Fifteen Minutes of Delusion

In case you hadn't noticed based on the bloggy silence, these last few months have been incredibly busy around here, and unfortunately this blog has taken a big hit. I really want to continue posting here, as it's a great way to keep in touch and share with everyone. No promises, but I'm going to give it my best shot. There are two big changes in my life that have provided a major scarcity in free time. The first is a change in my work responsibilities. I'm still a software engineer for Onyx Graphics in Utah, working from home. However, rather than just working on whatever the product manager gives me to do, I am the product manager in a way. Each of us driver developers now have a handful of device manufacturers that we are responsible for, both developing the code and managing the relationship. One of the things this means is more work related travel. I took four work trips in all of 2010. I've already been on three this year, and will likely have some 20 or so b...

Last weekend, our oldest child became a teenager. The transition came without a lot of fanfare. There was, however, soup. Only the birthday girl could get a way with asking for soup when it's 100 degrees outside. There was cake, too. Lemon cake with lemon icing. Not quite the candle inferno her parents' birthdays cause, but she's getting there. And, of course, presents. Happy Birthday, Anna. We love you.

My blogging friend Crash is collecting fabric for a wonderful Magic Quilt project. The idea is to collect fabric that has a story attached, and make those magical swatches into a quilt. ( Click here to find out what the quilts are for and why they are magic. ) This is the shirt and the story I decided to send in: Given the circumstances, a trip to Hawaii seemed like a very selfish move. My wife was living half a continent away so she could get medical treatment, and my two young girls were finishing their last year of school in Utah before we were to sell the house and move away from our vital support network of family and friends. Yet given the circumstances, a touch of selfishness was just what I needed. And twentieth high school reunions only come once in a lifetime. So with assurances from both heaven and earth that my loved ones would be well taken care of in my absence, I boarded a plane for Honolulu. Near the top of my list was the task to find an Aloha shirt or two – a classy o...

We survived summer vacation. Woo! Actually, Anna had a pretty good summer. Alyssa, on the other hand, contracted a serious case of boredom. She also had the munchies like crazy, and grew over an inch since April. Woah! The girls both had end-of-summer swim parties for church, but I was only able to make it to the primary activity. I purposefully did not wear my swimsuit so as to encourage Alyssa to have some fun on her own, which she did - kind of. Actually, she just sweet talked other adults into helping her swim around. But I guess that's okay. In honor of Back To School, we bought Anna an early birthday present - a desk for her to do her homework on. She was almost happy-tears excited. This morning we had a pretty easy time of things. I've been getting up at 6:15 all summer so I can get in some outside chores and do some writing before I buckle down at the day job. Since the girls are both at schools that start on the same, later schedule, that was plenty early for Anna and ...

Alyssa turned eleven this past Monday. She wanted a "pink train" cake - but not just any pink train. She wanted Rosie, one of the Thomas engine friends. In the past, I've done some fancy run sugar cakes. This year I copped out an bought a Rosie toy and put it on top. I would hang my head in shame, but I'm over it now. Alyssa got an extra birthday toy, and I saved a couple hours of work. Plus, we made her frosting pink with guava. Yum! She got some more trains, and a some puzzles, and a Yathzee, Jr. game. It's pretty fun. Happy Birthday, Alyssa!

Sharon Rose, of WCSH TV station in Portland, Maine just did a 4 part series on chronic lyme. I must say I think it's the best news coverage I've ever seen on chronic lyme. It's accurate, informative and interesting. They interviewed 4 patients who told their stories. All sound familiar to me in one way or another. Even though each person with lyme experiences different symptoms, one lyme patient can nearly always identify another. I can identify with each of these patients in several ways. The 2nd lady they interviewed has lyme-induced chemical sensitivity. I think she did a superb job of clearly explaining how chemicals effect her. Here's the link to the stories. On the left is an article. On the right are the 4 stories. The 1st one is at the bottom. Watch from the bottom up. Each is 4-6 minutes, so not too long. http://www.wcsh6.com/news/health/story.aspx?storyid=119882&catid=273 Sam Donta, th...

Part of our busy summer is to have Alyssa take swimming lessons. Alyssa has a love/terror relationship with the water, and we'd like to try and fix that. A family across town offers lessons in their pool, and one of their options is five days of one-on-one instruction for a very good price. We signed up. Here's Alyssa with James after her first lesson. His main goal for the day was to get her to put her face in the water. Her main goal for the day was to keep her face out of the water. Same thing today. Maybe tomorrow. She is enjoying it, though, and I'm picking up some good games I can use with her to help her in the future as well.