A quick blog...
They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and I tend to agree. That being said, I'm not a huge breakfast cereal fan...my idea of a good breakfast is some grits and eggs with bacon/sausage and some good coffee. A nice, big, warm meal to fire up the day. During the work week, however, cereal is usually the most time-efficient food to get going with the day.
So if I'm going to have cereal, I want something like Cinnamon Toast Crucnch, Froot Loops, or Cap'n Crunch...SUGAR. I also like things like raisin bran, Cheerios (Hone Nut) and Rice Chex sometimes, but I'm going to pass those over if one of my preferred little-kid-at-the-table cereals are available.
My wife goes for the really nasty stuff, like Grape Nuts (neither a grape nor a nut). I'll pass. Gimme the sugar.
8.16.2008
7.28.2008
Too many days separating me from football...
The title says it all...right now, one of the persistent thoughts in my mind is the upcoming football season. In particular, it's UGA football that is fighting obligations for brain time.
The other (obvious) persistent thought is updated over at Caleb's blog.
So there's all kind of speculation about where UGA will be ranked, or where UGA will end up at the end of the year. For once, it's nice to have Georgia be the topic of preseason discussions, and not just because the whole team is being arrested for one thing or another...although that's always a common reason at UGA for some reason.
So is it better to be ranked high and get a big ol' bull's eye on you? Or, is it preferable to be ranked low, and have to prove yourself against all the naysayers? Right now, it looks like only a handful of people are predicting UGA to go undefeated, and the schedule is perhaps a little bit too intimidating to expect all wins and no losses. Even worse, as we learned last year, some of those sleeper games at the beginning of the season can have the undesirable effect of putting a football team to sleep, or giving the team more confidence than they have earned by defeating much lesser opponents.
So we start with Georgia Southern...while they are usually a Division I-AA powerhouse, they are still Div I-AA, which means - theoretically - that they aren't as good as any of the other 120 football teams in Division I-A. That being said, we've certainly opened the season with weaker opponents in the past, so this is good enough (and certain to stir the conversation around whether or not UGA, as a big name team, will get shocked like Michigan did last year when Appalachian State ruined their picnic).
Then there's Central Michigan...again, not a huge threat, but they aren't pushovers either, and are probably going to be more of a surprise than GA Southern proves to be.
Follow those two with a weekend in Columbia, SC against the Gamecocks and the king croc-cock himself, Steve Spurrier. This game last year still stings, because it stands out in my mind as the one game of the two that we lost that we should have won (easily)...it's the game that I think took us out of the SEC championship and the National Championship games. Sure, we lost to Tennessee, but they're usually a tough opponent, and they played well to the end of the season. South Carolina proved to be quite beatable down the stretch, and UGA was but one of their very few conquests. So this year is about not making that mistake again, and NOT losing to Steve Spurrier's team. It's do-able...they're still dealing with a fairly young team.
Next is Arizona State, probably the first time in as long as I can remember that Georgia left the south to play football. ASU is no pushover...they gave USC a run for their money last year, and are usually in contention for the Pac 10 title. With the unique climate and big game atmosphere out west, makes a man wonder how his team will play out.
Alabama comes in after that for their 2nd loss to UGA in as many years. Really, I think Saban will have Alabama in good shape sooner rather than later, but this isn't the year. I like Bama...like 'em a WHOLE lot more than Auburn...but they're in a little over their heads trying to beat out this UGA team in Athens this year.
Tennessee...oh, how I hate thee, Tennesee. Rocky Top isn't a bad song, it's just that I lose my head after the 140th time they play it each game. It also doesn't help when they're beating you pretty soundly, which is the story of the last 2 years, and 3 of the last 4. They're gonna have a good team this year, and they usually do. But...and this is a big "but"...I doubt Georgia is going to forget how they fell asleep last year. My money says we'll see Georgia win this one pretty easily.
That's the first half of the season, and I can see UGA going undefeated all the way 'til Jacksonville for the Cocktail Party...but at that game, we'll probably be looking at #1 and #2 playing each other for the top spot, and it'll be tough to call until about halfway through the 3rd overtime period.
I might try posting a mid-season update once we get to October, but for now I'm going crazy counting down the next month full of days until kickoff.
GO DAWGS!
The other (obvious) persistent thought is updated over at Caleb's blog.
So there's all kind of speculation about where UGA will be ranked, or where UGA will end up at the end of the year. For once, it's nice to have Georgia be the topic of preseason discussions, and not just because the whole team is being arrested for one thing or another...although that's always a common reason at UGA for some reason.
So is it better to be ranked high and get a big ol' bull's eye on you? Or, is it preferable to be ranked low, and have to prove yourself against all the naysayers? Right now, it looks like only a handful of people are predicting UGA to go undefeated, and the schedule is perhaps a little bit too intimidating to expect all wins and no losses. Even worse, as we learned last year, some of those sleeper games at the beginning of the season can have the undesirable effect of putting a football team to sleep, or giving the team more confidence than they have earned by defeating much lesser opponents.
So we start with Georgia Southern...while they are usually a Division I-AA powerhouse, they are still Div I-AA, which means - theoretically - that they aren't as good as any of the other 120 football teams in Division I-A. That being said, we've certainly opened the season with weaker opponents in the past, so this is good enough (and certain to stir the conversation around whether or not UGA, as a big name team, will get shocked like Michigan did last year when Appalachian State ruined their picnic).
Then there's Central Michigan...again, not a huge threat, but they aren't pushovers either, and are probably going to be more of a surprise than GA Southern proves to be.
Follow those two with a weekend in Columbia, SC against the Gamecocks and the king croc-cock himself, Steve Spurrier. This game last year still stings, because it stands out in my mind as the one game of the two that we lost that we should have won (easily)...it's the game that I think took us out of the SEC championship and the National Championship games. Sure, we lost to Tennessee, but they're usually a tough opponent, and they played well to the end of the season. South Carolina proved to be quite beatable down the stretch, and UGA was but one of their very few conquests. So this year is about not making that mistake again, and NOT losing to Steve Spurrier's team. It's do-able...they're still dealing with a fairly young team.
Next is Arizona State, probably the first time in as long as I can remember that Georgia left the south to play football. ASU is no pushover...they gave USC a run for their money last year, and are usually in contention for the Pac 10 title. With the unique climate and big game atmosphere out west, makes a man wonder how his team will play out.
Alabama comes in after that for their 2nd loss to UGA in as many years. Really, I think Saban will have Alabama in good shape sooner rather than later, but this isn't the year. I like Bama...like 'em a WHOLE lot more than Auburn...but they're in a little over their heads trying to beat out this UGA team in Athens this year.
Tennessee...oh, how I hate thee, Tennesee. Rocky Top isn't a bad song, it's just that I lose my head after the 140th time they play it each game. It also doesn't help when they're beating you pretty soundly, which is the story of the last 2 years, and 3 of the last 4. They're gonna have a good team this year, and they usually do. But...and this is a big "but"...I doubt Georgia is going to forget how they fell asleep last year. My money says we'll see Georgia win this one pretty easily.
That's the first half of the season, and I can see UGA going undefeated all the way 'til Jacksonville for the Cocktail Party...but at that game, we'll probably be looking at #1 and #2 playing each other for the top spot, and it'll be tough to call until about halfway through the 3rd overtime period.
I might try posting a mid-season update once we get to October, but for now I'm going crazy counting down the next month full of days until kickoff.
GO DAWGS!
5.21.2008
My New Job
Today is an important day for me. It marks two things in my post-college life. First, it marks the day that I started my foray into the working world after graduation. I became part of the rat race 5 years ago on this date, and for a long time it seemed I'd never need to leave, never want to leave....never leave, period.
The second important thing about today's date is that it also marks my final day working in this office. I have 2 more days working full-time for the company (tomorrow and Friday) but they are on-location productions at the client's site, so I will not be involved in anymore office shenanigans here after this afternoon.
I put my resignation in nearly 3 weeks ago to give my employer a little extra time to replace me (small company, it's harder to replace folks in a small company when each person wears so many different hats). It was time for change (a change unlike my recent post on Caleb's blog...but change nonetheless). I've spent enough time here, I did what I came to do, and now I'm moving on.
Having Caleb come into my life was the primary reason for me to depart. Hilary decided that she would go back to work after her leave of absence, and so the question of child care arose. In the end, however, we decided that I would leave the company to pursue TradeWind Productions from home while I raised our son. Financially, it isn't too bad of a stretch since child care is so expensive. Likewise, I've had a healthy amount of growth in my business so I will hopefully be able to sustain our current standard of living or possibly even better.
Even better, I'll still be acting as a subcontractor for the forseeable future with my soon-to-be past employer, so I'll still be able to make some decent money there. I won't be the "Production Manager" anymore, but I will be taking on the title of "Mr. Mom" instead, which I think is a pretty fair trade.
So with child in arm and camera on tripod, I will be making my departure today with a small box of wall hangings and desk paraphrenalia. It's been real. It's been fun. Can't say it was real fun, but maybe this next jaunt around the race track of life will prove more valuable than anything else I've done to date.
Here we go...
The second important thing about today's date is that it also marks my final day working in this office. I have 2 more days working full-time for the company (tomorrow and Friday) but they are on-location productions at the client's site, so I will not be involved in anymore office shenanigans here after this afternoon.
I put my resignation in nearly 3 weeks ago to give my employer a little extra time to replace me (small company, it's harder to replace folks in a small company when each person wears so many different hats). It was time for change (a change unlike my recent post on Caleb's blog...but change nonetheless). I've spent enough time here, I did what I came to do, and now I'm moving on.
Having Caleb come into my life was the primary reason for me to depart. Hilary decided that she would go back to work after her leave of absence, and so the question of child care arose. In the end, however, we decided that I would leave the company to pursue TradeWind Productions from home while I raised our son. Financially, it isn't too bad of a stretch since child care is so expensive. Likewise, I've had a healthy amount of growth in my business so I will hopefully be able to sustain our current standard of living or possibly even better.
Even better, I'll still be acting as a subcontractor for the forseeable future with my soon-to-be past employer, so I'll still be able to make some decent money there. I won't be the "Production Manager" anymore, but I will be taking on the title of "Mr. Mom" instead, which I think is a pretty fair trade.
So with child in arm and camera on tripod, I will be making my departure today with a small box of wall hangings and desk paraphrenalia. It's been real. It's been fun. Can't say it was real fun, but maybe this next jaunt around the race track of life will prove more valuable than anything else I've done to date.
Here we go...
5.05.2008
Walk Through the Fire
For those of you keeping score at home, it has been a little over a month now since I last posted on any blogs (including Caleb's blog). This has not been for lack of any interesting things to talk about, as I'll detail below.
Since this post is relevant for me personally and also about Caleb, I'm double posting it on both blog sites.
As of the date of my last post, my life changed a little bit. Not quite as drastic as the actual birth of my son, but mind-altering nonetheless. That evening of April 1st, Caleb's situation with the constant vomiting finally came to a head (see previous posts for more details). Around 11pm, we contacted the on-call nurse at our pediatrician and asked what could possibly be wrong with our little guy. All of a sudden, we get a diagnosis for something called "pyloric stenosis" which we had never ever heard of in our entire lives. Essentially, it's a condition where the muscle (pylorus) that allows food to flow from the stomach into the intestines becomes overgrown or swollen to the point that nothing - no food, no liquid - can pass through the system. This apparently started off relatively unnoticed when Caleb was born and became more pronounced in the ensuing weeks to the point that he was getting no hydration and no nourishment.
We don't know how much longer he would have actually survived with this condition. Suffice it to say that we left for the emergency room at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta within the hour to begin a crazy 5-day trip at the hospital that included multiple rooms for multiple days, a trip to the ICU and a simple surgery with scary unexpected complications - in fact, the complications were probably more disconcerting than the whole situation at the time, since we were expecting a straightforward procedure.
So when you come through the other side of this thing like we did, you can look back and feel quite blessed that you're all here to tell the story. At the same time, you can look at it all and say, "wow, THAT was close." It's scary to think what could have happened if the condition wasn't finally diagnosed correctly.
I thank God that all we're left with is a little surgical scar and some bad memories. And the results of the surgery are that we have a baby now that eats and eats and is growing bigger (not smaller) with each passing day. He's happy most of the time and just seems to enjoy life all the more because we're all here together.
There's a song that says "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone." I would agree, but I'd add that sometimes you know exactly what you have once you just come close to losing it. Going through the fire and being able to hold on is an amazing blessing.
Since this post is relevant for me personally and also about Caleb, I'm double posting it on both blog sites.
As of the date of my last post, my life changed a little bit. Not quite as drastic as the actual birth of my son, but mind-altering nonetheless. That evening of April 1st, Caleb's situation with the constant vomiting finally came to a head (see previous posts for more details). Around 11pm, we contacted the on-call nurse at our pediatrician and asked what could possibly be wrong with our little guy. All of a sudden, we get a diagnosis for something called "pyloric stenosis" which we had never ever heard of in our entire lives. Essentially, it's a condition where the muscle (pylorus) that allows food to flow from the stomach into the intestines becomes overgrown or swollen to the point that nothing - no food, no liquid - can pass through the system. This apparently started off relatively unnoticed when Caleb was born and became more pronounced in the ensuing weeks to the point that he was getting no hydration and no nourishment.
We don't know how much longer he would have actually survived with this condition. Suffice it to say that we left for the emergency room at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta within the hour to begin a crazy 5-day trip at the hospital that included multiple rooms for multiple days, a trip to the ICU and a simple surgery with scary unexpected complications - in fact, the complications were probably more disconcerting than the whole situation at the time, since we were expecting a straightforward procedure.
So when you come through the other side of this thing like we did, you can look back and feel quite blessed that you're all here to tell the story. At the same time, you can look at it all and say, "wow, THAT was close." It's scary to think what could have happened if the condition wasn't finally diagnosed correctly.
I thank God that all we're left with is a little surgical scar and some bad memories. And the results of the surgery are that we have a baby now that eats and eats and is growing bigger (not smaller) with each passing day. He's happy most of the time and just seems to enjoy life all the more because we're all here together.
There's a song that says "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone." I would agree, but I'd add that sometimes you know exactly what you have once you just come close to losing it. Going through the fire and being able to hold on is an amazing blessing.
4.01.2008
Help me pick a new phone! Hooray!
WARNING - NOT A SUPER-EXCITING BLOG TODAY!!
I am looking to get a new mobile phone...here's the deal:
I'm currently on AT&T mobile and have no reason to leave, but since it's a business expense I don't really care what network it's on.
You can just e-mail me or post in the comments if you have anything to offer on the matter.
As a sidebar....I've looked at the Palm Centro (?) devices recently because I could dump all my current information from my Palm Z22 without having to deal with a bunch of conversion. However, it's a fairly brand-new device and I don't know what all it can/can't do. If you think this thing is the bee's knees, let me know (or if you think it really sucks, let me know that, too).
I am looking to get a new mobile phone...here's the deal:
- It's for business use
- It needs to combine the 2 devices I currently carry around - a Palm Z22 (organizer) and a Nokia 6102i (phone) - so that I don't have to carry around 2 devices anymore
- It has to hold a battery charge pretty good...I don't want to have to recharge the thing every 12 hours
I'm currently on AT&T mobile and have no reason to leave, but since it's a business expense I don't really care what network it's on.
You can just e-mail me or post in the comments if you have anything to offer on the matter.
As a sidebar....I've looked at the Palm Centro (?) devices recently because I could dump all my current information from my Palm Z22 without having to deal with a bunch of conversion. However, it's a fairly brand-new device and I don't know what all it can/can't do. If you think this thing is the bee's knees, let me know (or if you think it really sucks, let me know that, too).
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