The Graf Family

Catching Up

2008-07-31T16:28:00.000-07:00

It has been a little over a month since the last post, so I figured to write something to keep our audience reading. I would hate to fall into the same habit that we once did and not post for a year(ish), especially when bloggable stuff has happened.

Megan and I began an aunt and uncle again with the birth of Gillian Grace Wood. Megan was in Oklahoma for the birth of the new addition to the Wood's clan and spent a few days with the fam. Little Gillian is definitely the sister of Addie, you have never seen newborns with lips like these girls. I am sure that Megan has photos that she can post (eventually).

Megan has been crazy busy with School, Practicum, Work, and Cares, as you can imagine. Part of what made the last few weeks a little busier than normal was all of the studying for comps. The test was over the last three years of classes and there was a little pressure to do well because if she failed the test, she would have to retake the classes (of the failed section). Megan was told that she failed one section, but under further review it was determined that that was a mistake. She passed all sections and now can graduate! Yeah that was stressful but now all she has to do is finish the classes that she is now taking. Graduation is August 9th.

We were in Oklahoma for Kim Perkins wedding. We got to see some old friends and catch up. It was a blast to see everyone and see what they are up to. Congrats Kimmy and Ty!

Other than that not much has happened, I think. We are just looking forward to August 9th when life will slow down a little bit, just in time for Aug-Oct. travel schedule. We will have a vacation to relax and regenerate right after graduation. Megan family is coming down to Port Aransas, we have a huge 6 bedroom house for all of us...it's going to be sweet.

Until next time...

A look back on the last 31 years...

2008-06-15T16:38:00.000-07:00

As I turn 31, I wanted to take a look back at the 31 years and come up with the 31 best/most memorable days of my life. It is a little long, but take a stroll with me down memory lane (these are in no particular order, except #1).

1. The day Megan married me. This may not need explanation but I'll give you one anyway. This was the day Megan stood up in front of God, her family, friends, even people she had never met, to say that she loved me and wanted to spend her life with me. Pretty amazing if you ask me.
2. The day (and weekend) I got my Jeep stuck in a construction field. It was great 4-wheeling until I buried my Jeep in about 3 ft. of mud. Moral of the story, peer pressure can cost you $2,300 to get out.
3. Going to the Grand Canyon. I have been a few times now and each time it is breath taking. If you have never gone, go.
4. Yankee Stadium. Growing up in NJ, I had the opportunity to go to numerous games in the "house the Ruth built." People dream about going to watch the Yankees in Yankee Stadium, I will have these memories for years to come.
5. Sticking with the baseball theme...Watching Ken Griffey Jr. hit a home run in the Kingdome. Griffey has one of the smoothest strokes in the game (at that time) and I loved getting to see him in the Kingdome before the moved to Safeco Field 2 weeks later.
6. The day I graduated college. Sure may think, "of course that is a good accomplishment," but that is not why...that was (and still is) the only day that I won electronic trivia at B Dubs (or any other bar). I was the smartest person in the building that day.
7. My 6th (or maybe 7th) birthday. Being a child in a single parent family, we were poor, happy, but poor, so we didn't much of what we desired. At that time I must have been talking about wanting a bike. I walked in to our little blue house in Parsippany, NJ to see a black Schwinn BMX bike with a Yellow seat and sweet yellow mag wheels. I will never forget that moment, it was the first time my expectations were ever blown away. I thought if I got a bike it would be a used beater...this may have been the first new anything that I had gotten before...and it was name brand, WHAT!?
8. Buying my first automobile (Thank you Phil). It was a freaking sweet black '87 Jeep Wrangler (the one that got buried in #2). I loved that Jeep, we had good times in that thing.
9. Getting to snowboard at Whistler Blackcomb, BC. This was one place I wanted to ski/snowboard before I died, it was better than I imagined.
10. Our honeymoon in Cozumel. Traveling with Megan and experiencing the island together was a treat; the snorkeling, the food, and the feeling of not having anything to do...spectacular
11. The day I became a Faasse. It wasn't so much that day in particular, but what it brought about. When my mom married Phil it brought a huge change in me. That was the start of me becoming a man. The previous 10 years of my life, I had no real role model, no one to teach me how to work with my hands, how to work hard and not quit, and how to pay attention to detail. The following two years challenged me to grow up, be a man, and to be better than average.
12. The day Mark Milkamp, C-noss, and I drove to STL, but decided to continue on to Oklahoma. We spent less than 24 hours in OK, but it was a memorable trip.
13. Riding through the night on a bus with Chesterfield's Youth Group to Cali, and having my first conversation with Megan. I thought I was so cool and smooth, but all I wanted was for it to never end.
14. Seeing Carvel in Houston for the first time. Megan and I were driving down a busy road going to our bank soon after we moved to Houston. I saw a strip mall with a Carvel and I almost swerved off of the road as I bombarded Megan with all of my childhood memories of Carvel Ice Cream Cakes (all caps cause that work of art should be patented). The one thing I looked forward to every birthday, growing up in NJ, was having a Carvel Ice Cream Cake. When we moved to STL...no Carvel. I went 14 years without a Carvel cake. Megan has gotten me a Carvel cake every year since that day. She knows how much I love those things...I am going to go eat some right now (this is one of the few good things about Texas).
15. The Christmas that I got the G.I. Joe Aircraft Carrier. That was like the Holy Grail of G.I Joe toys...and I got one!
16. Sticking with Christmas...the year I cut the tip of my thumb off trying to open a package with the pocket knife that I just got. Ruined my mom's carpet on Christmas morning...lots of blood.
17. The Christmas Megan got me an Xbox. First of all I never expected that, second of all, she spent way more than she wanted to for a gift, third of all, she hates me and video games. She was incredibly self-less just to see me happy.
18. Our recent trip to New Orleans. The live music was incredible and the city has so much personality.
19. Valentine's Day 2008. Megan piked out and made the dessert and I picked out and made the main course. We both made incredible dishes and just enjoyed each other company over a dinner and a bottle of wine. I loved it.
20. Going to Pearl Harbor. It was extremely somber to hear, and see, the viciousness of war.
21. Chillifest. It was this little thing I started in college all because I wanted a reason to have a shirt that said (a Mark Davis quote), "Are you digging my chilli?" Childish, I know, but we had three good years of Chillifest...and I got my shirt.
22. The birth of my first Nephew, Simeon. By chance I happened to be in town (STL) soon after he was born and it was first experience with a newborn in my family. I love all of nieces and nephews, but Simeon will always be my first. I love you Simbo.
23. If I include Simeon, I will have to include every day that I get to spend with any of my nieces or nephews. Liam, you are amaze with your determination and your abundant knowledge of dinosaurs. Adelyn, your energy, spunk, and verbal skills are enviable (the crazy thing is that you probably understood that sentence). Reuben, you are smarter than you let on, and you definitely march to the beat of your own drum, I love it. Emery Ann, you have the sweetest smiles and you are a thinker, you are always watching...and soon you'll be walking too. And finally, Gillian, I can't wait to meet you!
24. The day I became a Christian. I will never forget that day on the steps to the entrance of the school. I was in Pre-K, it was during after care and Jennifer Tiel said, "Well, have you ever prayed the prayer?" Thank you Jennifer (where ever you are).
25. The day that that prayer became real. God works in wonderful and mysterious ways.
26. The day my sister asked me to walk her down the aisle on her wedding day. One of the last times I have cried too.
27. The day we payed cash for our new (to us) car. The finance lady said, "And did you have a favorite bank that you would like to do you financing with?" We replied, "No...we'll just write you a check." It was a great feeling.
28. My 17th birthday...it was my "golden birthday." I had some plans with two of my friends and all of our girlfriends but they were all forgotten about as we watched a white Bronco cruising down a California highway. At the time I was disappointed, but I will never forget that birthday...it was golden.
29. Getting to go to Grand Lake with Megan that first summer. Good work Steve, and thanks for accepting the random stranger McReynolds', Simonson's, and Wood's.
30. The re-convenience of collegiate sports after 9-11. I was in Norman that weekend, OU played K-State. The opening ceremony of the game had an American flag the size of the field...it was my first OU football game too. I will never forget that day.
31. To double dip on #1...our wedding reception. I know it was the same day our wedding, so I am mentioning the same day twice, but it was such a fun party.

There you go, 31 days out of 31 years, thanks for all of the memories. If I have forgotten anyone or any events that should have been memorable, I am sorry, sometimes the 'ol brain needs a jump start to remember things.

-JG

Perks of the Job

2008-06-01T11:31:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that I (Jonathan) am a Buyer for Sun & Ski Sports. It is a job that I love; it has it's tedious tasks, but it also has some perks. One of those perks is the access to a 2008 Mastercraft X-2 wakeboard boat (Mastercraft.com). We have taken the boat out a few times, and have now found the best water to wakeboard on in Houston; it is a narrow river that is about 50 miles from Houston. I know, I know, it's not close but it is worth it...calm water and very little boat traffic, it makes that $70k Mastercraft a serious perk.

Anyway, we went out last Saturday, down to the river, with Paul (a guy I work with) and his wife, Malcolm a friend of Paul, Megan and myself, and our friend Kelly. When we got on the water, Megan broke out her small Quicky-Mart selection of sunscreen, 5, 10, 18, 35, 50...she had it all. She lathered up as not to burn and suggested I put some on as well, so I did. We spend a few hours wakeboarding, swimming, and wakeboarding some more, everyone had a good time.

As we were leaving, we noticed that Megan was looking a little red on her legs, but she assured us that it looked worse than it felt, and that it didn't hurt at all. We continued to unload the boat of all of our gear, phones, purses, etc. and then we started the 50 mile trek home. About 1/2 way home, Megan began to look for her phone. We could not find it, so we called it from my phone...it went straight to voicemail. We tried to think of where it was last seen and figured out that it was in my hand at some point when I was on the back of the boat unloading everything. I couldn't remember what I did with it but we decided that I must have set it on the back of the boat and it had fallen off when the boat pulled out of the parking lot, so we drove back to look for it. After scouring the parking lot (three times), and the road leading to the parking lot, for about 45 minutes, we figured out that it was gone. So we re-started the long drive home. By the time we got home Megan's sunburn was setting in (it may have been the worst sunburn that I have ever seen).

Basically fuel near $4 a gallon, destroying a phone, and a wife that couldn't sleep because of the heat burning through her skin, kind of makes the boat seem like a little less of a perk now.

Sunday Conversation

2008-05-27T12:06:00.000-07:00

This Sunday on the way to church Megan, Meredith Grimm, and myself had a conversation about our blog. Meredith, who no longer lives in Houston commented on our one post in the last year and how she never checked our blog anymore. There are many reasons that we have not blogged, some of them being, we were being lazy (it takes SO much effort to type), we are not very exciting people (we could have had 360 posts all saying "we had dinner, watched some TV and went to bed."), and/or we were so busy with very tedious things that blogging about them would only make the "we had dinner and went to bed" blogs look exciting. As true as these are, the main reason is because Megan has expressed to me how much she does not enjoy my posts, so being the attentive husband that I am, I stubbornly (and kind of unfairly) left all blogging up to Megan.

Now that almost a year has gone by with no real updates, I am quite sure many of you will not read this until a very boring and rainy day sometime in 2010 when you think, "I bet Megan and Jonathan STILL haven't had any new posts since Jonathan turned 30." Hopefully when you do eventually see this, you will have many other posts to read as I now have been given creative license from Megan to post at will. I hope that we can win your trust back as we re-begin our blogging lives...

Since the last Post was around my 30th birthday (06/17/2007) and it will soon be my 31st birthday, I thought that I will give you the cliff's notes version of the last year (some of this may be wrong as I am running off of my memory and not consulting with anyone else):

June:
-It was hot in Houston and nothing else interesting happened.
July:
-I think we were OK for the 4th..it was hot.
-Went to Port Aransas with the Wood family, Dave and Susan, and Aunt T...it was sweet.
-I did this to my arm.

August:
-I think Megan I were getting ready for another semester of busyness.
September:
-We moved from the north side to a more central location in Houston where we are a Cares Team. It is closer to work for me, but farther from Huntsville (where Megan goes to school). We love it here.
-I went to VA for a sale, as I do every September.
October:
-We did our first Cares events. Our first event was a dinner to meet the new Cares Team/Manager at the property.
-I think the Anderson's (Megan's cousin and husband from New Zealand) moved in next door in October.
November:
-Went to STL for Thanksgiving, my whole family got sick except for myself and Amanda Osbourne. Megan got sick and remained sick for a few days after we traveled home.
December:
-It got a little cooler in Houston.
-I went to Whistler, BC "for business." I have always wanted to ski there and I finally did (on someone else's dime too!). I dropped a 20' cliff while I was there, it was amazing!

-We went to Oklahoma for Christmas and spent time with Meegy's family.
January:
-We had a New Year's party at our place. Megan went all out with champagne, games, glasses, hats, etc. We bought some "battle of the Sexes" version of Scene It...it was horrible. The party was a blast.

February:
-I was in Vegas and at On-Snow demo...not interesting to most of you, I know.
-We took a ski trip to Taos, NM with some friends (the Peek's) from church. It was awesome! Three days skiing, a speeding ticket, a hot tub, and a Dodge Nitro round out the the highlights here.

March:
-I think we ran a half marathon in Austin in March...or maybe that was in Feb...I don't remember, but we did run 13.1 miles without stopping.
-I gashed my shin open on Good Friday while wakeboarding. It was down to the bone. Here is a photo of the aftermath.

April:
-We went to New Orleans with some friends and we met the Grimm's (now haling from Birmingham, AL). I just want to put my plug for New Orleans here...if you have never been, go. If you can go during some kind of festival...even better. The French Quarter Fest was going on the weekend we were there, there was live music everywhere, stages set up ever block or so. I got to See and hear some of the best musicians, it was incredible! Highlight's included: Bill dancing with all of the ladies, Hurricanes, Preservation Hall, Crawfish, and John Peek yelling "Where are you going!?" to a bunch of women going to the V@g!n@ Monologue...needless to say they did not respond.

-We ran the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon Relay with some family/friends. Tammy, dominated the 1st leg, Brian Dee strolled effortlessly through the 2nd leg, Megan dominated the longest, and 3rd leg, Mel Kilgalin (no clue how spell that) almost ran the 4th leg with will sleeping in her arms, and I was the anchor, slowing the team average down on the 5th leg. I didn't really train and I should have...but I got a cheeseburger when I finished.
May:
-Well you may have seen our video post for Dave's birthday surprise...Megan and I had fun with it...we dressed up, as you can see.
-We went to OK for Erin's wedding, it was awesome weather for the reception at the boat house.
-We also bought a car while we were in OK. 2004 Nissan Xterra with 29k miles...it's silver.

Now you are all current!

Happy Birthday Dave

2008-05-10T15:20:00.000-07:00

Here is the "behind the scenes" footage...

30th birthdays, St. Louis, and such...

2007-06-26T18:10:00.000-07:00

Squeak turned 30 on June 17th! WOO HOO!
We enjoyed a delightful dinner of his favorite dish...his mom's Beef Burgundy.

He recieved a "Birthday in a Box" from the McReynolds clan. This was a box full of gift cards to create the perfect birthday party. He got a gift card to Carvel for his favorite ice cream cake, a World Market gift card for "punch", an itunes gift card for music, and a Target gift card for "games" aka "x-box game".

We attempted to go kayaking in Galveston but the weather was wet and stormy. We were only out there for about 30 minutes between storms!

We went to St. Louis last weekend to continue the birthday celebration with Squeak's family. We celebrated with a BBQ and went to Gordon's (squeak's brother) baseball game. It was so fun!

We also got to see Matt, Heather, Liam, and Emery Anne (Megan's brother's family). We went to Ted Drew's for custard and had a wonderful time just hanging out!
It was so fun to spend time with the family members we miss so much!

The Guadalupe River

2007-04-28T11:42:00.000-07:00

About a month ago we went camping with some friends of ours from church. We went to Guadalupe River State Park in Spring Branch, TX. I took off work on Friday so that Megan and myself, and Lee and Meredith, could stop by the Spoetzl Brewer (brewers of all Shiner beers) in Shiner, TX on the way. They only give two tours a day and we were just a little late for the first tour, so we were given a personal escort to "catch up" with the group. The brewery is on a completely different level than my hometown brewery...Anheuser-Busch. Spoetzl had only three guys running the bottling line; there was this down-home feel to the whole operation. The reason the town is still around is because of the beer. After the tour we got a few hospitality drinks and we snapped a few pics.

Afterwards we ate luch at a local joint; it was some serious homestyle cooking with some sweet tea...delish! After some detours we FINALLY got to the park. We set up camp with some tents that I grabbed from work and hung out waiting for the others to arrive: the Sapp's (Jeff and Laurie), the Peek's (John and Carey and Peetie), and James Reavis.

On Saturday we took some trips down the river with the kayaks that we picked up from a kayak rep that I know. We had to take two trips down the river due to the number of life vests and paddles that we had. The Grimm's, Peek's, and James all went first. We snapped some photos of them going through the first set of rapids.

The second group down the river was Megan, myself and the Sapp's.

The kayaking was a huge hit with everyone. There were a few rapids down the river, I think everyone dumped their boat at least once. On Sunday before we left we had a little washers tornament.

The championship game was Megan vs. Jonathan. I think I had the best washer game of my life, scoring 11 points in two turns (8 throws). Megan now refers to me as "Champ." ("No I don't!"-Megan)

Stay tuned as we update you on the happenings of our life...a month or so after it happens.

Our new outdoor living space!

2007-04-02T18:48:00.000-07:00

This weekend my mom, sister, niece, and our friend Tammy came to visit us in Houston. We had so much fun hanging out and enjoying the beautiful weather! The best part was that Lori created an outdoor living space on our old and seemingly hopeless porch. It is so beautiful and now we are out there all the time enjoying the spring weather! Here are some pics of her creation!

As you can see, we all loved playing outside, including Addy!

Thank you all for coming and for all your generosity! We always feel so blessed when people take the time out of their busy schedules to come see us! We love you so much!

We were on the news!!!

2007-01-23T15:42:00.000-08:00

We went to Oklahoma this past weekend for a wedding and we got on the news!!! I (Megan) flew into Oklahoma City on Friday morning but Jonathan came in on Saturday. When I went to go pick up Jonathan from the airport I noticed a camera crew was reporting from the airport. They were doing a report on how the winter weather was affecting flights. As we were walking to the baggage claim, a lady ran up to us and said, "do you mind if I interview you? You all had such a cute reunion!" So, they interviewed Jonathan about his flight and it aired that night!
You can watch the video here (notice that they spelled Graf wrong and it was labeling the wrong person!):

www.newsok.com/video/88858

Hope you enjoyed our 15 seconds of fame!

This guy we call Squeak....

2006-11-03T11:44:00.000-08:00

We have been getting complaints about our lack of posting so I figured I would post some pictures that have been taken lately. All I have to say is...I love this guy:

He eats chicken carcass for breakfast (with apple juice).

He falls asleep watching football.

He feeds babies.

He bakes cakes...and decorates them!

What a guy!

Do you sell two seater bicycles?

2006-09-02T14:09:00.001-07:00

A few years ago I was inspired by the Jerky Boys' prank phone call to a bike shop asking if they sold two seater bicycles. If you have never heard it, here is a little taste. Copy the link below to another window and scroll down to the track named Tandem Bicycle. Then click on the music note to the left.

http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=1055856&style=music&cart=387914662&BAB=M

Ever since then I wanted to ride around the avenue on a Tandem bicycle (preferrably a 10-speeder).

We helped our friends Ryan and Sarah pack up because they are moving from Houston. They offered for us to take their Tandem bicycle off their hands. We did not hesitate. I wanted to pop wheelies in the parking lot but Megan was not feeling adventurous quite yet. So today we took our first spin out in the neighborhood on our two seater bicycle.

We went speeding up the avenue.

Here's a close up of the happy couple.

Check out the machine. There are no shocks or pegs but it's still pretty sweet.

What we have been up to...

2006-08-20T16:27:00.000-07:00

We have not posted in a while so we thought we would give you a recap of what has been going on in the Graf household. We took a long 4th of July vacation in Oklahoma where we spent time with family and relaxed. It was a great week!

Here is our sweet niece Addy. She has gotten so big and beautiful!

Lori and Brian would bring her in our room every morning to wake us up. She is happy in the morning, unlike Megan!

It's been extremely hot in Houston, so we have had to think of creative ways to entertain ourselves in the air conditioning. So one weekend we decided to make a cake from scratch. It was a rich chocolate cake with a hint of coffee flavor. It was a delicious treat, some good s!

Our 2 year wedding anniversary was on July 24th. We went to one of our favorite seafood restaurants called Pappadeaux's. It was so nice to sit and reminisce about the last 2 years and how much has changed. Who would have thought we would be celebrating our anniversary in freakin' Texas?!

Other than that, things are pretty normal. Squeak's work is going well and he is still enjoying it. Megan starts graduate school tomorrow!!! She is going to attend Sam Houston State University to get her MA in Counseling. It will be a busy two years but we are both really excited. Hope you enjoyed our brief update!

Love, the Graf Family (Jonathan, Megan and Killer a.k.a. Prince)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SQUEAK!!!

2006-06-17T09:32:00.001-07:00

Today is Jonathan's 29th Birthday! Last night we had some friends over for dinner and the famous CARVEL ICE CREAM CAKE. It has been 14 years since Jonathan has had a Carvel Ice Cream cake for his birthday.

He used to have them every year when he lived in New Jersey but once he moved to the Midwest...no Carvel. HOWEVER, when we moved to Houston, he discovered that they have a Carvel right down the street from us! He was so excited to indulge in this tasty treat that he has been deprived of for years! You may be thinking, "Dairy Queen has ice cream cakes, Baskin Robbins has ice cream cakes" but to that he would say, "Nay my friend, there is no comparison to the perfection of a Carvel Ice Cream cake."

I attempted to make my Aunt Nini's brilliant Chicken Parmesan. She was on vacation but was sweet enough to talk me through it step by step! It was a huge success with our friends but I must say, not as great as she makes it!

Our friends! From left, Ryan Hecox (wife Sarah was out of town), Lee Grimm, Isaac Weigman, Charlton and Laura Wimberly, and the BIRTHDAY BOY! This was our first time to put the leaf in our table! YEAH!

The guys were also meeting for their monthly "Beer of the Month Club". The sixth member, Robert Schudy, was unable to make it.

The Birthday Boys! (Ryan's birthday was on the 15th!)

Ice Cream cake for Breakfast....

Post Mother's Day Weekend

2006-05-24T15:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my mom came to Houston and we had so much fun!! We decorated my home office, ate yummy food, shopped, drank wine spritzers, and went to the Kemah Boardwalk.

The Kemah Boardwalk is located on the Galveston Bay. They have rides, boats, gift shops, and seafood! We ate so much lobster, crab, and salmon I thought we were going to burst!

I had so much fun spending the post Mother's Day weekend with my sweet mom! (I love you so much! Thanks for everything you do!)

Interesting...

2006-05-13T09:24:00.000-07:00

We went to Meyer Park the other day. It was a beautiful day, kids playing soccer, people laughing, families having picnics. And then we saw this:

Only in Houston.

Cinco de Mayo

2006-05-08T18:33:00.000-07:00

Because the Graf Family now live in Tejas, also known as "Texas", we found it appropriate to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, that's Spanish for the "fifth of May". We indulged in homemade salsa, homemade guacamole (thank you to Blake and Kara for the excellent America's Test Kitchen recipe), margaritas, and the sweet smell of pinon wood in our miniature chimanaya (thank you, Lori). It was a hot, muggy night in Houston but it was the perfect evening to celebrate our first Mexican holiday.

Classic or obsolete?

2006-03-03T14:37:00.000-08:00

Ever find out that you are partial to something that has no part in your daily or modern life? For example my wife has a cat that does not live with us; thankfully it resides with her parents. Kukla has no relevance or part in our everyday life, but as soon as the topic of getting rid of Kukla arises, Megan has a strong reaction. This rings true with a lot of us. I was reminded of something I am partial to, but yet I have no idea why.

Megan was out of town two Sunday's ago, she was in Oklahoma with her family and newborn niece (see prior blog). Because she was out of town she missed our new member class at church. If you miss a class, you can catch up by listening to a tape of the class. So I was thinking, "Megan to listen to that tape," as we drove to church last Sunday. I started laughing to myself as I began to realize that we do not own a tape player. What!? Aren't those standard in cars and on stereos?

I was forced to face my age. I am not old, yet, only 28. But I remember the Golden days of going to Sam Goody's to look at the rows of Rap tapes (I grew up in NJ, that was normal). Kids would walk down the street with their boombox on their shoulder, blaring the Fat-Boys or Ice-Tea (once again, I grew up in NJ, but you may have seen this in a movie or something). A CD player was the iPod of my day. I remember in like '86 my brother got a new stereo that had a CD player, all his friends would come over an listed to one of the two CD's that he had. A tape was the norm, it was accessible. But the years went on, CD's started to fill the shelves at the music stores, then the music stores started to go out of business as the iPod became par for our society.

This is not a new dilemma. I had an 8 track player, but I barley remember when they were normal, let alone when they were the new wave in technology. One word for you: records, yes even those were cool at one time, not just vintage. The question is when does obsolete become classic. I am not sure but I would bet that a working Kenny Rogers 8 track would sell for a good dollar to a collector or someone who hasn't bought a tape player yet. I never cried when the 8 track went away, why I am concerned for the obsolete tape?

I was almost too embarrassed to admit that we do not own a tape player. It was like I was telling the church that I could not believe they would put the class on tape, and not a podcast. Am I too god for a tape...no, I just have no way to play them.

Yesterday's events

2006-02-25T07:01:00.000-08:00

Friday was the rollercoater I was on yesterday. The morning started out with a car wreck, my car and some big Lincoln Navagator. Her vehicle collided with my driver door and the door behind it smashing out my window. The impact was at a slow speed, no one was hurt, I just had glass all over myself and the car. No fault was determined, I was not aware her lane turned, so when I saw here coming I kind of froze, and we hit. That was the big drop of the day. They I went and got Megan's car to take that to work, I guess this would be the up hill part of the coaster. I had a 40 minute drive to think about the mornings events and how it is all going to be resolved. I got to work just in time to see them cleaning up from the Company breakfast that we have every other month...missed it. It was only a small drop that turned into the begining of better things; there were still donuts and some sort of breakfasty dish still in the kitchen. mmm...tasty.

At the office my day was a little frantic, I was starting late and had a lot to do. Nothing to dramatic here to mention except that I went to a boat shop that we are working with (they are selling some of our wakeboards and what not) and I had to take more than half of their inventory away. A shop down the street complained and they get screwed and I am the repo man thatcomes to take it all away. I was not their favorite person yesterday...not even top ten.

Well this roller coaster ended on a high note, it was one thing that I was looking forward to, Beer of the Month Club. This was the first meeting of the Houston chapter (I hear a Ft. Worth chapter is in the works). We have 6 active members who join in bringing a 6-pack of a new beer to share with everyone. The evening of a few brews and new friends was quite fun. If you care to know here is what everyone brought; Ryan-New Belgium Biere de Mars (tasty stuff) Jonathan-Cave Creek Chili Cervesa (don't ever buy this) Charlton-Red Hook ESP (I didn't have one) Lee-Old Peculier (quite dark, I passed) Isaac-Dogfish Head Raison D' Etre (strong flavor, a bit woody) and the best one Robert-Old Milwaukee's Best Light (its never a party without the Beast!)

Well its now saturday, Megan comes home today!! Hopefully I got off the roller coaster.

It's a Girl!!

2006-02-21T19:23:00.001-08:00

Yesterday morning Lori (Megan's sister) went into labor and gave birth to a beautiful little girl. Adelyn Suzanne Wood (I believe that is the right middle name and the proper spelling of the first name) was 7 lbs. and 3 oz. and I forget how long she was. Both mom and the babe are doing well, I think Brian is doing o.k. too. Enjoy these first pictures (as I am sure megan will be posting many more when she returns home).

My Lacrosse Debut

2006-02-20T19:16:00.000-08:00

I had my first lacrosse game yesterday. Usually I would be wetting my pants to tell people about lacrosse, but yesterday may have been the worst lacrosse experience ever! If yesterday was my first experience of lacrosse, I would never try it again. Lucky for lacrosse, it was not my first experience and it can enjoy me for life.

The temperature yesterday was 38 degrees during the game. That is cold when you ae wearng shorts and holding metal in your hand. I mean I played in MI, but I expect it to be cold there, this was not normal for Houston. And what made it worse was that everyone there kept mentioning how cold it was. Talking about it and reminding everyone that they can't feel their legs, will not make it warmer! Not only was it cold, we had like 12 other guys playing midfield with me, that meant I stood on the sideline a long time before I got to run fo a little bit. Which reminds of how little I ran in the game. Everytime I stepped out on the field we scored. I would run towards the play and someone would score. This happened about 6 times. I can tell people I was a "role player" that means I made everyone else look better by not toching the ball. Oh yeah about the whole touching the ball thing...I touched it three times, for the whole game! So I "played" for one hour, "ran" for about 2 minutes, and bairly even touched the ball. We won 13-0, but yet it was still the worst game ever!

Taking our readers' advice...

2006-02-14T19:41:00.000-08:00

According to Brian Wood, Prince is the man and he needs representation on our blog. Since we have moved to Houston, he has become an attack dog. He prefers cats, unusually small dogs, and statues of frogs. Unfortunately, these events happen too quickly to get a snapshot of them, so we will have to settle for a sweet picture of Prince.

Is napping in the Olympics?

2006-02-12T14:07:00.000-08:00

Today's first event started out fast; waking up with only a little time to get ready for church. It was no record time but it was a fast and grueling pace trying to beat the clock. The next event, which was more like NASCAR than an Olympic event, was the drive to church. When the second event of our Olympic Sunday was complete we had some down time as we sat (and stood) through a reengergizing worship service as well as our new member class.

When returned home, we turned on the real Olympics. For those of you who do not know this, Megan is an Olympic freak! She knows all of the channels and times that events will be on, she knows (and remembers) all of the little stories of the athlete's, and she watches every event. I am serious, the girl who doesn't ever want to watch a NHL game, has watched almost two full women's hockey games. This morning she asked me if I had heard about Michelle Kwan dropping out, she then followed it up with the her classic line of "I knew it."

As we were watching women's hockey, Megan drifted off into one of her favorite events; napping. I followed some time later during the men's luge. Unlike our morning events, this one had personal best all over it. Sleeping and drooling our way into our personal record books. When I awoke about an hour and fifteen minutes in, I quickly went back under. Dispite a strong second effort, I only lasted another fifteen minutes. Megan on the other hand, who had a head start, was still going strong and showing no signs of letting up. I quietly cheered, "stick it to those German's Meegy!" I then took the above photo (for the record books of course).

Although two hours and fifteen minutes is no world record, for this Olympics it could be good enough for a Bronze, but hopefully a Silver. We can only wait and see what the rest of the world does. Even if we don't bring home a medal, it sure was refreshing to take a nap and relax on this Sunday afternoon.

First Blog

2006-01-05T20:09:00.000-08:00

Here we are, starting our blogging life, I hope we can keep everyone up to date on the happenings in our lives. Stay tuned...