I'm sorry, but I am not a duty blogger. I don't feel like writing all the time. I see blogging as more of a wintertime or unemployment time activity. So, since it is neither winter, nor am I jobless, I have been away from the keyboard and I feel absolutely no guilt over it.
Strange enough, I run through everyone else's blog to see if they have put anything up and, ironically, I get a little annoyed that they aren't entertaining or infuriating me with their thoughts. Huh? I have always expected more of others than I do myself. I realize that I am a slacker, but I want more for others.
So, what is new?
In the last month or so, I have finished reading three new books. I am not into "deep" reading right now, just good old mindless fantasy. If it has a sword or a dragon in it, sign me up.
I was a latecomer to the whole "Star Wars" novels, but in the last two years I have read the entire "New Jedi Order" and have started the most recent novel. It still features Luke, Han, and Leia, but it also has their children. Very good, light reading. I also knocked off the most recent Drizzt story. Again, a favorite character, but I am struggling to see where the story is going. Peace with Orcs? Good for Clan Battlehammer, bad for readers. I want to see Drizzt knee deep in orc parts...Thanks to Phil, I have just finished a book call "The Name of the Wind". Phil claims that it is the next great work of fantasy and I can't really disagree. It is well written and put together well. It has that whole "Lost" flashback thing going on throughout the book, but unlike "Lost", the reader isn't left thinking, "How is that relivant for more than filler?"
Go out and read it. Even if you don't like fantasy, it is interesting enough to carry anyone's attention. Heck, Stephanie, would you have imagined that you would be watching a series about a broody vampire or a space opera on a ship called "Serenity"?
Then there is Travian. I've mentioned before the crack-like addiction that Phil and I have for the game and like any good addict, we want others to join us in our madness. So, here is the link to Server 7, which will start in the next few days. Start in the North West(NW) and play either the Romans or Gauls for your first tribe. Corey, Matt, Gary, and Toby, I am talking to you guys. Phil and I have enough connections in the game that we could have a decent alliance and have some fun. Angie and Steph, you can join in too, if you can figure it out. ;)
The girls are getting big. Emma amazes me daily with her ability to be smarter than me and Mikayla amazes me in the fact that she doesn't need to wear a helmet to make it through the day. Emma has gotten to the age where she wants to sleep over at people's houses all the time. Thankfully, both Grandma's, Aunt Jody and Jaime, and Val don't know how to say "No". Strange enough, none of them are going out of their way to ask Mikayla to even come over for a few hours...?
Speaking of Emma, she has always got something going. As most of you already know, she had a sleep study, got her tonsils and adnoids out, and then had another sleep study. Thankfully, the surgery helped and she is sleeping well. Unfortunately, she also has "Periodic Limb Movement" problems. This basically means she twitches like she is having a seizure several...20 to 60 times...a night. Amanda and I got a glimpse of it the other night and were ready to call an exorcist. It is a bit freaky to see. Apparently, it is caused by low iron(ferritin) levels. Now, in kids, the only reason they would have low iron would be because of either diet or blood loss.
Guess what? Emma has a urine analysis and they find blood in her urine and high counts of something that indicates improper liver function. So, we are waiting till the follow-up 
appointment in August to figure out what that is about. Dr. Koby didn't have us rush right up there, so I hoping that means it is not urgent. I'm comforted that she is in good hands, but due to the fact that she is my "little girl", I get sick to my stomach everytime I think about it. I'd give my life for either one of them, but there is nothing I can do about this stuff. Kills me.
appointment in August to figure out what that is about. Dr. Koby didn't have us rush right up there, so I hoping that means it is not urgent. I'm comforted that she is in good hands, but due to the fact that she is my "little girl", I get sick to my stomach everytime I think about it. I'd give my life for either one of them, but there is nothing I can do about this stuff. Kills me.I, too, am scheduled to go for a sleep study on the 3rd of August. I have always had a problem sleeping, but in the last year, it has become unbearable. So, I am pushing to get one of those CPAP machines. Everyone I know who was having problems sleeping, like I am, and then jumped on one of those machines have told me they couldn't live without it now. I'm just tire of being tired, no matter of how much I sleep.
ONE MONTH and "Vegas Baby!!!"Amanda and I have never went on vacation since we have been married, so we decide to go, along with another couple that Amanda works with and we have, apparently, become friends with by default. Obviously, Las Vegas is perfect for my love of poker, but it also has some of the best entertainment and d
ining to be found in the U.S. Did I mention that there is poker there? Actually, I am going to try...sigh...to curtail my unconscious desire to abandon my wife and friends to sit all day at a 2-4 limit poker table, and catch many of the sights Vegas has to offer with my smashingly stunning wife. Marty said that he spent almost a week in Vegas and didn't see half of the things they had to do in the casino he was staying at. My goal while I am there is to find Daniel and have my picture taken with him. If you know who that is, then you play and watch too much poker...as if that were possible.
ining to be found in the U.S. Did I mention that there is poker there? Actually, I am going to try...sigh...to curtail my unconscious desire to abandon my wife and friends to sit all day at a 2-4 limit poker table, and catch many of the sights Vegas has to offer with my smashingly stunning wife. Marty said that he spent almost a week in Vegas and didn't see half of the things they had to do in the casino he was staying at. My goal while I am there is to find Daniel and have my picture taken with him. If you know who that is, then you play and watch too much poker...as if that were possible.Oh yeah, my dad was taken to the hospital with congestive heart failure. Apparently, all they had to do was give him a nitro and make him pee a lot and he was better. It is good that he feels better and, fortunately, the whole CHF thing is easily fixed in the temporary, however, it does point to a greater problem that will probably not be so easily fixed. He meets with his primary care physician this week and the cardiac specialist next.
He was taken to the hospital last weekend, which coincidentally, was also poker league. I successfully stumbled to a last place finish for the first time in six months. I blame dad for distracting me.
Well, then there is Speedway. Well, there was Speedway. I put my two weeks in today.
In two weeks, I will officially be a 911 Dispatcher for Crawford County.
Very excited about it and it is a great opportunity.
Yay me!!!
