Life on Goldfinch

Update

2009-08-26T13:56:00.005-04:00

Things are as busy as ever with little Nita. She's quickly acquiring some essential life skills. She can now wriggle out of a lap, grab interesting items near her face and put them in her mouth, and fuss convincingly about nothing at all. It's fun to watch her learning. She still hasn't rolled over, but it's not for lack of trying! At about 17 pounds, she's got a lot of weight to move... so we'll just have to be patient.

A few weeks ago, we had Nita's baby dedication at church. (For you Catholics and Presbyterians, this is the Baptist equivalent of a christening or infant baptism.) My grandmother's wedding dress was made into a baby gown, and Nita was the first great-grandchild to wear it! It was beautiful, very royal-family-esque. Our church was pretty impressed with family attendance - we're so fortunate to have family members who really want to be around for special events and can make the trip. Thanks guys!

Nita is also making a few friends. Addison and Kate are only a few weeks younger than Nita, and their moms are friends of mine. We've also been to little Ellie's first birthday party, cousin Corinne's second birthday party, and tomorrow we have a swim date with Shelby (10 months) and Turner (20 months). I'm so glad to be able to hang out with some mom friends... it has been quite a transition from the work scene.

We have picked up one funny/bad habit lately (besides NOT sleeping at night) ... Nita thinks coughing is hilarious! Not a polite 'hmm-hmm' cough. I mean a hacking 'just sucked some potato chips down the wrong pipe' cough. Sam does this on purpose to get a laugh, which is fine. I'm just hoping that she doesn't end up cackling at a scared peer who has just gone under water accidentally. That could definetley send the wrong message and cost me a few mommy friends.

Here are a few pics:

...and I'll have a side of fried pickles and a sweet tea...

Being naked is fabulous!

A little more personal space if you please.

What do you need to know about Nita?

2009-07-20T09:45:00.003-04:00

Nita is three months old now (give or take a week), and she is certainly figuring life out . She is quite adept at exerting her will in any situation. And she is as cute as ever! Here is some general info:

Aliases: Nita Pita, Sugar Bunny, Sweet Potato, Chicken Nugget, Butter Bean

Hair: dark brown, curly, falling out a little

Eyes: still blue

Favorite time of day: bathtime

Favorite game: how many fingers can i put in my mouth?

Favorite person: that baby in the mirror

Favorite place: patio swing

Favorite leisure activity: watching ceiling fans

Favorite outfit: birthday suit

A friend of ours, Tricia Butts, took some pictures of Nita for us. Thanks, Tricia! Here are a few of my favorites...

Beachy Keen

2009-06-19T07:51:00.002-04:00

After a week in Gulf Shores, my head is filled with corny beach puns... you know, everyone likes to think up a 'unique,' clever name for his or her beach house. I do not think this practice is clever or amusing - just bothersome. Here are some of the worst:

Seas the Day
West Palm Peach (this one was, of course, painted peach)
Conch Out

and my favorite...

Mullet Over

No, thank you. I'll not live in a place named after a redneck hairstyle.

Just Beachy

2009-06-16T16:59:00.003-04:00

This week the Hardins, Skinners, and miscellaneous others have been vacationing in Gulf Shores, AL. We've had a fantastic time! Above are some shots (mostly of Nita) from this week... more to follow.

Photos

2009-06-12T00:23:00.012-04:00

These first few pictures are of Nita practicing sitting up. I think she still has a little ways to go, but she enjoys trying.

The Nita Gus dynamic

2009-05-20T23:52:00.005-04:00

So now we have a little girl and a dog. We weren't sure how Gus would react to having a new center of attention around the house. Would he be depressed? Would he be aggressive? It was an unknown to say the least.

I'm thankful to say now that the little guy has handled himself extremely well. When I first brought him home from being boarded, he didn't even know she existed. She was there, but it was as if Katherine was holding some inanimate object. A few hours later, Nita cried all of a sudden. Gus popped up with a look as if to say, "What is making that noise that's waking me up and can I smell it?!" He checked her out real good, supervised of course, and apparently gave his approval. He'll sneak in a lick here and there, let his ears cover her face, and one time he laid his favorite toy in her swing with her. Yeah, I've got a pretty good dog. I guess the real test is when she tugs on his ears (there's not much of a tail to pull).

I don't think there's a hint of jealousy in him.........

I promise I didn't set this up

Baby's First Road Trip

2009-05-13T15:36:00.005-04:00

For Mothers' Day, Sam and I wanted to introduce little Nita to the only set of great-grandparents whom she'd not yet met. Sam's mom's parents, Pete and Eva Duke, live in Nashville... so we set out on our first road trip together! It went well (despite a little fussiness). Here are some pics from the weekend:

Rocking with Grandma (this is how 89% of the stay in Nashville was spent).

Snoozing on the couch... check out those slippers!

Nita and Grandpa hanging out in their PJs on Saturday morning

Bonnie smiling at Nita smiling at Bonnie smiling at...

On the way home from Nashville, we stopped in Tupelo to wish the Skinner mothers a happy day. Nita was the star of the show once again.

Four generations - what a lucky little girl!

Time is Flying

2009-05-07T13:09:00.005-04:00

Little Nita is four weeks old today and what a joy she is! She seems so aware... like she can understand what you are saying to her. Her attitude is more grown up, too! She likes to be held sitting up, so she can check everything out. And she loves to be talked to.

I'm doing well too... just generally sleep-deprived. My memory is failing, my vocabulary seems to be deteriorating, and I can't concentrate as well as before. But, of course, it is worth it. What was life like before this little blessing? Hmmm, I can't remember.

Here are some pictures from Easter:

And here are a couple we took today...

Check out this smile!!!

Pictures, as promised

2009-04-26T22:45:00.006-04:00

Okay, I realize that it's been way too long for me not to have posted any pictures of little Nita Hardin.... here are a few.

Here's the last pre-Nita picture of Sam and me.

Look at that proud Daddy!!

Welcome little Nita Hardin.

Did you miss us?

2009-04-17T16:42:00.004-04:00

Hi, everyone. Katherine here after quite a long hiatus from blogging. The need for posting info about our day to day lives seemed to dwindle once we moved back to Mississippi and face to face contact with most of you was once again possible. Anyway, we're back as you can see with a new, improved look.... Thanks, Laura Tomlinson, for the cool page. I love it!

So, hopefully, our blog's makeover and our recent exciting news will be enough to motivate me keep up-to-date information out there for all of you. Exciting news? Yes, that's right! If you'll note the little darling whose picture is featured at the top of this page, you'll have a clue... little Nita McKinley Hardin was born last week!!! April 9 at 7:32 am, she weighed in at 7 lbs. and 12 oz. and meausured 19 inches long. Wow.

I'll will post updated pics as I get them... she's changing everyday!

Coming home!!!

2008-06-24T16:55:00.003-04:00

We're hitting the country road (I-81) this Saturday and coming back to Starkville. We're loading up the truck on Friday, and on Saturday morning we'll be pulling out.

And here's Gus at almost 3 weeks old.

2 weeks down, 6 weeks to go

2008-06-20T10:11:00.002-04:00

A Long Time Coming

2008-06-13T14:04:00.008-04:00

Meet Augustus McCrae Hardin. He's an English Springer Spaniel and is 8 days old as of today. The photo is from sometime this past week. We'll be getting weekly updates and photos, so we'll keep them posted.

Gus

Mom

Mom again

Dad

I just need a break!

2008-06-11T21:29:00.007-04:00

From writing a thesis, that is. For the last month or so, it's been nothing but reading and writing for me. By now, I'm just tired of school. I've had 20 straight years of it, so I can't say I'm all that surprised. I'm on the home stretch now, though, and I can't even imagine the relief I'll feel once it's all finished. To break up the day, I've taken to throwing a frisbee on the drill field. Now, I'll admit that Miss. State has one of the greatest drill fields I've ever seen. Take my word for it, Virginia Tech's is right up there. It's larger, that's for sure. I've got my flick and hammer down pretty well, anyways. Gaurav, my friend whom I've gone through grad school with at the same pace, is just as eager to get outside whenever it's nice. Unlike Mississippi, a nice day in June can easily be 75 degrees with low humidity.

Speaking of humidity, I've always said that's the thing I'll miss the most when we leave. The weather here is ideal: cold winters, hot summers that only last about 2 months, and a spring and fall that are almost 100% perfect weather, not to mention the leaves changing and the flowers blooming. I dread the Mississippi humidity, yet I would be more than happy to endure it for the price of being home.

We've scheduled our move for June 28th, and it's my goal to be finished with a rough draft of my thesis by then. I'll send revisions back and forth to my advisor from MS, and return to Blacksburg to defend in August. As far as living, we'll be renting from my parents month-to-month while looking for a house to buy. It's an ideal situation, and we're really thankful to be able to look for a house without having a lease to worry about breaking.

Another thing I can't wait for is to start my job at none other than Clearwater Consultants. After the rigorous interview process, I was finally able to land that one. Right now, I don't care if I have to work 13-hour days, 6 days a week. I just need a change (I'm starting to sound like Barak). I've actually worked those kinds of hours before when I was running parasail boats, and, while it's not sustainable, it's not so bad as long as you enjoy what you're doing. I'm not looking forward to that clueless period I know I'll go through before I learn how things are done, but that would be a part of any engineering job. I've heard it from my friends who have gone to work, "I didn't know what the hell was going on." It's just something that will take time. I actually had close to a week of bewilderment when I started working in the lab here. There were so many drawers and cabinets, I didn't know where to find a pencil!

In any case, it's been a great two years in Virginia. We've made some great friends, some of whom I'm sure we'll keep in touch with for years to come. One family in particular, the Gilbartes, have truly been a blessing to me and Katherine. Not only have they invited us into their home as their own family, but they've truly been a great example of what a sacrificial marriage looks like. As great as the parents are, I'd be lying if I said our favorite members of the Gilbartes aren't their 4 boys (she's giving birth to a girl in 1-2 weeks). Nathan, Justin, Kevin, and Ryan are 7, 5, 3, and 3, respectively. It is impossible to describe how fun these kids are! Nathan is the over-achiever, Justin is the considerate and generous one, and Ryan and Kevin are twins. They're not twins in the biological sense; Kevin was adopted 4 months ago from Guatemala. But they play copy-cat all day long. For example, a couple of weeks ago Katherine and I were at their house for Justin's birthday party. After cake and presents, Ryan and Kevin were playing in the yard. For some reason, Kevin was walking around the yard with a bundle of sticks held up against his left ear. 10 seconds later, I looked out the window. Now Ryan was following Kevin's exact path..... while holding a bundle of sticks up against his left ear. Who knows?

Maybe the weather won't be the thing I miss the most.

Just before Kevin came home

Playing in the back yard

Twins?

Awareness Test

2008-04-08T16:22:00.002-04:00

This is pretty challenging. Just thought I would make an "I'm still here" post.

Awareness Test - Watch more free videos

Look familiar?

2008-03-27T20:45:00.004-04:00

We arrived in Nantucket to today to temperatures well below what they were from where we hailed. Also, I noticed something when we landed at Nantucket Memorial Airport. The control tower is the actual one pictured constantly in the sitcom, Wings. I don't guess they actually filmed the series here, but the tower they showed in between scenes was the real thing. Also, we flew to Nantucket in that same kind of airplane Joe and Brian Hacket flew. Go figure.

We just ate at the Even Keel Cafe. I've never had seafood like that before. The clam chowder was excellent, but that was expected. The scallops, oh wow. I've never been a huge fan of scallops, but these were in another league. I think I'm going to like this place.

The control tower at Nantucket Airport

Katherine cooking her feet

And we're off.

2008-03-26T18:58:00.002-04:00

In my last batch of posts, I mentioned that me and Katherine are going to Nantucket, MA for a long weekend. That was about six weeks ago. Now we're leaving. Not much has happened between then and now other than staying at the lab day and night trying to finish my experimental work. It's over now, and this will be a much needed break. When I get back, it's writing my thesis. At least that won't have an odd schedule, though.

We were going to take a small plane and fly from Blacksburg straight to Nantucket (with a bathroom break for the girl). Two days ago, however, I learned that the airplane is still being worked on for its yearly inspection. No transportation! I was frantically trying to find airline tickets that didn't cost a thumb and a big toe, and Katherine was doing the same from her work. I reasoned that it would probably be less expensive to drive to D.C., catch a flight to Boston, and take a ferry flight from Boston to Nantucket. I was having no luck when Katherine called. She found a website, Lastminute.com, where she found round-trip tickets from Roanoke (40 min drive instead of 4 hours) to Boston for CHEAP, and it included a rental car!! Woah! I tried to drop the rental car to make it even cheaper. When I did, the price of the tickets more than doubled......... rental car it is!

In a nutshell, we're flying from Roanoke to Boston, driving down coastal MA to Hyannis in a rental and catching a flight to Nantucket where our second rental car is for the weekend. Believe it or not, all of this is cheapo. Maybe I'll do some free-lance travel agent work on the side of my engineering career.

We'll be sure and post about our trip when we get back. I'm just ready for some relaxation. I think I'm averaging 4-5 hours sleep a night for the last 2 weeks.

I QUIT.

2008-02-12T15:04:00.001-05:00

I can't think of anything for C. Oh well, that saved me a lot of trouble before I got to X. Laura, I'm interested to see what you put; X-ray and xylophone are not allowed. Anyway, I'll just play a little catch up. There have been a few things I've been wanting to put on here for a while now, and I don't think I need the alphabet to get back into blogging. I just need to suck it up and get to typing.

Did you people know that we have a grocery store right next to our house that doesn't charge us for parking? I know, it's crazy. You can just pull your car up to their store, drive into a parking space, leave your car, and no one asks you for a dime. There's not even a parking meter. I don't know what we're going to do when we leave Christiansburg. I guess we'll have to park on the street, because I refuse to pay to park when I'm buying groceries. It's just not right.

B is for Bed & Breakfast

2008-02-08T10:43:00.001-05:00

As some of you might know, Katherine and I have been looking for a house to buy in Starkville. We made the rounds with a realtor over Christmas and saw a few that we liked. I just don't think we saw any that we liked enough to go deeply into debt. I'm sure that'll happen eventually, but we've decided to rent for a few months. That way we can save up enough for a down payment on a $1.4 million lodge on 2,000 acres of prime hunting land with a stocked bass pond near the front porch. Maybe we'll rent for a year instead.

We had already made plans to come home to look at houses again in March. Katherine already had the days off at work, and I had scheduled the airplane. Ever since we moved to Virginia, there has been this notion that we would pack up and go to a New England B&B for a long weekend. Well, this just seemed like the perfect time since we weren't immediately going to be buying a house. I got on the internet and started shopping a trip.

After some browsing, the place to go jumped out at me. I used to love the TV series "Wings" on USA. You know: Joe, Brian, Roy, Loel, and Helen. Oh yeah, don't forget Antonio. What a great show. It was set on the island of Nantucket, MA. That's where we're going. I think it will be a great trip, and Katherine is pretty excited. It'll be fun to see a different part of the country, and the lady that owns the Carlisle House seems really nice, too.

Maybe I can get a bite to eat at Helen's diner when we land?

Why not? A is for Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader

2008-02-07T22:06:00.000-05:00

It's been such a long time since either me or Katherine have written on this thing, there probably won't be too many who see this. I figured a good way to get back at it is to start setting goals. And what better goal is there, pray tell, than the alphabet?

That's right. The alphabet. So borrowing the game both from Laura T and from the game you play to pass time on road trips, I'll attempt to make 26 posts in 52 days. I wouldn't even bother attempting a post every day. As a matter of fact, I don't have too much confidence in 52. Hmmmmm, there are 52 weeks in a year..... that's possible. We'll see.

So tonight Katherine and I watched AYSTAFG, and for the first time in the shows history the girl got to the million dollar question. For most questions on the show, it works pretty much the same as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. You can look at the question and either answer it or leave with the money you have. However, for the $1,000,000 question you must decide in advance whether to take the question or the $500,000 you already have. The most money ever won on the show was $300,000 so this is the first time these rules have gone into effect.

It was pretty funny what happened next. I told Katherine she should quit with the half million. But no, the girl decided to be a gambler. The subject was 5th Grade U.S. History. Here's the question, and no scrolling down until you've answered:

What American was the first human to break the sound barrier?

Given that my dad is an aviation fanatic and that I have heard about every american aviator's accomplishments since before I could talk, I knew the answer. I said she should have taken her money, but no, she got greedy. She had no clue. She started spouting off names like Charles Lindbergh and Howard Hughes (which she guessed), but she had no idea.

Answer: Chuck Yeager! He flew the X-1 Rocket which was dropped in mid-air from a B-29 Superfortress.

But I digress. If any of you ever have the chance to keep $500,000 OR try to win $1,000,000, here's my advice: Don't be an idiot.

I am thankful.

2007-11-22T08:34:00.000-05:00

This is my first Thanksgiving Day apart from my family, and I'm a little bummed about it truthfully. Thanksgiving with my family is no small affair. My dad is one of five children, and my mom's one of six; so no matter whose year it is, we're in a house full of people.

Lately, we've been having the Ellis Thanksgiving at my Aunt Mary's house. The spread will likely include family favorites: turkey, ham, canned cranberry sauce, stuffing, broccoli salad, sweet potatoes, green bean roll-ups, and numerous deserts. Yum! This year there's a new member of our clan, too.... Corinne, my cousin's new baby was born a few months ago; and I'm just sick I can't be there to see her.

Ellis memories:

-One year, my Grandmother Nancy made her 'famous' rum cake. I don't think she measured the key ingredient correctly, though, because no one under 21 was allowed to have a piece. (My grandparents are ARP Presbyterians = the temperate sect.)
-Half of this side of my family hail from Mississippi State while the other half call Ole Miss alma mater. This fact makes for tedious conversation about the upcoming Egg Bowl at the "kids' table" (at which the age limit gets mysteriously higher each year).
-Last year, my Aunt Martha Jane brought birthday cake so we could celebrate Joseph's (her adopted son) birthday. (His birthday is actually October 13th, but we had to have a big family party and take lots of pictures to submit to the adoption agency to prove that Martha Jane and Thomas are fit parents. And our scheme must have worked because right now they're in Russia getting a little girl - Julia. Maybe we'll have another birthday party on Christmas.)
-Washing dishes. It so happens that the responsibility of cleaning up falls to the Ellis women. After dinner, there are at least six women at the sink washing, drying, breaking (sorry, Mom!) and putting away dishes. This must be done by hand becuase we use the good silver, crystal, and china for these special occasions. The best conversation of the day comes during these dishwashing sessions while the men are all snoozing and/or talking about the football game(s).

The Skinner Thanksgiving is just as large an ordeal, but everyone is a little louder and more opinionated. (Ey, we're Italiano!) And while we always have turkey and dressing, one might see baklava, homemade raviolis, orange fluff, Jewish fruit cake (no, we're not Jewish), and any number of sugar-free desserts.

Skinner memories:

-One year, there was almost a riot because Grandmother Mary Ann didn't make her potato salad. (I think she just wanted to see what would happen.)
-Grandmother takes personal offence when someone won't try her cooking; and my cousin, Jenny, married an extremely picky eater (whose name always seems to slip Grandmother's mind). I made sure Sam knew about this, and then watched happily while he raved over her minced meat pie. "Oh, Mrs. Skinner, this is just the best thing I've ever put in my mouth!"
-Games of Balderdash, Taboo, etc. As I mentioned, almost everyone on this side of my family is boistrous; and no one is a very good sport. I don't have to elaborate about the fate of these 'family game times.' We since abandoned this tradition and, instead, all go see the latest holiday movie together. While the different features still raise some controversy, this activity is far less hostile than gaming.

Ahhh, there's nothing like family memories. I guess it's not all bad to have a year away. Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!

A Quick Anecdote

2007-11-17T11:26:00.000-05:00

In April, Sam and I received a wedding present in the mail. We unwrapped it to find a small, personal heater.

This, I thought, is a great gift; we've just moved to (what I consider) the north, and I'm completely cold-natured. Come winter time, I'll take this little guy to work with me and plug it in under my desk.... and I'll never have to debate my coworkers over the thermostat setting again!

So Sam and I stored the box under the bed with some of our winter clothes.

(Fast-forward to two weeks ago.)

It's finally getting cold here, and I remember my little heater waiting for me underneath the bed. Sam gets it out for me, and I carry it triumphantly into the office (feeling quite like the boy scout I never was). I open the box and begin to unwrap the first piece, never thinking it bizarre that a heater would come in pieces. I gasp.

Trying to process the little ceremic lid I've just uncovered, I unwrap the second item in the box.... a tastful ceramic urn.

Thoughts that occur to me:

-Where's my HEATER?!?
-How funny that this has been under the bed for months, and Sam and I never knew what it was!
-Gosh, this'll look nice anywhere in our house.
-I wrote a thank-you note to someone I don't even know for a gift they didn't give me! And now I have to write another one explaining all this!!

My coworkers got a good laugh out of watching me discover all these things; and I did a little research and found out that the giver of the heater is a first cousin of Sam's mom, whom, she says, will think all this is very entertaining. So no harm done, I guess.

Etiquette tips for the day:

When one is prudent enough to save time and funds by reusing a box in which to give a gift, one must also be contientious enough to note this fact on the exterior of the box.

When a note of gratitude is expected in response to a gift, the recipient(s) must take every possible precaution in determining the actual nature of the gift.

It's not easy being green

2007-10-13T14:12:00.000-04:00

As I type this, I know exactly how Kermit the Frog felt. My arms and legs are tinted the astro turf green of patio furniture, I smell strongly of gasoline and vaguely of tropical passionfruit bodywash, and I think I'm going to have a blister on my pointer finger. HELP!

How did I get myself into this mess?

A couple in our church sent out a church-wide email stating that they were giving away a set of 'slightly rusted' patio furniture and a 'working' toaster. As Sam and I have a patio that we've never really used because we didn't want to invest in furniture for it (due to our relatively short stay here and the fact that we'd have to move it back to Mississippi with us), I saw this as a perfect opportunity! We can just use the furniture during our time here and then have the option to give it away before we move. Brilliant.

I called the couple to tell them Sam would be by to pick up the set of furniture on his way home from class one day. (On a side note...... although I couldn't tell it from their email, this couple is from Holland; and they have a very thick Dutch accent. Think Goldmember in Austin Powers - "my fazsher!" Very humorous, I think.) I was planning to make a quick job of spray painting the furniture to hide the rusty spots, but I'd never really done anything like that before.

So I called Mrs. Bonnie (Sam's mom) who can pretty much do anything (except wear dangly earrings, of course) to get directions for spiffing up our furniture. She told me get some Rust-oleum paint and give it a once-over, rust and all. OR, and I quote, "If you want to do it the easy way, just get Sam to get a wire brush and scrape off all the rust and then paint it." Well, that would be easy! But as Sam is out of town in San Diego this week, I decided to pursue the more difficult way of painting it myself.

I went to Wal-Mart, per her instruction, and purchased Rust-oleum paint in the shade of green closest to what the furniture already was. Then, I put on some old clothes and flip flops and situated the pieces of furniture in our back yard. Ready, set, go!

To skip the boring part, the furniture is painted and looks pretty nice. I may need one more can of paint to do some touch-ups, though. Anyway..... after I finished and came inside, I realized I had paint on my hands. Hmmm, dish soap isn't working. I called Sam, who told me to use the gasoline he has for the lawnmower. That got the paint on the palms of my hands to come off, but (maybe I was doing it wrong) it didn't make much of a difference anywhere else. I figured that the paint would wear off eventually, and it's only on my hands.... I should just take a shower.

Imagine my surprise when I look down to see a flip flop stenciled in green paint on my feet. Next, I realize that I'm a sickly green all the way up to my elbows and mid-thighs! Now hopeless, I finish my washing. Even if I wanted to take a petrol-shower, we don't have that much gasoline left; so I think I'm stuck. And that's the story so far. I'll post a picture of our new furniture (and of me if I'm still green) when Sam gets back.

DMB, John Mayer, Aaron Lewis, Halo 3, Starkville, Floatin', Roomba, etc.

2007-10-03T00:02:00.000-04:00

The mood to post to this blog comes along quite infrequently. I've got a lot to catch up on.

Katherine and I have gone to a couple of concerts lately (both free!). VT held a concert to start the year, and it was widely publicized. Phil Vassar opened up, followed the the rapper, Nas. Both of them were horrible. I like country, but Phil just doesn't cut it. Nas; what can I say, pathetic. Then came John Mayer. That guy can play a stinkin' guitar like it was his job (which it is). I was impressed to say the least, plus he's dating Jessica Simpson. Then came, get ready Heather, Dave Matthews. We stayed for a few songs of his, then left. He's ok, but I can only take 15 minutes of one song so many times.

The other concert was a couple of weeks ago. I called in to the VT radio station while doing lab work at 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning. Supposedly, I was the second caller, but I have a hard time believing there was somebody listening to VT radio on a Saturday morning. Nevertheless, I won 2 tickets to hear an acoustic concert with Aaron Lewis, the lead singer of Staind, over in Roanoke that same night. He's pretty dark with his lyrics, as Katherine mentioned, but he's got some really good songs and a great voice. I put a video down below if you want to see.

Halo 3, the greatest game in the history of the world, came out a week ago. I beat the game yesterday. The multiplayer games are great, and I've gotten to play with my cousin Kurt (lives in Tupelo) several times. He's a bit better than me, but I will say I'm still getting back the feel for Halo after playing Battlefield 2 for so long.

This weekend, we're headed to God's country, Mississippi. We're flying out in a 4-seater on Thursday afternoon and should arrive in New Albany at around 4 p.m. I'm excited to get back. It's been about 4 months since I've seen the promised land. We'll head to Starkville Friday night, and partake in some MSU Homecoming festivities on Saturday. Sunday afternoon, we'll come back. Anyone who hasn't seen us in a while and plans to be in Starkville this weekend, let us know.

Katherine is in Minneapolis for work. Her company sends their employees there after they've worked about 6 months. Katherine flew out of Roanoke Sunday morning. After getting back from the airport, my friend Gaurav and I went to float down the New River on intertubes. We were the only 2 people who were out there all day long. The water wasn't even cold; it was spectacular. They give you an extra tube for your cooler, and you just sit back and let the water take you down. I've been fiddling with some video editing software, and this is what I came up with from the trip. Let me know what you think.

I've been getting some extra spending cash from advertising websites lately, and I've been trying to think of something to get for Katherine that we would normally not get ourselves. I found it tonight. It's called a Roomba, and it's an automatic vacuum cleaner. Some of you may have heard of them before; they've been out for several years. They just came out with a new model that claims to have fixed several short-comings from the previous version. Anyways, I'm a sucker for free trials now, and I really think Katherine will enjoy having this. She's not too big on vacuuming, and I would just do it myself, but she claims I don't get the floor clean enough. Who am I to argue? This is definitely going to be a cool gadget, though. I'm excited to see if it works. Supposedly it uses little sensors that go in doorways to know which room it's in. After it's finished cleaning one room, it automatically goes to the next. When it's low on battery, or done cleaning, it uses the doorway sensors to navigate back to a charging dock. It stops suction when going over rug tassles, it changes height when transition from carpet to hard flooring, it even slows down to clean really dirty spots. I'll let you know how it goes.

At last....

2007-09-09T20:37:00.000-04:00

Some of you may have noticed that it has been quite a while since I contributed any nuggets of wit or wisdom to our blog. But as you may remember, I have been reading the Harry Potter series; and I admit that this venture did take over my life for a brief while. However, I am happy (and sad) to say that I have finished the last of the seven books and will now be able to blog more frequently.

I will not go into any details of the last Harry Potter book, as Sam has made it clear this is a subject I am NOT at liberty to discuss. I will, though, recommend the series highly to anyone looking for a good read and express my thanks to John Mark for getting me started.

Onto new news.... I (we) got an iPod!! This is a big deal for me, as I usually try to avoid new technology except on a 'need to have' basis. But I really like it!! It makes washing the dishes, folding clothes, ironing, etc. much more enjoyable. And it's certainly much easier to persuade myself to walk around the block for a little exercise when I know my friend Eminem will come with me. Which leads me to my next little tidbit....

As I've been out in the neighborhood more lately, I've had the opportunity to meet some more of our neighbors. In the middle of my walk the other day, a lady waved me down and I stopped to chat. We had quite a lengthy conversation in which she imparted to me her "wisdom." Not only did she drone on until it was much to dark for me to finish my walk, but she also attempted give me financial, spiritual, and political advice.

Lessons from my neighbor:

1. All you need is a roof over your head, food to eat, someone who loves you, and whatever spiritual entity you prefer. (Sound enough advice, I guess.)

2. Why buy a house when you can rent? This way, you don't have to do any home maintenance yourself. (The economist in me was begging to mention the multitude of holes in this belief, including the little problem of EQUITY; but, as I said, it was getting dark.)

3. Spend all your money while you can because, when you're old (and I quote) 'If you have it, they take it away; if you don't have it, they take care of you.'

And on that note, I dismissed myself from her lecture, bewildered and wanting to return home to my Republican (with a capital 'R') husband. We concluded that her little corner of the neighborhood must not be in the same country the Hardin's share with Dave Ramsey.

I'm a walking infomercial.......

2007-08-26T18:26:00.000-04:00

I've discovered something about myself in the last few weeks: I love to get stuff for free. I don't mean the dime (the coin, not the bag) you find on the ground or the garage sale where you get 5 shirts for a dollar. I mean do-nothing, cost-nothing, hey thanks, scott-FREE. Among the latest things I have gotten for free in the last couple of months are, in no certain order, an X-Box 360 Elite (with a game and a 1 year subscription to X-Box Live), iPod Nano, iPhone, Outrage (book about gay marriage), and 'The Goonies' DVD. I also got, for free again, a lifetime supply of watermelons, but that's for another post altogether.

How did I do it? Two things: a pyramid scam on the internet (it's free, so it's debatable if it's a scam) and calling in on the radio to win contests.

Somehow every time the conversation comes up about this website that gives away free stuff, I start sounding like a 3 a.m. infomercial. Statements like "That's it, there's no catch"; "It's just that easy"; and "It's totally free" are common utterances. But really, it is.

Katherine's wasn't a big fan of the X-Box 360, especially since picking it up made us late for the theatre, but once she figured out that I wouldn't be sitting in front of it like a zombie for 4 hours a day it wasn't so bad. Still, I think my best strategy is to get her to enjoy playing it. On a more serious note, Halo 3 is coming out next month and I can't wait.

I'm jumping around, keep up. I don't know if you people read it, but Jim Beaty's blog is one of the the funniest things on the internet. I check it every day, and I really am disappointed when I don't find new posts. There goes my advertising streak coming out again.

Hmmmm, what else. Oh yeah, I cracked the screen on my cell phone. I was crawling under the house with it in my pocket (you never know when you'll need your phone) and it cracked when I rolled my hip over it. No fat jokes, please. Luckily, I had insurance and they replaced my phone for $50 (that's not free) with one that I hate. Then Samsung customer service gave me the run-around trying to sell me some cable to hook my old phone to my computer so I can get the phone numbers from it. Nevermind that they 'forgot' to put the option on their phones to copy your address book from the phone to the SIM card (it works fine the other way around). I bought it, and now I'm hassling them for a refund because I found a way to get my phone numbers to my computer without the cable. Maybe they'll just let me have it for free.

Quidditch, anyone??

2007-07-31T21:46:00.000-04:00

Okay, I'm officially hooked on Harry Potter. I've seen a couple of the movies, but the books are so much more fun! This past weekend, I began the first book; and today I started the second one. The third is, of course, on reserve at the library. (John Mark, I'll be done in no time, and we can have our literary discussion on the deeper themes in this series.)

I'm beginning to feel like a real Roanoker (as we are called) now, due to my daily exploration of the area of downtown near our new office. No longer do I get lost on the third floor of my parking garage (it is, actually, quite tricky). On my lunch break, I sat on a bench in the park and read a little HP (while I casually ignored the bum three benches down). And I'm considering getting a pedicure one day at this little salon I pass daily. What a city girl I am!

Up until now, I've been a little apprehensive to mention anyone except Sam and myself in this blog for fear that one of my subjects might read about him or herself and take offense. But this encounter is really worth the risk.....

At church on Sunday, Sam and I sat next to a friendly-looking lady whom we had never seen before. During that weekly (and painfully awkward) meet-and-greet time (which I have always secretly dreaded), we learned that she was visiting because her husband was speaking at an Environmental Engineering conference at Tech. What a coincidence!....Time for the hymns.

We continued our conversation after the service. She was pumped about engineering! The following are all direct quotes:

"I just love being married to an engineer. They are really the salt of the earth.!"

"Engineers are such solid people."

"There just simply aren't enough young people going into engineering."

Despite the fact that she was a very nice lady (who all but offered Sam a job in California), I had to get her to stop with the hype so Sam's head would have a chance to deflate. (It has returned to close to its normal size now, by the way.) Although I am certainly enjoying being married to Sam, I have to say that his engineer-hood is not my favorite attribute. The salt of the earth? Really???

We're getting a dog this Saturday!!!

2007-07-27T14:03:00.000-04:00

Yep, that's right. This Saturday morning a dog will be delivered to our door. 'Her' name is Leroy. She's a mutt, but she's a nice dog...... laid back and easy going. Ok ok, we're just keeping her for a week for some friends, but I'm looking forward to it. Our house is always a little more interesting with a dog around. We've kept her before, and except for a little puke on our new rug everything went fine.

One thing I like to do is mess with her when we're gone. I setup Katherine's laptop in the kitchen hooked up to a webcam. I set it up so that I can view the webcam and broadcast sound from the Virginia Tech laboratory. That way I can check on her while I'm gone, and if I get bored I say "Here Leroy!" and watch her run around the house looking for who's talking...... simple entertainment I guess.

On a different note, most of our readers (all 7 of you) might not have seen our house in Virginia. I put up a picture below. Maybe we'll take some of the inside sometime soon.

This is a test.... this is only a test....

2007-07-26T21:12:00.000-04:00

Is blogging for me? I'm really not sure. But Sam seems to think it is.... and if there's anything I've learned in almost seven months of marriage, it's that doing something someone else's way isn't necessarily bad. (Sam's learned that too, of course.)

My life doesn't really seem that exciting to me, but maybe some of you will get a kick out of it.... or at least learn what 'third party logistics' is. That's what I do. I help people move things, but mostly I talk to truckers all day. And don't knock it; things stay exciting.

ME: "Sir, what company do you drive for?"
DRIVER: "I om de drivah."
ME: "Yes, sir. What is your company's name?"
DRIVER: "De drivah!! Go California!"
ME: "Anyone want Foreign Trucking, line three?"

That's right, my language skills come in pretty handy sometimes. I've learned a whole new Spanish trucking vocabulary. But the biggest news at C.H. Robinson's Roanoke Branch is our new office. Last Friday, we moved from Salem into downtown Roanoke! It's really awesome. I get to park in a parking garage, eat lunch at cool places, and walk through the farmer's market everyday. (I hope I'm not the only one who thinks parking garages are cool.) I'll be sure to blog more about it when I've discovered more. Right now, I know there's a library, a coffee shop, a YMCA, a lot of little cute boutiques, and numerous restaurants (including a marginal-looking Thai place) within a seven minute's walk of my office.

Oh, and the theater! The Mill Mountain Theater is right across the street, and Sam and I have tickets to several upcoming productions! And I didn't even have to twist his arm.... true, one features the music of Hank Williams; but I know we'll both enjoy them all.

And my brother has convinced me to begin the Harry Potter series.... My friends know I have a tendency to pick up a book and never finish, but I'm determined to finish all these books. Quite a feat for me, I know. So if any of you bloggers/readers out there know how this much-hyped seventh book ends, please don't tell me. Really, even if I ask.

Now it's bedtime, and I still don't feel like I've written anything of interest to anyone. But Sam assures me that people don't read blogs for excitement. (That's why they ready Harry Potter, right?)

Mall design: Creating a man-friendly environment

2007-07-19T09:25:00.000-04:00

Last night, Katherine and I made a trip to the New River Valley Mall. Let me begin by saying it was a pleasant experience overall. Never before have I seen a mall which mixed guy stores and gal stores so well. Beside Victoria Secret there's a Dick's Sporting Goods and Radio Shack. Over near Belk there's a game shop with X-Box's and Wii's setup to play...... amazing! You can also watch kids learning karate through a big open window. The karate school is called "The One." I think Jackie Chan works there......

On a different note, we're shocking this weekend. I'll explain. For my master's research, basically what we're doing is running a lab-scale wastewater treatment plant...... 3 actually. The treatment plants run all at the same time, and I put toxic chemicals into only 2 of them. Out of the two with toxic chemicals, one is operated normally while the other is run differently in a way that hopefully minimizes the harmful effects of the toxin. The 3rd, unshocked reactor is a control (shows what the plant would be doing if there were no toxins). Basically, I wake up every morning and go play with sewage. We pump raw sewage from a man-hole into our 55-gallon drum that lasts one day. Right now we're running all three the same until we 'shock' 2 of them. That's tomorrow. I'm not expecting much sleep. We pretty much take samples and analyze them using different lab experiments. By the time we're through with the experiments, it's time to go get more samples. It slows down after the first 2 days though.

Well, I have to get to work........ with poop.

To Market To Market...........

2007-07-14T18:45:00.000-04:00

First, in my last post you'll notice the comment that Katherine would likely have little direct input to this blog. Gretchen Wilson's "Redneck Woman" made it to my blog playlist (not without a fight I might add), quickly proving me wrong. Still, there should be enough Texas Country gold to convert even the most stubborn haters.

Today was a relatively active Saturday. We went to downtown Blacksburg to see the farmer's market. Amongst the peppermint, sage, and basil jellies was a nice woman affectionately referred to as 'Nanny' by the regulars. Being somewhat of a jelly connoisseur I tried several of her strange formulas......... not my thing. I'll stick to plum, muscadine, and fig. Walking downtown, we browsed through stores with nice, over-priced stuff ranging from gong chimes to flasks adorned with fairies. The best shop, by far, was a gourmet cooking store. I love cooking and I love gadgets, and it would have been easy for me to spend another hour in this store. I didn't want to end up broke, so we bought a sushi recipe book (we're going to learn), a petitfour (guess who that was for), and fresh scallops (we just ate them...... delicious).

Did I mention the high today was 84 with no humidity?

How Does Any Respectable Document Begin?

2007-07-13T16:54:00.000-04:00

With an introduction, of course. Following the lead of my two sisters, I am hereby officially opening this Blog. While I have always considered myself extremely knowledgeable (at least compared to them) when it comes to the internet and electronics, I have no problem admitting that I am completely behind the trendy custom of reporting my life to both friends and strangers. Even though the title suggests it, I doubt Katherine will choose to have much direct input. Still, she will no doubt be the subject of many entries that follow.

If you know me and are reading this, you may have wondered where the nickname, Smoke, came from. If you didn't, then you are no doubt lacking in attention to detail and should work on being more observant. It all stems from 1st semester, freshmen year at Mississippi State (cue me thinking back to the past):

My roommate, Bryan, and I were both taking Chemistry I. It wasn't an easy class, but I realized in graduate school that I actually remember more than I thought I did. The class had about 150 people in each section. It's just not feasible to call out names when handing back tests in that situation. So the professor had the clever idea of posting the grades online. To protect the kids that got 30's and 22's on their tests, he let us have ID's that our grades were posted under. That way, while every student can see every grade in the class by looking at a website, the student only knows which grade belongs to him. His instructions on the first day of class were, "write down on a sheet of paper what you want your ID to be, followed by your name." Most of my friends put down their SSN or campus NetID (e.g. sch54). I wrote down what I wanted my ID to be, and I turned it in. I didn't tell any of my friends what I wrote (I wasn't sure if I would be the guy with the 22). Six weeks later, our first test was graded and posted online. Suffice it to say that several of my dorm-mates (probably 3 or 4)were in the class with me and Bryan. We were all sitting in front of the same computer to find out how we did on one of our first tests in college. As we went down the list of ID's, there were several "Oooooo's" and "Ahhhhh's," followed by laughter and tears (mostly expletives). At the end of the list everyone knew everyone else's grade except for me. They asked me what my grade was, and I sheepishly replied that I didn't remember what my ID was. I only recalled that it wasn't my SSN and was kind of random. The only logical thing to do was pick through every ID. As I worked, everyone was curious as to both what I made on the test and what ID I picked that I couldn't remember. Once we hit the 'S' list I immediately had a clear flashback of my hidden identity....... "Smoke! That's it!" No one laughed, they all kind of looked at me funny and said, "Smoke?". Every now and then it still comes up.