Summer Vacation
This summer we went on our bi-annual excursion to Winter Park, Colorado. It's hard to believe that I've been going up there for the past 26 years (with a couple missed here and there). Not much has changed except for a few stores. The town and the resort are nearly exactly like I remember them each there (except for the ridiculous prices that double each year).Read more
What's New in '07?
Time for the requisite family and friends update.
I have been getting a lot of emails from family and friends with all the cute and cuddly details about their lives. And since my email habits are like my phone habits (I try and spend as little time on both as possible) I've been feeling a little guilty about not sharing the details that some of you love (Mom...)
First of all, it would be nice if the temperature would stay above 20 degrees for 2 straight days. I don't think I'm asking a lot here. I honestly can't remember a stretch this cold this long in my lifetime. I promise I will never make "Old People Living in Florida" jokes again. My Christmas lights are still half up...and I'm a person who can't stand it when people leave their lights up past the 26th of December. If I were to try and go on our roof at this point I am pretty sure I would either slide off on to the driveway and break something vital or slide into the power lines and fry something vital. So the lights are staying up for now - at least they're not on.
I traveled to San Francisco again in January for my job but was unable to bring Mickie along this time. It was too bad too because my second day of training was canceled. I ended up driving to Monterey Bay for the day. It is a really cool coastal town. I was going to go to the Aquarium but it was a wee bit pricey. Its always fun eating by yourself in a touristy place as well. I tried to make myself look like as little of a loser as possible by spreading out a couple folders and made it look like I was working or something. I actually just stared at the water and the sea gulls. I ended the day by driving back up the coast to SF which was really cool.
Probably the single biggest thing to happen in 2007 so far was my acquisition of a Nintendo Wii. If you don't know the Nintendo Wii is revolutionary game system that gets most of its input based on motion. So if you are playing Tennis you swing the controller just like a racket and the system picks up your motion and translates it on the screen. Mickie and I played one at our friends the Criggers' house and had a lot of fun. You know it's a good gaming system when Mick gets into it - and let me tell she gets into it. Playing tennis one day I had to cower in fear against the wall to avoid her Venus Williams like arm swings... The youth group has had a blast with it as well. Bowling is the most popular among that group.
Mia has been going through, well how do I say it, an independent stage...
I probably say this every time I write about her but I love watching her figure out new things. Her conversation gets more mature all the time and I can't believe the size of clothes Mickie bought for her the other day. She has been memorizing a lot of songs recently and the current hit is from the Little Mermaid. I have a video I'll post soon or maybe in a year... Her favorite activity right now is to make "Jumpers". Well, I actually make them she just jumps on them. For the uneducated a "jumper" is a combination of couch cushions, pillows, blankets and anything else that would break the fall of a 2 year old from about 4 feet.
This post is getting a little long so I'll spare you all the rest and try and update a little more frequently and a lot shorter.
Hopefully none of you are as dumb as this guy...
Elmo and the Missing Suitcase
Everyone is back home and all that is right and good has been restored. The balance in the force is back...
The girls' trip went well except for one small tiny detail: When Mickie dropped off Mia at her parents she left her suitcase and took Mia's to Indiana. Whoops. Mickie ended up borrowing some clothes from some friends and shopping for some new ones. I guess she didn't want to try on Mia's Elmo undies.
Speaking of Elmo, the new Tickle-Me-Elmo is on sale at a retailer near you. Here is a sample video and there are plenty more to be found on YouTube.
Mia doesn't have the tickle version but she does have the tinkle version. She has an Elmo that when you put a bottle in its mouth has to go potty 20 seconds later. Apparently like little kids and women on trips, Elmo has a very small bladder... By the way, who has the job of making the Elmo potty sound effects? What a conversation piece that would be at a party.
What I really want to know is when are we going to see a combination of both? How great would it be to tickle Elmo and then have him have to go potty? You can't tell me that wouldn't be awesome. I even have a name: Tickle Me till I Pee Elmo or TP Elmo for short. Somebody has got to get on this.
Ahh, California...
What a breath of fresh air, and warm-er air. I went on business this past week to the bay area in the California and decided to bring Mickie along for a much needed "just the two of us" vacation. We arrived (via separate flights) on Tuesday night. I had some interesting issues to begin the trip... First, I had a row all to myself and was high in the sky when a kid got sick and had to go to the bathroom. When he returned the drink cart was in his way and he couldn't get back to his seat. The flight attendent then told him to wait in the seat next to me. Not a problem - except that he stayed there the rest of the flight...not really sure why. I then attempt to get a rental car. I went to Hertz first because that is where I thought the administrative assistant had booked me a rental - but they had no record and on top of that no rental companies had any more cars!
Side rant begins here... I believe the rules of engagement for customer service need to be looked at. Shouldn't you service the person you were talking with first? You shouldn't pick up the phone and tell the person in front of you to hold on, you tell the person on the phone to hold on...this happened several times during the trip. Am I way off base here??? Okay, side rant over.
I made my way down to Enterprise rental and they must have had my name in the system because I was able to get a car - and a free upgrade! We ended up with a 2005 Silver Jeep Cherokee. It was pretty nice and balanced out the most of the fiasco. At this point I was loading our luggage and noticed my computer bag was a bit damp. (never a good sign - kinda like seeing your transmission in your rear view mirror...) A can of pop had punctured and leaked all over my bag. My company cell phone was trashed, but thankfully everything else including my laptop, and really cool headphones survived.
Wednesday I met with a client during the morning and we went to San Francisco in the afternoon and evening. We explored Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39, made funny faces at the sea lions, walked in a bunch of trashy souvenier shops, and ate dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. Later we rode a cable car and finshed the night by driving over the Golden Gate Bridge.
We had Thursday to ourselves and went back to San Fran. We toured Alcatraz for most of the time. It was very cool. If you ever go, drop the extra few bucks for the audio tour. Most of the pictures I took were from Alcatraz. That night we drove down the crooked street, went to the marketplace and decided to leave because there were so many people.
We drove over the GGB again but this time I missed the exit and ended up going up US 101 for awhile into the Napa Valley. It probably would have been real pretty in the day time, but we were hungry and tired so it wasn't.
It was a really good time. You can see photos on our Flickr page here.
The Year in Review - The First Quarter
I was all set to do my version of our year in review when out of nowhere I got a call from Ted Koppel. It seemed that is lieu of his retirement he missed the excitement of the tough interview and wanted to get back in the saddle one more time. Coming to an ABC special sometime on the second Tuesday of next week, "Mia, The Byers Family, and the Year that Was - A Koppel Special." Just make sure that when you read it, you imitate Ted's voice...
Ted: Mia it'?s good to finally meet you in person. I'?ve been following you since you were born, but it is a pleasure to talk to you face to face.
Mia: Thanks Ted, I feel honored that you'?re ending your career on such a high note. Say do you want to see my new blocks?
Ted: We'?ll get to that in a moment. How about we start at the beginning? What were you doing in January?
Mia: It's kind of hard for me to think that far back, I mean come on Ted can you remember what you were doing half your life ago?
Ted:
Uh, well, I believe I was in Europe, yeah that sounds good, Europe.
Mia: Well, one thing did come to my mind. I seem to recall experiencing snow for the first time. Shortly after I lobbied my dad to move to California.
Ted: traumaticamatic experience indeed. So anything else happen you would like to share.
Mia: Yeah, I heard my dad mention California shortly after and I got real excited, but the frivolity turndisappointmentntment when I learned that he was just singing a beach boys song.
Ted: Yes, and very nice ones they are. Let's discuss Easter. This was your first one was it not?
Mia: Yes, and I really don't know why I had to sit on the cold ground for that long. My dad is insanely obsessed with taking pictures - I mean for crying out loud do you need to get the perfect shot all the time???
Ted: Do I dectect some animosity towards your Father? How long has this been going on?
Mia: No, I was just caught up in the moment. I guess its okay, I
mean look at me. I'm gorgeous.
Ted: That you are, and on a side note I'm glad to see the celebrity hasn't gone to your head.
Mia: Do I detect a little animosity from you Ted?
Ted: None at all little one, none at all. Well, that about wraps up the first quarter. We'll take a short break and when we come back we'll discuss turning one, the pool, and the coffee table incident. Don't go away.
Back Into the Fray
I survived my weekend in Green Bay - though I think they entrusted me with some of their lovely viral specimans... I should have rented a car instead of walking everywhere in the sub-zero temps. Live and learn.
My brain is slowly putting itself back together. The training was very good, and it was really cool to see what could be done using a 3d Modeling program. I am a bit down as well, knowing that I will never have the time to really use the program for what it can do.
I always struggle on Mondays trying to figure out where I left off when I took off last week. I suppose I could take notes or something, but it seems like I spend half my morning figuring out what to do next instead of jumping right in. Any solutions or helpful hints?
I got our Christmas cards done last night. A friend of ours who does free-lance photography came over last week and took some really great pictures. We are planning to mail those out tomorrow so hopefully everyone on our mailing list will get them before Christmas - if not just blame the mail... If you don't get one and would like one just let me know. I will also post it on Flickr to download. The standard Christmas letter might be included if I get it done, if not you will have to direct people to our website to find out all that happened this year. I'll do a year in review post sometime in the next week or so.
I get to travel some more in January but this time it is to a place a bit warmer. I am training a client near San Fransico. I've been there a couple times and it is one of my favorite places to visit. I would never live there - just too much, but it is a very cool place to visit. I'll take lots of pictures so you all can experience it with me.
Mia, started saying "I love you" over the weekend in a full recognizable sentance. Is there anything cooler than to have your kid tell you that they love you? (even if they don't know what it means...) I grinned ear to ear for several minutes she told me on the phone this morning.
I heard a rumor that Mickie is doing baking today...hope its true.
What's known in Florida as the Eventual Post
I am way past due for a post. I have thought about for the last few days but have failed to think of any particular topic that I wanted to write about. I have been wanting to start a more focused blog on technology in ministry but I don't feel that this is the appropriate place. When I get more time...ha ha...I plan to start that blog of my personal portfolio site (joshbyers.com). I have a real passion for this area of ministry and see it as something that is under the radar for most churches. As the internet and technology are continually expanding into our lives it should make sense that it expands into our ministry as well. We need to be working on reaching all people where they are at and not waiting for them to come to us.
Family Update: Some of know that Mickie had surgery about a week and a half ago. She had her gallbladder removed because it had been giving her some pains. Everything went very well and she has suffered no ill effects. She is on a lifting restriction however and still can't pick up Mia. That obviously complicates life a bit when trying to control and raise a toddler.
We had a good Thanksgiving at Mickie's parents house. Their whole extended family usually gets together and it was at the Hyde's house this year. That made for a bit of a crowed house but it was neat to be able to experience a big family coming together. The Broncos were on national TV and did not disappoint - though I was a bit worried coming down the stretch. We still have leftovers and according to most health experts most of your leftovers should be thrown away by now...
We got most of our Christmas decorations up including a brand new pre-lit tree. That's right pre-lit. As in I didn't have to string any lights on the tree. That rules. I don't why these aren't more popular. Maybe they are and I am just naive. I am still reeling on how easy the tree went up and for once I wasn't frustrated and ready to be done with the whole ordeal... You can see pictures of Mia decorating the tree on our photostream on Flickr. There are also new pictures from Thanksgiving as well as the Fall.
I will try and write a little more often as a lot of things are going on during the holidays. Hope everyone is warm!
What's in Pandora's Box?
Like the sands through the hourglass, so are the posts of my blog...
Not much to report from the homeland in the heartland. Work is awesome. I am working on developing a completely new web site for our company. The new site will be radically more sophisticated and useful, and it will look better too.
I think a light turned on in Mia's head a couple weeks ago as she has begun to use full sentances. Her cognisence has grown noticably by leaps and bounds. Way cool. There are no new pictures or videos right now, but after next week I should be able to get some up and running.
This week I have planning our major Jr. High activity of the year. This years Youth Feast and Fun Fest should trump the other years (if we can pull it off). No spoilers yet till its over-sorry guys. In my next post I will report on how it went and what we actually did.
I will be traveling to Portland on Monday to participate in some software training for some clients. If there are any readers in Portland maybe we could get together for some coffee. Should be fun, though being away from home is never all its cracked up to be.
And now for this weeks really cool thing. The website www.pandora.com will read your mind and introduce you to new music. The way it works is by entering the neame of a band or a song you really like. It will then search its database for similar music and spit out a playlist you can listen to. It didn't find the two artists I searched for but found the third and its pretty cool! Give it a try.
Just want to give a few shout outs...to Abi, hang in there-college rules!...to Tim and Patty, congrats on the baby-parenthood rules!...to everyone else-Rejoice! God is good!
New Photos and Video
Just wanted to let everyone without rss know that there are new photos on Flickr to view and there is a new video on our site to view. I have been having some issues with the video player not refreshing itself, so you may need to clear out your temporary internet files and then refresh your page in order to view.
That would probably be a good thing for a lot of you to do anyway. If you are using IE click on "tools" in the menu bar the click "internet options." This will open up a dialog box. Right in the middle is a button that says "delete files." Click that and then click ok when it prompts you to. All done. Go to the video page and refresh and you should see the new video.
I am working on some sort of better alternative for the future.