I can't believe I didn't think about this poll before!

Since the poll won't tell us who voted for what, please use the comment section to let us know which one you picked! C'mon do it!!

Hope my kid doesn't have ADHD

But just in case, I think I've got a treament option here:

Bad automobile year **updated!**

Ok so I've about had it with my car crap. Here's the situation:

As some of you may remember, not too long ago the Saturn's transmission broke. That was a nice $2200+ expense. And the day that I got it back, I popped one of the tires driving over a rake that had fallen in the garage. So I had to go and purchase a new tire for it. Lovely...

Fast forward to the present. Last week, the Acura's transmission went out! Another nice $2200+ adventure. Well guess what happened this morning? I get ready to head to work and find out I've got a flat. Super. So I fill it back up and head to Gateway to get it plugged. Well lo and behold once there they show me that the steel belts have worn through on two of the tires. Know what that means? It means I get to buy new tires! (Go ahead and toss an alignment on there too.) Another $600 or so bucks out the door, you say? Sure, why the *&%@! not?!

I suppose this puts the kabosh on any travelling or purchasing everyone those 60" flat screen TVs I was gonna give out at Christmas. Ah well...

**Oh, guess what we just found today(11/13)?! Sharaze just called to let me know that the Acura's battery is dead. WHOO!!! Loving it....

**Update 2!! So I wanted to give props to Dad whose non-sexy but extrememly practical Christmas gift from last year helped out today. Yes, I finally used the Car Battery Charger/Tire Inflator combo device to jump the failing battery and get me to Autozone. Thanks for the Christmas present Dad! (Oh, and tack on another $55 to this months auto bill. Sheesh...)

Sicky Sharaze

For those of you wondering what a sick and pregnant Sharaze looks like, here ya go. So very sad, isn't it?

Slight anxious inhaling

You know those times where you're just going about your day, things are fairly normal, and then something happens to give you a momentary pause of anxiety? And you take that little breath through your nose and your eyes widen just a bit? You know what I'm talking about. We all do it.

Well we had one of those moments today. Sharaze was going in to the doctor today for some little checkup thing. Nothing big, no tests, just a quick little check. Well,one thing leads to another and so the doctor wants to do a quick inspection of the baby. Out comes the fetal heart monitor so that the doctor can listen to the baby's heartbeat. No biggie, right? And that's where things started. They couldn't hear the heart beating.

Actually, they thought they could kind of hear it but couldn't be totally sure and so they want her to go to the hospital for a full ultrasound. The tech and doctor say that things are most likely just fine and that Sharaze's womb may be sort of folded to where the heart monitor won't pick up on things. A "normal abnormality". A regular ultrasound should show how things really stand. So off she goes to Baptist East. (This is the part where she called me and I did my sharp little inhaling thingy.)

Honestly, neither of us were really worried, but nonetheless it was a bit of cause of anxiousness. Was the baby ok? Had something happened? But the doctor was quite certain things were fine and this isn't terribly unusual.

Anyway, Sharaze got her ultrasound and things are A-OK! The baby has a nice healthy heartbeat and is doing just fine. (And we both breathed a sigh of relief there!) And now you can see below the 2nd ever picture of Baby...Colley. (If you look reallllly close you can see a teeny little arm!)

I am a (semi) responsible adult!

Man, I read a great post on another blog regarding some financial advice that Scott Adams (the guy who creates Dilbert) wrote up. Totally straight forward, clear, and simple. You really need to check it out and look into what he says. Yeah, so READ IT.

But the thing it really got me considering is that I'm now in a position where I have to consider things like a will, college funding, protecting my family and all that other adult stuff. Pretty crazy to grow up and realize you've got serious responsibilities. I mean I still play video games, watch cartoons, and all kinds of other "kid" stuff. But for now, I figure that I can still do all that stuff and really BE a responsible husband and father. I mean, it's at least worked out on the "husband" side of the equation.

The thing that worries me the most is will I be able to handle it well when it comes down to giving up of some of my free time? I'm pretty frickin' selfish about my time. I can always tell Sharaze to leave me be and give me some space. Call me crazy, but I don't think the baby is going to understand when I ask it to please stop crying and go to sleep so Papa can play some more Warcraft.

Ah well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see huh?

Boy names!!

Alright, it's poll time! First up are boy names. Pick your favorite name below and MAYBE we'll consider it: