Pissed and Bitter

Yes, my anger does not stir easily or often, but today I am really fired up.

There is at least one rat in our attic.  I just sealed up an open attic vent this spring.  Did they find a new way in?  Did I TRAP a rat inside the attic?  I don't know.

What I do know is that I saw this rat while in the attic today and I get angry having vermin work against me.  I am tired of crawling in the attic, I am tired of attic dust, and I am certainly tired of the idea of my house getting ruined by these creatures.  I don't mind being the handyman and doing plumbing, fixing towel racks, installing new doors, and re-wiring.

Anyway, I have vented and hopefully will see some results over the next few days (ie dead rats in traps).

So early!

Time to put the turkey on! Yes, it is that big.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

From the VAULT back in college w/ roommates

While living iwth I think 3 other guys, there were always complaints as to who needed to clean the bathroom.  These debates lead to this inspiration:

The Bathroom Effort Factor - v 1.0
While taking a shower I began pondering ways to measure the amount of effor one must exert to keep the bathroom clean.  I realized that 2 key factors fall into keeping a bathroom clean:
1) The amount of work put in to cleaning the bathroom.
2) The amount of hair and dirt left behind after using the bathroom.

Upon further ponderance, I have devised a way to calculate one's BEF, or Bathroom Effort Factor.  Keep in mind that htis is only an estimate.

The first number is the quantity of hours spent each month cleaning the bathroom.  For bachelors this number is usually between 1 and 5 (very opimistic).

The second number can be estimated by the person's 'Hair Factor'.  This also is a scale of 1 -5.
1-2 -> bald, very little body hair
3 - 4 -> Average Body hair
5 -> Very hairy, usually of European Decent

With these numbers, one can calulate their BEF.  To calculate you BEF, simple divide the number of hours spent cleaning your bathrom by your Hair Factor. A BEF lower than 1 is usually unacceptabl.  A BEF of 1 is expected.  Anything over 1 is amazing!

Good times!  Darin and Matthew Laity helped me create this. We had quite fun ribbing our other roommates who had a poor BEF.

Teaching our kids about life

It is a hard thing to explain to your children about life in this fallen world.  We support a friend who is a missionary for MAF in Indonesia.  A fellow missionary in this country drowned just over a week ago, he was a pilot there serving orphans.
Tonight we explained to our children about missionaries and what their 'mission' is, we also explained orphans, and also tonight we explained to them about who a widow is.
It does something to you when you consider the loss of life.  Death happens all too often, but we know nothing or little about the deseacsed.  It is all too common a death to some anonymous person, just a statistic, and usually effects our life in no way at all.
We are keeping this family in our prayers, our children are writing letters to the mom, Katie, and her 3 year-old son, Jeremiah.
Taking his death seriously somehow helps me live for what is important, appreciate my life more and not take the time I have for granted.  I want to spend the time I have with those that I love.

Let's Catch Everyone up!

So it has been quite a while since I have posted all the crazy things that are actually going on in my life.  I am going to try to break it down by month:

July - Digital Foundation bought another IT company (1 person company)  - Owner was to work for us full time.  He has been working for us part-time since Oct 2009 since he couldn’t get enough work in his
business.

August – Our family went on Vacation to Colorado!
At Digital Foundation, the full time employee didn't work out, we mutually agreed to terminate the employment relationship.

Sept – We poured 7 yards (520 Square ft) of cement in our backyard.  It looks great!  But now I got all kinds of backyard projects - one is to finish sealing the cement, we got it colored. Digital Foundation got a New client: RJ McConnell Ins (they came back!)

Oct – Digital Foundation got 2 new clients – San Luis sports Therapy & DSG (an engineering firm in Chino)We also Ordered cubicles – YES cubicles!  Now we can efficiently fit 10 desks in the office, they are 4.5 feet tall so the walls provide a good barrier for when you are on the phone but still provides that open office feel.  BUT the cubicles were TOTALLY destroyed in shipping so we are stuck with a pile of trash until the shipping company agrees to pay the cubicle company for their insured shipment.  We get to keep the cubicles parts that we do not want ot throw away for free, but we will still need to order parts to complete this project.

Nov – We started remodeling ou rguest bathroom.  Right now the walls around the bathtub and the bathtub itself is pulled out, and the wall heater.  My dad is working hard on this project and I appreciate all his effort with this.
At Digital Foundation, we got a new Client – Central Coast Orthopedics – our largest client yet!  Bigger than Madonna Inn.  Ever since Oct Travis and I have both been working 10 hour days trying to keep up with tickets until we can get more employees.  We even have a FULLTIME position open.  It has been quite exciting.

Movie Credits

So I just watched Dirt Harry - a movie starring Clinet Eastwood back in 1971.  The movie credits took only 10 SECONDS to show.  Unlike movies today that can take up to 12 minutes!  What's up with that?

I did some searching and found that it is mostly unions in hollywood that we have to thank for al the movie credits.  Check out the attached link, it compares popular movies and show how the credits have grown EXPONENTIALLY!
http://filmonic.com/coolness-evolution-movie-credits

Killer day!

7am - arrive at CA speedway
8:30am - won racing sim against 8 people (including my broNlaw & dad)
9am - won tire changing contest against 10 people at Sprint booth
10 - pit passes!
11am-3pm - all you can eat!
12pm-3pm - watch a killer race.

I canotwait to take a shower and cash in on a nap!!!

I like to thank John,my brother-in-law, who handled al the logistics and got the tickets.
I would also like to thank my wifey who made this fun trip possible watching all three kids. I love you!

Killer day!

7am - arrive at CA speedway
8:30am - won racing sim against 8 people (including my broNlaw & dad)
9am - won tire changing contest against 10 people at Sprint booth
10 - pit passes!
11am-3pm - all you can eat!
12pm-3pm - watch a killer race.

I canotwait to take a shower and cash in on a nap!!!

I like to thank John,my brother-in-law, who handled al the logistics and got the tickets.
I would also like to thank my wifey who made this fun trip possible watching all three kids. I love you!

Sent from my HTC on the Now Network from Sprint!

Christmas

That's it! The Christmas season is officially ruined or me. It is SEPTEMBER and I was in Home Depot yesterday and they have Christmas stuff out!

This should be illegal. We have not even finished Halloween yet, not to mention Thanksgiving and they have Christmas stuff out already?!

This is just a pitiful attempt to stretch out the Christmas season... Again. It feels like it gets more diluted every year.

If I had my way, the Christmas season would start right after Thanksgiving.

Happiest Baby

Yeah I know, she is also the baldest baby!

Nathan after a big day

--joshman
Sent from my Windows Mobile Phone.

Nathan at a wedding

"The girl in the white shirt that was cutting the cake, she was so gorgeous I just fell over" said Nathan about the bride at a wedding we recently attended.

--joshman
Sent from my Windows Mobile Phone.

Fun with the boyz at the Santa Maria fair

Pet alligators, eat cotton candy, ride on any ride for $1, see a bald eagle, and pretend you can fly.

All that in 3 hours!

--joshman
Sent from my Windows Mobile Phone.

Happy Birthday USA

What a great 4th!  My boyz were more excited about lighting their fireworks than they are at Christmas time.

CRAZY father's day

So Saturday was Nathan birthday party.  Last night I was sleeping hard, recovery from the party but was hit hard with allergies.

So in the middle of the night (3AM) I go to the medicine cabinet and pop an allergy pill.  I went back to bed and started thinking that the allergy pill was a bit larger than what I remember, so I go back to the medicine cabinet, look at the individually wrapped pill that I took, note the medical name and look it up online.

It turns out, that I took a pill for insomnia, not allergies!

So my boyz try to wake me up at 8AM, I fall out of bed and try to smile as they wish me happy father's day.  I almost fall asleep at church and have my wife drive.  Two naps and 14 hours later (5:30PM) I finally feel normal.

At least I am well rested!

Fun at the SM Elk parade!

-- Joshman

Sent from my Windows Mobile phone.

Bakersfield for the day

Yes, most people do not think about bakersfield as a place to travel to at the tail end of spring. We drove here to meet up with Christine's newly married, oldest brother on his way back from Yosemite.

Fun with my oldest son

Jacob loves fish and on our family trip to San Diego, I had an opportunity to take him out, just the two of us.  We found a very fun restaurant, Joe's Crab Shack.  They even take pictures for their guests:

Dannielle's first hike!

Feel Great to be back!

Earlier this week I attended the world's largest business computer convention in Las Vegas, Interop.  It was hard to be away from my growing family, but my wife is amazing.  She is so supportive of me and my business and still had a smile on her face when I got back home.

Our FIRST night home together!

The boys FINALLY got to meet their sister. I had a lot of anticipation built up having to wait 2 extra days. What a wonderful experience. We got pictures of the whole family together and the boys holding her.

I am a blessed man!

I will post more pictures soon.

Official Stats

Name: Danielle Joscelyn Erdman
Weight: 6 lbs 15 oz
Length: 19"
Born on: 4/10/2010 1:53AM

Wifey facts::
Checked in: 6:30AM 4/9/2010
First dose of Misoprotol (AKA Cytotec): 9:00 AM - 0% Effaced - 2CM
2nd dose: 2:15PM
3rd: 6:30PM - 20% Effaced
4th: 10:45PM  - 80% Effaced 4CM- Nurse will check back at 1AM before they start Pitocin

11PM - delivery doctor comes by to assess - 100% Effaced 4CM

11:45PM - labor picks up

12:15AM - needs self induced pain assistance

12:30AM - Christine and I guess that the baby will be born at 3AM

12:45AM - Major pain - call aenesthesiologist

1:15AM - so much pressure and pain

1:45AM-1:51AM - aenesthesiologist will come any minute - Nurse checks on Christine - the baby is at station! - Christine feels like she needs to push.  The nurse yells for the doctor.  The doctors comes in, sees how fast things are going and gets her scrubs on as fast as a fireman getting ready.
1:52AM - "slow down - push the baby slowly"
1:53AM - Baby Danielle is born!

So healthy - quick moving, and very strong muscles - especially in the neck for a newborn.  Absolutely BEAUTIFUL!

I am the richest man in the world.

All three of us got an hour nap in. Christine is doing great after some rest and the baby has fed well.
Everyone is healthy.

Baby born!

Beautiful healthy girl!

-- Joshman

sent from my Windows Mobile Phone.

Labor progressing

100% Effaced

Its Go Time

Christine's contractions have really picked up and she is feeling it. She received her last dose of Misoprotol an hour ago. Not sure if/when they will start Pitocin.

HAPPY WIFE

I am so glad she is feeling good and happy now. But she is just starting to get regular contractions so I bet her happy face won't last in about 4 hours.

Thank you all for your prayers!

Moving forward slowly.

One more dose of Misoprotol - will prolly start pitocin in 4 hours. Time for us both to take a big nap before GO time.

Lesson on Induction

So we have learned alot about hospitals and being induced in the last 6 hours:

1. Hospitals are like government - there is no end to the paperwork and it could be an eternity before things get started
2. First they RIPEN your cervix - so this first dose and future doses of this other drig are to get Christine to 4CM - she is only at 3CM right now.  This could take up to 24 hours alone.
3. After she gets to 4CM then we have the green light - at that point they start the pitocin (labor inducing drug) and things start moving.

So now that we know Christine is not being given a labor inducing drug, she is taking a nap in before things pick up.

thanks all for your comments and prayers!

Medical Questionnaire

Just finished an hour and a half answering a bunch of medical questions. What is pre-registration for?

Merian Medical Online Nursery

So when she IS born, the hospital also have an online nursery page:

http://www.marianmedicalcenter.org/Patients_And_Visitors/Online_Nursery/index.htm?vnMode=summary&nsw=c

 

Of course I don’t expect anything to be posted here until well after lunch time!

Very early

We have an apt this morning at 6AM to start Christine’s induction.  I just called and they have room so we will be driving there in about 40 minutes.  I have been awake since 3:45AM – can’t sleep – thank God for tea!  I will probably wake up Christine in about 20 minutes.

 

So I spent some time reading about ways to start labor naturally and being induced (Too many horror stories).

I do have some worries though, neither of us like the idea of having Christine induced.  We both hoped that things would just start on their own before today.  Please keep us in your prayers.

 

Oh! And I have a few shout-outs!

– To Grandpa (my dad) who took the boyz home last night (have fun and good luck!) – He is going to be worn out!

- To MeMa (Christine’s Mother) who has been here since LAST Friday – thank you for all the cleaning, cooking, laundry and support!

Jacob Selling Advocados

So after he finished roadside seling, he went door-to-door.  I told him a good price would be 2 advocados for $1 and 5 for $2.  Then I hear him in fornt of a house selling 1 advocado for $2.  What a scalper!

Baby coming soon

It looks like the baby will come tomorrow. Christine is scheduled to be induced at 6am.

-- Joshman

sent from my Windows Mobile Phone.

Catapult vs Tribuchet

Its really fun being a handyman dad during the science fair. Yes even though Jacob is only in first grade, at this charter school he to must participate with a science project or a model. He wanted to do a model of a catapult.

So we went to the best video authority I could think of for catapult's - the 3rd movie out of ht eLord of the Rings Trilogy, Return of the King. Not only did Jacobget to see catapults in action but he also got to see trebuchets - which really got his atention. This last weekend we bulit one and he learned so many lessons: leverage, counterweights, saftey, and triangulation - not to mention the importance of planning and assembling things methodically.

The best part is on Monday we got to use is and launched over 10 ballons until it broke. Check out these pictures!

Last 24 hours

• Fri night -attend school poetry and song presentation. Boyz did great!
• Sat morning - Christine drives off to Bakersfield for her cousin's baby shower, I make breakfast for the boyz and clean the kitchen
• Late morning - Jacob and I head out to the garage to work on his Science Project, we are building a trebuchet designed to lauch water balloons over 100 feet
• noon - Make lunch
• 1pm - leave for AWANA - Spark-A-Rama (AWANA Olympics) - the boyz did great and got 2nd place
• 3pm - grocery store
• 3:30PM - hardware store for more wood and bolts for the trebuchet
• 5PM - friend's hose for dinner (thank God for the Riley family!)
• 8:30PM - got kids in bed.

Today was so fast and I am tired! All I have to say is: "My wife is my hero!"

Is the baby coming today?!

Last night my wife and I attended our first LaMaze class. Before we went to bed I inflated the birthing ball. This morning I was greeted with that question from my oldest son as he was holding the birthing ball. He had a huge smile on his face and a look of excitement.

What a fun time!

Pulling out teeth

Jacob is loosing teeth so fast. He lost one top tooth a few days ago and the other top one is ready to go.

In the middle of one of his construction projects he pulled out a tooth while trying to tear a piece of tape by biting it. The funny part is this was a bottom tooth, he still had the loose top tooth. So he was set on getting this pulled and wanted to try the STRING method.

I tied some dental floss to his top tooth and he walked around for a while playing with the string and tugging on it, but it eventually slipped off. Of course he wanted to try it again. This time I decided to do something slightly different.
I tied the string to the top tooth, and then took the other end of the string and tied it to his right arm. I knew he would eventually forget that his right arm was bound to his tooth and he would pull it out himself. It turns out that 2 minutes later he lost his tooth whem I threw a toy to him to catch.

What memories! Now we get to enjoy the 'TH' lisp he will have for the next few weeks.

Taking a day off with your Boyz sure is fun!

After working 11 days in a row, and with a baby sister on the way, I definitely needed to spend some father-son(s) time.

We went fishing on the pier in Pismo (didn't catch anything), ate clam-chowder bowls as Splash Cafe (the Boyz' favorite), and got to have free ice cream at Doc Burnsteins.

This turn into a doubly fun trip because this morning I saw a picture of my oldeset son on my shoulders on the front page the the Santa Maria Times.

What a fun time!