Anyone Have a Spare Ark?

You ever get to the point where you have so many emails in your inbox that you just delete them all and resolve to do better? Is that called email critical mass? Well, as you all know, I have a bad case of blog critical mass. It’s just too much to try to really go back and catch up on. So you all get the following update on the past 2 months of our lives:

Austin turned 4 – Happy Birthday!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Luke turned 2 – Happy Birthday!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Happy Birthday Myr!

Happy Birthday to Me!

See, you didn’t miss much. And now we’re back to today, or rather last night, which prompted the post today. Seriously, does anyone out there have an extra Ark your not using? We could use one in our house.

By my calculations we pumped out 1,260 gallons of water from our basement last night between the hours of 5 PM and 3 AM. And, as you all know, when I say “we” I really mean Angie. She’s amazing. I had a late night at work last night and didn’t get home until 10 PM. By then she had been sucking up water for 5 hours while watching the boys and cooking dinner for them, only taking a break to call a friend to see if we could borrow their shop-vac to use in conjuction with ours. Again, have I told you she’s amazing?

We had our 14 gallon shop-vac and our friends 20 gallon shop-vac running constantly from 7 PM to about 1:30 AM. That’s when it stopped raining (FINALLY) and we were able to keep up with just the one shop-vac running. From 5 PM to 1:30 AM each shop-vac took 5 minutes to fill up and it took us about 1 minute to empty it outside down our driveway. Thus, we were making 10 trips an hour with both shop-vacs and still just maintaining with the incoming water. We knew immediately when it stopped raining because we didn’t get wet when we went outside (ha ha – that was a joke if you didn’t catch it). But honestly, we could tell when it stopped raining because we finally started making progress on the water. Over the next hour and a half the seepage slowed dramatically, until finally the last bucket took 25 minutes to fill and after another 20 minutes there was no visible puddle of water under our stairs. So at 3 AM we finally called it quits and went to bed.

Cross your fingers, knock on wood, say Hail Mary’s, whatever it is you do, we need no rain for a while. We have 2 spots along the edge where the basement floor meets the wall in the unfinished portion of our basement that allow seepage to come up. The one in the back of the house isn’t too bad, a slow trickle that if left unchecked will produce a decent sized puddle overnight. The one in the front of the house, just under our stairs at the front door, is like a lake. When we’d shut off the shop-vacs to empty them, you could sit there and literally watch the water level rise in seconds. It seeps in along an 8 foot section of wall right in that area. There’s not just one noticeable spot that clearly lets the water in, it just kind of oozes inside all along that section.

So there you have it. By the way, the boys were awake that entire time. With two shop-vacs running there was no way they were going to sleep. They were wide awake eating ice cream at 2 AM watching Kung Fu Panda and loving it. Of course they had to sit in the bean bag directly in front of the TV with the volume cranked way up to even hear the movie.

Now, about that Ark. Anyone?

Health and Wellness…and Emergency Response Fair?

Today my company hosted a Health and Wellness Fair. They brought in a dozen or so vendors relating to, what else, health and wellness, all offering free testing, special offers, etc. One of the offers was for free flu shots. I thought, heck, why not go get a free shot. I’m fairly certain I’ve never had a flu shot before and the price is never going to be better, right? So I went over with a co-worker and we both got shots. Since this was my first shot I was asked to remain in the area for at least 10 minutes and check back in with the nurse before leaving. No problem.

Shots don’t bother me, and the same held true for this occasion as well. I got my shot, and since I had to hang around for a while I talked to some of the vendors. I got a complimentary toothbrush, dental floss, 5 minute massage, even a bone density scan (ha ha for those of you who know what my current favorite commercial is right now – my bone density is fine by the way). I checked back in with the nurse, she signed me out, and I was good to go.

I made the short walk back to my building and was joined in the elevator by 2 other co-workers and a couple of other gentlemen. One co-worker was directly in front of me, the other on the other side of the elevator with the other guys between. We made a couple of stops and all that remained were myself, 2 co-workers, and another gentleman, each in our respective corners of the elevator. All of a sudden my co-worker who was directly in front of me face planted against the front of the elevator. No one did anything. Perhaps he just lost his balance right? No need to embarrass the guy, just let him collect himself and be on with it. He remained upright, adjusted his glasses, but I noticed he had a death grip on the hand-rail. All of a sudden, he face plants again. At that point I step up behind him and ask if he’s alright. He mumbles something about getting a flu shot and collapses against me. For a brief moment I was supporting most of his weight, and then my other co-worker jumps in and takes one side of the now passed out guy. Meanwhile the elevator stops on the 17th floor and opens up. The 4th guy props the door open while we attempt to carry him out of the elevator. We don’t make it far at first, we seem to be stuck on something. I realize at that point that he still has a death grip on the hand rail. So while the two of us are supporting him I simultaneously am attempting to pry his hand off of the hand rail. Finally his hand is free and we drag him out of the elevator and sit him down on the floor against the far wall. He’s still completely out at this point. We ask some passersby to call 911 at which point the guy wakes up. He’s really out of it, but says he’ll be alright, just needs to remain sitting for a while. No one had left to call 911 yet, so we changed it to have someone call security. No one knows how to do that so the 4th guy goes back down to the lobby to get building security. Meanwhile someone has brought water which really helped bring the guy around. He was really pale and sweating heavily, but was a lot more alert. He maintained that he would be alright, but we all continued to stay there while he rested and sipped on water. Security showed up and cancelled any and all calls for 911 after verifying everyone was alright. A few minutes later I accompanied the guy back to his cubicle on the 18th floor and made sure his cube-mates knew what happened so they could keep an eye on him. We encouraged him to go home if he continued feeling ill effects. Nothing’s so important here that can’t wait for his return tomorrow. He said that he’s passed out a couple of times from shots before and that he’ll be fine with some rest. He said he felt fine after he got the shot and as he walked back to our building, but the elevator motion just got to him.

So there you have it. That’s what my last couple of hours has been like. My arm is a little tender. Go figure.

Welcome Eva

We have a new niece! YEAH!!!!!

Her name is Eva Elizabeth Dobesh.

Birth Date: November 13, 2008 at 8:08 AM
Weight: 6 lbs.
Length: 19 inches

Eva comes to us via Angie's sister Lisa and proud papa Jeff.

Superheroes!

We have some more pics on the camera of Halloween, but we’ve not downloaded those ones yet. So you’re stuck with this one, taken at the Trunk-or-Treat. Austin wanted to be Batman which worked out nicely because we already had the costume. Angie put together a Robin costume for Luke. There were some more details on the front of his shirt, but by this time they’d all fallen off. Still, didn’t she do a fantastic job? The part of Spiderman was played by our neighbor Peter.

Confession

It’s confession time. I suppose I’m prepared to lose friends over this issue, however, I really hope it doesn’t come to that. Many of you may in fact be offended by what I’m about to say because, quite frankly, this post is a result of my visiting your blogs.

So, here goes….I HATE PLAYLISTS ON BLOGS!!!! There I said it. It’s out. I just can’t hide it anymore.

I have never identified a single good reason for having a playlist on a blog. If I wanted to listen to music, I’d go listen to the radio or go to a website that allows me to tune in to my favorite station. But that’s not why I’m visiting your blog. I’m visiting your blog because I want to READ about you and/or your family. I want to know what you’ve been up to lately. I want to follow up on how your latest weekend trip went. I want to know how your kids are doing. But I absolutely do not want to hear a random sampling of your favorite songs. I just don’t.

Many of the blogs I follow do in fact have playlists, and the first thing I do is turn it off. And as if having the playlist in the first place isn’t irksome enough, most of the time I have to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page to find it, then I have to scroll all the way back to the top to read the latest post. GRRRRR!!!! But the absolute worst offense? Putting up a video on your blog for everyone to watch, and then reminding them to first turn off your playlist. DOUBLE GRRRRR!!!! It’s like you’re admitting that you know it’s an annoyance and yet it’s still there.

Am I alone in this fight? Please tell me someone out there is with me on this?

That’s all. I relinquish my soapbox for the day. Have a great weekend everyone.

Gladys Knight

According to Wikipedia, purveyor of all truth and knowledge on the Internet (right?), “Gladys Knight joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1997. She had occasionally teased LDS Church President, the late Gordon B. Hinckley, that his flock needs to inject some "pep" into their music. Knight created and now directs the Mormon-themed choir Saints Unified Voices (http://www.suvchoir.org/). SUV has released a Grammy Award-winning CD titled One Voice, and occasionally performs at Mormon church firesides.”

One such fireside was held in Seattle this past weekend, and Angie and I were able to attend. If I had to sum it all up in one word, I would say “WOW”. If I had to sum it up in a few paragraphs, well, that’s what you’re going to get now.

This was definitely not your typical, run-of-the-mill, LDS fireside. In fact, it was quite uncomfortable at first. After all, have you ever been in the chapel clapping and cheering during I Am a Child of God, Because I Have Been Given Much, and throughout someone’s personal testimony? Have you ever been in a chapel fully decked out with rock band regalia, including keyboards, electric guitars, and speakers bigger than you are? It took some getting used to. I believe I adjusted a little quicker than Angie did. To me it simply felt like I was back in Oklahoma at a typical Baptist service.

As the choir first entered, the music was blaring, everyone was on their feet and many were clapping to the beat. After everyone was settled, the meeting was opened by a local leader who advised, “I felt as if some of the clapping was a bit timid for the occasion. Don’t worry, we’ve checked with Salt lake and they’ve confirmed that this building is structurally sound enough to withstand whatever level of clapping you can attain this evening. So relax, have a good time, and let the choir and Sis. Knight know you appreciate their talents they’ve decided to share with us tonight.”

After that, everyone loosened up. Despite the uneasy feeling at first, the performance of Sis. Knight and the choir was simply amazing, such that one could hardly keep from clapping in beat and applauding at the conclusion of each song. And yet at the same time one would’ve been hard pressed to not feel the spirit that attended throughout the entire performance. The songs were simply amazing. The choir and its members were phenomenal. Throughout the evening there were several soloists who performed, all of which were incredible. There were songs performed in Spanish and Hawaiian (is that the name of the native tongue???) which were beautiful. I just don’t know that there’s anything I can say that will let you fully appreciate how great this event was. As an official fireside there was no charge for attending, however, tickets had to be obtained as there was limited seating available. I don’t think I’ve seen a stake center that full of people before. In short, if any of you hear about this fireside coming to your stake, do yourself a favor and plan on attending. Not in any way to discount the wonderful performances, the highlight of the night by far was hearing Sis. Knight’s personal testimony and conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Here’s a little tidbit of info for any of you mission friends who may be reading this. In the pamphlet of information that was distributed to the wards in promotion of this event, one stake president said, “You can’t emphasize enough what a powerful missionary tool this event is. Until you are there and hear the testimonies of Sis. Knight and her husband, you cannot appreciate the opportunity you are about to be given.” That stake president was none other than Gordon Bean, Stake President of the Oklahoma City South Stake. I couldn’t believe it when I read it. I mean, I can believe it, Bishop Bean was always amazing, and his family is incredible, I was just really surprised to see his name listed there and to know that he’s now the stake president. Anyone who served in the Moore Ward, coming up on about 10 years ago now (yikes I’m old), will know what I’m talking about. The Beans fed the missionaries every week, Tuesday’s if I’m not mistaken. And I don’t just mean that they fed 2 missionaries, they fed all the missionaries in the ward, which, when I was there, numbered no less than 6 at any given time, and was sometimes upwards of 8. My first mission Christmas was spent at the Bean’s home. Every missionary loved the Bean’s and they took care of every missionary. They were every missionaries mission family away from home. I am very happy to see them ever progressing in the Gospel.

House Pictures

On more than one occasion my life has been threatened due to a lack of pictures of the inside of our house, that we’ve been working on since we moved in. Thus, motivated by nothing more than a desire to save my own life, here are the most recent pics we have:

Dining Room During: Notice the custom 1970’s light fixture. This thing actually pulls down from the ceiling to whatever height you’d prefer at any given time, then releases back into the ceiling when done. You’ll notice too that the wainscoting is not finished in the far right and left corners of the room.

Dining Room After: New ceiling fan, wainscoting finished, trimwork completed, and a few decorative touches finally hung.



Living Room After: New paint, new baseboards, old window (that has been replaced now), insert taken out of fireplace, new area rug, again with the decorative touches hung on the wall.


Office After: New paint, new baseboards, old window (which you can’t see and which has been replaced now anyway), new blinds. The desk is around the corner to the left.
















Boy’s Room After: New paint, new chair rail around the room, new baseboards, old window (which you can’t see and which has been replaced now anyway), new blinds, new curtains, new rug, and new big boy bed for Luke (we finally had room to pick up the matching twin bed from my parent’s house).










Master Bedroom After: New paint, new baseboards, old window (which you can’t see and which has been replaced now anyway), new blinds (also can’t see), new curtains (again, can’t see), new rugs. This picture is taken from the doorway of our ½ bathroom (sorry, no pics of that either).









Main Bathroom After: New paint, new shower rod, new shower curtain, new floor, new toilet (seat that is), new vanity (barely seen), and new mirror (not seen).

As yet unseen: The entire downstairs wherein is contained a family room/play room/ TV viewing area, 2 unfinished bedrooms, 1 unfinished bathroom, and 1 unfinished laundry room.


So there you have it. That’s our house. Having just had all the windows replaced on Sep. 22nd, I’m sure there will be some “new window” pictures coming sometime down the road.