Reed's Rat Race

Alright folks, here's a quick review of how our Christmas 2008 went down... We decided to do things a little differently this year by taking a little trip to the Smoky Mountains over the holidays. The plan was to give the kids a white Christmas and let 'em romp around in the snow and go tubing and all of that fun stuff. Things didn't go exactly as planned though as the weather was unseasonably warm. So no 'natural' snow was to be found. We remedied the lack of snow situation by going to Ober Gatlinburg, a small ski resort near Gatlinburg, TN. They make practically all of their snow, so even with the temps in the mid 60's, there was still some white stuff on the ground. The first stop on our way to the mountains was Little River Canyon, in north eastern Alabama. This is the deepest canyon east of the Mississippi River. A couple hours later and we were in Chatanooga, TN. We attempted to visit the model railroad museum, but being the 24th, it was closed. S

They say the two go hand in hand...age and experience, that is. And I suppose they, whoever 'they' are, are right for the most part. Only for me, it seems I'm getting older with out the experience part. I still feel as unfit for whatever task is at had as I did 10 years ago. Anyway, back on Monday, I turned the ripe old age of 33. I've found the mid thirties to be weird age. I'm young enough to not feel old and old enough to not feel young. And I act 18 most of the time! Angela baked my favorite chocolate cake for me. I don't know what it is called, and it takes a butt-load of time to make. But the end result is a rich, moist, delicious chocolate cake with a surprise creamy filling in the middle. Its like eating a Ding-Dong only without the preservatives and it tastes better and you get more than two measley bites from a piece (is it just me or are Ding Dongs and Twinkies getting smaller?). We drove over to Stark-vegas for dinner with Chelsey (Jared

I finally got my touch...iPod Touch that is. And this thing is cool! I'm using to post this message actually. I guess I whined enough to Anela after Izzy messed up my Nano that she got sick of it and gave in. Anywayi, I've gotta go. I've got some Youtube to watch!

Ah yes, October 31st.  And this year both kids really understand what that means...FREE CANDY!! Yesterday we let the kids carve a pumpkin and goofed off a little bit.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Check this out... http://www.qwerf.com/?p=270 They are controlled via Wifi. You can basically be anywhere in the world and control the robot that is back home via the internets (tubes that transport stuff). I'm thinking I could use the thing like a babysitter. I just need a mobile device that is capable of showing video and running apps, something like, say, an Apple iPod Touch (hint, hint Angela!). Then I could terrorize the kids while Mom and Dad are out catching dinner and a movie! Muhwaahahaha!!

It never fails...pretty much anytime we go anywhere, one of our children gets sick.   This past Thursday, I had a work related training class down in Jackson, MS.  We've got some college friends that live down there (the husband is almost done with med school) and Angela was planning to go down to see them this weekend anyway.  So instead of spending our own money to go down there, we decided to combine both trips and have the company pay for it!  So we drive down Wed. afternoon and get to Jackson about 5:30.  Gavin was fine when we left save for a runny nose that we attributed to allergies.  Buy the time we checked into the hotel (9:30) Lil' G had a full blown caugh (barked like a seal), a sore throat, swollen tonsils and some big time congestion.  Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep Wed. night as Gavin tossed and turned and coughed and barked.  I had a really hard time trying to stay awake for 8 hours of Trenching and Excavation class the next day.  I took Gavin to

Okay, first of all, for all of you from out west or up north or anywhere else besides the southeast and Texas, the term barbeque (BBQ) in all it's different spellings does not imply cooking meat over an open flame on a grill.  Cooking hamburgers on the grill is not barbeque.  And in fact, the term is a noun and refers to meat cooked using low temps, indirect heat, and smoke.   That being said, BBQ is one of my mostest favoritest things evar!  And cooking bbq (pork mostly) is one of my new hobbies.  Last year, I pretty much sucked at it.  But I've been able to get consistently good results this year and some of it has been above average (in my unbiased opinion, of course).   This past weekend, we were blessed with some really nice weather so I decided it was time to break out the smoker and smoke some ribs.  I prepped the ribs by seasoning 'em up with a home-made rub and then wrapped them tightly and put them back in the fridge overnight.  That way, the rub and the meat get

Yes, I misspelled 'beginning' in the title.  Those in the know will get it (not that it's that funny anyway).  Since all the other folks in the family have trendy looking blogs with wonderful photos and well written entries, Angela thought we'd give it a go too.  Of course, ours will not have wonderful photos and if I'm doing the blog, it'll read like a 10 year old wrote it.  But oh well...  So, where to start?  Anybody interested in this blog will prolly be pretty much up to date anyway, so I'll just start with recent events that have some interest to them. Recent event #1:   Gavin started Kindergarten!  Holy cow, is he that old?!!  So far, he's doing great and liking his teachers.  His best friend is also in his class.  Did I mention I feel sorry for his teachers.  I think, the adjustment was harder for Angela than it was for Gavin. Recent event #2:   Izzy turned three!  She is growing up so fast.  She wanted a "Princess Party".  I think she