Christmas Loot

Bode received a lot of goodies this year for Christmas. Santa probably had to rent a U-Haul to carry the extra load. Here's a shot of the Christmas tree with all the presents pre-carnage. We were fortunate to have Ashley's parents (Frank and JoAnne) join us for the holidays. They even brought their little dog, Alley, which gave Auburn a playmate. Well, playmate probably isn't the right word. I didn't think there could be a dog as lazy as Auburn until I met Alley. Here's a shot of them during one of their more active states, and I say active because they aren't sleeping which is how they spend ~20 hours a day.Bode did great opening the presents. We would have to tear the paper to get him going, but once he started, there was no stopping him. Plus, unlike last year, he was actually more interested in the toys than the boxes/paper.
Bode got all sorts of great toys. His favorite thus far is Mega Playland, which is a bunch of structures that can be velcroed together to create a little mini-empire, over which Bode rules with an iron fist. Here are some shots of all of us playing. Yes, I actually crawled into the structure with the little man. Obviously we were having a good time. Auburn tried to sneak in, but we were able to keep her out.
Bode also got a cool aisle. I was trying to instruct him on his A-B-C's, but all he wanted to do was scribble. For that, I gave him detention :-)He actually uses the chalk and knows how to use the eraser...not sure where he learned that (daycare?). We'll have to get him some colored chalk and see what sort of pictures he can create.

Thanks much for all the cool toys and gifts. We had a great Christmas and wish everyone a pleasant holiday.

A Christmas Miracle

Piggy has been found! The weather was (relatively) warm today...high was close to 40, so we weren't exactly breaking out the swimsuits. However, it wasn't raining or snowing (but the old-man was snoring), so Ashley decided to try to find Piggy (and also a stuffed Tiger that disappeared last week thanks to that bitch that lives with us). She wasn't outside more than a couple minutes when she comes running in doing her impression of Archimedes ("Eureka! I have found it!"). Of course, before giving him back to Bode, Piggy needs a bath.Ashley found him buried right next to the house. We agree that Auburn must have moved him, because we dug there numerous times. Auburn is crafty, so I'm sure she'll hide the Tiger up near the fence line...I doubt we'll see him until spring.

Last night, we went to see Santa Claus. He was putting in an appearance at the Town and Country, a little mall just up the street. The nice thing about this Santa is that it's free. You are encouraged to take personal pictures--no one selling a digital photograph on a DVD for $19.95 nor trying to prevent you from snapping your own personal shots. Bode wasn't a big fan of St. Nick.I think he was able to get in a quick wish before fleeing: "Santa, I really want that 40" flat screen," is what I heard him say, although his mother doesn't agree...We'll see what shows up on Christmas Day.

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a pleasant day.

Sleepy Bodeman

To those of you sitting on the edge of your sits, I apologize in advance since I have no good news. Piggy is still missing. Ashley and I have searched and searched and searched again. The result? No Piggy, but we did find seven (yes, seven) socks buried in various places. I tried giving Auburn a bone, knowing she would take it outside to bury. I think she knew I was watching her, even though I tried to be sneaky about it. Either bones are buried in a different place than the stuffed animals or she knew she was being followed and didn't want to lead me to the evidence. I might go outside today and check again. I can't believe we haven't been able to find this pig. It's not like he's small--he stretches from my fingertips to the mid-wrist region. Bode doesn't seem to really miss the pig--he has plenty of other fury friends. I think Ashley and I are more heart-broken. This was his first toy to which he showed emotional attachment. Hopefully Piggy's just hibernating and he'll make an appearance in the spring...

The other evening Ashley was sitting in the dining room while Bode finished up eating. I walked into the kitchen, and it was very quiet. Bode was sleeping in his chair.The little guy was out cold. We snapped quite a few shots of him. He never stirred.
We cleared his tray, cleaned him up with a wet rag, and the little dude was still sleeping. Of course, later that night, he had no interest in going to bed :-)Today has been a good day. Ashley is out shopping and Bode is just out (sleeping). I ran a race today--the Jingle Bell 5K. There were 627 runner/walkers, albeit none of the really fast local runners were there. That being the case, I was able to finish third overall--but was the second-place male finisher i.e. a girl beat me. And I'm ok with that--at least she wasn't a 67-year old nun :-) For my effort, I won a nice Asic gym bag, a $20 gift certificate to Dick's Sporting Good's, and a $20 gift card to a local running shop. I now consider myself a professional athlete, although I won't be on the Forbes Highest Paid Athlete list anytime soon. But unlike some professional athletes, Ashley has not chased me down the driveway with a golf club.

Pleasant day.

F---ing Dog!

Yes, I'm writing angry. And if there's one thing I was taught it's that when you write a nasty, belligerent letter, you should wait a few days to think things over before sending it. Well to that I simply say Bah! and give it the mitten (which is what we call flipping someone the bird while wearing mittens).

Last weekend, we took the front face off Bode's crib and replaced it with a smaller rail that has a gap. Bode can get into and out of bed using this gap. Tonight, we were in Bode's room playing trains when Auburn saunters in, heads straight for the bed, and proceeds to climb up. Ashley yelled at her, while suppressing a smile while I tried not to laugh. How cute. This cuteness turned to dismay and despair a little while later. We were putting Bode to sleep, and his favorite stuffed animal he's had since he was born is this little stuffed piggy (reference the Winter Trip Part I post from December 2008 for a picture). Bode's pushing his pillow aside, searching, all the while saying, "Piggy. Piggy. Piggy." Ashley and I move the sheets aside, gently at first, and then just fling them onto the floor. We check behind the crib, under the crib, everywhere. "Piggy," Bode keeps saying. I happen to see Auburn sitting in the hallway, and I immediately know what happened. That little bitch (not a bad word, remember?) took Piggy and buried him outside. How do I know this? Auburn routinely buries my socks, Ashley's socks, Bode's socks, and has buried other stuffed toys in the yard. Some we've found, some we have not. Guess what Ashley and I were doing at 8:15 pm this evening? We were in out in the dark going through our yard hoping to find Piggy. Good thing that cold front rolled in, huh? We were not successful (although we did find lots of dog-droppings), and we can only assume Piggy is buried underneath a pile of dirt. Fortunately, Bode went to sleep without his Piggy, but I promised Ashley I would find it tomorrow after the sun comes up, job be damned--who cares if there's a war going on--this is a lost pig we're talking about!!! Anyone want a dog? :-)

We were in Chicago visiting my father for Thanksgiving. We had a nice time, and we had hoped for an early Christmas present in the form of an Auburn victory in the Iron Bowl. Our team played great--jumped out to a 14-0 lead, but couldn't eek out a win. Here's a shot of Bode wearing his Auburn orange and blue. "Go Tigers!"The little fella turned two years old on Saturday. Only two? It seems like we've had him forever (yet time has also flown by...some sort of kid-induced paradox...) Here's a shot of Bode, not quite understanding the concept of blowing out the candles. He liked it when they were lit, but as soon as they were extinguished (usually with Ashley's help), he would say, "On. On. On." We went through a couple iterations before the cake started to melt...Only 25 shopping days until Christmas. Bode's been a good boy, so maybe Santa will bring him that 40-inch flat-screen he's been asking for... :-) Pleasant week to all.

Nocturnal Activities

With the end of daylight savings time, we've found that we are getting home just as it's getting dark. Thus, our evening walks around the block sometimes don't happen, as the season change makes it a chit billy (I'm speaking runny babbit), and also the lack of light makes it somewhat precarious to walk. So we've had to find ways to fill our evenings. A lot of nights are spent in front of the computer. Bode loves listening/watching music videos on youtube. We're also a big fan of Skype, a wonderful (and free--maybe the government will tax it to pay for health-care) technology that lets us video-phone with our relatives. I'm amazed how quickly Bode has learned everyone's names. Here he is speaking with his 'Nana.
It's rather amusing whenever Bode sees Nana on the screen. He has a (bad) habit of saying hello to everyone NOT pictured. For example, if Nana is the only one on the screen, Bode repeatedly says, "Papa. Papa. Papa," until his Granddad shows up. If both are present, he'll say, "Ally" which is the name of their little French bulldog (you can kinda of see her on Nana's lap in the picture). Bode can't quite work the computer on his own, but I imagine it's only a matter of time before he has it mastered. After that, he'll be wanting an iPhone...

Bode loves books. Sometimes he wakes up and his first words are, "Book. Book. Book." He is not sticking to one particular genre, as his favorites (today) are a Star Wars pop-up book (go figure), a book called Pete the Cat, which Ashley and I read to him (I narrate, Ashley sings...Auburn howls the whole time). He also likes the Dr. Seuss collection, Carl the Rottweiler, Moo Baa La La La, and, of course Good Night Moon. Here's a shot of Bode and me sitting on the couch reading.We had a nice weekend (for November). We were able to get to the park and relax for a few minutes. Bode wanted to swing the entire time. You see that big slide/jungle-gym piece of equipment in the picture below? Bode spent all of 30 seconds on that.
The rest of the time, he swung, and if we took him out, he cried and wailed. I wouldn't have minded so much but the point of the park is to tire him out. Unfortunately, swinging doesn't involve much energy expenditure from the little dude...Ashley and I had to do all the work.

I've been back at work for eight days now. Thank heavens yesterday was Veteran's Day because after seven whole work-days, I needed some rest :-) Pleasant day to all.

Happy Halloween

The day has sadly arrived. Today, 2 November 2009, I had to return to a real job for the first time in over six years. This is not to say I've been unemployed since 2003. I was teaching from 2003-2006, and then for the past three years I was in school at AFIT. Each of these jobs was hard work, but for the most part, I could control my own schedule. I didn't have to contend with staff meetings or briefings or other like activities (although I did have to put up with students that couldn't grasp the complexities of Ohm's Law--V = IR damn it!). Thus, I had a lot of autonomy. Plus, since I thoroughly enjoyed each of these jobs, I didn't really consider them work (and the fact I could take 2-3 hours off to go to the gym probably had something to do with it).

I'm back in the work force, working for Air Force Research Laboratory. Hopefully, the job will be fun and exciting, and ideally, three years from now I won't consider my time in AFRL "work"; however, these first few days back are a shock to my system. I have a boss (Wayne, nice guy, smart, pleasant, been doing this for 40+ years) and will have to put together briefings and attend meetings and telecons. How will I ever survive? :-) But the people seem nice, and in my (and Ashley's) experience, it is the people that make a job fun. So here's hoping...

This past weekend, we bought Bode a little table. He loves it. His Grammy also got him a new toy--a little device that sings the alphabet song (which is maddening after the 30th time), and also tries to get Bode to identify letters. Here's Bode sitting at his table playing. Saturday was Halloween. Fortunately, Auburn (the football team) beat Mississippi breaking a three game losing streak. It was fortunate because Bode's costume was a (miniature) Auburn football player. Here he is getting ready to go trick-or-treating when suddenly, he was attacked by a giant spider. Ashley also dressed up, also going as an Auburn player. Bode's costume also entailed mini-shoulder pads and a cool old-school helmet. He refused to wear both. In Ashley's hand, you can see Bode's little helmet. That's about as close as it would get to his head.Ashley took Bode up and down the street. The little fellow didn't quite understand the purpose of his basket--he thought he had to eat every piece of candy he was given then and there. Needless to say, he was a little wound up, but since he walked a considerable distance, he went to sleep at a reasonable hour.Note the cool pumpkins. Ashley did a great job carving them. What did I dress up as? I went as a thirty-something year old man that doesn't dress well who enjoys watching college football. I think I nailed it :-) Pleasant day to all.

Bryson City and Santa Land

As you may or may not know, I'm currently in the midst of 22 days off from work (yes, that's 22; for you Romans or Super Bowl numerologists, it's XXII). Why so many days? I started a new job with Air Force Research Laboratory (I'm still in the Air Force--I finished at AFIT in early October). The best time to take a large chunk of leave is between jobs because you have no responsibilities whatsoever. I don't even have an email account at my new job, so I won't be returning to a full inbox (rather, no inbox...at least for a little while). Plus, I have over 60 (LX) days leave saved up (which, as Ashley has pointed out, means I haven't taken off near enough time). The end result is that I'm not working until November.

Unfortunately, Ashley still has to work (and hard at that; God bless her). However, she was able to sneak away from the chains of the office for a few days allowing us to make a speedy trip down to Bryson City, North Carolina, and visit her parents (she did bring her work computer--damn you ITT). We had a nice little visit. We went to a craft fair in Asheville, enjoyed the beauty of the fall colors, and played with the Little Man. One day, we went down to the metropolis that is Bryson City. There were some neat little shops and a train that goes around town--"Choo" as Bode says. One of the shop-vendors gave Bode his first lollipop which he loved.We also went to Santa Land in nearby Cherokee. There were rides, a little zoo, Santa, and of course, lunch.As you can see, Bode loves his fries. Well, maybe not the fries. It's more the ketschup that he likes. In fact, when the fries are gone, he'll just eat ketschup as is. Yum yum. After lunch, we went on some rides. Fortunately, they were rather tame, so no one got sick.Bode loved driving the pink bus--he was steering the wheel and saying "Vroom vroom." The boat wasn't near as fun. The best ride was probably the ferris wheel. When they came over the top, Bode said, "Wheeeeeeee!"
There were animals to pet
and goldfish to feed from a paddle boat (tons of them!)And when it was all said and done, we needed to call our peeps and tell them about how much fun we had!Pleasant day.