Starting it up

The plan has always been for this to be a place where friends and family can come and get the latest information regarding our family. With that thought in mind I decided I would go ahead and get this started. If you found us on Facebook, Welcome! Read on and get a little more acquainted with us. Also if you are a longtime friend, it is nice to see you. If you are a new friend we are excited to meet you. If you are family, when can we send the boys to visit? %)

I guess the best way to get started is to go down the list and give you a little bit of what the status quo of each of us is. I will start with me and work my way down the list. Just for a head's up, this is Jeff. Lisa will be posting whenever she feels up to it, but in general I will be your tour guide.

Jeff:
I am working at Avaya as an AudioConferencing Specialist on a one-year contract. This has the possibility of going permanent and due to delays in the implementing of one of our projects, my one year clock has not started ticking, even though I have been here since October. We have struggled in recent years for me to find a stable position with a steady income and though this isn't permanent it seems to be the best place for me now. If you see me online or notice posts late at night, that is because I am working the overnight shift, from 9:45 p.m. to 6:15 a.m. this actually works out well since I am a bit of a night owl and I get to be around my family more this way. My health is fine and I have been enjoying my church quite a bit. I recently set up a Facebook account and am getting a big kick from reconnecting with old friends and getting to know better others. I also am updating a poetry blog of my work on a regular basis, http://spunthreads.blogspot.com.

Lisa:
Her health is still a big issue as it has been for the last while. It seems that her back pain gets worse by the hour with no end in sight. We have delayed having another surgery for a year now due to a blood clot that formed and blood thinners she was put on. It seems like they still want her to stay on the thinners so no surgery yet. Recently her surgeon said he would also like her to lose some weight. we are looking into the best way to do that, but it is very hard to do with her back the way it is. Her back has also put so much strain on her knees that they are giving her a lot of trouble now. This is all very hard on her. she wants to do more around the house and I know she misses work and the interaction with people. I think the highlight of her week is grocery shopping. %) Through it all she keeps a great attitude and keeps active in the house, cooking meals as she is able and taking care of the kids throughout the day. One of her most impressive accomplishments come from some work she has done online. Through her ability to hunt things down on the web she has been able to save us 50 - 70% regularly on our grocery bills. We also were able to give the boys some name brand toys for Christmas at a fraction of their retail price, sometimes for free. If you are looking for a bargain, Lisa is da man! or da WOman! or whatever...%) If you are interested in how she does it, I am sure she would love to talk to you about it.

David:
David is sailing through Kindergarten right now. He is in his last quarter, I think that is how it is divided, and he loves every minute of school. He is reading way above grade level and making lots of friends. We are very proud of him. He also is crazy about the computer, especially the Webkinz site where he does stuff with the Alley Cat we got him for Christmas. We haven't started any sports yet this year, but I am sure baseball and soccer are going to be starting soon. Other interests include Transformers Animated, Power Rangers (much to his daddy's chagrin) and Ben 10, which he has me hooked on. I know its for kids but really its cool. No REALLY it is. Ya see there is this kid that find this watch and with it he turns into these cool aliens and...umm..uhh...anyway..well, never mind. David spend a lot of time running around the house vanquishing the forces of evil. Well, the forces of evil and his little brother. He also seems to really enjoy going to big kid church, and asking me all kinds of questions that are impossible to answer. The other day he got injured and was complaining that Eve convinced Adam to eat the apple and so sin entered the world and so pain entered the world and so his scrape on his knee hurt. He was very angry with Eve. At least I know he has been paying attention.

Andrew:
Andrew spends most of his day at home with Lisa, we had to stop day care when I took this job. He still spends a lot of the day "chugging" his trains, of which Thomas the Tank Engine is the perennial favorite. His ability to string complexes sentences together amazes us daily, as does his vocabulary. "Mommy, how are you feeling? Is your heart happy? Your mind OK?" Next he will be asking us if we are satisfied with our lot in life. He is almost unfailingly polite, through no fault of mine, and can actually be defiant and polite at the same time. Of course, it is incredibly cute now, but in ten years we will be pulling our hair out over all this. Andrew loves playing games, but has a hard time remembering to keep all the pieces in one place. He also loves having us tell him stories and then trying to get us to repeat them weeks later. On night, late at night, after he had gotten up for the umpteenth time, Lisa, in her drug numbed and sleep addled state, told him some story about Thomas that she only vaguely remembers doing. Andrew asks her to repeat it on a regular basis and will correct her if she gets it wrong. Of course since no one in the family actually remembers the story he tends to get a little frustrated with us. David believes he is old enough to do anything and Andrew believes that he can make all important decisions for himself. We are trying to disavow them of these silly notions.

Well that kind of brings you up-to-date as to where we are now. As new things happen I will post to keep everyone on top of things. So it is tootle-oo for now and drop us a line. We would really like to hear from you. Oh, and if you are family, seriously, the boys would love to come visit and give their parents a break. Really, just for a couple of weeks. We could get David all his school assignments in advance. Wait! Stop running! Come back, NOW!