Veteran's Day

So this post is a little late but ... better late than never.
Check out Marvin Mann's story here. Miriam and I know Marvin from Kirksville. I am not sure how Miriam knew the Mann Family (a story for her to tell) but she knew them when I met her in 2000. It would be hard to put all the memories I have from their house/ranch/farm into this post. If you read the link then you know about Marvin's injuries. Marvin is an amazing fellow. No doubt about it. I have had the privilege of getting to know him and his family. I helped Marvin build a playset (more like a small apartment complex) for their kids when I was in college and there is just something you learn from being around a guy like him. Laura (Marvin's wife) is a great lady who will never let you leave her house on an empty stomach (great for me outside of wrestling season ... not so good in). I have much respect for Marvin. Thanks to all the folks who have served or are serving honorably in the military.

Miriam at Kak's

A very pregnant kak. Looking good and ready to go!

Miriam with Caleb (on the left, Kak and John's boy) and Luke..

Sisters.

Miriam went out to visit her sister in Ohio over the 5th and 6th. Above are a couple photos.

NEMO Triathlon 9/9/07

So here I am coming up on the finish line at the NEMO triathlon. And in case you were wondering I am not so far ahead of everyone that no one else is in the picture ... quite the opposite actually.
The race was on 9/9/2007 but I am just now getting around to the post.

The race was a 3/4 mile swim, 18 mile bike ride and a 5 mile run.
My total time was 2:06:25 which was 92nd over all, 53rd amongst males, and 8th in my age division (25-29).
Swim split = 25:45 (Modifed Side Stroke almost the whole way ... wasn't in good enough shape to crawl it)
Bike split = 58:12
Run split = 42:28 (yes, this is the equivalent of what my 2 year old can run).

To any of my wrestling buddies who come across this post ... don't laugh. Considering the training that I did to prepare for this I am not completely ashamed of the results (close ... but not quite). In the 3-4 months prior to this race my training consisted of the following: 1 X 18 mile bike ride, 5 X Bike to YMCA (4 miles) ... swim for 20-25 minutes ... Bike home (4 miles), run a total of maybe 3-5 miles. So I pretty much just wanted to survive and get a feel for the flow of the triathlon.

Next year, I want to compete. I want to be in the top three of my age group which means I need to finish between 1 hour 33 minutes and 1 hour 40 minutes which means knocking off 26 to 33 minutes of my time. Time will tell. Check out the race at http://www.nemotriathlon.org/.

One last note (shameful for me ... great for him) ... I met a guy before the race who looked familiar. It was Damon Motley ... and offensive lineman who graduated from Fort Osage High School in 1997 (I was a 99 grad). I was a quarterback, receiver, defensive back, wrestled and ran track (400m, 800m) . He beat me by 16 minutes. A lineman vs a QB/receiver/d-back. I hope coach Litchfield never finds out.

Amber Waves of Grain

Ever wonder what "amber waves of grain" looks like when you sing America The Beautiful?
wonder no more
My dad took this shot while hunting in South Dakota.

October 31

Abby in the Chinese outfit I got here while I was in China a year ago. Looks like a Princess to me!

Our fam!

Lukeeeeee the pumpkin.

My nephew, Brycen (he's just over 3) ... the thuggish pirate.
Wouldn't want him boardin' my ship!
Brycen and Kaden are my brother Cam's boys.

My nephew Kaden. You have no idea how big this kid is.

Daddy Daughter Weekend

Miriam flew out with Luke on Friday night to see her sister in Columbus, Ohio and won't be back until Tuesday night. She flew Skybus and got a ridiculously good deal ... like $40 round trip ... seriously. There are limitations to the airline but if you fly in or out of Columbus, Ohio check it out at www.skybus.com.

So what does a daddy and his daughter do when mommy leaves for the weekend. We dropped Miriam off at the airport at 9:30 pm on Friday and got home and Abby in bed around 10:15 pm.

Saturday, Abby woke up at around 7:30 am. We goofed around and wrestled on the bed for a while. We ate some breakfast ... cereal for both of us and of course Abby's daily dose of "dip my graham cracker in my milk." We went to the gas station, Walmart (diapers, ammo, and hair ties), and then off to the YMCA. Abby played in soft play area while I swam and worked out. We got out of there about 11:20 am and headed over Aunt Stacy and Uncle Pete's house. My dad was there ... nice surprise. Aunt Stacy watched Abby inside while the boys went out and shot .22's, shotguns, and my cousin BJ let me shoot is new glock (sweet handgun).

We left around 1:50 pm or so and I had Abby in bed by 2:30 pm. She slept until 5:30 pm while I picked up the house and did some things on the computer. Abby woke up, we ate some dinner and played around the house. Then around 7:30 pm we went to McDonalds to get some ice cream. Abby loved it and we had a great time. We also so some friends, Mike and Penny Lotz, and chatted with them for a while.

On the way home at 8:30 pm, we stopped by some friends that live 2 blocks away to tell their just-turned-4 daughter happy birthday. We didn't end up leaving until 9:30 pm ... their just those kind of folks ... always welcoming and always a pleasure to hang out with. Because of the time we skipped Abby's bath and went straight to bed. I did some more work around the house and went to bed about 11:30 pm.

It is now 7:45 am on Sunday morning. Abby was up at 6 am ... apparently daylight savings doesn't mean anything to her. We played, ate and are now getting ready to take a bath and go the 9 am church service.

We are missing mommy and Luke, but having a good time with just the two of us.

The worst idea walk and bonking daddy bedtime

Miss Abby not so happy after the walk and her daddy. She does not like that jacket.

Little Man Luke bundled up and happy on the walk.

This post is about Thursday 11/1/07 evening.

I got home from work a little late and Miram and I tried to take a walk last night from our house to Adam's Dairy Parkway and back. It did not go so well. I was full from pizza (I worked late and got pizza ... people will do large amounts of extra work for a slice of pepperoni pizza) and Miriam was just finishing eating some ravioli. I colored with Abby on the floor of the kitchen for awhile while Luke sat in the swing. Abby is a pretty fun girl. We had a good time coloring. She would ask "Are you ready Daddy?" before turning the page.

We got Luke dressed in his fuzzy blue suit. He looked pretty warm and cute. Abby was wearing her new pink winter jacket ... which apparently she hates. Just as we got her seated in the stroller and getting ready to go she started crying about her jacket rubbing her chin. It was like 7:10pm and it was already dark and cold. I think the temp was around 47.
About 0.5 to 0.6 miles into our walk Abby was being a royal pain in the tail. She did not want to put her gloves on and didn't want to put her hand under the blanket ... so instead she just let them freeze while hanging on to the stroller bar. Kids ... sometimes it just isn't worth the fight. Miriam and I did not want to let Abby walk because we were just trying to get a good little walk in (1.5 mile walk). Well Abby became a little too frantic and so we decided to let her walk. She was so happy for about 50 meters and then it just all fell apart. She wanted her hat off, then she wanted her gloves on and then off, and then she was trying to tear her jacket and her hat off. The whole time Miriam and I are trying to coax her into keeping said items of clothing on. After about 5-10 minutes of this we decided that it was not worth it and to just head back home. Abby did not particularly like this idea either and insisted on walking the other way crying very loudly. Miriam was pushing the stroller and I was on full time Abby duty. It was another 5 minutes of trying to get her to walk back to the house but she would just stop and cry and not walk. Then she would take a couple steps and stop and cry and she wouldn't really say what was wrong she would just stand there and stomp her feet and flap her arms and cry.
I was thoroughly confused (although I believe Abby is helping me to understand the female species better ... more on this topic at another time). Eventually I just picked Abby up and much to my amazement she let me carry her. It was a surprise because just 3 minutes earlier when I attempted to carry her she threw a fit and was kicking and screaming and again ... crying loudly.
I unzipped my jacket, tucked her cute little hands up underneath my arms near my armpits (one of the warmest parts of the body) and wrapped my jacket as far around her as I could get it and started off for home. I was now trailing Miriam by a little bit and had to play catch up.
When I caught back up with Miriam, there wasn't a whole lot to say about the situation other than, "This wasn't our best idea." And you know, it may not have turned out to be the best idea but as I was carrying Abby back to the house with her snuggled up to me and my beautiful hard working wife pushing the stroller with our sweet little boy all bundled up inside it, I couldn't help but think that "It's just another day in paradise." I have a great family with God at the helm. We were on the way to a warm house stocked with food (and way too much STUFF). It is hard to complain when you step back and be appreciative.
Back at home we had to take some pictures to capture the moment in color. Then it was off to bath time and bed time after I read one of the silliest stories ... Amelia Bedlia, the rocket scientist.
Bath time did not go so well either. We were bathing Luke and Abby at the same time (as we usually do). Abby usually does a good job with Luke. But tonight she decided to dump water on Luke's face ... TWICE! Miriam I and were unhappy (to put it lightly). Luke was coughing and it was sad.
Bed time went a little better but Abby was just kind of in a bad way this evening. After we finally got her hair combed, teeth brushed, pajamas on, ears cleaned out, and in the proximity of her bed ... I could feel freedom just around the corner when she said, "Okay daddy, I go tell mommy night night and and and den you stay right here ... and I BE RIGHT BACK (with her finger wagging at me)." I said no. A small exchange and then she crawled into bed and says "Daddy lay down right here in my bed." Her bed is way too small for me but this is her way of telling me to put my head on her mattress with the rest of my body on the floor, which I gladly do. She accidentally brushed my head with her hand and said, "I bonk daddy's face" with a big grin while sucking her thumb. I smiled and said, "yes you did, but it was gentle, no big deal." She didn't even really bonk my face. Then much to my surprise she balled her hand into a fist, cocked it back to left field and punched me in the lip. That was definitely a bonk. I exclaimed, "Abby!" but couldn't help laughing. She said, "Sorry dad." We had some small talk and then she wanted me to put my head on her pillow on the floor right by her bed. I do and next thing I know Miriam is waking me up. It is around 9pm and for some strange reason ... feels like bed time for me.

Digitizing and Energy Savings

So if you know me then you know I am (or attempt to be) organized and can sometimes get uptight about it. Well, recently I have had kind of a mental switch from keeping everything because I might need it to getting rid of the stuff that we just don't use. It is a stress producer for me to keep track of all our stuff. I have a tendency (thank you dad) to be a bit of a pack rat. I don't need to keep everything. I always think, "I might need this 6 months down the road so I better keep it." Doesn't matter I haven't used it in 2 years. Well, now I am leaning towards, "I haven't used it in 2 years, so get rid of it." If I need it 6 months down the road, I'll go buy it. It'll save me stress. You may be wondering what this has to do with Digitizing and Energy Savings ... wonder no more.
As part of my getting rid of stuff, I occasionally go through my filing cabinet (where I file too much stuff) and see what I can weed out. I had to file an Aquila (electric) bill and saw that I had all my Aquila bills for the last 3 years (basically since we got back from Romania). Aha! A perfect candidate for weeding out. I can scan these 36 pages of bills into just 3 documents and store it on my computer as a pdf, then shred those paper bills. As I was looking at my bills I noticed our energy usage from last year for that month was considerably lower which got me thinking. And me thinking can be dangerous (and potentially time wasting). So being the geek that I am, not only did I digitize my Aquila bills, I also entered the important data into a spreadsheet and graphed some of the stuff I find interesting(It only took a total of 2 hours to throw all this together). The main point of me looking at this data is to find out how we are "spending our electricity" so I can slow our usage a little and SAVE SOME MONEY.
In 2005 (the most recent date such statistics are available - links to an excel file at the department of energy) the average american household used an average of 938 kWH (Kilowatt Hours). In Missouri that number was 1102 kWH. In 2006 we used an average of 699 kWH/month, which was well below national and Missouri averages for the prior year ... yay for us. Unfortunately, our 2007 monthly average is already at 1000 kWH. So I want to know why this is. What happened that caused us to use more electricity? check out my geeky cool graphs for some insight.

So this graph (above) shows our average daily use per billing period (total kWH for billing period / number of days in biling period). Check out the spike around August (billing period 8). Hot summer? Run our air conditioner too much? Our new deep freeze purchased in december of 2006 working too hard? What gives?


And here is daily change.



The last graph is a big one for me. This is how much money we could have saved had we only used as much energy as we did the year before. $280. It's not life changing but hey $280 is an iPod.

So, I will be consciously thinking about turning off lights and trying to save energy. Good for the environment (at least as much as piddly little me can make) and good for my wallet.

So what about you, how much electricity do you use? Let me know in the comments or send an email. And you don't have to tell me, I am a geek ... I know this.