The Matlock Family

HCG Diet

2012-01-08T08:32:00.004-06:00

Dave and I started the HCG diet on January 2nd, through our chiropractors office. You can read about the diet here. This is not an easy diet but it does work, five days in and I have lost 10 lbs. I would love to lose 40 lbs but I'm shooting for 30. Hopefully, we will both continue to see progress and be able to stick to the diet. I'll post before and after pics when we complete the diet.

Christmas

2012-01-02T17:19:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year at my mom's house in Memphis. We drove down Thursday the 22nd and stayed until Friday the 30th. Along with my family staying at my mom and step-dad's house was my sister and her family and my step-sister and her daughter. It was a full house and I think the kids really enjoyed getting to spend so much time together. My mom took the kids to do a lot of fun things while we were in town. They got to go to Stary Nights, The Children's Museum, the Zoo, to Imax to see and movie and also to the theater to see Alvin and the Chipmunks Chipwrecked, plus many visits to get frozen yogurt.

The weekend before Chrsitmas

2012-01-02T16:43:00.004-06:00

The weekend before Christmas we celebrated with my dad and step-mom by having lunch at their house after all going to church together. Later that night we went to Dave's parents house for dinner and to exchange gifts . It was a nice day and the kids loved opening all their presents.

Blake and Carson

Many Santas

2011-12-21T16:54:00.006-06:00

We have taken the kids to see Santa every year since Carson was born. Normally we go to the mall and pay the outrageous amount of money just so we can see Santa and have a picture with him. Well, this year was no different except that since we have taken the boys to the mall to see Santa we have run into him all over the place. We now have 5 different pictures with Santa. Here they are:

Italian Beef

2011-12-12T10:56:00.002-06:00

I thought I would share a recipe for something my mother-in-law made for Holden's birthday party that everyone was asking me how to make. So here it is.

Italian Beef

This recipe is done best in a large Crockpot ahead of time, shredded, grease removed from juice & then put back in Crockpot with juice & reheated. Can also be done in the oven at slow temp-but I find the Crockpot to be the best! Figure ¼ lb of meat per person and then add just a little to account for fat which you will discard after cooking but adds the flavor.

1-2 large CHUCK ROAST(S) (must be chuck to be tender)

1-2 package(s) of dry Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix

1-2 package(s) of dry Good Seasons Garlic & Herb Dressing Mix

I small jar to 1 medium jar of whole pepperoncinis

Flour

Take chuck roast and run it through the flour to lightly coat the roast and place in Crockpot. Lay the roasts & sprinkle ½ of each dressing mix on top and lay ½ pepperoncinis on top.When finished I pour ½ the juice from pepperoncinis in crockpot-depending on how spicy you may wish to use all or none and more or less pepperoncinis. The recipe I originally got it from calls for a package of each dressing for about each 3 lb roast. I think this is too much-too salty. I use about ½-3/4 pkg. Experiment and find what fits your tastes.

Cook on low for 10 hours or so or over night works well. Cool a little and then shred with fork on cutting board. You can cut it but shredding is easiest and works best. Take juices from Crockpot and put in bowl in fridge. When cooled grease will rise to top of bowl and I skim off and discard. Put shredded beef back in Crockpot and poor remaining juices over and reheat. It always tastes better reheated or as leftovers. I like the whole pepperoncinis because if people don’t like them they can pick them out.

Great served with good multigrain rolls or bread cut in small sections and I love provel cheese you can also use Provolone, white American, Swiss, whatever you like.

ENJOY!

Halloween Festivities

2011-11-07T12:38:00.000-06:00

We had a lot of fun going to the pumpkin patch and picking out our pumpkins to carve. Dave always carves the pumpkins, we have tried to get Carson to help but he has no interest. Both Holden and Carson had a great time trick or treating. Our neighborhood is great on Halloween, lots of people home and lots of decorations.

Nathan and Carson

Carson, Nathan and Blake

My Little Monster

Mimi and Holden

Dave's Cards Pumpkin

Grant's Farm

2011-11-06T19:17:00.001-06:00

While my mom and step-dad were in town for Holden's birthday we went to Grant's farm. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad my mom and Steve were able to come with us. I wish we all lived closer so we could do more fun things together.

Carson

Me and Carson

Paw Paw, Holden, Carson and GB

Me and Holden

Holden's first merry go ride, he loved it

Carson, GB and Holden

Dave and Holden

Paw Paw, Dave and Holden

Eating can make you so tired

2011-10-26T17:04:00.001-05:00

Watch "Holden falling asleep while eating" on YouTube

Holden's 1st Birthday Party

2011-10-11T10:22:00.009-05:00

We had a great time at Holden's birthday party and the weather was perfect. I am so glad we we're able to celebrate with family and friends. Holden was wonderful the whole party. Here are some pics from the day.

Holden with Paw and Mimi

Mommy, Holden and Daddy

Paw Paw Steve, GB and Holden

Great Granddaddy Wilbur (100) , Holden and GG

Poppa Bill and the birthday boy

Great Granny Maycle

Holden's Monthly photos 1 moth to 1 year

Birthday banner I made

His yummy cake

He didn't know what to think at first

He loved his cake

Cousin Nathan and Holden

Cousin Blake and Holden

Dave's the big 3-0

2011-10-05T09:52:00.006-05:00

Dave had his golden birthday on September 30th. We celebrated by having a bowling party. It was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed hanging out with friends. Here are some photos from the night.

Dave getting iced, the first time, from his wonderful wife :)

Dave's friends icing him. He couldn't believe he fell for it again. For those of you that do not know what icing is you can read about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icing_%28drinking_game%29

Holden's 1

2011-10-05T09:41:00.006-05:00

I can't believe my little baby is already one. Time sure has gone by a lot faster with Holden then it did with Carson. Holden is so sweet and very easy going. He rarely cries and smiles at everyone, he is not shy at all. He loves his big brother and tries to do everything he is doing. He is walking and starting to try and run. He can sign "more" and "all done". He hasn't started talking yet, but if he is anything like his brother, one day he will just start speaking in full sentences. He loves for people to read him books, he will get one off the shelf and bring it to you and sit in your lap. I think he would let you read to him all day. He can point out certain things in books like kitty and banana. At his one year check up he weighed 20 lbs 7 oz (15%) and was 30 1/2 inches (73%). His party is Sunday so be watching for a birthday party post. And finally, here is some recent video of Holden.

First ER visit

2011-09-22T09:46:00.008-05:00

Well we had our first visit to the ER Wednesday night. Carson was in the basement playing when I went upstairs to switch the laundry. I then heard a crash and crying; but having a boy, this happens often so I didn't think much of it at first. However, when Carson wouldn't stop crying and kept complaining that his arm was hurting, I thought we should probably get it checked out. Once Dave got home from work, we headed to the ER. Luckily, we were able to leave Holden with my mother-in-law. They got Carson in right away when we got to the hospital and started doing x-rays. Carson was such a trooper, he didn't cry at all. The nurses kept saying how cute he was and how great he was acting. It turns out that he broke his arm right above his elbow (humerus bone), a hairline fracture. Thank goodness it wasn't bad and he doesn't have to have surgery or have it set. They put him in a temporary cast for the time being.

Update: We saw the Orthopedic Specialist Thursday and they said Carson's arm looks good, and he will not need any surgery. We will have to go back in a week and have it looked at again. She said he should only have to wear the cast for 3 weeks. When it came time to decide on what kind of cast to get, he decided he wanted soccer balls.

Ring Bearer

2011-09-22T09:39:00.007-05:00

Carson got to be the ring bearer in his Uncle Nick's wedding last Saturday. Carson did an awesome job, he was so good and he smiled the whole way down the aisle. He did great for all the pictures after the wedding and he even got his groove on at the reception. He requested that the DJ play Baby by Justin Bieber, because he has Bieber fever. I think I can say that my son is not shy at all. Here are some pictures from the wedding and the video of Carson dancing.

11 months

2011-09-07T10:34:00.003-05:00

I can't believe in a month my baby will be one! I feel like this past year has gone by so fast. Holden is making a lot of progress in walking. Hopefully by his birthday we can say he is officially walking.

Preschool

2011-09-07T10:31:00.003-05:00

Carson had his first day of preschool. I can't believe it is already time for him to be in school. He is going on Tuesday and Thursday's from 9-1. He really enjoys going. On the first day of class he was having so much fun that I had to ask him to tell me goodbye.

Holden 9 months

2011-07-14T10:30:00.006-05:00

Holden turned 9 months old on July 4th. He just had his checkup on Wednesday the 13th. He is doing great. He weighed 18 lbs 5 oz (13%) and was 30 inches long (91%). I think they are off on is length I think he is only 28 inches. Here is what he is currently doing.

He has been crawling since he was seven months so he is very fast at it now.
He cruses the furniture and loves to use his walking toy.
He loves to climb the stairs.
He has two teeth and two more that are about to break through.
He plays peek-a-boo.
He gives kisses, mainly to his brother.
He waves bye bye.
He is a very happy boy and it always smiling.
He loves his brother, Carson. Carson can always make him laugh.
He sleeps 10 hours at night and does two naps a day.
He is nursing 4 times a day and eats 3 meals normally one jar at each feeding.
He has also started liking to watch Yo Gabba Gabba.

4th of July

2011-07-14T10:23:00.006-05:00

We had our 2nd annual gathering at our house for the 4th of July. When we moved into our house a little over a year ago our neighbor told us that we had a great view of the fireworks from the park near our house, boy was he right. It is so nice to not have to fight traffic and crowds to watch fireworks. We had family over and shot off some fireworks of our own and then enjoyed some homemade ice cream while watching the fireworks show. I am sure we will continue this gathering for years to come. Here are some pictures from the evening.

Florida

2011-07-14T09:49:00.014-05:00

So far our summer has been very busy. In a matter of six weeks we went to Florida twice. Our first trip was the beginning of May to Rosemary Beach Florida. I have been going to Florida every year since before Carson was born with my mom. Now that there are some many children it has turned into a family affair. This year it was my mom, step-dad, my family and my sister and her two boys. We stay house a few 100 feet from the beach that has a pool. Here are a couple of pictures of the house and the view.

This is the third year we have stayed at Rosemary and the second year we have stayed in this house. It is such a fun time. We spend the day between the beach and the pool and every night we go out to dinner. Most nights after dinner we end up at the kids favorite place the Sugar Shack. The name says it all they have all kids of candy, ice cream, snow cones and cotton candy. The weather was perfect and because we go before school is out it isn't crowded. We had a wonderful vacation and it is always nice to spend time with family. We can't wait for next year to do it again. Here are a few more pictures from our trip.

On our second trip to Florida was at the end of June to Panama City Beach with my dad, step-mom and Dave's parents. Once again we were very lucky and had great weather. We enjoyed our days hanging out by the beach. The water was wonderful the first day and then the rest of our trip was lots of seaweed and red flags. I had quite a few first on this trip. 1. I have never seen the waves in this are so big, it was great for boogie boarding. 2. I caught a starfish, it was really neat. 3. Dave and I went para-sailing. I thought I would be scared with the height but it was actually very calming. We saw some big fish swimming in the water. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed spending time with family. Here are some pictures from this trip.

Falling Behind

2011-06-23T11:38:00.003-05:00

I keep telling myself that I am going to try and do at least one post a month and then the next thing I know months have gone by. Things are going well here. The boys are great. Holden is 8 1/2 months old and weighs about 18 lbs. He has been crawling for a month and a half now and he has just started walking using his walker. Here is a video

Carson is 3 and weighs 34 lbs. He is full of energy and loves to play. He just started a hockey clinic. Here is video of his first time on the ice.

My How Time Flies

2011-04-19T22:33:00.001-05:00

It's been a while since my last update, and I have a lot to report on (I'm sure I'll miss some things).

I'll start with Holden...

He's 6 months old now, and really turning into a handful. He wants to move everywhere, but hasn't figured out crawling yet. Now that doesn't mean he can't get around; through a series of barrel rolls and scoots, he can navigate his way to pretty much anything. He enjoys sitting up and playing, as shown in the video below.

He has started on baby food, and really enjoys it. He makes funny grunting noises while he eats, and not because he's in distress, it's because he's enjoying himself.

Carson continues his journey from toddler to boy. He enjoys going to school twice a week and is always asking us to sign him up for soccer. He still loves hockey and can't get enough Spider-Man. His 3rd birthday was a Spider-Man party, including a Spider-Man cake.

Carson went to the dentist for the first time recently. He was a bit apprehensive at first, but once things got going, everything was great. He enjoyed holding the suction tube the best. On his way out of the office, he got to pick a toy from a jar. To the surprise of absolutely no one, he picked a spider.

Two things Carson enjoys are Kinect on the XBox and his Harley Davidson Power Wheel. Here are videos of him enjoying both.

Carson loves his baby brother Holden, and Holden loves his big brother Carson. They both light up when they see each other (Holden more than Carson). Carson is the only one who can make Holden laugh and smile pretty much any time he wants.

As for the rest of us, Brittany turned the big 3-0 on the 5th of April. We had a party at Triumph grill with our friends and had a great time. Other than that, she continues to do the often thankless job of a stay-at-home mom. It doesn't go unnoticed though, we all love her and are very thankful to have her in our lives.

As for me, I'm still plugging along. I started a new position at Boeing in February, moving from Engineering to IT. So far it's been great; I like the work and the people. I will miss my old group though, they were a great group of people to work with.

As I said earlier, I'm sure I missed some stuff, but that's all for now. I would like to post on a more frequent basis, so stay tuned and see if I actually do that.

Also, I started a garden in my yard and I'm documenting the progress. You can follow along here

Margarita Chicken in the crock-pot

2011-03-02T08:22:00.003-06:00

I made this the other day for the family and Carson really liked it. I got the recipe from another blog that I read. It was really good and super easy to make.

6-8 chicken breast
3-4 minced garlic cloves
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup honey
2 T soy sauce (I used the lower sodium one)
juice from one lime
zest from one lime
onion chopped
broccoli

* you can add whatever veggies you like

Mix soy sauce, mustard, honey, garlic, lime and lime zest in a bowl. Place the chicken (can be frozen) and onion in the crock-pot. Poor sauce over chicken and onion. Add broccoli to the crock-pot when there is about an hour left to cook (if you put it in in the beginning it gets to mushy). Cook on low for 7-8 hours. Serve with brown rice.

Next time I make this I am only going to use 4 chicken breast because it made a lot more than the 3 of us could eat. I hope you enjoy this.

Holden laughing at Carson

2011-03-01T17:48:00.000-06:00

Tuscan White Bean Soup

2011-02-28T11:40:00.002-06:00

I made this soup the other night and it was a big hit, even with my picky eater Carson. Another plus is that it was easy to make and only took about 35 minutes. So, I thought I would share the recipe.

Here is what you will need:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, crushed with a press

1/2 small onion chopped

1 cup baby carrots chopped

2 cans cannellini beans or great Northern beans, rinsed and drained

1 carton 9 (32 oz) vegetable broth or chicken broth

2 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, crushed

1 package (6 oz) fresh baby spinach

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Parmesan cheese

In a 4-quart saucepan heat oil. Add garlic, onion and carrots and cook about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Lightly mash half if the beans . Then add beans, broth and seasoning into the saucepan; heat to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 8 minutes stirring occasionally. Add spinach to saucepan, stirring until spinach wilts. Stir in pepper and salt if desired. Place soup in a bowl and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Makes about 6 cups.

I hope you enjoy this soup as much as we did.

Holden in his room 4 months old

2011-02-23T10:09:00.003-06:00

Carson Swimming 2010

2011-02-23T10:09:00.002-06:00

Carson was 2 years and 3 months old when I took this video. I can't wait to see how well he is swimming by the end of this summer.

Carson and Holden

2011-02-23T10:07:00.001-06:00

First Day of School

2010-09-15T14:31:00.006-05:00

Carson started school at the beginning of September. He is doing a Mother's Day Out program 2 days a week for 4 hours a day. He seems to really enjoy it, I know I do. It is nice to have some time during the day to run errands and not have to take Carson with me. I also think it is important that he has some social interaction with others when I'm not around. Here are some pictures from this first day.

Carson is doing very well, he is all boy. I call him the wild man. He loves to run and play outside on his play set. He also really likes movies. He loves Jurassic Park, Avatar, Return to Oz, and lots of Disney movies. He pays attention to them and understands them, it is amazing to me. He also knows how to count to 20, say his ABC's and recognizes shapes and colors. Carson also speaks very well and you can understand him, he has a large vocabulary. He acts excited about meeting his baby brother, only time will tell how that goes.

37 weeks and counting

2010-09-15T14:15:00.007-05:00

I am now 37 weeks pregnant. Most of this pregnancy has been uneventfully until this past Monday. For two nights I was having a hard time sleeping because I was having numbness and pain in my right arm. Monday morning I called my OB's office and they wanted me to go to labor and delivery for monitoring. After spending over two hours being monitored and having some blood work done, it turns out I have carpal tunnel. It is common for pregnant women to get and typically goes away a few weeks after delivery. My OB also told me that it gets worse with each pregnancy, which is true. I had a mild case with Carson's pregnancy and this time I didn't even think it could be carpal tunnel because it was so painful. I thought I had a pinched nerve or something. I got a brace to sleep in and used it last night and it really helped.

This is a recent pregnancy picture

The baby is doing great, he moves around a lot and makes me very uncomfortable. I had a checkup Tuesday and was 1 1/2 cm dilated and 70% effaced. I have been measuring big so I had an ultrasound at 34 weeks. They estimated the baby was 5 lbs 12 oz, that has me a little nervous. Carson was 7lbs 13oz when he was born 2 weeks past his due date. This baby could be close to 9 lbs at his due date, so I will probably choose to be induced a few days after my due date if he doesn't come before then.

I was ready to post this blog once I added some pictures which I was planning on doing yesterday and then I got sick. I ended up going to Labor and Delivery early this morning because I was up all night sick. Turns out I have a stomach virus and I was badly dehydrated. They gave me 2 bags of iv fluid and some anti nausea medication. After being there for 4 hours I was able to go home. They want me to take it easy this weekend and try and get lots of rest and drink lots of fluids. I really hope the next time I have to go to Labor and Delivery it is when I am having the baby.

New House

2010-09-15T14:07:00.010-05:00

Well, we have been in the new house for almost 3 months now. We have accomplished a lot, or I should probably say Dave has. Being pregnant I haven't been able to help out that much. Dave has repainted just about the whole house and has removed wall paper. I had the fun part of furniture and accessory shopping. This house is more than double the size of our other house so I had a lot of shopping to do and I enjoyed every minute of it. Now that we have gotten most of the inside completed all that is left is the landscaping. We are hoping to get started this weekend and hopefully finished before the baby comes, my due date is 3 weeks away. Here are some pictures of the house.

Dinning Room

Living Room

Family Room

Kitchen

Master BedroomMaster Bath

Carson's Room

Boy's Bathroom

Holden's Room

Basement

Basement Bedroom

Backyard

Whirlwind

2010-04-19T14:34:00.003-05:00

It has been a while since my last post and that is because things have been crazy here. Here is what has been going on.

We have been working on getting our house ready to go on the market. Cleaning, organizing, painting and doing a bathroom remodel. http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8643-Charlton-Ln-Saint-Louis-MO-63123/2855677_zpid/

We listed the house on March 28th and had our first open house. It was a success, we got an offer that night and accepted the contract.

Now we are packing like crazy, we have to be out of our house by April 29th.

The weekend after our open house we went house hunting and found a house that we really love. We made an offer and after some back and forth counters and another offer we didn't get the house. After this we decided we would just build a house. We were going to meet with the builders and we got a phone call from our agent telling us that the contract on the house that we loved fell through and would we like to make another offer. We did and we got the house.

We close on June 11th so we will be living at our parents house until we can move in. I will post some pictures of the new house once we get in and settled. We are very excited about this next step in our lives.

11 weeks

2010-03-17T09:44:00.010-05:00

I am now 11 weeks pregnant. I had a doctor's appointment yesterday, and I was able to hear the baby's heartbeat. That was the second time I was able to hear it; the first was at my 8 week ultrasound. My doctor, Dr. Rockamann, whom I love, said that my ultrasound looked great and that all of my bloodwork came back fine. Everything is going well. I can't believe that I am almost through my first trimester. This pregnancy seems to be going by so much faster than my first. I guess that is because I have a toddler to chase around.

I have heard that with a second pregnancy that you will start to show earlier; I never imagined that at 11 weeks I would already need to start wearing maternity clothes. I was 20 weeks with Carson and it was around 23 weeks before I was really showing. I took a picture yesterday and I think you can already tell. It makes me wonder how big I am going to get by the end of this pregnancy.

On May 11th I have an ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby. I am so excited and I can't wait! This pregnancy has been completely different for me than my pregnancy with Carson was. With Carson, pregnancy was easy for me, I was never sick, and I felt great the whole time. With this pregnancy, I have felt bad since the beginning. I am hoping this means that I am having a girl :). I am trying not to get my hopes up because Dave comes from a long line of boys; he has nine cousins and only one is a girl. However, when I ask Carson if he is going to have a baby brother or a baby sister, he always says sister. In only eight weeks we will find out!

Family Update

2010-02-26T19:46:00.011-06:00

It has been a while since we have posted anything on our family blog so I wanted to update everyone on what is going on in our life. These pictures of Carson best describe it.

That's right, Carson is going to be a big brother. I am 8 1/2 weeks pregnant and my due date is October 5th. I have had one doctor's appointment and one ultrasound and the baby looks great. I haven't been feeling so great with this pregnancy, so maybe this time we will get our girl.

We are cramped in our house now with just the three of us, so we are going to be putting our house on the market in April. We will be very busy next month making some updates and getting our house ready to go on the market. I just hope we can sell our current home and move into a new one before the baby is born. We are currently looking in the Oakville area, that is where my dad and stepmom and Dave's parents live. We seem to spend all of our time in that area now that we have Carson, so it makes sense for us to move close to our parents.

Carson update:
Carson had his two year checkup today and he weighed 25lbs 10 oz (20%) and 35 inches (70%). Carson is speaking in sentences and the majority of the time we know what he is telling us. He really loves hockey; he will walk around the house saying honk, honk, honnnnk...let's go Blues! He also wants to watch games on television and play hockey on the XBox. I am wondering if he will be into baseball like this once it starts back up.

I am going to try really hard, and at the minimum do an update once a month; hopefully Dave will do a few as well. So follow our blog and get updates on what is going on in our world.

My little mess

2009-09-14T22:06:00.003-05:00

Here is what I found Carson doing when I got out of the shower this morning.

When I asked him what he was doing he responded brush teeth, brush teeth. I don't even know how he managed to get in the sink or how I didn't hear him climb up to get in. This sums up my child perfectly, he is into everything!

18 Months

2009-08-16T22:16:00.004-05:00

Carson is now 18 months old and a lot has happened since last month:

Carson saw his first musical Dora Live. He really enjoyed it.
Carson also went to his first concert to see the Wiggles, which he loved.
He got his first haircut and he was so good, he didn't move around at all.
Learned to swim with water wings. He took to it the minute I put him in the water.

Carson had his 18 month check up on Friday he weighed 23lb 4oz (16th percentile) and is 33.5 inches tall (83rd percentile). His vocabulary has really expanded this past month. He is using over 20 words and is starting to put 2 words together. It is so great that he is able to communicate with Dave and I, it makes things so much easier. Physically Carson is also doing well. He can run, jump, climb, throw and walk backwards. I can't believe in 6 months he will be two. Time goes by so fast when you have children.

2009-07-15T11:00:00.001-05:00

Ok, Brittany posted, now it's my turn. I just wanted to try a post via text message. The All-Star game was a blast, I'll post pics and vids later.

Here I go

2009-07-14T22:38:00.005-05:00

Dave has told me he will not do another post until I do one, so here I go. I honestly don't like writing and I am a horrible at spelling and grammar so doing something like this is really hard for me but I will give it my best.

Carson is 17 months old today. I do not know where the time has gone. With each day that passes he is becoming more like a little boy. He has finally really started talking. I was a little worried because he wasn't really saying much of anything and then one day he said door. His favorite word right now is no. He uses it for everything. He will repeat almost any word that you ask and it is so cute to hear him pronounce the words. He also loves to do spins and forward rolls and tries to jump. Here is a video for you to enjoy.

I got my flippy floppys

2009-04-16T20:13:00.026-05:00

Good day blogosphere! I've got a few weeks worth of updates here, so let's get started...

As usual, I will start things off with King Carson. He's growing up incredibly fast. He's really starting to walk now. It's as if he just decided one day to start walking, and he was off. I will upload a clip of him walking soon.

I think the biggest progress Carson has made is in the realm of food. He loves "real" food. He always wants what we are eating and likes to let us know when he wants what we have. He also likes some surprising food such as hummus, sautéed mushrooms, thai dumplings, and Italian style beef. Surprisingly, he also seems to like spicy food, just like mom and dad :). Now don't get the wrong idea, we're not feeding him habañero peppers or anything, but he does seem to like "Supremely Spicy Hummus". So it looks like we'll have a 3rd person to start cooking for around the house.

Carson recently had another "first", his first time passing out on the floor where he was playing. I was sitting on the floor with him while he was playing, and he decided to lay down. This was not abnormal, sometimes he lays down and plays. However, as he was laying there, he started to move less and less. Now I am really paying attention. Then I realized he was out. He was laying on the hardwood floor asleep. Brittany was off in the other room and noticed it was awfully quiet, so she poked her head out to see what was going on. I pointed to Carson and she saw he was asleep. Time to get the camera. As she came into the room, she snapped a picture. She wasn't close enough, so she tried to come closer. This woke him up, and he poked his head up, looked at us, and I thought it was over. On the contrary, after looking up at us, he proceeded to lay back down and go back to sleep. Now the hardwood floor is not the most comfortable surface, so he kept adjusting his hand and arm under his head to make it soft. After about a minute of this, he was out again. Time for more pictures. We found this quite amusing, and the pictures below are in sequential order.

Here are some other highlights from March...

That's about all I have for Carson, on to M-I-Z...Z-O-U!

I know the NCAA tournament has come and gone, but I feel the need to talk about it.

Awesome, terrific, kick ass...those words all describe this season of Mizzou basketball, but I think the one that sums everything up is elite, as in Elite 8. Mizzou pulled of some impressive wins and made it all the way to the Elite 8. They were very close to knocking off UConn, and in my opinion they should have, but a great run nonetheless. Thanks Tigers!

On a sad note, Rev. Dale Sterling Chapman, the man who married me and Brittany and dedicated Carson, passed away on April 4th. He was a veteran of WWII and a good man who touched many people's lives. R.I.P.

Brittany's birthday was on April 5th, and she decided she wanted to go bowling with our friends. We had a great time, my parents came over and watched Carson so Brittany could get crazy. And did she ever...she was out of control! Just kidding, she did have a good time though ;).

From the wide world of sports, baseball has started and the Blues made the playoffs! I guess that's not the wide world of sports, just St. Louis professional sports, but I digress...Opening day was a blast. The day started with heavy snowfall, that's right, snowfall. It was colder than a witch's titty, but it didn't stop us. People came over to our house, I stood by the BBQ grill and grilled our lunch. I didn't realize how cold it was until I stepped away from the fire. We proceeded to head downtown and meet up with the final member of our group before heading in. Did I mention it was cold? We had on sweatshirts, stocking caps, gloves, boots, the whole 9 yards...and we were drinking ice cold beer. Anyway, the game was great, and I managed to sneak into the Redbird club and out of the elements in the 7th inning, which was FANTASTIC. However, the Cards blew the game in the 9th and we lost. Oh well, we've been pretty good since then, including today's win against the Chicago baby bears.

I just thought of something, I have season tickets for the Cardinals, and I will not be going to every game I have tickets for. So if you have any interest in going to a game, let me know. I will also make a post on here when I am selling tickets. In fact, I have 2 tickets for 4/22 against the Mets, 2 tickets for 5/4 against the Phillies, and 2 tickets for 5/5 against the Phillies. The face value is $22/ticket, and that is what I am asking. They are in Section 511, Row 25, Seats 24 & 25. That is in the right field bleachers and the seats are on the aisle.

As I mentioned, the Blues made the playoffs for the first time in 5 years. It was improbable, as they were the worst team in the West in February, but they got hot and managed a 6 seed in the playoffs. We lost to Vancouver last night, but we can get them back tomorrow.

I experienced the joy of registering for my last semester of classes on Monday. I will be finished on the 19th of August, and commencement is on the 12th of September. The end is in sight and I am PUMPED! Now the only question is, after I am finished, then what? That could literally be the million dollar question.

Well that was a lot of updating, and I'm sure I forgot something, but that's OK, I can just post again. On that, I leave you with The Lonely Island's "I'm On A Boat". (WARNING: NSFW language).

The Ides of March

2009-03-05T19:59:00.017-06:00

Happy March to everyone! Spring is just around the corner and it can't get here fast enough. I'm tired of wind chills, frosty mornings, scarves, and gloves. This Sunday morning is the first, and in my opinion, the best part...daylight savings! That's right, I will not have to drive home from work in the dark again!

Some Carson updates...

He is really getting in to walking now. He loves to stand up and he started to take a few steps on his own. They are very wobbly steps, but progress nonetheless. He also learned how to go down one step from a landing. He fell a couple of times, but he's fine. He claps for himself when he does that as well.

Just two short weeks after his first birthday party, we went to a friend of our's son's first birthday party. Carson had a good time and got to enjoy a bit more cake and ice cream.

Here are some pictures from February...

And a bully for ol' Mizzou...

I will not mention much about the whooping Mizzou got against kU, but I will mention how they defeated #5 Oklahoma to finish the season 18-0 at home! Also, kudos to the Zou Crew for finding the following picture of Oklahoma's Blake Griffin:

Original:

[Via: Mizzourah, via: The Lost Ogle]

A quick plug for my YouTube channel. You can view my videos, right now all of them are of Carson, at My YouTube Channel. Feel free to leave comments there (and here!).

This actually reminds me of something else, does anyone out there use Twitter or FriendFeed? I use both, and not a single other person from my e-mail address book does, unless I have an incorrect or missing address. So if you do, I am at Twitter and FriendFeed.

I am channeled my most hardcore inner nerd by adding Battlestar Galactica (TV series) to my Netflix queue. I have heard nothing but good things, so I am going to start with season 1 and see how it goes. If anyone watches it, let me know in the comments.

I leave you with a clip of Jimmy Fallon from his new late night show...

Carson is officially 1!!!

2009-02-19T21:31:00.008-06:00

My apologies to those of you out in cyberspace that read this blog. More apologies for not posting for a while...on with the show!

First things first, Carson just celebrated his first birthday! February 14, 2009 was the big day. He enjoyed cake, presents, and the company of many friends and family. Below are some highlights from the big day...

We would again like to thank everyone for the gifts and for all the help we received to put this party on!

Breaking news...Carson stood up on his own for the first time, we have the exclusive footage...

Along with all of this excitement, Carson also had his 1 year check up. He is 20 lbs. 12 oz, and is 30 1/2" long. He got a few more shots, which is not fun, but he pulled through.

That's about all I can think of for Carson, on to moi...

I have officially jumped back on the wagon. I am working out 4 times a week in an effort to get back to where I should be. I'm running a couple of miles and doing the 100 push-up challenge and the 200 sit-up challenge. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Are you stimulated, because I sure am! Thanks to our fearless leaders in the government, I'll be getting a $13/week raise and there's enough pork in for a world-wide BBQ. Oh well, I can't complain too much, I still have a job.

On a final note, I am now really looking forward to taking Carson to the dentist when he's older [sinister laugh]...

Snow, Toys, Music, and Magical Mini Deer

2009-02-04T11:39:00.014-06:00

Well, Carson had his first run in with snow last week. He didn't mind it, until he fell and got some on his face. Then, fuggitaboutit. He did not want to be let down out of our arms into that cold, white, powdery substance. And that's ok, we'll try again next year.

Below is video proof of the torture...

A trip down nostalgia lane occurred yesterday when I read this blog over at Wired. While I cannot say that I played with all of those, most of them make the list. I almost wept when I saw the Merlin. That was one of my favorite toys.

I also thoroughly enjoyed He-man and Voltron, having been given the action figures as gifts. I only wish I would have saved those.

Flight of the Conchords is coming to St. Louis at the end of April. I want to go, but I'm not convinced that $40 is a reasonable price to see the show. It is at the Fabulous Fox Theater, but I'm not sure. If you are not familiar with them, they are two fellas from New Zealand that have a show on HBO.

While I am generally happy with my current job, I want to apply for another job. It is only a 6 month assignment, but it pays well and has some nice fringe benefits. Here is the website dedicated to said employment opportunity. I have to submit a 60 second application video by the 21st of February. Here's a snippet from the website about the responsibilities...

Explore and report back

There’s so much to see and do, so you’ll have plenty to write about in your weekly blog. And with so much life above and below the water, you’re sure to capture some entertaining moments for your video diary and photo gallery. To keep you busy, Tourism Queensland will organise a schedule of travel and events on the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef. Your schedule could include sampling a new luxury spa treatment at qualia on Hamilton Island, trying out new snorkelling gear on Heron Island, or bushwalking on Hinchinbrook Island.

Feed the fish

There are over 1,500 species of fish living in the Great Barrier Reef. Don’t worry – you won’t need to feed them all.

Clean the pool

The pool has an automatic filter, but if you happen to see a stray leaf floating on the surface it’s a great excuse to dive in and enjoy a few laps.

Collect the mail

You’ll have some time on your hands, so why not join the aerial postal service for a day? It’s a great opportunity to get a bird’s eye view of the reef and islands.

It sounds pretty rough. BTW, the job pays AU$150,000 (about US$100,000). Is it too good to be true? There's only one way to find out.

The Wiggles...Australia's "They Live" or "Poltergeist"?

2009-01-26T11:37:00.011-06:00

We have a 2 year old nephew who LOVES The Wiggles. For those who are not familiar, go here. Anyway, it looks like Carson has picked up the Wiggles bug as well. He loves them. He will stop whatever he's doing if they come on. He's not even 1 yet. Something is fishy here...

Here is a picture of Carson watching The Wiggles in our upstairs TV room...

Does that remind you of another certain movie...

I am a tad concerned at this point. I may experiment by turning the show off while he's watching and see if he becomes hostile or starts speaking in tongues.

On a positive note, his first birthday is in three weeks! I can't believe how fast the first year has gone. I'd love to throw a party Billy Madison style...petting zoo, rock band, cotton candy machine, Norm Macdonald, etc. but I think that might be a bit much.

Carson has not started completely walking on his own yet, but he does walk behind his "walker" and he can take 2 or 3 steps on his own. Soon enough, he'll be zipping around the house, hooray! This is especially exciting because almost every surface in our house is wood, which is hard. My prediction...pain.

Carson recently had his first experience at the Magic House. He went with his cousins Nathan and Blake, as well as mom and aunt Brooke. They had a good time, but I think he'll enjoy it more when he's no longer a quadruped.

Carson recently recovered from his first bout of a stomach virus. It was coming out of both ends and he was waking up from vomiting in his bed. Lots of laundry and extra love was needed for a few days, but he's doing better now.

A positive note regarding Sir Carson of Matlock...we finally taught him how to fall asleep on his own. No nursing, no rocking, no patting, just laying down awake and falling asleep without crying. It's wonderful.

Enough about Carson, I want to share a story about upgrading RAM on my laptop. I finally decided to max out the RAM in my laptop, and when it arrived, I was more than anxious to install it. Now I know from the specs that there are two modules and there is an access plate on the bottom of the machine. So, I turn off the machine, flip it over, open the plate and...one module. WTF? Ok, so I boot it back up after installing the one module and look at the repair manual. I can't believe what I am seeing, I have to take out 12 screws and remove the keyboard to get to the other module. Now I have no problems with doing this, but seriously, all that for a RAM upgrade? For shame, HP.

This makes sense...

This does not...

So Kurt Warner is back in the Super Bowl. I'm happy for him and the Arizona Cardinals. Larry Fitzgerald is literally leaps and bounds better than every opponent he has faced thus far. With Pittsburgh's defense, it should be a good game. I like both teams, so I'm just hoping for an exciting game.

Also, it looks like we inagurated a new president last week. I wish him the best of luck.

Toodles for now...

Dave

President Carson

2009-01-24T23:28:00.001-06:00

I'm about to go to bed, but before I do, I want to post this picture that was taken the other day. I CAN HAS PREZIDENCY?

9 Months and counting...

2008-11-07T20:51:00.010-06:00

Brittany says I'm a good blogger, so here we go...

I'm going to start with a quick catch-up on what has happened in recent months...

We had a baby, Carson, on Valentine's Day of this year (2008)
1 month after Carson was born, Brittany had her appendix removed (that was fun)
I am in graduate school at Washington University
Brittany's sister had their 2nd baby, Blake, in August of 2008 (he's almost as big as Carson already, the NFL scouts are already watching him)

Let's start with our little man, Carson. Today was his 9 month check-up, we can't believe he's 9 months old already. Technically he'll be 9 months old on the 14th (as his birthday was Valentine's Day). Anyway, he's 18 lbs. 12 oz. and 28 3/4" tall. He loves to crawl around and pull up on everything he possibly can, which is always fun for us. He's finally figured out (sort of) how to get back down from the standing position; some trips back down are more graceful than others (think "thud").

Halloween came and went, Brittany and I dressed up as ourselves and Carson was a monkey! We hung out with her sister and her husband along with their two kids (our nephews), who were a giraffe and a kangaroo. It was a little zoo.

The week before Halloween we were in Columbia for Mizzou's Homecoming, we made it to the game and had a great time! Mizzou beat Colorado 58-0!

I have more pictures here, if you want to take a looksey.

Election 2008

I'm going to veer off for a bit and talk about the recent election of Barack Obama. I have no problem telling you that we voted for McCain. We don't agree with much that Obama brings to the table, but he will be our next president. I will admit that this is an historic event, and a great thing for America. I just hope that when the honeymoon ends and he's actually in office, we don't go full on "rob Peter to pay Paul". I work hard for my money, and if I want to help those who are less fortunate, that should be my decision; I'd rather the government stay out of it. Anyway, hopefully we can move forward in a useful manner as a country and make the best of the next 4 years. Onward and upward!

When I posted previous entries into this blog, I liked to end with a funny picture. I'm going to expand that to funny and/or interesting. I'm stickin' with the funnay this time. Until next time, I bid you adieu.

That sound you hear...

2008-10-07T22:13:00.000-05:00

is the sound of new posts on the horizon.

Stay tuned!

The Post of Destiny

2006-11-15T11:34:00.000-06:00

Ah the magic of the cinema...
Yesterday, after work, I received a phone call from a buddy of mine. He asked me if I was interested in seeing a free movie. Someone that works with my friend gave him 4 passes to a sneak preview screening of "Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny". He asked my wife and I to go. So I said "sure, why not, it's free". The movie stars Jack Black and Kyle Gass and tells the story of their attempt at rising to fame. Now, I went in to this movie expecting something terrible. And in the end, I was amused by the movie. Would I be willing to pay $8 to see it, probably not, but for free, I was not dissappointed. There was stupid, crude humor, a lot of language (as in naughty words like shit and fuck), and drug use. So if any of that bothers you, don't see it. So, all in all, I would say rent it, or wait for it to come out on a movie channel and see it.

Life at the office...
Well, not much new here, I'm meeting with my mentor for the first time today, I'm anxious to see how it goes. I'm looking forward to it.

Let's hit 1.21 gigawatts at 88 mph...

The next point in my list of things to catch up on is my brother going off to college. Now this is cool for several reasons. First off, he is at the University of Missouri - Columbia, or Mizzou for those who are in the loop. He is majoring in business finance, and Mizzou's business school is one of the tops in the nation. Second, he joined Sigma Pi Fraternity. Guess what, I am a Sigma Pi. So now when I go back and visit, I get to see the house, and hang out with my brother. Very nice. Lastly, he was just recently elected to serve on the house Executive Board as Treasurer. Congratulations to him. (BTW, I was also Treasurer). Now I have to admit, it's kind of weird knowing that my brother is in a Fraternity at college. I was just there, and he is 7 years younger than I am. That is quite a gap. I mean he's always been my little brother. Now he's off on his own at college, and having a great time and doing well. So kudos to you brother man.

Picture time...
One of my all time favorites

166 days...

2006-11-14T13:11:00.000-06:00

That's how long it's been since my last post. And let me tell you, A LOT has happened. I won't be writing about everything in this post, but I will be making a list of things that have happened, and then over time writing about them. So here we go...

I will put these in chronological order, starting with the oldest and working to the newest...

I started a new job
Got accepted to grad school
My brother started college
We went to Las Vegas
I started guitar lessons
We went to Chicago
I went dove hunting in Mexico
THE CARDINALS WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!
Mid-term elections/Britney files for divorce from K-fed (happened on the same day, i know, what a day)

Those are the major things, I'm sure there are things in between those that are worthy of my mentioning, but I can't think that far back right now.

I'll start with my new job for today. June 9th was my first day at The Boeing Company. I was hired on as an Engineer/Scientist. Ooooh, fancy. For the record, I am now a Systems Engineer due to the recent reorganization of the company structure. Man was I excited to get on at Boeing. I had been trying for 2 and a half years to get on there. I finally did. Coming from a company of 4 people to a company of 15,000+ (that's just in St. Louis. Worldwide, Boeing has 150,000+ employees) took a little adjusting, but I am doing just fine. And just so you know, I won't be talking about my job much because I'm not supposed to do that, I don't want to divulge company secrets :). They have nice benefits, which brings me to my next point, my acceptance to grad school.

Boeing pays for 100% of tuition if you choose to go back to school, so I took the GMAT and applied to Washington University for the Professional MBA program. It starts in January and lasts for 3 years. I will graduate with an MBA and an MIM (Master's of Information Management, it's with the Engineering School). I am pretty excited for all of this, it's quite a change.

I think that is good for today. Speaking of today, I tried to give blood and was defered because of my hunting trip to Mexico, I guess I could be carrying Malaria. Yeesh. It's possible that I won't be able to give blood for the next year. That's a long time, thanks alot Mexico.

I will be headed out this weekend to kill me a deer. It's very Neaderthal of me, killing a deer to provide for my family. Heck, it's so easy a caveman could do it.

Hopefully I get one, because the meat lasts us for a very long time.

Ok, that is all for now. I'm going to stop posting a link at the end of every post. Instead, I'll post a picture. Enjoy.

Unfreakinbelievable

2006-06-01T12:43:00.000-05:00

Well, I had quite a lengthy post about random crap, but the browser crashed and I lost it. I thought blogger autosaved, but I guess not. So here is my post for the day. Enjoy.

NO LINK FOR YOU!

2 for 1 Special!

2006-05-18T10:24:00.000-05:00

Well, since I did not post yesterday, I will post today with 2 days worth of stuff!!

I hate to sound like a broken record, but Britney Spears is just plain stupid. She almost dropped her baby...again! This time it was caught on film. I can't wait to see this video. That's all I'm going to say about that.

I don't really have anything else to say, so I'll just post the workout/food stuff, followed by a video. Man, that wasn't much of a 2 for 1 special, was it?

Workout for 5/17/2006
None (should have been cardio)

Diet for 5/17/2006
2041 Calories
Protein - 27%
Carbs - 33%
Fats - 23%
Alcohol - 17%

Workout for 5/18/2006
Leg Extentions - 12x95, 10x105, 8x115, 6x125, 12x115
One legged squats - 12xBody Weight
Leg Curls - 12x45, 10x50, 8x55, 6x60, 12x50
Lunges - 12x95
One legged calf raises - 12x10, 10x10, 8x15, 6x20, 12x15 (dumbbell in one hand)
Angled calf raise - 12x95
Hip Raises (abs) - 12x0, 10x5, 8x10, 6x15, 12x10 (held a dumbbell between my feet)
Crunches - 12x0

Diet for 5/18/2006
2009 Calories
Protein - 33%
Carbs - 45%
Fats - 18%
Alcohol - 3%

What is Jack Bauer doing??

Baseball is fun

2006-05-17T12:48:00.000-05:00

I attended the baseball game last night in which the Cards lost 8-3 to the NY Mets. Normally I wouldn't be very happy about that, but I absolutely had a blast last night. There was a 1 hour and 41 minute rain delay in which 98% of the attending crowd decided to leave. Did we leave, not a chance. In fact, after the delay, we were able to move to the first row behind the Cards dugout. Mulder threw a handful of Bazooka Joe gum on top of the dugout for the fans, and my buddy got a baseball that Jimmy Edmonds threw into the crowd. So all in all, it was a good night.

I am also going to the game tonight and I am taking a buddy of mine because it's his birthday.

Well, I'm short and to the point today, on with the regular stuff...

Workout for 5/17/2006
None (should have been cardio, damn baseball game)

Diet for 5/17/2006
1975 Calories
Protein - 15%
Carbs - 30%
Fats - 28%
Alcohol - 27% (yikes, damn baseball game)

A Comedy 3,000 Years In The Making

I'm Back In The Saddle Again

2006-05-16T12:09:00.000-05:00

It's been a short hiatus from this here blog, but I'm back baby, I'm back!

First things first, I have some exciting news. I was offered a job at Boeing! I've been trying to get on there for about 2 1/2 years now. My persistence, patience, and dedication have paid off. I will be going in as a Level 1 Engineer/Scientist. I will be doing work that is similar to what I am doing now, just using a different technology. So I will be doing web based application programming. I am very excited. I have turned in all of the necessary paperwork to this point and I took my drug test today (keep your fingers crossed, I did stay away from the poppy seeds). My tentative start date is June 9th. I am receiving a substantial pay raise and Boeing pays for employees to go to school, so I will hopefully start school in the fall to get my Master's Degree. I'll keep everyone posted as the day's get closer.

Let's jump to entertainment. In the last week or so, I watched Mission Impossible 1, 2, and 3. I saw MI3 at the theater on Sunday. (Speaking of Sunday, Happy Mother's Day to all of the Mothers out there). I must say, I really enjoyed it. 1 and 2 were ok, but 3 was very good. I'm not a big Tom Cruise fan, but he did well in this. (I also think he did a good job in War of the Worlds). So if you're looking to see a movie, I would recommend this one.

The Soprano's has been good along with the best show on TV, 24. I will post more about those in the coming weeks, as their seasons are coming to an end soon.

My vote for Mother of the Year goes to Britney Spears. First, she drives with the child, excuse me, infant, in her lap. Then the baby "falls" out of a "broken" high chair and knocks his dome. Now, she's driving her convertible with the baby in the back seat and the car seat is facing forward. If you don't know, most states have a law that an infant must face backwards in a car seat. Not to mention, the baby's head is hunched over way too far, it doesn't look safe. Not to mention, I'm pretty sure a baby hangin' out in the California sun is not a very good idea. Between, Cletus, I mean Popo Zao, I mean K-Fed, I mean Mr. Spears, I mean Kevin Federline, and her, this child is in for a lifetime of therapy. I pray for that baby.

Now, in the wide world of sports, the Cardinals almost have the best record in baseball right now. I find that very impressive because they haven't seemed to be playing to the best of their ability. Albert Pujols is simply amazing. Barry who? Albert just set the record for most home runs in the month of April. Not to mention he has about 50 RBI's right now. It's MAY. Ridiculous.

Some of you out there might know of a man named Willie McGee. He played for the Cardinals in the 80's and is one of the most loved Cardinals of all time. There is a movement to have his number (51) retired. Click the banner below to learn more.

In my efforts not to be so soft and squishy anymore, I have been working out. I try to workout 6 days a week. 3 days of lifting weights and 3 days of cardio. In an effort to keep myself on track, I'm going to post my workout for the previous day along with my caloric intake for the previous day. The caloric intake will be broken down in to percentages of protein, carbs, and fats. My goal is to keep it at 40% protein/ 40% carbs/ and 20% fats. We shall see.

Workout for 5/15/2006
Bench Press - 12 x 105, 10 x 115, 8 x 125, 6 x 125, 12 x 105
DB Flyes - 12 x 20 lb. dumbbells
Barbell Row - 12 x 45, 10 x 55, 8 x 65, 6 x 75, 12 x 55
DB Row - 12 x 35 lb. for each hand
Front Shoulder Raises - 12 x 10, 10 x 15, 8 x 15, 6 x 20, 12 x 15
Side Shoulder Raises - 12 x 15
Standing Tricep Press - 12 x 25, 10 x 35, 8 x 45, 6 x 45, 12 x 35
Close handed push-ups - 7 x body weight
E-Z bicep curls - 12 x 25, 10 x 35, 8 x 45, 6 x 45, 12 x 35
Seated DB curls - 12 x 15 lb. dumbbells

Diet for 5/15/2006
~1599 Calories
Protein - 29%
Carbs - 44%
Fats - 27%

On a side note, our 2nd anniversary is coming up on June 5th. I'm not sure what we're going to do, but I'll post about it on the 6th.

I have not yet had a chance to watch the President's speech on illegal immigration, but here's how I think it should be handled. Send/train more border patrol agents to watch the border. Set up fences, cameras, and other security measures to stop the bleeding. As far as deporting everyone who is already here (I believe about 12 million), that would be a huge task that is just not feasible. I'm not sure what I think should be done about that. Maybe deport those who are caught by other means, but I don't think a "seek and destroy" type mission is the way to go here. I'll post more comments on this matter once I watch the speech.

So, to end this post in the normal fashion, I present to you The Evolution of Dance

Pujols for President

2006-04-11T12:18:00.000-05:00

I had the privelage of attending yesterday's baseball game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers. By the way, it was the home opener for the Cardinals in their brand new stadium. It was quite a day. There were probably over 100,000 people in the downtown area, with just under 42,000 in attendance at the game. Anyway, the new place in incredible, and I can't wait to go to more games. Now I will give you my case for electing Albert Pujols as President of the United States. Whenever there is a problem, Albert can mash a 450 ft. home run and when everyone says "Wow, that guy is the best player in baseball", they will realize that quarrelling over things like Social Security and health care are silly. They will come to an agreeance over all pressing issues and the country will be wonderful. The reason I say that is because in the game yesterday, Pujols blasted a home run that almost left the stadium. The only downside to the game was another disappointing game by the bullpen, especially Izzy. He gives up a meatball grand slam on Sunday giving the Cubs a win, and he almost blew the home opener. I don't know if it's in his head or what, but he better get his act together or else we should look for a new closer. The final score of the game was 6-4 Cardinals.

On a serious note, my sister-in-law's husband, who is a Marine, is currently serving in Iraq. The vehicle he was riding in was hit by 3 I.E.D.'s. For those of you who don't know what an I.E.D. is, it stands for Improvised Explosive Device. The insurgents use them to attack convoys and vehicles. Anyway, despite being hit by 3 of them, no one in the vehicle was seriously hurt. The driver hit his head, and that is the worst of it. I think the soldiers in that vehicle had some help from God on that one. So please, put him in your prayers along with all of the other soldiers serving in our Military.

That is not exactly a very good segway for this, but what can I do. I finally saw the movie "Team America - World Police". This movie was made by the creators of South Park. It done completely with puppets. Let me just say, it was an absolutely hilarious movie. I won't go into specifics, but I highly recommend this movie if you like South Park.

This whole link thing is getting difficult, but as I promised, here ya go.

A reminder from last year of the awesomeness that is Albert Pujols.

Birthdays, Baseball, and Buying Stuff

2006-04-07T13:19:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since my last post, so let me get started...

First of all, April 5th is my wife's birthday. So happy belated birthday to you wife. The Saturday before her birthday, she threw a baby shower for her sister. Her sister came in town from California, and her mother and grandmother came in town from Memphis. I had an idea, I was going to throw her a surprise birthday party! By the way this was her 25th birthday. So I rented a few lanes at a bowling alley, got a cake, a present, and figured out what we would do after bowling. Fast forward to Saturday, the shower is over, I have a plan to trick her to the bowling alley. We decide to go to dinner, and from dinner I would get us to go to the bowling alley. Side note: my wife is difficult to surprise, she was very stubborn for some reason this day. Between that and the fact the restaurant was slow, we didn't leave until almost 9 p.m. when we should have been there by 8 p.m.. Finally we get there and I convince her that we should all go in. We walk in, she sees a couple of our friends and thinks, "cool, so-and-so is here". Then we walked down the stairs and BAM, family, friends, and bowling. Good times for all. I had planned on going to Bailey's Chocolate Bar afterwards, but it was too crowded, so some of us went to a friends house and that was that. Some other details, I got the cake from Coldstone Creamery (cookie dough delirium), I got her a personalized engraved keychain with an angel and a heart, and everyone had a good time. Man, it's a lot of work planning a surprise party, whew!

I had the opportunity to see the exhibition game between Memphis and Springfield at the new Busch Stadium. Wow, what a beautiful ball park. Opening day is Monday the 10th, and I am now more pumped than ever. Besides the long consession lines, everything was perfect. I will post pictures later.

I would like everyone to know that this is the inagural post from my brand new laptop! Woo hoo! It's an HP Pavilion zv6130us. Athlon 64 processor, 512 MB ram, 128 MB dedicated video card, it smokes. I can't tell you how excited I am to have this. I could spend all night on this thing getting it up to speed how I like it. But it's Friday, so I probably won't. (Crap, Derek Lee just hit a home run for the Cubs. NOOOOOOO!)

Well, gotta get back to work.

Daily Show goodness

Free Tony Soprano

2006-03-29T10:22:00.000-06:00

I have a lot to talk about today, so hold on to your butts.

Let's start with the world of sports. Holy cow, the NCAA tournament is just incredible. George Mason?..in the FINAL FOUR??? Wow, that is why I love this tournament. I also would like to mention that I have a chance to win a substantial amount of cash in a bracket pool. So, root for UCLA and George Mason, with George Mason winning the national championship. By the way, I am also upset that Wichita State is out, GO SHOCKERS!!

My wife and I will be heading to the new Busch Stadium on the 4th of April for the exhibition game between the Memphis Redbirds (AAA) and the Springfield Cardinals (AA). I can't wait to see the new place. Six short days later...OPENING DAY!! I am so freakin' pumped.

Speaking of being pumped, I fell out of working out serveral weeks ago. I am back to it. I am excited, focused, and ready to stick with it. I will occasionaly post my progress on here.

On to politics. I don't want to get into a long winded rant about politics here, so I will just get to the point. Illegal aliens are just that, ILLEGAL. This crap with them protesting in the streets is ridiculous. Get some busses out there, load them up and send their asses back to Mexico. If you want to come into this country legally, I welcome you. You are coming into the greatest country on earth. But for you to come here illegally and then complain when you are called out for being illegal is absolutely ludicrous.

OK, on to TV. OK, it's time for more 24 and Sopranos talk, so SPOILER ALERT. Skip ahead if you don't want the show to be spoiled for you..

First, the Sopranos. I'm not sure what to think about the whole dreaming/dying thing with Tony. I can't figure out the significance of the name Kevin Finnerty, if there is any at all. Vito is really being a douche about Silvio being the boss while Tony recovers. If doesn't watch it, he's gonna get "Big Pussied". Paulie reminded me last week why he's my favorite. He goes in with Vito to collect some cash, and they get attacked. He gets kneed right in the nuts. It was a hilarious scene.

Now for 24. Memo to everyone: Jack Bauer is a bad ass. He will choke and interrogate his own "girlfriend". Awesome. The crazy chick who came in and actually helped save the day, is crazy. She's out looking for a sexual harassment suit. Buchannan says "nice job" and pats her shoulder. She gets a crazy look in her eye and says "He shouldn't have done that". What a bitch. Buchannan is a good man, people like her should be taken out back and shot. She's looking for attention or something. I'm beginning to wonder what the big picture is here. If the nerve gas was destroyed, what else are they going to do? There is about 8 hours left. Damn I love that show.

Link time...

Remember how exciting it was to open presents at Christmas?

March Madness!!

2006-03-21T12:24:00.000-06:00

March Madness is here (and 2 rounds through). A time of year when people who only casually watch college basketball glue themselves to the TV for several days at a time, cheering on teams which they have no idea about. Why? Bracket pools. I'm guilty, I do the exact thing I am talking about. Do I know anything about Northwestern St. or George Mason? Of course not, but they did somewhat screw up my bracket. By the way, I have correctly picked 11 of the sweet 16. So here's to another weekend of basketball.

Is it odd that on St. Patrick's Day I had sushi for lunch and Indian food for dinner?

The next commissioner of the NFL...Condoleeza Rice. I think Tagliabue did a good job. But it's Rice time.

I have a question for God...do you know that the first day of SPRING was yesterday? I only ask because it's snowing like mad all over the Midwest, not to mention the cold temperatures. Just asking.

I found a new artist that I enjoy, Coheed and Cambria. It's different from the crap that is on the radio today. Give it a try.

20 days until the Cardinals home opener!

That's all I have for now...linky time

Monkeys are always funny

Happy Hump Day!

2006-03-15T13:11:00.000-06:00

Let me start by saying that i forgotten how great The Sopranos is because it has been so long since I had last seen it. Like I said, almost. It took me a few scenes to remember everyone's name, but about 10 minutes in, I was right back where I had left off.
WARNING, SOPRANOS AND 24 SPOILER ALERT!!

First off, having Carmine die as he's ratting out Tony is brilliant, just brilliant. I would also like to say that Meadow is looking mighty fine. (if you've seen the episode, you know what I mean). AJ is going for a rock star look with the long hair and attitude. Uncle Junior is completely losing his mind. In fact the ending of the episode, when he SHOOTS TONY, is a jaw dropper. That's right, senile old Uncle Junior yells something in what I'm assuming is Italian and shoots Tony right in the gut. Great stuff.

As far as 24 goes, damn, when will they stop killing important people, this week they killed Lynn and Tony. Robocop (Henderson) fought through the interrogation process and stabbed Tony with something that just killed him, and Lynn went out a hero by saving everyone. Jack is going to lose it, everything around him is completely collapsing. Kim doesn't want anything to do with him, his best friend is dead, along with 40% of CTU, and he has no idea where the nerve gas is. Damn.

Back to the blog...

I am currently building a website for my fraternity, which will be at www.mizzousigmapi.com. (The site is not currently active). You should check there every so often to see it. Come back here and let me know how I did.

The wife and I will be heading to Memphis for the weekend, actually a three day weekend, Friday-Sunday. Hopefully I'll go out Friday and drink me some green beer and/or Guiness in celebration of St. Patrick's Day.

For those of you with MySpace, go to my page, and add me as a friend. That's all I have to say about that.

Link time...

Blooper Reel

I LOVES me some fried chicken!

2006-03-10T10:21:00.000-06:00

Let me tell you why I LOVES me some fried chicken. We went to Hodak's last night and had the best fried chicken in St. Louis. If you have never been there and you live in St. Louis, go. Now, tonight, tomorrow, the next chance you can. If you do not live here and you visit, go there. You won't be disappointed.

So far, this blog has mainly been about me (Dave) and my opinions. In my selfishness, I neglegted to mention something that Brittany did last week with her work. As you may or may not know, she works for her Sorority's (Pi Beta Phi) headquarters. Last week, she went to the airport along with several other Pi Phis and handed out Dr. Seuss books to children who were flying on Southwest Airlines. This was part of their national philanthropy. The day they were doing this was Dr. Seuss's birthday. This took place at several major airports throughout the country. So if you know someone who got a Dr. Seuss book last week for flying Southwest, that was the doing of the Pi Phis.

Now, back to me...

I added links on the right to our MySpace pages. So any of you out there who are in MySpace land, add us as friends, otherwise, just go and check it out. FYI, Brittany's is still under construction. I put up some goofy stuff just to fill the page.

For anyone who is a reader (I am trying) librarians all over were asked what are the essential books every person should read. Here is the list (somewhat long)...

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Bible

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by JRR Tolkien

1984 by George Orwell

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

All Quiet on the Western Front by E M Remarque

His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phillip Pullman

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

The Lord of the Flies by William Golding

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

Tess of the D'urbevilles by Thomas Hardy

Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The Prophet by Khalil Gibran

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Middlemarch by George Eliot

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzenhitsyn

So far I have read a total of 0 (zero) of those books. I am currently in progress on 2 of them, Pride and Prejudice and The Bible. I read To Kill a Mockingbird in school, but I don't remember a single thing from it, so I'm not counting it. Leave a comment below of how many you have read.

And now, the link...

Boom Goes the Dynamite

I love 24

2006-03-08T16:05:00.000-06:00

I've decided that 24 is the greatest show ever to air on television. The storyline is amazing, they do things that you would NEVER expect, and it keeps you on the edge of your seat...literally.

SPOILER ALERT!!! Do not mouse over the black box unless you want to read about this season of 24.

So far they have killed President Palmer, Michelle, most recently Edgar. They almost killed Tony, and every time they get close to finding the terrorists, the lead they have dies. It's enough to make to crazy. One thing I do find amusing is the fact that President Logan is a bumbling idiot and now that the VP has shown up, it appears as if he is the one who truly runs things. HMMM...sounds like something I've heard before. Anyway, 24 rules, and if you don't watch it, go buy (or rent) the previous seasons on DVD.

and now on to the world of music...

I heard a new song by a group called Coheed and Cambria called "Welcome Home". What a great song. It's incredible, and newer group with actual talent they doesn't have to be sampled from an 80's song. Speaking of sampling, 3-6 mafia won an Oscar!! WTF?!?! There is something seriously wrong if "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" wins an Oscar. It bears repeating, WTF?!?! I would be on the lookout for floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, locusts, and frogs. I believe this is another sign of the apocalypse.

moving along to sports...

ALERT!! ALERT!! Barry Bonds is on steriods!! OMG, I had no idea!! Captain Obvious must be out doing some sports reporting. If Barry Bonds wasn't such a jerk, I probably wouldn't really care, but he is (apparrantly), so I hope he goes down. Mark McGwire was most likely on the juice as well, but he was a decent person, so I'll let it go. I'm not advocating steriods, but MLB had NO policy in place to stop it. So shame on MLB.

and finally, the link...

I love him, but this is funny

What a weekend

2006-02-28T16:29:00.000-06:00

This weekend, Brittany and I went to Columbia, MO for my fraternity's Founder's Day celebration. We took my brother along with us so that he could meet the guys in the house and see if he would be interested in joining since he will be there in the fall. Well, we partied, we had a great time, and my brother ended up signing the fraternity. So all in all, it was a great weekend.

Baseball season is upon us. I am so freakin' excited I can hardly hold it in. They have their first Grapefruit League game on March 2nd. Most importantly, opening day is on April 10th. I cannot wait to be there for that.

Today is Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, whatever you want to call it. I'm not sure what I'll be doing, but I'm sure it will be exciting!!!!

We had an exciting afternoon at work today. A garbage truck caught fire and part of it exploded! I was in the bathroom and I thought someone drove into the office, but it was the explosion. No one was hurt and there was no damage besides the truck. The fire department showed up to put out the fire, the street was closed off, it was quite exciting.

Well, I'm going to wrap up this incredibly boring post and give you a link...

Link Of The Day

Cheney's Got a Gun

2006-02-17T16:14:00.000-06:00

<sarcasm> I'm not sure if anyone else saw this story earlier this week, but apparently Vice-President Dick Cheney was hunting and shot a fellow hunter right in the face! Can you believe that, what kind of idiot shoot someone in the face with a shotgun when hunting birds? Birds are in the air and humans are on the ground! </sarcasm>

I finally got my car back yesterday after having it repaired from my accident. All I can say is thank God for insurance. Final total: $1100. Sweet Jebus! There was hardly any damage. Oh well, only cost me $500.

We bought a dining room table and 6 chairs on Tuesday. Bassett Furniture had a big President's Day sale. 50% off most expensive item, and 30% off everything else. Speaking of Tuesday, I believe it was Valentine's Day. I sent Brittany flowers at her work, then we enjoyed a dinner at Maggiano's Little Italy. That place was fantastic, everything was awesome except for the house salad. If you don't like bleu cheese, I would stay away from the house salad.

Let me tell you why NBC is screwing up the Olympics. There coverage is crappy and they are showing things that are about as exciting as doing your taxes. Ski, Ski, Ski, Ski, Stop, Shoot, Ski, Ski, Ski, ZZZZZZZZZZZ. Come on, stick to snowboarding, downhill, moguls and events with excitement. Also, the cut-ins to talk about things every 5 minutes become very annoying. I also saw that good ol' Joe Micheletti will be doing some men's hockey coverage.

And now teh funnay...

Silly Reporter (Clip is safe, but the site may be NSFW)

Breaking News

2006-02-10T16:40:00.000-06:00

Quin Snyder is out

Writer's Block Party

2006-02-10T13:20:00.000-06:00

Well, nothing crazy going on in the news, nothing new and exciting for me or my wife to report on...what thrilling people we are.

I did become aware that I had a setting turned on that required you to have a blogger account to post comments. I turned that off so that anyone can post comments, even anonymously. I do ask that you not do that though. If you're going to post a comment, say who you are. If I don't like/agree with a comment and it is anonymous, I will remove it. If I don't like/agree with a comment and you say who you are, I will leave it.

In the news of things that matter to me, I am (again) attempting to learn how to play the guitar. I have a different approach this time. Instead of starting with the basics and numbing my head with simple chords and the such, I have picked two songs to learn, one easy and one more difficult. I have chosen Extreme's "More Than Words" and Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven". More than words seems pretty easy and repetitive, I'm pretty confident about that one, and Stairway is easy enough in parts and repetitive enough that I'm hoping I can get through the difficult parts and learn it.

I cannot come up with anything else to talk about, I'm either boring or it's writer's block. Oh wait, it's Friday and I'm ready for the weekend.

And now for the link...

Censorship

Oh yeah, it's still winter

2006-02-08T10:24:00.000-06:00

As I speak, the snow continues to fall. Mr. Weatherman said 1/2". He was so close, I'd say it's up to about 2". I wish I could get paid to guess. (Note: I respect weathermen. It is a tough job based upon science that comes down to estimation. There's no way of knowing what God will do with the weather.) I shouldn't really complain about the weather, this is the first time this winter it's really been cold for an extended period of time.

In response to the events that took place at the Coretta Scott King funeral, shame on you Rev. Lowery and President Carter. What you did and said was a classless act at a FUNERAL. I refuse to acknowledge any more of what you did. I would then be no better a person than either of you. R.I.P. Mrs. King, enjoy eternity with your husband. I also offer my prayers and condolences to the King family.

I don't really have anything else to say today, so I will give you a link to enjoy. (By the way, this is going to be difficult to do every single time I post.)

Interesting facts about Chuck Norris

Deepest Sender Test

2006-02-07T10:21:00.000-06:00

This is a test post from a firefox extension called "Deepest Sender". It allows me to post to the blog from inside of firefox. Well, here it goes...

Update:
It worked! I am now editing from the extension.

Now that I have this working, I'll go ahead and make this a true post.

Yesterday I stopped by Concord Auto Body on my way to work to get an estimate on my car for the repairs necessary after my little accident. Total cost...(drumroll)...$820 (most of which is labor). Dayum, good thing for insurance. It's amazing how a little damage really adds up. So on Monday of next week, I'll drop my car off for a few days so they can fix it.

I'm going to step up onto my political soapbox for a moment here. I find it sad how the so called "religion of peace" is rioting out of control over cartoons of Muhammed. Now, I do understand that creating images of him is forbidden in the Koran, violent riots is no way to handle the situation. The truly unfortunate part of this is that it is the radical Islamists doing the rioting, which is the minority of Islamists. The minority is ruling the majority, making headlines and giving them a bad name (hmm...sounds familiar [cough] Ted Kennedy [cough] John Kerry [cough]). I believe that Islam is truly a "religion of peace", but the radicals are out of control. I hope this opens peoples eyes to the fact that we need to change the hearts and minds of the radical types, or this will never end. If we can't change their hearts and minds, well, war will result because that is the only language they understand. If that's what it takes to make the world a safer place, then so be it. To those of you who serve in the military and protect this country and world, thank you. I could not do what you are doing, and I am grateful for your service.

Another thing that bothers me about all of this is the fact that if Jesus or God are made fun of in some way, it's not a problem, heck it's just accepted, yet when all of this happened, CNN wouldn't show the cartoons that were causing the problem because they are sensitive to their religion. Here's another article to enjoy. Ughhh...my head asplode.

I'm going to step off of my soapbox now, and get back to work.

And as I promised, a link to enjoy...

The always classy Kevin Federline

Why I love Conan

2006-02-04T16:04:00.000-06:00

Neo then

2006-02-04T16:02:00.000-06:00

Trinity then

2006-02-04T15:03:00.000-06:00

Our cats now

Par for the course

2006-02-03T12:41:00.000-06:00

Judging by the way the last couple of weeks has gone, not posting for a couple of weeks is simply par for the course. Where to begin...

First off, my accident. That's right, I was involved in a little "fender bender". No one was hurt, and the damage was minimal. It happened merging northbound onto highway 141 from I-44. Since not everything is done with the accident (estimates, repair, etc.) I will not divulge any more information than I already have.

The 60 hour work weeks are over, YEAH!! Back to a normal schedule where I don't feel completely wiped out all the time. Unfortunately, due to the increased work load, I got off of my workout schedule, and I haven't been eating very healthy either. I haven't been living off of fast food or anything, but I could definitely do better.

The most exciting development is the last couple of weeks has to be our trip to Australia and New Zealand. We sat down with my parents and brother and worked out a possible itinerary for the trip. Holy crap. It is going to be a non-stop, action packed vacation with everything from white water rafting and jet boating to climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge and taking a hot-air balloon ride. We are so excited.

I am currently contemplating returning to school. And not for anything computer related. I am considering getting a degree in Psychology. I am incredibly interested in it, and I think I would really enjoy it. I have a lot more research to do before I make that decision though. Amongst other things, there is a possible job opportunity that might sway things. Details about that will come at another time.

Well, lunch time is over. Back to work.

I think whenever I finish a post, I'm going to link to something I found to be funny, interesting, and/or entertaining. So, to start things off...

"Lazy Sunday"

First Post

2006-01-25T12:45:00.000-06:00

Well, the first post. I'm not sure how long this will last, how often I will update it, or if people will even read this, but what the heck, I'll give it a shot.

Where to begin...things have been crazy lately. I'm working 10 hour days during the week, and I'm working on Saturday. I've been averaging between 55-60 hours of work per week. The reason for this is we wanted to start the year off with a big push to get the finances in the black at work. So far, it is working. Another reason is to finish the Virtual Health Coach. I will go into details about that some other time. Anyway, we are really getting close to finishing it and getting ahead, so the satisfaction is nice. Unfortunately, due to spending so much time at work, I have not had time to tend to my house. I have a stack of papers on my desk to sort through, I need to do my taxes, and I need to create a brochure for a friend of mine who owns a car detailing business (Shameless plug for him: His company is 'The Detail Shop'. He is located on Gravois road. If you are interested, leave a comment and I will send you information.).

Now besides all of that going on, this week has been absolutely insane. Let's see...Brittany's car has a flat tire in our driveway, I spent several hours last night attempting to fix a computer/iPod issue (to no avail), I gave blood on Monday, and tonight we are going to a wake for a friend's grandmother (Our condolences to him and his family). Also, this weekend, I'm going to help my father hang drywall. Yeah for non-stop insanity!!

In the midst of all of this, we are also trying to work out six nights a week. The last few days we haven't done it, but hopefully things will settle down and we can get back into a routine.

I could probably go on for a very long time, but I'm writing this during my lunch break and I need to get back to work.

So long for now,

Dave