It's the most Grinchy-ful time of the year.

Well, we survived Christmas. I'm finally starting to unwind a little, my schedule allowed me two days off this week, plus I have PTO time to burn that I'm using next week to get Tasha to All-State. I might even get some pet projects done, like more pictures on this Blog and stuff on "Dad's Blog" (my personal dumping ground for stuff that most of the rest of you might not care about).

Anyway, I just wanted to publically ackowlege that we have the most generous friends and family in the world. My kids now have more distractions from reality than they know what to do with. We now have a PS2, AND a Game Cube plus I don't know how many games. The good news is now our kids are REALLY motivated to keep their chores done and grades up.

For family out there, we didn't forget you. We're working on a project that we just didn't get done before Christmas. God willing, I will get it done next week and get it in the mail. I'd give you a hint, but it would spoil it. Let's just say you'll have to "picture" it in your mind.

So I'm off to work on that. Merry Christmas, Happy New year, etc. etc.

The Way it should be, why can't it be?

So, it's the 21st century. Things are supposed to be easier than they are. I'm not talking about jet pack and flying cars, I'm talking about something as simple as checking the weather report.

In the ideal world we are SUPPOSED to be living in, I could just flip on my view screen (or better yet, voice activate it) and ask for the weather to show. And I'd instantly have the information I need. Instead I have a laptop and a tv. If I flip on the tv (at least I have a remote for that) I have to wait through so many stupid commercials and who knows what to get to the weather. Even if I have cable (which I don't because of the "who knows what") and flipped it to the Weather Channel, I still have to wait for them to get to my local info.

The computer is worse. Even though I have this nifty little program that gives me the weather when I turn it on, it takes 5 minutes for the the stupid thing to boot up (even if it's on stand-by, which must be a private joke at Microsoft because it's not really faster than starting from shut-down), then I have to log in to the internet and since I'm using MSN, I have to wait for it to do an update check, log into messenger, pop up a little window that tells me how many emails I have, and then, if I'm lucky, I can get the weather.

I want the future we were promised. Let's quit trying to make a buck and actually build things that work like they are supposed to, Mr. Gates, Mr. Jobs. Let's get on with it.

Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me....

Well, we finally did it. We killed our van. I knew it was coming, the stupid thing has almost 200K miles on it and had been coughing and barfing for while. But gosh darn it, couldn't it wait another few months? We had been talking about replacing it with our income tax refund, but now it can't wait. Now we have no way to get anywhere. I still have my little car for work, but it will only hold three other people.

I really hate this. It seems like the harder I work, the harder it is to get ahead. We've been working for years now to get and keep caught up and even trying to put some back for times like this, but we can't ever seem to get anywhere. Even getting further behind. Why do we have to live like this? Why are others allowed to prosper, but we have to struggle?

Maybe it's time to give up and move home. I'm a failure as a man, as a husband, as a father. I can't take care of my own family. At least back in Iowa/Nebraska, Anna and the kids can be near parents/grandparents. We won't be any better off, but at least there's family there.

I don't know what to do any more....

This one's a little fuzzy, but I really like it. This is Baby's first experience with Christmas lights. I have a couple more where he tried to eat them.