I < 3 U

Valentine's Day came and went. I surprised Saundra by ordering something (though it hasn't arrived yet), so she went and one-upped me yet again, ordering for me the 5 cookbooks that Alton Brown says you must own. Even though she ordered days after I did, 3 of the 5 have arrived already, while her present wallows somewhere in the USPS.

Anyway, the boys had a good time on Friday - giving and receiving cards. When Saundra came home from work on Sunday, she brought them little heart-shaped tins with candy. She also brought me yet another gift - a stuffed frog holding a heart that reads "Love You."

All my love to all of you.

When going wrong goes horribly, horribly right

I got my wife an electric guitar for Christmas. It comes with an amp, picks, plugs, strap, case, and a DVD that supposedly teaches you to play. After getting the e-mail alert about it shipping, I looked up to see that it was to be delivered on Monday (yesterday) while my wife was at home, but I was not. No worries...I just let her know that her big present was coming and not to do any inordinate peeking.

It comes, and for some reason, is NOT conveyed in a nice Christmas-present-friendly plain-brown box; but instead is in a box proudly displaying what the contents are with pretty pictures and big bright words.

Thanks.

So, we discuss the ramifications of the spoiled surprise, and we decide that I get to open my big present from her, to sort of even the score. It's an XBox 360! I had been just about certain that I would not be getting a next-gen console, so the excitement was, shall we say, evident. (I then proceeded to stay up way too late playing one of the little games they give away free with the system.)

Yay!

May 2007 bring us more good news than bad

I guess I should post about the New Year, and maybe update everyone about the past few holiday weeks.

Let's see. Our Anniversary (the 24th) went well. I surprised Saundra with a new ring (which she promptly took around to show off). She got me a beautiful valet; wood with a leather finish and a nice brass monogram plate on the front (so now I show it off for you). It replaced the cardboard software tray that I had been using for all my "pocket stuff." We spent some time being close, drained a bottle of fake wine, and started setting up Santa Stuff for the morning. Santa gets the boys everything we don't want to wrap. If it's in a nice box, we got it. If it's got things sticking out and weird misshapen doohickeys...well, Santa doesn't have to wrap.

Christmas morning does nicely. The kids enjoy their gifts; heck Ryan can't keep his hands off Tristan's gifts. What is it about infant toys that are so universally appealing? Even as we were unboxing all the Santa gifts, Saundra couldn't help but play with them. After paper was shredded and boxes discarded, we started on the ham. I can say, without hyperbole, that it was the best ham I've ever eaten, and I'm a big fan of Heavenly Ham.

On the 29th, I get a call from Enterprise Rent-a-Car. They say that I've reached the limit of my insurance policy, and I can return it, or continue to rent for the same discounted price on my dime. Since it was estimated to be finished by today, I call the body shop that's fixing my car. "Perfect timing, Mr. Hall. We were going to call you in a couple of hours. It's in the finishing room now; we just need to give it the final once over to make sure we got it all." Excellent. We run to the rental place, return their Sentra, cruise to the body shop, retrieve my Civic, and slide on back home to relax. Good day.

On the 30th, Saundra's family came by for a visit. (They called on the 28th, but I figured that didn't warrant a whole entry.) Her parents, 2 brothers, a sister, and their families. It was a full house. We made another ham (m-mm, that's some good ham), and everyone enjoyed it. We all played Taboo and, as usual, the team Saundra and I were on totally kicked butt. The next morning, I made pancakes from scratch, we had some sausage and biscuits, and everyone pigged out again and had a good time before it was time to leave. Another good day.

That night I fell asleep watching the 2006 WSOP main event. Saundra woke me for midnight so we did manage to kiss in the New Year as we should.

Perhaps tonight we'll get around to draining the other bottle of fake wine.

--Beav (I'll have a fake hangover in the morning)

Thanks!

Yet another year has gone by and it's time for the "obligatory what-I'm-thankful-for post."

There are the standards: my friends and family. Both categories have grown this year. (Yay!) I've met Soo, and become better friends with Eric. Not to mention the folks that have shown up at work the past year that I've befriended. And of course, there's little Tristan, the newest member of our family. I constantly have to clamp down on what I say/post because I have an acute case of PPS (Proud Papa Syndrome).

I'm extremely thankful that I'm here in Virginia rather than in the desert, half a world away like so many people I know. One of the great blessings of the job I've been given is that it can be done just as easily by remote.

I'm thankful for my continued convalescent progress. I've started "pool therapy," and have been told that I don't need to walk with a crutch anymore (though I should continue to do so out in public to keep the mob at bay). Many thanks to the Ortho folks and the Physical Therapy folks who together make it possible for me to run worry-free (later).

And, finally, I'm grateful for the continuing development of my kids. (I know, this sounds like a repeat.) Every lesson I teach means a refresher for myself. Almost everything they say and do means more laughter in my day.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving - I hope you have scads of things to be thankful for, and know it.

--Beav

Daddy!

Today was a good day.

I sucked raw eggs in my blogger tourney. (Let someone put me on tilt, and crippled myself to him.) Looked like an idiot marching around. But I went to brunch with my friends here, and then had a cookout with them. I've gotten (and given) many "Happy Father's Day"s. Most of all, I talked to my dad, wife, and sons today. Ryan gained conversation skills somewhere about a week after I left. Tristan is now making fun cooing sounds and is ticklish. Dad is trying to market his rock band, cut a demo, and what not. (Yeah, my dad started a rock band!)

Really made it Father's Day.

I love my life.

--Beav (not to mention the people in it)

It's Christmas Eve! Happy Anniversary!

As I said, it's Christmas Eve. That makes it my anniversary. (Hence the 1224 on my name.)

This morning at midnight, Saundra and I exchanged gifts. I was able (finally) to find something to give her that fits the "Willow" tradition for a 9th anniversary. She happens to love weeping willows, so I got her a willow bonsai tree. She got me Dancing Barefoot by Wil Wheaton. I was totally stoked, and finished it by noon (though, to be fair, it only has 110 pages).

Saundra made a very astute observation this evening. When you're a child, and all you have to do is wait, Dec 24th dra-a-a-ags! But, as a parent, when I've (you've, we've, whatever) got to set out all the Santa presents and get everything as you need it for tomorrow morning, do last minute Christmas Dinner shopping, etc, it flies like an SST.

Happy Christmachannukwanzica!

--Beav

Obligatory thankfulness

Today was Thanksgiving. That means, by law, I'm required to blog about what I'm thankful for.

Mostly, I'm thankful for the marvelous family I have. I'm currently laying on an air mattress in the extra room at my sister-in-law's house. We had Turkey-day here and it was fantastic. The family I was born with called and I burned many of their minutes (and most of their battery time) chatting with anyone who would come to the phone. That was so cool. Part of the family that was here were in-law-in-laws (or whatever) and I was amazed yet again at how close we can all be even when we rarely see each other. Heck, we even had over a guy who works with my brother-in-law, just cause he didn't have anywhere better to go. See, that's the kind of thing I want to spread throughout the world. My wife didn't even try to strangle her mother and the whole day was just great.

I love my life.

Thanks.

What are you thankful for?

--Beav