Tuesday 6/5/07

Sorry for the delayed journal. It is a lot harder than it seems trying to keep up with these items weekly. I also installed Vista on this PC and I ended doing a clean install. Over the last several weeks I have been incrementally reinstalling all my applications and restoring my backed up files. I am pretty much back to normal now so that will help -- having a computer again that is.

 First, Zach is doing great. He is talking pretty well now -- at least well enough Linda and I can understand him most of the time. Not sure what it sounds like to other people. Here are a few pictures of Zach being goofy. (pic1, pic2, pic3, pic4, pic5, pic6). He is really developing a personality and is starting to use his facial expressions more. He is now making faces to get us to laugh. I do fear that we are spoiling him though. It seems more often than not he is starting to throw temper tantrums when he does not get his way. We are slowly combating this but he is very obstinate. Hopefully over the next few months we will get him to a point where the word no and crying almost every time we want him to do something he does not want to do, goes away. Now I am not naive enough to think it will all go away but hopefully we can start negotiating over more important items than putting his shoes on. I use the word negotiating lightly because there is really no negotiating. It is my way but I think from his perspective he is negotiating -- even though he loses every time. Pretty soon I hope he picks that fact up.

We are also getting geared up for Zach's second birthday!! Holy S___! I cannot believe it has been two years already. Time is definitely the most valuable asset. We are not planning anything big. Just a few people over and some cake and of course presents! We are thinking about a big Tonka truck since he loves big trucks. I will be sure to take some video and lots of pictures for the next journal.

For Mother's day I got Linda a Orchid that was in bloom. Said she liked it and I thought I did pretty well. On Mother's Day day we headed to park down in Colorado Springs. Along the way we stopped at KFC to get some food to go. We then found a nice piece of grass and had a picnic. Zach walked around in the grass without his shoes which was funny to watch. After lunch we headed over to the play area and helped Zach go down the slides and swing on the swings. Here are a few pictures of Zach coming down the slide and running around. (pic1, pic2, pic3, pic4, pic5). After that we headed home and Linda called her Mom and I called mine. Now I left my Mother a voice mail and she never called back. I did call a week later and we had a good discussion.

Linda and Deb have agreed to work on each other's decks. The first to get done is ours. They pressure washed, let dry and now are staining. Here is a picture of Linda hard at work. Now this is good for me because I do not need to do it - obviously. My job is to keep Zach occupied. I think I have been mediocre at that. Anyway the decks are starting to look really nice and Linda and Deb are doing a great job.

Last weekend we headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park for a day trip. I really wanted to try out the long lens on bought and I knew there would be lots of elk in the valleys. We were not disappointed. Here are a couple of shots I took with the new lens. (pic1, pic2). The Elk started really encroaching in on my position so I switched lenses and took this photo. We also stopped in Estes Park and ate at a nice Mexican restaurant. After eating we let Zach play on swings and slide that were right outside the restaurant. We then went up to a Lake and circumnavigated it. Zach actually almost walked the entire way. Here are some pictures of Zach climbing and jumping of the large boulders around the lake. (pic1, pic2, pic3) Here is a landscape photo (hand held) of a cool view from the lake.

Rick has developed a prototype for the new iSchmitz and now we need to get content populated. So new site should be on-line in a month or so. I really like the new design and it has some really cool new features.

Finally, with gas prices so high and the amount of miles I put on (and the fact I turn 40 this year) I decided to purchase a car in addition to my truck. In past journals I mentioned looking at a late model corvette. Now after thinking a little about it I have also been toying with the idea of getting a sedan we can use for long trips and I can be comfortable in going back and forth to work. So the battle began in my mind. Do I go practical and get a nice family sedan for commuting or do I go impractical and buy a corvette that would be so much fun to drive? Vett or sedan? Vett or sedan? Well I went with the coolest car I have ever driven but you will have to wait until next journal to see which way I went!! I still need to take some pictures of it.

That's it for this one. Until next time and here is a parting shot of Zach. It is a conversation we had over breakfast.

Until next time...Mike