Rather insignificant day.

Went to my niece's birthday party. It was nice to see some of Em's family and some friends, since we really don't get out much. Someone blew up a lot of balloons for the kids to beat each other with. That got kind of loud. VH1 Classic was playing a one hit wonders show. Midnight Oil a one hit wonder? I didn't really agree with that one.

Riddick's allergies are getting the best of him. His eyes are always so swollen, and he coughs incessantly. I'm amazed he didn't lurch all over the place during dinner tonight.

Grocery shopped, so I'm stocked up on yogurt once again. I was starting to run low, so panic was soon to set in. :0

Allie made the jr. high pom-pon squad. She found out on Thursday night. She's still on cloud 9 and has been stretching and dancing around to music in her head ever since. We're so happy for her. I don't know how she would have dealt with another rejection.

I can hear Emily watching L&O: CI.

Working on some shows for the late summer and early fall. Even some acoustic ones coming up. We need to get the rehearsal space situation squared away, so we can start working again.

Finals week is here. Once they're out of the way, and hopefully if it dries up (someday) I'm going to get back to skating. It's been several weeks. The workload at the end of this semester has been grueling. I think I did three all-nighters, and a great many nights where I only got a couple of hours of sleep. I'm really not built for that at 35.

Darn that VH1. I can't get "Come on Eileen" out of my head.

I'm going to start transferring my MySpace blogs from the past couple of years just for the hey of it. Dinner is almost ready, the kids are going crazy with the dogs, so I'm not getting much work done anyway.

I haven't blogged in years, but I thought I'd start it back up. I actually keep a journal, mainly because I think there is still something to be said about a person's handwriting. So within the binding of my journals will always be words that only my children will read someday after I'm gone. For the rest of the world there is this.

So tonight, or rather last night, as it is now after one in the morning. Elena is spending the night with her cousin Sydney. It is the first time she has ever been away from Riddick, and he was not very happy about. The poor little guy was still asking about "Nonni" when he went to bed, as they sleep in bunk beds together. Like most every night, he'll come into our room around three, so I guess I need to get to bed so I get some sleep without little feet kicking me.

Summer so far...

My summer semester is half-way finished. It wraps up on the 31st, then we have two weeks off. Every evening is full of homework, but I'm pretty accustomed to it now. It all seems to be flying by really. I should finish JALC in the fall and be at SIU in the spring. Woohoo!

My swimming in the morning is getting better. When I first started four weeks ago, I almost died after 3 laps. I'm up to 14 laps now and will probably keep it up even after the summer term is over. Why stop?

Saw Tom Waits with Corey R Robertson two weeks ago at the Fabulous Fox Theater in St. Louis. Waits is just incredible and I'm very satisfied after finally seeing him. It all would have not been possible had Corey actually received a confirmation email in a timely fashion when he ordered his first ticket.

Emily starts LPN school this fall. We're pretty excited. Another step forward!

We go on our first family vacation since 2001 this coming Friday! It's nothing big; just a St. Louis weekend excursion, but the kids will have a blast. Six Flags, the Arch, the Zoo, etc. Elena and Riddick have never been to any of them, so I can't wait to take a million pictures!

Our van got pulverized...sitting in our own driveway! Our neighbor backed a U-Haul box truck into the back of the van, crunching in the rear door. It won't close now, so I'm pretty pleased. She's supposed to contact her insurance company tomorrow. Yeah...first vacation in seven years, and we won't be able to take our van. The insurance company better front something compatable. There's six of us you know.

I passed the first part of my praxis exams, the basic skills test. Never before in my life have I aced any sort of standardized test, and I got a perfect score on my language arts section! It's almost as exciting as when I won a pair of Donkey Kong shoe laces from DK cereal when I was a kid!

I'm singing the National Anthem at the Miner's game this coming Sunday, July 13 at 2:00 p.m. at Rent One Ballpark here in Marion. I had a lot of fun doing it last year, and it's a privilege to do it once again. Emily will also be singing the anthem on Saturday, August 2 at 7:00 p.m.

Vacation Bible School is upon us. Is it already that time of year?! We're not going to be able to help out this year, so our hats are off to all of the volunteers that will be taking care of our kids!

I put up some pictures of a great Sunday afternoon at Dick and Francine Sander's house. They are such wonderful people that treat our children like their own grandchildren, and our children love them as such. For me, an afternoon at their house might as well be a vacation, since I get to relax so much ---and it's only ten miles from our house! Rohan got to finally fish with the fishing pole that our friend Larry Wheeler bought for him. And Elena caught her first fish as well!

My sister is getting married in Louisville, KY on the weekend of Rohan's and my birthday. The great John Maragni is going out there as well to help me do music during the ceremony. It should be a pretty fun weekend.

I've been invited to go to a IEA Student Program leadership training course at the end of the month in Bloomington. I'm pretty excited about that as it will help me to achieve more in my short time as president of our chapter at JALC before leaving to go to SIU. As DG sang, "Everything counts in small amounts!"

I have no idea with all that is happening when we are going to schedule a birthday party for Rohan! Like recent years, he wants to have a slumber party, but the weekends are all full. He'll be crushed if we don't have one. I've said it before: great planning Larissa!

We took Rohan to go see Modest Mouse at the Pageant in St. Louis this past Tuesday. My awesome friend Scott, who is basicially part of our family, got to go up with us. It was Rohan's first rock concert and it was a blast. He got to stand on the edge of the under 21 area which is raised above the floor, so he had an awesome view of the band which was only about twenty feet away. He definitely wasn't ready for how loud it was. We also got to watch the show with our great cousin Alex and his girfriend Amber and their friends.

Our landscaping project continues at our house. We've ripped out so much, and put down fabric, it's really coming together. However, it's taking so much time, of which we really don't have, and even as much as we're planting I don't think that it will really come together until next spring. But it's fun playing in the dirt for now!

I'm finally semi-retired from building! Our final project which was a house that we built for Emily's cousin and her husband is finally completed. I had sub-contracted the siding to another group, and they really drug their feet on the project until the home-owner fired them, so I had to finish it recently. I've been around building all of my life. I used to spend my summers as a child in my dad's wood shop at Crab Orchard High School when he would build cabinets. I started working for him during summer vacation beginning when I was thirteen. I worked on and off for him throughout the next ten years, especially after I got out of high school, honing in on my craft. For the past thirteen years I've slowly gone over to managing the business, although both of us still have always worked along-side eachother on the job site. I've had a lot of great memories, and it's kind of sad reaching this turning point in my life, but it's for the best. I can honestly say that I'm very proud of everything that my dad has taught me, and I'm proud of every house that we ever built.

Elena is taking violin lessons from our good friend Deavyn. You should see it: she's so small and the violin is just a small ---it's just too much. She's so proud of knowing how to take the violin out of it's case and how to rosin her bow. And I'm proud of her! I need to get some pictures up.

Rohan's ball season is already over! He had three rain-outs, so really there weren't that many games. There is supposed to be a fall league for his age-group, so we'll see what happens. All in all he had a great time. His team wasn't that great, but he really improved from last year. He only struck out twice; his best hit was a triple; he got a lot of experience playing second base; and he even caught a pop-fly!

We got to see Ryan and Erin for a bit this past Thursday. We had a great time messing around in the back yard for little time we had with them. We were supposed to meet her family yesterday, but of course the van was killed on Friday.

Big thanks to Jeremy and Sara Johnson for a great time on The Fourth! They fed all of us and all of Emily's family. A great chore for sure. We love their family and wish we could do more with them! We also watched the Marion K.C. Hall fireworks with them and Emily's sister Kendra and her family in a car wash parking lot with an easy escape route to avoid traffic jams. Ha!

Through Dint of Heavy Wishing practice is going great! And yes, there is new material that will be recorded soon. We cannot wait to begin playing out again! Our first show back will be Friday, August 15 at John Brown's on the Square in Marion. Go check out the Heavy Wishing page for more details, and add us as a friend for crying out loud!

Once

We bought a lot of movies tonight, because that is something that we love to do. One of the movies was "Once". What can I say? It’s an absolutely beautiful and brilliant movie. If you’ve ever loved music, because music is all you’ve ever had at any point in your life, and if you’ve ever loved, because that love was something that you could never have...then you’ll get this movie. If not, don’t waste your time. I’m going to go play guitar in the dining room now...because it’s almost midnight, and it’s finally quiet here.

Love,

Derek

Early Morning Gutter Twins

Emily and I made it up to Chicago two weeks ago in a whirlwind trip to see a late night Gutter Twins show. We left around 4:45 in the late afternoon and got to my brother’s place off of Division around 9:30. A rather eventless trip, which cannot be complained about. I will say there was a gas stop North of Champaign that I remember quite well, because of a wind chill that almost stripped the flesh off of my face. However, besides that, like I said, the trip was rather eventless.

We settled in to Ryan and Erin’s place, had some drinks, and checked out a bunch of videos on YouTube. Anything that we could find that was relevant to the evening. Mark Lanegan interviews, old Screaming Trees performances, Afghan Whigs and Twilight Singer stuff...you get the picture. I was pretty stoked about seeing Lanegan, as I had never seen him live before. Ryan saw him with Dulli and the Twilight Singers the last time they were in Chicago, and said his performance (or lack of) was a curiosity to behold.

Close to 10:30, Ryan called a cab, and soon we were on our way to the Metro. I lamented not having enough time or money to make it a true rock evening, because I had only the week before found out that Bob Mould was playing a show with two other bands at the same venue at 7:00. Like my friend Corey said, "Can you imagine all of the rock history in that building on just that one night?!?!" Simply mind-blowing.

Doors weren’t supposed to open for the late show until 11:00. We arrived around 10:40 and found a line that stretched down Clark St. to the end of the block and back up another street. I should point out that none of us were wearing coats, because we were unsure of any coat check, and that it was a wind chill of six degrees Fahrenheit. In other words, pretty warm. Oh yeah, and it was snowing. I haven’t been that cold in a long time, and I’m usually pretty good in situations like that.

Moving right along, when we finally got into the building, tickets scanned, and into the main room, the realization hit me that I hadn’t been to the Metro since ’92. In my mind the place was a lot bigger than it really was, but of course I had also experienced it through the eyes of a 19 year old newbie musician on stage. The place had barely start to fill up, so we got an excellent position a free-throw away from the stage, front and center.

The first band was called Great Northern, and they had driven to Chicago, straight from L.A., for thirty-seven hours. That’s some hard-core travelling. They were a four-piece consisting of a female lead on vox and keys, then a bassist, guitarist, and drummer. The lead singer and guitarist also each played tambourine and would on occasion double up on a floor tom for emphasizing some parts. I thought that was pretty cool, although I think it was more for visual effect than anything else: the lead singer was doing this on the first song when the drummer’s right hand was idle, so you get my point. All in all, I was happy that they didn’t suck. That happens a lot with opening acts. Yet, not only did they not suck, they were actually quite good. Wonderfully strong vocals from the lead and the guitarist. His vocal were almost in her range, with almost the same tone. I hate to make comparisons, because I’ve always felt I was victim to some really bad ones, but if I had to I would say she sounded like a cross between Tori Amos and Aimee Mann. That’s the best that I can come up with. Altogether a great full sound, nice breezy pop songs, with good chords and earnest feeling. I think they did about a half hour set, or maybe a little longer.

There was about a thirty minute long set change, which was a little too long for me, but what are you going to do? The band proper came out, and then Dulli and Lanegan followed after a good dozen or so bars had been played in the first song "The Stations". Of course, the place went absolutely crazy as soon as Lanegan’s growling voice engulfed the room. And wow, what an incredible sounding room it was. It was so round and full. My brother was right though: Lanegan does nothing but stand in front of the mic stand with his eyes closed. If he opens them, it’s usually between songs and he’s staring at the floor beside him. He’s got such a mystique about him though, it affords him the privilege as a performer to get away with being so non-involved in an outwardly physical way.

Then there’s Greg Dulli. Come on ---do I really need to say anything about this showman? You’re always on the edge just wondering what’s going to come out of this man’s mouth in between songs. His carthotic screams leading in and out of crescendo phrases were dead on. As usual, Dulli delivered all of the goods that we came to see and made the trip worth it.

Besides Lanegan and Dulli on guitar, piano, and organ, there were four other players. Ryan said that the keyboardist/guitarist was part of the Twilight Singers, and had even opened the show for them when they were in town previously. The drummer was someone I didn’t know, as well as the bassist. The lead guitarist was also from the Twilight Singers.

I wish I was more familiar with Saturnalia, but it was only released several days before the show, and to the best of my knowledge didn’t make it to iTunes until after that weekend. I listened to it stream several times on their MySpace page the Monday prior to the show, but was doing school work, so I didn’t really "know" it. I’ve since downloaded it from iTunes.

We probably made it back to my brother’s place sometime after three, and hung out until about four, eating frozen pizza and watching a Pixies DVD. Somehow we were up by 10 and on the road by 11:30. I actually went to Chicago for 15 minutes last year around this time, so this trip wasn’t so bad. I got to see Ryan and Erin, some great music...and even enjoy a quiet breakfast on the way home at an IHOP with Emily. What more can you ask for?

Here is their set list that I found HERE

Setlist:
The Stations
God’s Children
All Misery/Flowers
Live With Me
7 Stories Underground
Idle Hands
Circle The Fringes
Bête Noire
Down the Line
I Was in Love With You
Each to Each
Front Street

Encore
I’m Ready
River Rise
Papillion-Shadow of the Season
No Easy Action
King Only
Methamphetamine Blues
Number Nine

R.I.P. Heath Ledger

This really bummed me out. I've liked Heath's work ever since the Fox network's Roar, back in the late 90's, and had been totally stoked about his upcoming portrayal of the Joker in the Dark Knight. In more ways than one, this echoes Michael Hutchence. Very sad.

If I May Boast

In the last eight weeks I have gone from weighing 187 lbs to 162 lbs. I didn't really set out to lose 25 lbs...it just seemed to coincide with changing the way I eat and starting an every other day workout program. I never really thought I'd look "thin" again. I guess I'm posting this as incentive to myself to keep the weight off, lest I fall off of the wagon. I do love melted cheese you know...

Radiohead's "In Rainbows"

Jef from Himalayas sent out a bulletin recently pushing Radiohead's newest effort "In Rainbows". I was just talking to my great friend Corey the other night on the phone about this release. We both agreed that we probably only listened to "Hail to the Thief" a handful of times, if that, and might each grab a copy of this latest release just because it was Radiohead, even though neither of us were excited about it. Jef has set me straight. For a limited time, Radiohead is offering this gem on their website for whatever you the consumer wishes to pay for it, even if you want it for free. I chose the deadbeat option and downloaded it for the hey of it. Now, after listening to it several times, and having fallen for it, I'm going to shelve out the bucks to get the real thing, in which they are offering on their website as well with a 12" vinyl, a second disc with some more new tunes, and some artwork. Go check it all out at their MyS page.

Faster Painted Pussycat

I had just finished painting the floor of our sleeper porch that is right off of our bedroom. I put up a baby gate to keep our dog out of the wet paint, because he had been nosing around trying to figure out what I was doing. I then grabbed a bite to eat down in the breakfast nook when Emily came in from some errands. She asked if I had the room shut off upstairs, and I told her about the gate. She asked if I thought that was really going to keep the cat out. Without comment or question I took off running, bounded up the stairs, ran though our room, and looked upon my freshly painted floor with horror. Apparently the cat had indeed jumped the gate, freaked out upon hitting the wet floor, flailed around a bit, and then jumped back into our bedroom. The painted floor was an absolute mess that would have to be quickly redone in front of the door if it was to be salvaged at all. She had then tracked paint through our bedroom, down the hall, down the stairs, down a second hall, through the kitchen, into the butler's pantry, and onto the shelf where her food is kept where it looked like she performed a number from River Dance. I've tried to kill her, but she's too fast. So it goes.

My friend Corey told me tonight that music mogul Tony Wilson of Factory Records and founder of The Hacienda club passed away last Friday after a long battle with kidney cancer. This guy was so influecial to the Manchester scene. He signed such acts as Joy Division, New Order, and the Happy Mondays. If you get a chance, rent 24 Hour Party People, which is about his life. Here's a blog with more info.

Ida will be playing @ Schuba's on Monday the 27th of this month. Tickets are only ten bucks. The last time I was able to see them was in Champaign in '99 on an acoustic tour and they were simply amazing. Their music is absolutely beautiful. They have several albums available on iTunes if you want to sample their wares. Anyway, they rarely make it to this area, so this is a must see show! Emily and I have to find someone to watch the kids and get the two oldest off to school, I will have only started a new house the week before, we're driving back the night of for work the next morning ----it's going to be extremely difficult for us to pull this off, but it's that big of a deal!!! So get your mouse a'clickin' and buy your tickets now!

Quote of the Week

I just heard Emily over my shoulder talking to Rohan: "If I pull that tooth out, you're gonna look like an idiot." Brilliance.

......and I think I'm being summoned to do the dirty deed.

TRANSFORMERS AND THE POLICE

My brother called me Sunday evening as Emily and I were playing goofy golf with the kids at our city park. He told me that he had two tickets to see The Police in St. Louis on Tuesday night. I'm sure they were good seats as he had spent $220 on each of them. He had bought them, because at the time they hadn't announced any dates in Chicago where he lives. Later he ended up getting tickets for a Chicago date, but couldn't get rid of the St. Louis tickets. He said that he would let me have them for $50 a piece. I jumped at it.

The Police broke up when I was 11 years old. They had always been a staple on Kasey Kasem's Top 40 Countdown, and radio in general. I remember the summer that Return of the Jedi came out, and an hour didn't pass on the radio without hearing Every Breath You Take. They also ruled Friday Night Videos on NBC. Hey ,we didn't get MTV yet. Wow...now, so many years later, I was going to get to see Sting! Sting! Man, are you listening to what I'm saying?! ...and better yet, Stewart Copeland! One of the greatest drummers of all time! Prior to six o'clock that evening, none of this reality existed. It was truly to be a beginning to July that I would not soon forget.

Later Sunday evening, I called my friend Corey who lives in St. Louis to tell him my good fortune. I knew Corey was also going to the show, so I knew he'd think it was pretty cool. Corey did think it was cool, but informed me that the show wasn't on Tuesday, but Monday the 2nd. I immediately called my brother and told him what Corey had said. Ryan assured me that the show was on Tuesday...the 2nd. I told Ryan that is was already July 1. Ryan wasn't so pleased. Of course, here I am, the guy who is about to miss out on a great show, because there would be probably no chance at getting those tickets delivered in time for the show. I then knew what I had to do. I told Ryan that I would get up early in the morning, drive to Chicago to get the tickets (almost a five hour drive), drive back to pick up Emily, and then head to St. Louis which is about two hours away. Of course, Ryan honorably said that wasn't necessary, but I assured him that I had done crazier things. Hey, what's a little road trip? Even if I would spend almost twelve hours on the road before the show started.

I called Corey to tell him that all was good, and even called my good friend Joe, who I knew would also be at the show. We agreed to text eachother to see what sections we were in. Emily and I discussed what we would do with the kids. We would ask my Dad to watch Elena and Rohan, and we knew that a lady from our church would be glad to watch Riddick. Allie was going to go to her Dad's for a week, so she would be taken care of also. I knew Rohan would be upset that Allie would be gone, but I knew that he was going to have an exciting week as well. His Uncle Ryan was going to come in to visit on Friday...he was going to get to see fireworks on Wednesday......his last ball game that I had almost forgotten about was on Tuesday night....and I was going to take him to see the new Transformers movie on...YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.

I had totally forgotten.

I had gotten tickets over two weeks ago on Fandango to see a sneak preview of Transformers on MONDAY....JULY....2nd.

I sadly called Ryan and told him that I wasn't going to be coming up to get the tickets. I called Corey and Joe and told them that I wouldn't be joining them to bask in rock glory. Corey laughed at the situation and came up with the crazy scenario, saying he could just picture Rohan waiting on the front steps of our house in an Optimus Prime t-shirt, waiting for his Dad to pick him up to take him to the theatre as all the other kids in the neighborhood went racing by in cars in their t-shirts with their dads on their way to see the movie...and he would continue to wait in tears as his Dad was rocking out at the Police concert.

I'll never be THAT kind of Dad. I'll never break a promise to my boy.

Tonight I took Rohan to Target and bought him a new Optimus Prime t-shirt. Then, Rohan, Emily, and I went to see Transformers.

AND IT ROCKED HARDER THAN THE POLICE.

After all, I had been waiting for this movie just about as long as the Police have been broken up.

I did give instuctions to Emily though. When Rohan is a teenager, and tells me that I suck, for whatever reason, since he inevitably will, she is to tell him about the time that I sacrificed going to see one of the greatest rock bands of all time playing what would probably be their only reunion tour ever to go take him to see a Michael Bay car commercial called...

"TRANSFORMERS"

Terry

The song I've got up was recorded on Easter Morning at my church. It was sung by Terry Sprague, backed up on vocals by his son Chris, with Chad Harlan on piano and vocals. Terry was killed in a motorcycle accident yesterday, April 22, 2007. Please listen to the entire song, to pay respect to Terry, whether you knew him or not. Terry was a great man, husband, father, and grandfather. To me, he was a great friend that I looked forward to seeing every week. He was a musician with few peers. It was an honor to play with him every Sunday in our praise band. No one will ever be able to fill his shoes in what he did, and nothing will fill the void that has been left now that he has gone on to be with the Lord. He was an awesome guy. I wish it could be made clear why the Lord wanted to bring Terry home when he did. It's something that people will slowly accept, but I don't think we'll ever understand it. There's a reason for it...but...I guess I'm still at a loss, trying to even talk about it. So please pray for Terry's family, his wife Shara who is still recovering from surgery due to the accident, his son Chris, and his daughter Carrie.

Is this Thirty Something?

Where does string come from and how did it get all over my floor?
There is more toothpaste dried in the sink than there is in the tube.
The dish washer runs every day.
There is always a mountain of clean clothes to be folded that tries to merge with the dirty to be washed.
Somehow my desk is always littered with toys.
The trash is never empty.
Flashlights are always dead.
The gas tank is always on empty.
I don't know where we keep kleenex, but it's easy to find them wadded up.
When I go to use the bathroom there are towels laying everywhere; when I get out of the shower, there are none to be found.
There are always dead batteries where the fresh ones should be kept.
I swear dust-bunnies multiply faster than rabbits.
My leather car seats always have toddler footprints on them.
I'm always stepping in goldfish crackers.
I hate balloons and the fights that they cause.
Every room in our house is infested with Legos.
How does my two year old find chocolate anywhere she goes?
If it's plastic and makes crinkly noises, the cat will find it at three in the morning.
There are no sharpened pencils in our house.
I never remember as a kid asking my parents during the week, "So are we doing anything tonight?"
I think I'm the only person at my house who executes the final step of changing a diaper: dispose of in waste receptacle.
Every light in the house is left on during the day, yet they all seem to magically turn off after sunset.
Above all, children should never have been given instruction on how to use a DVR.
Who knew a two year old could break so many DVDs in half?
My kids can't finish a glass of anything.
They also ignore loose change.
How do we manage to simultaneously start every checkbook in the box?
I used to listen to music that I liked.
When was I not tired?

Greatness from Rohan

When I want comedy, I look no further than dinner time conversation. The other night at dinner, Allie said, "I know who Rohan likes!" Rohan just stared at her as she proclaimed, "Her name is Emily." Rohan barked, "How do you know?" Allie replied, "I looked her up in the yearbook!" Rohan smacked his own forehead and exclaimed, "They've got names in there?!?!?"

Riddick Edward Cook was born this morning, January 31, 2007 at 9:52 a.m. He weighed 7 lbs, 1 oz., and was 19.5 inches long. Emily was induced last night around 10:35 a.m, but remained at a 2 all night long, as they checked her every three hours. Emily's wonderful friend Jenny Walker was with us the entire night, and slept very little in one of the other rooms. Emily's mom Joyce and our oldest Allie arrived sometime before 7 a.m. The mid-wife broke Emily's water a little after 8. She was then given an epidural at 8:45. She had delivered our oldest three without any drugs, so with that and her abdominal hernia in consideration, she deserved the smooth ride. We (Joyce, Allie, & myself) were asked to leave the room for about half an hour while they administered the epidural. We got back around 9:20, and Emily was in much better spirits, not really feeling her contractions at all. Joyce commented from the monitor readout that the contractions had really picked up intensity. Less than ten minutes later Emily gripped the bed rails and said that something felt really strange. Her friend Lynn, who did all of her sonograms, came into the room, and Emily told her something was going on. Lynn got her nurse who then checked Emily and announced that she was complete. The midwife came in and along with her nurse and Lynn got everything ready. Lynn grabbed one leg, I was asked to grab the other, and simultaneously we brought her legs toward her chest. They asked her to push and hold for a ten count, and Riddick came flying out. The midwife said as his head first came out, face down, "There's her head!" At that point I knew we had a girl and looked to Emily. I glanced and saw the entire body come out, but didn't watch them flip him over. Then Emily cried out laughing, "It's a boy!" I looked back as they placed him on Emily's chest, and sure enough, there was his stuff. I still don't understand why you would want to know the sex of your baby! This is one of the most incredible "good" surprises anyone could ever have! As I write this, I am at home with Allie, Elena, and Rohan, while my beautiful wife and new baby boy are still at the hospital. I can't wait to bring them home tomorrow afternoon. I thank our Lord Jesus Christ that we have been so blessed with a safe delivery. I had worked out in my head any number of different outcomes and asked God to give me strength, no matter how this played out. It was all in his hands. I am so thankful that this delivery couldn't have gone any better for Emily. It was her best. I still can't explain the exploding feeling of joy that is in my chest. Praise God! and thanks to all of our friends and family who kept us in their thoughts and prayers. May God bless all of you! We love you all!

Gravity seems to have lost it's effect on my body cavity. I rarely feel this way. The cat meowed. Corbyn is scampering after her. Rohan is singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". Elena is repeatedly saying, "Mommy!" Emily finally replies, "What?!" I'm slouched to one side of my office chair, with my elbow on the window sill. I'm going to see my Uncle for the last time tomorrow. I haven't seen him for over a year I guess. Life is for the living they say, yet life gets in the way of seeing the living, and then they're gone. It would be useless to rehearse a conversation. What do you really say? It's just...something I haven't contemplated for a while. My grandparents are all gone, and two of my Dad's siblings have passed as well. Even when you see it coming, it still catches you off guard when the reality of that one last visit hits you. I guess some don't get that one last time. Rohan asks if I want to help him do his homework. And so it goes.

Some time ago I bought some shirts from ThinkGeek. If you send them an "action shot" of their product, they usually post it. "Here I am!" said the small brown-eyed cow.