I have way too may posts on backlog, but I did have to share this one.  This would be a great use of my Windows Home Server and a better reason to get more home theater stuff.  I wonder if I would need to get approval from the HOA?

Today was Crisana’s first Powderpuff derby.  Think of it as Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby, but for dads girls.  I first learned about this in January and took a whole 1.5 seconds to have the final design.  What would be better for a little girl than a Hello Kitty roller skate?  The idea took off.  It all started on this dining room table workbench.

The place dreams are made.

I started with the standard approved BSA Pinewood derby kit:

I drew a sideview picture of a short shoe on the wood.  I then used a coping saw, wood chisel, and a drum sander to shape the wood.

Topview

Sideview

I then painted it pink, painted the inside black, added the wheels, and Crisana helped add the Hello Kitty stickers.  These are the final results:

The car did not fare as well as I would have liked in the races, it did win best design!  Here is the proud winner!

and the proud Dad!

I hope you and yours have (had) a great Christmas.  I hope nothing was delayed, but if it was, this may be the reason:

This may be another:

We are storming he beach, literally!  We arrived tonight, after an eleven hour drive, at our vacation destination:  South Padre Island, Texas.  This is out third time down here as a family, and we do like it.  The condo is great and the weather has been fairly cooperative the times we have been here.  One year we had some chilly drizzle, but that still was not too bad.  We will do out routine things, visit the sea turtles, drive on the beach, eat seafood, etc.

The diet has gone well this past week.  Both of us dropped back down to our previous lows, but did not drop below that.  I still have about 26 more pounds to lose, but I do feel good about what I have lost.  I do not anticipate losing a whole lot of weight this week.  The chemo diet should take care of that soon enough.  I am on vacation.  I think I will eat higher carb meals than I normally would.

They are His.  No, really, they are His.  That’s right, both of them.   Both have been His for some time, but today was an important day.  Crisana was baptized today.  She came to saving knowledge some eight months back, but today was the day she was dunked.  She was so excited too!  She woke up this morning and wanted to get into her swim suit instantly.  It was a joy to be there for her.  She did great too, no crying, screaming, etc. that little kids could do when being dunked.

We had some special friends visit church too, as well as Aunt Buff and Grandma.  We also had a little a party afterwords at casa del Speer.  I grilled a bunch of chicken while Debbi worked on salads, fruit, veggies and the like.  As with all special parties, for kids, there was a cake as well.  I can assure you it was a South Beach approved cake.  No sugar was used in the making of the cake.  Only 100% whole wheat unenriched flour was used in the cake too.  In fact, it was a carrot cake….with zucchini…and only extra virgin olive oil was used too….yeah…that’s right.  In fact, it was just a pita…not a cake…and I only had one piece too…yeah…that’s right.

Gosh, Facebook really is a timewaster.  I am not even wasting the required time for my blog.  I actually had to remember how to log in.  That is sad.  There have been a lot of meaningful happenings in my life in the last month.

• I saw Kung Fu Panda with the family a couple weeks back.  It was good.
• I just saw Wall-E with the family.  Pixar’s worst, IMHO.  Kung Fu Panda was better.
• My phone died and I got a new phone.  A Nokia 5310.  It is really thin.  I really like it.  The speakerphone could use some help though.
• I caved and got Lego: Indian Jones for myself, uh..Trey.  Crisana got a new Care Bear.
• We saw some baseball at the Dr Pepper Frisco Ballpark.
• Trey had Twilight Camp.  Crisana was a Papoose for most of the week.
• Debbi went on a scrapbooking weekend, I bach’ed it.  The kids survived……barely.
• I replaced the battery in the truck.  This is the second one, not bad for a truck coming close to a decade old.
• The Rangers won the series against the dreaded Yankees.

Okay, an update.  No rhymes, haikus, Suissian meters, or anything else.   I may actually be creative later on.

Back to Facebook.

Okay, life is just too crazy. I still have a post to write about something in January. All I can say is that at least it is in ’08. I am not even sure I know where this post will lead me. Maybe the blog should be Random Thoughts…

continue reading "Way too many posts….."

• Monday, April 21: Softly call to Muster…Aggie Muster aka San Jacinto Day. I went to the McKinney A&M Club’s Muster at the ElDorado Country Club. We had good Italian food, but Muster almost always calls for B-B-Q. I do like how close they are, but the roll call is only for McKinney Aggies, not all. That is kind of a drag, but it is Muster nonetheless.
• Tuesday, April 22nd: Probe Banquet…I left work early two days in a row! Only if you count 5:45 early. I attended Probe’s 35th Anniversary banquet at the Westin Galleria. It was a good time. The two original founders were there too. That was kind of neat. I have a lot of respect for this ministry, so it was good to be there. I however did not have the chance to see their screening of Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.
• Thursday, April 24th: LOST…I did get the chance to see Ben’s future flash, Alex get executed,  Ben summon smokie (that was a trip), Ben manipulate Sayid, the doctor from the boat die, Benard use his dental morse code skills, and a whole slew of Other stuff on LOST.  Hey, what can I say, I like the show.
• Saturday, April 26th: Cub Scouts…We have been pummeled with storms the past weeks as my trampoline can attest too. So, spending the night at Camp Wisdom during thunderstorms was not high on my list of things to do. Luckily, the Cubscout Master thought the same thing. Our camping trip turned into a day trip. We settled in at the Castle and had a good time. Trey did graduate from Wolf to Bear and Crisana made some new friends. Imagine that? We made foil packs for dinner, toasted marshmallows, made smores, and got really dirty. It was a late night, but a good time. The kids did get to sleep in a tent that night, just set up in the playroom. In fact, it is still set up. I may try it out, just to ‘get away.’
• Saturday, April 26th: AM stuff…Before the Camp Wisdom day trip I did get some chores done. That in itself is amazing, because of my insane workload. I got word from the lawn mower people that Troy (not very well) Built has a recall on my mower and has a replacement front axle for it. Well, THEY SHOULD!!! See earlier posting for details. I also finally got the tires rotated on the Pilot. That has been nagging me for a long time. I also had the oil changed as well, but that is another story. It was nice to get a couple things off my list.
• Sunday, April 27th:Day of rest…We skipped church this day due to the late night from the day before. I logged time on the project, but did spend some good time with the family too. That was a treat.
• Everyday: Work…My project is due in one week. I have worked sick, worked from home, logged time on it everyday for the past six weeks or so, and it has a long ways to go. I got some help about four weeks ago, and then a little bit more off and on by two other people. I am just trying to get the big picture stuff done now. The little stuff can be issued my addenda. I am happy with the quality under the circumstances, but schlock is still schlock. I know there will be a lot missed. Hey, seven days to go and my (un)civil engineer has not even given me a grading plan. I don’t care about it a whole, but my structural engineer certainly does. Schlock in is schlock out. The good bit of news is that I keep my resume updated.

That is all I have for now. Not a delicate piece of prose, but an update at least.

just not very well….

I awoke at about 4am Thursday morning with the storm hitting at full force.  I went to the back windows to look at all the excitement.  The wind was really blowing.  I noticed our trampoline and was actually surprised it was still there.  It was at that moment that it decided to exit stage left.  Yes, I saw it just leave in an instant.  It was like the trampoline was raptured.  One moment it was there, the next it was gone.  The trampoline was deposited on our metal fence on stage right.  I guess it felt like circling the yard before resting.  We are very lucky that none of the metal framework went through any of our windows.  Very lucky.  Today is cleanup day, so I must get started.  You can read Debily’s account of the storm here.

…a little late.  I hope you had an enjoyable Christmas.  We certainly did.  We all got an assortment of clothes, toys, etc.  Well, Debily did not get clothes.  I don’t dare.  I let her buy her own clothes.  I just pay the bills.  Trey got the megamouthsharkrig that he was wanting, and Crisana got the CareBear she wanted.  I did get some nifty new clothes, MAPSCO, coffee, Starbuck’s card, coffee sweatshirt (anyone see a theme here?), and some more odds and ends.  It was a fun day.  The kids slept in till about 7:15 and had a blast.  Grandma slept over the night, so she was here as well.  We had a nice brunch and then the main meal later in the day.  Debily and I then watched “The Nativity Story” later that night.  It was a nice quiet, fun Christmas.