Back from a little break...

Ok, so it's been over 3.5 years since I blogged last....wow! I guess that's what happens when you start a business. Anyway, I have decided to get back into it, and chronicle my life (good and bad). Stay tuned for an explanation of the last 3.5 years, which I will try to condense in one blog post.

Off to get ready for the Rays vs. Mariners game!

Have you ever observed people when standing in an elevator? I do every day, as I take the elevator up 4 floors to my office. I absolutely hate standing in an elevator with other people. There always seems to be this weird awkwardness. Some people feel obligated to start up a friendly conversation, while others act like they are at risk for getting some communicable disease. I love it when people ask "4th floor, huh? Which company you with?"

The most interesting observation I have noticed is what people look at when waiting to get to their destination. (Our elevator is almost slower than just taking the stairs, by the way). People always look at the ceiling of the elevator or straight down at the floor. Why? Are they checking for cobwebs? Are they praying, and bowing their heads in reverence? It bugs the crap out of me! What ever happened to just looking straight ahead? Also, people for some reason feel the need to check their watch, or pull out their cell phone while waiting. "Hmmm, did I just miss a call while standing in this deadly quiet elevator?". I guess it is just the things people do to kill time. Sometimes, I want to make a comment like, "man, they really should have thought of a better color for the ceiling, wouldn't you agree?", or "man, you gotta be careful in these elevators, cuz I heard that there are mad rats that periodically run around in here... keep an eye out"

Next time you are in an elevator, watch the people standing around you. Chances are, they won't be looking anywhere but straight up or straight down, with the occaisional cell phone/watch check.

Is is wierd that this bothers me?

When we were in Florida (post Hurricane Katrina), we stayed with a friend who has a Lasso Apso dog. Jordan hadn't had much exposure to dogs before this, and instantly became infatuated. Everytime he would see the dog, he would light up, and go nuts! He had just picked up the saying "Hey There" and for some reason started to say that everytime he would see the dog. I took it upon myself to teach Jordan how to bark. I guess I still have this fantasy notion that dogs and babies totally talk and chill together behind the adults backs. Now, Jordan barks and shakes his head in a upward-diagonal motion at the same time. It is pretty funny. Also, we found that when the dog was around, there was no need to entertain Jordan at all. He would crawl after that poor dog all night long and it never got old. Score! Anyway, all this was too cute and seeing how much joy this brought our son got us talking about getting him a puppy, possibly for Christmas. We returned home to Louisiana, and really missed the interactions between Jordan and the dog. The next time we happened to come across someone with a dog, Jordan freaked out with excitement so much that we couldn't wait any longer to get a puppy of his own. Together, Ashley and I started doing our research on what kind of puppy is best for young children. We found exactly what we wanted and started looking for breeders locally. Yesterday, I felt a little spontaneous and contacted a breeder in Mississippi (closest I could find for this breed), and felt good about purchasing from them. 3 hours of driving later, we picked up our 9 week old West Highland White Terrier and named him Griffey. He played with Jordan in the back seat on the way home, which made the drive a little easier for everyone. Griffey was licking Jordan's fingers and outstretched hand from his car seat, evoking squeals and laughing that I have never heard from Jordan to this day. It was the cutest thing I have ever witnessed.

OK, so I thought that I would never do this, but everyone else is blogging, so why not? I don't even know what I will blog about. Maybe stuff about being a parent. Maybe stuff about work. I can't write like Kirsten, and I don't know about as much cool stuff as Adam, so my blogs will probably be comparatively boring. Oh well. My office is freezing cold and it causes me to type like a klutz. Typing with ice-cold hands reminds me of starting my old Mustang on any given Utah winter morning. I usually had to wake up an extra 30 minutes, in preparation for the morning events.

1. Pop the hood
2. Spray insane amounts of starting fluid in the carburetor
3. Crank engine over and over, pumping gas peddle.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 at least three times.
5. Once started, let car run for five minutes. But remember, it doesn't idle so this requires me to stay in the freezing car with my foot on the gas.
6. repeat steps 1-4 after the car dies on side of road en route to the elementary school to drop off the girls.
7. Wave to half of Mt. Pleasant as they drive by, gawking out the window of their jacked-up Dodge Ram.
8. Start thinking that driving a jacked-up Dodge Ram would be a luxury compared to this.
9. Slip and fall on ice while attempting to kick Mustang really hard out of frustration.
10. Tell Maddie and Emma to shut up and stop laughing. They continue to fight over front seat.
11. See Eddie booking down the road towards us. He is totally stoked, but wearing out fast.
12. Walk rest of way to school, yelling at Eddie to go back home.
13. Finally arrive at school, smelling like starting fluid.
14. Walk into class, cold and snowy, looking like I just finished making snow-angels in the yard.

I am sure that Adam can relate to this. Moral of story: never buy a mid 80's Mustang unless you have replaced the Carter-Weber carburetor with something that works.
First blog = complete.