Planning my garden early

This year I have 215 sq ft of garden space. (37% increase from last year) I planned out what we are going to plant this year and I'm amazed how much I can get in such a small place.

Here's my plan for 2010.

# of plants (# of sq ft used)
4 (4) -Jalapeño Peppers
4 (4) -Anaheim Peppers
4 (4) -Bell Peppers
144 (36) -Corn
7 (28) -Roma tomatoes
2 (8) -Better Boy Tomatoes
16 (4) -Lettuce
4 (4) -Broccoli
2 (12) -Zucchini
2 (12) -Squash
72 (36) -Potatoes
3 (3) -Cucumbers
256 (16) -Onions
108 (12) -Beans
240 (15) -Carrots
2 (8) -Pumpkins
8 (8) -Herbs

Sydney Bob Joe

New year, New camera

We had a little accident last year and broke our little canon camera. Since then, I've been looking for the replacement. I finally found it. Canon SD780 IS. Today I actually read through the manual to see what features it had. There are a number of cool ones.

1. Blink Detection.
2. When you focus on a subject and push the button down half-way, it pops up a little window to show you a zoom of the face, which is really nice

As you can see, I had fun playing with some of the features.


Syd - Green

Syd - Pink

 Ryan and Syd - Green

Ryan and Syd - Red

Who said $10 can't buy happiness?

Last night we ran out to the store to pick up a birthday present for a party Sydney was invited to. In the process, Ryan found a $40 guitar that was clearanced to $10. With his wallet in tow, he decided he had to have the guitar. So he bought it.

When we got home, I tuned it for him and showed him three chords every guitar player needed. G, C, and D. With these 3 chords, you can play just about every country song ever written.

Ryan and his guitar.  I've never seen him so determined and excited about something.

Deni losing Gracefully

Layoffs are horrible

Ever since I started my professional career, I've had to deal with layoffs.   The first few years were stressful. They seemed to always come when we had just made a major life change. A birth, home purchase, etc.  I remember the first time I went through a layoff, we had just purchased our first home and moved in.  The rumors were flying and I was worried, but I didn't want Deni to worry, so I didn't tell her. (which is not typical of our relationship)  Side note, don't tell me something you don't want Deni to know, as we talk about everything. Work, personal, etc.

I did my best to not let it effect me, but did a horrible job of hiding it. After a stressful day at work, I came home, only to get into a fight with Deni. During our fight, it came out that layoffs were just around the corner and that I could lose my job.  Although I had attempted to not let it effect me, it was a major stress in my life and I was bring it home with me.

We made it through that layoff and about ten more since then. After the first few, they got a little easier.  In those early years there was a methodology of how to avoid losing your job.  Mainly not be the worse member of the team. The majority of the layoffs were getting rid of those that should have been fired anyway.

However after all the dead wood had been shed, the decisions started getting harder and harder. They start getting more and more personal each year.

Last year a close co-worker of mine was let go. That was hard for me.  We were hired within the same time in 2000 and our careers mirrored each other through the years.  It was hard to watch him lose his job and struggle looking for a job in the down economy.

Then this year another close co-worker was let go.  Although I haven't known him long, he was instrumental to helping me with the new project I took on this summer.  I'm saddened by the reckless decisions made each year that effect people and more importantly families. 
 
These last 2 years, more than any, have made me change my thinking about my job.  I've changed my thinking from "if I will lose my job" to "when". 


In chatting with friend that lost his job this year, he said something about still keeping in touch and even helping me, if I needed it.

He said:

Well, my friends are my friends and I wouldn't let them down

Wow - I need more friends like this, but more importantly, I need to strive to be this type of friend.

The day after

We spent the night at my parents so we could go shopping on Black Friday.

I can't say that we got much sleep. We got to bed around 11pm and then got up at 3:30am.  Part of the whole fun is watching grown adults push, fight and act like 3 year olds at 5am, but It wasn't as crazy as years past.

I started going with Deni a few years back.  I'm sure many husbands would hate to go shopping, but its been fun the last few years that I've done it with Deni.  We had a plan of attack and got in and out of the stores we wanted to pretty quickly. Besides that we finished 90% of our shopping on one day, who wouldn't like that.

Gingerbread Houses

We spent Thanksgiving over at my parents this year.

Last year we started the tradition of making Gingerbread houses while at Grandma's. The kids love it and it keeps them busy for a little while.

I helped Deni melt the sugar to glue these graham cracker houses together.

Sydney and Deni working on Sydney's house

Sydney's finished product.

Ryan's finished product.

Isn't it about time

One of Ryan's favorite past times is playing with legos.  He's always making ships and new creations. Tonight Deni and Sydney went on their "date" bowling.

That left Ryan and I at home with the whole house at our disposal.  We obviously gravitated downstairs to the legos.  We played for well over an hour.

Here is Ryan's creation.

 Any my creation.

It' was fun to have one on one time with Ryan. No distractions. He's a great kid with a great imagination. He amazes me everyday with what comes out of his little head.

Joes Pizza

This afternoon, Ryan called my cell phone from our home phone. He was in the living room and I was in my bedroom.

I answered "Joe's Pizza". For a moment there was silence on the other end of the phone. So I said, "Do you want a Pizza?" Ryan quickly said "NO" and hung up.

Deni and I laughed for a few minutes, thinking he'd come in and tell us he dialed a wrong number. He didn't. A few minutes later I went out and asked him if had called a Pizza store on accident.

His look was priceless. First he looked guilty and thought he was in trouble, then as I smiled, he realized he hadn't mis-dialed and I was the one and only "Joe" from "Joe's Pizza".