Archive for October, 2008
Abriana’s 2nd birthday
Abriana turned 2 seven days after her baby brother james III was born. Her mother and I were a bit exhausted, so we didn’t do anything big this year, just a small party w/Nelly, Orlando (“O” as Abriana calls him) and their new baby boy Ernest. We reused her big Styrofoam Backyardagains birthday sign.
We gave Abriana a big sister shirt and big sister book to help explain that there was an addition to the family and that she was involved.
She’s wearing her “googlehead” for those of you that watch “Jack’s Big Music Show.”
Introducing James III
Our son James III was born September 12, 2008 at 9:08AM CT. He weighed 5 lbs., 8 oz. and was 18 3/4″ long. Other than the fact he physically resembles his big sister, he is completely different than she was when she was born. James is very very quiet. He does not cry much and he doesn’t get upset easily. Abriana always wanted her chupon (pacifier), but James refuses to use one — he is content using the back of his hand.
Cynthia was checked into the hospital the prior evening. In the morning, I dropped Abriana off at day care, got stuck in traffic, then arrived at the hospital around 8:30ish AM. After I arrived, the nurse administered some medicine for pain relief in her I. V. and a shot to her hip. The nurse told us that this would put Cynthia to sleep. Cynthia told me to go get breakfast, but I figured it would be best for me to wait until she fell asleep. I’m glad I did, because James wasn’t going to wait. Cynthia had James about 20 minutes later before the pain medicine took effect and before she had the option of an epidural.
Abriana on 2008 Presidential Elections
Abriana sits in disbelief as she listens to our Presidential candidates.
I finally made the switch
After many years of dedication to the PC, I’ve finally made the switch. I am now a full fledge Mac user. I’ve given my old laptop to my wife, and now I use a little MacBook. It’s packed w/4GB memory and a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor. This thing weighs less than half of my old laptop and is about 4 times more powerful.
I initially purchased the the mac as a light-weight, cost effective laptop for going back to school, but after owning it for just a couple days, I knew that I no longer needed any other computers. I should have made the switch a long time ago.
I’ve loaded VMWare, so I can run my old licensed version of Windows XP, Red Hat Fedora, and Ubuntu all simultaneously with Mac OSX. It’s awesome!!!
My art collection
Last year, when visiting Ohio, I stopped at Vancura Gallery of Fine Art located in Middlefield. There I fell in love with paintings by James Christensen. I purchased “Hold to the Rod, The Iron Rod.” This was the start of my fascination with art and the beginning of my collection of limited edition art giclees (prints).
“Hold to the Rod, the Iron Rod” by James Christensen
After many nights scouring the web for other art that I would find interesting, mainly trying to determine what my style is, I came across works by the artist Kim Wiggins. I purchased “Song of the Valle Vidale” at a local fine art gallery outside of San Antonio and “Sonoma Vinyards” from a seller on ebay.
“Song of the Valle Vidale” by Kim Wiggins
“Sonoma Vinyards” by Kim Wiggings
It turns out that talent runs in the family. I discovered paintings by James Christensen’s daughters, Emily McPhie and Cassandra Christensen Barney. I’ve purchased “One if by Land” by Emily McPhie and am anxiously awaiting “Two if by Sea” and “Three if by Air” to be made available. I currently don’t have anything by Cassandra Christensen Barney.
“One if by Land” by Emily McPhie
Cynthia thinks this one is a little “spooky.” From what I understand, many of Emily’s paintings are inspired by her daughter’s dreams.
During my most recent visit to Ohio, I stopped at Vancura Gallery of Fine Art, where it all began. I picked up an additional limited edition print by James Christensen, “The Listener.” Some people have told me it’s a little too loud and a little too “busy.” I can’t disagree with them more. The vivid colors, extreme detail, and wild variety of characters makes this one of my prize possessions.
“The Listener” by James Christensen
As you can see, my collection is rather small right now. As it grows, I will continue to share it with you.
Ohio Trip September 2007
We visited family in Ohio in September of 2007. Here are some photos of the trip.
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