Mother Nature can suck my ...

Well, I won't finish that sentence as this is a family blog :) For some time now, Debbie and I had planned to drive to Detroit on Wednesday night. As the date approached, we learned of a lovely snow storm that was going to pound the route we wanted to take. After much deliberation, we decided that we still had to leave on Wednesday because if we didn't, it would be Friday before we could leave. Detroit had a forecast of 4-6 inches on Wednesday and ANOTHER 4-6 inches on Thursday. Meanwhile, Chicago was supposed to get some snow on Thursday as well. All things considered, driving through snow in Chicago is infinitely worse because people here lose all ability to think clearly when there are little white flakes falling all around them. Lauren went to sleep around 9, so it was 10:30 before we could get on the road. There is one thing I can say nice about leaving that late: there were no backups to slog through on the highways :)
There were minor flurries as we drove through Indiana (it's that lake-effect crap). And Michigan was fairly clear up until mile marker 100 (Our exit was 196). After mile marker 100, things got a little dicey. The snow was a very dry snow, so cars and trucks, especially trucks, would kick up this huge cloud behind them. On occasion, the clouds got so bad that the truck causing it, which I KNEW was about 40 feet in front of me, would disappear.
TANGENT: Whenever driving through a snow storm, I like to pick a truck traveling a speed I approve and follow that truck. In a storm like the one on Wednesday, this could not be a worse decision. All you could do is tailgate the truck so you could actually see the tail lights and pray he didn't have to come to a sudden stop. Oh, yeah, and if you're driving on a highway in such a storm ... DON'T DRIVE 20 MILES AN HOUR UNLESS EVERYONE ELSE IS. I nearly got into 2 accidents because these cars would just appear form a cloud with their flashers on, which no one could see anyway. UGH.
Fortunately, we got to Debbie's parents safely, arriving around 5:30 am (EST). For all the trouble driving, I would do it again in a heartbeat because Lauren slept the whole way. No amount of weather related inconvenience tops having a child asleep for the entire 6 hours. WOOT!
Anyway, we're here ready to enjoy a family filled holiday. I hope Lauren is up to meeting new people because she is going to be held ... A LOT! How could you not hold such a cutie? :) Merry Christmahaunakwanza!!!

I've caught up

Today, my fine reader, I bring to you ... *drumroll please*

MASSIVE PICTURE UPDATE.

2 new albums for Lauren have been added as well as A Very Klemstein-y Christmas. Enjoy. I'll probably move some things around later, but for now, feel free to peruse the images of our life.

My new computer

This will probably be a boring post for most of you, but I want to talk about it anyway. I just ordered my new computer and I coulnd't be more thrilled. Now, bear in mind, when I say "ordered a new computer", I don't mean I called Dell, find the package I want, and tell them to send it. No siree ... I'm a GEEK!!!! I found the parts that I wanted for the price I wanted from various websites and had them all shipped here. Want to know the specs?:

Motherboard: Asus A8V-Deluxe
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500+
RAM: 2 512 MB PC3200 Kingston DDR
Hardrive: Hitachi 120 GB 7200 RPM 8 MB cache Serial ATA
(Bored yet? Eyes glossing over?)
Graphics Card: ATI 9700 Pro (given to me by a friend who had a spare one)!
DVD: Sony 16x DVD +/-RW

I even *gasp* bought Windows XP Home Edition. Also, the MB/CPU came with a free copy og Half-Life 2 (which I would buy anyway). All told, this new system cost $880. Not bad, if you ask me. I even bought a new mouse: The Logitech MX710. 7 buttons should be enough for my gaming needs.
To achieve this fantastic deal, I used 3 websites: I ordered the mouse through Amazon; The MB/CPU combo was ordered though ZipZoomFly; the rest was ordered through NewEgg.com. Everything but the mouse should be here by Wednesday! YEAH!

Horseshoe Bob

My friends, Lauren is suffering and there is nothing I can do about it. It pains me to say, but my beautiful 1-month old daughter ... has ... *deep breath* MALE PATTERN BALDNESS!!! *sob*
My beautiful little girl is losing her hair at the tender age 1 month! Right now, her hair has chosen the Horseshoe Bob style. For those who don't know, the Horseshoe Bob is that balding hairstyle where there is nothing on top, but hair on the side. Here's a nice side shot. Oh poor Lauren ... Daddy will take you wig shopping this weekend.

Planning

Sometimes, thins don't always go as planned.

NOTE: It is my opinion and the opinion of a few of my friends that the last image is Photoshopped. That doesn't detract from the inherent humor in these images though.

A tip to new dads

If you're like me, having your child sleep on your chest is a wonderful thing. It provides a nice bonding time for the two of you. However, one needs to plan for this time by dressing appropriately. Here's the thing you need to know ... babies like to grab things and pull. They don't know they're grabbing anything and pulling, but that's the hand motion they make. Also note that when a baby is laying on your chest, you shirt will have a tendency to get pulled at the neck. So, if you have chest hair, please make sure to wear a shirt whose collar will not get pulled far enough to give baby a chance at grabbing onto said chest hairs and pulling. Just an FYI.

Debbie has acquired too many points

Okay .. this is getting scary. The score at our house right now is Debbie 4328254711251405 - Eddie 1. What do I mean by this? Debbie has been EXTREMELY nice to me regarding taking care of the baby. To the point where I fear I shall spend an entire year being her slave. As some of you may know, Debbie has let me sleep most nights while she takes care of Lauren. She does this because I do not function very kindly on little sleep. My usual upbeat disposition turns very sour. When I don't get a lot of sleep, my answers become very sharp and terse, attempts by other people at humor usually upset me, and other kinds of nastiness that I'm not proud of. So, she lets me sleep so that when we do talk, I'm in a better mood. Well, in addition to all of that, she let me go to a comedy show this weekend. A bunch of friends and I went to see Lewis Black at the Rosemont Theater (btw Jon Stewart will be there 4/1/05; 9:45 pm show tickets still available). I even got to go out to dinner with some friends. All the while, she's at home watching the baby. The only worthy pennace I can think of is letting her go to some kind of craft fair while I stay at home. Otherwise, I need to start work on groveling.

Robotech? Just add guns

Work's been kinda slow today, so I hopped around to various sites and came across this. Now these devices are designed for the physically impaired, but I think Toyota has missed the best market for this device. Geeks! Add a laser or two (nothing powerful or destructive, just a red light) and *BAM* geeks everywhere would be falling over themselves to get one.
Oh! Oh! You make a set of these ... say 5 of them ... maybe make them lion shaped ... they could all form in some way to make 1 giant robot ... a robot that would fight all the oversized villains that invaded planet earth ... WOW ... oh ... i think I'm hyperventilating ... this is too cool ..

Screw You Toll Payer

Wow! I'm just full of posts today. So, does everyone (at least those in Illinois) have their I-PASS yet? If not, you'd better get one!. 31 driving days until the across-the-board toll hike on all Illinois Tollways. Whoopie!

Someone needs a little more caffeine

I know there aren't a whole lot of sports fans that read this, but there are plenty English majors and writers. So, I thought you all would appreciate a little editorial faux pas:

The story as shown here has the following headline

Giants: Hand pulls groin

for about 30 minutes

I added the italicized part. Now the story is about a New York Football Giants Defensive Linemen named Norman Hand who suffered a strained groin, but that's just a poor, but hysterical, choice of words for a headline.

Random Musings

Today ... I feel like doing a little musing.

1. After a snow like last night's, the drive to work is absolutely beautiful. There is this 4 mile stretch of road I travel to work. The road is lined the entire 4 miles with trees, with some areas being canopied by those trees. Every tree this morning had its branches covered in white. Just an awesome sight.

2. After a snow like last night, I realized it's not a good idea to procrastinate on fixing your car's windshield washer. I found out about a month ago that the pump wasn't getting any power. This means no washer fluid comes out when I turn on the washer. That can be a problem on a sunny day with freshly laid salt on the roads.

3. When giving an infant a bath, ALWAYS have extra wipes and a new diaper. For some reason, babies just know when that diaper comes off, they can do their business more "freely". Good thing we have a girl!

4. Last night, I got a little energy so I went out and shoveled the driveway and sidewalks. Normally, I would pat myself on the back for this. The problem, however, is that when I went out this morning to finish thr job, there was a little snow covering a nice layer of ice. Oh well, maybe the sun and warmth will loosen things up for when I get home.

5. It's really nice having the house to ourselves again. We loved having our parents stay, but I think it got to be a bit much at the end. Now, we can walk around in the middle of the night with Lauren and not worry if she is going to wake someone up.

6. On the same note of nighttime crying babies, I have an absolutely wonderful wife. People at work have stated that I seem to look rested for the father of a newborn. And I credit my wife for that. She has let me sleep at night so I can be somewhat useful during the day (I don't function very well when tired... I believe the word cranky comes to mind). She is doing a wonderful job. I felt bad about last night because she had spent a few hours trying to get Lauren to sleep before she decided to wake me up. After 10 minutes of holding her, Lauren had once again drifted off to dream land. It's wonderful that Lauren fell asleep so easily, I just wish she would have done it for her mother instead of waiting for me.

I think that's enough musings for now. Maybe I'll come up with more, but this has gotten long enough.

Baptism Pictures

Hey folks ... pictures of Lauren's baptism have been uploaded (with minor incessant nagging). Those pictures can be found here. Also, be sure to check out some new photos on page 3 of First Thanksgiving album. No ... really ... there is one absolutely adorable picture in there. Can you guess which one it is?