Andrew, Brenda and Katie

Katie's Second Birthday

2011-10-10T00:21:00.003-04:00

Wow, just realized it's been over a year and a half since I posted on Andrewandbrenda.com. I was never really good about keeping this thing updated, but geesh. At any rate, I'm trying to get back on track, especially for those of you that don't use Facebook. Still you should be reading The Daily Katie.

So this past Friday was our little Katie's second birthday! Hard to believe we've had her in our lives two whole years already. It's gone by pretty fast. I just looked through photos from her first birthday and was surprised at how little she looked. At any rate, here's a quick birthday recap.

Her birthday was on Friday, and since I was working, we figured we'd just go do something on the weekend. Turns out, I'd hit my 40 hours at Turner and got to come home early. Pretty rare for Daddy to be home by 6pm, let alone at 2:00 in the afternoon. So we opened some presents that arrived from all the grandparents and played with some stuff. At bedtime we also had new Curious George books to read.

Saturday was a typical "Daddy Day", where I watch Katie while Brenda works. We really just messed around the house. Daddy made chili, which Miss Katie promptly turned her nose up at.

And today we made our first trip to Chuck E. Cheese, which is in Alpharetta right next to Brenda's Jo-Ann store. I can still remember going to Showbiz Pizza in Parkersburg when I was a kid, so I was wondering how similar it would be. Showbiz had a huge dining room where you'd eat and have birthday parties. And at one end was a giant stage where, behind curtains, were several animatronic animals who played in a band. Every half-hour the curtains would open and they'd do some cheesy skit and then sing some songs. I remember they used to do a version of "Bang on the Drum All Day" and "She Blinded Me With Science". Don't ask how I remember that. Then the other half of the place was arcade games stuff like Skee-Ball and ball pits.

Chuck E. Cheese was a lot smaller than I remember Showbiz being. Maybe I was just smaller back then. Now, the show area, dining area and arcade are all one giant room. That means it's SUPER loud. Just as we got there, another group was having a birthday party, so Katie got some overspray of their "Happy Birthday" performance from Chuck E. (aka, minimum-wage worker in a hot, smelly suit). Katie ate a surprising amount of pizza while watching the little skits and then an animatronic Chuck E started singing songs like "You Make My Dreams" by Hall and Oates, and yes even "Bang on the Drum All Day".

We'd gotten 30 tokens with our meal, so we went and explored the game area. Katie's still too young for most of it, but they had a toddler area and she got to ride a few things. All in all, I think she enjoyed herself. No meltdowns, even when Chuck E came by to wave at her. We grabbed an 8" vanilla cake and headed home so Katie could take a nap (which she didn't actually do).

Last year, we got Katie a big cupcake for her birthday. She wasn't impressed and only sampled some icing. This year, however, she happily ate a whole piece and then licked her plate. She'd never had anything like that before. And the rest of the night, all we heard was "Cake, cake, cake…"

All in all, a pretty good birthday weekend, I think. I got a few photos and videos uploaded, but I can't wait to get my new iPhone next week. I'll finally have a better camera and be able to take HD video. I've really regretted not getting more video of Katie, but the quality this old iPhone 3Gs is capable of is pretty low. Can't wait to start building a better Katie film archive.

Click to see all the photos and videos.

National Lampoon's Ohio Christmas Vacation

2010-01-03T13:56:00.000-05:00

I've been putting off a bunch of blogging for some time, so I might as well get back in the swing with a Christmas wrap-up post.

We got up at about 4am on Wednesday, December 23rd for our holiday odyssey to Ohio. The plan was to get on the road by 5am and we walked out the door at 4:59. That was to be our only lucky break that day.

So far, Katie had generally proven to be a good passenger, and I'd hoped she wouldn't totally freak out on a long trip. So when I had to quickly pull off to the side of the interstate after she'd thrown up almost a whole bottle, I was starting to have my doubts. As gross and, unfortunate for Brenda (in the backseat), as it was, it was the only real gastrointestinal event of the trip. Other than normal spit-up, Katie didn't get sick again.

Onward.

Around 9:00 or so, we made our first pit stop at a travel center with a McDonald's. Not exactly the best first dining experience for Katie, but she did very well. Walking out, Brenda said, "Your tire is flat!" Sure enough, my rear driver's side tire was almost completely flat. This was the same tire that CarMax had repaired a few weeks before. Seemed totally fine up until then. 'Course, I hadn't put that many miles on it since the fix. I aired it back up and hoped it would hold out.

Onward.

Around noon, we stopped for gas again and the tire was really low again. I simply couldn't risk it all the way to Ohio; we were only in Elkin, North Carolina. So I asked the lady at the gas station where I could get a tire fixed, and she pointed me to a shop off the next exit.

Got to that shop, and they didn't have my type of tire (don't ask me what that is, I still don't know). So he gave me instructions to another tire shop off the next exit. Sounded confusing, so I got out the GPS and typed in 'Wal-Mart'. There was one off the next exit as well.

Got to where the GPS led us, and indeed there was a building that once was a Wal-Mart, but was totally abandoned. Luckily just up the road was the tire shop the last guy told us about. At first, they said it would be an hour to replace the tire, but apparently I looked desperate and frazzled enough they took pity on me. In about a half hour, they'd jacked up the car (with us in it) and replaced the tire. So, $106 later, we were on the road again.

Onward.

A little over an hour later, Brenda and I had switched places and we were in the mountains of Virginia. Soon we were in the middle of a long traffic jam that backed up for miles. At first we thought it was just an accident; there were three of them as we inched along. But actually, there is a place on I77 where it splits between I77 and 64, with the former going down to only one lane. And of course everyone wanted to go the way we were. It took over an hour to go 12 miles.

Amazingly, almost the entire time, Katie was awake and didn't fuss too much. I had to work pretty hard to keep her amused, but she did really well.

And with traffic behind us....onward.

The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful, just long. There was still some snow on the ground for most of the trip, but nothing major. A pit stop and Starbucks really helped. And then...we were in Ohio!

First stop was my sister, Amy's. She was chomping at the bit to see Katie for the first time, and I believe I would've been murdered if we'd have passed her house and not stopped. Katie was no doubt happy to get out of that car seat for a while, but we couldn't stay too long. Had to move on to the McCutcheon's.

Our time in Ohio went as usual, half with Brenda's family and half with mine. Very early on we told everyone we wouldn't be doing presents for anyone but Katie, and asked that any presents only be bought for her. Not surprisingly, Brenda and I still got some stuff, but for the most part it was all Katie. She got all kinds of good stuff including dolls, teddy bears, clothes, books and about $200.

Katie started the visit pretty strong, but once we got to Mom's in Newark, I think her schedule was really getting too far out of whack. Lots of new people, plus constant trips in the car, plus sporadic bedtimes really got things messed up. For about three nights it took forever for her to go to bed, something that was never a problem before. We're just now getting her back in the swing of things.

As for Katie's reception, of course everyone thought she was the cutest thing ever. And of course, we cannot dispute that. There were days when I barely had a chance to hold her myself. It was good for a break once in a while, but sometimes you just need to hold your baby.

I wish the visit could have been all good, but on Christmas Eve, my grandma Cooper developed pneumonia and ended up in intensive care. She was already in a rehab facility nursing a cracked pelvis from an earlier fall a couple weeks prior. We were in hopes she'd get out of rehab by the time we had our Christmas on Sunday, but then this latest development happened. Unfortunately, it also meant that she would not get to see Katie at all during our visit. Nobody under 18 was allowed in ICU, and I don't think I would've risked taking Katie to a hospital in flu season anyway.

This was definitely a low point of our trip, as I think grandma wanted to see Katie more than anyone. She's out of ICU and in her own private room as I write this, but it still remains to be seen what will happen. Mom doesn't sound optimistic, and I'm afraid Katie may never meet her great-grandmother. I can only keep some optimism that she'll battle through this as she's done with everything else that's come along. I was very happy, though, that grandpa Cooper and grandma McCutcheon got to spend some time with Katie.

All in all, though, we had a good visit, but it was time to hit the road the following Wednesday. We got on the road much later than the week before, around 9am. This was mostly due to the amount of time it took to pack the car. On the way up, my little Vibe was packed pretty full. Once we'd gotten gifts at Brenda's folks, I realized we'd never get it all home without some help. So I picked up a rain-proof car top carrier at Wal-Mart (no choice in Marietta). It worked out really well and was totally worth the forty bucks. (I'm trying to get Brenda talking about minivans, but it's a hard sell).

Once we'd gotten everything at mom's though, I had to get a lot more strategic in my packing. Finally got everything jammed in there, it just took forever to do.

The trip home was fairly uneventful, but super long. The trip home is always longer, as we leave from Newark instead of Marietta. We got hung up by a ridiculously long line at a Burger King, and rush hour traffic around Lake Norman, NC. Once it got dark, it also started raining, so the whole thing seemed to take a ludicrously long time. All told, both the trip up and trip back clocked in at about 14 hours.

Did I mention Katie did really well in the car? Well, almost the whole time. About two thirds of the way home, she finally decided she'd had enough with this driving crap. She fussed and cried pretty much the rest of the way home. Can't blame her really. I'm sure it seemed to her like every time she opened her eyes she was either in a new place with new people or still stuck in that stupid car.

It was almost 11pm when we pulled in the driveway, and it was cold and sleeting. There were places we could see a dusting of snow. I really wanted to just get inside and collapse, but I had to unload the car and the carrier. In the freezing rain. Fun.

Long story short (too late), we had a good visit and I'm glad everyone got to see Katie. But I think we'd both decided before we even left Ohio that we simply can't do this very often. Not while Katie is so young. Frankly, I think we probably had a screw loose even trying to do a 1200-mile, 7-day trip with a 2-month-old baby. But again, several family members would've had a posse looking for us.

While there's a whole year ahead of us, at least for right now, I think we're staying home next Christmas. Katie will be 14 months and we really want to have some family Christmases with just the three of us. We want to have memories of Katie running down our stairs on Christmas morning.

Plus, there's the expense. There's gas, food, and all the incidentals like new tires and car carriers that always come up. Plus, we have two cats and a dog to board. Those critters just cost us just shy of $900!! We'll be months paying that off. Right now, with Katie's expenses and Brenda only working part-time, we just can't afford that kind of thing anymore.

Again, things may change over the course of a year. I'm hoping to make some changes that will lead to more income soon, but for now, everyone should start planning for plane tickets next December.

So that's the big Christmas update. Special thanks to everyone that got something for Katie, it really helps a ton.

Also check out all the latest photos here, and videos here.

Katie's First Giggle

2009-12-19T09:56:00.000-05:00

I was taking some photos of Katie today, trying to get her to smile with one of her little toys. All of a sudden, she started giggling! This may not sound extraordinary, but this is her first giggle ever! Once I realized what was going on, I put the camera down, leapt for my iPhone and was able to get about a minutes worth of heart-melting goodness!

Baby Recap, Part Two

2009-10-08T09:06:00.000-04:00

I'm kind of in a hurry to get back to the hospital, so this will be the short, short version. I got up Wednesday morning at 3:30am and got Brenda up at 4:00. When we headed out the door, an unbelievable thunderstorm was going on dumping sheets of rain. Had to go about 40mph the entire way to the hospital. Luckily there isn't much traffic at 4:30, even in Atlanta.

We checked in shortly after 5:00 and didn't have to wait too long to get into our room. Their birthing rooms are super nice. Big, with hardwood floors and actual furniture. They really go out of their way to make it a comfortable place. They promptly got Brenda hooked up to the monitors and they started the IV with Pitocin about 7:30. Small contractions seemed to start right away.

Nothing much exciting for the next four hours. We were both exhausted so we were taking naps between nurse visits. Reruns of Mythbusters episodes where on in the background all day.

About 11:30 our doctor came in and broke Brenda's water. Shortly after, Brenda had reached as much pain as she was going to tolerate and they put the epidural in. Not long after, she was about 2cm dilated. Seemed like we still had a long ways to go, but only 2-3 hours later, the surprised nurse told us we were ready to go and she was calling our doctor.

Hard labor started around 5:30pm, about twelve-and-a-half hours after we checked in. I can't tell you how incredibly well I thought Brenda did through the whole process. Yes, she had the epidural, but the entire day was pretty taxing. I'm very proud of her.

Kathedra ("Katie") Eileen Jones was born at 6:42pm, October 7th, 2009. She's 7lbs, 10oz, and 20 inches long. And she's already sporting a full head of hair! Neither of us has been able to spend much time with her. We've held her for a grand total of maybe five minutes before they took her to the nursery. That's a major bummer, but the previous post explains why. The main thing is we'll be thrilled to finally get her home and all to ourselves for a while.

Thanks to everyone that followed the play-by-play. I know it's difficult for the many friends and family that are so far away during a time like this. It's hard on us, too, but we've always been 100% confident in our decision to move to Atlanta and consider this our home. And we can't wait to raise our new daughter here. Just remember, Atlanta is a pretty short plane ride and we have plenty of space for guests :)

More Twitter and blog updates as we have 'em.

Love y'all,

Andrew, Brenda and Katie

Baby Recap, Part One

2009-10-08T08:12:00.000-04:00

I'm home for a bit to shower, change clothes and look in on the cats (like they care). So I wanted to post a more detailed update of the last day and a half.

I should lead off by saying that if you saw the photos of Katie in the Special Care Nursery this morning, DO NOT let it freak you out. Soon after she was born, they noticed she had a breathing pattern they referred to as "grunting". They took her up to the transitional nursery where they do all the usual post-birth stuff. After a while I got an update from a doctor who told me Katie had something called a "Pneumothorax", which is air that has collected outside the lungs, making it harder for them to expand fully (the article explains this better than I can). The likely cause, for Katie, is the first deep breathes she took immediately after birth.

The doctor was pretty clear about the fact that this is not serious and not totally uncommon in newborns. There's a chance that if it doesn't get any worse, Katie will just work it out herself. And if not, they can easily remove the excess air with a needle. That said, they admitted her last night to the Special Care Nursery so they could continue to monitor and give her supplemental oxygen. So in the photos, I'm sure it looks a lot worse than it really is. She's got an oxygen tube, a feeding tube and an IV for antibiotics. Everything else is just a monitor.

They took a couple more chest x-rays last night, but we've not yet spoken to a doctor today. When we visited about 10:30 this morning, she was visibly breathing better and sleeping very well. They'll keep her at least 2 days, but as many as 6. That sucks, but it's more important to make sure she has a clean bill of health. I'll keep posting updates as we get them. Just trust me when I say....don't panic :)

I'll continue the recap in the next post....

Baby Watch Is A Go!

2009-10-06T17:36:00.000-04:00

UPDATE: I've created a new Twitter account just for "Brenda and Andrew" updates.

Well, this is it. Tomorrow (Wed, Oct 7th) we head to the hospital at 5:00am where they'll induce Brenda! We had a visit with the Dr. today and since we're now almost a week past the due date, she went ahead and scheduled us. We've had a bag packed for a couple weeks, so we're ready. Just wondering how much sleep we're going to get tonight.

I'll have my iPhone on me the whole time, and will be posting updates to the blog, Twitter and Youtube as often as I can. Here's where to look for updates:

Twitter (short text updates)
YouTube (videos)
Flickr (photos)
...and of course, right here.

Yes, I realize as a big-shot web developer, I should've come up with something way slicker to keep everyone updated. Time just kinda got away from me. But I'll still keep you all updated :)

More soon!

Nursery Photos

2009-10-06T17:14:00.000-04:00

Just uploaded photos of the finished nursery:

And there it goes

2009-10-01T12:39:00.000-04:00

Woosh! That's the sound of our due date passing us by. Yesterday, September 30th was our official due date. We met with our doctor the day before and unfortunately, Katie just isn't ready to make an appearance yet.

Everything is going really well, though, and we'll have an ultrasound on Monday just to take measurements and make sure everything is still cool in there. Then we'll have another doctor's appointment on Tuesday to discuss next steps. If she feels Brenda is ready, she'll probably go ahead and induce.

That's really all I've got right now. We're just in a holding pattern until Katie is all packed and ready to move out.

More updates as soon as they're available, and also new nursery photos!

Some Quick Baby Updates

2009-09-07T06:59:00.000-04:00

Just a few overdue updates. We're now down to less than a month from our due date! Everything is on track and mommy and baby are doing just great. We have another doctor's appointment tomorrow (9/8), and we'll be going every week after that. I've posted a bunch of new photos from Brenda's baby shower, moving into the new house, and progress on the nursery.

We're mostly settled into the new house, although there are still some scattered boxes here and there. I've already fixed a couple minor things and we had our landscaping touched up (our HOA already sent a letter about the weeds). Today I get to fix our mailbox post that's about ready to fall apart. But we absolutely love the house and I'm looking forward to Katie growing up here.

Also still several things to finish on the nursery. We won't have to paint the walls, but we're putting up letters to spell out KATIE and I'm "supposed" to be drawing some cartoon characters on the wall. I only hope I have time to do it (and do it right). Brenda's also working on some bedding and the window treatments. Last Friday was her last day at work, so she'll be working on that as much as she can.

That's about it for now. I'll be posting more photos and updates as I can. We also should get one more ultrasound, but I'm not sure when.

Casa de Jones Walkthrough

2009-08-01T17:30:00.000-04:00

Here's a complete video tour of our new house!

Our New House from Andrew Jones on Vimeo.

Now In Amazing 3D!

2009-07-01T17:41:00.000-04:00

Today we had another ultrasound and they "threw in" a 3D version for free. Below are the results. Apparently, getting good 3D images is a tricky thing, and many don't come out well at all. I think we were lucky we had a couple good ones. This is the first time actually seeing Katie's face, so it was pretty amazing. This was another good visit; she's at exactly the right size for 27 weeks and is 2 pounds, 5 ounces.

Note that a lot of the squiggly stuff on the bottom couple photos is just some of the gunk she's swimming in at the moment. :)

New Baby Registry

2009-06-14T14:03:00.000-04:00

We just created a new baby registry with Toys 'R Us for anyone interested in buying anything for the baby. The registry can be used at any Toys 'R Us or Babies 'R Us store, or either of their websites.

To view the registry, click here.

We still have to add some things, like a crib, changing table, and dresser. But we have quite a few other things picked out. Some things on the list don't have photos, but if you are at a store, they should be able to look them up.

Also, plenty of things can be generic, like wipes, bibs, blankets, etc. We just had to scan a specific brand at the store. Just make sure when you make any purchases, you use the registry number 76310855 so it gets applied to our registry and everyone else knows what's been bought already.

And if you can't decide, gift cards are always appreciated :)

The Mother of All Updates

2009-06-14T13:52:00.000-04:00

So it's been a really long time since a blog update. Longer than normal, actually. We've just had so much stuff going on, but I'll try to wrap it all up here for anyone that's not heard it all a million times already.

Biggest news is this past January, Brenda and I learned we were going to be parents! We're now about 24 weeks in, and we're due September 30th, 2009. We also know that we're having a little girl, whom we've already named Kathedra Eileen, after both our grandmothers. We're not entirely sure yet, but her nickname will likely be "Katie".

We've had three ultrasounds so far and everything is on track, and mommy and baby are doing fantastic. We're super excited and can't wait to meet our little girl in just about three months!

Also, as if one major life change in one year isn't enough, we're about to buy our first house in Atlanta. We really wanted to be in a house by the time Katie comes, and this seemed a good market to buy in. We did a lot of searching online and looked at about 6 or 8 houses and made an offer, which they accepted. Since then we've gone though the painful process of getting the loan finalized, appraisal, inspection, etc.

We did just recently hit a snag, resulting in "firing" our lender. They were fine until right until the end, when they started throwing bigger numbers at us than they'd quoted. Way bigger. Our spidey-senses went off, and we ditched them. Good news is we've already gotten a new lender and it looks like we'll be just fine. Our original closing was June 26th. At worst, it may get pushed back a week. Fingers crossed.

You can view my photos of the house here. And see the actual listing here.

Those are the biggest updates, by far. We also just had a very nice week's vacation with Amy and Donnie. Seems like we were running every day doing stuff, including: a Braves game, Georgia Aquarium (including Titanic exhibit), Dave & Buster's, bowling, a movie, mini-golf, shopping, and we even were able to show them the inside of our (hopefully) new house. A really fun (but exhausting) week. They were our first house guests of 2009, and there are still some who having been down yet (you know who you are).

I also just got back from a trip to Ohio. I spent one day at Engauge's Columbus office, then attended the Spring Break developer conference at Ohio University. It's the same conference I spoke at last year, although this year I was just an attendee. It was okay, but I probably won't go back next year unless I'm a speaker again. Most of the sessions just aren't advanced enough to warrant the time and expense. But on the upside, I got to use three days of the trip to spend with family and friends, so that makes it all worth it.

Oh yeah, and I also launched two websites of my own in the last few months. One is a service where you send me a photo of yourself, and I create a cartoon version (or avatar) of it. You'd use these as your profile picture on sites like Facebooks, Twitter, etc. I've sold several already. It'll never make me rich, but one order is a box of diapers :)

The other site is for my brand new webcomic, Happy Accidents. I've been wanting to start one for well over a year and finally got enough motivation and/or inspiration to actually do it. I've done about 8 strips now and the reaction and feedback to them has been unbelievably good. Unfortunately, I've skipped the last month due to all this craziness that's been keeping us busy. But I hope to get back to the drawing board very soon. (Note that this isn't exactly a "family-friendly" comic strip. Just bear this in mind when visiting :)

All the animals are doing quite well. Murray is 14 now, and some days you'd have a hard time convincing me she's not a puppy. Work is also going pretty well. I'm still not getting to be the "master" of any one thing, but being a jack-of-all-trades at least keeps things interesting.

So I think that's about it. I'm sure I'll think of something else and come back to edit this post. I'll also be posting info on our new baby registry shortly after I finish this entry. Stay tuned for that and more baby updates!

Technical Difficulties

2009-03-08T15:20:00.000-04:00

I know the blog has been kinda flakey lately, if not completely down most of the time. I think I've narrowed it down to some sort of problem with the "theme" I was using. I've switched to this temporary one for now until I'm able to come up with something better.

More updates coming soon.

These are the people I work with...

2009-01-12T08:58:00.000-05:00

The video played at the Engauge Digital Holiday Party 2009:

By the way, Coke, Ruth's Chris Steak House and Home Depot are our clients :)

I'm The Best Uncle Ever

2009-01-09T11:41:00.000-05:00

I know some people and pulled a few strings and DisneyLand has been dedicated to my nephew Donnie for his 12th birthday!

Click here for the full article about Donnie's big day!

Edit 12/12/2009: Sorry, but Disney has apparently shut down the site that generated this video. Kicking myself for not capturing it when I had the chance.

Christmas Videos

2009-01-04T17:58:00.000-05:00

Here are some quickie videos I shot with my new Flip video camera. Actually, I handed the camera to my nephew Donnie so he gets co-directing credit :)

Also, I've added all my Christmas photos to Flickr.

Fall 2008 Update

2008-11-28T12:50:00.000-05:00

As usual, I've gotten wicked busy and have gotten behind on blog posts. But I've got four days off for Thanksgiving and blog updates were on my to-do list.

So geez, where to start. Speaking of Thanksgiving, we had a good one. As with last year, we stayed at home, and Brenda made a small turkey. Everything was fabulous as usual. Even had a couple pies, pumpkin bread, veggies and shrimp for me!

We watched the Macy's parade and the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special, and then a couple unexciting football games. Then we decorated the apartment, which is way faster than decorating our old house. And capped it off with the Opus & Bill Christmas special, and Mickey's Christmas Carol. This year, we're committed to getting through all our holiday videos :)Â I've also resolved to read the original Christmas Carol by Dickens.

Speaking of reading, I've been doing a ton of reading since I started taking the train to work. I have an Audible account for audiobooks, and it was great when I was driving. Unfortunately my mind wanders when listening to audiobooks on the train and I realize I haven't been paying attention for a few miles and have to rewind. I hadn't really read anything but computer books since high school, so I'm really loving getting back into it.

Books read so far:
Watchmen (graphic novel)
The Dark Knight Strikes Again (graphic novel)
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
The Bourne Identity
Neverwhere
Joomla Development (okay, this is a programming book)

Currently I'm reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman (who also wrote Neverwhere and Stardust, which is also a fantastic movie).

On the work front, things are going as well as can be expected, given the current economy. We've had some layoffs and some people quit, but we seem to be weathering the storm so far. And I'm on my sixth desk, but I now have a fabulous spot with a window! I've learned to not get too comfortable in any one spot, though.

Besides our recent loss of Sasha, the animals are doing just fine. We had to deal with a flea problem over the last couple months, but I think we have it licked. Apparently fleas were particularly bad this year.

I've also been trying to do more artwork, or as much as my schedule will allow. Been crazy busy at work and I often work late, or work at home. I haven't posted anything in a couple weeks, but gotta start thinking about this year's Christmas card.

To follow my artwork, just go here. I've got ideas for more stuff, just gotta find the time.

Amazingly, there's little else to report. Seems we've just been working and that's it. Upside is that we both have the entire week of Christmas off, probably 4-5 days spent in Ohio (and on the road). I really prefer to fly, but with the flight and car rental, we're probably looking at almost a grand, as opposed to a couple hundred to drive.

More updates as soon as something remotely interesting happens.

First NFL Game!

2008-11-26T11:28:00.000-05:00

On November 16th, we saw our first NFL game. It was at the Georgia Dome and the Falcons played the Denver Broncos. Unfortunately due to a couple bonehead moves, we lost 20-24.

Overall, we had fun. Being able to take the train directly to the Dome was really nice, although we'll be more prepared next time for the thousands of other people that feel the same way. I've been taking the train to work for months and had never seen cars so full.

I think I need to go again to get a better feel for it, but overall I've enjoyed Braves games much more. I think the worst part of a football game is as you get higher up, the seats get smaller and closer together. Plus, nobody came by selling beer. What's up with that? Also, football stops and starts a lot more than baseball, and there's less entertainment going on during breaks. And I REALLY missed the giant video screen Turner Field has.

But all in all, a good day, and we'll definitely try to get to at least one game a season.

Now I just need to get to a hockey game :)

Here's a recap of the game we went to.

RIP, Sasha

2008-11-26T10:58:00.000-05:00

I wish my long blogging hiatus could have been broken by better news. Unfortunately, it's with a heavy heart that I must report our kitty Sash passed away today. As you may or may not know, Sasha has been sick for a few months. It started out as a thyroid problem, for which she was taking medication. But she was also anemic.

Over the last few months, our once fat cat had become skin and bones, despite her still eating like a horse. A week or so ago her stomach started getting bloated and the vet removed quite a lot of fluid from her stomach. She also noticed a mass near her lung. The vet was almost positive it was cancer, probably lymphatic. Unfortunately the proceedures for finding out for sure would have been too hard on Sasha's body.

So they put her on another medication and we debated about giving her kemo drugs. But today Sasha just seemed to collapse and was unable to stand or hold her head up for a half hour. We got her to the vet and she'd lost even more weight and was unable to hold her temperature. The vet said her systems were shutting down and only gave her maybe a couple more days.

It was really, really hard, but we felt it best to spare her from suffering through it, so we decided to put her to sleep. Sasha was 14, but we'd only had her for about six years. We wish we'd had her longer, but are thankful we were able to give her six good years. We truly enjoyed her and will always miss her.

Here are more photos of Sasha in better health.

My Drawing A Day

2008-08-06T19:01:00.000-04:00

I've come up with this crazy experiment to post a "Drawing A Day". With all my sites, it's a pain to post to all of them, so I've created an account with a popular artist site. Check them out daily (or until I can't sustain this anymore) by going here.

Artoo Potatoo

2008-08-03T13:49:00.000-04:00

The latest addition to my spud army

I'm SO Making This My Ringtone

2008-08-03T13:16:00.000-04:00

A bunch of new Muppet videos have surfaced on YouTube, but this by far is the funniest.

Boy I really hope this is a sign of a Muppet comeback.

My Conference Video Online

2008-06-25T16:24:00.000-04:00

I finally got my video from the conference edited and uploaded. So if you feel like listening to me drone on for a half-hour, check it out here.

Laughing Baby

2008-06-20T02:54:00.000-04:00

I'm not a big video re-poster, but I came across this last night and almost hurt myself laughing so hard.Â

Â

Idaho Spuds

2008-05-18T15:29:00.000-04:00

Here is the latest edition to my potato head army, Idaho Spuds, fearless adventurer from Taters of the Lost Ark. So far, I now have seven Mr. Potato Heads: Easter Spud, Santa Spud, Spud Trooper, Darth Tater, Spider Spud, Optimash Prime and Idaho Spuds.

Spring Update

2008-05-11T13:08:00.000-04:00

So here we are again. It's May 11th (Mother's Day) and I haven't posted since January. Honestly doesn't feel like that long. So here goes, an accumulated update that hopefully will be halfway interesting.

The Job Front
On February 7th, I attended an Atlanta PHP meeting as usual. This night there were a couple guys from a company called SpunlogicÂ who were scouting for PHP developers. I spoke to them afterwards, exchanging info about our respective employers, and I made a joke that we (Cool Blue Interactive) were their competition. As it turns out, we weren't. Spunlogic already had probably 25 developers, and a total staff of 80+.Â

So I went home kinda feeling like I'd been slapped upside the head, and the conversation kind of haunted me. I contacted them the next day and we started the employment flirting game. I had a total of three interviews with them in less than two weeks. They ended up offering me a job and I accepted.Â

So as of March 24th, I'm a Senior CSS Developer with Spunlogic. Actually, four days after coming on board, their name changed after being acquired by an even bigger firm. So I actually work for Engauge Digital now. So I've been there about a month and a half now, and I have to say I absolutely love it. It's exactly what I'd envisioned a successful web firm to be. Exactly where I saw myself, only I wish it didn't take 11 years to get here. Â

Oh, and in the time I've been there, we've already worked on GMAC Insurance, Chick-Fil-A, and a big chain of steak houses called Ruth's Chris Steak House. Coming up is work for a dog food brand being created by a popular celebrity. Will say who it is when I can :)

See some photos of the offices.

As for Brenda, she quit her job at the drug clinic a couple months ago. It's a thankless job that's crazy stressful and to make things worse, the management was not easy to work with, to say the least.Â

So right now she's working part-time at a local Jo-Ann Fabrics while still looking for some things in her field. But she also is looking at design school at one of the local colleges. And she's also back to working on jewelry and accessories. Her site can be found here, and she'll be selling some things online at this website soon.Â

The Animals
Overall, the pets are doing very well. A few months ago, Aticus had to have medicine for some kind of thing in his eye that made them all cloudy. And just recently, we had Sasha at the vet a couple times. While she was boarded for Christmas, they saw she had a problem with a tooth, but the couldn't pull it because she had some heart weirdness. So all the bloodwork and tests was kind of expensive so we had to let it go for the time being. Then a couple weeks ago she started having spells that looked like mini-seizures and she'd lost a lot of weight. We just thought it had something to do with the tooth and she wasn't eating.

Turns out she has hyper-thyroidism, so we'll have to give her a pill every day forever. But we were able to get the tooth pulled and the seizures have stopped, so I think we're back to normal. Crazy animals.

Baseball
Yes, I'm WAY into baseball this year. Specifically the Braves, of course. We've been to three games so far, and are going to another this Saturday. And I make sure to watch every game we're not attending on TV. Brenda still thinks my body has been possessed by an alien because I now know all the players' names and their positions. Â They've been doing really well lately, so hopefully that will continue.

I'm A "Speaker" Now
I'm going to be a speaker at this year's Spring Break web developer conference at Ohio University in June. On my birthday, to be precise. I'll be giving two talks, both related to CSS and/or javascript. What's even better, one of my idols in the field, Eric Meyer, will be the keynote speaker. I'm totally excited and terrified at the same time. I'll be speaking about a topic about which this guy literally wrote the book on (I have three of his books). So no stress whatsoever.

Miscellaneous
Still loving Atlanta. Pollen count is high as usual, but not as bad as last year, since we're getting some rain. I had sushi for the first time recently, and really quite liked it. Â Traffic is still a pain, but I get to my new job earlier, and get to leave earlier, so it doesn't seem quite as bad as before. Still in the car 90 minutes a day, though.

Saw Iron Man.....twice. Yes, it's that good. If you haven't seen it, stop reading this and go do it. All I have to say is that Batman and Indiana Jones really have their work cut out for them. That said, Indy 4 is only 11 days away! Just hoping Spielberg and Lucas don't completely destroy this like Lucas killed Star Wars.

So that's all I can think of for now. I may add to this as I remember anything noteworthy. Will try to post more often.Â

ro8kfbsmag2.txt

2008-04-13T23:47:00.000-04:00

Andrew and Brenda: The Comic

2008-01-27T18:21:00.000-05:00

I've been considering starting up a new web-based comic, and thought I'd test the waters by doing some strips featuring us. This first one was pretty fun, and I definitely will keep doing some more. Once I get a better technique down and settle on a theme, I'll start the "real" comic.

Snow In Atlanta

2008-01-20T08:52:00.000-05:00

For the second time in a week, it snowed in Atlanta ...and with accumulation. For those of you back in Ohio, I can't overstate what a monumental event this is down here. You'd think the apocalypse is upon us at the first sign of a snowflake. Grocery stores run out of bread and milk, schools shut down and traffic slows to a crawl.

Earlier in the week, it started snowing close to rush hour. Not good. The first mile or so going home took about 45 minutes. Yesterday (Saturday) it snowed even more, with a bit more accumulation. Here are some pics. It's about half gone already today, but it was pretty cool.

Best of 2007

2008-01-13T08:56:00.000-05:00

For anyone interested, I just posted my 'Best of 2007' movie list over on my other blog. Click here to read.

The Golden Compass

2007-12-05T16:42:00.000-05:00

Last night we went to an advance screening of "The Golden Compass". It's based on the first of a trilogy of books and is an epic on the order of Chronicles of Narnia. I knew almost zero about the books, but I thought it was very, very good. So much so that I already downloaded the audiobook.

The highlights are the main polar bear character (voiced by Ian McKellan) and the cowboy character played by Sam Elliot. One thing I'll point out is that it's definitely not for little kids. While there isn't a drop of blood on screen, it is pretty violent and kinda dark in parts.

To go with this post I'm including the following questionnaire to ask in helping choose my daemon. In the Golden Compass, people's souls are outside their bodies in the form of animals called daemons. The movie website lets you answer some questions and picks an animal for you. Not sure this is me, but we'll see...

Here is Brenda's so far...

Edit 12/12/2009: Since I originally posted this, the studio site has apparently removed it. So much for things living forever on the web.

The Golden Compass

2007-12-05T16:40:00.000-05:00

One Year In Atlanta

2007-12-01T07:04:00.000-05:00

Today marks our one year anniversary in Atlanta. Exactly one year ago today, Murray was riding shotgun with me in a rental truck, bound for Georgia.

Honestly, it doesn't feel like it's been all that long. And there still hasn't been a single day I've regretted our decision to move. Yes, we do really miss friends and family. But with the phone, email, the blogs and regular trips back to Ohio, it's made it a lot easier to get used to.

Looking back on the year, I think we've accomplished (and learned) a lot, and I look forward to seeing what our future holds. We did already renew our apartment lease, but to be honest, the commute is getting longer and longer, and I'm not sure how much longer I want to spend 9 hours a week in the car. We're considering moving closer to town, but we've only begun talking about it. So we might still be here a while longer.

Not really sure yet what we'll do to mark the occasion. Maybe just dinner and a movie. Here's to another great year coming up!

UPDATE: So we ended up marking the day by redeeming a couple passes at the Midtown Art and saw "No Country For Old Men". Pretty good Coen Brothers movie, if not a bit a bit unexpected. Then we went over to Atlantic Station to see their big tree, and their scheduled nightly snow. The snow wasn't all that impressive, but I guess if you don't see it very often, it's still cool. The kids seemed to like it. Then we ate at the Cheesecake Bistro, which wasn't too bad.

Thanksgiving 2007

2007-11-23T08:47:00.000-05:00

This year was our first Thanksgiving by ourselves since we've been together (10+ years). At first we were going to buy a prepared dinner from Publix or Kroger. But it was kinda pricey, and you still technically had to cook it. So Brenda figured what's the point, and decided to just cook our own.

So we ended up having enough food for probably six people, but the leftovers are worth it. The spread included a 5.5lb turkey breast, mashed potatoes and gravy, noodles, sweet potatoes, corn, stuffing and rolls. Brenda was nervous about the turkey, but it came out great, as I'd predicted.

Then, after a quick nap and a football game, we put up the tree and decorations. Only took a couple hours, compared to the entire day it used to take when we had a bigger house. Okay by me. Someday I'm sure we'll have a bigger place and do the Griswald thing again, but for now, I enjoy the simplicity.

Then it was pumpkin pie for me and cherry pie for Brenda, and watching the Falcons lose (again). All in all, a very good day, despite being away from family. But that'll just make coming home for Christmas even more special.

See some new photos here.

My First Football Game

2007-11-17T18:10:00.000-05:00

Today I went to my first real football game (not counting the one high school game I'd ever gone too). My boss took me to the UGA (aka the Georgia Bulldogs) vs Kentucky game and it was pretty amazing.

Like the baseball game, you really don't get a sense of what it's like watching it on television. Our seats were right on the 50-yard-line, only 25 rows back, and the weather was darn near perfect. And best of all...we won! See some photos here.

Now I just need to get to a hockey game :)

Artwork Online

2007-11-03T13:31:00.000-04:00

Just a quickie post that I've started a new 'Artwork' set on Flickr. Right now it's got the latest stuff, but might have some older pieces as I can find them. I'd also like to colorize Thundermutt #1 if I can ever find a copy. Most were ruined in the flood.

Fright Fest = Lame

2007-10-28T08:01:00.000-04:00

So yesterday we finally made it back to Six Flags for their Fright Fest extravaganza. Our expectation was all built around our experience with Halloweekends at Cedar Point, where they had the entire park themed out for Halloween, and had at least 4-5 haunted attractions, some converted from existing rides. We figured Six Flags' Fright Fest would be the same, maybe even better. Wrong.

When we first got up to the front gates, there was some organ music playing, but absolutely no other theming at that point. Once we got in, the main area inside the gates had a really cool Fright Fest sign with skeletons and was really well done. There was also an animatronic organist and the fountain was dyed blood red. So far so good.

But once we started walking around, the theming was pretty spotty. A few tombstones here, some cobwebs there. But huge portions of the park had nothing. For instance, the entire Gotham City section had no indication it was even Halloween.

So then we made our way to the haunted house we'd seen on earlier visits, hoping this would redeem them. As we approached, I noticed the line only had like 10 people in it, which was odd, since the park was packed, and there were long lines for everything.

Then we noticed why. In front of the attraction, there was a ticket booth. They were charging TEN BUCKS a person for the haunted house!!! We just stood there in total shock. Keep in mind, that Cedar Point NEVER charged extra for their haunted houses.

So we didn't even go in. I figured I'd spent good money on a season pass, and a season PARKING pass to not be charged extra for something that should've been free.

So we ended up spending a grand total of an hour there and left feeling pretty disappointed. Note to Six Flags: send a couple people to Cedar Point's Halloweekends to see how it's really done.

Mom Comes To Atlanta

2007-10-28T07:32:00.000-04:00

Last week, Mom and Parke came down for almost a week to visit. We did a ton of stuff and I think (hope) everyone had a great time. Our first day, we went over to Historic Norcross and had lunch at a cafe located in an old train station. And two trains passed right by it while we were there. Frankly, the best part of the cafe is the sign in the men's bathroom: "Do not put cigarette butts in the urinal. It makes them soggy and hard to light."

Then we walked around town a bit and went in a couple shops, like 'Taste of Britain', which is run by an actual British couple, and is filled with all kinds of stuff from the UK.

On Friday, we went north a bit to the Mall of Georgia. Honestly, it's a nice mall and everything, but with all the malls we have closer to us, there was nothing really spectacular about it. But they have a couple nice collectibles stores, and a Starbucks on every floor, so it's not all bad.

Then we went to a couple scrapbooking stores for mom, but not without several runarounds by our wonderful GPS. That little gadget is still probably one of the best investments ever, but sometimes I just want to chuck it through the windshield.

On Saturday, it was up to Duluth for some general running around. I was very happy I got to show off my favorite store, Fry's Electronics. Other stops were Jo-Ann Fabrics (fun) and a Christmas shop. Then back over closer to home for dinner at Macaroni Grill.

On Sunday, we went on a driving tour of Atlanta, starting with showing them my commute to work. Being Sunday, I was able to give them a tour of my offices. Then we went through Midtown and then over to downtown and parked in a garage to do some walking around. We walked around the inside of CNN Center, walked all the way around Centennial Olympic Park, and down around the Georgia Aquarium and World of Coca-Cola. All that stuff is packed within the same few blocks, which is also where Phillips Arena is located, for things like hockey games. I think the Georgia Dome is right around there someplace, but I didn't see it.

Then on the way back, we went via 400 so we could show them the Northpoint Mall in Alpharetta, which is closer to the apartment and has become our mall of choice.

On Monday, we went to the Atlanta Zoo. It rained that morning and was kind of cool, but it didn't rain at all while we were there. So being sort of overcast, and a Monday, we practically had the place to ourselves. And because it was cooler, almost every animal was out, as opposed to the summer when all they want to do is lay around. We finally got to see the baby panda, and that day was Dumati the orangutan's first birthday. We even got cake! Overall, we were pretty impressed with the zoo, and Brenda and I became members so we could go back as many times as we wanted for a year. Looking forward to doing more photography there, especially after I get a new lens for the Nikon.

So those are the highlights. I think everyone had a good time, and hopefully others will want to come down as well (Brenda's mom, I'm looking in your direction).

Grandpa's Garden

2007-09-23T12:07:00.000-04:00

The other day I received an email from my Uncle John in Columbus. He'd sent me a pdf scan of an article in Garden Gate magazine all about my late grandpa, Wilbur D. Jones, Jr. I hadn't heard anything about it, but apparently it was something that had been in progress when grandpa died last fall. The article is really good and is all about how to make your gardens and landscaping more accessible for the handicapped.

Click here to download a printable pdf of the entire article (5mb).

Also, there will be another article coming out in a different magazine soon that grandpa actually wrote himself. I'll try to post that as well.

What's Happening To Me?

2007-09-23T11:07:00.000-04:00

We're witnessing a very strange phenomenon since moving to Atlanta. I'm actually developing an interest in sports.

...I'll allow you some time to pick yourselves off the floor....

Better? Good. So before we came to Atlanta, I had almost zero interest in sports of any kind. I thought baseball was "okay", so much as I could actually understand it. Football was another matter. None of it made any sense. Pass interference? I thought that was the whole point? Knock that dude down.

But ever since my boss took us all to a Braves game, I've started to get more and more interested. So much so that I've been caught actually watching entire football games. Brenda was at first very worried, and wondered if maybe I had been snatched by aliens and my body replaced by some sort of pod person. I'm still not sure she's convinced otherwise.

I think this is all because I'd never lived someplace that had its own teams. Granted, I was in a state that had pro football and baseball teams. But they were hours away, so it's not quite the same as when your own town has baseball, football and hockey teams.

I'm definitely still learning as I go. So much of football still seems obtuse to me. Maybe I can find a 'Football for Dummies' book. But I'm getting the hang of it.

If you are doubting any of this, I actually know that a Falcons game starts today at 4:15. How bad is that?

Atlanta Falcons

2007-09-23T11:06:00.000-04:00

Kelly and Gang on the Georgia Cyclone

2007-09-23T10:33:00.000-04:00

A Much-Needed Update

2007-09-23T09:32:00.000-04:00

Wow, it's been a really long time since my last update. There haven't really been any major happenings, which is why I think I've let it slide. So here are some highlights from the last couple months, such as they are.

In Mid-July, Kelly, Julie and the kids came down for a few days to visit. We started off going to the Georgia Aquarium, which was pretty cool. Then we spent a nine-hour day at Six Flags, which was super fun. The Goliath is easily my new favorite coaster (sorry, Cedar Point). We also went to dinner one night at Dave and Buster's, which is still just as much fun for the big kids. Despite some brief, sketchy weather, it was a great time and we're looking forward to doing it again.

Let's see, what else. I had a really good six-month review at Cool Blue, and things are going really well there. I also moved offices yet again. I've taken Murray to work twice, with mixed success. The first time, she was the only dog there and it went fairly well. She behaved better than I'd expected, actually. The second time, there were two other dogs there, and it went bad within the first two minutes. My biggest regret with her is that we never got her accustomed to being around other dogs. She just starts acting a fool. I'm optimistic that she can still be taught how to behave with fellow canines. We'll see.

I'm still doing some freelance work, but I'm trying to get all client work wrapped up so I can concentrate on some of my own projects. I've already started rebuilding my main software application, so I'm hoping to spend more time on that. The on-the-side client work is nice for the extra money, but it's usually a total pain. I'll still take things occasionally if it's a good match, but frankly, I've got to have a real compelling reason to take anything these days. By the time I get off at 5, get home by 6 or 6:30, take the dog out and have dinner, I'm usually in no mood to do more work. But that doesn't keep me from feeling guilty about not doing it. But I'm working on that.

I am trying to participate more in the developer community here in Atlanta. The guys from Atlanta PHP are great and I think I'm getting a lot out of it. I'm even working on the new Atlanta PHP logo, and I might be starting a video podcast with one of the guys.

The apartment is still a work in progress. We actually got a lot done in preparation for Kelly's visit, like hanging a bunch of photos and shelves, etc. I think we've decided to sign another year's lease, as we still have some things to take care of financially and start building some savings. The plan right now is to keep renting until we can make a dent on a townhouse. I'm not totally opposed to owning again, but it has to be in a managed community. My motto is I'm not fixing anything, and I'm not mowing anything. So if we can get a condo or townhouse that is in a gated community with a pool and some kind of maintenance plan, that would be ideal. But for right now, we're perfectly happy where we are.

Mom and Parke will be coming down for a few days in October, so we're hoping to have some walls painted and other things done by then. Nothing motivates like having company :)

All the animals are doing well. Atticus was at the vet a few times for a problem with his eye. It was really cloudy looking. Luckily it wasn't serious, and a couple weeks of shoving antibiotics down his throat seems to have cleared it up. For some reason, Salem has turned into this giant puffball. She's easily ten-inches across now. That's not extra weight, it's fur. We've had to vacuum several times a week from all her tumbleweeds she leaves on the carpet. Cats...can't live with 'em, can't shave 'em.

I've officially cancelled our AT&T (was Bellsouth) land-based phone service. It just makes no sense to spend $75 a month for something we never use, and only gets calls from telemarketers. A LOT of calls from telemarketers. So we've done two things. First, we have a new number from the internet phone service called Skype. For like thirty bucks a YEAR we get our own Atlanta-based phone number that can send and receive calls to any phone number (or other Skype user). This is the phone number we're giving out to anyone that doesn't fall into the 'family or friends' category. If you do fall into those categories, you probably already got an email with our new Atlanta cell numbers. We'll be using our cells as our primary phones from now on. Oh, and not to brag or anything, but mine is an iPhone :) C'mon, you can't tell me you're surprised at that.

We've also seen a TON of movies lately. There is a site where you can sign up to see free screenings. So far we've seen three movies that way: Sunshine, Balls of Fury and Shoot 'Em Up. And for the record, the latter is now probably in my top 3 or 4 favorite action movies. It's that good.

To recap, here are the movies we've seen since moving to Atlanta, as far as I can recall: Hot Fuzz, Grindhouse, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Simpsons Movie, Spiderman 3, Transformers, Labyrinth (yes, the 80's movie), Sunshine, Balls of Fury, Shoot 'em Up and Harry Potter. That's 12 movies, that I can remember. That's more than we saw in probably two years back in Ohio. Why? Well, for me it's the experience. Here, the theatres are much nicer. Nearly all have stadium seating, and really nice screens and sound systems. And apparently, the staff actually know how to use them. Sound and projection back home was always a crapshoot. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it was just a horrible experience. And here, they play stuff at least a half hour in advance of the movie. So instead of sitting there for 30 minutes listening to music and staring at a blank screen, they play trailers and behind-the-scenes stuff. It hardly feels like you're waiting at all. Prices down here aren't much better, of course. Tickets for two are like $17, and if you want concessions, spending another $15 for two people isn't that hard. But again, it's worth it for the better experience.

We also just got back from another 4-day marathon trip to Ohio. Driving it is kind of exhausting, since out of four days, probably 20 hours are spent in the car. And even when we get there, we still seem to be driving around most of the time. Hopefully we can alternate flying up, but since we have to split time between Zanesville, Newark, Marietta and Watertown, we'd still have to rent a car or something. But flying is out the next time, as there's no way I'm going to deal with airports at Christmas.

Also, Amy, Donnie and Fred have moved to Bradenton Florida. As Brenda and I know all too well, job prospects are virtually zero in the Mid-Ohio Valley. While I'm sure everyone hated to see them go, I can totally relate to the decision. You can't stay in the same place and hope that things will get better on their own. And you certainly don't want to be wondering years from now what might have happened if you'd just taken the chance. We're definitely proof of that. So far, it sounds like things are going great. And Donnie, if you're reading this....send us some photos, man!

Wow, this has turned out to be a really long post, thats taken over two hours to write. That'll teach me to wait so long between updates. Will post more tidbits soon, as they come up.

Brenda's NYC Photos

2007-07-02T17:25:00.000-04:00

Finally got Brenda's photos from her New York City trip developed. I'm still trying to get her to post something here, so maybe she can be convinced to write an update.

At any rate, here are her photos.

Six Flags Scouting

2007-07-01T13:31:00.000-04:00

We just got back from our first visit to Six Flags Over Georgia. Luckily, we're so close to the park, we can decide to go pretty much on a whim. It was supposed to be a little cooler today, so after breakfast at iHop we decided to head over and check it out.

The drive takes anywhere from 30-45 minutes, depending on traffic, which is about how long it takes me to get to work. So if feels like just a hop, skip and a jump. That makes it nice because you don't have to feel like you've got to make this huge day out of it. So with a season pass, you can go whenever you feel like it and ride a few rides, eat a funnel cake and go home.

Today we didn't even ride anything, but the train. This was mostly a scouting expedition for when Kelly and Julie come down in a couple weeks. We wanted to already know how to get their and the basic layout of the park, which I think we accomplished.

But I tell ya, sweet merciful crap, it was HOT. I typed that in all-caps because there's not yet such a thing as super-caps. When we got back to the car at about 4:45, the thermometer said 97. Luckily, there are lots of areas with shade, but still. And don't think they don't capitalize on that. A bottle of water is $3.50 apiece, and we ended up buying four bottles.

My first impressions of the park are pretty good. Mind you, I compare everything to Cedar Point. The theming is the best part. They have Warner Brothers and DC Comics, which means you'll see character theming with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and all the Looney Toons Characters. Plus, Batman, Superman, The Flash and a lot of other DC Comics characters. I got my picture taken with Bugs Bunny and the Batmobile! Check out the photos!

The park seems pretty well laid out, but we just need to get acquainted with the map a little more. And there seems to be a good variety of rides, from what we've seen. I do like that most of their "thrill" rides don't try to be the tallest and fastest, a trend I've gotten sort of tired of with Cedar Point. Six Flags' rides just seem fun.

At any rate, this was just a dry run, and I hope to actually ride a bunch of stuff very soon.

Superman Ride

2007-07-01T13:29:00.000-04:00

New Blog Is Up

2007-06-10T15:59:00.000-04:00

Finally got my new blog up at atlantajones.com. Been wanting to do a blog of my own for quite some time. There's just a lot of stuff that wouldn't be the least bit interesting (or appropriate) here. So just a warning, not everything on the new blog will be completely "family friendly" :)

My Daily Commute

2007-06-08T17:49:00.000-04:00

So I had a bunch of photos left on the disposable camera I used at the ball game and needed to get rid of 'em. So I decided to document my daily commute. So here are some shots following my daily route home every day.

Game Photos

2007-06-08T17:46:00.000-04:00

Finally got my photos developed from our first Braves game. I was pretty impressed that Eckerd drug store was able to process the film an make a photo cd on the spot. Took ten minutes and cost three bucks!

I'd say they came out pretty well for being taken with a disposable camera.

Who Loves Ya Baby?

2007-05-29T16:21:00.000-04:00

Tonight when I picked up the mail, I saw a letter from the Telly Awards (no, not as in 'Savalas'). The Telly Awards "honor the very best local, regional, and cable television commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions." They get over 13,000 entries yearly from filmmakers and agencies all over the country.

I'd never entered anything before, but this year, I decided to give it a shot. Today's letter confirmed I'd won a Bronze Telly for the documentary I did for the Colony Theatre! You actually have to order your statues, but they're made by the same company that makes the Oscars. Very cool.

Kinda makes me want to go make something else :)

Telly Award

2007-05-29T16:20:00.000-04:00

Pirates 3

2007-05-27T07:30:00.000-04:00

Smoke gets in your eyes

2007-05-27T07:23:00.001-04:00

For the second or third time this week, the smoke from the southern Georgia wildfires has crept up to Atlanta. One day earlier this week, what looked like thick fog during my morning commute was really smoke. And this morning when I took Murray out, you could definitely smell it again. As I write this, all our windows are open and I can smell it throughout the apartment. Hopefully they'll get it under control soon.

Smoky Skies Over Atlanta

2007-05-27T07:23:00.000-04:00

Yo ho, ho hum

2007-05-27T06:48:00.000-04:00

Saw Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End last night. To put it bluntly, it sucked barnacles. It was a three-hour movie and about ten minutes into it, I knew it was going to be bad. It just dragged on forever and felt soooooo tedius. The plot just kept going round and round with deals and betrayals and, at least for me, I had a hard time following what was going on. It just seemed like a lot of things were just tacked on and could've easily been cut, or at least tightened up. And things like the much-anticipated cameo by Keith Richards as Capt. Jack's father were just squandered. As always the effects were phenomenal, but I still never felt all that engaged.

So the Pirates movies continue the downward trend, the last movie being enjoyable but still nowhere near the excitement of the first. I'm sure the film will do well, though, and there's already talk of a fourth. I'd only want them to do another one if it could somehow redeem this one.

So to sum up, Andrew and Brenda give Pirates 3 two thumbs waaaaaay down.

Update: See below for the 'Ask A Ninja' Ninja's review of Pirates 3:

Our First Braves Game!

2007-05-26T08:12:00.000-04:00

Last night Brenda and I attended our very first Atlanta Braves game at Turner Field. My new boss treated employees and spouses to the game, plus food and drinks.

Traffic around the stadium was kinda nuts, but we eventually got into a decent lot and it was only a five minute walk or so to the stadium.

The inside of the stadium is just chock full of food and souvenir vendors. It's basically a giant hallway that wraps around the entire field, with aisle entrances to the seats every few yards.

As soon as we got in, we of course had to both buy Braves hats. And before we left, I got a t-shirt with 'Jones' on the back. I didn't, however, get a discount for being named Andrew Jones. The vendor informed me that even Andruw doesn't get a discount there. Bummer.

Once we got out to the field and our seats, the geek in me was more fascinated by the giant 100-foot high definition video screen. Just amazing. I heard it cost upwards of $15 million. There also is a really amazing digital display that wraps around three-quarters of the stadium and has stuff like sponsor logos, and all kinds of other stuff depending on what's going on.

If you've ever been to an actual baseball game, you know it's WAY different from seeing it on tv. It's such an interactive experience, with a lot of crowd participation, and always something to look at. Oh, and there's a ball game going on, too.

All in all, it was a lot of fun, and I'm sure we'll be back regularly.

PS: Yes, I did take photos, but all I had was a disposable camera. So I'll post them asap. Hopefully we'll get a decent, smaller digital camera for occasions like this.

Turner Field

2007-05-26T07:51:00.000-04:00

New Pics from Mothers Day

2007-05-20T14:10:00.000-04:00

Just uploaded some photos I took during our Mothers Day trip up to Ohio last weekend. Really not sure when the next one will be, but some of you are already planning trips down to Atlanta. Which is better anyways, as you'll be able to spend more time with us than if we came to Ohio and had to split our time between everyone.

Atlanta, Month Five

2007-04-28T14:48:00.000-04:00

Haven't updated the blog in a while, so I took a few photos to show the progress of the apartment (or lack thereof).

Not really much to catch up on. Couple weeks ago I lost a day and a half to a cold. Haven't had one in like four years, and I'm famously known to brag about how "I don't get sick". Apparently, I do, just not very often.

It's pretty consistently warm weather these days. Been mid-seventies for the last week or two. Forecast is mid-eighties all next week. Pool was open again today. Hopefully I'll take a dip soon (and Brenda will read poolside).

My new job is going great. Working hard on a big project that should be done this coming week. We both have now filed for health insurance, so that's one less thing to worry about.

And in case you haven't heard, we're coming up for a visit May 11th - 14th. We're coming up with an itinerary so as to evenly split time between all families and friends. Going to be pretty hectic, but it's pretty important to us that we see everyone. Unfortunately, the stereo in my new car decided to quit working a couple weeks ago. Hopefully Carmax can get it in and fixed before the trip!

That's it for now. Going to try to post a couple back-dated entries for our first movie-going experiences down here.

And PS: I'm doing a new blog soon, AtlantaJones.com. :)

Yellow Snow

2007-03-31T06:11:00.000-04:00

So down here we don't have to deal with the pollution from the plants, but we've recenty learned of a springtime phenomenon here in Atlanta....pollen. Apparently every spring we'll be getting treated to a nice dusting of this yellow crud on every possible surface. Keeping the cars clean has been a pretty futile exercise. We're even finding a fine layer on things inside the apartment.

Luckily, neither one of us have allergies, although Brenda has been a little more bothered by it than me. The upside is that it won't last but another week or so, and it won't normally be this bad. We went like two weeks without rain, so even the locals were saying it was worse than normal because of that.

At any rate, we're back to the seventies and low-eighties this week, so our weather should be fairly similar to Ohio, at least for a little while.

In other news, I've been super busy on a project at work that I can't really post here. But let's say it's a major company that you all know :) One of our developers is relocating to Florida, but will be working remotely. It's a bummer, but the upside is I get her office. Hopefully a trip to Ikea will follow to make it more homey.

The Final Four games are in Atlanta this weekend. So we're not planning on venturing out too far, as traffic will be a real drag. There are not only the games, but big concerts, a baseball game and a hockey game all going on this weekend. No way I'm getting close to downtown.

I'm also planning on learning the art of stop-motion animation (or at least giving it a shot). I've been doing a lot of research on it, and bought a book from the studio that does Wallace & Gromit. Don't know if I'll actually do much with it, but I hope to do some test shots soon to see if I have the patience to do it.

That's about it for now. Not much else going on. Work all day. Work in the evening. Watch some TV. Repeat.

Ninety Degrees In March?

2007-03-25T06:45:00.000-04:00

It may actually happen today. Apparently the highest temp in Atlanta in March since 1926. We'll see. The rest of the week should be high seventies to low eighties, so still pretty pleasant spring weather here. Plus, our pool opened yesterday!

See ya, Rich

2007-03-11T18:26:00.000-04:00

I was pretty shocked today to learn that Richard Jeni, one of my favorite comedians ever, committed suicide today. I just can hardly believe it, but in the industry, it seems the best and brightest sometimes burn out the quickest. They still haven't "officially" ruled it suicide, so a part of me kinda wonders if this is Phil Hartman all over again (ie, the girlfriend shot him).

Only time will tell. But either way, if you've never seen one of Richard Jeni's HBO shows, I urge you to find one any way you can and watch it ('Platypus Man' is my favorite). You'll thank me.

Richard Jeni

2007-03-11T18:20:00.000-04:00

We Visit Titanic

2007-03-03T19:25:00.000-05:00

We've been in Atlanta for almost three months now, and today we finally got to go to the Titanic Artifact Exhibition. It's being held at the Atlanta Civic Center until May. We've already missed two shows from waiting until the last minute, Cirque Du Soleil and Spamalot, so I'm really glad we got to see this.

When you get started, you're given your ticket, which is actually your "boarding pass". On the back is the name of a passenger aboard the Titanic. You learn their age, where they're from, who they are travelling with, what cabin they're in, their reason for being on the Titanic, and some interesting facts about them. You're told you're this passenger for the tour, and you'll find out at the end whether you survived. So not morbid at all.

My passenger's name was Mr. Emil Brandeis, who is 48 and travelling alone, having boarded the Titanic in Cherbourg, France. He is returning home after his annual four-month trip to Europe, where he visited his niece in Italy and his sister in Switzerland. He is from Omaha, Nebraska, owns a department store, and must be rather wealthy, as he is a first class passenger.

Brenda's passenger is Mrs. Maria Penasco from Spain, 22, who is travelling with her husband Victor and a servant. They also boarded at Cherbourg and are extending their two-year honeymoon with a transatlantic voyage on Titanic.

We then were given these nifty gadgets that looked like the combination of a long remote control and a telephone. Every so often, you'd punch in a code shown on the wall, hold it to your ear, and hear some narrated facts. Pretty cool.

The exhibit was very well done and put together. From an attraction standpoint, it was top-notch. There were a lot of really nice artifacts on display, some huge, some tiny. Everything was enclosed in one-inch-thick glass cases that all had humidity and temperature sensors in them. I can't imagine the difficulty in preserving pieces like those.

The thing that struck me the most is how hard it is to wrap your head around the fact that these are not replicas. What you're looking at was actually at the bottom of the cold, black North Atlantic, 12,500 feet down. Before these pieces were recovered, the last people to touch them were passengers or crew on the Titanic, who may or may not have survived. It's pretty eerie.

A highlight of the tour is "the big piece", which is a 17-ton portion of the ship's hull, complete with 3 portholes. What's interesting is they show you a diagram of the ship and where the piece was located. When seeing it in that scale, you start to get an idea just how gigantic the Titanic was. It's also interesting that it took over two years to prepare and preserve the Big Piece for display.

The also have a big iceberg mockup, actually made of ice. They have you feel it so you can actually get a feeling for how unbelievably cold the water was that night. I can't even imagine the feeling.

I could go on and on, but long story short, it was well worth it. And unfortunately, Mr. Brandeis, my passenger, did not survive. Brenda's did, however, but her husband did not. It's an interesting and effective way to make the whole thing a little more real.

At any rate, if any of y'all make it down before May, we'll gladly take you to see it if you want :)

We Picked A Good Winter

2007-02-14T18:25:00.000-05:00

...to head down south. Just uploaded some photos Mom sent of about an inch of ice on the trees up there. Jason also posted some pics of ice damage in Cincinnati. Boy, I don't miss that kind of thing at all. Snow's pretty and everything, but I hated shovelling it and hated driving in it even more.

It's back to being in the low-thirties in the morning and mid-forties in the afternoon here. But last week we had a couple days in the high sixties, so you can never tell.

What Does Burned Kitty Fur Smell Like?

2007-02-12T18:45:00.000-05:00

If you were here last night, you'd have found out. Picture it. Salem casually walking past the fireplace. Suddenly, its thermostat kicks on and the flame ignites.

Salem jumps away, startled, but is strangely intrigued. What is this glowing thing? It feels so warm and cozy and I can't look away. Maybe I'll get a little closer. Hmm, that chain thing is open just enough for a paw to fit through. I'll just reach on in and......SWEETMERCIFULCRAP!!!

Long story short, Salem got babied for a while and the place smelled funny for a couple hours. No harm done.

Stupid cat.

One of the Best Mac Ads Ever

2007-02-12T18:30:00.000-05:00

One of the latest Mac ads is absolutely brilliant, and hysterical. It's poking fun at Windows Vista, but if you've used Windows XP for any amount of time, it will still sound familiar.

Funniest Super Bowl Ad

2007-02-04T19:02:00.000-05:00

This was by far the funniest ad of the night:

MurrayCam

2007-02-04T13:58:00.000-05:00

MurrayCam Is Online

2007-02-04T12:52:00.000-05:00

Okay, if this isn't the ultimate in geekery, I don't know what is. The other day I bought a network webcam for like forty bucks on Woot. I figured, what the heck. But what to do with this new gadget?

The obvious (at least to me) answer was...the MurrayCam. Now I, or anyone else, can look in on Murray during daylight hours and see what she's up to (or not up to, as is usually the case).

As usual, Brenda hates this new piece of gadgetry and will most likely cover it up any time she enters the sun room. Let's all help her feel okay about this :)

Minor bugs aside, I'll try to keep the cam running and see where this goes.

My New Office

2007-01-24T16:57:00.000-05:00

Just thought I'd post a few pics of where I'm working now. Cool Blue is located in what's known as "Midtown" Atlanta, which is just north of downtown (I still don't know where one stops and the other begins). I've not really explored much yet, but I drive through this neat shopping/residential area called Atlantic Station. It has a lot of stores including Ikea, a theatre, Publix grocery and a Target is coming soon. But more importantly than all that....a Starbucks is coming soon! I can't wait.

I Gotta Vibe

2007-01-20T18:26:00.000-05:00

I got my new car today! It's a 2006 Pontiac Vibe. I'd really been wanting a Toyota Matrix, but the Vibe is essentially the same car. And Consumer Reports rated them both really high. It's a gray "wagon", but without the fake wood paneling. It looks nice outside, but the interior, specifically the dash is really high-tech looking.

The gauges are all completely digital, and really bright. I just think that's the bomb. I also got excited to see it showed the outside temperature. Hey, I've never had that before. Another cool feature is the dual power ports. One is a traditional cigarette lighter style, and one is a 115v AC outlet that you could plug a laptop or something into. And speaking of laptops, the passenger seat folds forward flat, and you can use its back as a tabletop work area.

The back seat is surprisingly roomy, Even with the driver's seat in my normal driving position, I can sit in the back seat without my knees even touching the back of the seat. The cargo area is decent, but both backseats fold down for more storage.

There's also lots of little things that excite me. Stuff like the headlights knowing when to go on and off, the automatic daytime running lights, fog lights, the doors lock when you put it into gear, etc.

Oh, and the radio is pretty cool. Apparently, radio stations can broadcast artist and song data in their signal. I had no idea. This radio can pick that up, if it's there. Obviously it's unlikely the stations in the Mid-Ohio Valley have this, but the station we listen to down here, daveFM, does. Kinda sucks the stereo doesn't have an auxiliary jack for my iPod like the van, but oh well.

Ah, the minivan. Boy, I'm going to miss that thing. Good times. Brenda always hated it, but it's been a great car and served us well. Carmax is giving us $1,200 for it, which is great. I just can't sell it to them until I get a new title to replace the one Murray took a bite out of (long story).

At any rate, we now both have reliable, safe vehicles. You all can sleep at night now :)

Zoom, zoom.

2007-01-14T15:26:00.000-05:00

With Brenda's new job, we had to get another car quick. Really quick. So yesterday we went to a GIANT car lot called Carmax and got a 2005 Ford Focus. It's a great little car for a pretty decent price. And just to be safe, we did buy the additional 3-year warranty which covers us for nearly anything.

We still can't get over having such a new car. When I bought the minivan in 1999 it was already six years old!

Next step is to trade the van and get me something newer (and smaller). Fortunately, the van is still doing fine, so I can take my time finding what I want. I still really want a Toyota Matrix, but when Carmax gets them, they fly off the lot.

Working Girl

2007-01-08T18:24:00.000-05:00

Good news! Brenda got a new job today! As I mentioned earlier, she had a callback from the treatment center here in Norcross. She basically just sat down and they offered her the job.

So to sum all this up, a year-and-a-half looking for a job in Marietta. Five weeks in Atlanta. What a shock.

So needless to say, with both of us having "real" jobs now, the car search just went into high gear. Hopefully by this weekend we can visit some dealers.

And by the way, my first day at Cool Blue went rather well. I even spent a few hours doing real work. Hopefully they'll be okay with me posting some pics of the offices.

More Job Type News

2007-01-04T20:27:00.000-05:00

Potentially good news, Brenda is going back for a second interview with the treatment center here in Norcross. They apparently already hired someone, but they've gotten permission to hire one more, and they wanted Brenda to come back. Let's all keep our fingers crossed.

Oh, and by the way, I'm starting my new job on Monday! After a lot of gut-wrenching debate and weighing all the pros and cons, I decided to accept the job offer from Cool Blue Interactive. Many thanks to everyone that's been supportive and given me much-needed advice in the last couple weeks. I really believe this is a great move for us and will really get me off to a good start in the Atlanta market.

As for FireBox Studios, it's not going away. The main focus will be to finish all ongoing jobs as soon as possible. It's going to be a lot of evening work, but it's got to be done. And after that, I'll still do some freelance work, but I'll be able to pick and choose. Or not do any at all, who knows.

Now let's see how well I adjust to getting up early every day :)

My New Favorite Restaurant

2007-01-04T20:18:00.000-05:00

Last night Brenda and I went out to return a pair of slippers to Kohls. That's all. That one simple task turned into trips to Kohls, Petsmart and CompUSA. We both got new coats at Kohls, which pretty much wrapped up the last of our Christmas cash. I also finally found a decent wireless usb adapter at CompUSA for my powerbook.

So after all that, we figured we'd grab a bite, and there is a Dave & Busters right across from Kohls (where there is also a Hobby Lobby, Super Target, Circuit City, Costco and some other stuff). I knew nothing of Dave and Busters, other than it was a restaurant. That's an understatement.

Remember the good ole days of Showbiz Pizza? Big animatronic singing gorillas, pizzas and video games? Well imagine that times ten...only with a bar.

First, the place is HUGE. And it's divided into several distinct areas like a billiard room, bar, dining room, party room and a giant arcade "midway". This is the coolest arcade I've been to in a long time. Maybe ever. Half of it is skill games like skeeball and basketball throws. The other half are regular video games. And not crappy ones, either. Some really cool stuff.

We both ordered meal combos that each came with a $10 game card. With it, you get the equivalent of 48 tokens. You just walk up to a game and swipe the card, and it will tell you your remaining balance. How cool is that? Brenda got in a lot of skeeball time, and I made the rounds on the video games. By the time we ran out of credit, we'd been there like two hours.

Oh, and the food was really good too. Definitely going back soon, and will gladly take anyone that wants to come down for a visit :)

Dave and Busters

2007-01-04T20:08:00.000-05:00

Star Wars in the Rose Parade

2007-01-02T05:00:00.000-05:00

Star Wars floats in yesterday's Rose Parade. I can't believe Star Wars is having its 30th anniversary. I remember seeing it for the first time at a drive-in in 1977 in the pouring rain. Good times :)

Holy Moon Rocks!

2006-12-31T11:13:00.000-05:00

Jason Huck just emailed me this photo and I had to post it. It features me (far right) and Jason Huck (in the orange "Gag me with a spoon" shirt) posing with some moon rocks that were visiting Watertown Elementary School for some reason. The fifth-and-sixth grade teacher, Mrs Crane, is on the far left.

I have no idea what year this was, but if it was Mrs Crane's class, I'd guess it was about 1983 or 1984. Also, dig my cool "Raiders of the Lost Ark" shirt :)

Costco Uses Zune Boxes To Sell iPods

2006-12-31T06:10:00.000-05:00

Costco actually found a use for the new Microsoft Zune player :)

read more | digg story

Back From Ohio

2006-12-30T10:13:00.000-05:00

Well, it was a very busy four days, but we're back safe from Christmas in Ohio. We set out as early as possible on Saturday the 23rd, but had to drop the animals off at the vet's at 8:30. That took a while, so we didn't get on the road until almost nine (after our first brief stop at Starbucks).

The weather and traffic were pretty good, and we got into Marietta a little after 6pm. We swung by the old house on Scammel and they had some decorations on the front porch that looked pretty nice. Brenda exclaimed "There's someone living in my house!" Still taking some getting used to.

Next stop was Kelly and Julie's for some pizza and cookies. Wish we could've stayed longer, but glad we had a chance to visit for a while. Then on to Brenda's mom's to crash for our first night.

Next day, we went in to Grandma Jones' to hang out for a while, and luckily John, Debbie and the kids were still there. Had a nice visit and got to see the new desk for Grandma we all chipped in for. It's going to be pretty cool. Later that evening we went to the annual McCutcheon shindig where we probably told our Atlanta story a half-dozen times at least. Good food as usual.

Christmas day we unwrapped presents at Watertown. I got my usual "toys" (movies, games, etc) and Brenda got some good stuff, plus a dressmaking form she'd been wanting. Now I don't have to model dresses anymore (kidding).

Then on to Zanesville for more unwrapping and dinner, which was pretty casual, sandwiches and chili. We got some much-needed gift cards and some other stuff. Donnie and I put together his new racetrack and had a bunch of fun breaking that in. Then we spent the next two nights in Newark, with dinner Tuesday back in Zanesville after a Kohls shopping spree.

Then back on the road for home at 5:30am Wednesday. We got into a couple spots of traffic on the way down, so it seemed to take forever. We just barely made it to the vet's with time to spare without having to pay for an extra day. They were definitely glad to see us.

So all in all, I think we all had a good Christmas, other than feeling like we were in the car the whole time. Small price to pay to be home for the holidays. I'd love to come back for New Year's, but the van needs a rest :) I definitely can see the appeal of flying up every other visit, though.

I really didn't take many photos, but you can see some here. Oh, and this year I finally got photos of Brenda's Aunt Connie's decorations, inside and out. They really are amazing.

Happy New Year!

Monster Cookies!

2006-12-16T14:20:00.000-05:00

Brenda spent almost all day today making a batch of monster cookies (hey, I made lunch).

It's weird but somehow as long as we've got monster cookies for Christmas, it feels like home :)

New Phonebooks

2006-12-16T14:19:00.000-05:00

Okay, so that phone book we get in Marietta has no right to call itself "The Big Book". Take a look at our phonebooks down here!

New Furniture!

2006-12-16T14:18:00.000-05:00

After two weeks of sitting on lawn chairs, sleeping on an air mattress, and endless runarounds from Bank of America (long story), we FINALLY got some furniture!

We got a couch and recliner for the living room and a mattress/box spring set from Rooms To Go.

The living room furniture is nice because it's really sturdy microfiber and we paid a little more to have them stain-proofed. So it's all pretty pet-friendly. It's also a slightly smaller scale than what we had before, since we have less room.

Now we just need a coffee table, dresser, night stands and a couple miscellaneous other things and we'll be done. Hopefully we'll get to Ikea soon for some stuff.

Another Job Update

2006-12-16T14:12:00.000-05:00

Last Friday I got a job offer from a local web firm. While taking a salaried job was not necessarily my intention, the offer is pretty decent and comes with good benefits. Plus 10 days vacation and 7 paid holidays. I like the company and its president a lot, and I'm seriously considering this. We're still negotiating on the price a bit, but if things can be hashed out to my liking, I may just accept it.

Going to be a very hard decision to take another salaried job again. There are many upsides, but it's hard to give up something you've worked so hard on for the last few years. But then again, change of pace is what this move was all about.

Unfortunately, the clinic did not call on Friday to say whether or not Brenda got that job. I have to think there could be any number of reasons why, not necessarily that she didn't get the job. We're still optimistic, but there are many more where that came from.

Updates on the Job Front

2006-12-09T05:34:00.000-05:00

Brenda had a pretty promising job interview yesterday with a clinic here in Norcross. At the time she'd be going to work, traffic would be nill, and she'd get there in less than ten minutes. They have two other interviews to do, and will be making a decision by next Friday. So it's pins and needles for a while longer.

I also had a meeting yesterday with Cool Blue Interactve. It was mostly a get-to-know-you meeting and I was given a tour of the offices and met some of their people. They seem pretty cool so far. The president took me to lunch at this great little Italian restaurant in Midtown.

We're having another meeting next week where I'll discuss in more detail the work that I've done and give them a chance to ask more technical questions. However, he basically came right out and said he'd have an offer ready for me.

Now what that exactly means, I don't know. But he wants to make some decisions very soon and was trying to gauge my interest in a number of options. I told him I was open to hearing anything, and I think he deduced that hearing an actual offer would be more helpful. If it's too good to pass up, I may take it. But it's not like I don't have work. I've got about three open jobs and just landed another CVB (Zanesville) and one more soon (Parkersburg).

Will post more on the subject as things come up.

'Get Fuzzy' Rocks

2006-12-05T18:52:00.000-05:00

I don't normally re-post things like this, but this strip was in our Atlanta Saturday paper this weekend and I laughed out loud for like five minutes. Maybe you have to have cats to appreciate it, but it tickled me.

Moving Wrap-Up

2006-12-05T18:38:00.000-05:00

Well, today marks the end of our fourth full day in Atlanta (Norcross to be exact). The brief version is that things are going very well and we're looking forward to the future. For those with nothing better to do, continue reading below:

After spending what seemed like weeks packing, taking stuff to storage and throwing stuff away we finally made it to moving day. We rented a truck on November 30th and loaded it up. Brenda and I did all the loading with the exception of my computer desk and other furniture (Thanks George!). We also had to take Brenda's car to her mom's, as we decided to leave it behind for now. Even though I'd just put over $500 into it, we doubted it would make the trip. So with that, we ended up working until 12:30am.

Alarm went off at 6:30am and we still had some things to load into the truck. By the time we finished, had all the animals rounded up, stopped for coffee and hit the ATM, it was almost 9am before we got on the interstate. Much later than we'd planned. Murray rode with me in the truck and each cat had its own carrier with Brenda in the van. I think I got the better end of the deal :)

For the first couple hours we were hit with some major rain. I mean blinding, slow-down-to-twenty-five type rain. To make matters worse, I'd left Murray's window open about 5 inches. And the truck cab was too wide for me to reach over and shut it. So Murray got drenched and we both had to smell wet puppy for miles. Luckily the rain lifted and I was able to dry things off at the first rest stop.

After that, we didn't have any more rain, but high winds hit us the entire way down. That's bad enough in a minivan, but quite a battle with a fifteen-foot truck.

While it only took us about 8.5 hours to drive down last year in the van, this time it took about twelve hours. This was due to driving a big, slow truck, plus having to stop pretty often for Murray to get out. The original plan was to leave Marietta by 6 or 7am so we'd hit Atlanta by 4 or 5pm (ie, before dark). No dice. It was 9:30pm when we pulled into the complex. So I ended up having to drive that truck about four hours in the dark, which was the main thing I wanted to avoid.

All the way down we were able to talk to each other with walkie-talkies. And Brenda was able to help me change lanes from behind me. That got a LOT harder at night, as I couldn't distinguish the minivan from any other vehicle on the four-lane highway. My hands were killing me from white-knuckling the steering wheel. But no mishaps, and I'm really proud of getting everything down here by ourselves.

That first night, it was all we could do to find the energy to inflate the air mattress and pass out. But starting the next morning we we've been unpacking pretty much most of each day. Took us until Sunday to totally unload the truck, as we're on the second floor and we were doing it by ourselves. We decided early on we weren't going to rush it. Never been so happy as when I dropped off that truck Monday morning :)

So far, we've gotten quite a lot done. My office is taking shape and everything is up and running so I can start getting work done again. The kitchen is all set up and we made our first grocery run yesterday. We'd never been to a Publix store before, but it was pretty nice. Yesterday I also set up a new stand for the tv and stuff. Hopefully soon we'll be going to look at living room furniture and beds. Oh, and we actually put up a Christmas tree today.

On the job front, I'm still trying to schedule a meeting with a local firm, just hard to get times to line up. I also just got another quote request from the Parkersburg tourist bureau. Pretty cool, as they knew ahead of time I was leaving for Atlanta, and they still want me to quote the job.

Oh, and Brenda has a job interview on Friday! It's a treatment center here in Norcross. Everyone keep your fingers crossed!

I may update this post later if I realize I've left out anything newsworthy. But probably will try to stick to short updates as things come up. And as in the other post, you can check out our photos here.

Moving Photos

2006-12-05T18:05:00.000-05:00

Working on posting a full update, but in the meantime, you can see a bunch of photos on my Flickr account by going here.

New Contact Info

2006-11-30T15:40:00.000-05:00

As I write this, we've both been working non-stop packing and cleaning and loading the truck since about 9am. We're exhausted to say the least. Anyhoo, we'll be leaving as early as possible tomorrow morning and wanted to post our new address and phone number:

3100 River Exchange Drive, Apt #624
Norcross, GA 30092

770.729.8062

You can also still reach my cell at 740.350.0987. I'll post something as soon as I can when we've arrived!

Moving Update

2006-11-19T10:57:00.000-05:00

It's official. The house is sold, and we'll be leaving for Atlanta December 1st. Actually, we had our first offer on the house about two weeks after listing it. We showed it several times and the first offer was from a young couple buying their first house. He is a grad student from OU and she works right across the street at the O'Neill Center. Right after that, we even accepted a backup offer. Pretty amazing.

Luckily, the first offer went through without a hitch and we're closing on Monday. Luckily, they've agreed to let us stay until December 2nd, as we can't get into our apartment until the 1st. Our new apartment is all paid for and we've almost gotten all the utilities squared away.

Turns out we can't get DSL internet there, according to Bellsouth. I think they're nuts, but I have to take their word for it. So cable internet will have to be good enough. Problem is, Comcast won't let us set up new service because the tenants before us took off leaving an unpaid bill. Wonderful. The rental company is trying to clear it up, so hopefully we'll still be able to get cable shortly after we arrive. Nothing is ever easy, I guess.

We're just glad we'll be able to be here for Thanksgiving, and we'll definitely be coming back for Christmas. Last weekend we rented a truck and moved a ton of stuff to our storage building in Reno. I think we'll rent another one this coming weekend to get the rest in storage. If this experience has taught me anything, it's that we accumulate way too much stuff. It's nice to be scaling back for a while.

On the job front, things are looking pretty good. I already signed my first Atlanta client and there are some nice looking prospects on the horizon. Plus, I've got two other firms down there wanting to talk to me. While I'm still planning on running my business as usual, if someone offers me something I can't refuse, I'll have to consider it. Brenda has started sending out resumes and should be able to get some interviews lined up in December. So overall things are looking really good.

Reaction to our move has been pretty positive. None of my clients seem to have a real problem with it, although they're sorry to see us leave. But across the board, everyone agrees there's nothing here job-wise and we're making the right decision.

Oh yeah, we got Salem fixed and declawed last week. What a hoot that's been. Turns out she had a one-inch cyst on an ovary, which is probably why she always seemed to be in heat. The jury is still out as to whether this will mellow her any. Let's hope so. But it sure is funny seeing her with that cone on her head :)

More updates as they come up.

Cylon Jack-O-Lantern

2006-10-25T20:16:00.000-04:00

Wow. Someone has posted instructions for making this wicked cool Cylon jack-o-lantern, complete with oscillating LED eyes. If this didn't look so darn complicated, I'd love to try it.

Okay, maybe I still will :)

PS: In case you're confused right now, Cylons were the shiny robot badguys from the Battlestar Galactica TV show of the late seventies.

Let The Games Begin

2006-10-25T20:03:00.000-04:00

Well, our house has been listed for about a week now and things seem to be going okay so far. Frankly, our past experience selling a house was comparable to a root canal with a jackhammer, but we're pretty confident this time around.

So far we've had two showings. The first one was a realtor tour where about seven agents looked at the house. Everyone feels the house shows well and the price is perfect. And later that day, we had the house shown to an out-of-town buyer. Unfortunately they passed because of the small yard. We had another showing scheduled this week but they canceled at the last minute.

Today they came and took some 360-degree panoramas, which turned out nice, even though they don't seem to work on a Mac. By the way, the web developer in me can't help but point out that Cranston's site totally sucks, but I could be biased.

We're still planning on going back down to Atlanta sometime early in November to look around again and check out apartments one more time. I also will have a meeting with a guy from another web firm down there that seems fairly interested in me. Whether he wants to offer me a full-time job, freelance work, etc remains to be seen. But he's also not ruling out buying FireBox as a way to get me on board. Sounds like he's serious, but I'm keeping all doors open.

I'm including some photos of the apartment complex we looked at last year. They're soooo nice, and sooooo unlike anything we have up here. Gated community with a pool, exercise room, car wash and areas to walk dogs. We'll also be allowed to take all the pets. Each apartment has nine-foot ceilings, fireplaces and patios. We liked it a lot, but our final destination may depend on where we end up working. This place I mentioned above is in Midtown, which is under fifteen miles from Norcross, but we'll have to see what the traffic is like. The good news is that most places do 3 or 6-month leases, and there's so much new construction, there are many incentive programs. We've heard of some places offering multiple months free just to move in!

Apartment interior

2006-10-25T19:45:00.001-04:00

Apartment complex exterior

2006-10-25T19:45:00.000-04:00

Georgia On Our Minds

2006-10-09T09:57:00.000-04:00

It's been a year since our initial trip to Atlanta. There still is nothing available for Brenda job-wise, and I feel I've hit the limit of what I can accomplish in Marietta. We've decided it's time to pursue our fortunes elsewhere.

So this is our official announcement that we are indeed moving to Atlanta in the very near future. This is not an impulse decision and not one we've taken lightly. When was the last time you knew either of us to take a year to decide on something? :)

Options for both social work and paralegal jobs in Atlanta are abundant, so we're confident Brenda will land something fairly quickly. I still have a colleague down there that may be buying my company and/or hiring me as a developer. But I'm not waiting on him and may have a promising job interview with another firm very soon. I'm not thrilled with the idea of ditching my company, but life is all about changes and new adventures. Neither one of us has been outside Ohio so it's time we do something new while we're still young and don't have to drag a kid out of school.

We're very much hoping our friends and family will understand why we're making this move, as we'll need all the support we can get throughout this transition. And of course, we'll make regular trips back to Ohio for holidays or just for the heck of it. And our door will always be open to anyone wanting to come down, spend some time or hit a Braves game.

One of the main obstacles right now is selling our house. We have a lead on a realtor that might want to buy it as a rental property, which would be great and save us the commission. But if anyone reading this is interested, or can pass it along to someone wanting to live downtown, let us know. I'd like to walk away with a couple thousand bucks, but we're not looking to make huge money on a sale. The next few weeks will be a major purge of everything we won't want to take to Atlanta, so we might be having a sale, or just taking everything to goodwill. This includes most of our furniture. So if you've ever had your eye on anything, now's the time to speak up :)

Hopefully we've eased enough people into this idea over the past year so that it's not a complete and total shock. We just want everyone to understand why we're taking this step and continue to support us through this new phase.

More soon!

We Have A Patio!

2006-08-22T13:31:00.000-04:00

After three years of "getting around to it", we finally have a new patio. For those that don't know, when we bought this house, there was this craptastic concrete pad off the carport. It was really awful and they clearly just dumped concrete in it. Seriously, there were like bricks and branches and all kinds of things they just poured concrete over.

So a couple months ago I had someone finally bust up that pad and it was a couple months before we had the money to do a new patio. The first plan was to do the whole thing ourselves. That went out the window pretty fast. Next, we were going to just hire someone to do the prep work, digging the base and laying the gravel, etc. But the difference between having them do that and doing the entire thing was two hundred bucks. So I decided to just hand the whole thing over to someone else.

And boy am I glad I did. The first day into their work I realized doing this right is not easy and I surely would've botched it. I'm pretty happy with the results, which are 10 times better than I could've done. And kudos for the landscapers, as I'm sure they cursed this project more than once. This is an old house, and even though the patio is square, nothing about the house is. So they really had to get creative to make certain things work.

Next challenge, get some grass to grow!

2006 TIGAR Award

2006-08-15T16:49:00.000-04:00

Brenda Gets A Logo

2006-08-15T16:44:00.001-04:00

Brenda now has a logo to go with her new jewelry and accessory venture. We've also designed business cards and her full website will go up as soon as her genius husband can find time to build it. More soon...