and cover when the regular players were out and I agreed. Turns out someone's gone almost every week.

I do enjoy volleyball, but the knee I injured last summer and then re-injured a couple of months ago doesn't. The co-ed league with the higher net is especially vexing since I have to jump my highest to get a decent hit or a chance at a block. It does better if I warm up first, so I have to remember to leave myself plenty of time to stretch and jog and so on.

We had our Christmas party for Craig's work last night. Craig's boss dropped us off at a day spa and we got pedicures and massages, both of which were a first for me. It was fun and quite relaxing. I had indicated on the sheet they had us fill out that my knee had been injured, and the woman who did my massage talked a little with me when we were finished. She could obviously tell something was wrong - she asked how long ago I'd hurt it, and asked if the cartilage had been separated, and wasn't surprised to find out about the bone bruises. She also asked if I'd injured my ankle at the same time, mentioned that it was quite weak, and recommended that I wear shoes with good support, thus vindicating my decision to basically only wear Danskos (or tennis shoes) except for rare occasions when I really dress up. She also asked if I'd seen a physical therapist about my knee, which I have not. I might start thinking about it if it doesn't improve materially in the next year or so. So, to sum up, I have sparkly toenails. =)

Craig and I have both started writing a novel. Neither of has gotten very far, but we have started and are planning on sticking with it. We're trying to have regular writing nights when we go to a coffee shop and write without the distractions that abound at home.

Since the business that I work at moved earlier this year to the building that my boss and his business partner purchased and renovated, we realized that we didn't have any holiday decorations since we'd never needed them before. My boss let me buy decorations and put them up, which was a lot of fun. Last weekend was apparently the right time to buy them, since the only thing I bought that wasn't 25% - 40% off was the wreath hook for the door. I'm enjoying the festive atmosphere.

I've also been hit with the urge to bake cookies in the last couple of weeks. I've made two batches of sugar cookies and one of chocolate chip, which actually turned into chocolate-butterscotch chip since I didn't have enough chocolate chips and had to supplement them with the butterscotch. I finally have found a sugar cookie recipe that I really like. It's a mix of the one on a bag of flour and the chocolate chip recipe that usually use. They end up nice and chewy. I don't like dry cookies.

Since I don't like to publish a post without a picture, here's one of the little picture frames I have in one of my office windows. You can see our door with a wreath on it in the background. The picture frames usually have little pictures of a giraffe and an elephant in them, but for the holidays I made a little tree and a little star out of little garland wire. Hurrah!

Today's random quote:
"I turned somewhere!" (Craig talking on the phone to his boss who was trying to give him directions to the spa last night)

Short entry

Lindsy, you want a short blog entry competition? I'm winning!

Kathy's outfit

This is the outfit that Kathy wore to work today. Her mom made the vest for her and Kathy wanted to send her a photo.

Map of the world

Here is an interesting map of the world. Instead of just a standard geographical map, the size of the country is determined by the number of people living in the country.

As you can imagine, some countries look bloated while others look skinny. Indonesia's prominence struck me, as did Canada's anorexia.

Happy Friday!

Visiting Ohio

I went back to Ohio this past weekend. It was a nice trip, even though Kathy wasn't with me. She stayed in Goshen because her parents were coming out for her sister's concert, which meant that I only had to visit my family instead of both families. On the way home my odometer reached a big round number like you can see in the photo. I knew it was going to happen during the drive home and didn't want to miss it so I kept checking the mileage. Turns out it rolled over only 10 miles from home.

I stayed at my brother's house and we stayed up late both nights... I think it was 2:30 on Friday night and 12:30 or so on Saturday night. Doesn't matter how tired I am we tend to stay up talking.

November is almost here, which of course means it is time to write a novel. We're looking forward to giving it a go and see what turns up. The idea is to write 50,000 words (about 175 pages) during the month of November. The goal isn't to come up with a polished, publishable novel, but to write--to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). Should be interesting. We'll keep you posted on how it is going.

I'm headed to Mishawaka today and need to meet my boss soon to pick up a computer. I need to take off now. Ciao-sy.

In Ohio

I'm in Ohio for the weekend. Came in for my nephew's birthday party. Unfortunately, Kathy's family was coming to Goshen. So we decided to divide and conquer.

Siesta

Go ahead--look forward to that afternoon nap!

Kristi's Graduation

Here we are at Kristi's graduation.

I know, I know--that was a long time ago. Well, I finally got around to uploading the pictures from that weekend up to the web. Feel free to check them out! We found an interesting sculpture with a convenient wall right behind that we could set the camera on.

Congratulations to Kristi for such beautiful work. Oh, if you look at the pictures not all of the pieces are Kristi's--just the awesome enamel ones.

Another weekend

Here's my nephew Reed's hairy eyeball. Quite formidable, but much cuter in person. Kathy and I are going back to Ohio for his birthday party in a couple weekends.

For now we have Kathy's mom, Helen, out for the weekend. She has tickets to the Performing Arts Series, and there was another concert last night. While we were watching the Indians lose in the ALCS, she was listening to some sweet jazz.

I should have time to watch the Indians again tonight. I sure hope they play better than they did last night. They look very flat, although they were facing a good pitcher... We'll see what happens!

-cgm



I was walking down the street wearing glasses when the prescription ran out.
-Steven Wright

Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome.
-Isaac Asimov

Favorite little picture

Here is one of my favorite pictures of a young Kathy. Apparently this bird ran into their door and was laying on the porch. They picked it up and nursed it back to health. Or so they say. The other little twerp is Kim.

Weekend is here...

The weekend is finally here. Of course, I still need to finish up my paperwork before the end of the day. =)

Tonight we are heading over to Kevin's house to eat supper with his parents. Should be a nice evening, and we'll get to hear where all they have traveled since we saw them last.

The rest of the weekend is pretty free. We have a few things we want to get done around the house, including fixing a leaky sink. There are a few baseball games that I want to watch since the Indians are in the playoffs again. We have lunch with our small group after church on Sunday.

Other than that, a lot of nothing planned. Enjoy!

"Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't."
-Mark Twain

Another server installation

Aptica has another server installation today. I have been working on getting the server ready and will be going out to the clients this afternoon to replace their old server.

Server installations tend to make work a little more busy. We usually schedule a couple of days on-site, plus some remote work before hand. So all of our normal work during the week gets shoved around to make room for the extra hours. So far it hasn't been bad though.

Kathy and I went and watched the GC volleyball team last night. It was fun to go and watch with Kathy. She has a very different perspective than your typical fan since she played for so many years and knows the game well. I found that I definitely watch the game (it's getting to be any sport) with a coaching eye. What are they doing that works? What are they doing poorly? What are their weaknesses? Sometimes I wish I could just watch and cheer, but then I listen to the inane banter of the other fans around us last night and I'm glad that I think like I do.

Today's quote:
"Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped."
-Elbert Hubbard

body art & busy days

I've had a busy few days. I've been scrimmaging with the Goshen College volleyball team on the days before they have games (they only have 11 people on the team, so they need one more to play a normal 6 on 6 game), and trying to work out most days when I don't play volleyball. It's been a lot of fun. I'm going to have to take off for a few days, though because of this:
My new tattoo! Since it's on my foot, I need to let it heal for a bit before I throw on socks and shoes and start running around. I might go over to my friend Kevin's house and use his exercise bike, though, since I can do that barefoot.

I got it done last night at Marvel Tattoo in South Bend. Kevin also came and got a tattoo; he got a dragon on his back. We both turned 30 in September, and have been planning the tattoos for about half a year. Larry, the tattoo artist who did both our tattoos, is very good. He finished mine in about 20-25 minutes. I drew the picture, which he cleaned up and changed a little so it would work well as a tattoo. I'm very happy with the results.

Today, then, I donated blood. Yes, it's ok for me to donate blood; I checked. I got my tattoo at a licensed tattoo parlor where they don't reuse ink or needles. They are inspected periodically by the state, and the Red Cross doesn't mind if you get a tattoo at such a place. The regulations do vary by state. New Mexico, for instance, doesn't regulate tattoos at all (and thus the Red Cross wouldn't want you to give blood for 1 year after getting a tattoo there).

I didn't have any problems donating blood, which was good. My iron was fine. The technician even said that I have good veins! I did have to wave my feet and open and close my hands to get the blood flowing, though. But the machine didn't beep at me because the flow was too slow, which happened last time I donated. Apparently good veins don't necessarily mean fast veins.

Tonight we have a meal with our small group, and then I'm going to watch the GC volleyball team since they have a home game. I haven't made it to any of their matches yet, and I'm looking forward to watching them play after scrimmaging with them so often.


Today's random quote:

First weigh the considerations, then take the risks
Helmuth von Moltke (1800 - 1891)

Selling cars

So Kathy and I sold our station wagon this past weekend. Well, not quite yet...

Kathy's sister Kristi recently moved to Virginia where they require inspections before they will title your car. Her car (Escort Wagon, go figure...) did not pass. We were both back in Ohio last weekend and after some discussion about what to do we decided to offer her our Escort Wagon to replace hers. The sale isn't final yet since we told her she could wait until it passes inspection to make it official.

So for now Kathy and I are down to one car. I think we'll be able to make it work without too much trouble, and then we will look at replacing it sometime next year.

Speaking of only having one car, I need to go pick up Kathy from work so she can go play volleyball with the GC team.

10 Math Tricks

For those of you who still struggle with math, I found this article with 10 easy math tricks. Click here to find out how easy it can be.

Busking in DC

Here is an article from the Washington Post earlier this year. It's a lengthy article, but very interesting! "Can one of the nation's great musicians cut through the fog of a D.C. rush hour? Let's find out."

Waiting at the doctor's office

I'm sitting in the parking lot of the doctor's office, waiting for them to open. I have an appointment for 8:35, which probably means they open at 8:30. Normally I would just wait until 8:30 to come, but Kathy needed a ride to work. We loaned or car to Reuben for some errands he needs to run.

I haven't had my cholesterol tested in a couple years, but since the last time I did (I briefly passed out again) they have a new test that only requires a prick. Makes my morning easier. =)

This weekend is the last tournament of the year for Robot House, my Ultimate team. We finally got our jerseys a couple weeks ago. I'll attach a picture to this email post and see what happens to it...

Today is going to be a busy day, but at least it is Friday!

Train

I'm waiting for a train... Not an uncommon occurance here in Goshen.

Happy memories

I forgot how much fun it was to watch the Cavs in the 80s. This Mark Price montage helped me remember. And now I realize how much I emulate him when I play basketball...

Chicago Heavyweights

I went to Chicago for an Ultimate tournament this weekend. We finally got our jerseys for this fall, even though we only have one more tournament left. They are pretty sweet jerseys--hopefully you can see the photo well enough and ignore the button. I took the picture with my phone.

We played pretty well, although we got pretty tired by the end of the day on Sunday. We finished 4-3, even after losing our first two games. Not too bad considering we haven't practiced together. That's also part of the reason we were tired since we aren't in the best of shape.

Next weekend is our last tournament. Then we should have some free weekends again. We are already looking at going back to Ohio to visit family the following weekend (Sept 21,22,23). Bruce will be getting back from his trip to India, Myanmar, and Indonesia so we are heading back to welcome him home.

Colony Collapse Disorder in bee hives

This past year has been rough for bees, which of course means it's been rough for certain crops that depend on bee pollination. I read this article from CNN (not really sure why it's in the technology section other than it's quoting scientists...) describing some findings on the Colony Collapse Disorder front. Apparently it is a virus that Australian bees are resistant to, plus maybe some other factors too.

National Geographic Photography Page

For any of you interested in photography, here is National Geographic's photography page. There are interesting tips to help you take better shots and contests to enter your better shots.

For any of you not interested in shooting photography, you should still check the site out. They have all of their photos available for download as wallpaper. Some of the best photos around come from this publication.

Changes

You'll notice a few changes to the blog. Besides the email setup, I have also added "Craig's Shared Items." When I run across something interesting I'll share it so that others can enjoy the fun. I already email quite a few to Kathy so this will allow others in, too.

Escher and Legos

For anyone interested in Escher and Legos, here is a pretty neat little rendition of Relativity done in Legos. There is also a description of how they went about it with some detail shots. Pretty cool!

Also, notice that you can now sign up for email alerts of activity on our blog. Check out the Subscribe box on the left side.

Cycling to work

I just read an interesting entry on the Sietch Blog about riding your bike to work. Someday I hope to have a job where I can ride into work, but right now it is not feasible. I spend a good chunk of my day on the road driving to various client's offices... Thought it was an interesting article and some of the comments address cleaning up if you get sweaty on the ride.

Football and long weekends

I'm watching the Notre Dame season opener. Their offense doesn't look very good right now. But Ohio State had an easy win... And Michigan lost at the Big House in their opener!

We're having a final supper for Lindsy. Tomorrow, she leaves for a semester in Spain. (You can check out her musings at lindsyrg.blogspot.com.) I already lit the grill and Kathy is getting the veggies ready. We might go watch a GC soccer game after supper. We'll see.

I spent about an hour yesterday practicing turning on my rollerblades. I found out that the outdoor basketall court is a great place to practice. It's a big enough space and the concrete is smooth. When I fell--and trust me, I did--it didn't rip any skin off.

Well, it's time to start working on the shishkebobs!

New skates

Well, I just got new skates. The skates that I bought in early August already broke. At least, one of the rivets that holds the shoelaces popped loose. They didn't have my size so I ended up getting a different pair. They are K2 skates that are much more comfortable.

Today is Friday. I'm heading up to LaGrange for a call this morning and then back home to wrap up paperwork for the week (and clean up last week's while I'm at it). Then it's a nice long weekend to get some things done around the house!

Monthly Post

My brother reprimanded me for not posting recently. Having not checked in a few weeks, he expecteded there to be at least one post. But there were none... So I'm sitting on the couch with Kathy, watching pre-season football, and writing an entry on my phone.

We are getting towards the end of our Ultimate season. We have an off weekend and then tournaments the next two. That should be it then. It's been fun, but i'm looking forward to some extra free time.

I'll have more time for skating. I borrowed my cousin's roller blades which she left at our house while she was out of the country. I enjoyed it quite a lot so I decided to buy my own, especially since hers were old and not very comfortable. Since the are low impact (read knee friendly) I try to get out most days. So far I just being going forward and learning how to stop. I don't have pads yet and don't feel like injuring myself at this time

Well, I think it's about time for bed. Plus it's not the easiest thing to type on this phone, even with a qwerty keyboard.

August already

This summer seems to be evaporating. Every time I turn around more of it is gone...

Craig and I are keeping very busy. We rarely have more than a day or two a week when we don't have something scheduled. For some people that may be more than enough down time, but the two of us like our leisure time.

The first couple of pictures here are from our week in Florida, where we did almost nothing but relax. We relaxed in the condo we were staying in (many thanks to Craig's Aunt Alyce!), we relaxed at the beach, we relaxed at the other beach, we relaxed at the other beach, we relaxed at the pool, at the movie theater, at various restaurants, and so on and so on... it was a great vacation. Plus, we went to Craig's sister Sondra's wedding, which was very nice.

We've been back for a month, now, though it doesn't really seem that long. We play in two ultimate frisbee leagues, one in South Bend about 50 minutes away, and one in Kalamazoo, MI, about 90 minutes away. We did have costume/dress up night at both leagues a couple of weeks ago, which is always a lot of fun.

Craig and I went as superheroes. We don't currently have very good pictures, but some should hopefully be coming before too long. Craig is the guy in the red cape in the picture to the right, and I'm in the blue cape in the picture below. Playing in a cape wasn't as distracting as I though it would be, although Craig did have some problems with his arm getting caught in the cape on some of his longer throws.

We also have either one or two day tournaments scheduled for 5 out of the next 7 weekends, which will continue to keep us very busy. But we both enjoy playing, it's great exercise, we meet new people, and it's just a lot of fun.

My sister Kristi is staying with us for the next few days, which we're really happy about. We haven't seen nearly enough of her the last three years, since she was living in North Carolina. She graduated this spring with a Master of Fine Arts. She is an incredible artist, with amazing craftsmanship to go with her beautiful aesthetic sense. She specializes in metalworking which incorporates objects from nature.

On a different note, we went to see the Simpsons movie last weekend, are going to see the third Bourne movie tomorrow, and I'm planning on watching Stardust next weekend (providing our local theater is showing it. I might have to go to South Bend where there are larger cinemas). I just finished reading the last 4 Series of Unfortunate Events books, the newest Jasper Fforde book, First Among Sequels (featuring Thursday Next), and am starting to read the 7 Harry Potter books straight through. And on another media front, Craig and I have been watching Scrubs and The Office, both of which we really enjoy.

We've had really big wasps flying around our house the last month or so - and by really big I mean 2, 2.5 inches long (which might not seem that bad until you look at a ruler and then picture a what looks like a hornet that size flying right at you). Craig did a little research and found out that they are Cicada Killer Wasps. The males don't actually have stingers but like to check out anything that moves, which seems a lot like attacking. The females do have stingers but aren't at all aggressive towards humans (unless they get stepped on or so on). So, while it is good to know that it's highly unlikely we'll get stung, it's still freaky to have monster-sized wasps hanging out by our flowers and in our yard.

We're looking forward to a mini Glick reunion next week. It's nice to see family, and very nice to have it just a few blocks away from us instead of in Ohio or other more distant locations.

While this doesn't cover a month's worth of missed blog entries, at least it's something. =)

Today's random quote:
My evil genius Procrastination has whispered me to tarry 'til a more convenient season.
Mary Todd Lincoln (1818 - 1882)

New mail setup

Well, I had a little fun with email this week. I noticed yesterday that I hadn't received any email. In case you don't know, I host my own email. I have a Windows server here at the house that receives all of our mail. I looked at the server and everything seemed to be running fine. I looked at the firewall to make sure it was still configured to forward mail to the server. I also restarted both the server and the firewall.

Still wasn't working. A test message just disappeared into never, never land. I tried to connect to the server from an outside computer that I have access to--no luck. I finally decided I was just going to go to bed and find out if Comcast started blocking port 25, which is necessary for email to happen.

Sure enough. My first search this morning turned up an article from ZDNet, hot off the press. If I was a corporate customer I definitely would have called and complained, but since I'm just a techy home user, hosting his personal mail, I decided to change options and move on.

So Kathy and I are now using Google Apps. I'm excited about giving it a try. I'll have to find a way to synchronize calendar, contacts, and email for Kathy's Axim. I'm not too worried about that, though. I already found a free app to synchronize calendar. I'm going to email my friend that uses Google Apps at work and see what they use.

However, I just finished making the changes, and sometimes internet changes can take a little time to move across the globe. We should be up and running soon!

Back from vacation

This picture gives you a good idea of what we did all last week--relax on the beach, relax in the a/c, read a book, maybe watch a movie. It was wonderfully relaxing. We have posted some pictures on Picasa.

Now we are back in Ohio and getting back to work. I have today off due to the July 4th holiday, but Kathy decided to trade Monday for today. She is in at work and no one will be bugging her so she can get caught up from a week off.

After work we are headed to watch the new Transformers (trailer | IMDb | review) movie with some friends. Jason (who turns 30 today!) is super-excited about the movie. Should be entertaining. I think we are headed back to his house for some grilling after the movie. Hopefully the weather cooperates.

I'm not too worried about finding any fireworks tonight. We went over to Jason's last night for a surprise birthday party and his neighbors had one of the most amazing home firework display I've ever seen. They were only a couple of houses down so it was quite loud, and it kept going! They had at least two hours of fireworks, if not a little more than that. And not just roman candles and the like, but actually ones that shot up into the air and exploded. I have no idea how much they spent, but it must have been a considerable amount.

Well, I should get back to work. I have a laundry list of things to do today, which does include laundry. I haven't gotten very far on the list yet...

Kathy and I have been enjoying our vacation here in Florida. The condo we are staying in sits on the Gulf. There is a pool, too, and the sun sets right outside our windows. We usually go out around sunset to enjoy the beautiful weather and the view. The sunsets haven't been grand, but they have been pleasant. And we are on the beach so I can't complain.

Yesterday we went up to Siesta Beach to join some of my relatives. The whole reason for the timing of the vacation is my step-sister's wedding this coming weekend so there are quite a few other relatives around. Fortunately we are in Venice, which is about half an hour south of Sarasota so it is easy to avoid them. We are celebrating out 10th anniversary and wanting to spend the time alone.

It's a little after noon, and we haven't been to the beach yet. Yesterday at Siesta Beach, I was out a little long and got slightly burnt. I'm taking it easy today, avoiding the mid-day sun. We'll probably go out later in the day, at least to our pool.

I'm also going to try to make a panorama of our condo. If it works out I will send a copy to my aunt. We'll see how it goes. I'll at least have a bunch of pictures of the condo, even if they don't stitch together well.


We dyed my hair today. It's about time for me to go and rinse. Hope you all are still having a wonderful week!

Vacation underway

I'm writing today from the warm, sunny beaches of Venice, FL! We combined my step-sisters wedding and our 10th anniversary into a wonderful vacation. My aunt was gracious enough to let us use her condo, which is on the 11th floor of a sea side building. Our windows overlook the best beach in the world--mostly because it's the one we are at.

My boss was gracious enough to get a smart phone which I am currently using to post this from the aforementioned beach. I'm down here posting because Kathy wanted to come down to look for sharks teeth and shells.

She had better luck this morning at Capperson Beach which is known for sharks' teeth. We spent a couple hours over there this morning sifting thru the sand and shells for anything interesting, especially sharks' teeth. She found about 20 teeth before we got too hot and headed home for showers and lunch.

Speaking of food, we are going to head back in to get ready for supper. Hope you all have a wonderfull week. I know I will!

This is Olivia. She jumped into the Pepsi box in the cooler all of her own violition.
Well, we leave for vacation tomorrow afternoon. We're really looking forward to the break.

No Surf

After work today I am heading to Cleveland, Ohio. No Surf is an Ultimate tournament that I am going to with Robot House--a team based out of Kalamazoo that I played with last fall. Should be a fun weekend! I might even get down to see my family.

Work has been ridiculously busy the last few weeks. I thought it was busy before that... It seems like I have been working later and longer. I can't complain too much since it means I get paid more, but I haven't had time to keep up on my paperwork so there are some evenings where I spend a little time working on that. I am definitely looking forward to our vacation in Florida next week.

On Friday Kathy and I are flying down to Florida to celebrate our 10th anniversary. We'll cap off the vacation with my step-sister's wedding on June 30th.

Right now, I'm working on updating a laptop which I will shortly be taking back to a client. They were having some issues with this laptop and so we decided to rebuild it. I wasn't quite able to finish before the end of the day yesterday so I will head out this morning to finish it up.

Hope you have a happy Friday!

Childhood snack

Speaking of my childhood, I recently found out that the little grocery store San Marcos up the street from where I work sells these little packets of "chocolate" and "hazelnut" candy - a box of 18 for $1.99. I did give in and buy one - they are still pretty good. The white things are little plastic sticks that you use to move the candy from the packet to your mouth.

sad orchid stem

Well, here's my sad orchid stem now that the last flower has faded and fallen. I'll probably get another plant but not until we get back from our vacation in Florida at the beginning of July.

I was foolish this weekend and ended up with a little poison ivy. I thought that I could stop weeding after I finished our small flower bed, and so I didn't change into long sleeved posion-ivy pulling clothes. I did take a shower and washed thoroughly with soap, but still ended up with a few spots on forearms and ankles. Such is life.

I also played Ultimate (frisbee football) on Thursday, Sunday, and Monday and ended up with big blisters on the bottom of each big toe, a scraped right heel, and a long sratch/scrape/bruise on my left arm (and I didn't even catch the disc on that dive!). Luckily I have until Thursday to heal up a bit.

I also discovered last night that I like Wendy's Frosty Floats when made with root beer and a chocolate frosty (I wasn't too impressed with the vanilla). When I was a kid and we'd go to an ice cream place I would normally get a float made with 7Up and chocolate ice cream. This takes me back to those day, though I think the root beer is a better choice.

I think this weekend I might can/pickle some vegetables. Craig will be out of town at an Ultimate tournament. I could have gone, but since it's an open tournament (meaning men's) and not a coed one, I decided to stay home and be "productive" instead. We'll see how that goes.

Today's random quote:
"What am I doing over there?"
-My sister Kimberly, looking across the room at me

Aforementioned orchid

Here's the lonely orchid flower mentioned in my previous post.

Tuesday Tuedsay

Here's another picture of me when I was a kid. I think that I was 4 years old when it was taken.

Well, we go up to South Bend to pick up my cousin Kelcie who will be in town for a few days (she's in a friend's wedding this weekend). Her sister Lindsy, who just moved out of our house, is now in Costa Rica (and then will be going to Nicaragua for the remainder of the summer). So at least Kelcie got to leave Kansas, where she now lives, for the excitment of Indiana!

Well, I just made an appointment to donate blood tomorrow. We'll see how it goes -- the last 2 or 3 times I tried to donate I was rejected because of low iron. I've been eating more fish lately, and taking multi-vitamen supplements when I remember, so hopefully I'll qualify this time.

My lovely orchid I've had on my desk at work for the last couple of months is finally losing its flowers. Only one lonely bloom is left. Ah, well. Hopefully it will bloom again in a year or two if I keep watering it, like others of our orchids have done.

Today's random quote: A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal. --Oscar Wilde

Rainy Monday

Here's a picture of me in my young and carefree days. I believe that it was taken in the MCC compound in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. I liked to balance on and/or climb things.

This past Memorial Day weekend I discovered that it was easier to climb trees when I was ten than now, when I'm almost 30. I now have bit more mass, and my joints aren't as forgiving when I land! On the plus side, I can now reach branches I wouldn't have been able to as a half-pint.

I had a nice relaxing Sunday yesterday after being productive and canning 25 pints of salsa on Saturday with my friend Kevin. I finished reading Dorothy Sayer's Gaudy Night and even watched some tv.

Random quote of the day:

No opera plot can be sensible, for in sensible situations people do not sing. --W H Auden

Saturday morning

It's Saturday morning! After working until almost nine last night, I'm glad it's the weekend. Kathy and Kevin are going to can some salsa today. I usually pass on helping them for the most part. I'm sure I'll find plenty of other stuff to do.

I'll probably start with a jog this morning. Well, it's getting pretty late in the morning, but running sounds like fun, especially since there is rain coming later today. Running has been more fun since I got my Nike+iPod. Now I can keep track of how far I run, my average pace, my best times, etc.

A friend of mine asked me to run in the Dances with Dirt race later this fall in Hell, MI. It is a 100km (about 60 miles) race. Five of us will be doing it relay style so we each will run about 20km (just short of a half marathon). The best part is that it is not a road race. They take you anywhere they feel like taking you. Here is a photo gallery of last years event. Like I said not a road race... Exciting!

So I am off to run. Then I have to go do a little shopping since we are almost completely out of toilet paper. Should be a busy day!

Nephews and family visit

I just found out that from Picassa (Google's photo organizer), you can select a photo and click on the Blog This! button to start a blog entry with the photo already included. Neat!

Kathy and I went back to visit family this Memorial Day weekend. We got to spend a little time with the nephews and played disc golf around their yard. Spent some time up in Hartville and then went down to the Woods, finishing the weekend with a picnic in the Woods.

Well, I don't have a lot of time right now. I need to finish up my paperwork and then we are heading up to South Bend for Ultimate Summer League. We play our good friend Little's team tonight. Should be fun.

Hasta luego!

Phone and blog

Hey there, everybody! Check out my new phone! Well, I don't actually have it yet, but it is probably in the mail. It's a Verizon Wireless XV6700 (review). I'm pretty excited about getting a smartphone. I've been thinking/dreaming about one for awhile. I think it will help my work organization, and it'll be fun!

I'm also excited about having a blog back. Quite a few people asked about it while it was gone. I was pleasantly surprised...

Now, it's back to work. I'll see about adding the old content in the next couple of days.

Mobile blogging test

This blog entry has been sent from my mobile phone. This is a test of the mobile blogging system. It is only a test. If it had been an actual blog entry, this would have been followed by something interesting. This concludes the test of the mobile blogging system.

New blog

Well, my server crashed at home. I was able to save the data, but I thought I would try something new for the Glick Miller blog. So we've moved over to Blogspot. More to come later...