Thursday, December 24, 2009
Roger's journal entry: Happy Holidays
Season's Greetings from Wisconsin
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to our friends and relatives! I haven't done much blogging lately, so I'll try to recap the year and bring you up to speed.
One of the highlights of the year was Skyler taking his first solo steps a few days before his first birthday in February. He has been practicing ever since, and just last week we had to start reminding him that we walk at the pool, not run.
He is fascinated by anything with wheels and spends the majority of his time pushing cars and trains - in all their forms - all over the house. He also loves water, whether it's in the bathtub, the pool, or the sink. Twice last week he stood at the sink and spent over half an hour filling and emptying cups from the slowly-running faucet.
His favorite words are "Mama", "more" and "no". He communicates more with sign language than verbally at this point and has a signing vocabulary of about twenty words. We posted a video of him showing off his signs.
Margaret started a new part-time job at Fort HealthCare as their first ever Sustainability Coordinator. She will help the hospital find ways to lessen its impact on the environment and ultimately engage in practices that are sustainable over the long haul. This is a position that she helped the hospital to create, then she found a grant that would pay for it, and finally she convinced them to hire her for the position! This is kind of a dream job for Margaret, and I am really proud of her.
Margaret's sister Michaela stayed with us for several weeks in April and joined me on the fire burning crew for Midwest Prairies. We had a lot of fun and she put together an awesome prairie burning video.
My brother John and his wife Trisha had a daughter named Rosalyn, and we are very happy for them. Shantae enjoys being an older sister.
Margaret's mother Pamela took the very rare step of moving from California to Wisconsin to join us in our home. She had lived in northern California her entire life and was ready to try a new adventure. She is quite the brave lady. Some of you know that Pamela also went back to school a few years ago to receive a degree in music. She hopes to teach or play music professionally here in Wisconsin, so you if you have any leads, let us know.
I spent the first half of the year like much of the last few years - happily working every day on Gallery Server Pro, my web gallery software application. This has been the most successful year yet - GSP is now the #1 .NET web gallery. In July I signed an agreement with Microsoft to distribute GSP through their website, which nearly doubled my traffic overnight!
My business model has been to give it away for free but strongly encourage donations. That is bringing in several hundred dollars per month, which is great but not quite enough to pay the bills. In the coming months I will be releasing my first commercial product - Gallery Server Pro for DotNetNuke. This will be a plug-in to the popular DotNetNuke CMS software.
Unfortunately, life has not been all beer and skittles. Since GSP was not paying the bills, in August I put on my consulting hat and started as a software consultant for CUNA Mutual Group in Madison. To avoid the daily one-hour commute, I rented an apartment one block from CUNA. I stay there during the week and Margaret and Skyler either join me on the weekends or I go back to Fort. It has been hard on us but should only last a few more months, after which the savings will be stocked and I can again get back to blissfully plugging away on GSP for at least another couple of years.
We wish everyone a happy holiday season and a safe and healthy 2010.
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Roger's journal entry: Don't wake me up until the dream is over
Ever been in the middle of a wonderful dream, only to have it interrupted by the alarm clock? From the I-didn't-know-that-has-been-invented department, today I learned about a device that will wait until you finish your virtual sex romp before sounding the alarm. How cool is that?!!?
One of the bloggers I regularly read just bought one and posted his review. This thing straps to your head while you are sleeping and it continuously monitors the quality of your sleep. It knows when you're awake, in a light sleep, deep sleep, or REM sleep (dreaming). And you can tell it not to wake you when your dreaming, up to a half hour delay (you can't be late for work, you know).
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Roger's journal entry: The scary truth about socialized health care
Did you hear the story about the Canadian who died waiting for surgery because of their socialized health care system? I must admit, there is something scary about the phrase socialism.
In contrast, our supply and demand-based system does a fantastic job at giving us products we want at prices we can afford. Sure, it's not perfect. We have to watch out for monopolies and make sure they aren't pumping toxic waste into our rivers. But despite its flaws, I am a big believer that capitalism tempered with reasonable regulation is a pretty magical system.
But I have been thinking lately how the health care system is not a very good candidate for capitalism. For starters, health care is a service everyone should have, not just those with money. With capitalism, if you can't afford a $50,000 Cadillac, then you don't get one. Bummer, but life goes on.
But there is something different about one of us needing a life-saving $50,000 surgery. It seems inhumane to let someone die because they can't afford it.
That is what health insurance is for, you say. Yes. But in a capitalist-based health care system, the first duty of insurance companies is to be profitable. If they are not profitable, they go out of business. So they try to be efficient like every other business. They do this primarily by not accepting customers that *could* be expensive, dropping ones that *are* expensive, and denying coverage for treatments when the law allows. I am sure you can think of at least one example of an insurance company making a decision that was good for its bottom line and bad for you.
The end result is that over 50% of bankruptcies in America are estimated to be caused by health costs draining a family's savings. You may have been saving for your retirement for decades, and it could be wiped out by one serious illness. This happens even to insured individuals thanks to maximum coverages and other loopholes.
In the last few months my two-year-old son has needed two minor surgeries. Even though we have health insurance, we still had to pay several thousand dollars. Luckily, we can afford these costs, but what about those living paycheck by paycheck? Or those who were laid off?
Our system may be broken, but do others work any better? I wanted to find out for myself, so I have spent a few hours researching how other nations do health care and how we compare. Here are a few things I learned.
- In 2000 the World Health Organization ranked the United States as 37th in health care quality. France and Italy - with their socialized health care - were the best. (source)
- More recently, the highly regarded Commonwealth Fund analyzed us against five other nations - Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. We came in last or next to last in most categories. (source)
- There are 37 other countries with life expectancies higher than us. Every rich nation in that list has socialized health care. (source)
- American spend 200% more on health care than the following countries: France, Germany, Canada, Australia, Netherlands, United Kingdom. And every one of them has a higher life expectancy. (source)
- When people are asked how satisfied they are with their health care, we rank near the bottom of other rich nations. One survey that asked 7,000 people in five nations (US, Canada, Australia, UK, and New Zealand) showed Americans as the least satisfied. America is the only country that does not offer government sponsored health care. (source)
- Among rich nations, we have the highest infant mortality, highest death rate of 1-4 year olds, highest premature death, and near the worst in healthy life expectancy at age 60. (source, source)
These are facts. It seems to me that if people with socialized health care are more satisfied, pay less, and live longer than us, then that is ultimately a better system.
Let me repeat that: People who have socialized health care are more satisfied, pay less, and live longer than Americans. That is not a democratic talking point. It is a fact.
We already have socialized fire departments. Socialized police departments. Socialized military. These are examples where it makes sense to have society pull together and work as a team to help each other out.
I think health care is another good fit where we all pitch in and collectively share the costs. Some will get less than they pay in; some will get more. But no one should have to die because they can't afford a $50,000 bill.
Socialized health care is not without its flaws, and we should be honest about where it can be improved. For every Canadian tale we can find an equally tragic American one. The proof comes when we aggregate the evidence and look at it in summarized form.
Let us look at those systems and pick out the best of what works, leave behind what doesn't, and work to make our health care system the best in the world. Thirty-seventh is not good enough.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Roger's journal entry: Watch a video tour of Gallery Server Pro
Most of you know that my career revolves around a piece of software I created called Gallery Server Pro, but you probably don't know that much about it. You may have even visited www.galleryserverpro.com but had a hard time understanding all the technical mumbo jumbo.
Well, today I posted a 10-minute video demonstrating the major features. I designed it to be a quick intro into what GSP has to offer and I thought I would share it with you. It is basically me talking into a microphone while I interact with a sample gallery.
I spent about a day and a half putting it together. It turns out that it is virtually impossible for me to speak eloquently for 10 minutes, but I suppose you knew that already. I must have started over a couple dozen times. By the end I had pretty much memorized the entire presentation, which isn't good but winging it was much worse.
Not only was it difficult to speak without stuttering and screwing up my sentences, it was a real struggle to figure out what to say. I know enough about marketing to know that I should have talked about how GSP solves a problem in your life, but I just couldn't come up with the words. My brain is constrained to be a straight-ahead, here-are-the-features kind of guy. But that is not so bad since most of my audience is the same way. I am still happy with the result.
Deal with Microsoft
I have been in talks with Microsoft about ways to drastically increase the distribution of GSP. We are nearing final agreement on a deal that would include GSP in something called the Microsoft Web Application Gallery. This is a way for people to easily and quickly install complicated pieces of software - such as GSP - on web servers. Microsoft has warned me to make sure my web site is robust and can handle a dramatic increase in traffic; I guess the web sites of other recent additions were brought down by the traffic. They advised me to have a backup strategy in case my web site fails under the crush of thousands of users. Seems to me that is a good problem to have...
Hope everyone's summer is going well. Cheers!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Roger's journal entry: GoJefferson to the rescue
I wanted to give a shout out to a local business that went above and beyond the call of duty to help me through a recent computer crises. I am talking about goJefferson.com, run by John Foust. He offers services that include fixing computers, removing viruses/spyware, setting up home and business networks, and even designing web sites.
A week ago I strolled into my home office after breakfast and pushed the power button on my PC. A couple seconds I heard a loud POW and the computer went dead. After a few minutes of troubleshooting I had a hunch - but wasn't sure - that my power supply had died. I called goJefferson and explained the situation to John. He had a special tool that could diagnose the power supply and he also had a replacement if needed, so he invited me to stop by.
I threw the PC in the back seat and drove to his store in downtown Jefferson. Within two minutes he had confirmed the power supply was dead. Within 5 minutes he had a new one installed and fired up my PC to prove it worked.
While I was there I asked him about installing another fan in the case, since I was noticing it was running pretty hot. He grabbed a box of fans and had one installed in another couple minutes.
The total bill? $0.00. He offered to loan me the power supply while I returned mine for a warranty replacement. And he wouldn't let me pay for his time, the "loan", or the fan. I was home and back to work by mid-morning.
Where else could I have gotten this kind of service? Geek Squad? Yeah, right.
I have known John for five years and he has repeatedly impressed me with his honesty, forthrightness, calm demeaner, and desire to please. His shop is anything but fancy - in fact, it looks like it has been in the middle of a construction project forever. But if I had wanted neon lights, plastered walls, and no cobwebs, I would have gone to Best Buy. I wanted my computer fixed, and he delivered.
If you are in the Fort Atkinson / Jefferson area, consider John Foust at goJefferson.com the next time you need some computer work. I wish there were more businesses like this one.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Margaret's journal entry: Quadruple Crowned
As some of you know, Skyler had four crowns put on his top front four
incisors on Friday morning under general anesthesia.
Background: Opinions differ but it seems that major contributing factors are
(a) he got my bad genes, (b) I infected him with the copious Streptococcus
Mutans in my mouth, (c) he was "still" nursing in the middle of
the night, (d) while brushing teeth had been ocurring for quite a few
months, we hadn't insisted on thorough brushings due to strong protests. The cariogenic
nature of breast milk is quite controversial. Some say it barely contributes to
cavities more than water while others say it is "worse than cow's
milk". I'm inclined to trust millennia of evolution and blame my modern
diet of brownies and ice cream. However, sufficient evidence to support such
blame remains to be uncovered. Nevertheless, we have since "night
weaned". By that I mean he nurses to sleep and I don't nurse
him again until the sun comes up (so he has a visual cue as to whether he needs
to go back to sleep without nursing or not). He's adjusted pretty well. But the
searching for answers continues to reveal reasons to continue night nursing, so
I'm not completely committed to sticking with it.
It all went fine.
I set the alarm for 2:45 am so I could offer a feed before 3:30, his cut off
for any clear fluids or breast milk. (It was nice to see that the medical folk
had a policy about breastfeeding for children up to 36 months, acknowledging
that (a) breast milk digests very fast and (b) breastfeeding isn't meant just
for infants. (Cow's milk certainly isn't meant for toddlers-- not that I don't
give it to mine.)) He nursed from only one side as I promptly fell back asleep.
But apparently that was sufficient because he didn’t seem particularly hungry
before the procedure. We left the house at 5:30 and stopped for gas and Dunkin
Donuts in Newville (we didn't let Skyler see us eat of course, that would have
been rude). He played with his clickety clackety John Deere tractor most of the
way to Madison.
Check in was pretty straight forward. They mentioned that they would be
putting a tube through his nose down into his throat/lungs? so that it wouldn't
be in the way of the dental work and I mentioned that he has had frequent nose
bleeds so they ended up putting the tube through his mouth. He had a very mild
rash on one cheek that I think was from the tape on the tube. We opted for some
mild oral sedation before the inhaled because: heck, why not? The
anesthesiologist suggested it in the context of "how is he being separated
from you?" (As if any toddler would be content being abandoned in a cold,
bright room full of strangers.) I said I had been told that we could stay with
him until he was knocked out by the gas and he said we could, but that some
parents find it a bit disturbing; going limp, eyes rolling back, etc. I thought
"not, me" that stuff is cool! But since Skyler still seemed a bit
anxious even after the administration of the Versed (didn't like the pulse
oximeter on his toe, nor thermometer or stethoscope earlier), and the
description on the waiver form that made the gas induction sound a little worse
than I had previously been told, prompted me to send Roger back with him
instead.
Roger and I got reacquainted with Sesame Street in the waiting room (Gordon
and Maria are STILL THERE and looking like they haven't aged a day!).
The procedure only took about 20 minutes. They drilled out the cavities and
glued on stainless steel crowns (painted white in front). They said they'd do a
"cleaning" and application of fluoride varnish too but I'm skeptical
how much the cleaning could have involved given the speed. X-rays were moot as
there were no pairs of molars to see between. The dentist said he didn't see
any other cavities and confirmed that all Skyler's "baby" teeth are
in except for the second set of molars. His canines are just nubbins. He said
he used the smallest crowns ever, size 1s on the outer 2 and size 2s on the
middle 2. They had to mush them up under his gums a bit because they aren't all
the way out.
They brought us back to the "step down" room as soon as he woke
up. He was crying and being held by a (presumably) nurse when we got there. She
handed him over and they got me a rocking chair and Skyler nursed right away.
They cut off his IV contraption and he nursed some more. We changed him out of
his hospital gown (space ship and alien themed) and changed his diaper too and
he proceeded to pee copiously on the floor. Nice. We gave him some pre-emptive
acetaminophen (new-to-us "meltaway" tablets- much easier than forcing
the drops in) His gums were a little purple and his lips looked fat but that
could have been partly due to the fluoride "varnish". They
"paint" it on and it is said to be sticky. He'll be getting that
every 90 days until he weans, per dentist's recommendation. We're glad he
doesn't have to do hold those trays of fluoride in his mouth like we had to
while fighting gag reflexes for minutes at a time.
We went for a stroll along the lake shore across from the hospital. Then on
to Dig & Save for some serious thrift shopping by-the-pound. Scored another
ride-on toy-- this one with a front loader (Californians: I think that's the
word for a tractor type thing with the ability to lift big stuff on the front
of the vehicle, this one having a wide bucket-like contraption that will work
well for moving sand when he gets a little more coordinated). Also an awesome
parking garage structure with a cool spiral ramp for cars and a service
station, also for toy cars. Among other things. (Anybody need a glue-on Mongolian
mustache?) Lunch at Taco Bell- he ate almost a whole order of beans. On the way
back through Newville Roger and I indulged in some Ice-cream from the Baskin
Robins that is paired up with that same Dunkin Donuts ("BR express" I
think it was called-- soft serve only-- tasty though.) Skyler took a 3 hour nap
when we got home and was back to normal ever since.
Skyler is not to use his front teeth much at all: no raw carrots or apples
until he gets his adult teeth. They must be cut up so he just chews them in the
back. The crowns could come off, in which case they'd just "pop" a
new one on in the office. It now looks like he's got white tic-tacs for teeth;
they are so bright. They are bigger than the teeth they are covering but they
still seem so small for needing to last him until 5 or 6. My mom said all my
teeth came in early though and Skyler has been on the same track.
We've ramped up the oral hygiene quite a bit. Xylitol is our new favorite
sweetener: kills those cursed Streptotoccus Mutans and tastes great! I'm
also learning about MI paste (active ingredient: Casein
phosphopeptide--amorphous calcium phosphate) to aid in remineralization. The
goal is: no more cavities before age 6. Roger thought we should try for no
cavities ever but after I gave him a reminder look at the disaster in my mouth
he agreed it was important to be realistic. I'm eyeing three children's books
about brushing and dentists on Amazon.
Wish us luck!
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Roger's journal entry: Another release of Gallery Server Pro out the door
Thought it was time to give everyone an update on what I do all day...
Yesterday I posted the latest version of my web gallery software Gallery Server Pro. This is software I wrote that lets you share your photos, video, audio, and other files on your own web site. It is kind of like Flickr and YouTube, except you run everything on your own web site instead of uploading to someone else's. It is aimed at businesses and organizations who need a web gallery.
Every time you visit our gallery at http://www.techinfosystems.com/marogeret/gallery.aspx, you are using GSP. They call this dog fooding when you actually use the same product you are promoting. Don't know why I said that - guess I am just showing off my techie lingo...
I have been working on this pretty much nonstop for the last five years, only taking occasional breaks to earn real money on contract programming assignments. GSP is free to everyone, but I gladly accept donations. Ever since I introduced a new feature last year that forces users back to my site after 30 days to get a product key (and view a request for a donation), donations have been averaging about $400 a month. It doesn't cover the bills, but it is immensely pleasing that there are so many who donate of their own free will. It is so much more satisfying than charging people.
Here is a link to a blogger named Dave Burk who uses GSP: http://dbvt.com/blog/post/DBVTCOM-Now-Serving-Up-Gallery-Server-Pro-v23.aspx He writes about the cool new features in 2.3.
I have a list of features a mile long I want to add, but our savings account is about to go red so I need to pick up another programming contract. If you need an experienced, highly professional .NET developer, let me know. You can find my resume on my Tech Info Systems web site (http://www.techinfosystems.com).
Cheers!
Roger
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Roger's journal entry: The coolest prairie burn video ever!
We just wrapped up another successful burn season. Margaret's sister Michaela flew out from CA to return to the burn crew (she also burned with us in 2007). We ran like a well oiled machine and had a great time. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we want Michaela back next year!
We took a video camera on one of the burns, and Michaela edited the footage together into two short videos:
Prairie Burning (Highlights) - This one is hilarious and over-the-top! The use of O Fortuna adds an epic quality that gets your heart racing by the end.
Prairie Burning - More serious and educational, this one chronicles a day in the life of a Prairie Burn Technician. My parents posted this one on www.midwestprairies.com and will use it in their burn class to demonstrate proper techniques.
Both require the Microsoft Silverlight plug-in, so you will see a link to install it if it is not on your system. If you don't want to install it or want to save a copy of the video, there is a direct link to the video file in the caption below each video.
A BIG, BIG thank you goes to Michaela for putting these together. She spent many hours on them and did a fantastic job. These are family treasures that will stick around (hopefully) for generations.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Roger's journal entry: One down, 17 to go
On Saturday we held a small birthday party for Skyler. As a five year-old guest said, "he's not zero any more!" Skyler was, of course, oblivious to the significance of the event and it took a while for him to warm up to his cake, but once my mom handed him a spoon he started diving in. Guess he wanted to be dignified. Check out the pictures and a video in the gallery.
It has been a year since Skyler turned our world upside down. When one of our friends heard we were pregnant, he said "let the great sleep deprivation experiment begin". I had heard sleep would be disrupted, but I had also heard that babies start sleeping through the night at around 6 months. Besides, Margaret was breast feeding so there really wasn't much for me to do at night. I wasn't too worried.
Well you know what they say about assuming. Skyler still wakes up a couple of times a night to feed, and thankfully Margaret takes care of it without waking me up. She says since she sleeps right next to him she doesn't mind. But what I wasn't prepared for is that he wakes up EVERY DAY between 4 and 6 am. He's ready to play and explore, but I am not. Lately Margaret has been taking first shift and hands him off to me around 5:30 or 6. I've learned to go to bed earlier so I can be ready.
Parenthood is tough. The first six months were the worst. I think the thing that makes having kids rewarding is watching them having fun or excelling at something, but you don't have any of that at first. Heck he didn't even smile until six weeks. He just laid there and was never content for more than 10 or 15 minutes, so the days were spent trying to find things to do that were interesting to a kid who couldn't sit up, pick up anything, or really interact with us in any significant way. It is not easy nor is it very interesting to an adult, at least not to me. I can't tell you how many times he would start fussing and the only thing that worked was walking around outside. Didn't matter if it was at night or if I was dressed. Don't know what the neighbors thought. Often he would be fine when I was standing and holding him, but as soon as I sat down he would fuss, so back up I went.
It has also been hard keeping him busy this winter. He hates mittens and doesn't walk yet, so that means we can't go outside unless it's at least 40. Which means we've been out, like once. Margaret tried to wrap him up a couple times and take him for a walk, but his hands got so cold he was miserable.
Just between you and me, we have done the thing we never thought we'd do - take him to the McDonalds play area. We have to drive to Whitewater for a toddler area, but at least they started serving decent lattes. About the only other place we have gone is the Janesville Mall where they have giant soft toys for the kids to climb on. And when he gets sick of that we can run the stroller around. But there are no fancy coffee drinks there and nothing particularly interesting to see or do. Well, not for me anyway.
But the winter of our discontent will soon be over. With much encouragement, Skyler took his first solo steps last Thursday, one day before his birthday. Woo HOO! And the weather should slowly be getting warmer-- never mind the four inches of snow they're predicting for tonight.
Frankly, I am amazed there aren't more one-child families out there. My hypothesis is that the rose-colored glasses through which we peer into the past causes us to enhance the good memories and minimize the bad ones, such that by the time the first kid is two or three or four we tend to think how it would be fun to have another one around. I have told Margaret if I ever start speaking wistfully of having another kid to please refer me to this blog post. Or knock me upside the head with a skillet...
Is this coming across as bitter? I hope not, because I do not regret creating Skyler. I look forward to watching him grow and learn and interact with the world. Watching him giggle at my silly faces is one of the most heart-melting experiences I have ever had. But I have to say in all honesty that spending 18 years with a 6-month old baby would be pure torture. Thank goddess he gets through that stage pretty quickly.
I am crossing my fingers that the next 17 years will be better. The second six months have already proven to be better than the first, and the last few weeks have been-- dare I say it?-- enjoyable.
What do you think? What age was the hardest for you?
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Roger's journal entry: Beginning A New Christmas Tradition
What does an atheist do on Christmas Day? I've been
wondering that myself for several years. For a while I thought it best
to let Christians celebrate Christmas while I celebrated the winter
solstice. Most of the activities are still the same, but I just called
it a different name. I still got together with family and friends, gave
gifts, decorated a tree, and ate too many desserts. I just skipped the
church part.
Why call it the solstice? For starters, that was the
original reason for the season before Christians adopted the date many
centuries ago. It is the time of the year when the cold icy grip of
darkness slowly slips away and the sun re-emerges as a life-giving
force to plants and animals as the spring and summer approaches. It is
an awesome thing to witness and definitely worthy of celebration.
It seemed a tad disrespectful for me use the term Christmas
in my own life since it means something very different to Christians. I
wished Merry Christmas to the religious people I knew, but if I didn't
know your religion I just said Happy Holidays. It made sense to let the
Christians have Christmas, and I would have the solstice.
But it has become clear that some of you don't like it that
way. I received e-mails from relatives announcing they were going to
wish me a Merry Christmas whether I liked it or not. And some religious
groups have gone so far as to boycott companies that say Happy Holidays
instead of Merry Christmas. I was made to feel like an outsider and
even un-American if I didn't jump on the Christmas bandwagon. An
atheist friend of mine even wished me a Merry Christmas a few days ago,
knowing full well that I am not religious.
So a few weeks ago I decided to go ahead and call my celebration Christmas, too. I still think it could be considered disrespectful to
Christians, but no one else seems to think that. What do you think?
Go ahead and wish me a Merry Christmas! And I wish the same to you!
Anyway, getting back to the original reason for this post: Since
we're not religious, and we take pride in our minimalist style of
consumption, Margaret thought we needed our own Christmas family
tradition we could be passionate about. She wanted to have something
positive and tangible for us to focus on as Skyler grows up. So she
signed us up for the Fort Atkinson Community Christmas Dinner, an event
that serves up a free feast to anyone, especially those who don't have
family or can't make their own meal. It is hosted by a different organization every year; this year it was hosted by St Joseph's Catholic Church.
My job was to deliver meals to several homes in the area. My partner
was Sue, and we had a pleasant conversation as we negotiated the snow
covered streets of Fort Atkinson.
Margaret and Skyler greeted visitors at the door. The Daily Union
snapped a photo of them that appeared on page 12 of Friday's paper.
It was kind of ironic to spend Christmas Day in church, but
everyone was friendly and the church is beautiful. We had a good time
and might do it again next year.
Speaking of Christmas traditions, I have a special treat: a video of Skyler opening presents. Well, it's a video of Mama and Daddy
opening presents and Skyler mostly watching. But cut the kid some slack
- he's only 10 months old. I'm sure next year he'll get the hang of it.
If you have trouble seeing the link to the video in the previous paragraph, here it is: http://www.techinfosystems.com/gallery/marogeret/default.aspx?moid=6932. I should also point out that the video uses the Silverlight plug-in. If you do not have it installed, you'll see an image that says Get Silverlight that will help you install it.