Typical Guilford County Snow Panic

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
So it sleets about a quarter inch last night. There were reports of snowflakes falling about 3:00 am. If you have ever lived in NC you know what that means. Death! Destruction! Chaos in the streets! We can't have the school buses out there! They might spontaneously combust in incredible cold as they slide out of control, end over end into a river! By 9:00 the roads were just wet. I wish the weather would make up its mind down here...either be spring, or be winter...quit bouncing back and forth.

Jim was back from Florida for the day. It was pretty busy around the office as we tried to get everything together from the last month, synchronize our watches, etc. He is headed to Las Vegas tomorrow (maybe he'll run into mom?) for the next week. I wound up working until 6:30 trying to get everything in order before he left again. Heather is about ready to be on her own about 90% of the time, which will allow me to make a little money. Heaven knows we need it. I forget how expensive having kids is.

After work, Cherie and I went and got dinner for everybody. She and Bart wanted to try some "Southern BBQ," so they ordered "BBQ for 2" from Stamey's. Shena and I aren't big fans of Stamey's (sorry Marcos...but that leaves more for you...and you can get some in a couple of weeks), so we had Taco Bell with the boys. After dinner, I installed my new battery that I bought for my "new" Ipaq on e-bay. Seems to be working fine. That is a relief because I was afraid that I had shorted the board out or something when I tried to change the battery earlier. That would have sucked...ruining a perfectly good, just given to me Ipaq. Bart has a Garmin iQue 3500 (or something like that). It's basically a GPS unit and a PDA combined. The problem is they run on the Palm OS, and I've never used one, and I get uncomfortable outside my perverted, messed up little Windows world. But there is good news. For only $754, I can get the NEW IQue M5, that runs on the Windows OS. Thing looks pretty cool. I know Bart's GPS worked dang good. It is definitely a "want" toy, but when this new Ipaq goes out on me, I may look into one. It would be nice to have the GPS with me, especially if my job is going to require as much travel in the next couple of years as I suspect. We'll have to wait and see what happens.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Cade had been stuck in the house all day today, and when Cherie and I were headed out to get the food, he started saying "Puuuhhhleeeeeeeeeeezzze, dad. I want to go. But, I said please!" The kid had worn shorts and a t-shirt all day (high of 34 on the day, it was about 28 at the time). But I felt bad because he was asking so nice and Shena said that he had been a good kid all day. I got his "Steelers" blanket and wrapped him up like a burrito. We stuck him in the car like that, and he didn't move the whole time, just sat in his car seat, arms wrapped up in the blanket. At Stamey's, Cherie got out to go and get the food and he talked to me for a few minutes, said that he had played Blue's Clues memory game and the Dora game with Grandma, but otherwise he didn't say a word the entire trip. He actually fell asleep the last few minutes on our way home.

Shena said that when we left the house to go and get the food, he grabbed HIS Steelers blanket, wrapped himself up in it and then ran to the door yelling at us to try to go too. Poor kid doesn't get to go as many places as Cade. His car seat is so much harder to move back and forth between cars as compared to Cade's. I don't think he minds too much, though.

Shena didn't feel very well today. She said that the last couple of days that during the afternoon she has felt really badly. She winds up getting nauseas, taking her pill that is supposed to stop it, but also makes her drowsy, and then she has a hard time getting anything done in the afternoon. That means I will be taking Bart & Cherie to the airport in Raleigh tomorrow, which is fine. Since Jim will be out of town himself, it won't affect work much. If it had been today, it might be a different story, but I can handle it tomorrow.

Arellano Update
None to report on...other than Adam's not doing a very good job of keeping up with his blog. It's been up for four days and only has about 2 1/6 entries. You need to get on that, brother.

Christensen Update
Since Shena didn't feel very well, Bart & Cherie mostly spent the day hanging out at the house. Maybe it is their idea of vacation, I don't know. I guess it is kind of nice to have "nothing" to do sometimes.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 12:00 - 6:30 - when Kelson came in, I wondered what the roads were like and if we really got the 3-4 inches they were calling for on the Weather Channel...then watched Sports Center until 7:00. At least I was up on time, right?

TODAY:
Breakfast: None - I wanted some, but ran out of time

Lunch: I had left over italian dressing/cream cheese chicken (need to come up with a name for this dish...or find out what it is, anyway) and white rice, with a couple of pieces of bread, water - had two CC cookies from last night with milk too...they were just as good today as they were yesterday.

Dinner: Taco Bell - steak gordita supreme, no tomatoes - bean burrito, no onions - two hush puppies (from Bart's dinner), A&W. Also had some strawberry cobbler from Stamey's. I had heard their cobbler was good, and I was pretty impressed. Very tasty. I will have to try their other flavors, now.

Grilling Hamburgers

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
A quick and dirty report tonight. Not alot to report on.

Had church. Nothing exciting, really.

After church, just kind of chilled, hung out with the family. We watched Against the Ropes. It was ok, but not great. Not one of Meg Ryan's best, and I have to agree with Shena, she really doesn't look as good now that she had her lips injected. People who have that done just seem to look goofy and unnatural. The movie was kind of hard to follow and pretty shallow. I can't say I really knew enough about any of the characters to care about them. And of course, since it was a boxing movie, it is hard not to compare it to Rocky. And it certainly wasn't Rocky.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
The boys were good again today. They both got naps, and were immediately going a million miles an hour after they woke up. We played some basketball and wrestled for a while. Cade got in trouble twice and had to sit on the mat...one right after the other. He and Kelson have started stomping their foot at us when they don't like something we say. We are trying to put a stop to that. While we were watching the movie, the boys were supposed to be in our room watching Bob the Builder and Dora, but Kelson kept coming out. When I would look at him and tell him to go into the other room, he would put his hands over his eyes and pretend like I couldn't see him. He pretty much ignored me, but it was cute to see him do it.

Arellano Update
Mom came over for lunch. She didn't stay long because the rest of us were tired and going to lie down for naps. I think she took the unintended hint that we were too tired to hang out and talk.

Christensen Update
Heard tonight that Kyle smashed is nose into the handlebars of a snow machine and cut it up some. Doesn't sound like fun to me.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 12:05 - 7:04 - Not bad...I'm getting somewhat consistent.

TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: Grilled hamburgers (not necessarily WARM today, but not cold either), of course I had double cheese on mine, lettuce, miracle whip, ketchup, mustard - potato salad - baked beans - a few Ruffles original with A&W. We didn't have anything special for dessert, so I had a couple E.L. Fudges and some milk.

Dinner: Mustard cheese and lettuce sandwich on wheat, orange juice. During the movie a little while later, I made some Pillsbury CC cookies. We needed to finish the dough. They came out a little under done and I had to eat them with a fork...they were actually pretty good that way, too.

Eagle 2!

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
A busy Saturday. For once we were busy and didn't spend most of the day in the house bored.

First thing this morning I went to help Joe Hamilton, Brad Crockett, Trent Larson and Ed Plummer cut down a tree at the Neese's house. He was afraid that this tree in his front yard was going to grow into his sewer lines and cause problems. It only took us about 2 hours with all of us. And we had a good time talking while we did it.

After that bit of service, Bart and I went golfing at Crooked Tree in Browns Summit. They comped him since he is a PGA Course Superinendent, so we only had to pay $30 for my greens fees. They also comped us a cart. Not a great round for me, but I did shoot 98, which is about typical for me. Bart didn't bring his clubs with him, so he used that as an excuse all day. However, he decided he wanted to use my clubs, so I got stuck with my dad's, which I haven't played with in years and years. I had a rough round with them...I don't think I hit a single ball where I wanted to on the front nine with his King Cobra irons. Back 9 I decided to use my own clubs. It made a bit of a difference (mentally, anyway). My score wasn't that much better, but I felt like I hit the ball better. The highlight of my day was my 2nd (kind of, I'll explain in a second) shot on #4 (316 yard par 4). Had one of my best tee shots ever, which put me 70 yards away from the green, but only about 60 yards from the hole. I used my dad's 64 degree lob wedge and gave it a full swing. Beautiful flight path...looks nice...should be close...one hop on the green...the ball bounces into the air and moves left...and it DROPS IN. I don't think it even hit the pin. How it moved left, I don't know, but it caught me by surprise. Now, the bad news. If I was playing in the tournament, I wouldn't have been able to put down a "2" on the scorecard. After Bart & I teed off, we had both gone towards the right side of the fairway, his looked like it had skimmed the trees...maybe even going into the trees. When we pulled up to where the balls fell, we saw one ball, and we both assumed it was mine. It was a little further than we thought Bart's could have gone, and it wasn't as close to the trees as we thought his ball went either. We looked around for his a bit, but didn't find another ball so we thought it had gotten caught in the branches. He decided he would drop one near where he thought his ball would have been, and then I walked up to him "my" ball. I didn't even look closely at the ball because there was no doubt in my mind it was mine. I took the shot and pulled it left and missed the green by about 10 yards...just missing a sand bunker. Bart hit his shot and we got into the cart to finish the hole. As we drove up the fairway (up and over a little hill), there was another ball in the fairway. There was no way it was anybody else's, so we stopped and looked...sure enough, it was my ball. That was when I played my "2nd" shot that I knocked in from 60 yards away. To be completely honest, I don't know what the ruling would be in that situation. I know that it is at least a one stroke penalty, but I don't know if I am supposed to finish the whole playing the "wrong ball" or if I'm supposed to drop nearest where the "wrong ball" landed, or if I was supposed to go back and play my correct ball (which I did). A little help from aybody out there who knows would be appreciated...just so I know next time! The rest of the round was good. It was a beautiful day. I wouldn't have minded if it was about 8 degrees warmer, but it was sunny, just a very slight breeze and about 53 degrees. Not bad at all. Bart enjoyed the course.

After we got done playing, Shena and her mom had decided a while back that we would go out on a double date tonight to celebrate mine and Shena's birthday. The girls wanted to go see a movie. We couldn't really decide what to go see, but Hotel Rwanda (official site...better description)met the "action" criteria for Bart & I, and it also meet the "emotional" criteria for the girls and it also happened to be showing at a good time, so we went and saw it. I hadn't seen previews for it, so I didn't even know what it was about, but I had heard it was based on a true story. It was excellent. Very good, moving movie. If you get the chance, go and see it. Only one or two "funny" (light laughing...nothing outrageous) parts, not very much blood (which there could have been a lot of), no nudity and the language is somewhat mild. It makes you both grateful to live in a turmoil free country, but also frustrated that more wasn't done by not only our government, but by the other "white" countries. And to see that these people were killing their own countrymen, women and children too, was disheartening. I know it isn't the only place it has happened...but it still is tough to watch.

On a slightly related, but different note, I really don't like seeing movies at The Carousel. It had been a while since I had been there, but the place already is starting to smell "old" and the ticket taking system just stinks. They have five theaters on either side of the snack counter, and they don't check tickets until you get to the doors immediately leading to the theaters. That means there is ONE line for FIVE theaters that are showing movies at DIFFERENT times. It was a mad house in there and you never knew if you were cutting in line, or if others were cutting in front of you. The Grande certainly has a MUCH better system. They take your ticket BEFORE the snack counter, then trust you to go into the right theater at the right time. When we walked out after our movie, the line was all the way backed up into the lobby and all the way across it. I'm sure there were people in the back of the line who were missing their movie because they thought they had to wait until they got to the front of the line. There popcorn was also horrible and we bought a pretzel that tasted like it had been sitting there for a week. They DO have coliseum seating, but the seats don't recline and are skinnier than The Grandes. About the only good thing I can say about them is that their "commercials" that they show before they even start the previews are better put together than The Grandes cheesy slide projector that looks like it came from the 80's. I will be sure to avoid The Carousel as much as possible in the future.

After the movie we decided to go out to eat. We wound up at Elizabeth's Pizza on Lawndale. Not much to report about that. Just dinner.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
While Bart & I were golfing, the boys and girls ran a couple of errands. They were good kids again, which I love to hear from Shena. Makes me feel like all the rough times trying to teach them the right thing to do may be rubbing off a little bit. They aren't angels all the time, but it sure is fun to see them be good and obedient.

Arellano Update
None to report today.

Christensen Update
Don't have much more to give you than what has already been said.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 12:05 - 7:20 - My eyes opened at 6:50, but they didn't stay open long. Just long enough for me to think "It's Saturday, I can sleep a few more minutes."

TODAY:
Breakfast: One bowl of frosted mini-wheats (had to get energy for clearing the tree and golf!)

Lunch: Chili dog with ketchup and mustard, oatmeal creme cookie, water (at the golf course)

Dinner: Elizabeth's Pizza - three pieces of Ham pizza, water, later had a home made chocolate milkshake

Field Trip to Charlotte Area

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Welcome back to the "Big Show!" Nice to have you.

I have been encouraged by the response I am getting from friends and family. I knew I had at least one brother reading the blog on a regular basis, but have been told that many of my family members are regulars, and that a few of my friends have also taken the time to check in from time to time. So far everybody has had positive comments about the idea...so, you all know you shouldn't lie like that, but I appreciate you considering my feelings! :)

You may notice a new addition to the right side of the blog. A "Links" menu has appeared. I hadn't really considered one in the past, but my brother Adam e-mailed me today to let me know he was going to start a blog of his own. I wanted to be sure to give you all the pleasure of reading his thoughts too, so I threw the menu in. After reading a couple of his installments, you will see he definitely is more creative than I am (we call him "SPECIAL" in my family). I'll have to come up with some other links later down the road...maybe even change them up on occasion.

Not a typical Friday for me. I actually WORKED until 5:30. I usually have mentally clocked out by about 4:00 or 4:30 on Friday afternoon, but stayed focused today. We've had a bit of a time trying to get this new version of our document imaging program running properly and I had fallen behind. I hope to be caught back up by Monday, but we'll see. Next week is going to be pretty crazy with Jim coming back from Florida for one day (Monday) Bart & Cherie leaving (Tuesday), mom leaving (also Tuesday) and construction starting on the addition (somewhere between Monday and Wednesday. Woe is me, right? Sheesh. I'm such a baby sometimes.

Had lunch with Teresa since the family was out of town. She is usually my lunch buddy when I don't go home for lunch. She's lived here in Greensboro her whole life, so she knows even more about the city than I do, especially places to eat. We went to Lox Stock & Bagel, which is next to Fleet Plummer and Omega Sports off Battleground. Never even knew the place existed, but they have pretty good sandwiches. I also got a peek of the inside of Mad Platter, where Shena loves to go with her girlfriends. Teresa had to pick up a project to work on or something. Kind of a cool place, lots of cool stuff for people to make, but nothing I feel like I could do. I can see why Shena would like to go there, though.

After work went to Mexico #6 (the restaurant closest to our house) with mom and the rest of my crew for dinner. We swapped war stories from the day, then headed home to chill the rest of the night. We all watched America's Funniest Home Videos (it was a 2 hour special), then everybody disappeared to their beds. Shena and Cade fell asleep in the chair about 1/2 way through the show, Kelson fell asleep in our bed again. I got their tent set up and put them into their sleeping bags.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Shena, the boys and Grandma and Grandpa C went to the NC Transportation Museum in Spencer (about 50 miles south). It is a free museum, but they have a train ride that costs about $5 for adults to ride. Unfortunately, the trains don't run during the winter and won't start up again until next weekend. They were all pretty disappointed. They actually only spent about 2 hours at the museum itself, but said it was kind of cool anyway.

They then headed to Concord Mills since it was only another 15 minute drive further south from where they were. Cherie was proud of herself for not spending any money...and Shena was pronto of herself for spending $50, I mean, I'm not supposed to focus on what she spent, but on what she SAVED. I always forget. Supposedly she saved about $120. Does that mean I can go and spend $120 tomorrow?

They got back into town about 3:30, just in time for Shena to go and teach her 4:00 piano lesson. She said the boys were pretty good while they were on the road and at the museum, but Cade pitched a bit of a fit when the adults ran out of quarters to pump into the merry-go-round and the little kid car rides. I guess he wasn't ready to be done riding. She said Kelson was a Papa's boy today. He didn't want Shena to carry him, wanted Grandpa to.

Arellano Update
Talked to Lettie for the first time in quite a while. I've been pretty slack about calling her...but now that I think about it, she hasn't exactly been ringing our phone off the hook either. She said she is doing fine....feeling better after bout with a cold. She is still working at KPVI Channel 6 in Pocatello. She has a funky schedule where she works two 18 hour days in a row, four hours the third day and then is off for the next four days. A pretty good schedule for her because she likes to keep those kinds of funky hours. She is excited for her trip with mom to Las Vegas.

Christensen Update
You got most of it above in the "Llano update."

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 12:00 - 6:45 - the boys helped wake me up this morning. They both showed up together at the side of our bed and then climbed in and started jumping on us.

TODAY:
Breakfast: Bowl of frosted mini-wheats - not sure why I ate breakfast this morning...I was hungry or something.

Lunch: Lox Stock & Bagel - "The Asbury" - grilled chicken, prosciutto ham, swiss cheese, lettuce, mustard on a keiser roll (am I going to fail a drug test, now?), coke. They also had some pretty good cookies that I got for the road (they're small, Marcos...not the full size ones like Shena makes) - 1 chocolate chip (awesome), 1 macadamia nut (not bad), 1 oatmeal raisin (would have been good, but had walnuts in it...ruins the whole cookie)

Dinner: Mexico #6 - Combination #17 - One chicken burrito, one cheese enchilada, rice and beans, sprite. Ate several chips with cheese dip, and a couple of bites of Shena's fried ice cream. I also had 2 girl scout cookies (Pinata's this time) and milk just before I sat down to write.

Krispy Kreme Run

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Nothing exciting to report during work hours. Spent the day as usual, trying to put out fires.

After work, mom came over to have dinner with the rest of us. We hung out and talked a bit. The "new" Ipaq that Bart brought for us has a bad battery in it. I had an old Ipaq that had the touch screen go out on it, so I thought that I could steal the battery from it. I must have damaged it taking it out of the bad Ipaq, because it didn't work at all in the new one. I spent about 1 hour and 1/2 trying to get the thing to work. Anyway, I had to order a new battery from E-bay. You can tell your technology is getting old when the price gets so low. I bought Shena a new battery for her Ipaq about a year and a half ago for $60. I bought mine yesterday for $20. You can get my PDA with all the accessories for $60 now.

Cherie and Shena went to Mad Platter to work on some ice cream bowls, so Bart and I got to watch the boys. They were both pretty tired from staying up so late last night, and both were asleep by 8:30. Cade fell asleep on the couch and Kelson fell asleep in mine and Shena's bed. He only got out once...and he also fell out of the bed about and hour after he'd fallen asleep. He didn't even make a noise, though. Just stayed asleep. Usually something like that would wake him up. When Shena got home, she set the tent back up and we moved both the boys into it and we didn't hear from them again until 6:45 this morning. They really were tired.

About 9:30 Shena said she wanted Krispy Kreme. And in case you haven't figured it out yet, she is pregnant...and I nobody likes a grouchy pregnant lady, so I went and made a "late-night" (for us old married folk) Krispy Kreme run. It wasn't too bad. About 20 minutes round trip. Nobody was in the drive through and there weren't many cars on the road, so it was pretty quick. I had already put on my pajamas, and the girl in the drive through noticed...said "I like your pajamas." I don't know if she was being sarcastic or not. I don't really care either.

For anybody who hasn't been watching "Lost" and is wondering why Shena and I like the show so much, check out this "Lost" synopsis. It will get you up to speed on what is going on and might get you intrigued. It really is a good show and we recommend it.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Everybody else went shopping this morning while I worked. They said they went to Sam's Club, Rhodes Furniture (we are keeping our eyes open for a bunk bed for the boys) because they are going out of business and Harris Teeter. Shena said the boys were pretty good the whole time. Cade and Kelson have liked having G'Ma and G'Pa around.

Arellano Update
As mentioned earlier, mom came over for dinner. She is still excited for her trip. She and Bart got into a discussion about the Teton dam and what they experienced. We have pictures of me in the water afterwards. Bart said he and his cousin Max went up to help people clean up afterwards and he has talked before about the stink and the dead bloated animals floating in the water. I didn't hear their whole conversation, but it gave me an excuse to link to the above website.

Christensen Update
Did I mention Bart & Cherie are in town?

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 12:05 - 6:50 - I actually didn't get out of bed until 7:1o. Shena beat me to the shower, so I was waiting for her to get out

TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: Ham and cheese on wheat with mircacle whip (light) and mustard, "light" Lay's BBQ chips, root beer - also had two Girl Scout Caramel DeLites cookies.

Dinner: Cubed chicken cooked in a Italian Dressing and cream cheese sauce, white rice, green beens, rolls and homemade raspberry jam, water. The chicken was apparently a new recipe for Cherie, and it was pretty good. I was surprised that they used cream cheese. I never would have guessed if I hadn't asked after dinner. And, as mentioned earlier, we had Krispy Kreme later...with milk of course.

"The woods." See 2 posts below.

Back of the house from "the woods."

A couple of views of the back of the house, pre-construction and view from the backyard looking into the back of the property. Property line goes back to almost the back of the storage shed you can see off to the right of the picture. We hope to clear out most of the trees you see here.

Cade & Kelson "camping out" in our living room the first night Grandma & Grandpa C. were visiting. (Last night)

In-Laws In-Town

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
I ran several errands today during my lunch break. I've been putting them off, but decided to just get them done today. I dropped off my taxes at Keith Hiatt's. He's been doing them for us since we moved here. I'm hoping we get a refund this year. It would certainly help pay back part of the addition or go towards Shena's mini-van. I got the car washed (our Nissan. Sorry Marcos...mom is taking yours in for new tires, new oil and an inspection, so I'll get it done then, if they don't do it for us). The Sentra hadn't been washed in who knows how long and it hadn't been vacuumed in even longer. Having two kids riding around back there every day doesn't help it stay clean. It looks much nicer now. I also bought a gift certificate for my real estate buddy who gave us advice as to whether we were likely to get our money back on the money we spend on the addition. I was going to send him a "thank you" note anyway, and wanted to get him something else, too.

Work was kind of crazy. We are getting a newer version of one of our programs at work (our document imaging) and the guy who was doing it took most of the day to get it done. He will have to come in tomorrow morning to finish it up, but it just kind of made things a little tougher than usual trying to work around him. Then of course, Shena was picking up her parents and they were getting back into town right around 5:15, and a client called just before 5 needing some paperwork overnighted. I was ready for the day to be over.

Bart and Cherie made it ok. They connected in Phoenix on AmericaWest. The flight from Phoenix to Greensboro is about 4 hours, plus another 1 1/2 hour drive. They were tired of sitting when they got here. Bart gave us a "new to us" IPAQ that they weren't using. Shena and I both used to have our own, but the touch screen on mine went out about 6-9 months ago. I had taken Shena's since I used the IPAQ more than she did, and she had gone back to a Franklin. I took the new one, and she will be getting her old one back. I don't think she is happy about it, but like I said, I use it quite a bit more than she does. She will just use hers when she doesn't want to carry the Franklin around with her.

We watched "Lost" and "King of Queens" with Bart & Cherie. They hadn't seen Lost before, so we kept pausing it when new characters came on the screen to try to explain what was going on and some of the back stories for each of them. I think they liked it ok.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Shena tried to clean the house a bit before her parents got here...but she wasn't feeling very well around lunch time. She decided to lay down and rest for a bit before she had to leave about 2:30 to pick them up at 4:00.

Shena said the boys were pretty good when she went to pick up her mom and dad. Kelson sleept most of the time, and Cade watched his movie on the way over, and talked to Grandma on the way back. After they go home, he was bugging and bugging and bugging Grandma to shoot hoops with him. He was a patient little kid waiting for us to eat so that she would play with him. He and Kelson are sleeping in a Mickey tent in the living room. Almost like they are camping. Cade went to bed about 9:00 without us saying anything to him. I just happen to hear him climb into the tent. Kelson stayed up as long as we were in the living room, but once we turned off the lights and put him in his sleeping bag, we didn't hear from him again. He must have been tired too.

Arellano Update
Mom said Lettie is sick. They sent her home from work yesterday because she was coughing all over everyone. Not a pretty mental picture. She is excited for mom to be going out there next week. Apparently they will be headed to Vegas and San Diego for most of mom's trip out there. She told Bart & Cherie tonight that she might not even make it up to Idaho this time.

Mom said Marcos is coming home for Spring Break. I guess he is flying down and landing about the same time (same day) mom returns from out West. Not sure how long he has off or what he has planned. We'll have to wait and see.

Christensen Update
Already gave that news here. Bart & Cherie made it ok. We'll see how the jet lag affects them tomorrow.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 11:15 - 7:07 - almost 7:00! I woke up at 6:40 when Kelson came in, and thought I could close my eyes for a few more minutes...next thing I knew I jolted awake at 7:07. It's close.

TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: Two peanut butter and strawberry freezer jam sandwiches on wheat, milk.

Dinner: Ham's - to go (they picked it up on the way in from Raleigh) - Cheese lover's cheeseburger, no tomato, no onion, french fries, A&W - had a piece of Strawberry cheese cake with milk. Bart & Cherie helped us eat the rest of it...so no more cheese cake for a while. I'll have to go back to the old standard of cookies or cake before bed!

How Much Water does Corn on the Cob Displace?

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Talked to Blake Jones for a minute today. He and Benj and Brian were headed to their country club to play tennis. Crazy guys. They are attached at the hip. They are always buying stuff together too. Last year they all bought 4 wheelers, this year I guess it was the country club membership. In some ways, I'm jealous. Of course about the membership, but also because they get the chance to hang out so much. Not really anybody for me to "hang out" with.

We are still waiting for construction to start on the addition. We thought, at first, that they were going to get started right away, but we haven't seen anybody out yet. Our contract says they have 2 weeks to start, so we aren't worried about it yet. We would like them to get started...the sooner they start, the sooner they finish...but it's no big deal. We have plenty of time. I will get some "before" pictures posted soon, and then take pictures as things develop.

I haven't had any more pain in my back or butt since I had the MRI and talked to Dr. Ross. I think I will wait until I have another episode before I call to schedule any physical therapy. It isn't free, and I would hate to have therapy on something that isn't hurting in the first place. I haven't tried to play any basketball or anything like that, so I don't know if that makes a difference or not. I would hate to think that I couldn't play any kind of sport anymore because of my butt, but who knows. I just need an opportunity to try it out, I guess.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
The boys are excited for Grandma and Grandpa C to get here. We played basketball and cars last night before they went to bed. Kelson is getting to be a tough little kid. Cade kept running into him and knocking him over, but Kelson hardly flinched and never cried. He must be getting used to Cade not paying any attention to the size difference and just plowing him over all the time. I drove one of their toy cars on Kelson's foot last night, and it tickled him. He kept sticking his foot up so I would do it some more. Later, while I was lying on the floor, he took a car and was driving it on MY feet. I pretended to jump and act like it tickled, and he and Cade thought it was the funniest thing they had ever seen. If Cade quit watching while Kelson was doing it, he would yell at him in his little Kelson language until Cade would watch him tickle me again. Then I told him to tickle Cade's feet and then his own feet. Pretty funny. They both were hamming it up when he drove on their feet...like it really tickled a lot. Maybe you had to be there.

Kelson is doing better about staying in bed. We wonder if he had an ear infection or something that made him keep getting up. If that is the case, then I feel horrible for getting mad at him for not staying in bed. Poor kid. I don't remember him pulling on his ear, but he did the same thing about 8 months ago when he had an ear infection, I had just forgotten.

Arellano Update
Mom said dad wouldn't be getting to Mexico until about9 hours later than he was supposed to. Apparently he was supposed to fly into Houston for his connection, but they had bad weather (fog) and he wound up in Dallas. At 6:00 tonight she said he was getting on the plane to Mexico just then. He had left at 6:00 this morning. Long day for him. I wonder what he did all those hours. It's not like he could buy a book to read. Poor guy.

Marcos called tonight about 7:00 wanting to know how to cook corn on the cob. I had to ask Shena. I guess he was cooking for his "family" (group of friends who get together and take turns cooking dinner once a week). She said to be sure to tell him to boil the water first, but remember that the corn will displace a lot of water, so take that into account. Marcos started giggling and said "I'm glad she said that...I wouldn't have thought of that." That would have been messy.

Christensen Update
Shena will be going to get Bart & Cherie tomorrow afternoon from Raleigh. They fly in at 4:03, so we hope she doesn't run into rush hour traffic on the way back (which I doubt she will). Since dad is out of town, we have hijacked his Jeep, at least until Bart & Cherie leave, maybe longer. I'm getting tired of driving Marcos' Trans-Am (stick shift) and we aren't necessarily in a position to be buying our mini-van yet. Maybe in 6 months when we have our Nissan Sentra paid off.

Daily Report^
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 11:15 - 7:15 - I've got to start getting up earlier. I'm going to start getting up at 7:00 EVERY morning (Saturday and Sunday included) for the next two weeks. Stay tuned to see if I really do or not. I am going to try to slowly get up earlier and earlier until I'm getting up at 6:00 every day. Quit laughing. I'm serious. No really.

TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: cheese and mustard sandwich on wheat, milk, raspeberry chocolate cheese cake (I'm worried the cheese cake is going to go bad, so I have to eat it every chance I get. Quit laughing. I'm serious. No really.

Dinner: Spaghetti with tomato sauce, covered in cheese, french bread, A&W - later had a piece of chocolate mousse cheesecake, milk

Blues Clues Memory Game

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Slow day at work. We had some computer problems during 1/2 the day, which made the day drag by. Work always goes by faster when there is a lot of work to be done.

At 7:30, during FHE, I felt like I hit a wall and just couldn't keep my eyes open. I think I may have taken a 5 minute power nap. After about 8:30, I was suddenly awake and felt like I had taken a 2 hour nap. Weird.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Had a quick and short FHE tonight. Neither of us had time to plan a lesson, so we played a Blues Clues Memory game that Cade is pretty good at. He goes nuts when anybody gets a match, and is sure to let them know when they don't.

Kelson has definitely begun his terrible twos. He spent have the time sitting on the mat, the other half jumping on us or walking through the middle of the game and messing up the tiles. Then of course, he thought it was funny when we would scold him. He sure is a handful right now.

Arellano Update
Went to Arby's with mom and dad for dinner. Dad is going to Mexico tomorrow for about a month...his annual trip. He wanted to hang out with the boys one more night before he had to go. They also came over for FHE. Mom also announced that she was going out West next week. Since dad was going to be gone, she thought she would take a trip of her own and visit her family in ID, NV and CA. Not sure how long she will be gone.

Christensen Update
None to report.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 1:30 - 7:30 - that nap messed me up

TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: Tuna on wheat, double cheese, milk, ruffles and a piece of raspberry cheesecake (I could get used to having cheese cake around for dessert after every meal)

Dinner: Arby's - Medium roast beef with two packets of ketchup on the bun, curly fries, lemonade, cherry turnover (it was fresh too....the best kind...frosting was still gooey and soft) - later had two CC cookies (treat after FHE) and milk.

Dodge Ball

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Just church today. Rest of the day was pretty laid back. Everybody but Cade got at least a short nap. Watched a bit of the Daytona 500 (last 20 laps or so), watched Extreme Makeover Home Edition (VERY nice house tonight) and played some football/basketball/cars with the boys.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Cade, Kelson and I played a little "dodge ball" just before they went to bed tonight. For some reason Cade thought it was hysterical when I threw all of their balls at him. He and Kelson were on the bed and I was just tossing them off of their chests and off the walls into their heads. Pretty funny. At one point, I called Kelson a "silly duck" and he started quacking, which made Cade laugh out of control. He thought it was so funny. I was rolling.

Arellano Update
Ate lunch with mom and dad, of course. We felt kind of bad, but we didn't stay very long today. Kelson was grouchy and really needed a nap. We kind of ate and ran. But I shared my Cheesecake Factory cheesecakes with them, so they didn't mind, I don't think.

Christensen Update
Not sure when Shena talked to her family last.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 12:00 - 7:30

TODAY:
Breakfast: HoneyNut Cheerios - 1 bowl

Lunch: Roast beef and potatoes, gravy, corn and rolls - Snickers cheese cake, milk

Dinner: Bagel bites (again, nothing else to eat), coke - had some more of Shena's birthday cake and milk

"Hitch"-ed

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Our usual Saturday. Got up, cleaned the house, ran some errands. It has been three weeks since the boys and I had a haircut, so we got one this morning. I hate getting them because I am so sensitive with the loose, cut hairs. I have to get in the shower immediately or I feel like I'm going to go crazy. Then it takes me forever to feel like they are all washed off of me. I like the way my hair looks after a cut, I just don't like what it takes to get there.

Shena wasn't feeling very well after we cleaned, so Cade and I made a quick run to Costco to stock up before Grandma & Grandpa C. get here. Kelson wanted to go, but he usually isn't too upset when he gets to stay home with mom without Cade around. He was tired anyway and needed a nap. Cade was excited to leave Kelson behind, I think. One of the things I bought was some Prilosec (for heartburn). Dr. Ross had told me several weeks ago to take it, but I didn't want to spend the $20 until I had finished my other medicine. Then when I looked at the package at Costco, I realized that there were actually three doses in the package and they are to be taken 4 months apart anyway, so I figured it wasn't as big of a deal as I thought it was. I was thinking it was going to be $20 every month, but I was obviously wrong.

Went and saw "Hitch" with Munsey & Teresa. We had originally tried to go as a group with the Plummers, Lundrigans and Williams (along with the slacks), but every pooped out on us for one reason or another except the Slacks. I think part of it is that Shena likes to go to matinees because she goes to bed at such an early hour that she would fall asleep if we went to a later movie. Everybody else likes to go late so that the kids will be in bed when they get home. Anyway, the movie was pretty good. A little too much "smacky mouth" going on for me, but the rest of the movie was funny. Good date movie for you single types out there and just like I keep hearing, it's one of those "romantic comedies" that guys can enjoy too. We decided it would be one that we buy on DVD.

After the movie, we stopped by Lowe's (since we didn't have the boys with us) to look at interior doors and flooring for the addition. We just wanted to get some ideas on prices and what we might want. We (and when I say "we" I mean Shena) decided that "we" want a door between the dining room and bonus room that has glass in it so that the door doesn't look like a closet in the middle of the room. We for sure need a door because if the new room is like our existing office/craft room, it will be pretty cluttered 90% of the time. It is hard to keep it clean when we are constantly working in there. Hopefully we can do ok. I think we will get glass that is either frosted or we will have to get blinds on the door that we can close when company comes over.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
The boys were pretty good today. They like to run the vacuum cleaner, so that always becomes a fight when we pull it out. They fight me for it, then they fight each other for it. I hope they are still this excited to clean when they are teenagers and can really help out!

Arellano Update
Grandma A. watched the boys at her house while we went to the movie. Dad showed off his clean garage. He and mom apparently spent most of the day Saturday working on getting it cleaned up. They have to do that every year or two because their kids (read Marcos and Cheeto and Shena) keep dropping stuff off to leave in their garage because they don't have any room for it. They are still liking their new carpet and have done a little furniture moving also.

Christensen Update
Bart can't decide whether to bring his golf clubs or not. Unfortunately, it looks like we may have cool (not cold) rainy (not dry) weather while they are here. Kyle thinks he should, Shena & I think he would be ok with just borrowing a set here. Since my dad will be out of town, he won't have anybody to go with every day he is out here, so he may only get to play once.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 12:30 - 7:30

TODAY:
Breakfast: Frosted mini-wheats, milk (1 bowl)

Lunch: Bagel bites (about all we had...I don't like them, but they filled my stomach), Cheesecake Factory chocolate mousse (the Costco here sells a variety pack that comes with 4 flavors, 3 slices each, strawberry (no picture available), raspberry-white chocolate, snickers and chocolate mousse - which for $15 is a bargain, as I now see from their website...$38 for a 7"! The cake you get from Costco is 9" itself...and you get a variety - Shena was ragging on me for spending $15 on it, but what a deal!) - we then had popcorn and milk duds at the 4:30 movie.

Dinner: Yeah, right! See above

Baby Shower

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Typical day at work. Nothing exciting to report.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Shena had a baby shower to go to tonight, so it was me and the boys. They were pretty good kids, though. We just kind of hung out. Played a little football and basketball, then played race cars before they got baths and went to bed.

Arellano Update
Nothing to report.

Christensen Update
Nothing to reort.

Daily Report ^
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 11:30 - 6:30 - it has been a while since my back has kept me from sleeping well at night, but I still don't sleep well. I'm not sure if I am anxious or what, but I just can't seem to sleep through the night. I can't even blame the boys this time.

TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: Tuna on wheat with cheese, bugles, water - two CC cookies with milk

Dinner: Subway Chicken Bacon Ranch, grilled, with black olives, Sprite - had some of Shena's birthday cake with milk just before bed.

Work was a Bear

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
I really don't have much to report today. It was a crazy one at work. They happen sometimes. Seemed like I was running around trying to put out one fire after another, and then the fires didn't even get put out all the way...which is even worse. They will be there for me when I get there tomorrow.

After work just came home and helped Shena make dinner, talked to Marcos for a few minutes, watched "Joey" then got ready for bed. Pretty laid back night.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Cade and Kelson were good kids today. Especially Cade. We made some Mac & Cheese, which is always a favorite, and they both ate really well. Cade had two helpings, and Kelson ate everything that was in his bowl. That never happens. Kelson went to bed and only got up once...and even then it was only for a minute. He laid on the floor in his doorway, until I walked back there and told him to get in bed, which he did without crying. Cade was helpful all night and cleaned up his messes when we asked him to. Took his plate to the sink after dinner WITHOUT us asking him to, and went to bed without any argument. I'm not sure, but they may want something BIG for Christmas this year or something.

Arellano Update
Marcos said school was going fine. He wasn't real happy about the grades he got first semester, so he said he is less motivated this semester. Feels like if he worked his butt off last semester for the kinds of grades he got, he may as well stress less about it this semester and hope for the best.

Mom said she wasn't feeling really well today. She is getting what the rest of us had last week.

Christensen Update
I swear...as soon as Shena feels better, she will start writing in here.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 12:00 - 5:30 & 5:45 - 7:30. Apparently Kelson came in about 6:30 and Shena took him out...but I barely remember that.

TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: Taco Bell - bean burrito, no onion - steak gordita supreme, no tomato, water - Work was so busy that I didn't have chance to leave for lunch until about 1:30 (I normally come home at 12:00 to eat with the kids), and Shena was going to take a nap before her piano lessons, so I didn't bother coming home.

Dinner: Mac & Cheese (with real cheese), french bread. Had some of Shena's spice cake and milk a while later. Not bad if I do say so myself!

Shena's Birthday

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Shena was at mom's for lunch, and I don't always like driving all the way there on my lunch break. It adds about 10-15 minutes to my drive time and so that usually leaves me about 20-25 minutes to inhale food. It's just not as relaxed as I like it to be. So I wound up going to lunch with Teresa. We went to K&W Cafeteria because she said she was craving some macaroni and cheese. I hadn't eaten there for several years (I went there once with the guys from EDM when I was working there). I'm not a big fan, but it was ok. Better than nothing, right? While I was there, Marcos called and, of course, wanted to argue. I told him I would rather eat at Golden Corral than at K&W. He said he would take K&W any day. Tried to claim that the food had more flavor at a K&W, (which is famous for it's senior citizen clientele who like bland food) than at Golden Corral (which is famous for having overweight people...or in other words "connoisseurs" of food). Which do YOU think would have the better tasting food?

We signed our addition construction contract today. Leon Vachon is the name of the contractor...he and one of his employees came by at about 5:00 and we gave him a check for 25% of the contract cost and signed the contract. Kind of scary, but we are on the hook now. We feel like it is the right thing to do, so we just have to keep remembering that. They said they will be getting the permits tomorrow and we should see people start coming by in the next couple of days to remove the deck and start the pillars. I am estimating they will be done in about 4 weeks, but we'll have to wait and see. It is supposed to start raining this weekend and the first part of next week, so it might be end of March before they are done. I'll keep you up to date, and try to remember to post pictures.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
After Leon left, mom came over and watched the boys for a bit so that Shena and I could go on a dinner date. She was feeling ok to go out, so we took advantage of it. We were headed out to Cracker barrel, about a 20-25 minute drive, when we decided that we could go to IHOP and get breakfast just as easy there if that is what we wanted. It is only a 10 minute drive and we wouldn't have to go down Wendover, which is always a pain in the butt at 6:00 in the evening. I normally don't think of IHOP when we are thinking of someplace to go for dinner, but it was kind of nice because apparently most other people don't either. There were maybe five or six other tables filled. Very quiet and laid back. We took 15 minutes to figure out what we were going to eat because we couldn't decide if we wanted breakfast or not. We both finally decided just to get dinners. After we ate, we stopped by Harris Teeter for some milk, then went home to open presents and eat cake.

The boys were good for Grandma, and were really excited to help Shena open her presents and blow out her candles. Cade had been singing "Happy Birthday" to her all day. She said he kept asking her "Mom, is it still your birthday today? Are we going to blow out the candles on your cake? Have I been a good boy? Can I have some?" Apparently he was worried that we might not let him eat any or something.

Last night when we (the boys and I) ran to Harris Teeter to get the card, they both saw a "Bob the Builder" Birthday card and flipped out. "Dad! Dad! Bob!" They wanted to get it for Shena, so they both signed it and were excited like they were seeing it for the first time when she opened the card tonight. Kelson especially. He just kept yelling "Bob!" and showing the card to Shena and me and mom.
Arellano Update
Dad finishing drawers

Christensen Update
None to report tonight.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 12:00 - 5:30 & 5:45 - 6:30 - Kelson is still getting up at 5:30 every morning. At least today he went back to bed after he came into our room. Neither of us had to get up, we just told him to go back to bed. We didn't hear from him again until 6:30, when I heard him get up. I realized that the office door was open and the bathroom door was open...two places he knows he isn't supposed to be, so he takes advantage first chance he gets. I found him in the bathroom, trying to brush his teeth (he was too short to reach his toothbrush, though)

TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: K&W Cafeteria - baked spaghetti (not real good, kind of a tangy, sweet type sauce to it), macaroni and cheese, two soft rolls, water

Dinner: IHOP - Bacon cheeseburger on sourdough toast, fries, chocolate milkshake - then had some CC cookies & milk just before I sat down to write. I wasn't in the mood for cake, for some reason.

Shena's Surprise Girl Party

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Spent the whole day trying to get Shena ready for a surprise party that her friends had planned for her tonight. She hasn't been feeling well for the last week or so, but Leesa had called wanting to "kidnap" her and take her to the Mad Platter to meet up with Susan, Ashley, DeeDee and Teresa. But she wasn't feeling real well and hadn't really fixed herself up since she didn't really plan on going anywhere. At lunch I tried to trick her into fixing her hair and wearing something that she would feel ok in public with. We talked about going to Lowe's to look at carpet samples (Teresa's good idea), and then she said she wanted to eat at Arby's tonight. I hoped that would be enough, but just to be sure, I asked her, as nicely as I could without hurting her feelings (I hoped) if she was going to fix her hair before we went out. She was like "Why? Does it look bad? Do you think I haven't looked in the mirror today?" I tried to smooth it over by saying "No, I think you look fine, I just know how YOU like to look before you go out of the house, and I was just suggesting." Long story short, it didn't go over GREAT, but it wasn't too bad either. Leesa was supposed to pick her up from our house at 6:50 and I figured we would be back from Arby's by then with no problem, and then I would have to make up an excuse why we weren't going to Lowe's after all. Then about 4:45 Shena called and said that mom and dad asked us to come over and help them put together their new closet storage, and wouldn't it be better if I just got Arby's to go and bring it by mom & dad's? I called Leesa, told her that we would be at mom's and she would have to pick Shena up there, and then hoped that Shena had still got ready to go out of the house. She and I got part of the closet storage put together when Leesa showed up to take her out. She was surprised to see Leesa, but didn't flip out or anything. The boys and I just kind of said "Bye. Have fun," and sent her out the door. Shena said she didn't figure out where they were going until they got about 1/2 block away, and then she thought it was just her and Leesa until her other friends started showing up. Sounds like they had a good time. She even got home at a decent hour...about 9:30 ish.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Cade and I made a spice cake for Shena for her birthday tomorrow. We also ran to the library to return two videos that the boys had borrowed, then stopped by Harris Teeter to buy the cake so we could make it and pick out birthday cards. The boys were VERY good tonight. By the time we got back from our errands and got baths it was almost 9:00. I tried to put Kelson to bed, but he wouldn't stay in there...nothing new. He didn't scream and cry this time, though. He just kept coming out to see what Cade and I were doing (making the cake). I think he was mad/jealous that he wasn't helping. Otherwise they were good kids.

Arellano Update
Had roast beef sandwiches with mom & dad. Dad had removed all of his old shelves from his closet, and had started to put together the new cabinets. As I said earlier, Shena and I got the two outside part of the cabinets done when Leesa got there. I tried to work on putting drawers together, but only got one done. Dad was watching the boys while I worked on the drawers (mom had to teach institute last night). It took me as long to do one drawer as it did to put the two cabinets together. Bad news is there are 7 more drawers to do, good news is they should be easier now that I have experienced the first one.

Christensen Update
Shena got a birthday package from Erin today.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 11:30 - 5:30 & 6:00 - 7:30 - Not sure what Kelson's deal is, but this 5:30 thing isn't cool. This morning Shena gave him a sippy cup of juice and sent him back to bed, where he stayed...but by then I was awake and had a hard time getting back to sleep.

TODAY:
Breakfast: Cinnabon cinnamon roll, milk - man those things are big, but good, for breakfast

Lunch: Had about 4 bites of lasagna and two small pieces of french bread, milk and a chocolate chip cookie...just not hungry after eating breakfast.

Dinner: Still wasn't hungry...eating breakfast threw me off...had 2 pieces of chicken from Arby's, a couple fries and then two corn tortillas with beans and cheese, all with a little Sprite - after Shena got home made a dozen fresh chocolate chip cookies, so I had to eat three of those with milk.

Sacral Joint

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Heard from Dr. Ross today about my MRI. He said that my back and discs look fine. He can't see any problems with them at all. He said they could see some problems with the joint where my back and my pelvis are attached. Said that we would try some more ultra-sound therapy...you know, the kind where they rub my butt, for a couple of weeks and see if that helps anything. The other option is to receive a shot somewhere near the joint. He didn't go into details about that, but it doesn't sound like fun. I think I'd rather have somebody rub my butt than have a six inch long needle stuck all the way inside me. (shudder)

Watched The Village tonight. Kind of an intense movie until the end...then it isn't very scary at all. Kind of a let down, too. I guess in a psychological kind of way it is scary, but not the kind that makes you scared of the dark. It also left too many questions unanswered...unless I missed the clues during the movie.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
After work had a rough evening with the boys. One thing I hate doing is coming home from work and having to immediately start disciplining the boys. But it seems to happen to regularly. Puts me in a bad mood the rest of the evening. When I got home Shena was trying to get Cade to clean up his toys in the living room. It took a trip to the mat and some olive oil on his tongue to get it done. And then he refused to eat his dinner...said he didn't like it, even though he had never tried it and even though he LOVES spaghetti. No amount of trying to reason with him would get him to eat (Kelson was the same way). So we put their pj's on and sent them to bed (at 7:00 pm). Cade normally likes a door open and the hall light on while he falls asleep, but I closed the door. He freaked out and started yelling "It's too dark!" So I said "You don't want to be in the dark? Then you can either lay in your bed in the dark or you can come out and eat your dinner." He goes, "I'm hungry. I want to eat my dinner." After his first bite he said "Dad, this is good! Cade likes it!" Silly boy. Took him being scared of the dark to get him to try his dinner. The rest of the night went well with him. He was a good kid the rest of the night. Kelson, on the other hand, was a poop again. He wouldn't eat his dinner either, so we started trying to put him to bed at 7:30, he finally stayed in bed at 9:15 after an hour and a half of fighting with him and his screaming and crying. VERY frustrating night.

Arellano Update
Stopped by Mom and Dad's for lunch. Shena had taken the boys over to visit because she was feeling ok and wanted them to be able to visit while she was up to it. When I got their, the Dish Network tech was installing their new receiver. A pretty nice one. They just have the one receiver for both of their TV's, and it can record off both signals at the same time. Pretty nice, I just hope dad can figure it out. They also had their new carpet installed in Marcos' old room and their bedroom. I haven't seen it yet, but mom says it looks good.

Christensen Update
Shena said that Erin and Sky are trying to get the Judd's to come out to the east coast to visit some friends of theirs. If they did that, Erin and Sky would come and visit us. We have our fingers crossed. We'd love to have somebody come out here and visit us!

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 12:00 - 5:30 & 7:00 - 7:30 - Kelson woke up at 5:30 and wouldn't go back to bed. Little poop. After crying (no, screaming) for 45 minutes straight because he wanted to lay in bed with mommy and I wouldn't let him, he finally feel back to sleep at about 6:45.

TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: Roast beef tacos on corn tortillas, cheese, apple juice

Dinner: Lasagna, french bread (covered with cheese), cinnamon roll, milk.

Natural Man

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Had a good day at church. Jeff Needham taught the lesson in priesthood today. Talked about Mosiah 3:19 and "the natural man." **SOAP BOX** Whenever I hear "born that way" it is always the first scripture I think of. And I'm not just talking about sexual preference, either (i.e., "natural born killer"). He argued that nobody is "born that way," but we learn it as we grow. I think it is a moot point, however. Whether someone's brain chemistry is pre-set or programed during his/her lifetime doesn't change the fact that we all have to overcome those types of thoughts and feelings. In nature, a species continues to exist by pro-creating as much as possible. As humans, we have that same type of instict programmed in our brain. It is our societal and moral standards that keep us from pro-creating with anyone we can. If I wanted to embrace the natural man, I would be finding willing females to pro-create with. That is how I was "born." But I CHOOSE not to allow that part of my natural man to come out. I control it, for several reasons, but the most important being I have been told by Heavenly Father that it is not the right thing to do. The SPIRITUAL MAN wins out. That is an easy one for me. It might be harder for others, but it still does not make it right. Being "born that way" is not a valid excuse for anyone who wants to live in His presence again. I believe it was Craig Hiatt who mentioned that the "natural way" is the easy way out. You don't have to make decisions on your own, you only have to do what comes natural to you. Living the Gospel isn't easy. You have to work at it. It wasn't easy for Christ to go through what he went through. It wasn't easy for Joseph Smith or Brigham Young or the Pioneers, or anybody who else who truly lives it. It's hard. It's a battle. If you find your life getting "easy" you might want to step back and take a look, you might not be headed down the right path. It's kind of like lifting weights (I know, who am I to talk about lifting weights, right?)...if you don't feel any resistance, you aren't getting any stronger. **END SOAP BOX**

See, and all of you probably thought that I never paid attention in church, huh? Well, I do, most of the time.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Nothing exciting, but the boys were both good and didn't fight us too bad to go to church or to go to class. Kelson likes nursery, I think. He cries for a minute or two, but it usually doesn't take long for him to calm down. I also think it might have been a little harder on him because it's been two weeks since we've been (sick, ice storm).

Just spent time with the family this afternoon. Played cars, football and basketball with the boys. Watched Extreme Makeover Home Edition with Shena (until she fell asleep, that is).

Arellano Update
Mom and dad took ex-Elder Holbrook back to Raleigh to fly home. Poor guy was probably bored out of his mind all weekend. Feel bad that he spent money on tickets for nothing.

Marcos called me from his cell phone. Said he was sitting at the Knicks-Bobcats game in Madison Square Garden, second row, mid-court, bench side. Said he was right close to the tunnel where the players come out. Unfortunately, the game wasn't on TV here, so I'll have to watch Sportscenter to see if I can get a glimpse of him.

Christensen Update
None to report.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 11:30 - 7:30 - I finally resisted the temptation to watch 'The Outer Limits" last night...well kinda...I recorded it and watched it this afternoon

TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: Roast Beef, potatoes, gravy, corn niblits, homemade rolls, strawberry jam, milk. Had some cookies when I got home (with milk, of course).

Dinner: 2 egg tacos on flour tortillas with cheese, apple juice, then had a few more chocolate chip cookies.

Sky Captain

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Long day today. We didn't really have anything that we had to do...except clean. Because we have been sick, it's been two weeks since the house had a good cleaning. We got most of it clean, but because it had been so long, it took longer than we expected. We actually were cleaning for about 4 1/2 hours. The longest part was our bathroom. I've come to realize that if you don't SCRUB the bath tub every time you clean it, the soap builds up over time. I spent about 1 1/2 hours just cleaning about 1/12 of the tub, using some stuff called Goo Gone Painter's Pal which I thought might work better than just regular 409. If I let it sit for a minute or two, it took less scrubbing. After a while, though, my arm and back were hurting, so I had to quit. It killed me to quit because the area that I was able to get clean looks good. Almost brand new. I guess it will take several weeks of cleaning like that to get that stuff off there.

After I showered, Cade and I went to run a couple of errands. He was going crazy again from being inside. It was a beautiful day, and I know he wanted to play outside, but this was the closest I could get for him. Kelson had been a bad boy earlier in the day, so he didn't get to go. He had to stay home with his sick mommy. Anyway, Cade and I went to the mall first to return a Franklin binder that I had purchased several weeks ago but wasn't using. We then stopped at Cinnabon to get a six pack of the classic size rolls for a treat. Shena had been craving them for a while, but we just hadn't been out to get any. They were apparently running a special for Valentine's day, and we got a free balloon for buying the six pack. Cade was excited to give it to Shena as a present. We then ran to Kohl's to return a shirt that Shena had bought that I didn't like a whole lot. I feel bad because now she claims that I have taken back every shirt she's ever bought me, but I don't think that is true. She said she wasn't going to shop for me anymore, but I hope that she forgets she said that. I hate shopping and I usually like what she gets. There was just something about this particular shirt I didn't like. Cade and I then went to Hollywood Video. I got a gift card from the Lundrigan's and Williams' for my birthday that I hadn't used yet. I don't think I had ever personally rented a video at their store before, but I know that Shena had several times, so I didn't really think much about it when I tried to check out. They asked my name, but I didn't give the right answer, so the girl asked to see my driver's license. She typed it in, and then said "oh, there we go," so I thought everything was cool. When I got home, one of the movies still had some kind of lock on it so that we couldn't get it open. I called and they said I would have to return to the store to get it off. Before I left I grabbed my receipt and looked at it close, thinking I would asking for a credit since I had to drive back to the store for something they failed to do. On the receipt was a girl's name, Raquel Cortez, with my driver's license. To make a long story short, the name had a TX address, but no one had ever checked out a video at this paticular store under that name, so I just had them switch the info over to my name. They also gave me a store credit for a free video since I had to drive back to the store to get the lock taken off. Anyway, I rented Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, which Shena and I watched last night. Kind of a weird movie, but the speical effects were pretty cool. We also rented The Village, but haven't watched it yet. If Shena is going to watch it, she will have to watch it during the day. We have until Thursday night to watch it, so we will soon.

After the video store, we ordered Mexico to go. We usually don't cook on Saturday nights and so we normally eat out. This was the cheapest way (can't beat free food, can you?).

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
See above. Not much more to report.

Arellano Update
Mom and dad went to the temple with the ex-Elder Holbrook. Didn't see much of them today.

Christensen Update
None to report.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 11:30 - 6:00 & 7:30 - 10:00 - I got up with Kelson this morning, then when Shena got up she let me go back to bed. I needed that sleep!

TODAY:
Breakfast: 1 bowl of frosted mini-wheats.

Lunch: None

Dinner: Mexico - lunch order of chicken fajitas, sprite - man those hit the spot tonight...it's been a while since I had Mexico, and then after all the manual labor today I had worked up an appetite. Had a cinnamon roll with milk during our movie.

Tunnel Vision

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
My MRI was not bad at all. I actually went in a machine very similar to this one. Funny thing is, if you read the text from the above link, it says "Some patients are so relaxed that they fall asleep during the exam." That is exactly what happened to me. I was so tired from not getting much sleep the last couple of nights, that I had a hard time staying awake during the 45 minute exam. And the noise of the machine wasn't bad at all. It actually HELPED me sleep when it was taking the pictures because of the repetitive nature of it. Almost like white noise. Luckily I didn't jolt as I was falling asleep. My hand twitched once, but that was as close as I came while I fell asleep. Other than that, it was a pretty unexciting experience. I just wish I didn't have to pay $200 (our co-pay) for a power nap. I would just as soon come home for the power nap for free! I also notice that when I was under the MRI that when I closed my eyes, I could see some funky yellowish green psychadelic shapes moving around in the black that is all I can normally see when I close my eyes. I don't know if that was the big magnet moving the blood in my eyelids around or what...it was weird. While I was laying in there, I started thinking about "Die Another Day" and the scene where he is in the Cuban face lift hospital. First of all, would the MRI machine they show really suck up a gun like it did? If somebody was laying on an MRI table and they had a metal plate in their head, would their head get sucked up against the machine so they couldn't move? Anyway...2nd question, why was there an MRI machine in there in the first place? What did the MRI have to do with the bad guy getting a treatment? I guess that is why I never liked the James Bond series...they are just too far fetched. I know that is the point of all the movies, but I never liked it.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
As promised yesterday, a picture of Kelson with the mascara he got all over himself. He also had a large black spot about the same size as you can see in this picture, but more on the top of his head.

Went to Golden Corral for dinner with mom, dad, Gabriel (mom didn't fly in until 11:00 pm tonight) & an "Elder Holbrook." Apparently he had plans to come back out to go through the temple with a family that he baptized a while back (he's home now), but they are not going to go after all. He already had a plane ticket for the weekend, so he came out to visit anyway. He will be staying with mom & dad...their first "real" visitor since they re-did the guest rooms. I'm sure mom is excited.

Cade watched "The Other Side of Heaven" with Shena tonight. Funny kid. He was watching "Thomas" on one tv, came in to say "Hi" to Shena and saw a missionary baptizing somebody, so he sat down and fell asleep watching the movie with her. He rarely says he is tired. Whenver you ask if he is, he always "nope. I'm not tired right now." When he says that, you know that if he lays down he will be asleep in 10 minutes or less.

Arellano Update
Today is Adam's B-day. I tried to call him to wish him a happy birthday, but he wasn't home. I was also going to send him an "e-mail card" but Yahoo charges for those, now. So, little brother, if you are reading this, here is your Yahoo greeting that I was going to send. Just pretend that I wrote your name in and the following message: "Roses are red, violets are blue, you look like a monkey and you smell like one too...and you are a cuatro...and you giggle like a girl...and you are a cheeky monkey...and you have ugly feet...and you should REALLY wax that ol' back o' yars braw...etc. Happy Birthday!"

Christensen Update

Daily Report ^
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 1:00 - 7:00 - the usual night...although last night was all about the pain in the butt...that is what kept me up

TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: 3 small pieces of pineapple pizza, water

Dinner: Golden Corral (don't flip out, the following were small portions, I only had 1 1/2 plates worth of food...plust that MRI made me HUNGRY): mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, fried butterfly shrimp (1), 2 meatballs, white rice, 1 BBQ chicken thigh, 1 BBQ pork loin, taco salad thingie (personal creation - chips, rice, beans, cheese, lettuce, sour cream), 1 yeast roll, water. Dessert: (again, small portions, didn't even eat all of it) - banana pudding, chocolate cake (1/2 piece, Cade ate the other half), blueberry cobler (2 bites...not good at all), small soft serv twist (vanilla & orange creamsicle) cone, milk.

Pain in the Butt

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
I am writing this a bit late. I couldn't sit in my home office chair without being in constant pain, so I had to wait until this morning (Friday) to finish my events of the day.

Had an appointment this morning with Dr. Ross. He gave me a prescription for my sinuses. Three pills twice daily. Big old horse pills too. And I have to take them for 10 days, so I can't wait for that. He also decided that we should go ahead and do the MRI. I will be going to Southeastern Radiology tomorrow at 1:45 to lay in the tube. Mom said she thought she would be ok, but she couldn't handle it, so I'm not sure how I'l do. I think I'll be fine, but we'll see. She said they offer to put something over your face so that you don't realize how tight it is, so maybe I will go with that. I certainly don't want to have to take drugs before I go in.

This afternoon my butt started hurting...and by the time I tried to go to bed last night it took me 3 minutes to roll from one side onto the other. I tried laying on the floor and doing all the exercises I was doing for therapy, but it didn't seem to do much. Then it took me 5 minutes to get off the floor. Makes me feel like an old man. I guess all this pain makes the money we'll have to spend on the MRI (co-pay) worth it (at least for me). I just hope it shows something so that we can get this thing fixed. I hate how it keeps me from being able to do what I want. I'm sure the boys hate it, too. They are probably tired of hearing dad say "not tonight, guys, my back hurts" when they want to play football.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
When I got out of the shower this morning, Kelson was in the bathroom with me and I did't know it because he was being so quiet (which I'm sure you know is NEVER a good thing for little kids). He had gotten his hands on Shena's make-up bag, and opened up her mascara (sp?). He had a great big splotch of it in the middle of his head (not sure if he thought it was a comb or what), and then he had some on his face, all over his hands and on his clothes. For some reason, whenever Shena gives him lotion, he rubs it on his hands and then rubs it in his hair, so I guess that is what he was doing with the mascara. He got an early bath and a good scolding from both of us. I'm not sure if Shena took a picture or not. I'll have to find out and post it, if so.

We have our new Vonage phone completely working now. For your records, please change our home phone number to (336) 510-1465. It seems to work ok. I don't use the phone much at home, so I don't how much it will bother me, but there is a bit of a "modem" sound to it. You know, kind of like you can hear the data being transferred over the line. It's not real bad, and it's not like the dial-up modems that beep and crackling...it's more of a constant hum type noise. I may have to call and see if there is some way to improve the sound. It's still worth $200 for me, but we'll have to see for Shena.

Arellano Update
Went to mom and dad's for a visit last night. The boys had been stuck in our house for about 48 hours straight. We just kind of hung out and ate for a while. Let the boys play with grandpa. It was Gabriel's last night there, his mom and Nippy are coming back from Mexico tomorrow.

Christensen Update
I swear...Shena will write on here one of these days.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 11:30 - 8:00 - Because of my doctor's appointment this morning, I didn't go into the office first, and I got an extra 1/2 hour of sleep...very nice, but still not enough.

TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: 2 slices of pineapple Domino's pizza, water

Dinner: Corn tortillas, mom's beans, cheese, about two swallows of Sprite. Had some Pillsbury chocolate chip cookie dough cookies and milk a little later.

"Lost" New Again

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
Went to therapy for the last time today...for now, at least. Therapists decided that what they were doing didn't seem to be making much of a difference. The pain is still intermittent, and the pain reducing exercises I'm supposed to do don't seem to help much when I do them. I scheduled a follow up appointment with Dr. Ross to see what he wants to do from here. Last time we talked he said he wanted to do an MRI if the therapy didn't work. We'll see if he still feels the same way tomorrow. I also think I have a sinus infection, so I will get him to look at that too.

Otherwise, a pretty typical day. Work, lunch, work, dinner, little TV, and then I'm headed to bed. We watched a new episode of "Lost" tonight. Pretty good one, but I can't tell if they don't know where to go with the story now, or what. They showed next week's preview and it seems like it is moving away from where they were headed tonight. But then again, they have about 3 or 4 (at least) different story lines going anyway, so they are probably just trying to keep them all towards the front of our memory.

I also watched "Amazing Race 6" finale last night. A pretty good one. Of the four teams remaining, the two that we didn't want to win got put out first, so we didn't really care which of the last two won. Have to admit that the last leg was pretty weak when it came down to the challenges they had to do. I would think they would have been a bit tougher in the end to try to weed out the weaker teams. But, they didn't call to ask me how they should do their show. Maybe they'll call me next time.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
The boys had cabin fever pretty bad today. Both when I came home for lunch and when I got home after work they came running out the door, screaming and laughing. I think they were just excited to be outside for a few minutes. It wasn't a real nice day today, but warm enough that I let them run around for a few minutes to burn a little energy.

Kelson was rocking one of our kitchen chairs (which he has done several times before...breaking one of the back supports on one of the chairs) and fell over in the chair on our wood dining room floor. Hit his mouth on the back of the chair and cut his lip pretty good (couldn't tell if the chair or one of his teeth cut it). You can't see it really well because it is more inside than outside. It bled pretty good, though. He cried for about 2 minutes, then calmed down because we had ordered pizza. He ate it like his lip wasn't bothering him, so we just let him be. He kind of sucked on the lip for the rest of the night.

Arellano Update
Mom just stopped by tonight on her way to take the Spanish missionaries out to eat. We wanted her to look at Kelson's lip to see if she thought we should take him to see a nurse or something. Took us 5 minutes for him to show us anything...and even then I had to force his mouth open so that she could look at it. It was like he got all shy or something. She thought he was ok, too.

Christensen Update
I saw that Shena talked to her mom for 45 minutes today, but she didn't share any news with me. I guess it was none of my business! :)

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 2:15 - 7:30 - Couldn't sleep at all last night. Not sure why (stress of this Line of Credit we just opened?). But it is killing me today. At about 4:00 this afternoon I hit a wall and could barely keep my eyes open at work they were killing me so bad. Probably a good thing it wasn't real sunny today or I wouldn't have been able to drive home.

TODAY:
Breakfast: None

Lunch: McDonald's - Quarter Pounder with cheese, no onion value meal, orange drink

Dinner: Domino's pizza - Three pieces of pineapple pizza - the rest of the family had cheese...looks like that will be lunch tomorrow (and dinner too?)

Lunch with "Ed"

***Text in this color authored by Shena***

Work & Play
We signed the paperwork to get our line of credit this morning. We also have 3 days to think about it before the account is acutally opened. It is a little nerve racking. This isn't a credit card where they will just smash up your credit history if you don't pay. They can actually come after your house. Just makes me that our job situation remains stable. We will probably take all three days to review everything and make sure that we want to go through with it. I guess I'm getting a small case of "cold feet," but nothing major.

Kind of a rough day at work. Didn't get much done. Tax season isn't always fun for us because sometimes we supply clients with information they need to file their taxes. And it isn't always readily available and I spend the day on a goose chase. Not fun.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
Shena took Kelson to the doctor today just to be sure that everything was ok in his lungs, etc. He has still been coughing quite a bit with a lot of phlegm (sp?) and she wanted to be sure. Doctor Ross said his lungs were clear and his ears looked ok too. Just gave her some stronger cough medicine to give him, so that was good news.

Shena found re-runs of "Ed" on TBS everyday at noon, so we have been eating lunch with that going in the background. Kind of miss the show. We used to enjoy it every Wednesday night.

Shena had Enrichment meeting tonight at the church, so the boys and I were on our own. We wound up making a trip to Wal-Mart to buy a new cordless phone for the Vonage line. Kelson fell asleep as soon as we got in the car and didn't say a word the entire time we were in Wal-Mart. He looked like he might fall asleep right there in the cart. Then, of course, by the time we got home he was awake and didn't want to go to bed, but did anyway. It's been several nights since he has climbed out of bed and refused to stay in it. Tonight I found him on the floor with his door open about 20 minutes after I laid him down, but he didn't fight with me when I put him back in bed. Hopefully we are done fighting with him to stay there.

Arellano Update
How's this for news: Mom & Dad are getting a window replaced on their house that was damaged by termites. Exciting, huh?

Christensen Update
I don't have any to report.

Daily Report
LAST NIGHT:
Sleep: 12:30 - 7:30 - For some reason I started watching American Chopper last night late. And of course I couldn't turn it off. Then I couldn't get to sleep.

TODAY:
Breakfast: Frosted mini-wheats (3/4 bowl)

Lunch: 2 Peanut butter and strawberry preserves (Hiatt freezer jam) sandwiches on wheat, glass of milk

Dinner: Corn tortillas with cheese, 1/2 can of coke - later had some yellow cake with chocolate frosting