"Deep Freeze 2007!"

The local news channel is just killing me. Every time we get a weather "event," they feel the need to come up with a catchy title for it with special graphics and all, like they're promoting a concert or something. It's comical.

The other thing they always do it talk about the number of "waves" of the storm we are going to get hit with. Like this afternoon, the guy on channel 4 was pointing to the animated radar, telling the TV audience that we're only experiencing "wave #1 of the big storm. Wave 2 and wave 3 are on their way and will hit us over the next day or two." That got really old after we heard that phrase for a week solid just 3 or 4 weeks ago during the "Ice Storm 2007." In reality, we just got hit one time and the ominous and threatening waves 2 and 3 hit somewhere else.

Meteorology must be the only job in which you can be so wrong so often and still get paid big bucks. Just crazy, don't you think?

I just went to the KFOR (TV Channel 4) website to try to find their graphics for the "Deep Freeze 2007" but they're nowhere to be found now. They must be afraid that the other channels will rip it off, it's so good. It must be a very competitive local TV News market down here. =) Here's the 7 day forecast.


Quite forbidding, wouldn't you say, family in PA? and in Toronto? I mean, the long list of school closings hasn't stopped since we turned on the TV an hour ago to watch Jay Leno. And it doesn't matter how well anyone can drive in this stuff because everyone else is driving crazy on old slick tires.

I just think it's funny.

Newborn Babies

Newborn babies smell so good! I can't decide if Storie smells like Tapioca pudding or like hot fudge. Actually, she smells like warm milk right now. It's amazing how they smell good for days without a bath.

Speaking of smell, it's very fortunate for most new dads that newborn poopy diapers don't smell bad, either. They just don't smell at all, which is a welcome releif from Addie's atomic diapers. =)

Went to the hospital again today. We need a Hospital fast-pass card, I think. Holly's legs weren't feeling right, so it wasn't actually a joking matter. Nothing appears to be wrong at this point and after coming home and spending a few hours in bed, her legs aren't feeling as bad as before. I think she was pushing herself too much considering she just had a baby.

And tonight, Danielle Hill brought over dinner for us. What a welcome gift! We met the Hills at Providence Fellowship, where we've been attending for the past few months. What a great group of believers God has gathered to meet together over there! I'm looking forward to getting to know a lot of the men there. They seem really genuine and real and open and many of them have been a huge encouragement to me already. It's been really cool to be able to meet them over lunch and coffee since so many of them live and work closer to us than the members of our previous church.

Well, I guess that's all for tonight. Gotta get some rest... Early morning chiropractor appointment. My back popped out somehow while Storie was being born and it's still not right.

Apple's New iPhone

This is a totally sweet phone! I just spent like 20 minutes watching Steve Jobs give a demo of it and it blows away anything else I've seen. For a long time I've advocated having separate peripherals (i.e. cell phone, PDA), but with constantly bulging jackets, it's become a pain. I've looked at a few Smartphones, but nothing comes close to the new iPhone (which hasn't actually been released yet). Check it out...

Click on the picture to go to Apple's site and see all the juicy details. This is definitely on my Christmas list for this June. =)

Don't Try This

I got this from Titus today. Yeah, I think this would really get a rise out of someone.

Next time you are sitting next to somone who irritates you on a plane or train Follow these instructions:

1. Quietly and calmly open up your laptop case.

2. Remove your laptop.

3. Start it up.

4. Make sure the guy who is annoying you, can see the screen.

6. Close your eyes and tilt your head up to the sky.

7. Then hit this link: http://www.thecleverest.com/countdown.swf

I think if this prank were pulled on me or anywhere near me, I'd instantly smash the computer and strangle the owner, so I don't think I'll try this any time soon. Even if you didn't get hurt pulling a prank like this, you're bound to cause everyone around you to scream and get really upset. Probably would end up in jail at the next stop, too.

Funny, though, and I couldn't resist sharing it. Thougth you might enjoy it.

Baby Storie is here!

Praise the Lord for a healthy delivery! Baby Astoria Rose Sangree arrived at 1:08AM CST, measured 21 inches and weighed in at 7lbs 14oz. They say she looks like me: dark hair, my nose and a good set of lungs. =) We have some great pictures that we'll try to put up on the blog soon.

So grateful for your prayers!

Progress...

Looks like the baby will be arriving very soon! Hol's dilated to a "9" and the baby is at a "plus station" and she's "100% effaced." And if you understood all that, you're most likely not a single, heterosexual male.

I just posted on Addie's blog how much I love epidurals. I think I'm about as relieved as Holly is to see the anesthesiologist come in. There's nothing like that feeling of complete helplessness when your loved one is in pain and I'll do just about anything to avoid it.

Oh, after poking Holly's veins several times in each arm, we prayed and the very next poke struck gold. What a relief. We were waiting for that IV to start before they would do the epidural. So, there was just a little bit of tension in the room! Hol was a real trooper, though.

Check out the cute video I posted of Addie from last weekend when she was really sick. Her raspy voice and sleepy eyes are just SO cute. She even bats her eyelids a time or two. What a sweetheart.

Checked In and Ready to Roll

Just a really quick update to let everyone know that we're checked in
and having a baby! Holly's all hooked up to everything and the
anesthesiologist just left, so all's well. Thanks for praying! Looks
like everything is progressing nicely! Will try to keep everyone
posted. Lots to do...

False Labor

Okay, so if any of you were up early enough to catch it, we posted that we were on our way to the hospital. Turns out it was false labor, due to dehydration. A couple of glasses of water later, the regular, strong contractions stopped altogether and we found ourselves sitting in the hotel... er, hospital room just twiddling our thumbs. So, we pulled out the computer and played a little online poker together (just play money, don't worry).

We're back at home now, and after naps, cleaning the house, getting a haircut, washing the car, etc., contractions seem to possibly be starting up again. Holly, intent on not going through another false labor, is drinking heavily. =) There's a really cool online contraction timer that we've been using that helps a lot.

Holly's still laughing about this morning. After bolting out of bed at 4AM, Hol decided she had time enough to take a bath so I hurriedly jumped in the shower. I was so intent on rushing that I ended up taking as much time as I normally do in the shower, because I soaped up twice in my haste. =)

Well, I may just jump in the shower again since I just got a haircut in our "down time" this afternoon. I was trying to stay out of the house so Hol could get a nap. Oh, I just filled up the Toyota and thought I'd take a picture for everyone else in the country to turn green over. I'm loving these gas prices!


And while I'm downloading the camera, I noticed one from back when we were snowed in. After a few days of being snowed in, I had to run out for a few staples that we had run out of. Here's a picture that we couldn't resist taking after I got back from the grocery.


We came down with colds, so we haven't even touched our stock, but we'll be ready once we're back to 100%. There's just something comforting coming home knowing that there's plenty of Dr. Pepper to go around. =)

Mall-Walking

Holly and I are both feeling better today than yesterday. Maybe it's the NyQuil? That stuff is powerful! I feel like I'm buzzing whenever I get up from the couch.

Anyway, we're both hungry and Addie is visiting Grammy, so I think we're going to go walk at the mall and eat at our favorite little Chinese place there in the food court. Their orange chicken is rivalled only by Panda Express, which we don't have here in Oklahoma for some poor reason.

Since Holly could go into labor any moment, we have to be ready despite feeling sick. No going days without shaving or fixing hair. And, Mom, you'd be proud, we're all wearing clean underwear here. Including me.

Minority Report

So last night, after going to bed, my Sudafed wore off and I started dreaming due to the pain behind my eyeballs. I was in a dirty back room of some house and was getting a cornea transplant. It cost me $225 and I remember wondering if I'd done the right thing by shopping for the best price. =)

Then I woke up and took some more Sudafed and Tylenol.

Looks like the meteorologists didn't read the stars quite right regarding our snow storm. It's still sleeting with no accumulation. I don't think we're going to get more than a few inches this time around, which is a releif considering Holly's pending labor and delivery!

Labor, Weather, and Cars

Holly's dilated to 4cm and is 50% effaced. We could have baby #2 any time! At the same time, big storm #2 is arriving in about 2 hours. Last estimates were for about 10 inches of snow. That on top of all of the ice that we still have, could pretty much shut down town. We called the hospital today and all of the delivery beds are full and there were 4 ladies on the waiting list. Everyone wants to have their baby before the storm hits, I guess.

So, if you think of us, pray that everything will work out okay! Holly's falling asleep as I type and despite the early hour (8:30PM) I think we're both going to bed. No sense going into this with any kind of sleep deficit!

Addie's pinkeye has improved drastically and her cold is just about gone completely. Now Holly and I are fighting it. Bad timing, I'd say. Addie is a little germ host/carrier. Seems like we always get it worse than she did.

We sold the red Explorer this week to some friends from our old church. Should be a really good vehicle for them. It was really dependable for us and they got a great deal on it in the end. Last thing to sell is the Aprilia RST 1000 (motorcycle). It's all cleaned up and being showcased in the waiting room at Guy's shop, looking good. Makes me want to keep it and I probably would if we had the room. The Avalon doesn't leave nearly as much room as the Miata did in the garage. =)

I'll Take Two

Well, I thought maybe it was just our family, but I guess not! Everyone loves a good back-tickle!! Man, I think I'd pay a dollar a minute for one of these beds. =)

I could use one at home and one at the office. =)

Pics of Massive Storm of 2007!!!

Okay, folks, here are the pictures you've been waiting for! The reason everyone's been locked in for the last 4 days and the cause for our declared state of emergency last Friday. Check it out! It almost covered all of the grass by the toys in the backyard!!!


I sprinkled birdseed on top of the snow and the birds just loved it!


We finally got our birdfeeder hung. Auntie Margie and Uncle Robert (from Toronto, Canada) gave it to us back in 2005, but we finally got it hung, and in style! Isn't that a cool way to hang it? I love that wrought iron hanger. We can see it nicely from the kitchen, so I got a few pictures of the pretty birds as well. Sorry about the blinds being in most of these pictures! I guess I need to raise them before the birds arrive. The would have flown away this time.












Apparently, the birds are ground-feeders. They'd rather not eat at the bird feeder, so I have to go out and spill it out of the beautiful spill-resistant feeder for them. =) I put some seed up on top of the trash cans to see if I can get them closer to the feeder. From the top of the trash cans, it's just about 18 inches to the feeder, so maybe they'll see it and realize there's more food up there. =) Baby steps... (If you haven't seen the movie, "What About Bob," that's where the "baby steps" quote is coming from. Go rent it and don't have any compassion for the psychiatrist - you'll enjoy it more that way. It's really funny.)

Ice Storm 2007

Well, we've survived another ice storm. I think we got 2" of sleet this time. It froze nicely on the front yard so you can even drive over it and it doesn't crack. Wish we had a good hill around here to sled on. You could really get going on this stuff...

We had a long weekend and decided to camp in at our place for the weekend to avoid the crazy drivers on the roads in their 4-wheel drive pickups and slick summer tires. =) With such little winter weather, people just don't think about preparing for bad weather down here, so it's always a state disaster. Literally. Our Governor declared a State emergency before it even started sleeting. Better quit now or I'll never stop.

Mom, we go the curtain in the guest room hung! How do you like it? We like it a lot. Thanks for all of your help with the decorating ideas! Got the wall-hanging hung as well, but I need to make some changes to it so it's not draping a few inches away from the wall. I guess the curtain-rod idea wasn't the best solution for it.


Addie was enjoying watching me get all bundled up to brave the cold every time our firewood stock ran low in the living room. After a day or two of everyone being couped up in the living room, she decided to dress up like me. You can hardly tell it's not me in these pictures.




And in the last picture, Holly is making a really delicious Chicken Piccata recipe. Oh, man, that was SO good. Please don't lose that recipe, hon. She even improvised, adding sun-dried tomatoes in addition to the capers it called for. (PSA: Capers are a plant blossom, not a fish!) We had it for lunch again today and it was just as good left over. It's easily one of my top 5 favorite dishes of all time. Oh, the picture... Yes, Holly needed a chicken tenderizer and I had just the thing for her. This 22-ounce Estwing framing hammer (recognize it, Sean and Dad?) has been neglected long enough. Time to bring it out and put it to work again! It did the trick nicely after a thorough scrubbing in the kitchen sink.


Well, the long weekend is over and it's back to work in 6-1/2 hours, so I'm going to hit the hay. Hopefully Addie sleeps better tonight than last night. We've already had her up a couple of times to put in eye drops and give cough medicine. I ran out for some Vicks vap-o-rub. We used this stuff all the time when we were kids. Holly had never heard of it, but I think she'll like it considering Addie hasn't coughed in the last 2 hours since we put it on her and put her back in bed. I guess there's a lot of good in those old childhood remedies. When the kids are sick, we'd be willing to try just about anything.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Nelson Mandela Quote...

Admittedly, I know very little (maybe nothing at all) about Nelson Mandela. This quote was sent to me by a Christian Entrepreneur group and I appreciated it enough to pass it along.

"We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us, ALL OF US. And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. Tell me who your best friends are, and I will tell you who you are. If you run with wolves, you will learn how to howl. But, if you associate with eagles, you will learn how to soar to great heights. "A mirror reflects a man's face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses." The simple but true fact of life is that you become like those with who you closely associate-for the good and the bad. The less you associate with some people, the more your life will improve. Any time you tolerate mediocrity in others, it increases your mediocrity. An important attribute in successful people is their impatience with the negative thinking and negative acting people. As you grow, your associates will change. Some of your friends will not want you to go on. They will want you to stay where they are. Friends that don't help you climb will want you to crawl. Your friends will stretch your vision or choke your dream. Those that don't increase you will eventually decrease you.

"Consider this: Never receive counsel from unproductive people. Never discuss your problems with someone incapable of contributing to the solution. Because those who never succeed themselves are always first to tell you how. Not everyone has a right to speak into your life. You are certain to get the worst of the bargain when you exchange ideas with the wrong person"

I'm not sure any further exposition is really needed after that. I sure am grateful for all of the quality friends I've been able to make and keep over the years. Providence Fellowship has facilitated meeting so many more, too, that I look forward to getting to know better in the years ahead.

Old Age

You know, from one birthday to the next most people don't really feel older or notice differences. I saw some pretty significant differences this last birthday, though. Here are a few that come to mind:

My taste in cars has totally changed. Gone are the sports car days and here are the smooth-driving big car days. Well, medium-sized at least. Anything seems big compared to my last little 2-seater convertible. Every day I am SO grateful for cruise control, a really quiet cabin, automatic transmission, and automatic running lights.

I started listening to books on tape! Last year, I think I started 4 books and finished only 1. I've suddenly been hit with the realization that unless I continue to read and learn, I'm always going to be pretty much the same as I am now. I plan to make good use of my library card this year and from here on out. Audio books are such a great way to redeem the time spent driving around town. I've given up on Rush Limbaugh accomplishing anything and even the Christian radio station gets old after a while when you hear the same songs every day. I'm really excited to continue learning in this way. I guess that doesn't really seem like an age thing, but it is because I'm realizing that I have less time to do and learn the important things.

I'm purposely going to bed earlier so I feel better. Call me an old fogey, but I just can't party 'til the early morning hours like I used to be able to. Well, at least I can't stay up late and still function normally the next day. =)

I just bought a "Poker for Dummies" book so I can start my own little home poker game with some friends from church, etc. Picture 6 guys around a table at home playing poker. How old are they? Like 60? Yep, that's me. So much for rollerblading, mountain biking, running, and Whirley-ball. Well, I do still play soccer. Gotta keep these old bones limber somehow. =)

Okay, so I'm not really that old. Thirty-three is the new twenty-three, right? I just started pondering the recent changes and thought it was funny how they seemed all grown-up and old.

Hot Rod of the Week

And now for a little tongue-in-cheek fun... Today's hot rod of the week! This morning, on my way back from giving a private photography lesson, I ran across this red beauty.


There are a few fine points that set this one above the rest. The obvious first is the coffee-can sized tail pipe. You should have heard the rich tones coming from this 1.4 liter 4-banger. It sounded more like a Lambourghini or a Lawn Boy or something. Next, we have the remnants of (what I imagine to be) an Al Gore bumper sticker on a very faded bumper to match the faded red paint. I did not photoshop this picture at all. And finally, the well-placed strip of duct-tape under the left tail light.

I was just glad to have been quick enough to get this picture before the light turned green and he burned rubber out of view.

I saw gasoline prices here dropped to $1.97 today. I guess they know everyone's planning road trips now, so they drop the prices and then raise them as soon as school's out for the summer. (And for every holiday between now and then.)

NPDA Conference

Senior Care, our other family business in Oklahoma, has been involved with the NPDA (National Private Duty Association) since it started 4 years ago. We're charter members and have enjoyed attending every conference so far. When NPDA leadership called a month or two ago to invite me to emcee an open forum of questions and answers, I was a bit apprehensive to accept. Public speaking hasn't really been a strength of mine. One on one, I can talk with anyone, but don't give me a lectern and put me in front of a few dozen people. It's hard to connect with a group and I think that's what gets me. You don't get feedback from the entire group.

Anyway, the conference brochure came out on the NPDA website, so I thought I'd paste my little write-up from page 6 here.
Wish me luck! Of all the sessions I could have been asked to lead, this must be the easiest. I mean, I don't need to prepare or anything! It's just emceeing the questions from the crown and answers from the crowd. Maybe I should look up some crowd-control techniques? =) Seriously, though, it's caused me to reconsider joining Toastmasters to work on public speaking. I understand that public speaking is one of the top fears universally and in my case I'm sure it's mostly just due to inexperience.

We're heading out to lunch with Holly's family, so I don't have time to do it now, but I've been working on my Goals for 2007 and I'll mention some of them here later.

Oh, here's an interesting side-note. Did you know that Google has an alert service that you can use to constantly search for specific terms, like your name or business name? Very helpful! You can see more about it here.