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Decided to do a little target practice after the Holidays. There are some really stupid people with guns out there. These are the people who think they know what they are doing but in reality they are putting themselves and others in danger. An example is the guy who called the range officer because his gun misfired. He was told to remove the round from the chamber and the guy swung his rifle around toward the crowd behind him. The range officer immediately grabbed the barrel and pointed it back down range. What an idiot! So we were given our targets numbers and yes we are right next to the idiot. I started firing and the ejected shells were hitting this guy. He complained and told me to get a guard for the gun. So I switched guns with Spencer and started shooting the mule for a rifle. You can feel the percussion twenty feet away when this gun goes off. Yep he gave me a dirty stare after the first shot. I typically only shoot this rifle about 3 times but this time I fired a few more rounds. At ~$70 per box of 20 rounds you make each shot count.

D

Posted by Doug at 12/29/2007 02:39:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Christmas is upon us and this year is nearing end. We have much to be thankful for.

Andrew graduated from HS and started college. Spencer survived another year of football without any severe injuries (unless you count dislocated elbow as a severe injury) and was selected for a part in the Madrigal. Allison turned 6 this year and started the first grade. The flag football she cheered for won their division Super Bowl and she was selected to cheer for the All Star team as well.

Kelli's mom retired this year and we threw a party for her with the help from close friends and family (could not have pulled it off without them). Kelli rented a beach house and her and Allison went to the beach while Spencer and I traveled to New Mexico and Colorado to camp in the mountains and explore the Slaughter Canyon Cave. After too much rain in the mountains we left for a 17 hour drive to meet them at the beach to dry out and warm our bones.

We have had a busy '07 and now looking for some down time during this last week to prepare for a busy '08. 

Merry Christmas to all and have a great New Year.

D

Posted by Doug at 12/24/2007 10:08:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Yes I was officially crowned today. After so many years of going to the dentist I now have   my first crown. Today was not so bad since they only pulled the temp crown off and replace with the permanent one. Overall experience was not so bad and a little sore now.

Kelli had her outpatient procedure today as well. She is doing well with the help of medication.

D

Posted by Doug at 12/19/2007 07:17:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Yes it was a busy day today. After the Super Bowl win Allison tried out for the All Star cheerleading team and made it. They had a few practices and after yesterdays rain delay the game was played today. The boys were chosen by the coaches by a vote and the girls had  to perform in from of judges to make the teams.

It was nice that Allis coach also coached the All Star girls and they were matched with some of the boys from their football team. The boys pulled off a victory today with a final drive and score to win 13 to 12. This was the closest game and probably the lowest scoring game of the entire season.

After the game Abby had her birthday party. A quick trip home, shove some lunch down it was off to the equestrian center for horse back riding. Alli had a blast being around the horses and now guess what she wants? Not going to happen!

Oh wait my the day was not over still. Spencer has a physics project due tomorrow and it has not been started. Yep off collecting stuff to get the project going. It is 10:30 and just getting quiet around the house. Ahhhh vacation has started - Cowboys lost, its 39 degrees, dinner on Monday, Tuesday haircut, Wed Dentist, Thurs Alli Xmas party....yep its vacation time.

D

Posted by Doug at 12/16/2007 10:39:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Watch out Allison is ready to take over as head cook. She was so excited to make cookies  on her own with minimum help from an adult. A little assistance with the rolling and of course the oven she made cookies all by herself. Take a look at her first cooking as this is the only evidence remaining since the cookies have been eaten.

Good job Alli!

D

Posted by Doug at 12/15/2007 04:49:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Well not exactly moving up but moving I am. At the office they finally moved everyone from individual offices to cubicles. This is a big cost savings for the company. Now my nice big office which was 210sq ft has been reduced to a measly 56sq ft of space. My first goal was to be able to sit in my office chair and spin 360 degrees and not hit the table with my computer or the desktop behind me. It took a few attempts but I finally did it. Its really not all that bad and everyone seems to be adjusting very well.

The good things:

• I am now close to all those I work with without changing buildings or floors.
• I get to spend more time with my team with everything being so open
• Do not have people hanging out in my office

The bad things:

• Noise - OK there is still some construction on the floor below me. I face a balcony so I get to hear all the cursing, yelling, singing and whistling. Not to mention all the power tools being used.
• People hanging over the wall while you are trying to work - cannot close the door for privacy any longer
• No view to the outside
• Noise - did I mention that already?

The lists can be longer but why bore everyone!

I am going to try and stabilize things and work from home a little more than I have. There is something to be said for quiet when you need to concentrate on things and having a place where you can play music or just have some type of soothing white noise is what the Dr  ordered. Its also nice to be in some comfortable clothes and being relaxed.

D

Posted by Doug at 12/13/2007 09:14:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Yes its true there are some things I am not very tolerant of like sitting in rush hour traffic or dealing with truly stupid people. I can say with the number of adenosine receptors in my body being increased I am much more sensitive to adenosine which has lead to tolerance adaptation to my daily intake of Trimethylxanthine. I found that Trimethylxanthine tolerance develops quickly by consuming 400 mg 3 times daily for 7 days. I guess its time to start reducing my intake to see if I cannot get things back under control.

First I will start by reducing my trips to Starbucks. I switched over and started drinking Starbuck Americano's to reduce my caloric and fat intake since these only have about 20 calories. This has probably been the biggest factor of building up my tolerance since a Venti Americano has about 400 mg of Trimethylxanthine (better known as caffeine). Gee I will have a few extra bucks in my pocket each week to boot....

D

Posted by Doug at 12/11/2007 12:51:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Tonight was the second show for the Madrigal. Kelli worked in the kitchen as the head wench. (OK yes I know there is a joke in there somewhere but I am going to leave things alone)

The main cast also performs at different locations and today before the show they performed at the public library. I took the opportunity to take some daytime pictures at the library.

Even though we did not have dinner tickets Allison and I went to see the show in the auditorium. Tonight was better than Friday in my opinion and you know I have a good ear for this kind of thing.

Of course I took more pictures and you can see them in our photo gallery.

D

Posted by Doug at 12/08/2007 10:58:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

 December 7th 1941

USS California sinking

Ariel View of Pearl Harbor from Japanese plane.

D

Posted by Doug at 12/07/2007 11:42:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Tonight was the HS Madrigal that Spencer participated in. We had a nice dinner with the Winches providing some good back talk while keeping our drinks full and the rest of the cast provided a good show of Renaissance festive sword fights and of course the main cast singing. It was a good time for all

D

Posted by Doug at 12/07/2007 11:33:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Tonight was the final game of the season for the football team Alli cheers for and they went all the way to the Super Bowl. The Eagles are the champions! They won 44 to 27. All the kids were excited and the boys went to the stadium in their stretch limo followed closely by the girls in their limo. If that was not enough they were playing in the high school stadium and had a chance to watch themselves on the big screen since the game was being recorded.

Well regular season is over and now on to All Stars. Alli made the All Star cheerleading squad so we will be back practicing and hopefully her team will go to the championship again.

I will add the pictures to the photo gallery once I get a chance so check back later.

D

Posted by Doug at 12/05/2007 11:05:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Yep sick again. The infectious disease Dr is still out and not expected to return until February. Cannot image having 10 broken ribs, punctured lung and all the other problems he has with his accident. In the mean time I am trying to get into another infectious disease Dr and of course its not very easy. In the short term I went to see regular Dr and yep more blood work and medicine. Have I mentioned how much this sucks. Life goes on just much slower nowadays. I slept for almost 14 hours straight this past weekend with is very unusual for me. If this is what the dr meant when he said 6 to 10 months to start feeling better...

D

Posted by Doug at 12/05/2007 09:35:00 PM | Permalink | Comments