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Changes of the past two days–Mercury’s Spider

Wow.  McCain the front-runner. Rudy out.  Huck in to keep Romney down.  Edwards out.  Waiting to see who the highest bidder will be for his endorsement.

Britney’s back in the hospital.  Dr. Phil now says he’s sorry.

Mercury has a spider.  Don’t try to get mercuryspider.com.  I tried this morning and while Yahoo at first said it was available, it’s not.

The whole Mercury Spider has scientists baffled.  Ah, we humans think we know so much and still there is so much we don’t even know we don’t know about yet.  Mercury has gravity, which scientists don’t understand because earth’s is caused by its molten core.  They figure Mercury’s cooled long ago.  Hm.

A new world wonder.

Jam Sessions at Apple Store

Three of the kids went to the Apple Store yesterday for a Jam Session training class in Garage Band.  It was about an hour long and I think they had their interests tickled.  In all fairness to the store, they had two people teaching the class who never had done it before, so the training wasn’t as good as I’d hoped, nor as good as One-to-One on FCE.  Nonetheless, the kids got something out of it and will be returning for a video class.

Presidential Race

Well, okay, let’s get this straight.  John Kerry’s running mate was John Edwards, but Kerry endorsed Obama.  Teddy Kennedy and JFK’s daughter Caroline endorsed Obama over Hillary.  The Kennedy’s suggest they’re passing some sort of figurative torch of JFK proportions to Obama.  That’s worrisome from several standpoints.

Rudy seems all but out of it. Tonight’s Florida vote will take care of that.  Then we’re down to McCain and Romney.  One of the girls’ godparents in Florida says it should be Romney because he’s well organized there.  I guess we’ll know in about seven hours.

So it seems we’re down to Hillary, Obama v. McCain and Romney.  The longer Obama and Hillary both remain viable the better for the GOP because they will continue to knock the fool out of each other.  And then there is McCain and Romney.  Not quite sure what to make of the choices.  Rick Davis, who I befriended in 1995 in Orlando for P3 is running McCain and knowing Davis as I’ve studied for more than a decade now, McCain isn’t out of it until he’s out.

A sense of calm

Whew.  Finally beginning to feel like I’m settled back in at home.  Three months away from your family is rough.  And I have so many honey-do projects to work on I don’t know where to begin.  Spring is coming.  Beginning to think we’re not going to have any cold weather this year.  It’s been rainy and cold here over the weekend and foggy, even though the weather service said Friday it was going to ice and didn’t.  And even though they said it would be sunny yesterday and it wasn’t.

I’m finding that with a house full of seven kids, two dogs and my extra beautiful and wonderful wife, there is always something to do.  Add the pool to the mix and then the want to do projects and extra curricular events for the kids, well, we’re always on the go.

It’s time to start doing some painting, both in oils, water colors, and around the house.  I can’t wait to get active in the backyard this spring revitalizing the garden area along the pool, planting some sod, and seeing about adding a few more bamboo trees.  Also need to get a new tree planted for the front yard.  The four willows I planted last spring are doing very well, as are the two Oleander plants.  I also planted two pines that seem to be holding their own.

And then it will also be time, too, to get the bikes down every day for the kids to ride.  And I need to do some work on my breaks so I can get back out on a bike this season, too.  I miss bike riding.  Not that I’m really going to have time for it, but it does sound good.

And I need to finish making our life-size chess board pieces for the backyard.  Fun, fun, wood working projects.  I’m really finding a great release in doing things like that.  Just wish I had more time.  MORE TIME.

And needless to say, more time for the kids.  More time with Kari. Much more time with Kari.  I think my being gone has been the hardest on her.  Please pray for her and ask God to give her more strength.  She’s been through much the past few months.  In ways I probably won’t ever comprehend.  I love you, honey.  Truly, I do.

Sunday, Fog like the Valley

Wow. Fog today. Yes, the weather fokes were even talking about “freezing fog.” Whatever that is.

Reminded me of life in the San Juaquin Valley here in Dallas today. Very soupy for sure.

Have done a fair amount of editing and reorganizing on my computer. Have converted all the video from the DV camera into a QuickTime Pro format that can be pulled into Final Cut Express. With the editing techniques that I’ve been taught in the past month, really have been able to move along with what I’m doing. Really have gotten good at doing quick edits. Now it’s time for lessons on refinement and improving my products.

Still working on the green screen concept. Have tried to do a lot with lighting, but not getting the coloring I want, even with 500 watt light bulbs. Remember, I’m trying to do this without breaking the family budget.

Would be ready to put kids in front of green screen this week if I was further along with the lighting. Not really sure what to do about it at this writing. I’ve got class in two hours, then going to the office to fix up my new space. Switched offices on Friday. Now I need to put it all together so when I go in there in the morning, all is ready for concentration and production.

Haley called me today. They were headed to McDonald’s with their mother. Can’t wait for them to be back home tomorrow.

Ready to get all this video stuff figured out and get it shot. Getting tired of the den looking like this myself. Can’t imagine how Kari’s coping with it!!! It is a mess.

Okay, I’m supposed to be napping. Still kinda out of it from the sinus infection and whatever else I’ve got going on.