I was thinking...

I would have been just fine if we were having a daughter.

Happy Valentines Day

The first snow storm of the year, Feb 14th 2007. As snow storms go, it was perfect. About 8-10 inches, light and fluffy. And my wife was home for most of it so I didn't have to worry about her driving.


Dan sold me a new refurbished snowblower this year and this was the first test.

The top picture is me doing my neighbors driveway. Look at that arc!

Erika doesn't shovel, part of an agreement we had when she moved up. Unless she's trying to get home, she doesn't touch snow. Ever. But she's more than willing to watch me, and take the occasional picture.


Happiness is: Snowblowers.

Where's there Smoke....

If someone asks you what your favorite day of the year is, most would probably say a holiday. Some would say a birthday or anniversary. Not me. My favorite day of the year is Burn pile day. The tradition started in 2004. My woods had several huge piles of sticks and debris I collected over the year and a half we lived at the house. I wanted someone to cart the debris away. My neighbor, Dick, told me just to burn it. I didn't like the idea at first, but it grew on me.

Jan 2004 - My first burn pile. A new exciting experience.

Jan 2005 - This is a nice moment - just me and my fire. You can see the large extra stack of wood behind me. I had a lot of wood to burn this year. Good times. Burned a hole in two jackets this year. Well worth it. Jan 2006 - this was a special year. We had a guest Follansbee join us for the burning. Dad and I had a nice time. It was very cold, but the outside temperture isn't much of a factor when you have a nice toasty fire going.

Feb 2007 - This year wasn't as exciting. A smaller pile. Erika wasn't around to take spiffy pictures. I wasn't even going to have a burn pile this year but changed my mind at the last minute. Next year I'm going to get back to my roots and have a huge pile. Bigger is better.

Come back in Jan-Feb 2008 for the next burn pile.

What's in a name?

Ever since Erika told me she was pregnant back on Oct 18th I have gone through a WIDE range of emotions. Everything from being terrified to being giddy with excitement. Personally I'm at what I consider a 'fun' spot. I'm very excited and I can't believe I have to wait till June to meet my boy. I'm reading quite a bit, browsing baby websites, looking at baby gear, and listening to experienced mothers (thanks to the mothers out there putting up with my questions). Its just a lot of fun for me.

The only thing that is not so much fun for me right now is the name shopping. We know he is a He, so that at least rules out almost half the available names. But how do you name someone you've never met. The only way to do it is to pick an arbitrary name and stick with it. You try to find a name that 'sounds' right and is excepteble to your significant other ***cough**HUNTER**cough***. But I can't find a name that sounds right for me. Either the name is already being used, we just don't like the name, or it doesn't sound right. A name is serious business. It is something that will be with them everyday of the rest of their lives.

Someone suggest taking names and putting them on an index card, and putting them on the fridge and just staring at them for a few days, see if any names stick. I think I may do that. Now to find some names we like enough to make the finals list.

At least the middle name has been chosen. One less thing to worry about.

Sticking it to the 'Man'

We all have done tourist thing, and we all have had our pictures taken by the friendly teenage workers so when we leave, we can pay $25 to 'remember' the moment. Personally I've experienced this (just to name a few) at Niagara Falls, a paddle boat on the Mississippi, about 150 times on our honeymoon cruise and more that I can't think of right now.

One day Erika and I drove (a VERY long way) to Attitash ski resort to try our hand at the Alpine Slide. Highly recommended for those who have not done it, or haven't done it for a long time. The wait is brutal, but well worth it to make one or two runs. As you wait in line, you have nothing to do other than watch people. Near the bottom of each slide were "photographers" taking pictures of you as you finished up your exciting ride. I thought it would be a nice picture to have, but I tend to lean on the 'thrifty' side.

So coming down the mountain it was a lot of fun (although Erika went pretty slow). Toward the bottom I had the thought of squeezing into the picture with Erika so we could get one photo... Two for the price of one... I love it!!

How to Build a Smarter Baby

Music in the womb. The theory is that it is good for brain development and bonding. Just like everything there are differing opinions. Worst case is the little guy gets a little entertainment as he grows. I've also hear stories from friends that the same music that they heard in the womb, helps the children sleep during nap time. Sign me up. So tonight as Erika was watching TV with her feet up, I strapped a pair of headphones on her belly and hit the play button. The little guy was serenaded with the soft new-age sounds of "Baby's First Sleepytime". I'll report back in about 18 years and let you know.

Dixie. Ink. Magic Eraser.

Everyone needs to know about the Magic Eraser. The Magic Eraser is just a wonder of science, and a must to have around the house. Those of you who know the Magic Eraser will nod your head in agreement when I say the Magic Eraser is AMAZING!

This occured a well over a year ago. Erika had gone to bed, and the next day was her birthday. I had bought her a card and rather than just signing it, I thought I would be cute and clever by enlisting the help of Dixie (aka Whumpie). I wanted Dixie to sign the card. How you ask? With a paw print. But how do I get a cat paw print?


Due to Erika's scrapbooking hobbies, she had big ink pads she used for stamping. So, I simply took the cat, pressed her paw against the ink pad, and pressed it on the card. For anyone wanting to try this... it doesn't work. A cat has all these little hairs between it's pads that act as out of control paint brushes. All that ended up on card was smudged mess. I tried. I failed, not a big deal. Although it would have been neat if it worked.

I cleaned up Dixie's paw as much as she would let me. She still had some ink on her paw, but it was dry and wasn't going to stain anything. So I freed her from her signing duties. She walked down the hall into the kitchen to get a drink of water.

An interesting habit of my favorite cat Dixie that I didn't know about until that night... When she walks up to a water bowl, she will actually stick her paw INTO the water to check the depth (I assume). Then she will flick the water off her paw. She happened to user her inked paw.

I walked into the kitchen and turned on the light. To my HORROR, I see a very prominent streak of blue ink dots running about 3 feet high up our bright yellow walls. Walls, that my wife worked very hard into painting. I felt like a kid who knew he had to tell his parents something very bad the next morning. I touched one of the spots with my finger, and it smudged making it worse. I was in a panic.

Enter the Magic Eraser. I remember Erika mentioning how great this thing is, although I never gave it a second though. Turns out the Magic Eraser was, Magic! It cleaned ink droplets off a yellow wall without any trace.

Bottom line you should always have a Magic Eraser handy. You never know when you will need to clean ink off a wall, or a cat.