One by One

Well, I didn't quite make it a full year without blogging here. Of course that was never a goal so I suppose that means I am successful! Excellent, we agree!

(233) I was down another pound before my workout this afternoon.

I joined a new gym this year and it has been awesome. It's like it's own spa/exercise retreat center, with awesome daycare and four water slides in addition to being the best gym I have ever belonged to. Bar none.

I hired a personal trainer (Sheena) and that alone has made me tremendously more effective and focused, not to mention disciplined, than I would have been on my own. She is fantastic, very knowledgeable, and has already whipped me into better shape than I was ever in while on the Nutrisystem program.

At her suggestion I signed up for a nutrition class and have gotten so much out of that as well. I have been on a detox program which has been one of the best and most effective sources of knowledge I have come across to date. Part of that is due to the trainer, a large part, but the information she gives us is readily available if you know how to interpret things like food labels and lists of ingredients. Good stuff.

Sheena also convinced me to get a massage, something I had never done in my life. Needless to say I am hooked. To the tune of 3-4 a month until I really loosen up. That too has been amazing and has really had an impact on me and made a difference in how I feel about myself. I had no idea. Not to mention, talk about stress relief!!

As I go along I will continue to blog about the experience as well as throw in the requisite information on the family and life in general.

The kids are getting ready for college...getting big! Bibbeth has turned out to be the one to keep an eye on and more than makes up for Marcus' easy going approach to things. She is very sweet and chattering and babbling constantly. She is also very bossy and demanding and quite the little princess; not at all afraid to scold you for something you did or didn't do too slowly. Mostly I don't notice as I am too busy spoiling her and trying to sneak kisses in. She is so much fun.

Marcus will turn 3 this summer and it has come to my attention that in addition to building a deck, I will be building a swing-set as well. With a slide. Fortunately my Dad and Stepmom will be living in Omaha this summer. Should be fun.

Having A Blast

Everyone here is doing great and having fun. Marcus is a riot and tons of fun to be around. He loves to play with his cars, as usual, and has become particularly fond of the film (Cars) and is collecting those as we speak. He also loves to play with his trains, and then of course, the drums:



He spends his days with Jen or at G'ma Lu's house, and then on weekends he helps his dad in the yard working on stuff. Sometimes he gets together with his cousins and goes to the zoo:




Bibeth is at the stage where she's getting very active. Of course not so much on camera:



She smiles a lot and coo's, and does a LOT of wiggling. She's a sweetheart.

Jen is doing good. She goes back to work at the end of this month so I think she's mentally preparing herself for that transition. G'ma Lu will take both of the kids Tu-Thur each week and my Mom will take them Mon. and Fri. as usual. I am not sure how long these types of arrangements generally last, but am hopeful someone will kind of clue me in as we go along.

That's My Boy

I miss Marcus so much whenever I am not with him. I find that I think about how much I absolutely love him, absolutely every second, of absolutely every day and not being with him at this stage is difficult to say the least.

This video touches my heart and brings a tear to my eye, every time I hear him talking about me at the end. Plus there's cookies...

Videos

We are all very busy these days, and doing well. Elizabeth, 'Bibeth', is growing so fast. She eats like a champ, sleeps like a champ all through the night, and is now starting to coo and squeak. And I think she purrs but Jen says it's gas.

She's very sweet...


Marcus absolutely loves his baby sister and is sure to remind you. Often. His vocabulary and speaking ability continue to amaze us all. His personality is right at one of those points where you know you're going to really miss this version. He's a riot.




Jen is off work thru the end of May and is enjoying her time home with the kids. Marcus has spent a few days with G'ma Lu which works well for everyone.

I have been keeping busy with various projects around the house and in the yard. We are beginning to feel excited about the house again so I imagine we will be getting a lot of things taken care of this Spring.

Hope all are well.

Papa's Got a Brand New Bag

I am a slow learner. It has taken me awhile to figure that out.

Here is my baby girl...


For me, a lot of being an artist is about exploring and discovering what that means. A lot of my approach to this blog is about me trying to discover what the ideas rattling around inside my head mean; like the previous sentence. And the first two sentences.

I have always made music, since at least the fourth grade but maybe longer. That has always been the center of how I have defined myself and many times how I have interacted with other people. If you asked me if I was an artist I likely would have hesitated for a second and then said, "I suppose so". In college I began as a music major, then switched to theater, and finally to art & art history emphasis in design, before leaving early - a true artist's path. I continue to make music in various forms and have been doing graphic design for longer than I've been house-broken. I mean married. I mean saved - although people still try so I must not be there yet, so really I'm 'saving' - I'm saving.

Another photo...


or two... (throwin' the goat'!!)



So now I m playing with photography and I am really excited about that. I am fortunate that I get to spend a fair amount of my time on the job, taking and working with photos that seem to inspire people. Similar to the responses I got from people that led me to start blogging, if enough people recommend that you do something you enjoy doing...

...wait for it...

...like I said, I'm a slow learner.

More photos on the way 'cause Daddy got a new camera and a new camera bag.

Father of Two

Thank you all so much for the kind words. It's difficult to keep your feet on the ground in moments like this. I have never really been one to pass up a good chance to lose myself in a moment, so we are flying. Although right now I am home alone with the zoo and am missing my family very much...

Jen will remain in the hospital until Monday, assuming all goes well. There is no reason to think it won't so I have exactly (some hours) to work my magic on the rest of what used to be our home. Jen's sister Cathy, my Dad, my Mom, and G'ma Lu (Lucille) and so many others have really been a big help so we are fortunate in many ways.

The final numbers go something like this:

She was born at 12:22p on March 6, 2009. She was 8 lbs. 2 oz. and a little over 20" long. Although baby and mama are still negotiating the specifics, she has begun nursing and is going to sleep in the room with Jen (in a paint tray with lights and a few buttons). I couldn't be more jealous. About being there with her I mean. (although the paint tray bed is pretty cool).

Still, I have the little man to myself all weekend. I think his Mother may have accidentally put money into my wallet, so we'll see what kind of damage we can do. Chances are we will spend

Marcus is So Silly

He loves to get in his toybox and throw the toys out. This time he's pretending the bear is saying, "Hi Marcus".

A Day at the Park

The weather has taken a turn for the better lately so we took a little walk to the park. Marcus loves the park, and we love Marcus so it worked out perfect. Oh, Joker and Daisy went too.

Here's proof:

Tomorrow Starts Today

I am at work so cannot put too much here but HAVE to say something. I am so freakin' excited that today has finally come! I have friends and family in the DC madness today and wish Jen, Marcus, Elizabeth, and I were all there with them. Instead we will celebrate from home which is absolutely fine by me.

What a great day.

One Of Those Days

You ever have one of those days where you know it's going to be one of those days? Yeah, me too. Today was one of those days. I arrived home shortly after Jen and Marcus, who were both downstairs in the basement which had flooded, or more specifically was flooding. Water was running out of a failed joint in the pipes and appeared to have been doing so for an hour or so. Jen had been home over lunch and everything was fine. I had a buddy come over to look at some of the remodeling I am working on, and he said everything was fine when he left, so I know things were OK up until around 3p, give or take.

It was fairly easy to see what had happened, and the cold weather appears to have been a factor. The termination cap for the exhaust fan had frozen somehow (not sure how that all happened yet) and pushed a section of the water pipe loose. It looks like the solder on the joint failed as it broke clean and is easy to reconnect. So tomorrow I review the basics of sweating and soldering copper pipe and then I have work to do.

OK, some really good things happened today too. First, Bobbi Sue sent me a couple pix of the little man from Xmas. One. Two. Then more facebook happened - I just love that thing.