The Fox Valley EC Team

And, this is the whole team after our trip to South Park. I've since put the rifle away, but I reserve my right to reclaim it the next time work drives me batty. We've got The Bruce, myself, Jay, and Mike.

Test of Mobile Blogging

This is Mike. He works with me. He doesn't know it, but he was my test subject for mobile blogging.

New Look

Today I messed around with the template and settings. It turns out everything got jacked up because my FileLodge account was discontinued. I know they were acquired by Bolt, but I had initially thought they had the courtesy of carrying over my account and images. I guest not. I never even received a email notice concerning the account.

Oh well, point is the blog has been tidying and redecorated. What do you think? I'm considering building it up with images and fancying it up. Or, do you think I should keep it simple as it is now?

I know this blog doesn't have much readership, if any. But, if you are visiting, let me know your thoughts on how this looks. The comments link is below labeled "Ramblings from you." You're also welcome to subscribe to my blog. Each time I post it'll forward to your email or your news feed, whichever you prefer. (Be sure to use the proper subscriber depending on that preference.)

Anyways...share you thoughts. Come again.

Need to Reintegrate

I'm going to be straight with you. I haven't written for ages. In fact, I think one of my last posts talks about writing more often. We've seen how far that went.

Well, I hope to start getting on here more often. I can't promise writing every day or even every week but more often. As time goes by, I find my self becoming more and more technically inclined. Ironic considering I work in technology, huh?

My ultimate goal is to pepper this back up but with images taken myself, or by Susan, not from online or clip art. Also, I'd like to post more images, sound clips, videos, etc. This should be eased quite a bit once I have my Nokia N73. I'll be able to do all of that while out and about not in front of the computer. Additionally though, I'm always working to tidy and streamline my photos and music files on the home computer.

Long story short, I hope to personalize this with who I am today, not who I was 1 - 2 years ago when this went up the first time. People evolve, and a person's blog should too.

Addiction

Addiction...do you ever realized it until you're up to your eyeballs in it? It's all about the hindsight, baby!

Well, my family has an addiction. I've talked about my love before, but until recently I didn't realize how deep it runs.

My family is addicted to coffee. There are a number of things pointing to addiction when talking about my family and coffee. First, my sister works at Starbucks. That may not seem like a big one until you see the amount of coffee she consumes there and brings home in brewed or still beaned state. Next, my family came down to help my roommates and I move. Remember, my family consists of me-25, my parents-adults, and my sisters-21,16,10, and infant. Yes, three are under the age of 18. Yet, two mornings in a row we went to Starbucks for breakfast. Yes, my parents, roommates, and sisters all piled into Starbucks for coffee and overpriced muffins and such. Finally, when I was home a couple weekends ago there were five unaccounted for coffee cups floating around the kitchen in the afternoon. The pot was brewing another. There were four coffee drinkers and five cups out. Maybe we should have been drinking juice or milk by that point instead of brewing a third or fourth pot for the day. And who was double-fisting it?

Well, the first step is admittance. I admit it. They should too. But, I like it. I like coffee and caffiene and lattes and addiction to it all! Don't touch my coffee!!! :)

Happy Halloween!!!

I just wanted to get a quick post up wishing everyone a Happy Halloween. There is only 30 minutes left, but I still got it in on time!

Also, I recently bought Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0! What that means is sooner or later I'm going to have to start posting photos. I'll be cropping and editing and coloring and all that good stuff. There is going to be a HUGE learning curve, but I am trying to learn a little more each week.

It's tough to justify organizing music or photos on the computer when the house around it is a mess. I'll be sure to post when things are going a bit more...um...cleanly. :)

This weekend I'm up to the parents' house! That means "mini-vacation" for me. I love having them cook and pamper me. I try and help by doing dishes and my own laundry, but it's nothing like taking care of this place. :)

Happy November, everyone. Don't forget to start holiday shopping. The malls and stores are already getting crazy. Trust me...I know!

No news is ? news...

I have absolutely nothing interesting to say on here. See some of you may already know, but at one time this blog was used against me in a family spat. Now my online diary - also known as a blog in this century - is under constant scrutiny and censorship. I rarely write what I'm thinking or feeling. I rarely write.

Some day that will change. Some day soon I will start writing on a more consistent basis. I will not edit what I write depending on who will read it or how they will present it to others. I will write my thoughts and feelings as they flow out of my fingertips.

This is simply a caution sign. If you're afraid you might be offended by me, don't come here. If you plan to print my postings for others to read, know this...I don't care.

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If you are completely confused by what you just read, this posting was not directed at you. I invite you back another time to read my thoughts or feelings for the day. You can also input your email address there on the left side of the page and get notified when I post something new. Go ahead; I don't write enough to take up too much room in your inbox. :)

Moving, moving, moved....

Wow, am I spent! We just relocated to another part of town. The P's came down last weekend and snapped the whip. Everything was hauled from one place to another. Now we have boxes upon boxes stacked up everywhere.

Today I was just at the old place painting a couple rooms back to white. What is the obsession with white anyways? The blue and green were pretty. And, last time I checked people could paint it a different color if they wanted. Oh well, now I'm heading back to patch a few holes where there used to be pretty pictures hanging and probably shampoo the carpet in the livingroom. You'd never guess by the color of the carpet that we "lived" in that room! (Feel free to sense the sarcasm)

So, without further ado, I'm going to head over for one last night of cleaning and tidying. That landlord better appreciate the cleanliness of that place. The new place sure isn't looking as good right now.

I am taking volunteers. We have a lovely couch just waiting to have you sleep on it. Just commit to me that you'll unpack boxes for 6-8 hours before collapsing on it! :)

Oh well...I'll post pics soon! :)

Richard James Stadelberger

Today's post honors Richard James Stadelberger. We lost him September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center. Please take a moment to remember him, his family, and friends today in your prayers.

Information on the internet was scarce, but I have included links to the information and comments I did find. Take a moment to see Richard and the effects he had on the people around him.

Victims of September 11th

Remember September 11th

If you have time, please visit the other 2,995 memorials to those we lost five years ago today.

Long time, no blog

It seems when you do what is important to you other things fall off. That is where this blog has gone...fallen off. Right now we're moving, working, schooling, growing, healing, and just trying to have fun. Even my email is filling up as I only read things that I've been looking for in there.

Susan, Michelle, and I are waking up each morning just trying to get through the day like everyone else. If in the process you've been neglected and you're confident we didn't do it on purpose [ ;) ], drop one of us a line. We'd love to tell you about the latest adventure.

By the way, if you can think of something better for us than Wendy's late at night, please leave the suggestion in the comments section. We eat Wendy's way too much!

Thanks for dropping by. Someday I'll blog more again. Until then...tata...