Another long day. Seems like every day I'm losing time doing stuff like surfing and working on my projects. Work was quite boring today and it should be the same tomorrow. Now, about quitting...

We had our baby yoga class tonight. I actually liked it a lot and I think it helped us get a better idea of how to stay relaxed and stuff from early labor to birth. I think it could have been a little shorter though. 3 hours was kind of long. 2 or 2.5 would have been just right, I think. About half way through I almost started laughing because this one yoga move was the exact same as Spongebob's "take it arouuuuuund town" thing that he did this one episode. Laura and I have been laughing at it ever since.

Anyway, I'm fricken tired. It snowed a bit tonight and it was windy as hell, but we were inside the entire time it was doing its thing. Probably was a good thing, although it was annoyingly loud in the building that we were in.

I actually got up from bed to come write this blog, so it better be a good one, huh?

Actually, it is going to be a good one. Why? Because I got a surprise e-mail today from someone that I thought would never e-mail me. Josh Petrone, from my childhood. I was like, whoa, what? To keep it short, I was pretty excited to finally get back in touch with him after almost 10 years. The last time I saw him was sometime in 2001 I believe and it was only for one night since I went to California to see my brother and couldn't stay that long. Anyway, we have a lot of catching up to do. I gave him a super condensed version of my last 10 years and I'm hoping that he will do the same. If I ever get out to California to visit my Dad's cemetery, I'm definitely going to meet up with him and relive the old times. What got me was this one thing we used to do as kids that I totally forgot about, he mentioned it at the end of the e-mail and it just brought back memories. Those were the days. Trouble and care-free. Well, maybe not trouble-free.

Among other news, met with the deacon of the church again tonight to go over some website stuff. It's going well and it should hopefully be up by the end of the month or by the end of next month at the latest. It's really his side that's taking up time since he needs to get me the changes to the text, photos for pages, etc.

I'm not going to like working with the people who redesigned their website, though. The project manager is this girl who, to me, seems all cocky, but, whatever. The deacon said that they're paying like $90/month to host this site...I'm like, what the fuck?! (in my head of course). They aren't getting ripped off or anything. I think they've been paying this for the last 2 years too, without even having the website up and running, even now. That's crazy...what a waste of money.

Anyway, I'm tired. I'm going to bed.

Played some Alhambra last night. I came in last, but I think I'm getting a better idea of how to go about in terms of strategy...we'll see about next time.

Currently downloading some songs to put on the USB drive for the car. Listening to some 90s/early 2000s songs. Brings back memories. Seems like, compared to now, I listened to a lot more alternative songs and just more music in general. I rarely listen to the radio anymore, though I've sort of started in the last couple of weeks. I usually listen to the classical station to calm me down when I'm driving. I think it works a little bit, but I just can't stand stupid drivers.

Not sure if Laura said she would wait to go to the store until later, which is when I said I would go since it wouldn't be as crowded.

Annnnd the weekend is coming to a close. Goes by so fast. I need to set up an appointment with the dermatologist this week, too.

For some reason, I felt like I was in Laramie for a little bit today while I was driving to and from lunch. I think it was the super mild weather that made me think back to Laramie. It was like in the 60s today, not too hot or cold and I had some of windows down. Yeah, I can't explain it, it just felt like the Laramie days.

Glad it's Friday, though. Hopefully we get to sleep in tomorrow. Although, I hate sleeping in because the day is pretty much shot when you do that and the weekend becomes so short. I kinda want to see the outlet, but not really...I guess for something to do.

Maybe we'll play a little more Alhambra with Kelly and Ryan. It was a fun game. I think a lot better than Settlers of Catan for a couple of reasons. Since it's about half chance and half thinking on the fly, you really can't screw anyone else over to the extent that you take over the game. I like games where it's a battle with your own mind and you can't blame anyone else.

Another warm day. It's supposed to get a little colder the next couple of days, though.

Been busy at work this past week due to the backlog of two weeks of donations, but that should clear up soon I think and I'll be back to boredom. My boss is going to be out the next week as well.

Speaking of which, I need to start preparing how to tell them about the next few months...eek.

Today was a rather warm day. It didn't feel like Winter at all. It looks like the next few days are going to be on the milder side, perhaps a bit overcast (sort of like Portland, but mellower).

Trying to work on my fantasy story the last few days, I keep getting hung up on this certain aspect of the story. It's a pretty big part of the story line, as everything revolves around it. I have the basic idea, but it just doesn't come together/fit in the ending that I want. I'm tweaking it bit by bit, though. Good thing is that I can make stuff up to make it work, but I don't want it to be the "same old" fantasy ingredient, if that makes sense.

I'm going to try to write perhaps every other day this year...yes, I was going to say "I'll write everyday." but that went out the window already...blogging is tough work.

Hello!

So, it's time for my year-end summary. Let's get right down to it.

January-March

We were still in Portland, of course, at this time. Things were still normal as can be. I don't remember anything big during this time. We were both working and all that. I think we started dabbling about when we might start trying to have a baby, though. After some discussion about moving and such, we decided to start trying and aim for having the baby in the Fall. We didn't want it to coincide with Laura's work, but, oh well.

After looking at my blogs, it looks like in March, we also decided that we would be moving to Oklahoma City for Laura's post-doc as well. That was a pretty big decision, I guess, especially considering we really loved Portland up to this point and that Laura had a post-doc lined up for Portland. I remember the night we decided pretty vividly. We decided to discuss whether or not to stay or choose OKC over dinner at Azteca. After some back and forth discussing, we decided OKC for some reasons such as support after having the baby, easier vacationing, lower cost of living, etc. We would always have the opportunity to move back to Portland after the post-doc and that for the current situation, trying out OKC for a year or two wouldn't be so bad. 

On the drive back, of course Laura couldn't wait telling people so she called Kelly and let her know. She was excited and I think we started to look around places where we might be able to rent, but it was much too soon. 

April-May

During these months I think we were still mentally getting ourselves ready for the move to OKC, I think. Although, I think we started packing little by little each day so that we weren't scrambling at the very last minute. I also had to tell my job that I would be leaving for OKC in August. Well, we would actually be moving mid-August, but I wanted to give myself some time to help out with packing and all that. Plus, we wanted to have a little vacation time before we left as well. 

I think I ended up telling my work in May or so. I wanted to give them plenty of time to find someone, hire them, train them, etc. for my position. We let the landlord know as well. We still had 2-3 months before the reality hit, so I don't think we were panicking at this point. 

June-July

 Around this point, Laura's schedule started to get busy. I know she flew out for Mother's Day and stuff (actually I could be wrong about that). We've been trying to have a baby for a couple of months at this point, getting ovulation strips, apps, and thermometers for Laura and stuff. Anyway, we found out Laura was pregnant in early July, right before she left to go to OKC to look for houses and stuff. I remember when she told me too. She used the pregnancy strip in the morning and she brought it over to me while I was still sleeping. I was like "yaaay" real quiet, but I was pretty asleep or wanted to go back to sleep or something. I just remember it probably wasn't as exciting as it should have been. 

It seems like we were pretty ahead of packing as well, having most of it packed and we were just finishing up the garage. The things we couldn't pack, we just had to wait, like the dishes and such. Other than that, we were just trying to enjoy Portland with the little amount of time we had.

I do remember near the middle/end of July, Laura was freaking out about finding a good place to stay, because we hadn't found anything at this point. They all turned out to be crap. I kept telling Laura that it will work out. She did work a lot at trying to find a good place for us, which she ended up doing. Kelly was also a big help since she was the one driving around and meeting with the realtors in OKC for us. I know she went and looked at several before we decided on the current Edmond house.

Around this time, I had my exit interview with my director since I was leaving work on the 5th of August. I told her about our baby since we thought it was safe the word wouldn't travel to family. They were all excited and sad that we wouldn't have another baby in the office. My work would have been perfect too to bring the baby and also work.

August

Ahh, August. It was a pretty hectic time. I quit my work on the 5th and we had a vacation planned for a few days at Depoe Bay at a place that Laura found. It was nice to relax for a few days right near the beach. We went to Newport and stuff. 

Afterwards, a week or so later I think, Laura's parents came out to vacation for a little bit as well as to help us pack the ABF truck. Our plan was to move on the 17th, I believe. We had the truck parked for a couple of days in front of our house to pack it up. We made good time as it only took a day and a half to pack it all up. ABF called to see if they could pick it up a day earlier. Good thing we were all ready. The first day was hard work, though, but nothing like OKC was going to be. 

So, the ABF truck left earlier than expected and we were on our way with our drive to OKC over the course of 3 days, stopping in Denver to see friends/family, etc. For a more detailed explanation of our trip, please refer to my blog entry about it earlier. No need to relive that hell!

Once we arrived in OKC, we had roughly 4 days or something to unload the truck. Man, the heat was brutal. It was record setting temps for this Summer in OK in history. It was a great time to unload the truck. After unloading a little bit, even at night, it was too much. We ended up unloading the truck in the first half of the day while it was still cool. It went pretty smooth. For the next week or so, basically the last week of August, we unpacked and tried to get settled in.

September

There was a Labor Day party planned for us at Laura's parent's house with family flying out. That was fun, but because of that, I pushed my efforts to find a job until after this. I'll just blame the fact it took so long for me to find a job due to this week. :)

After the weekend of the party, we finished more unpacking. I think we made pretty good time. It probably took about a month or so to be completely finished. I started looking for a job around early September. I probably applied to a place or two every other day. There weren't many.

During this time, we also had to deal with my car, which overheated if driven in the intense heat. Although, stupid me, I finally put a little effort into what could have been causing it and I saw that the radiator cap was completely busted...I'm not sure when it busted, but I'm going to bet it busted sometime during the Colorado stretch on the way to Chris' house. If I would have just replaced the radiator cap then, instead of now, I think the trip would have been slightly less hellish. It sucked having to go so and so speed and stopping every couple of hours - sometimes every hour near the end of the trip. Anyway, after replacing the cap, it didn't overheat anymore. Not sure if that was the real issue, but I'm sure it helped.

October 

So, we started looking for a car to buy. One, to replace my car and, two, to have some to carry the baby seat in. After a few weeks of searching, we found a couple of prospects. We were aiming for Hyundai Santa Fe, Honda CRV, or Subaru Forester. There is a big shortage of these types here in OK...not sure why. There were a TON in Colorado. Anyway, we finally picked our first one out and went to go buy it. Long story short, they said the car was "already sold" after we picked it out, went through some of the paperwork to buy it, just before it was official. Our theory was that it was priced incorrectly (too low) so they made that shit up. Whatever. We didn't like them anyway. Our search continued. We finally found one a little bit later and went to buy that. It was our first big purchase experience ever. It was weird. 

November

Late October I finally got SOME kind of call back from all the places I was applying. The University of Central Oklahoma called for an interview. I went and a week later I got word that I got the job. Not to brag, but when I interviewed, I sort of had a feeling that I would get the job. I was qualified for the job and I had experience doing pretty close to what the job entailed and felt that they liked me. After the interview, I kind of stopped looking for a job. Glad I was right!

Most of the rest of this month was just working and getting ready for the baby. We're close to getting the baby room set up, though there are still lots to get at the baby shower.

December

Well, this is where we are. Things are good and we're sort of starting to plan for the next few months. The big thing is me figuring out when to inform my work about what's going to happen when the baby arrives. I hate situations like this. 

Anywho, Christmas went well. I did get sick for a couple of days right smack during Christmas Eve and Day, which sucked, but oh well.

Well that's about it, really for the summary. I think the summaries are getting more and more boring each year. I should go read my previous summaries. I think they were more reflective or something of myself, not just a straight-forward summary.

I do think that next year will be a very different year and primarily that's going to be because of our baby boy. Things are going to change quiet a bit, but I think it will be for the better. I can't wait to raise our boy with Laura and teach him all the things that make us who we are. I think it's a pretty cool thing to be able to raise a child that sort of mirrors who you are, although you don't want them to be totally like you. We're still deciding on a boy name, but I think we're pretty close and decided now. Yes, I was a little bummed that it was a boy vs. a girl, but I think I'm over it now. We'll have more chances to have a girl, so.

Hoping for another great year and let's hope 12/21/2012 passes by without demolishing the world.

I love you Laura and our boy, and Kip and Callie (even though you've been expensive this year).

Happy New Year.

I figured since I had some time, I would go over the predictions that I gave last year. I just remembered about this. It looks like I wrote these on January 6th, so let's see if any came true for the year of 2011. I'm not sure how to measure these, actually, and I don't really want to do much research and stuff.

1. 3D will not be anywhere near as big as they tout it to be this year, both in the consumer TV market and the movie market. They just can't 3D-ify everything and expect it to be money-makers. I think the 3D sales will steadily go up until about mid-year and then start to decline.
   
   So, after reading an article on Slate, it looks like different studies are showing different outlooks, but the general consensus is that 3D movies and 3D TVs are still on the rise, but there is some uncertainty about sales numbers. One source said sales are down, but Slate says that there wasn't enough information such as sales per screen to determine if it really was down from 2010 or not. It does seem like the movie industry is still learning 3D and it's getting better. I guess it's too soon to tell if it's going to continue to get better or worse. We'll have to see in 2012.
   
   
2. TV/entertainment content via the internet will be huge this year. With all the new-ish competitors starting to jump to this trend, I think it will be a nice win for the non-cable providers.
   
   I'm not quite sure on this either. I certainly think that internet TV content is still on the rise with major players like Netflix and Hulu picking up licenses and content providers for the many types of internet TV gadgets that are out there, as well as other players like Amazon Prime on-demand trying to get a market share. I don't I can say personally that it was "hugely" popular vs. last year.
   
   
3. I think Netflix will, at some point in the year, just add Blu-Ray renting for free alongside their normal DVD option, instead of the $2.99 they charge now. 
   
   Well this was totally wrong. Even more so because they split up DVD and instant and increased the prices.
   
   
4. I don't think the tablet format is going to be a hit. Yes, the iPad and other tablets do look good, but I think in the end, netbooks or super light notebooks will begin to climb back up in sales again. Not sure how to explain it. I guess an analogy could be e-readers vs. books. There's just something about books that e-readers can't mimic. In the same way, I think people will just want to be typing on a keyboard, having DVD-ROM drives, etc. Besides, everyone's going to have a mini tablet via their fancy Android/iPhone phones anyway. :P
   
   I think I was wrong on this too, but then again, it could be too soon to see how the tablet market is going to do. There were A LOT of new tablets that came out this year. We will have to see if the trend keeps up in 2012.
   
   
5. Android will totally dominate the iPhone. :)
   
   In the last 2 years, Android has definitely taken the lead in market share of phones that use the Android OS vs. iOS. Apple seems to have held its levels consistently, but Android has been on the rise, taking market share from other companies. Android is doing great in app sales as well, I think.
   
   
6. I think Groupon is going to tank...relatively speaking. I just don't think it can keep growing like it did the last 2 years.
   
   It looks like they didn't "tank" like I said they would, as they're still making good profits and profits are increasing. However, it's clear from what I just read that the growth of profits are significantly down from first quarter of 2011 and also read that next year, it might even level out at this rate. It makes sense to me, since as the  year went on, I began to notice a lot more "deals" sites popping up, such as Living Social, Ever Save, and many more.
   
   
7. I hate to say this, but I think Facebook.com may overtake Google.com as the #1 visited site on the internet.
   
   Phew, glad I was wrong on this one. Google is still the #1 visited site on the net with Facebook in a close second. Google was 49% on the estimated percentage of global users that visit Google daily. Facebook was 43%.
   
   
8. Although I love Google's innovation of the Chrome OS, working with everything via the cloud is, at least for this year, something that people won't be able to get used to. It's such a radical change. The mainstream couldn't handle that. Plus the inconvenience of needing an internet connection to sync and stuff like that is sort of burdensome. 
   
   I'll say I was right on this one. The Chrome notebook, while it is now selling at a few online retailers, hasn't really caught on. I think it's being overshadowed by the tablet craze.
   
   
9. Car companies will be touting only slightly higher mpg...maybe just hitting 40 mpg...seriously, my turbo civic gets between 35-40 mpg on the highway and it's a '96! We should be at at least 50-60 for affordable (under $20k) , consumer cars by now.
   
   Correct again! I see commercials still making a big deal about low 30s MPG...pathetic.
   
   
10. Yahoo! is just going to be even more horrible...
    
    I couldn't find any definitive answers, but I think they're still struggling to find their place on the internet. They're still the 4th most visited site, but it's a wonder why that is. There just doesn't seem to be a reason to go to Yahoo anymore, at least for me. 

So, overall, I didn't do too well...maybe predictions aren't my thing.

I was going to edit and work more on my autobiography, but I got wrapped up in trying out the new template and customizing it...damn tangents!

Sigh, so I just went to Target to buy the Logitech K750 solar keyboard that I found when I was in Portland...I'm pretty sure that I didn't need it, but like Laura says, I think I have an issue when it comes to keyboards. Hey, you'd want to get some cool/comfortable if it's something you're constantly using right? Much like a bed or car. That's my excuse anyway.

So I've been working on my autobiography a bit the last couple of weeks. Nearly about halfway done I think...it's long, though. I'm surprised at how much I've written. Maybe I'm not a boring guy like I thought?


I suppose it's about time to explain my work, since I haven't really. So far it's going good. Not the most exciting by any means and most days are boring, but the last few days have been busy and time is flying by each day quick, which is nice. Most days I usually TRY to find something to do and I can't. I literally just sit there switching screens back and forth pretending to read what I've read many times already. Oh well. 


Luckily, I'm starting to get the hang of it and asking less questions and asking why things are the way they are. The thing is, in this line of work, there doesn't seem to be a "normal day", at least so far. I process gift donations to the university and enter them into the database and print out thank you letters and what not. There are so many rules on how to enter the different kinds of gifts, exceptions to entering them depending on who wrote them, etc. that it's pretty hard to keep track, especially when you're starting out. I pick it up quick, though. There are some things sometimes that I just don't get or don't get why they do it like that and the usual answer is "I don't know either." or "They've been doing it that way since I've been here." and so forth. 


I eat lunch at noon each day and since I don't come home usually and don't really want to eat at the office, I drive around, get something, and eat in the car. Laura says it's sad and shouldn't do it, but I don't care or mind. It's nice to get out anyway. At Portland it was different because I had my own office and I could eat at the desk. I'm sitting in a pretty high traffic area so, I dunno. I wouldn't like it, is the bottom line. 


Next week we're having a staff luncheon and I mentioned that I would make some kind of dessert for folks. People are hyping it up now, so I gotta do good. I've decided on the Pot de Creme, but I want to give it a twist, so I got some orange flavored chocolate this time to test it out over the weekend. I'll probably do half and half. I have to go buy some bigger cups to serve them in and there are absolutely NO mini tasting spoons in retail stores. They have forks...but no spoons. 


Lately, and I'm not sure why, I've been spending a little too much. It could be that the Christmas season is here and that I've been finding good deals, but that doesn't really explain  it either since I'm not really getting anything for anyone...just buying things to have because they were cheap. It could also be that since I'm working and actually making money again, I want to spend it or something. I need to stop, though. 


Next week I'm only working two days, then off until January 3rd. Woohoo. Couldn't come soon enough. I'd like to relax, but we'll see how that goes with being in Tulsa. 


I'm contemplating going to Colorado from the 28th to the 31st...I'm not sure yet though. It'll probably happen, but I want to drive, so that's 11 hours-ish each way. It's not that bad, I guess. I would leave around 4 or 5 in the morning I'd say to get there around evening. Dunno what I'd do there, though...


We'll see what happen. I need to start thinking about the yearly summary for this year...man it seems like I've been blogging a long time, and I have! I guess this year will be my 10th year of writing. I just realized that. I'm glad that I've kept with it, somewhat, to catalog my life. It's fun once in a while to read back and see what kind of person I was. I was pretty cocky and uneducated, I think, around 2002-3-ish. At least, that's how I sound when I was writing. I know for a fact that my writing style and attitude has changed. 


And I almost forgot. I can't believe Laura and I have been together for 10 years now. We've gone through so much together and I can't thank her enough for putting up with my stupidities. I hope that we will be together for many more years to come. I know I have stuff to work on and I will try hard to fix it! I can't wait to have our little baby and watch it grow. Some days, like when I got that maternity pillow for her for Christmas, I just couldn't wait to get home and give it to her. From like noon, I was like, watching the clock constantly because I just wanted to go home. Anyway, happy 10 years. I love you!

Laura is over in Tulsa this weekend, so I thought I'd work on my autobiography a little more that I started in February-ish of 2010. I got pretty far, but still a lot to go and I can't believe it's almost been a year! It'll probably be done in a few months of on and off writing, I'd imagine.

Making some chex mix right now and once that's done, gonna head to the store to get some cooking oil, olive oil and I think another dish brush. I bought one yesterday, but turns out that I don't like it as much as the one with handles. I do like that it has a soap dispenser built in, but, going to go see what else I can find. I'm so picky, but I wash dishes enough that I think I can be picky.

Work is going good so far. I've been in a Banner consultation meeting for the last 2 days and also for tomorrow, so I haven't really gotten to "work" at what I'll be doing. I think Friday will be some training and half of next week is HR orientation...fun.

Got my work UCO ID and parking permit. I start next Tuesday!

Yikes, it's been a couple months. I'll try to sum up what's been happening.


Pre-move


So, I can't remember much the first couple weeks of August, but I know we were still scrambling to get all the stuff packed before the move date of the 17th. Laura's parents came out to help us a few days before the pack date, which I think was the 15th. Anywho, after the truck came, which was much smaller than I thought it would (it was only a couple of feet longer than the truck I drove out to Portland), it parked in front, we started working on the packing. We got a handtruck and laid out some plywood over the gravel to make it a bit easier for us. First up was the armoire...the dreaded armoire. At least we were getting the worst part done first. And actually, it wasn't all that bad. Not sure why it wasn't this time, maybe because the handtruck helped a little bit. Either way, after that the couch went and some of the other big items. All in all, we were 90% done at the end of the day, probably after 7-8 hours of loading. We finished up the next morning and the truck actually came earlier than expected that afternoon. Good thing we were done. 


The move


I knew the worst was still ahead of us...well, at least me. My car was the big issue. No A/C was the killer and it was over 100 through Kansas and Oklahoma. We leave the next day early in the morning, around 7 I think. The first day wasn't bad at all. It was cool throughout the day and opening the windows at times did the trick. We got to somewhere in Idaho, I forget what city. We got there around 8 or 9 I believe. 


The next day, we leave early again and head for Laramie. We get there around lunch time, and we ate. Well, I actually stayed at the Walmart parking lot to cool the car down. Just before I got to Laramie, the car started to overheat a little bit. The temperatures outside were getting up there, in the 80s/90s. After we leave Laramie, we were heading to Chris' house. We were also meeting up with my Mom and Ellen too for dinner. About an hour or so before we get to his house, the temps were in the high 90s and I think it even hit 100 or so. My car was hurting. I didn't know whether I should go fast so the radiator is cooled or slower so the engine didn't get too hot. During this time, I was making stops here and there to fill the coolant reservoir up. Finally, we got there and my temp gauge was pretty much at the red "H". Day was done for my car for now.


We grilled dinner and we told my Mom and Ellen about Laura being pregnant. They were happy. Unfortunately, Alicia wasn't there, so we texted her the news and she actually called to congratulate Laura.


Next day rolls around. I already know this day was going to suck, but I underestimated! We leave early and start heading through Denver and Kansas. It was getting warmer but right around the time we cross the border, the heat just shot up and I was uncomfortable. Even the windows open wasn't helping. We stop halfway to Salina to take a break since my car was already overheating. Laura's Mom was nice enough to head to Walmart and get me a water spray bottle with a fan. I didn't use the fan, but after we started off again, the water helped a lot. Probably for an hour or so. But then, I got used to that and it wasn't enough. But, it was weird since now, if i didn't spray myself, it was just too much, even though the spray was warm in itself. 


We finally take the road south into Oklahoma. I was miserable. We stopped at a Braum's to cool off. We had like 2-3 hours left I think at this point. Laura continued on, but I had to stop like every hour to fill up on coolant and cool down. 


(In hindsight, I think my car would have been fine if I had just replaced my radiator cap. After I got to Oklahoma, I was checking around and saw that my radiator cap was pretty much busted, so it was just leaking/evaporating every time I drove...simple $10 fix...oh well. I'm not sure at what point it busted, but I think it was sometime before I got to Chris' house and before crossing the Kansas border)


At any rate, we all got to our house at like 9 at night. It was dark, but the temps weren't getting any cooler...strange thing. We checked out the house real quick and promptly went to bed. NOW, the worst was over.


Unloading


We had the weekend to relax since the truck was coming Monday morning and if I remember correctly, Laura's Dad was going to come over to help unload on Tuesday. Monday rolls around and the truck comes with the trailer, parks outside and leaves. It was already in the high 90s/100s then, so I only got a few things out. As night fell, I was able to get a few more things out and into the house. Couldn't do much more by myself. I believe Ryan came over that night to help us at least get the mattress and box springs so we could get a good night's sleep. That went easier than we thought since the mattress was on top of everything. 


Next day, Laura's Dad arrives and we get started around 8 or 9 or so. Nothing out of the ordinary. I think we were pretty much finished around 3 or 4. Goes a lot quicker when unloading.


Unpacking


Now we had to unpack and organize. Probably the worst part after you move. All in all, it took several weeks to finally be finished with this. There's a bunch of empty boxes in the attic and overall it seems that we have more room to store stuff here than at Portland.


Labor Day Party


A couple of weeks after we moved, Laura's family had a labor day party at their house with friends/family over. It was fun to relax. It was also then we told everyone about the new baby. Now that the fun was over, the fun of job searching began.


The Job Search


Long story short, nothing yet, unfortunately. I've applied to quite a few places now, but they've either filled it or haven't even moved on to the sorting process yet....that or they're ignoring me. I started the week after the Labor Day party, so it's effectively been about 1.5 months after I started. I'm starting to get discouraged, naturally. There aren't many around and the more time that passes, the less time that I will have to work there. If I start November, I'm at around 7 months of work time, factoring in Laura's maternity leave. I still have a couple of promising apps out...we'll see if they even call back.


We've now bought a crib and it's up in the baby room. We need to get a mattress soon. Laura has been filling up the baby registry as well. There's a bunch of stuff to get. I think we signed up for a couple of classes for January or something since it was full already for November. Laura mentioned that it's about halfway through the pregnancy. We still have to decide whether or not to find out the gender!

2 short weeks until we move. We're dreading it, but I think deep inside, it's sort of fun to always be on the move. I think I'd enjoy it more if it were all done by someone else. Oh well. 


Laura and I are heading to the coast tomorrow for a couple of days of relaxation at a place right near the beach. We were going to check out whale watching, but I don't think Laura secured a spot on the boat. I'm not a big whale fan, anyway, but maybe we'll do one anyway.


My car has been the biggest issue lately. Since that time I left the sunroof open, it's been about, oh, 3-4 months. Turns out all this time, there's been mold growing in between the papers I had under my passenger seat...and I've been inhaling all that. It all makes sense now (or, at least we think, anyway). My chest/breathing/headache issues started around then and it was getting worse until a week or so ago when I discovered that tried to clean out all the mold in the car. I think there is still some somewhere, but I can't find where. I scrubbed and vacuumed the main area, but the smell still exists. I'm really not sure where it could be. Took all the mats out and will probably throw it away soon. Not worth cleaning. Anyway, this whole ordeal was just dumb. Now my car smells like smoke. Maybe I'll donate it.


In other news, tomorrow is my last day at work here. That 1 year and 2 months went by quick! Trying to tie up last minute loose ends here, but yeah, just clearing out my queue of work. I'm about out of things to do.


The house is probably 85% packed up. The big furniture, dressers, beds, kitchen stuff and some garage stuff is all that's left. Oh, and that stupid armoire.  Current plan is to leave the 17th, stay somewhere in Idaho the first night, get to Denver-ish on the 18th, hang out with family/friends, and take off the 19th to arrive at the new house. Can't wait for it to be over. At least there will be no moving truck that just turns off on the highway this time. 


Next blog will probably be from the new house and internet, granted I can get it in a timely manner. Hopefully it's fast and stuff. Comcast has been pretty nice this past year. No major hiccups. Just a few times last fall where the connection kept disappearing, but I'm not sure if that was a modem thing or a problem with the splitter I was using to split the internet/cable line. Overall, speeds were fast. We'll see how Cox internet is. They get fairly good ratings, so that's good.

Love ya, pud!

Well, the 4th came and went. I'm not much of a fireworks person, unless you know, the fireworks are close to our house like it was in Laramie. Oh well!

We're doing well on packing I think. We've got a lot of the house packed and we did a lot in the garage yesterday. The weird thing is, we still have a lot of the boxes that we moved here with broken down, so either we still have a lot to go or we threw away a lot of stuff. I'm afraid it's the former.

Laura is flying out Thursday to go find houses for us. We have found one house that we kinda like, so hopefully we get it. The guy was a picky rentee or something, but we have a great reference and it's not like we're going to trash it, so.

That's it for now.

Wow, almost a month after I said I'll write a blog soon...bad me.

At work right now, but I finally found some time to try and write a little something.

What happened in April...hm...I really can't remember anything exciting happening in April.

In May, we traveled to Wyoming for Laura's walking and graduation for her Ph.D. Woohoo. She's not quite done yet, but basically. She defended her dissertation as well, like I knew she would. It was fun to visit Laramie again. I do miss that place. We ate a Prairie Rose for breakfast, it was windy, relatively crowded because it was graduation weekend, drove by our house which seemed like it wasn't "taken care of" all that well (from what we could see), and finally we hit up Vee Bar Ranch for dinner. It was good. Funny story incoming:

So, there was a big party of like 25 or something there we were sharing the grounds with...a couple of loud and annoying folk, but whatever. After the dinner we had a little music and hang out time in the saloon. We started playing Polish Poker and the 2-man band was playing music.

Since we got there after dinner, I thought it would be a good idea to ask Laura for a dance. I was waiting for the right moment (she was sitting across the table, so it was kinda hard to ask) and a few songs went by where nobody was dancing. A couple got up and danced to a slow song, so they took my "first dance" opportunity from me...whatever. Then a few more people with whom seemed like their grand kids got up and started dancing. After a couple of more songs and some break with dancing, the band said "This might be a good one to dance with your significant other." I didn't want to miss this one so I quietly asked Laura across the table and she snubbed me at first! I know we were both embarrassed but anyway. So after a couple exchanges of talk between her parents and such, we got up and after we did, a few more couples got up. Woot.

Anyway, onto late May and June. We've started packing slowly and we're moving along. Not the most favorite thing to do. Laura's been doing much of the packing, so. I'll be doing most of the packing into the truck, I reckon. :P

Well, short but sweet update. Gonna have to start looking for a job soon.......