Yes, to those who don't already know, we are with child. I slapped a "Baby On Board" sticker on Julie's tummy. The news has been out since early August, but as is my nature, I'm only now posting something about it on this blog.
Anyways, everything is going good so far. Julie's been pretty nauseous and has had the all-day "morning" sickness. Everyone tells us that that should end when she's about 14 weeks along, which is in a week or two, I think. The other night we had to stop along a country road because she had to throw up. It was very windy and I did my best to hold her hair back. We (especially Julie) are ready for that part to end! She has been very strong though, and is taking whatever that baby throws at her like a champ.
Other than the nausea, our mood has overall been very optimistic and every day the anticipation builds. 10 years ago, at age 26, I don't think I would've been mentally ready to be a good father. I was way more immature then than I am now... And I don't know that anyone is ever fully ready, you just try to do your best, I'm told.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Sequoia National Park
Back in February, while we were still in California, we took a Valentine/birthday (mine) trip to Sequoia National Park. It's about 5 hours north of Camarillo. This post is very late, but I wanted to put it on here anyway because it was such an awesome trip, and the pictures are cool too.
I forgot to mention that this was a surprise trip, planned by Julie. She knew that I wanted to see the Big Trees before we moved back home, but I didn't think we'd have time. The day before we were to go, she informed me that we were going somewhere for the weekend, but she wouldn't say where, and that I would need my winter boots and warm clothes. She then sent me on a mysterious trip to Napa Auto Parts to pick up something she bought, which remained a surprise until I picked it up. It ended up being snow chains for our tires. This sparked my curiosity - "Where are we going in California that we're gonna need boots and snow chains?"
Julie got a great deal on a room at the Wuksachi Lodge, which is right up in the mountains in the midst of the park. The elevation is 6500 ft., so there was a lot of snow, 7 ft. in fact, which is why they require snow tires. The road was only icy and snowy about 10% of the time, but you REALLY needed the chains that 10%! It was very winding and curvy and steep in several spots.
I don't use the term breathtaking lightly, but when we entered the area of the park where the Big Trees are, that word fit. Big trees here in Ohio are like twigs compared to Sequoias. You can't imagine that trees can get that big, but there they were. The biggest one is named General Sherman. They say that the width at the base of the tree is as wide as 3 lines on a freeway. Words don't it justice. Neither do pictures, really, but here are some anyway:
So, the trip was awesome. Oh, we also saw a coyote and a lynx...
more pics on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/camarillohillbillies/sets/72157603490668631/
Monday, July 7, 2008
The article my wife did not want me to see...
http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2008/07/07/splurging-is-good-for-your-health/?mod=yhoofront
I've been right all these years! And I have the debt to prove it!
I've been right all these years! And I have the debt to prove it!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Sorry
I realize that my lack of updating seems to frustrate and bore some of you quite a bit. For that I'm sorry. I don't know why I forget to post all the exciting things that go on in our lives everyday. Thank you for reminding me every time you comment that I need to update more often, it really helps. I guess our life is TOO exciting - no time to sit at the computer for hours every night. So in this post I'll try to list some of the things that have been keeping us busy and I'm sure everyone will find them very fascinating:
-Today is Unlimited Trash Day, so I got up a little early and took out all our trash, including our old bed. Soon after that I walked the dogs.
-Last night Julie made a pot roast, and the Ayers' joined us for supper. Afterwards, craziness ensued - ice cream and Pictionary!
-Tuesday I went to Okolona Tavern and ate great chicken wings.
-We got a printer the other day. Get this - it also is a copier AND scanner! Crazy!
-On Sunday we went to my boss's daughter's wedding.
-Yesterday Loretta got her nails clipped. A couple of them bled, which was unfortunate, but exciting.
-The other day I did some more painting in the bathroom. Also hung some pictures on the wall.
-Today I came to work, which is something exciting I generally do, oh, every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday or so.
-Last Friday I mowed the lawn, which was awesome because it was starting to get REALLY long. And luckily it rained that night, so I got it done just in time! I'm always lucking out like that!
-Last week I fell asleep on the couch watching a movie... again! Julie laughed.
That's all I can think of right now. Tomorrow my plans are to make a sandwich for lunch. I'll post an update on how that turns out.
Stay tuned for more excitement....
-Today is Unlimited Trash Day, so I got up a little early and took out all our trash, including our old bed. Soon after that I walked the dogs.
-Last night Julie made a pot roast, and the Ayers' joined us for supper. Afterwards, craziness ensued - ice cream and Pictionary!
-Tuesday I went to Okolona Tavern and ate great chicken wings.
-We got a printer the other day. Get this - it also is a copier AND scanner! Crazy!
-On Sunday we went to my boss's daughter's wedding.
-Yesterday Loretta got her nails clipped. A couple of them bled, which was unfortunate, but exciting.
-The other day I did some more painting in the bathroom. Also hung some pictures on the wall.
-Today I came to work, which is something exciting I generally do, oh, every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday or so.
-Last Friday I mowed the lawn, which was awesome because it was starting to get REALLY long. And luckily it rained that night, so I got it done just in time! I'm always lucking out like that!
-Last week I fell asleep on the couch watching a movie... again! Julie laughed.
That's all I can think of right now. Tomorrow my plans are to make a sandwich for lunch. I'll post an update on how that turns out.
Stay tuned for more excitement....
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Happy Anniversary to Us
Julie and I have been married 2 years today! Here's a line from a poem by my friend Lenny Miller that works very well for this occasion : "Life goes fast, so love me slow."
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
To those who check this and wonder why there are so few posts, here's an update. Since we moved back here from CA, there has been so much going on. Niece's softball games, nephew's soccer games, visiting friends we haven't seen in awhile... And we've been going through my dad's stuff, figuring out what to do with everything, cleaning, AND buying his house. Yes, Julie and I have just bought our first house, and even though it's the one I grew up in, it has a new feel to it, and not just because we're doing a wee bit of remodeling. Now that it's OURS, it's taken on a new meaning to me. We're re-doing the bathroom, and putting in some new flooring throughout and repainting. It takes a lot of time to pick out all that stuff. It's serious! I'll post some before and after pics soon, hopefully in the next decade or so...
The other reason I don't update as often is because we don't have internet access at home yet. I'm writing this at work right now (don't tell my boss). We should have it soon though. Until then, peace.
The other reason I don't update as often is because we don't have internet access at home yet. I'm writing this at work right now (don't tell my boss). We should have it soon though. Until then, peace.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
David C. Weber 1939-2008
I'm finally getting around to my first post from our new home in Archbold. Things have been very busy since we left Camarillo, with the move and settling in and taking care of necessities and all that. And... for those who haven't heard, my father died while we were on our way home from CA to Ohio. He'd had a lot of health trouble for the last 8 or 9 years now (diabetes, kidney disease, heart trouble), and had been close to death quite a few times. In fact, he collapsed at my niece's basketball game last year and was actually dead for about a minute, but a nurse happened to be near him (amongst other people who helped) and she performed CPR and brought him back. So in a way, we'd been prepared for him to go anytime. The possibility is always in the back of your mind, when your father's health is so unstable. Whenever I would talk with him I'd say to myself, "Will this be the last time?"
Here's what happened: He had gone to dialysis that day, which he did three times a week, and the nurse found that his port, which was implanted in his left arm, was clogged. The port is where they hook up the machine to his vein to do the dialysis. This had happened a few times before and was a pretty much routine operation to fix. He would just go in the hospital and they would unclog the port. Well, this time they think one of the clots made it into his lungs or brain and he had a stroke. The weird thing is, he had told my sister who drove him to the hospital that if anything happened, he didn't want to be resuscitated or put on life support. And so he wasn't.
They did an autopsy, but we still haven't received the official results so the actual cause of death is still unknown.
Julie and I were in New Mexico when my sister Jackie called me crying and told me the news. She's a nurse herself and doesn't cry easy, so before she said what happened, I knew. Even though we'd been prepared for it, in a way, it's still shocking, and it made the rest of the trip home very surreal. The details of the drive from that point on are somewhat hazy for me. We still had 2 1/2 more days to drive at that point. I think I'm still a bit shocked. I just can't get used to my Dad being gone, despite all the "preparation" we've had. Death is simply an unnatural thing. It shouldn't happen. I don't believe God intended for it to be a fact of life. But to my Dad, it's no longer a mystery, and he's no longer miserable or in pain.
Whenever we get together with my sisters, I'll think for a split second that we need to call my dad and tell him to join us, just out of habit. But as it was after my Mom died, we'll gradually get used to it.
As his son, I've thought a lot about him and our relationship over the years, trying to figure him out. He could be grumpy and negative, and sometimes a little too opinionated, old fashioned and/or narrow minded. But I, and a select few other people, knew that he was also a very gentle and sentimental softy. A lot of people (his dialysis nurses, bank tellers, among others) told us at the funeral that Dad had been a little bit like a father or even grandfather figure to them. He was very honest, and you knew where he stood on things, sometimes more than you'd have liked to know. And I was thinking the other day that, for all his faults, I have never been ashamed of him. I know a lot of people that can't say that. He was always faithful to my mother, he was honest and trustworthy in his business dealings, and he remembered kindnesses. Some of the things we learned from him was the importance of being honorable and truthful to your family and other people. Like everyone, he had some hurt and maybe even regret in his life, but he didn't always process it in the most positive way. But we knew that he loved us and that we were the most important things in his life. He couldn't say that about his own father unfortunately.
Here are some pictures of my Dad that remind me of good times: http://www.flickr.com/photos/camarillohillbillies/sets/72157604148314696/
Here's what happened: He had gone to dialysis that day, which he did three times a week, and the nurse found that his port, which was implanted in his left arm, was clogged. The port is where they hook up the machine to his vein to do the dialysis. This had happened a few times before and was a pretty much routine operation to fix. He would just go in the hospital and they would unclog the port. Well, this time they think one of the clots made it into his lungs or brain and he had a stroke. The weird thing is, he had told my sister who drove him to the hospital that if anything happened, he didn't want to be resuscitated or put on life support. And so he wasn't.
They did an autopsy, but we still haven't received the official results so the actual cause of death is still unknown.
Julie and I were in New Mexico when my sister Jackie called me crying and told me the news. She's a nurse herself and doesn't cry easy, so before she said what happened, I knew. Even though we'd been prepared for it, in a way, it's still shocking, and it made the rest of the trip home very surreal. The details of the drive from that point on are somewhat hazy for me. We still had 2 1/2 more days to drive at that point. I think I'm still a bit shocked. I just can't get used to my Dad being gone, despite all the "preparation" we've had. Death is simply an unnatural thing. It shouldn't happen. I don't believe God intended for it to be a fact of life. But to my Dad, it's no longer a mystery, and he's no longer miserable or in pain.
Whenever we get together with my sisters, I'll think for a split second that we need to call my dad and tell him to join us, just out of habit. But as it was after my Mom died, we'll gradually get used to it.
As his son, I've thought a lot about him and our relationship over the years, trying to figure him out. He could be grumpy and negative, and sometimes a little too opinionated, old fashioned and/or narrow minded. But I, and a select few other people, knew that he was also a very gentle and sentimental softy. A lot of people (his dialysis nurses, bank tellers, among others) told us at the funeral that Dad had been a little bit like a father or even grandfather figure to them. He was very honest, and you knew where he stood on things, sometimes more than you'd have liked to know. And I was thinking the other day that, for all his faults, I have never been ashamed of him. I know a lot of people that can't say that. He was always faithful to my mother, he was honest and trustworthy in his business dealings, and he remembered kindnesses. Some of the things we learned from him was the importance of being honorable and truthful to your family and other people. Like everyone, he had some hurt and maybe even regret in his life, but he didn't always process it in the most positive way. But we knew that he loved us and that we were the most important things in his life. He couldn't say that about his own father unfortunately.
Here are some pictures of my Dad that remind me of good times: http://www.flickr.com/photos/camarillohillbillies/sets/72157604148314696/
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