Looking for the updates?

Looking for the updates on the girls?  Look up in the navigation bar, just up to the left of this.  I am trying to keep them up to date as best as I can, but here is a quick summary:

Tricia’s abcess was the size of a tennis ball, taken care of and cleaned out, with a drain tube in place now.  Her Crohn’s was removed, along with her appendix, so hopefully once she heals up, she will be a lot better.

Natalie is doing better, from a lypase high of over 15,000 to this mornings reading of around 500.  She started a slow feed this morning to see how she tolerates it, and so far so good.  She also got a bed bath this morning, and had her hair washed, and laughed and smiled the whole time.  She’s definately starting to feel better when she is smiling and laughing some.

Thanks to everyone for all of the support and well wishes!  We have made it this far with God and you by our side, and we just wanted to say thank you!

My umbrella company.

Well, you have heard the expression, “When it rains, it pours”. So is the case right now.

As I am writing this, my wife Tricia is in the hospital, and I am in the hospital with Natalie. Tricia’s Crohn’s disease decided to rear its ugly head on Saturday night to the point that she couldn’t take it anymore. So, after she got admitted to deal with that, I guess Natalie got jealous and decided to have a pancreatitis attack.

Life just isn’t fair! Why can’t I win the lottery, and move my family (in good health of course) to a nice island where our servants can take care of every need?! I guess for beginners, I would have to play the lottery to stand a chance of hitting it big, right? And as for life being fair, that’s a no brainer. Life isn’t about being fair. It’s not about getting everything handed to you with a silver spoon. Life is life, and it’s how you deal with it that counts.

He’s Stuck!

Well, the other night as we were enjoying some family time, we settled in and were watching the Red’s game on the television.  Sounds innocent enough, right? 

Funny part is that we were trying to teach Phoebe how to say, “Swing, batter batter batter” like you would at the games.  She was doing pretty good with it, at least as good as a two year old can do.  We were trying to get her to watch for the ball, help them catch it, and were talking about going and seeing a local team play sometime.

Well, they were showing a replay, and Phoebe was fascinated with watching them swing at the ball, getting her saying down a little more, when the t.v. froze during the replay.  You know, the modern marvels of someone forgot to push the button in the control room at the station to play the ‘film’ over again?

“He’s stuck!”

Not sure what she meant until we looked and saw the picture of the player just standing there, mid-point in swing at the ball.  We just laughed ourselves silly…only from the mouths of babes!

Computer Woes…

Ok, so your computer is getting a little older, and seems to be running slower. You’re not a computer expert (and I don’t claim to be either), however, you’re not sure what to do or what the cause is.

Recently, several friends have brought me their computers, and have had the same issue. So, I thought I would write about what I do to try to ‘restore’ them back to a better, more usable condition. I hope this helps, and it is in no means a complete or exhaustive listing of problems and their solutions. I use Google as it is a powerful tool for finding assistance in solving problems. It is where I usually turn for advice, and solutions to most of the more common problems that spyware and adware, including viruses, can cause. So, here goes!

Natalie’s Update site – updated!

After much thought and help on the design considerations, I have completed an overhaul of Natalie’s Site.  I have been feeling that it was in need of a good overhaul, both for the visual and coding aspects.

There was a lot to be desired from her old site.  It had been bugging me for some time that it wasn’t looking right, but I don’t know a lot about graphic design, and colors, etc.  I just wasn’t happy with it.

So, much reading, library trips, color pickers online, and insight from some of the leading site designers have really helped put this together.  I hope you like it, and please, let me know what you think!

I hope it does justice and honor to Natalie.

My wonderful wife

Let me tell you about the most wonderful wife a man could ask for.

When I first met Tricia, I had no idea that life would lead us together. We enjoyed fun times, and eventually, I “popped” the question. Since that day, I couldn’t imagine life without her. We have been through some really tough times together, things like when Natalie became sick and suffered her brain injury. Now, we are going down the road with Crohn’s disease.

I don’t know how she does it each day, but she is a blessing and an amazing woman. She inspires me, gives me hope and strength, and the courage to be a better man. She has an uncanny ability to read people, which has helped us out a lot. Her desire to be a better wife and follower of Christ is a driving force behind my desire to be a better husband. Her desire to be a better mom, more patient and loving, is stretched thin at times, but she always keeps going each day.

Tricia, I love you and thank you for each day we have together. Thank you for putting up with me, and for being there for me at all times. I only hope that I can be as strong for you as you are for me.

Garbage code belongs in the landfill!

The other day I was reading a really interesting post from Mike Cherim about various producers of code that write, well, junk! It was really funny to read this as I have had several experiences with various producers of code that aren’t valid or even close to accessible markup.