A lot to say

I apologize it's been so long since I updated this. Life has just sort of gotten busy, to the point where all I could do was hold on and enjoy the ride.

Some of the quick high points:

The other Unix Admin on my team quit back in February to travel Africa for a year, simply because he was almost 40 years old and if he didn't do it now, he never would. (You can enjoy his travel blog here.) Since then, I have basically been a one-man 24/7 support operation for almost 50 servers. We finally hired a replacement this month, but I am still bearing the brunt of the work until he gets up to speed. Hopefully, things will lighten up by the end of the year.

I've been doing a lot of work on the house. Between painting the "pink room" (it was the Disney paint color "Satin Ribbon" when we bought the house) a much nicer pale yellow, replacing the roof and gutters, redoing the bathroom, and preparing to paint the rest of the house, I've not had much in the way of free time. In the past month, I've also had to take time to work on my car, because both the alternator and the clutch went out on me (at different times). Fortunately, I was able to get the parts and do both repairs myself (for a fraction of the cost of having a mechanic do it).

Gwen and I also got a puppy back in May. She's a hound mix named Kaylee (we changed the name from the abominable "May Apple" that she came with), and is now about 7 months old. She likes to get into a lot of trouble (including a NY strip steak that I was about to cook for a friend's birthday dinner), but she's really a delight to have in our home. I am so glad that we were able to buy a home with a fenced-in yard. It's been a life saver with her.

However, the biggest news is something that I am really looking forward to. Last week, Gwen and I went for our Level II Ultrasound and discovered that we are going to have a son! We are due on or about February 9-10, 2011! I promised that I would let people know within a year or so of when we got pregnant, and here we are. I'll update with pictures as they become available.

And yes, I fully recognize that my sisters are both eagerly awaiting the opportunity to watch me handle my own kids. I've gotten so much delight from watching them deal with their progeny that turnabout is fair play.

In any case, I need to get back to work, but I did want to get this written up before I let it slide (yet again).

It's a Crazy Life

It seems like every time I post, I start by apologizing for not posting. Sorry, but that's life.

I'm still alive and kicking. A lot has happened, and yet it seems like I'm still right where I was before.

I'm still waiting for the final approval on the house, still waiting for the wedding, and still dealing with things day-to-day. I'm starting to get impatient at the wait. Like Inigo Montoya, "I hate waiting."

Darn it, I don't want to wait another month for my house. I don't want to wait another 75 days to get married (but who's counting). I don't want to be patient. I just want to be able to move forward with everything.

But, all in all, life is good. Yesterday, Gwen and I went to Cabell's Mill and took our engagement pictures. My old friend Meghan borrowed my camera and took the pictures for us (and it only cost me a grilled cheese sandwich, some tomato soup, and some ice cream). She did a phenomenal job, and really brought out the beauty of Gwen's hair. I will try to post some of the pictures later today.

We hope to have the announcements ready to mail in a week or three, but I am in the process of verifying addresses. If I haven't contacted you already to verify your mailing address, and you want to be sure to get one, drop me an email.

That about covers everything for now. I will endeavor to post more often in the future.

Promises to Keep

I made a promise to a friend a while ago, but never got around to keeping it. Since I'm having trouble sleeping tonight, I thought I'd finally catch up and get it out of the way.

And so, for your enjoyment, here are some recipes I have collected from a variety of sources. Some of them are crock pot recipes (as I promised you, Amy), others are old family favorites, and still more are from a variety of other sources.

I'm still adding to the file, but I figured I'd put the current version out there for now. I'll let all of you know when I've updated it.

I Haven't Forgotten

No, I haven't forgotten about my blog. I've just been incredibly busy since my last post. Since then, I have:

1) Visited Gettysburg with a group of friends on a day trip.
2) Had to travel to Atlantic City 3 times in the past 2 weeks (just got back today).
3) Visited Philadelphia and Valley Forge with some more friends.
4) Won an "Achievement Award" at work. I guess they think I actually do work around there.
5) Bought a new laptop (one of the new Eee PC 900 machines - only 2.2 lbs, and a lot easier to carry around)
6) Seen a couple of movies (Wall-E, The Dark Knight, and Wanted)
7) Tried to maintain my sanity (a losing proposition if there ever was one).

And of course, tomorrow I'm leaving to visit Williamsburg with some friends for the weekend, and I have at least one more trip to Atlantic City coming up as well.

I haven't forgotten about this, though. I'll just find the time to get back to it someday.

Some Songs for the Women I Know

Today, I had the chance to have lunch with an old friend of mine from college. We've known each other for more than a decade now, and hadn't seen each other for probably about a year or so. As we were talking after lunch, he introduced me to a new singer that he had discovered online, Jonathan Coulton.

Well, on his website you can actually listen to and download all of his songs. You can download some of them for free or you can buy any or all of them from his music store. (Personally, I plan to buy the complete set once I can save up a little more money in my entertainment budget.) However, looking through his songs, I found several that made me think of several of the women that I know.

For example, here's one for my sister Mer. It's called Skullcrusher Mountain. She's always loved the evil geniuses.

And for my mother, who helped introduce me to the joys of astronomy: I'm Your Moon.

And for Amy, a very special love song I know you want to sing.

Another one for Mer, because of an obsession she has.

And for Rae, one that I am sure will make you laugh: Re Your Brains.

This one is really for all of you, since I know that all of you would appreciate it.

Enjoy them. I sure plan to.

Friends in Crisis

This morning, I needed to do a little work from home (to bypass the proxies they have at work and test some configuration changes). I had just called my boss to let him know that I would be coming in to the office in a little while, when I got a call from my roommate, Scott.

Now, Scott is a coworker of mine who needed a place for a few months, and I happened to have an extra room, and things just sort of worked out. My rent got cut in half, and I have someone to watch my guinea pig when I get sent out of town unexpectedly, and he got a more convenient place to stay.

Well, Scott called me right after I got off the phone with my boss. It turns out that he needed to have some emergency surgery to stop some bleeding (he had his tonsils out last week). He had tried calling his parents, his sister, and his girlfriend, but couldn't get a hold of any of them, and he needed someone to be able to bring him home from the surgery center. I called my boss back, and told him that there was a change in plans, and I was going to be out for the rest of the day (but available by phone if I was needed). I then walked down to the surgery center (it was about a mile), and waited until Scott was out of surgery (it was only 15 minutes long, plus an hour or so for recovery), then drove him home in his car.

Why do I mention all of this? Because I spent a good bit of time chastising him for not letting me know that he needed help when he woke up at 3am spitting up blood, and again at 6am when he finally decided he needed to call the doctor. I was right there, asleep in the next room. There was no need for him to drive himself to the surgery center, and it was only by chance that I happened to be still home to go get him. If I hadn't been available, he wouldn't have had anyone to get him home, let alone keep an eye on him as he recovered from the surgery.

I'm very protective of my friends. I have always had an open door policy for them. If you need a place to stay for a night, or if you need a ride home, or anything else like that, all you have to do is call me, and if it is at all within my power, I will do everything I can to help. I figure it's the least I owe, considering how much help and support my friends have been to me, especially in the past two years. If you need immediate help, all you have to do is call, and no questions asked I'll be there to help (but no, I don't help dispose of bodies).

If I find out that one of my friends was in need, and didn't call on me because of not wanting to bother me, I will be extremely put out with them. Consider yourselves all warned.