An update on Kelvin. I brought him to the vet this morning. The bandages are off and the pad actually looks really good. We are going to take the stitches out on Monday morning.
However, the skin on the bottom of his food, between the pads, inside the deep ridges is really really sore. In one place it even ripped open and is bleeding a little bit. The doctor thinks that may be why he has been limping and not putting pressure on it this last week. It probably hasn't helped that it's pretty much been bandaged for 3 weeks. Still not sure why he seemed fine and walking on all 4s on Friday and then so bad suddenly and heavily limping as of last weekend.
Have the paw in a light cloth they gave me and have neosporin on the underneath of the paw. Hopefully after a day or so the fresh air will help heal the torn skin and he'll be back on the foot no problem. Put a cone around his neck for today while I'm at work so he doesn't lick the new cut too much.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Kelvin
Wow, I really need to make some updates, huh?
I guess I'll make this post about Kelvin.
Opening weekend of waterfowl season, I had Kelvin out hunting with me. Day went pretty well for him, though he still needs some more practice. We finished up around 10:30am and were walking back to camp. I let Kelvin run ahead and play with his brother, Ajax, like they usually do at the camp. They ran ahead and into the river, a place they've swam a hundred times. Kelvin followed Ajax, Ajax came out of the river, Kevlin followed and came out limping. I went up and found he had cut his front foot. The pad was almost completely severed. He also had a 3" gash on his opposite back leg.
Phil drove me and Kelvin in his truck to the Weedsport vet. He bandadged the front paw and stapled the back leg. He was pretty rough, but very cheap. He had me come back on Sunday morning to change the bandages.
On Monday I brought Kelvin to a new vet in Buffalo. Dr. Budick didn't like how the previous vet had left the pad hanging there to fall off and regrow so he kept Kelvin for the rest of the day. He put him under and sutured the paw.
He sent us with more antibiotics and pain medicine, and we came back in 7 days for a bandage change. Kelvin was doing great, putting some pressure on the foot even. By the 14th day and another bandage change he was practically normal, plus the bandage. He got the staples removed on the 14th day and we went home. That was last Saturday.
From there things have gotten not so good. For one, the 14th day was our last day of pain medicine. For two, Steve was laying on the floor next to Kelvin and something happened and Kelvin yelped. Between the two, one of them resulted in him being in a lot of pain now. He doesn't even let the paw touch the ground when he's walking, sitting or laying down. He lets the paw hang in the air at weird angles even when he's laying down. It's constanly trembling.
I'm going back to the vet at 7:30 am tomorrow...hopefully it was just the pain medicine and not a setback...
I guess I'll make this post about Kelvin.
Opening weekend of waterfowl season, I had Kelvin out hunting with me. Day went pretty well for him, though he still needs some more practice. We finished up around 10:30am and were walking back to camp. I let Kelvin run ahead and play with his brother, Ajax, like they usually do at the camp. They ran ahead and into the river, a place they've swam a hundred times. Kelvin followed Ajax, Ajax came out of the river, Kevlin followed and came out limping. I went up and found he had cut his front foot. The pad was almost completely severed. He also had a 3" gash on his opposite back leg.
Phil drove me and Kelvin in his truck to the Weedsport vet. He bandadged the front paw and stapled the back leg. He was pretty rough, but very cheap. He had me come back on Sunday morning to change the bandages.
On Monday I brought Kelvin to a new vet in Buffalo. Dr. Budick didn't like how the previous vet had left the pad hanging there to fall off and regrow so he kept Kelvin for the rest of the day. He put him under and sutured the paw.
He sent us with more antibiotics and pain medicine, and we came back in 7 days for a bandage change. Kelvin was doing great, putting some pressure on the foot even. By the 14th day and another bandage change he was practically normal, plus the bandage. He got the staples removed on the 14th day and we went home. That was last Saturday.
From there things have gotten not so good. For one, the 14th day was our last day of pain medicine. For two, Steve was laying on the floor next to Kelvin and something happened and Kelvin yelped. Between the two, one of them resulted in him being in a lot of pain now. He doesn't even let the paw touch the ground when he's walking, sitting or laying down. He lets the paw hang in the air at weird angles even when he's laying down. It's constanly trembling.
I'm going back to the vet at 7:30 am tomorrow...hopefully it was just the pain medicine and not a setback...
Sunday, October 11, 2009
2 week travel!
I'm first flying to portland before driving 45 min to stevenson washington for a 3 day work research summit!
At the end of the week I'm flying to detroit for a weekend hunting trip with the fatherinlaw and kelvin! Go kelvin!
Then I'm being dropped off in chicago to give a presentation at the Neuroscience conference.
When that conference is over next wednesday, I'm headed to baltimore to pack and load the house with the movies and finish some requested repairs.
Then tina and I are driving back up to NY to visit and take part in western waterfowl opening weekend!
Finally on th 25th I'm headed back to Buffalo! Back to work on Monday!
You all can keep track of my travels with lots of twitter/quick updates and a few big updates.
Mike
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Work!
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Monday, August 31, 2009
Ch ch ch changes
Well I know it's been a while since I posted and I'm sorry. I'm in buffalo at my new job with life technologies. I defended my thesis last friday. Lots of people came out to watch, celebrate, and help us finish the house. Hopefully next weekend I can get some pictures of the house up. Yes, I am here without tina and juliana but I'm hanging in there so far.
The job seems super exciting and I can't wait to actually get into some work besides getting started.
I'll update more soon I promise and keep an eye on the twitter feed here in the blog for short little updates!
Mike
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Thursday, July 23, 2009
1st Bday pt 1
Here's a picture of Juliana's first birthday party in Baltimore! The pink sash says "Princess"!!
Tina hired a face painter and she was a HIT! She was going to stay for 1 hour but was so popular we had her stay for two! We were also going to have her do spray tatoos but we didn't have any electricity at Down's Park =(. It was still super fun, though, even though the guys didn't partake!
Tina hired a face painter and she was a HIT! She was going to stay for 1 hour but was so popular we had her stay for two! We were also going to have her do spray tatoos but we didn't have any electricity at Down's Park =(. It was still super fun, though, even though the guys didn't partake!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Hmm...
Well, it's certainly been a while since I've posted. For those who haven't noticed, I HAVE been quite active on twitter (side bar here on the blog) as well as Facebook, where I've posted a few paintball and Juliana pictures from my phone.
Things are moving along well here in Baltimore. Let's see...
I had an awesome tournament the other weekend. I probably played the best PERSONAL tournament day of my career. Unfortunately the team wasn't up to its usual strengths and we didn't make the semifinals =( Oh well it happens. What's worse, though, is that there weren't any photographers there so I don't even have any pictures of my awesome day!
Last weekend Tina's parents came down for a short weekend. They helped us set up Juliana's birthday party in Baltimore! Yes that's right, her FIRST birthday! The actual date is July 25th, but she and Tina are going to be out of town at ANOTHER pageant. Yes, I know I said there wouldn't be any more, but this WILL be the last one lol. Now she's actually old enough to tell if she enjoys it. She's still such a happy kid, I hope she does! Anyway back to the birthday party, we had it at Down's park and it was super fun! Tina's dad helped to cook all the hamburgers, hotdogs, corn, and beans and even though Tina got these itzy bitzy tiny bags of charcoal, we made it work! The dogs were a little bit crazy in their barking, but ah well they're dogs! At the end of the day we took them down to the dog beach and let them swim and retrieve a bit, that was fun!
Well, I'm supposed to be working on papers now. As of this morning, I have one paper published, two through 3 drafts and probably ready to be submitted as soon as the other advisor okay's it, one in it's first draft just needing a discussion, and the last review paper, well, that's not started yet, but it's okay because it doesn't need any experiments!
Let's see, we'll finish off this post with a picture of...the baby!
Things are moving along well here in Baltimore. Let's see...
I had an awesome tournament the other weekend. I probably played the best PERSONAL tournament day of my career. Unfortunately the team wasn't up to its usual strengths and we didn't make the semifinals =( Oh well it happens. What's worse, though, is that there weren't any photographers there so I don't even have any pictures of my awesome day!
Last weekend Tina's parents came down for a short weekend. They helped us set up Juliana's birthday party in Baltimore! Yes that's right, her FIRST birthday! The actual date is July 25th, but she and Tina are going to be out of town at ANOTHER pageant. Yes, I know I said there wouldn't be any more, but this WILL be the last one lol. Now she's actually old enough to tell if she enjoys it. She's still such a happy kid, I hope she does! Anyway back to the birthday party, we had it at Down's park and it was super fun! Tina's dad helped to cook all the hamburgers, hotdogs, corn, and beans and even though Tina got these itzy bitzy tiny bags of charcoal, we made it work! The dogs were a little bit crazy in their barking, but ah well they're dogs! At the end of the day we took them down to the dog beach and let them swim and retrieve a bit, that was fun!
Well, I'm supposed to be working on papers now. As of this morning, I have one paper published, two through 3 drafts and probably ready to be submitted as soon as the other advisor okay's it, one in it's first draft just needing a discussion, and the last review paper, well, that's not started yet, but it's okay because it doesn't need any experiments!
Let's see, we'll finish off this post with a picture of...the baby!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Mac and cheese
If you like this, just you wait for the blueberry cobbler videos hehehe
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Pretending
Anyway to the picture. At one point she carried them into the kitchen and sat in front of the dog food bowl! She proceeded to fill the bowl with the plastic tupperware top you see in the picture and even put the dalmation's head IN the bowl! Sorry I missed that picture but I had to hide to get this one and not interrupt her! It's only a phone picture but the best I have!
This is the first time I know of her pretending on her own and certainly the first picture I ever have of her pretending! Just feels so cool!
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Thursday, July 2, 2009
Busy day
Anyway then I went back into the game and in the meantime the red sox came back to tie it and then I got to see them win in 11. So that MUST be a good sign right?
Here's a picture from our centerfield bleecher seats.
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Friday, June 19, 2009
Fixed
Tire plugged for free. All it took was waiting for 3 hours but it was kind of last minute unscheduled hehe. Also a reminder to replace soon but I knew that. Got a good amount of work done while I was waiting too.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Tires...
Okay, so we had this perfect plan to use up the last bits of the life of these tires before replacing them when we go visit NYS the next month or so.
Of course that never works, right? That back tire has a slow leak. I have no idea from what or how. It lost 10-15 psi over night. Guess we're bringing it into this local tire place to see how it is. Maybe if I fill it up twice a day it can last up to Syracuse where the tires were cheaper haha.
Of course that never works, right? That back tire has a slow leak. I have no idea from what or how. It lost 10-15 psi over night. Guess we're bringing it into this local tire place to see how it is. Maybe if I fill it up twice a day it can last up to Syracuse where the tires were cheaper haha.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Update?
Okay, I know I need to get back to updating this. Let's see, we had an awesome trip to NY. My mom's doing great, which is even better. My thesis defense looks to be planned for a week or two before labor day. I'm starting the job search, which is really not too fun!
Oh, and I walked outside just now and Tina's rear passenger tire was completely flat. Oye. I filled it back up, and couldn't hear any leaks. I checked the whole tire and couldn't find any nails or anything. So I'm baffled. I asked her, did the car drive fine? "oh, yeah I guess it was a little funny from the baby sitter to home". Sigh. Unfortunately she needs to go to the gym, so I sent her off and told her to check it when she gets there and when she's done. I guess if it stays full that hour and overnight it's fine. At least we need new tires relatively soon. I was just hoping it would be another month or so.
Oh, and I walked outside just now and Tina's rear passenger tire was completely flat. Oye. I filled it back up, and couldn't hear any leaks. I checked the whole tire and couldn't find any nails or anything. So I'm baffled. I asked her, did the car drive fine? "oh, yeah I guess it was a little funny from the baby sitter to home". Sigh. Unfortunately she needs to go to the gym, so I sent her off and told her to check it when she gets there and when she's done. I guess if it stays full that hour and overnight it's fine. At least we need new tires relatively soon. I was just hoping it would be another month or so.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Juliana and Kelvin
A lot of people often ask "how is the Dog with the Baby?" I hear it pretty much every time we're out with both of them together. Well, for anyone who wants visual proof, here is one of the reasons you get a lab with a baby!!!
It's hard to video the protection aspect, but he'll like go and bark by her bedroom door if she's crying a ton and we don't take care of her, too!
Now I will admit he's a little more subdued than normal because there's far off thunderstorms, but still they play like this on the floor a lot! This is pretty normal for his laying on the floor with the baby behavior.
It's a pretty cute video! See if you can spot her giving him a kiss and saying her version of "dog." I'm real mad i missed him sniffing her head when she was sitting!
It's hard to video the protection aspect, but he'll like go and bark by her bedroom door if she's crying a ton and we don't take care of her, too!
Now I will admit he's a little more subdued than normal because there's far off thunderstorms, but still they play like this on the floor a lot! This is pretty normal for his laying on the floor with the baby behavior.
It's a pretty cute video! See if you can spot her giving him a kiss and saying her version of "dog." I'm real mad i missed him sniffing her head when she was sitting!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Lawn - For Grandpa M
Like I said, most posts are usually something Grandma Mallore would be more excited about than Grandpa Mallore.
Well, hopefully this one is for him!
Last week I mowed the lawn on the angle! Yes, that includes all side yards on the angle regardless of being only 5feet wide haha! I took this quick as the sun was going down, so hopefully you can see my lines okay.
Interesting "lawn" type addition. This last weekend before I left for Boston, I took the hard top off my Jeep. Meanwhile, I let the soft top sit on the lawn to stretch out in the sun. It's been shown it's a ton easier to put the soft top on if it's gotten a chance to expand a bit in the sun after being rolled up all winter. Well, I got back from Boston, and there's a dead spot on my side lawn! I don't know exactly what it's from, but it's about 3' square, so I'm hypothesizing it might be from one of the soft top rear window! Maybe it made the sun concentrate like a magnifying glass and kill it! But, why didn't that happen with the side windows?
Well, hopefully this one is for him!
Last week I mowed the lawn on the angle! Yes, that includes all side yards on the angle regardless of being only 5feet wide haha! I took this quick as the sun was going down, so hopefully you can see my lines okay.
Interesting "lawn" type addition. This last weekend before I left for Boston, I took the hard top off my Jeep. Meanwhile, I let the soft top sit on the lawn to stretch out in the sun. It's been shown it's a ton easier to put the soft top on if it's gotten a chance to expand a bit in the sun after being rolled up all winter. Well, I got back from Boston, and there's a dead spot on my side lawn! I don't know exactly what it's from, but it's about 3' square, so I'm hypothesizing it might be from one of the soft top rear window! Maybe it made the sun concentrate like a magnifying glass and kill it! But, why didn't that happen with the side windows?
Paintball
Well, haven't made a paintball post in a while. This weekend is GPL event 2. Not a national tournament, but it's a regional. I'll be playing 5man Sunday and like to ref on Saturday, but looks like I won't be able to because I missed the last ref training/practice. But, I think it was worth it because that day I got to go to Navy and watch 2 awesome games of lacrosse quarterfinals with Mike C and Preston! I also probably would have missed the fun times eating crabs afterwords at Arundel Seafood! Which reminds me, at the time, Tina and I had a little misscommunication about who was paying Preston for crabs, WOOPS!!! We'll just have to cover one of them at Fogo de Chao or something haha!
Here's an action picture of me at an official 7man practice. I love this one because I'm sliding in on my knee with my gun up and you can see the little broken paintball spinning beneath me!
Here's an action picture of me at an official 7man practice. I love this one because I'm sliding in on my knee with my gun up and you can see the little broken paintball spinning beneath me!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Mem day at foxboro
Btw this is an update from my phone. No idea if the picture will work!
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Monday, May 18, 2009
Sigh
Couldn't get terribly motivated today. That and needed to replace Tina's blackberry b/c the "K" key didn't work well and now I can't get it to resync with her work Calendar. The frustrating part is that theoretically I'm not supposed to be able to sync her work calendar, just the email, because of the type it is, but for some weird reason the sync actually was working before we had to change the phone, regardless that it wasn't supposed to! *sigh* grr. That kind of stuff frustrates me to no end
Oh and PS, remind me to post my post for Grandpa M!
Oh and PS, remind me to post my post for Grandpa M!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Blog posts from my phone!
Okay this is a test to make blog posts from my phone! Then I won't be limited to just twitter!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Saturday, May 9, 2009
As Promised...Another Video
Juliana just loves the doggie lol. This one's long but it's so cute! So here it is as promised...Juliana and the dog bowl part 2.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Ticks
Okay, between three over the past week transferred from Kelvin (my dog) to me and FIVE from Turkey hunting, I think I'm spent when it comes to finding ticks crawling on me for the season lol.
Luckily none had attached on yet.
I took a shower, but the trouble with that is I'm so blind without glasses/contacts that I can't actually see in the shower to check myself haha.
Anyway this is a pretty "ewe" post, so I'll follow it up tonight with Juliana and the Dog bowl pt. 2.
Oh and for those wondering, yes, I did really enjoy Turkey hunting even though it's early and we didn't even hear any birds and I got ticks haha. If it could be done without the ticks it would be one of my most favorite so far. Mainly because of the temperatures for Spring turkeys haha. I don't like the cold!
Though the time at Mr. Ambrose's camp was relatively nice weather.
Luckily none had attached on yet.
I took a shower, but the trouble with that is I'm so blind without glasses/contacts that I can't actually see in the shower to check myself haha.
Anyway this is a pretty "ewe" post, so I'll follow it up tonight with Juliana and the Dog bowl pt. 2.
Oh and for those wondering, yes, I did really enjoy Turkey hunting even though it's early and we didn't even hear any birds and I got ticks haha. If it could be done without the ticks it would be one of my most favorite so far. Mainly because of the temperatures for Spring turkeys haha. I don't like the cold!
Though the time at Mr. Ambrose's camp was relatively nice weather.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Juliana and the Dog Bowl
Here's the first of two installments of Juliana playing with the dog bowl!
I figured with the exciting post before this, you all would love to see a video.
And yes, my poor hunting dog has to eat/drink out of a PINK bowl...but it's only because I'm too ... thrifty to buy another hehe. Kelvin left his bowls up with his brother in New York. He just belongs with the family I guess lol. Always forgetting something when we visit!
By the way, if anyone wants higher quality versions of these videos I have them saved from my HD video camera on my computer. It's just way too difficult to post them online in the high quality size.
I figured with the exciting post before this, you all would love to see a video.
And yes, my poor hunting dog has to eat/drink out of a PINK bowl...but it's only because I'm too ... thrifty to buy another hehe. Kelvin left his bowls up with his brother in New York. He just belongs with the family I guess lol. Always forgetting something when we visit!
By the way, if anyone wants higher quality versions of these videos I have them saved from my HD video camera on my computer. It's just way too difficult to post them online in the high quality size.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
More Brutes
Haha, I made Gailon some pupils, and Cybana is like better than him!
http://gailon.mybrute.com/dojo
http://cybana.mybrute.com
http://noliag.mybrute.com
http://gailon.mybrute.com/dojo
http://cybana.mybrute.com
http://noliag.mybrute.com
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Ahrg Allergies
Trying to work on papers today, but my eyes are killing me from allergies. I really need to review my presentation and kill off a results section today. Hmm well we'll see how it goes!
Monday, April 27, 2009
D&D
Okay, I know this is going to sound really geeky, but one thing I wish I had done at some point as a kid, (though I suppose I could do it now or in the future, it's not age related) is play paper D&D with a group of friends. Heck even a group that becomes friends lol. Ah well!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
PhD Comics
OKay, having the oversized picture in the blog was annoying me, so I took it off. You can access it at the link below!
Do you read them? I do. They describe a lifestyle I have lived for like 6 years. Here's one that has to do with things that have affected my family, too.
http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive/phd042009s.gif
Do you read them? I do. They describe a lifestyle I have lived for like 6 years. Here's one that has to do with things that have affected my family, too.
http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive/phd042009s.gif
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Post!
Quick! Make them think I've been constantly updating this by posting another beauty pageant picture!
It's spring! Let's exercise!
Speaking of which, I need to mow the lawn lol
It's spring! Let's exercise!
Speaking of which, I need to mow the lawn lol
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Sailing away
If anyone didn't know, Tina and I are going on a family reunion cruise. Well, Juliana isn't going because they were going to charge us full price for her to come, even though 1) she won't eat any food and 2) she isn't allowed in the FREE daycare!
Anyway, here's a photo of her in swimwear at the pageant with an expression that pretty much says "what, you're not bringing ME???"
Hehe
Anyway, here's a photo of her in swimwear at the pageant with an expression that pretty much says "what, you're not bringing ME???"
Hehe
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Updates
Okay, so I KNOW you all need detailed updates, but maybe I'll leave that for tina to fill in and meanwhile I'll try to just post pictures!
Here's PROOF that my daughter is perfect =) hehe
Here's PROOF that my daughter is perfect =) hehe
Friday, March 20, 2009
Okay okay...
I know I haven't been good updating (again) but you have to admit I was doing really well there for a while!
For those of you who are missing Juiliana updates, just take solace in the thought that instead of working on the blog, I've been working on graduating =)
If you're interested next time you see me, I can maybe show you my "storyboards" I've made for the path to graduation. Basically they're an outline of the results sections of the three papers (plus a review article) that I need to write to graduate.
Hopefully when I present them to the two advisors they'll be like "YES Mike, looks great! No more experiments just write!"
Haha right, as if that's likely, but it's a good hope!
I'll update a picture once I sync the digital camera at home.
For those of you who are missing Juiliana updates, just take solace in the thought that instead of working on the blog, I've been working on graduating =)
If you're interested next time you see me, I can maybe show you my "storyboards" I've made for the path to graduation. Basically they're an outline of the results sections of the three papers (plus a review article) that I need to write to graduate.
Hopefully when I present them to the two advisors they'll be like "YES Mike, looks great! No more experiments just write!"
Haha right, as if that's likely, but it's a good hope!
I'll update a picture once I sync the digital camera at home.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Too Smart...
Here's a video I tried to take of Juliana. You see, she's too smart for the camera. I think she gets it partly from her Grandma H! If no one is looking, she'll scoot across the floor with superb crawling technique. Then, if someone is watching, (or especially videotaping) she'll just sit there and smile or army crawl instead of proper crawl!
In this video, I was using the dog bowl as bait. Man she loves to crawl across the floor to the dog food or water bowls! The first few seconds you can see her funny "straight arm crawl technique." But then kelvin decided to lay down in her path, and you see right at 30 seconds in what that turns into (hilarious! watch the dog!)
In all, its some pretty shaky camera work by me because I have to hide across the room and zoom in so she doesn't see me recording. That way she'll actually crawl a little bit before just smiling at the camera!
In this video, I was using the dog bowl as bait. Man she loves to crawl across the floor to the dog food or water bowls! The first few seconds you can see her funny "straight arm crawl technique." But then kelvin decided to lay down in her path, and you see right at 30 seconds in what that turns into (hilarious! watch the dog!)
In all, its some pretty shaky camera work by me because I have to hide across the room and zoom in so she doesn't see me recording. That way she'll actually crawl a little bit before just smiling at the camera!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Dealers...Blah
Okay so after the disappointing day at M&T bank stadium (where interestingly I saw not only Irv from the band, but also Steve P and Seth F from undergrad! That was so cool! I hope we can get together somehow/someway), I left early and tina, the baby, and I drove around looking at different types of 7passenger vehicles comparing them (because we DONT' want a minivan). We spent the afternoon driving around Ritchie highway and visiting a bunch of dealers to sit in cars. Anyway, we were having a decent time, visited a Honda dealer, really liked sitting in the Pilot, but then drove it and were like NO WAY! Well then we went to the toyota dealer and oh my gosh that was a horrible experience! More about that later!
Anyway, we sat in a 3 row RAV4 and it felt really awesome in the front seat and size wize, but when we sat in the second and third rows, WOA way too small even for toddlers! Then we started looking at the highlander and it was pretty good but then we had some problems so we left without making a decision on it and not even seeing the sienna. We did notice that the center seat in the second row (though a cool removable idea) seemed kind of cheaply made.
We moved on to GMC and sat in an Acadia, and liked it, though we didn't have time to test drive it. We also went to Saturn and saw the Outlook quickly, same basic build as the Acadia and liked it but didn't have a lot of time to compare it or certainly not to drive it.
We stopped by a Mazda dealer which was closed and really liked the shape of the CX9 from the outside. We'll have to stop by to get a brochure, sit in one, and maybe drive it and stop back by GMC and Saturn.
It's kind of funny b/c the CX9 and Tribecca seem like sister vehicles and the Acadia and Outlook are basically the same vehicle. So we picked kind of two vehicles that we like! I didn't like the floor matting in the Acadia, and who knows maybe when we drive it it'll be like the Pilot and a sudden "no"! It certainly is a larger vehicle than the Forester now. At least the CX9 and Tribecca seem closer in body size.
In all the really frustrating part is the gas mileage! I mean they all get about 16/21 +/- 1 or 2 mpg! That's horrible!
Anyway, the whole point wasn't to BUY a car. We aren't someone who just walks in and says "I'm buying a car today." (haha unless we just totaled one!) So instead we visit places, do research, sit in cars see if we feel comfortable in them and sit and think about it for a while. We aren't going to buy any time soon, but rather whenever I graduate. I probably won't want to drive the Jeep as a daily driver so we'll get tina a new/used 7 passenger like she's always wanted and I'll drive the Forester. What's wrong with that? Researching ahead of time about cars that will be used when we are ready to buy? Well, apparently the toyota dealer didn't like that! I'll post a letter Tina and I are writing later.
On a positive note, I did get to see the subaru leather and it does seem pretty quality and might not get ruined by kelvin's claws! I'll have to bring him in and see if he rips/scratches it though before I even consider buying one! That's something we'll have to compare when we make some more decisions...quality of cloth and leather in each brand of vehicle! We are very hard on our vehicles. We don't care about silly built in entertainment modules but we do care about how quality the seats are and if they'll last the hundreds of thousands of miles we put on cars!
Here's a baby picture!
She says "find me a safe car that I can beg to drive!"
Anyway, we sat in a 3 row RAV4 and it felt really awesome in the front seat and size wize, but when we sat in the second and third rows, WOA way too small even for toddlers! Then we started looking at the highlander and it was pretty good but then we had some problems so we left without making a decision on it and not even seeing the sienna. We did notice that the center seat in the second row (though a cool removable idea) seemed kind of cheaply made.
We moved on to GMC and sat in an Acadia, and liked it, though we didn't have time to test drive it. We also went to Saturn and saw the Outlook quickly, same basic build as the Acadia and liked it but didn't have a lot of time to compare it or certainly not to drive it.
We stopped by a Mazda dealer which was closed and really liked the shape of the CX9 from the outside. We'll have to stop by to get a brochure, sit in one, and maybe drive it and stop back by GMC and Saturn.
It's kind of funny b/c the CX9 and Tribecca seem like sister vehicles and the Acadia and Outlook are basically the same vehicle. So we picked kind of two vehicles that we like! I didn't like the floor matting in the Acadia, and who knows maybe when we drive it it'll be like the Pilot and a sudden "no"! It certainly is a larger vehicle than the Forester now. At least the CX9 and Tribecca seem closer in body size.
In all the really frustrating part is the gas mileage! I mean they all get about 16/21 +/- 1 or 2 mpg! That's horrible!
Anyway, the whole point wasn't to BUY a car. We aren't someone who just walks in and says "I'm buying a car today." (haha unless we just totaled one!) So instead we visit places, do research, sit in cars see if we feel comfortable in them and sit and think about it for a while. We aren't going to buy any time soon, but rather whenever I graduate. I probably won't want to drive the Jeep as a daily driver so we'll get tina a new/used 7 passenger like she's always wanted and I'll drive the Forester. What's wrong with that? Researching ahead of time about cars that will be used when we are ready to buy? Well, apparently the toyota dealer didn't like that! I'll post a letter Tina and I are writing later.
On a positive note, I did get to see the subaru leather and it does seem pretty quality and might not get ruined by kelvin's claws! I'll have to bring him in and see if he rips/scratches it though before I even consider buying one! That's something we'll have to compare when we make some more decisions...quality of cloth and leather in each brand of vehicle! We are very hard on our vehicles. We don't care about silly built in entertainment modules but we do care about how quality the seats are and if they'll last the hundreds of thousands of miles we put on cars!
Here's a baby picture!
She says "find me a safe car that I can beg to drive!"
House Prices
Home prices...oye! Well, figures things are going bad there, too. I think the way prices are going in our area, whenever I do graduate and move, be it whenever in the future, we're going to be hard pressed to make the money I was hoping for. We'll probably be lucky to break even after paying the realtor fees. I was hoping so much that we'd get money out of this house for a downpayment, but I have a feeling we might not. Ah well we'll have to see whenever that comes around! Hopefully we'll need to be here long enough that home prices swing up considerably. I just hope whatever my job options are it works with the house!
Can we live here while we're trying to sell the house? hehe
Can we live here while we're trying to sell the house? hehe
Experiments
So what else is going on...Ah work, it figures things like on friday happen in my luck! Both advisors agreed that if the experiment I did on friday didn't work, I should stop with the series of experiments as a proof of concept that I've been working on for weeks and put the experiment to bed. Well figures it worked just enough that I needed to keep doing them but not enough to be a positive final result!
She says "Daddy can you graduate so I can get my own cell phone?"
She says "Daddy can you graduate so I can get my own cell phone?"
Friday, February 27, 2009
Auto Service
Everyone knows you can haggle at the car dealer when you buy a car, right? (well besides saturn). Well whoever knew you could haggle parts at the service department? We were going to get tina's timing belt changed at the subaru dealer, then i called the place i go to get major work done on the jeep and they were going to do it and the waterpump and the drive belt for the same price, but it wasn't as convenient as tina dropping off the subaru at the annapolis dealer. Well when tina called to cancel the appointment at the dealer they asked why and she said as much and they went to the manager and came back to the phone and told her they'd do it for that price! wow! I wonder if we should haggle the service department more often haha!
Mmm Peanut butter!
Mmm Peanut butter!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Swimming Lessons Part 3
Okay, so I cheated and this video is from last week, but we DID go to swimming yesterday!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Mmm Puffs!
I can't believe I haven't posted a video of this yet. I'm so proud! Juliana and I worked for a whole morning learning how to pick up puffs and eat them with her hands! Before when mommy worked with her she would pick them up and they would be stuck in her fist and she couldn't figure out how to eat them without punching herself! But DADDY got her to pick it up with her fingers! This video isn't the first time she learned it, but it's a great example of how far she's come!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Swimming Lessons Part 2!
Juliana went to her second swimming lesson last night. I'm working on trying to get the video from my camcorder to the computer lol I'll get it eventually. I do have a picture which I'll upload later tonight. Tina thought she lost an earring in the pool, which obviously made for a frustrating night since it wasn't found. But this morning we found out she dropped it at the baby sitter, yay! So hopefully that's a good sign for her meeting today.
Videos/Pictures:
Here's a still picture and one of a few videos I took! I'll add some more videos over the next few days!
Videos/Pictures:
Here's a still picture and one of a few videos I took! I'll add some more videos over the next few days!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The things we give to our kids we can’t control...
Here’s another mike’s random thoughts and rambling. You can skip over it to the bottom if you don’t want to read 2 pages of nonsense.
Having kids, you find yourself or other people saying a lot of things you hope that they get from the parents. Like oh I hope she gets her mother’s eyes, I hope she gets her father’s good looks (haha), I hope she gets my musical sense, I hope she gets your responsibility. Unless you have a genetic problem, you try not to or don’t often think about the things you DON’T want them to get. The things don’t want to pass down to kids but might not have any choice. You’re especially in trouble when you both have something, like a temper! Sure we hide it, but Tina and I can both get going and it is NOT pretty.
The past week or so has reminded me of one of what I feel is one of my uncontrollable downfalls (versus temper as something controllable) that I really hope Juliana is not stuck with. Sometimes, my brain gets jumbled when I’m too emotional or thinking too fast (or worse both) and it doesn’t translate correctly. My brain works too much for my mouth to understand and so what I say is nowhere near what I’m thinking, but in the communication it almost seems like it was correct. Or sometimes it thinks so much that it freezes from the bounceback of information that was supposed to be sent to the mouth but never came out!
Then I have to go back and fret a few days later about how I really meant to say it versus trying to remember what I said. Which is difficult when the mind thinks that it made sense to itself but doesn’t admit that the mouth didn’t actually say what it was sent. Okay that sounds normal I know, about thinking one thing and saying another, but I’m talking about the brain actually believing the mouth said what it was thinking. Anyway, then you have to go and figure out how to again talk to people who heard it while feeling that they’ll be stuck on the conversation the first way. How to get them to understand I want to explain the way I thought versus just changing the story. Why? Because people are skeptical like that, “oh he’s just using the extra time to change the story.” But that’s not what it is. The time was necessary to tone down the emotions and slow down the thoughts so that they all come out correctly. And goodness knows I’ve tried that just to find myself afraid the second time of messing up again and resulting in my brain scrambling and still not expressing it correctly. It’s a vicious circle.
I know there have been lots of examples in my past, but here’s what brought on my thoughts of Juliana’s fate. In small group last week I wanted to express how I don’t believe in the bible as a substitute for a personal conversation with god. Or that it frustrates me when it’s used as a replacement for god’s word. That it can be a crutch and people get stuck focusing on the bible and never complete their journey to god. And worst, that it scares me to think that people, and I fear sometimes affecting people I know and love, might sometimes overemphasize the bible and it could cause interference in their communication directly with god; that it scares me thinking that it could cause them to not get the full word through the distraction or noise in the conversation.
And that’s such a huge fear for me because it has taken so much of my effort to not be interfered in my own conversations with myself, others, and most importantly God. Sometimes I still fail to prevent the interference and it feels so catastrophic, whomever the conversation was with. So all those thoughts I want to express jumble through my mind, the feelings and emotions that go with the thoughts and it goes a million miles an hour like people have said my mind is able to do. They compliment my fast mind but they don’t have to deal with my downfall in trying to get all those feelings from my mind to my mouth. It’s like the interference I worry from the bible. My mind thinks and sends signals around my body at 1080p 5.1 surround sound and my stupid mouth is only able to talk in analog signal with rabbit ears. It’s why if you’ve ever seen me concentrate on saying something I’m not comfortable talking about I need to stare off in the distance and talk slowly. My brain needs to get rid of visual distractions and try to calm any emotions it’s having so that it can slow down and make sure my mouth gets the whole sentence or thoughts. But when the communication fails and there’s too much interference going on in MY head…what comes out instead are choppy bits of my thoughts like a simple “I don’t believe in the bible.” And in the ensuing minutes my brain is like “yeah I sent the right signal” and my mouth is like “yeah I said what you said” and 2-3 days later something’s bothering me and I think about it and I’m like oooh crap what did I say and what did I think?
So sure people can wish my mind on my daughter and children, but I certainly don’t wish the logjam of communication from the beautiful thoughts through to the world when things get confusing, emotional, and upsetting. Yes, I dream Juliana and all of our potential future children are blessed with the wonders of a mind that works as fast as mine does, I just hope they also get their mother’s articulation to express it in situations other than the controlled environment of the shower or before falling asleep.
Anyway, here’s a reward for reading all of that craziness and more about my head than you wanted to know:
Having kids, you find yourself or other people saying a lot of things you hope that they get from the parents. Like oh I hope she gets her mother’s eyes, I hope she gets her father’s good looks (haha), I hope she gets my musical sense, I hope she gets your responsibility. Unless you have a genetic problem, you try not to or don’t often think about the things you DON’T want them to get. The things don’t want to pass down to kids but might not have any choice. You’re especially in trouble when you both have something, like a temper! Sure we hide it, but Tina and I can both get going and it is NOT pretty.
The past week or so has reminded me of one of what I feel is one of my uncontrollable downfalls (versus temper as something controllable) that I really hope Juliana is not stuck with. Sometimes, my brain gets jumbled when I’m too emotional or thinking too fast (or worse both) and it doesn’t translate correctly. My brain works too much for my mouth to understand and so what I say is nowhere near what I’m thinking, but in the communication it almost seems like it was correct. Or sometimes it thinks so much that it freezes from the bounceback of information that was supposed to be sent to the mouth but never came out!
Then I have to go back and fret a few days later about how I really meant to say it versus trying to remember what I said. Which is difficult when the mind thinks that it made sense to itself but doesn’t admit that the mouth didn’t actually say what it was sent. Okay that sounds normal I know, about thinking one thing and saying another, but I’m talking about the brain actually believing the mouth said what it was thinking. Anyway, then you have to go and figure out how to again talk to people who heard it while feeling that they’ll be stuck on the conversation the first way. How to get them to understand I want to explain the way I thought versus just changing the story. Why? Because people are skeptical like that, “oh he’s just using the extra time to change the story.” But that’s not what it is. The time was necessary to tone down the emotions and slow down the thoughts so that they all come out correctly. And goodness knows I’ve tried that just to find myself afraid the second time of messing up again and resulting in my brain scrambling and still not expressing it correctly. It’s a vicious circle.
I know there have been lots of examples in my past, but here’s what brought on my thoughts of Juliana’s fate. In small group last week I wanted to express how I don’t believe in the bible as a substitute for a personal conversation with god. Or that it frustrates me when it’s used as a replacement for god’s word. That it can be a crutch and people get stuck focusing on the bible and never complete their journey to god. And worst, that it scares me to think that people, and I fear sometimes affecting people I know and love, might sometimes overemphasize the bible and it could cause interference in their communication directly with god; that it scares me thinking that it could cause them to not get the full word through the distraction or noise in the conversation.
And that’s such a huge fear for me because it has taken so much of my effort to not be interfered in my own conversations with myself, others, and most importantly God. Sometimes I still fail to prevent the interference and it feels so catastrophic, whomever the conversation was with. So all those thoughts I want to express jumble through my mind, the feelings and emotions that go with the thoughts and it goes a million miles an hour like people have said my mind is able to do. They compliment my fast mind but they don’t have to deal with my downfall in trying to get all those feelings from my mind to my mouth. It’s like the interference I worry from the bible. My mind thinks and sends signals around my body at 1080p 5.1 surround sound and my stupid mouth is only able to talk in analog signal with rabbit ears. It’s why if you’ve ever seen me concentrate on saying something I’m not comfortable talking about I need to stare off in the distance and talk slowly. My brain needs to get rid of visual distractions and try to calm any emotions it’s having so that it can slow down and make sure my mouth gets the whole sentence or thoughts. But when the communication fails and there’s too much interference going on in MY head…what comes out instead are choppy bits of my thoughts like a simple “I don’t believe in the bible.” And in the ensuing minutes my brain is like “yeah I sent the right signal” and my mouth is like “yeah I said what you said” and 2-3 days later something’s bothering me and I think about it and I’m like oooh crap what did I say and what did I think?
So sure people can wish my mind on my daughter and children, but I certainly don’t wish the logjam of communication from the beautiful thoughts through to the world when things get confusing, emotional, and upsetting. Yes, I dream Juliana and all of our potential future children are blessed with the wonders of a mind that works as fast as mine does, I just hope they also get their mother’s articulation to express it in situations other than the controlled environment of the shower or before falling asleep.
Anyway, here’s a reward for reading all of that craziness and more about my head than you wanted to know:
New Cars
So Tina and I looked at cars this weekend. She wants more seats in her car. We love love love our 2004 Forester, but when we have more kids, she wants more seats. So we started looking at 7 passenger vehicles. She doesn't like the idea of a minivan and doesn't want a truck based SUV; they're too big for her. We specifically looked at the Subaru Tribeca on Monday. It was nice we liked it. We definitely did NOT like the 09 Foresters. We don't like what they did to change the front body styles. Regardless, the only Tribeca's that don't take premium gas are the 08's and 09's. There aren't very many 08's and the 09's are pretty much all in leather! Well leather certainly won't work with young kids and a dog! Oh well so we'll wait for some 09 cloth to be made and become used over the next few years and get something a little while down the way.
Meanwhile I'm trying to come up with a list of other 7 passenger not-too-big vehicles for her to sit in and compare. So far I'm coming up with Ford Taurus X, GMC Envoy, GMC Acadia, Toyota Rav4, Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot, Mazda CX-9. I've never actually sat in any so I don't know how they compare size wise. I'm pretty sure we dont' like the feel of the Saturns. I've only sat in the Vue and it's nice but we like the Tribeca better. Still haven't sat in the Outlook.
Otherwise I also got to learn to change the manual transmission fluid in the jeep on monday with Tina's dad. that was super fun. Next time I'm hoping to relearn the oil change and coolant flush!
2004 Forester Example:
2009 Forester Example
2009 Tribeca
Meanwhile I'm trying to come up with a list of other 7 passenger not-too-big vehicles for her to sit in and compare. So far I'm coming up with Ford Taurus X, GMC Envoy, GMC Acadia, Toyota Rav4, Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot, Mazda CX-9. I've never actually sat in any so I don't know how they compare size wise. I'm pretty sure we dont' like the feel of the Saturns. I've only sat in the Vue and it's nice but we like the Tribeca better. Still haven't sat in the Outlook.
Otherwise I also got to learn to change the manual transmission fluid in the jeep on monday with Tina's dad. that was super fun. Next time I'm hoping to relearn the oil change and coolant flush!
2004 Forester Example:
2009 Forester Example
2009 Tribeca
Monday, February 16, 2009
Gillmeister Family Photo Update!
Thought it was time for a barrage of pictures for everyone who isn't lucky enough to see Juliana everyday like us! =) More to come later!!
First Valentines! 
First Swimming Lessons! 
Opa (Grandpa in German) and Gramma H Visit!
I can crawl! (kinda)
I'll go waaaay back! First Halloween
First Thanksgiving!
First Valentines! First Swimming Lessons! Opa (Grandpa in German) and Gramma H Visit!I can crawl! (kinda)Thursday, February 12, 2009
Spring!
Spring is coming and it's SO exciting. I don't like winter so much b/c I don't like not enjoying being outdoors. I love the outdoors but when it's cold my nose complains and my fingers/toes get cold too quickly. The weird thing is that I would probably miss the winter if it wasn't there. I already miss the snow living in Baltimore.
Anyway, it was in the 70's this week and I LOVED it. Can't wait for more. Ah and the wonderful list of spring! Dog swimming, Baseball, Lacrosse, Paintball Tournaments, sandals, washing the car, mowing the lawn, ah the list goes on and on! Oh and reduced BGE bills haha!
Anyway, it was in the 70's this week and I LOVED it. Can't wait for more. Ah and the wonderful list of spring! Dog swimming, Baseball, Lacrosse, Paintball Tournaments, sandals, washing the car, mowing the lawn, ah the list goes on and on! Oh and reduced BGE bills haha!
Someday...
Someday, I'll learn the trick to keeping this blog updated.
Maybe it's taking more pictures of the baby.
Maybe it's taking 5 minutes of the day to just let out what went on.
The problem with the first is that it requires transferring the pictures from the camera to the laptop!
The problem with the second, and partially the first, is that I often don't set up the laptop at home because we get home late or we're busy when we get home or we go out or other things. Another problem is I know most people who read this blog do so for pictures of the baby! It's not as interesting to hear the random thoughts from Mike's head!
So, rather than talk about this week's small group adventure, what are some interesting things Juliana has been doing?
Ah Wednesday we went to the grocery store. Mainly because we're pretty much out of everything we need for day-to-day living! Secondly I did it because Tina has been working till 9pm the past two nights =(. Also we have parents visiting the next two weekends so we need to stock up!
If you visit us, one thing that you might want to do is bring Juliana to the grocery store! She loves it! She doesn't care if she's hungry or dirty diaper or sleepy. When she's in the store she's alert and looking around and happy! I think it's all the colors of all the boxes and seeing all the people close up in the aisles.
I don't tend to go grocery shopping because I'm not usually out. It's some weird thing I think about not wanting to take the Jeep out if it's not already driven that day. Well I was picking up the baby Wednesday so I had no problem stopping at the grocery store! I had other things planned for that night like laundry and picking up the basement but the shopping was so tiring I couldn't even throw in one load! Oh well!
Maybe it's taking more pictures of the baby.
Maybe it's taking 5 minutes of the day to just let out what went on.
The problem with the first is that it requires transferring the pictures from the camera to the laptop!
The problem with the second, and partially the first, is that I often don't set up the laptop at home because we get home late or we're busy when we get home or we go out or other things. Another problem is I know most people who read this blog do so for pictures of the baby! It's not as interesting to hear the random thoughts from Mike's head!
So, rather than talk about this week's small group adventure, what are some interesting things Juliana has been doing?
Ah Wednesday we went to the grocery store. Mainly because we're pretty much out of everything we need for day-to-day living! Secondly I did it because Tina has been working till 9pm the past two nights =(. Also we have parents visiting the next two weekends so we need to stock up!
If you visit us, one thing that you might want to do is bring Juliana to the grocery store! She loves it! She doesn't care if she's hungry or dirty diaper or sleepy. When she's in the store she's alert and looking around and happy! I think it's all the colors of all the boxes and seeing all the people close up in the aisles.
I don't tend to go grocery shopping because I'm not usually out. It's some weird thing I think about not wanting to take the Jeep out if it's not already driven that day. Well I was picking up the baby Wednesday so I had no problem stopping at the grocery store! I had other things planned for that night like laundry and picking up the basement but the shopping was so tiring I couldn't even throw in one load! Oh well!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Giggles
Unfortunately I didn't think to record this till we had already done it a while so the laugh isn't as big as the biggest I had gotten from her that day, but it's still really cute! Hope you all enjoy it =)
P.S. That's baby HannaH you hear in the background!
P.S. That's baby HannaH you hear in the background!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Sunny CA
Well I'm posting here from California! It was kind of a last minute trip out to CA to visit Doug and Michelle and HannaH before Doug ships out. I'm really glad we made it out before he had to leave! T hey could be on a plane starting on Friday, wow. It was really cool actually we got tickets for about 250 per person inside a week before we traveled and Juliana didn't have to have a ticket. Btw if you haven't noticed yet I like her name spelled with two capital H's so it looks more like a palindrome!
Anyway it's 80 degrees F here and only in the 20's back in Baltimore! A great tradeoff even though I'm not paintballing haha! We're having an awesome time here. We all went to picnic on the beach and I put Juliana's feet in the cooold water. Her first plane trip went great! She pretty much slept through all the takeoffs and landings and was the star of the section of the plane when she was awake. I just hope that we can get a seat open for her again on the way home so we can sit together with her in the carseat instead of our laps. The flight to Philly from Baltimore was in a small plane so she was in our laps, though asleep. From Philly to San Diego there were lots of open seats so we got 3 in a row and one for her hehe. It's weird b/c she has to have the window seat. Probably something to do with getting out of the row.
She's currently sitting on my lap trying to help me write this post! Well that's all I can remember for now so I'll update again soon.
Anyway it's 80 degrees F here and only in the 20's back in Baltimore! A great tradeoff even though I'm not paintballing haha! We're having an awesome time here. We all went to picnic on the beach and I put Juliana's feet in the cooold water. Her first plane trip went great! She pretty much slept through all the takeoffs and landings and was the star of the section of the plane when she was awake. I just hope that we can get a seat open for her again on the way home so we can sit together with her in the carseat instead of our laps. The flight to Philly from Baltimore was in a small plane so she was in our laps, though asleep. From Philly to San Diego there were lots of open seats so we got 3 in a row and one for her hehe. It's weird b/c she has to have the window seat. Probably something to do with getting out of the row.
She's currently sitting on my lap trying to help me write this post! Well that's all I can remember for now so I'll update again soon.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Ack!
Okay, I can blame the lack of updates on the Holidays! I did get an awesome video camera for xmas though so I need to figure out how to transfer videos to here!
Let's see, Tina and I are trying to get back into the swing of full work and I need to work super hard to move the degree along. Which I should be doing now, so more updates soon!
Let's see, Tina and I are trying to get back into the swing of full work and I need to work super hard to move the degree along. Which I should be doing now, so more updates soon!
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