Merry Christmas!!!

Well, I've got about 20 minutes left until my week off, so I doubt I'll blog until I'm back, and we should have some good holiday pictures available, taken from our brand new digital camera that Santa brought a couple days early. For those who care, we bought a Sony DSC-H2, superzoom camera. First pictures we took last night turned out AMAZING. It's much larger than our old camera, but the picture quality difference is more than worth the size factor.

We'll be in town all week, relaxing at home for a change! I hope all of you have a safe and happy Christmas and New Years! See ya next year!

Steve

Ava is 1! (almost)

Well, we had Ava's 1st birthday party last night, a few days early. She had a great time and got a TON of gifts. She started walking last week...her record is probably about 10 feet or so, but she's picking it up quick! We are going to take a half day on Wed (her actual birthday) and head to the Dayton's display (yes, i know it's now Macy's...but the display will always be "the Dayton's display) and mabe the Holidazzle if it's nice out. Pretty amazing how quickly the first year went by and how much she's grown. Crazy stuff.

Ice season is among us! I haven't been out yet, but the ice is ready in some parts of most of the metro lakes. I'm hoping to get out sometime soon, but the warm weather this week is sure to soften the top inch or two. After a year off of the IDS ice fishing trip to Mille Lacs, it's back on this year...but to Lake Winnie instead. I've never been on Winnibigoshish, so i'm looking forward too it. We'll probably hammer the jumbo perch first, then search for some eyes. We'll see. EIther way, the Crappie in prior lake are waiting for me, so i want to get out soon and clean a few up for dinner. Tasty.

My 30th Birthday is next weekend. 30's. When I started here at IDS I remember the 30+ guys seeming old. So now I'm one of those 'old' guys....sitting aroudn all day about my job and getting paid too much to do it. HA! Wait! Was I way off about them getting paid too mcuh to do that! But for some reason i'm still here :)

Ok, so back to work. Have a good week. (I'd wish you all a Merry Christmas, but i'm certain i'll blog again before that, right?)

In hopes it hasn't died...

It's been a while since there has been any activity here! Sorry. Hopefully people havent' given up and will check it from time to time still, so with that said, I'll get on with it.

Turkey day is just around the corner! I can taste the food already. It is by far my favorite holiday in regards to food. Christmas is a close 2nd. Well, Christmas should maybe take 1st since it's actually 2 days of great eating. Hmm...tough one. The Kortan kitchen is demolished in the midst of an extensive remodel, so we are going to go out to eat with the Kortan clan at noon. MacTavish is the destination. They generally have great food, so I'm assuming their T-Day buffett will be tasty. The we will be off to the Shallman's, hopefully in time for round 2.

With Friday off, it might be a good time to get the Christmas lights up on the house. Many of my neighbors are ahead of me on it this year. Oh well. Although I have wednesday off, and it's supposed to be 60...so sounds like a nice day to run around on my roof.

Speaking of roofs, that reminds me of when we were kids (Mom, you might want to stop reading now as you probably won't like what I'm going to say :) ). The house we grew up in had easy access onto the roof via a wooden sunshade thing over the deck. During the summer, we'd spend a ton of time up there, for nothing else but because it was high up and it seemed cool. We'd throw stuff at kids down on the ground, stuff like that. Mostly all in fun. But we'd make it over to above the garage, where it wasn't as dangerously high...and the fun thing to do was to Jump down from there, and then get back up and do it again. No matter how many times we did it, each time we were just as nervous, but we'd do it again anyway. It was about a 9ft drop. Suprised nobody broke a leg ever, but we did hit our chins with our knee's quite a few times. And yes, even Karen made the jump on occassion if i remember correctly! something tells me I wouldn't be brave enough to do it anymore.

Ava is now standing on her own and getting close to taking legitimate steps! Mostly just standing though. She does that a ton. She's also mastered crawling up the stairs, and is working on figuring out how to get back down (under close supervision of course). She's become somewhat of a picky eater in the last couple of weeks. Generally the only thing she'll eat no matter what is cheese, mac and cheese, and bread. Here and there she likes the fruits and veggies, which used to be her favorite, but she's turning them down more often now. She's also figured out how to spit food out she doesn't want, so that's a lot of fun. Great game.

Anyway, there's some filler to make it look like this blog is active! I'll try to keep it going, but don't expect much again until next week since this week is short. Although I do need to add Ava's Halloween pictures to our website, so i'll try and do that this weekend. Have a great Thanksgiving!

Strictly to annoy Justine.

Did you know that 3 is a magic number? Because 2x3 = 6. And 6x3 = 18. And the 18th letter is the alphabet is "R".

There are 3 R's that I'm going to talk about today: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

If you are going to the market to buy some juice, you gotta bring your own bags an you learn to reduce your waste. We gotta learn to reduce.

And if your brother or your sisters got some cool clothes, you could try them on before you buy some more of those. Reuse. We gotta learn to reuse.

And if the first 2 R's don't work out, and if you gotta make some trash well, don't throw it out...Recycle. We gotta learn to recycle.

Reduce...Reuse...Recycle.

Because 3...it's a magic number. Yes it is...a magic number...and I said it.

ding ding dong-dong, ding...dong-dong (repeat that a few times just for fun).

No time to write anything useful, enjoy your weekend!

That's a lotta dimp....

In the spirit of not letting my blog go dead again, I figure I better post. Still haven't figure out my halloween costume...the ideas given were...how can i put it...piss poor?

We had a group activity for work on Tuesday at Gameworks in block e. 75% of the time I spent playing big buck hunter or Extreme Hunting. It got me to thinking...why don't they have these games out for PS2 or XBox? They have light guns for PS2 I know, but i'm not aware of any good hunting games that work with them. And that cabela's video game crap is crap. I don't want to spend 1/2 hour sitting in a tree stand and putting on deer scent to shoot at one lousy animal. If i wanted realism, i'd actually go hunting! I just want a fun, don't shoot the doe, drink some beer kind of game. WOuld be a hit! I'd actually break down and buy a ps2 just for the sole reason of a game like that...if it existed. If only I knew how to write video games. But i don't. Maybe i can write a nice data entry web app that you can use a light gun on to enter the letters...that would be sweet, right?

Anyway, nothing much new to talk about...but onto the trivia. The title of this entry is from a movie...anyone reading this SHOULD know the movie...so that's not the question...a virtual beer goes to the first person to explain what it means...i.e., what is 'dimp'. Good luck...if you are great, you'd just know this. If you have to look it up, you might get credit for the right answer, but you'll have to live with knowing you cheated. Cheater. Steve, out.

Chomp...chomp.....pa-chewy chomp.

So Tenielle and I had a weekend away...just the two of us...to Bayfield, Wisconsin. Weather was great, and we had a nice relaxing time. Ate some great food, hit some apple orchards, played some cribbage...sat and did nothing. Colors were great, but not quite at peak. And we had a nice, cozy cabin right off of the lake. Ava spent the weekend with G&G Shallman, and I think they all had a great time. We missed her of course, but it was nice to have our own schedule for a day or two.

Halloween is on it's way, and i better start thinking of a good costume. Please comment with any good suggestions (i'm sure all of you clowns that read this will take it seriously and give good suggestions, right?)

The twins play game 2 against the A's today...i'm gonna take a half day and go...hopefully. Sucks for those of you stuck at work NOT watching it. Yay for me!

Ava has tooth #3 coming through...one of the side top ones. She had her 9 month appt. on monday and the results are:
Weight : 17 lbs. 8 oz. (25th Percentile)
Height : 28 3/4" (80th Percentile)
Head : 16 3/4" (5th Percentile)
So still a tiny head compared to average baby these days. But that's what we love about her. Big heads are dumb.

I better work so i can get out of here and hit the game today...so gimme some suggestions on costumes.

Welcome back, me! (And Shane's Man-crush)

This post is to welcome myself back to blogging. It's been a couple of weeks and I feel really bad about that. This one might be quick as I will write more later in the week to catch up. But I want to touch on an important topic...Shane's man-crush on he-man guy at the twins game.

Man-crush's are an odd phenomenon which I personally have never experienced (unless you can have a man-crush on yourself...which i think i might...since i'm pretty freakin awesome). However, i am often the target of one. Many of you reading this blog have probably had a man-crush on me at least once...if not more. It's ok! Really! People understand. I'm friendly...people think i'm awesome...and i drink man drinks. It's cool...i'm ok with it.

Justin made me aware of these 'man-chushes' a while ago when he declared his crush on me. It was quite nice. Made me feel really good about myself.

But enough about me...let's get onto the topic...Shane's man-crush. We were at the twins game last wednesday for a work outing...and in the row in front of us this hippie lookin guy sits down. Shane instantly locks in a stare. He couldn't take his eyes away! After a few minutes of oogling, he speaks....'Man, that guy looks just like He-Man!'. Well, he had longer hair...and was in better shape than myself...but He-Man? So he then made me take pictures of him with my phone for a reason i may not undertand...but he said it was for 'his memory book'. Rrrrriiiiiigggghhhttt. So while the rest of us watched the twins game, Shane spent the remainder of the afternoon dreaming of being rescued by his new found hero. Attached is the best picture i could get of the guy for him. You make the call.

Go see Beerfest

Ok, so most people reading my blog tend to be Super Troopers fans. So even despite Club Dread being a little disappointing, trust me when I say that Beerfest will NOT disappoint. How could it? It's about beer, drinking beer, drinking games, Oktoberfest, drinking TON'S of beer, hangovers, college parties, and more stuff about beer. Plus a slew of lines that will be sure to be as memorable as the plethora of Super Troopers quotes we sling out there. So if you haven't seen it on it's opening weekend (loser) and you don't have plans to see it yet...get with it...and go see it. Cause i said so.

In other news, we are hitting the State Fair on wednesday afternoon. Even though most people realize that I hate the state fair, i'm going strictly because I know Ava will like it and that Tenielle likes going as well. That's the type of guy I am...whatever it takes to make people happy! I'm such a great guy.

Labor day weekend is only a few days away, and the weather forcast SUCKS. Highs in the Brainerd area are predicted in the upper 60's with scattered rain. Wow. Good fishing weather, but we might just stay in town for a change.

Ava has been crawling like crazy...mostly army crawling, but she's now begun to get up onto her knees better and makes it a ways like that. She also started meats this week...BAD idea. Wow, that makes her stink. Icky.

Anyway, let me know if you want to hit the Schitzengiggle some night this week.

A Numb Mouth is a Dumb Mouth

So I had a dentist appointment this morning to get a couple of fillings. They gave me a shot of novacaine and let me sit for a bit while it set in. 10 minutes or so later, my jaw was numb, but my lips were totally unaffected. He started drilling anyway and he could tell right away that I had full sense of what was going on. So on to dose #2 of novacaine. That finally numbed me up more than well enough.

The problem is that it is lunchtime! I had a very small breakfast and I'm starving! The novacaine has MAYBE just started to fade, but hardly. My tongue and lips feel 3 times their normal size, and I keep biting my tongue and cheeks. No way I could manage to eat right now without completely destroying the inside of my mouth, so here I sit, growling stomach and all. This is dumb. I would rather have kept my two cavities.

In other news, Ava is sick with some sort of nasty cold and has been very cranky with a fever that won't go away. She has a doctors appointment today, so hopefully they can give her something to help ease the discomfort. Tenielle just got over a cold and pink eye. I amazingly have been fine, but i'm sure my days are numbered.

BeerFest comes out this friday! Go see it! It's bound to be good. Mike Evans gave it a horrible review. Said there was untasteful humor, nudity that wasn't sexy, etc. He gave it 1 star. Sounds pretty dang good to me! It's broken lizard...i spose if you aren't a fan of the guys or know of them, maybe there isn't as much in it for you. Who knows. I'm convinced it will be great. No doubt in my mind.

So I have the #3 pick in the draft this Sunday. Who cares? Not me.

Sounds like Liriano will be back in the rounds soon! After Silva last night, we need him.

That's all for now...comment away.

Nice Vacation!

Ok, with the wedding and family reunion going on, I was only around for a couple of days in the past couple of weeks. And with putting together websites for both events, that has taken up my 'slacking time' at work. (Just kidding Wade...but not really).

So the Kuder reunion went great! We got up there Tuesday afternoon and took it easy until Thursday when most others arrived. We had a great bonfire gathering at my parents place that night! It was a great way to get things started (Although Nick Watson was a little slow the next morning...)

Friday I decided to do the golfing. Bad idea. Easily the worst round of golf I've played maybe ever. I had a few so-so holes, then it all fell apart. Let's just say I had to take a 10 on 3 holes...and we only played 9. I only had 2 bloody mary's the whole time, so I can't blame it on that. Maybe I just wasn't that motivated to play? Or maybe I should just admit that I suck at golf. If I remember correctly, Tom Kuder won the golf outing.

Tenielle and Ava went miniature golfing. I'm waiting to get a picture of it, as Tenielle carried Ava around on her back all morning in a fancy carrier thing that we had never used before. Sounds like it worked great! I believe Hunter won the Miniature Golfing contest.

Other friday morning events included birding/hiking, which had a decent size group attending. SOunds like the birding was slow, but I think they all had a good time. Mike took a few of the Cali folks fishing! Judging from the pictures and stories, they didn't have a TON of luck. But they didn't get skunked. Jesse failed to land a Bass on Ox somehow...Set the hook! Just kidding Jesse :) He did manage to catch a few tiny little northerns...which Ox is full of.

Friday for lunch we had an awesome Walley fish fry! Everything was great! We spend the rest of the afternoon hanging out on Ox with the JetSki and boats...was a good time and the weather turned out to be pretty nice. Friday's dinner was at the campground...grilled salmon and bbq ribs...excellent again! Hung out at the bonfire at Manhattan Beach for a bit that night.

Saturday was our day on the chain. We had a couple of really nice 25' pontoon's to tool us around, and marty brought his boat along for those who wanted to kneeboard, wakeboard, etc. Ate lunch on an island in Island Lake...it was a great spot. (Might have been private but oh well). Had the big dinner at Manhattan Beach that night which was awesome. Spent the night at the Ox Tavern with a bunch of the cousins. Always a good time.

Sunday brunch was the end of it! Food was great, but we were all concerned about Grandpa who had to go to the hospital Saturday night. He's back in town at North Memorial today, and hopefully they can get feeling better. Keep him in your prayers!

Check out the Kuder Reunion Website for pictures!

Spike in activity¿

What's the deal! 15 comments! that's a record so far! Unfortunately that doesn't mean i have 15 readers :( But good stuff none the less. I will keep up the movie quote at the end of each one...no beer prize...as that will get rediculous...but how bout bragging rights and maybe some 'props' from time to time.

New pictures are up on the site! Check em out.

We hit the cabin this weekend...all done on the inside (pretty much anyway) and looking great! It was quite warm, but felt great on the water. Ava did quite a bit of swimming and tried out her new life jacket, which she seemed to not mind as much as the old one...but she still wasn't a big fan of it.

I have a pounding headache today so this will be short. We have a busy week coming up and some stupid wedding to go to this weekend. Reunion is just over a week away!

I'll write more again this week at least once i hope...if not everyday (not likely).

So last weeks quote was fairly easy...and of course google makes it basically impossible to make it difficult...but i'll try. This week we'll keep it simple and easy...and i'm guessing at least one of you will get it without having to cheat...so good luck..here goes:

"I must've drunk 17 Dr. Peppers"

Piece owt.

Bumblebee Tuna

It's been over a week...so sue me. Last weekend we hit the Como Zoo...the FREE zoo! They still have some cool animals there and quite a few things that the MN zoo doesn't have, so it was a good time. Most of the animals were sleeping so Ava did mostly people watching. It's not near as big as the MN zoo, so we weren't there for all that long. My personal favorite....some little mustached monkey thing...that only showed up for a second and then hid. But it was cool for that quick moment.

Joe finally got me some of his wedding pictures from their photographer, so I have the pre-ceremony pictures up on his website...which if you can get to by clicking HERE.

I should be updating some pictures of Ava on our site after this weekend. We are heading to the cabin again, and it's sposed to be HOT...so i'm sure we'll have some new pics of Ava in one of her cute little swimsuits.

How bout those Twins, eh? I gotta say that even though Nathan does his job most of the time, he sure makes me nervous....some questionable 2 strike pitches from time to time. But in honor of the Twins current hot streak...and in the fasion of Bill Swerski's Super Fans...I'd like to say the following:

Daaaaaaaaaaaa Twins, Da Twins, Da Twins, Da Twins, Da Twins, Da Twins, Da Twins, Da Twins, Da Twins, Da Twins, Da Twins, Da Twins, Da Twins, Da Twins.
Daaaaaaaaaaaa Twins, Da Twins, Da Twins, Da Twins, Da Twins, Da Twins, Da Twins, Da Twins, Da Twins, Da Twins, Da Twins, Da Twins, Da Twins, Da Twins.

Oh yeah...and shame on all of you for not beating justin to the punch last week. I guess i'll buy him a beer at his wedding or something. Game is still on so somebody better win this week.

P.S. Bonus beer to the first person to respond with what this entry's title is from.

The Zoo

So we got up early Saturday morning and hit the Minnesota Zoo! We checked out all of the outdoor exhibit things first before it got too hot, then saw the inside stuff. A lot of the animals were pretty boring for Ava...just laying there or sleeping. However a few of them were plenty active and she got pretty exciting watching them. Her favorite were the Bison, Prarie Dogs, the Monkeys with the red butts, and the fish in the coral reef fishtank.

We also saw the 3D show at the Imax called 'Deep Sea'. Really cool. Ava slept through the first half but woke up and stared through the 2nd half. All in all, it was a great time!

We also saw the new Pirates of the Carribean movie. Good stuff! Plenty entertaining.

I'm not too talkative today apprently since i'm speaking in generalities. Oh well. I'm golfing in the Lyon's Pub scramble today so my work day is done shortly. Have fun at work suckers!

And the tallies are:

T = 2 beers
Jim = 2 beers
Justin = WNBA Fan.

Bye Bye Qwest!!!!

So for quite some time I've been looking into getting rid of Qwest as our home phone provider and goin hi-tech with VoIP. Well, after a rather stressful grouping of phone calls with PITA Qwest reps over a recent improper charge on my phone bill, I decided to make the move.

As of today, our home phone will be utilizing VoIP!! (Voice over IP for those of you who live under a rock). Our home phone number remains the same (although it may take a day or two for it to switch over...right now we have a temp number until the switch is complete...just call our cells if you need us for now).

So I ran out...bought a Vonage phone adapter...and a few minutes later, I was up and running! One reason i didn't do this earlier was that I read that it wouldn't work with our home security system...Well that may have been true a couple years ago (maybe), it is no longer true at all. I found enough info online to ensure me that I wouldn't have a problem, and after running my system diags, everything is connected up perfectly.

One of my favorite features is that it will email me a .wav file of any voicemails we get. So no matter where i'm at, i can check mail on my treo and get my messages that way without using any cell minutes or making any phone calls...pretty slick.

Plenty more features that it comes with..and for only 14.99/month, it beats the 40/month i was paying for Qwest for an inferior package. So my suggestion...FOLLOW ME! I'm the coolest! (Although I'm following plenty of other people...Joe...Shane...but that's just part of what makes me so cool).

And congrats to jim on winning his first beer....the count stands:
1st Place - Tenielle (2 beers)
2nd Place - Jim (1 beer)

Not much new....

Not a whole lot to write about, but to make my blog appear active I'm going to write something anyway. Had a busy weekend...bachelor party and all. My team won the golf tourney...Darrell was on my team...first time EVER playing golf...and did really well! He might be a natural...if he gets out routinely, his game will really pick up quick.

Ava is expanding her diet still...adding peas and pears to the mix. She's fighting off a little cold (that she either game me or maybe i gave mine to her...who knows).

It's our 6 year wedding anniversary this Saturday! We're going to have a family weekend of just eating good and hanging out. Sounds like it's gonna be dang hot, so our Zoo plans are probably postponed...but we'll find something to do...preferably indoors...or involving water.

Got any good topics to discuss? Throw em in a comment and i'll start an entry on it if I find it worthwhile....

Game is still on...Tenielle is 2 for 2...nobody else has gotten close. Justin is usually shortly behind T in her comments.

Big girls roll over and have teeth too!

So Ava has decided to just start throwing new things out there daily. Over the 4th of July weekend she started rolling over both from front to back and from back to front! She literally rolled herself accross our office!

She also has a tooth in her mouth!!! It's still just poking through, but it's there! She was a little cranky during the day because of it, but she handled it pretty well. It's on the bottom, and the other one is just under the surface so i'm guessing that one will cut through any day as well.

As for the 4th, we had a great time! Ava did a lot of swimming in the lake, which she loved! She had a little tube thing that she sits in so her feet hang in the water and she kicked like crazy trying to swim around. It was pretty cool! She also did a lot of just sitting and splashing on the beach in less than a foot of water too. We didn't get a bike ride in, but between Mike, Karen and me, we fed the family with some tasty sunfish one night. Mike and I hit the bass one morning and had a pretty decent outing as well.

Only had one night at the bar with our pal Big Buck Hunter 2006. I did poorly. It had been a while so i was a little rusty. However, Tenielle came out guns a blazin and really made me look bad. Mike and Karen still won by a longshot.

Justine's bachelor party is coming up this weekend! Although i'll probably be buying him plenty of beers/cocktails, the offer still stands that any person who responds before JB get's a free beer on me next time we're out! Tenielle won last week! Congrats! (Yippie...basically buying herself a beer). Look for some updated pics on the website after the weekend!

Big girls sit up by themselves...

Yup, Ava is now easily sitting up on her own! She can't get to that position by herself yet, but once she's there she can sit forever! The occasional flop onto her back here and there, but she's got it pretty much mastered. We are so proud! :)

She's also expanded her diet to include Carrots, Green Beans, Sweet Potatoes...as well as a little banana and apple sauce! Tasty.

We had a good weekend up north last weekend. Weather was great! The guys got a little fishing in, Ava took a pontoon ride with G&G Shallman, and we went on another bike ride! She had a blast but it really wore her out. Another 6 days of it coming up this weekend for the 4th!

Speaking of fishing, Justin caught his first fish ever! He didn't know what kind it was..he thought it looked like a crappie. None-the-less, we were very happy for him, and as you can see, he was pretty proud of himself. It was actually pretty cool...he caught 2 fish at once. He first caught a small bluegill, and while reeling it in the northern ate it! he got it in and the bluegill's tail was still sticking out of the northerns throat. Pretty cool stuff. Way to go Justin...fish(s) on!

Cristin passed her boards! Nice work! Finally done with school and makin the big bucks. Too bad Justin will spend it all on ugly haircuts.

Going forward, there is a standing offer of a 'free beer' for anyone who manages to comment on a new blog entry BEFORE Justin does. And i'm guessing Justin will have plenty to comment on for this one. Good luck!

Tiny heads are cute!

So Ava had her 6 month checkup/shots yesterday afternoon. She did great! Cried for about 5 seconds and then was fine! She's a trooper. So the numbers...

Head was 16" around....still the 5% range! While this is rather small compared to the slew of huge noggin babies out there, it's right on par with where she's been percentage wise...Her 5% head is what makes her so cute I think. If you think otherwise, buzz off.

She was 26" long. Right up there with the average....50% range.

She was 14 lbs. 13 oz...in the 25% range.

So she's still a little lady but quite a bit bigger than last time! Kind of a skinny bean like her daddy and mommy are (or was in my case).

She had her portraits taken as well. Check out our website to get a glimpse at how they turned out!

We ordered up a bag-o/cornhole game...whatever your crew calls it...for part of my fathers day gift...we should have it early next week..so start practicing. I'll be challenging you soon.

That's all i'm willing to tell you right now.

Back in business

Ok, after a couple week break, I'm back. I had a valid excuse though...i was really busy..out of town...at a conference. As you can probably guess from the picture, I was in Boston, MA. Pretty cool, town...at least what I got to see of it. The highlight was by far the evening event at Fenway! Check out my website...I should have all of the pictures from Fenway added later today...if they aren't there...check back later.

As far as the actual conference...pretty decent. A lot review/updates from stuff we hit pretty hard at the PDC, but all worth it. And coolest of all, the GAT! It rules. Service Factory is by far what I'm the most excited about, but there is plenty more than that. And of course, WF is still pretty sweet stuff. Hopefully our group will get over to Visual Studio soon enough to make use of it before it's all yesterdays news. For now i'll just have to play around with it at home...that's how I roll. Super nerdy.

How bout those Twins! 2 sweeps in a row! Was pretty nice being in beantown during the Twins/BoSox series...too bad they weren't in Boston for the week. Hanging out on a perfect night at Fenway (It was probably 75 degrees...perfectly sunny, and no wind) makes me realize how long overdue an outdoor stadium is in MN. Too bad we have a few years more to wait.

Ava has her 6 month appt. Tuesday night...so we'll have the new numbers then. Pretty exciting. We think she's starting to teeth...teath....teeeeeth...?? How the hell do you spell Teath? Is it like Teath, or Teeth? Or what? Whatever. Let me rephrase....We think Ava's teeth are starting to come in. Much easier. She's also started eating Carrots! They stain like crazy. But she sure likes em.

Back to work! Lot's of catching up to do after being out for a week. Expect another post midweek. And don't forget to check out the Fenway pics (once i get around to posting them :))

Website Update

After my IP address change and the fact that my web server is running low on disk space, i finally decided to host my website offsite...and in the process decided to finally break down and spend the 2 bucks to register a domain name...so, our new website address is:

http://www.shallman.com

I know...it will be hard to remember...but deal with it. Shallman.com. Shallman.com. Shallman.com. There...now it's stuck, right¿ Good.

Hopefully the site runs a little faster now too. There is a new link or two on the menu with links to the other sites i host for people...so check those out if you are REALLY bored. Look for new pictures on our picture page anytime! Once I get around to it.

IN OTHER NEWS: Ava has her first ear infection(s)...and she made it a double...She's pretty cranky and really doesn't like her medicine...but she still behaves better than most other babies on their good days! At least we think so. She figured out that she can get her feet in her mouth...so that's a fun game. See how many times daddy can pull my feet out of my mouth in 1 minute. So far her record is 8 (unofficially).

Happy start to the week...check back later for more exciting blog content!

A nice Memorial Day weekend¿

So the weekend forcast is saying mid 80's and only scattered t-storms for the weekend...can it be true? sure would be nice for a change! We're heading up to the cabin's this weekend...maybe coming back early to get some things done around the house. I better make up some Bloody Mary mix! it's been a while.

In other news, the photo shoot for Ava (and Tenielle) is tomorrow! Pretty exciting? Yup! Hopefully she wakes up for it or doesn't have a big poop right in the middle...same goes for Ava ;) Wish her (them) luck!

We set up an ING Direct Orange savings account for Ava. If you don't know about them, might be worth checking out. The current rate on them is 4.15%. The only catch is that it is strictly an online account. No banks, no atms. Everything is strictly online and all deposits and withdrawls go through your current checking account...wherever it may be. The government for whatever reason limits the amoiunt of online withdrawls per month to 6, so if you make more than 6 withdrawls in a month you will get a fee...but we should only be depositing money into it, so that won't come into play. Pretty sweet deal though!

Well, i know it's early in the week, but have a fun and safe weekend! Bye bye!

(I'll post more tomorrow if anything exciting happens at the shoot)

*** Entourage Needed ***

Ava got the call back. ********** photo shoot next week. So if anyone wants to be in her entourage, you better start kissing some butt real soon...

Also, if anyone knows a good booking agent...she doesn't have any west coast representation as of yet.

Bye.

Website down¿

It appears that my website is down..not sure how many days it's been down, but I'll look into it tonight when I get home. I'm guessing my non-static IP address that hasn't changed in over 4 years finally changed on me...bummer...but who knows...could be something else, too. Any idea's Justine?

In other news, Ava has become extra 'grabby' now. Anything that is put in front of her she wants to grab and put in her mouth...and she really knows what her bottle is now too. She's pretty smart. Probably smarter than you (whoever you are). She has had a pretty nasty cold since the weekend, but as of this morning it seemed like she might be starting to get over it...we'll see!

In even other news...Joe get's married on Saturday...So we'll be busy this weekend with wedding stuff...should be a good time. Lucky for Steph, her true fear didn't come true...it's now past the 1 week prior to the wedding where she feared Joe would tell her that he's gay and wants to call it off. So apparently he's decided to stay in the closet for years to come and maybe break the news publicly later in life. Just kidding Joe....but blame steph for telling people about it :)

In even more other news, Cristin graduated and is finally done with school (for now anyway)...so she's got her Nursing degree and is now an RN (or maybe she has to pass a test first...but it's not like she won't pass..she actually studies) Congrats Cris! Welcome to the working world...it sucks! You can always change your mind and just stay home and make babies...Justin is a big dog...he'll support you.

Ok, that's all for now...maybe i'll write more in a day...or week, or few. Bye for now.

Ava - International Supermodel?

So Ava has now officially entered the modeling world! By chance, a marketing or ad agency of some sort, working for ********, sent a photographer to Ava's daycare center to photograph some babies! They are looking for new babies to put on their new line of ******* items. Basically they took the pictures of 10 kids...all a year old or younger. ******* is ideally looking for them to be between 0-6 months...so Ava, now a few days away from 5 months is right there!

So apparently, they will be submitting the photo's of all of the babies they have photographed (i'm sure at more places than just her daycare) to ********...and ******* will let them know which one's they like. If Ava is chosen, we should hear within a few weeks...and she would go in for a 1/2 hour photo shoot for offical photos. Chances of this happening? Probably pretty slim...but she i'm sure has a decent shot! She IS the cutest baby I've ever seen, so she has that going for her, which is nice.

We'll keep you posted!

In other news, this coming weekend is fishing opener. I probably won't be doing much for fishing, but for those of you who will (Mike), good luck! Sounds like it will be typical opener weather...cold....cloudy...off and on rain.

My parents are closing on the sale of their house today! They aren't offically out of the house until this Friday though. Now that it's down to the final days, I really am starting to realize that this week will probably be the last time i'll step foot in that house again! Very strange to think some other weird family is going to be living there. Hopefully they take good care of it since my parents worked so hard over the last 29 years keeping it in great shape. They are a getting a great house. A perfect garage roof for kids to jump off of...lower bedroom windows for kids to sneak out of...and a great backyard for camping in. Lot's of memories there. But they have a great place up north for us to build up more memories in...we've already had many years of great times there...and it's only going to get better!

Til next time....

More stuff

So in effort to keep this blog alive, I post my second blog in less than one week!

For those of you who may not know, Ava is now over 4 months old! The picture was taken on Easter Sunday...my two ladies! I'm a lucky man. Ava got 3 more shots at her 4 month appointment, and she took them like a champ! She was a little confused by the pain, and immediately after the 3rd one she let out a quick scream...and then turned to Tenielle and laughed! Not sure if that is a good sign or not :) We are about to start her out on a little bit of cereal, but we haven't tried yet...although we bought some. Maybe tonight?

She has now started to really enjoy making noise too! She babbles constantly and loves to hear herself talk. If we encourage her enough, she has quite the giggle fits now too. We have some video of it so maybe i'll try to post that in the next day or 2.

We bought a new truck! We figured with how full we would pack the Santa Fe for a weekend up north just for the two of us, there was no way it would accomodate us now with Ava and all of the extra items we need to bring up north. So we ditched the Elantra (enjoy Jocelyn) and picked up a Honda Ridgeline. We really like it! Here's the only picture I have of it so far. Just got the tonneau cover installed tonight! Looks great! In most lights, the truck looks black as night, but in the right sunlight it will also look like a deep blue...pretty cool, huh!

For Justine

In response to Justine's comments on my last post, I have the following:

The card tournament went really well. I was playing awesome. Then I realized how nice it was outside, and asked myself....do you really want to waste this beautiful Saturday afternoon in a stuffy house when you could be outside having a cocktail and relaxing??? Choice was clear...so I dumped all of my chips and left. I happened to be the first one to leave, but plenty of other people followed my lead shortly after from what I hear.

I'm not really sure if you honestly think Tenielle would have input on the Vikings draft, but I can provide you with my thoughts. Maybe they will trigger a response from some of you who actually know something. Here's what I know. Vikes draft 17th. My guess is they'll end up picking DeAngelo Williams. If Cutler is still avail at that point, which I doubt, I would hope we'd take him instead...We MIGHT want a younger QB.

Otherwise I might say we should pick "Mean" Joe Green. He's good.

My contact at Winter Park is on vacation this week, so sorry, I can't provide you with any 'top secret' info this week...

And who cares about the Vikes right now anyway? It's baseball season. And early fishing season.

So, Justine, I hope that provides some food for thought or something. Feel free to comment or leave your opinions. I'm sure my blog will now be a sports topic hotbed. It's certain.

Lamest blog of the year contest...

Apparently people are voting for my site to win the lamest blog of the year contest? They must have something against me personally, because the content in this blog is first rate!

I must appologize for the lack of commitment I've put towards this...i know a lot of you have such boring lives that this blog...yes THIS blog, is one of the most entertaining things you have going...so i DO appologize. Hopefully all of you have made it through this without suffering from withdrawl too much.

So the past month and a half, i've been drafting up my next entry. Unfortunately i've run out of things to discuss! Apparently i'm not all that interesting. But to fill space and appease the masses, I'll write about Ava.

Ava is now 3 1/2 months old and changing every day. We just added pictures to the website last week from the past month or so. If you don't know...the site is at http://65.27.127.201. She loves to smile and laugh and talk now and is ALWAYS happy. I think it's mostly because of how proud she is to have such attractive parents. But that's up for debate.

She started daycare today :( When Tenielle dropped her off, she seemed to be OK! She was happy and curious to watch the other kids in the infant group. I'm sure she'll make lots of friends! Although she's 3 1/2 months, so she'll probably forget them after an hour or two and make them all over again.

Oh, and since I believe it is now public knowledge...Contrats Karen and Mike! We can't wait for Ava's cousin to arrive! And even if it wasn't public knowledge, I think only Mike and Justin read my blog anyway.

There is a $50 dollar buy in poker game this saturday in prior lake that i'm playing in and there are some spots left...so if you are interested in playing, let me know! I would love to take your $50.

Ok, that's all I have time for..until next time (date TBD)...

Do you really want to hurt me?

Do you really want to make me cry?

Then steal my new tv! How did I ever get by with a plain jane non-HD tv? Don't ask me. Apparently I just didn't know any better. It even makes the analog channels look a ton better...but who cares! Why watch analog channels anymore? Goofy 90's trend. TV isn't TV unless you can count the pours on Jay Leno's face. So if you haven't already...hop on the train. Spend that tax return money on a new HD.

By the way, Played a little poker on Saturday...To avoid sounding cocky, I won't mention how I walked all over the competition, i'll just mention that I took 1st...easily. I could play anything and everythign and end up taking the hand. I'm just that good now. But enough about me...

Tenielle and I are taking some basic ballroom dance lesson's at Church. We had our first one last night. I must say I will need to practice quite a bit. Not sure where my skills lack yet...so far it's just overall 'awkwardness'.

Have a happy Valentine's Day!

Chuck Norris can divide by zero.

Is that true? I believed the rest of them, but that one I just don't buy. Just a quick update before the weekend...Most of you may think that this Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday. It isn't. Let it be known that it is Super Soy Sunday. Or as I call it, the 'tripple shizzle'. Sunday is Tenielle's birthday. So if anyone is looking for a great gift to buy her, here is a short list of things she probably wants:

1. Fishing supplies/equipment of any kind
2. Computer Peripherals
3. Cigars
4. Scotch
5. Ticket's to Rob Zombie

Also, we have finally gotten back into getting pictures up on our website. Be sure to check it out for weeks 1-7 of Ava. With maybe more added this weekend. For those that don't have the site info, click HERE to check it out.

Have a great weekend. Go Seahawks!!! (Like I care)

Follow the rules, and you shall succeed.

So last night we had the neighborhood game....played 2 games, 7 guys. Can you say unbeatable??? I took 1st in both. The neighborhood game has some serious players...all sorts of styles...a pretty tough game. But when you are feeling it, making solid bluffs...calling other people out...and getting the cards when they matter...you just can't lose. First game I was chip leader from about 20 minutes in through the rest of the game. 2nd game was down to crumbs and came back up to the top. Just thought I'd let you guys all know how great I am. Have a great weekend!

If you have mp3's, you need this!

So in working on writing an app to stream and control my music library on my pocket pc, I ran accross a REALLY cool web application that does this through a browser on any normal PC with an internet connection. If you own/stole a bunch of mp3's on your pc (and a high speed always on connection), this is a must have IMO.

It's called streampad. (http://www.streampad.com) and it's COMPLETELY FREE! Basically you need to install the server on your home pc (or if you have media jukebox, you can use the media server from that)...and then you create a login. There is some very simple setup, and once you have a login and set up the server, you basically have your own webpage. The page lists all of your music, sorted by genre, artist, album, song name, and you pick what you want to play. It then streams it to the pc you logged in from. So literally you can listen to your entire music library on ANY internet connected pc without installing anything at all. The interface is great and it's very very stable.

Also, besides your own mp3, you have access to other streams, including live concert recordings (O.A.R, Jack Johnson, G Love, Greatful Dead, Gavin Degraw, Ryan Adams and more) and internet radio stations...all for free. It's an open source project (using mostly AJAX and Flash), and there are not banner adds or spyware or anything like that...it's completely legit, and it earns my highest stamp of approval.

Anyway, if you are interested in setting it up and need some help or info on it, let me know and I can walk you through it.

¿How hard is that¿

Ok, so played poker again last night...didn't follow rule #1...most of the game I did...but when it really mattered, I didn't. How hard is it to follow the #1 rule? Apparently pretty hard. So needless to say, I finished one place out of the money. That's what I get for playing like a Belmonte.

Fishing tomorrow! Again, if anyone is interested, we are hitting Green lake..probably be on the lake by 2 at the latest. So far it's Brad, Joe and me.

I'm looking at buying a seal-a-meal type thing...there are at least 3 brands out there. Anyone have an opinion on which one to buy? Probably not.

Ava has had a bad streak in the past 36 hours of covering herself in doo-doo. 4 outfits soiled. I never though such gross sounds and textures could come from something so cute. She's not shy though, she tells the world when she's getting down to business.

Weekend is here, so everyone have a good weekend and give me a call if you want to fish or stop by and see Ava!

Ok, I'm back.

Don't bite my head off...as I stated in my first post, I will try to write at least a couple times a week. So from time to time, I may go a few days without a new post. I know all of you have been dying of anticiption and suffering from "Steve's Blog" withdrawl, so hopefully todays post will give you a bit of a fix.

This coming Saturday I'm hoping to go ice fishing for the first time this season! Crazy. If anyone is interested in going, let me know. I'm also open to info on those secret hot crappie spots that people lie about.

Ava update : Well, Ava had her 1 month birthday last week. Hard to believe it's already been over a month! We expected her to be walking and talking by now, but apparently she isn't that motivated. She sure is good at holding her head up and looking around though! She's now captivated by the T.V. and spends her late mornings watching soaps with Tenielle. She's making new noises every day, unfortunately they aren't all coming from her mouth.

Just for Justin, I have this horrible joke:
Q: Why do programmers always get Christmas and Halloween mixed up?
A: Because DEC 25 = OCT 31

Get it? If you did, you can be in my geek club. That is probably the dorkiest joke I could find.

I've go no creative energy today, so that's all I have for now. I appologize. I may write more later today...or maybe not. If not, then probably tomorrow. Or the next day.

Random topics

Ok, so every once in a while the unexpected happens...I played by my 5 rules...and didn't finish in the money...a rare event. I'm sure i'll get plenty of comments on that one.

In a comment on a prior post, Jocelyn said something about blogs being as cool as a one piece swimsuit. I'd like to know what other type of suit I should wear then...I guess I'm not aware of any other kind. Maybe i'll wear one of those junior high swimming rubber head cover things. Is that cool? Is that the money? Jocelyn, I'm looking forward to your blog...when are you creating one?

On a family side note, Ava has her first job! Bill Gates has heard from multiple sources about how amazingly smart I am....so he immediately saw the opportunity to get a brand new apprentice when he heard about Ava! He has hired her on to take over the Windows Vista project as Lead Architect and Platform Evangelist. He gave her a baby sized laptop of her own and she has been putting in long hours. Here she is asleep on the job after spending all night hammering out some proof-of-concept code. She is now the main money maker in the family, has purchased our house from us, and hired us to clean the house, bath her, feed her, and change her diapers. We are a little overwhelmed by it all, but we sure are proud of her.

My Rules of Poker

Ok, so tonight will be my first poker game since Ava was born. Will I be back into the weekly routine? Ha! Maybe monthly if I'm lucky...but for those of you who want some great pointers that will be sure to make you finish in the top 3...follow my rules below (60% of the time, they work everytime)

1. Don't play stupid. Yeah, it's obvious...but for some reason I have to remind myself of this rule on an average of once every 10 hands. Poker can get boring when the cards are cold. Impatience will kill you. I love laying in the weeds chasing garbage in hopes that I can destroy what should be a great hand...I LOVE being that guy...but it's expensive, and is only a way to irritate people...which of course I like doing. But I like to win more. Wanna be a renegade? Do it! I would LOVE to take your money.

2. Don't wash your face for a month straight. This will cause you to break out like the fry guy at Wendy's. Get that giant zit to the point of bursting...right on the tip of your nose or chin...it's sure to keep the attention of everyone at the table...hopefully enough to keep them from noticing your less than subtle tells.

3. Play with bad poker players. Of course, by doing this you are bound to get burned a few times on some jack-arse playing 7/2 suited and beating your 3 of a kind with a weak flush. But not to worry, any money they win on hands like that just makes them cocky and they'll start chasing everything..only to plunder, and leave you walking away in first.

4. Don't play against me. I'm a table killer. You think you know me? You think you know my game? You don't! I don't even know my game. It changes every day. But it works, and you fear it. With good reason. Ok, that's a bunch of B.S.

5. Don't cocktail it up! This seems to be a rule that only I need to follow, but it seems to pay off. I can have one beer/cocktail...maybe a 2nd late in the game. But if i have a couple before or keep a full glass during the game, Mr. Play it Right quickly becomes Mr. Play Everything. I tend to not like to sit and be bored while I'm having a cocktail or three, so waiting for hands to show up just doesn't jive with Jack Daniels.

So the odds of me winning tonight (based on the rules above) should be high! I'm smart as can be, so playing stupid hopefully won't be a problem. My face is captivating, so that always holds the attention of everyone at the table enough so they don't notice my leg bouncing like a mad man...and the guys I'm playing with....wow...horrible poker players (specially those Sharp brothers). I can't play against myself, so i'm safe there. So the key will be to not cocktail it up...which should be easy...since it's 193 miles from my house to Wade's, so gotta keep it sober for the drive home.

I sure hope these tips help (they won't, your game is hopeless...nothing can help it). I'll be sure to post the results of tonights game tomorrow, so be sure to check back...

Dual 19" or a single 20"? That is the question.

So shopping around for a new pc, I'm stuck at one major decision point. Monitor(s). At work, I essentially have 2 monitors. Pretty slick. Delphi open in one, everything else in the other. Tons of real estate. 20" LCD monitors are at least 2 times the prices of a single 19" LCD. So dual 20's aren't an option cost wise. Almost every 19" LCD has a max resolution of 1280 x 1024. The 20" monitors max at 1600 x 1200, so MUCH more real estate than a single 19", but less than duals. And of course, 1600 x 1200 can be a little tough to read! But a much better picture.

Dual 19 causes another problem. No room on my desk! They require a lot more desk space and our desk has a hutch, so they won't fit anyway. I'd have to buy a new desk as well. So there's another major expense. At the same time, we've wanted to buy a new desk. But how many provide enough space for dual 19s? Or do I save myself some money and just do a single 19" for now...and add another one down the road if I feel I really need it (of course I really need it).

So that's where I am stuck. Any suggestions?

New Family Member

We now have a new family member! Ava Noelle was born on December 13th! I'll be sure to write plenty about her in upcoming posts.... 

My first post!

So I'm going to attempt to write to this fairly often as to keep it worth visting. If ever you have an issue you'd like me to research/comment on, feel free to leave a comment and I'll see what I can do to fit it in. In the meantime, mark this page in your favorites as it's bound to be one of your new common spots to waste time!

Topics will vary and may be work/technology related...or might just be about my family and friends!