Please welcome…

Let's hear a warm welcome for Kathryn Anne Peck as she joins the blogging universe! I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say we are very interested in what she has to say, not to mention whether she will have time to post once school resumes in a few weeks...

Bring it on, Kari!

PAID IN FULL!!!

Yes, the title could refer many things, but those in "the Know" will relate to the feeling Amy and I had this morning when we logged on to the website for managing the loans from Amy's medical school and saw that message (minus the exclamation marks). It was quite exhilarating! In fact, I feel a song coming on...

2 Corinthians 12:8-10

"Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

I can't say it any better than that!

A funny thing happened…

You just never know how things will develop, do you? For example, when I started building this site, I was primarily wanting to learn HTML and other web-based technologies. Then I decided to get a domain and build a better site, just thinking it would be fun for family and friends to see news, photos, etc. At the time, a search for my name in Google brought up a bunch of news stories, press releases, and the like in which my father (who has the same name) was mentioned. (I did not appear in any.) Now, however, less than two years after Bredenbergs.com went online, we show up as the number one listing in Google for either my name or my wife's name, and we're 10th (still on the first page of results!) when searching for just our last name!

Ignoring for a moment that this is not a common name, and not many people actually search Google for it, let alone intentionally, it is still rewarding!

This visibility has, in turn, led to a number of visitors browsing across the site, including friends of my father (some of whom (see 4th comment), not surprisingly, think this is his site) and potentially far-flung relations from Sweden (see the comment)!

And it all started so simply.

Oh, wait, it's still pretty simple...

At any rate, if you happen across this site, whether by mistake, search engine, or some other means, please leave me a comment!

Live from my Treo!

It's been way too long since I put something new up here. It has been a strange month or so, but I won't detail all of that. I just wanted to take a minute to post an entry from my new phone/pda.

Why? Just because I can! (Even if it does take 10 times as long...)

Italy photos

Well, here goes! I'm not sure what the best way is to do this, but my first shot is just to upload all the pictures into one album. I'll give a brief description here that should help to navigate the album, but we'll be putting much more detail into a series of pages that will highlight the stops on our trip and give background and fun side notes. That is a work in progress, however, so please have patience!

By the way, the non-Bredenberg in the pictures is Betsy Agal, a good friend of ours from Amy's college days. She has gone on several trips with us in addition to medical conferences with Amy, as she is a Nurse Practitioner in Michigan.

Here is the link to our Italy photo album on Ofoto.com. The photos are arranged in chronological order, so I'll give a brief description of our trip to help make sense of all the different shots. Some photos have been graced with comments already.

(Warning: There are 141 photos in this album! While that's less than half of all the pictures we took, viewing may take a while...)

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We’re baaack!

Whew! I didn't post anything on this site before-hand, but Amy and I just got back from 2 1/2 weeks in Italy! Molto benne!

We are tired but glad to be home. Look for lots of pictures and other info soon, including an ambitious plan for an online scrap book.

Until then... ciao!

More pictures of Eowyn

Nothing here but gratuitous pictures of our horse, for any that are interested!

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Eowyn

Today (if you can call the crack of dawn day) we took delivery of our biggest pet yet!

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Zempting

No, the title is not a throwback to the Zima ads of the mid-90's where everything was pronounced with a Z. I've just found an interesting little program called Zempt for use with my site. Assuming it works, you will soon be reading this post! With minimal setup, it interfaces with the software used to manage the site and allows for easy and painless posting with a number of benefits. Instant previewing, working offline, spell-checking (!) and a very user-friendly interface are just a few features that look pretty sharp.

I give it two thumbs up! It's great! It's better than Cats! I'm going to use it again and again....

Wheaton Reunion

The trip to Nashville was a two-for-one success - what are the chances that my two good friends from college would end up living in the same town AND have new babies within 1 month of each other?! Betsy, my bosom buddy and travelling pal, and I met in Nashville to spend time with Darragh and Michelle, both former Wheaties and sisters-in-Christ.

We visited the Cheekwood Plantation and Botanical Gardens for a day, spent some time in Franklin swimming with Michelle and her 3 year-old daughter, Ansley, ate great, home-made food, watched "Sister Wendy Beckett's World of Painting" in preparation for our trip to Italy, and caught up after the 8 years since graduation. Life for both of them with kids has changed dramatically - but the change reveals their committment to raising their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Praise God for healthy, happy babies and for true, lasting friendships.

Not as many picutres as I'd planned, but enough to give a taste ...

Quick update

For those who are wondering, our A/C was fixed Monday afternoon, and by the time Amy returned from Nashville that evening, the house was down to 80 degrees for the first time since Friday! I'm hoping Amy will have time to post some photos and write a paragraph or two about her trip soon.

Heat Wave

Well, here I sit on a sofa at my father's house in Southlake, using a laptop with a wireless connection to his network, hoping my server at home does not melt before I save this entry. Just to spice things up, my two dogs are running around the house with his four trying to figure out who is going to be the boss.

What's that, you say? Why would my server melt? Well, it all started when I sent Amy off to Nashville on Wednesday to see several friends.

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Administrative Woes

A quick apology to all visitors who had trouble accessing this site (or the several others I host) today for a variety of reasons. This afternoon, my pipe to the outside world (a.k.a. the internet) was severed and stayed down for several hours. My provider seemed to be under the impression that I was imagining things, and was in no hurry to fix it, despite the fact that my telephone service operates on the same pipe, and was quite unmistakably dead!

After that, I decided to do some nice, easy, routine (is it getting ominous yet?) maintenance on the server. The tough stuff (upgrading the kernel) went just fine, but somehow I ended up "upgrading" to a package containing an Apache binary that would not stay alive for more than a few seconds. That and the fact that all CGI scripts were rendered inoperable made things a bit tricky. That took another hour just now to straighten out, and I apologize for the inconvenience. A patron (and family member) of the site called me to see if I was asleep at the wheel (my words, not his), but he happened to catch me 5 minutes before it was all back in one piece.

No further maintenance is scheduled in the near future! Then again, I wasn't planning to do this tonight...

Knobby Knees

Early Wednesday morning, some friends of ours welcomed in a new addition to their family. Amy got up at 12:30am to go see the new addition, and we went back the next evening and took a few photos. Weighing in at approximately 80 lbs. and measuring, oh, maybe 48 inches long (at a guess)...

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A Reason not to go for a Ph.D.

This article is just scary. Scary that our government could step in and classify information gleaned from unclassified sources. Scary that companies would want to squelch the knowledge rather than act on it. Scary that we're so scared of terrorists we consider taking this knowledge out of the public realm...

Read the article: Dissertation could be security threat

Mr. Laptop goes camping

Some noise, er, news is being made recently regarding an announcement by NEC regarding a fuel cell which uses methanol to power laptops. Using this fuel, laptops will be able to run up to 10 times as long as with conventional batteries, and instead of plugging it in to recharge, you can refill the cell and keep on trucking. So with a wireless connection, for example, I could sit in a hammock in my front yard and work from home all day without worrying about cords!

While this sounds really neat, my first thought actually was that no airline on the planet would allow a fuel cell with a flammable liquid in it on board, thus severely limiting the usefulness and slowing adoption. Apparently, however, the Department of Transportation has addressed this and has signed off on at least some variants of this technology because the concentration of methanol (in water) is low enough to not cause concern. Now the chief problem may be that it allows people to take their laptops camping and other places their families may wish they could not...

A day late…

The other night I caught a snippet of something on CNN that made me curious. It sounded like some organization was going to place limits on the hours worked by medical residents. I can already hear the cries of "What? How can they do that? How will hospitals survive without cheap slave-like labor?"

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Whole lotta bloggin’ going on!

This week I have been playing with several features of the software I use to maintain and publish this site. In so doing, I have been looking around to see how other people are using the software. Frankly, I'm amazed by the number of people out there and the many different types of sites they have created.

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Rice on a Roll

As mentioned in Greg's Place: Let's go Rice, "The Boys from The Institue" (as they used to say) continue to sweep through the College World Series. Just wanted to take a moment to recognize this wonderful event, and note that we beat UT for a second time, and are on to the finals!

Test Trackback

Well, today I've decided to play with a feature in MovableType called TrackBack. It is a way of continuing a conversation or discussion thread between multiple blogs.

For example...

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Alright, alright already … back off, man, I’m a scientist.

So, I'm being railroaded into doing something on this blog that is, really, quite nice without me. Doesn't surprise me, actually - I spent years as a child being teased and poked into doing things by my brothers. Given that Rollin is just another pea in the pod like them, I'll submit as a godly wife and put something so funny you'll be dying for more ... and then I'll leave you hanging ... HA HA HA! I'll have you just where I want you - and I won't even have to type.

'Course, you know, with my medical expertise and fantastic tricks with the scalpel, now I'M the one who has some clout to tease and poke and railroad ...

Honestly - I love Rollin's entries - it brings out a whole new side of him I'm enjoying getting to know. I knew he was cool - now he's WAY, ultra, superfine cool.

A word from Amy?

This Saturday, Amy and I spoke with someone in our church who had happened upon this site. They were telling us how much they enjoyed reading some of the entries, but questioned why I do all the talking/blogging, instead of sharing the podium with my wife. Of course, the answer is that if I let Amy write anything, my entries will pale in comparison, but I couldn't say that...

No really, I thought it was an excellent question. I gave Amy a meaningful look and said something along the lines of "Hey, that's a GREAT idea!" For the record, Amy has the ability to post to this site, though I'm sure a refresher course is in order. I will sit down and give her said refresher, but I thought Amy would appreciate some feedback from any visitors to this site that would like to hear from her, as encouragement to take the plunge and do the "Breden-blog" (It's all the rage!)

If you are among the many who would like to see Amy get involved in this site, please leave a comment below with some encouraging words, and I'll make sure she has every opportunity to make her opinions known here!

Search capability

As a side note for anyone who is interested (besides me!), you can now search the entries on this site using a new feature which can be found here, thanks to the developers of MovableType. If you like it, let me know. If you have problems with it, please let me know that too.

More Weekend Activities

So I already mentioned the 5k run Amy did Saturday morning. (Did I mention that Amy did a REALLY great job?)


We also went to hang out (for me that translated to taking a nap) at the Pecks' house with Josie so Josh and Beth could play with her. Josie soaked up the attention and Josh and Beth took turns holding her leash and "walking" her around the fenced in porch. When both sides were tuckered out, we took this shot.

Sunday, after church, we went to my sister's house for our neice's 5th birthday party. Much fun was had by all, and the kiddos swam and played games like there was no tomorrow. You probably can't tell from this picture, but Anna did a stupendous job decorating their backyard in a mermaid/seafaring motif with Hawaiian music in the background.

When we got home from that, I collapsed and watched the dogs play. Amy took this shot of all three dogs trying to coax me back to health! At last check, it had not fully succeeded, but they are tireless in their efforts to get me well!

Our first 5k with a twist

This morning over 750 runners gathered to participate in the Run the Ranch 5k, held on the Circle T Ranch in Westlake. My employer was one of the sponsors, and since Amy has been running quite a bit in the last 9 months or so, I started running with her and we decided to join in the fun. Unfortunately, I came down with a bug a few days ago and was not able to run, but I did go to cheer on my wife.


As I was not going to run anyway, we decided to take Josie, a three month old Boxer puppy we are taking care of this week for some friends who are in Colorado. Josie was a hit with all of the spectators, and we enjoyed seeing all the runners put in quite an effort. Amy made a very strong showing and finished all 3.1 miles in 29 minutes, which is noticeably faster than she runs when working out. (Also markedly faster than she would have run if she were running with her husband if he were well!) Both Amy and Josie were exhausted by the full morning, as you can see.


Kudos to Amy and all the folks who ran today. We'll be back next year to try to run it together!

Greg Hewlett’s site

It is with an earnest hope that I want to announce the latest family site, hewletts.org. Whether or not you know Greg and Christine Hewlett, I would ask that you visit this site and join in prayer with them. They have a tough road ahead, and need all the prayer we can offer. To quote Greg, "I know that something beautiful will come from this. And I want to declare this beauty to the world."

Happy Birthday Amy!

Amy's birthday is today, and she has caught up with me for another 10 months. Today will be lower-key than her last birthday, and certainly less hubbub than the surprise party she threw for me on my most recent birthday, but it's a special day for sure.

Happy Birthday, m'love! You get more beautiful and lovely every year!

Matrix Reviewed

Well, a number of us are getting the chance to see the Matrix Reloaded today (some even saw it last night), and I would like to carve out a bit of space here to discuss it. I will be watching it in about two hours, and will be sure to post my thoughts (sans spoilers) when I can.

Until then, anyone who has seen it is welcome to leave a comment.

(Please avoid spoilers. If I see any, I will edit them out...)

Garbage in, garbage out

Ever wondered about that theory called evolution? Rest at ease, a couple of researchers have proven it, as related in this report entitled Darwin Proved Right by Experiment with 'Alien' Life! I'll let you read the whole article for yourself, but here are a few things that jumped out at me...

"Researchers prodded and annoyed life-like digital entities over more than 15,000 generations to learn that evolution among simple creatures is in fact based on the Darwinian notion of survival of the fittest..."

"...the experiment found that complex logical ability never evolves unless simpler abilities -- foundational mutations -- are rewarded..."

Does something strike you about those statements? As a fledgling software developer, one thing I have discovered (usually to my chagrin) is that a piece of software will not do anything you have not told it to do. So I create an environment for these "virtual life forms" and turn them loose. Lo and behold, they behave much like I expected them to. Coincidence? Nah, must be proof that my expectations about life (which, by the way, could not possibly have influenced my design of the code in the first place) are spot-on, and, as the title of the article seems to indicate, I have PROVEN evolution...

But I'm being cynical. Surely the developers could not have brought their assumptions to the project?

"Scientists do not know how life on Earth evolved from simple organisms... to more complex forms like flowering plants and galloping animals."

Ah, so we don't know HOW, but apparently we do KNOW for a fact that it happened?

At any rate, this reveals an important focus of the experiment. If the scientists that wrote the software were not looking for IF, but HOW, their experiment merely provides a possible answer to HOW. The whether-or-not question stands independent of this entire article. They apparently started with the assumption that it happened and wanted to provide a somewhat feasible (insert debate here) explanation. So how exactly is "Darwin Proved Right?"

Matrix Reloaded

Looking to the upcoming weeks and days, it occurs to me I'm greatly looking forward to the release of The Matrix Reloaded. Anyone else out there with me? Amy won't watch the trailer, but I know she's looking forward to it. (As a side note, I give her a great deal of credit for having the self-restraint to resist watching it. I caved and watched it online.)

My general theory with movies like this is to set my expectations very low, and hope for nothing more than a mildly entertaining set of special effects. That was my approach with the X-Men sequel, and I was pleasantly surprised with the movie when I saw it. (Okay, that's an understatement!)

I'm finding it hard to lower my expectations for the new Matrix movie, but I have a gnawing worry that it is going to be a hollow sequel to a movie that stood very well by itself. Technically, the original Matrix left itself open to a sequel, but it didn't scream out for one, and could have lived on in film history without one. So, my question is this: Will the sequel take away from the original, or will it be good enough to make the original even better? And where is that threshold?

Insert Content Here…

I've been looking at my home page for some weeks now thinking that I should update it with a funny or timely entry (wouldn't that be a change!), but nothing has come to mind. Perhaps inspiration will strike while I type...

Nope. My life is not terribly exciting right now. Studying for a final, watching our plants grow and bloom, and just cruising from day to day in most other areas. It's not boring, but it doesn't make good copy. So I'll just sit on the sidelines for now. Maybe if anyone reads this site, they can add some comments that will spark something. Or maybe I'll jump back in when I have had time to pick up the books I want to read from my end table and dust them off after my exam...

Tiring Time Keeping

Who knew keeping time could be so exhausting? This clock makes me want to take a nap just watching!

Beware the Ides of April

You know, most years I finish the taxes and think the whole system is entirely too complex. This year, however, I have come to the conclusion that, on the contrary, the system is nearing perfection in its chaos. In fact, if many more statutes are added to the tax code, my prediction is that it will become self-aware and become the world's first Artificial Intelligence.

Several obvious objections come to mind, like the fact that the tax code is a printed document and not a computer program, but I'm convinced this is just a red herring. The tax code creates printed copies of itself to lessen the likelihood that people will catch on to what is coming. All those CPA's who study the tax code and "help" average citizens do their taxes are actually Agents of the tax code, a la Agent Smith.

Now I may have said too much. I think a van load of CPA's just pulled up out front! If you don't hear from me again, don't believe the lies they will propogate about tax evasion.

Alas, the Tax Man Cometh...

Birthday Pictures

Here are a few pictures from the surprise party Amy arranged for me. They don't do it justice, but I guess photos rarely do...

Reunion in Huntsville

Two weeks ago, Amy and I drove to Huntsville to get together with a goup of friends from my days with Campus Crusade while I was at Rice. I alluded to having photos to put online in a previous post, and here they are!

In addition to the Ofoto albumn, there are two group photos provided that you can download in high-resolution. There is a smaller copy of each (800x600) provided (First picture, Second picture), or you can go straight for the originals in all 4-Megapixels (2272x1704) if you don't mind downloading approximately 1.5 MB for each picture (First picture, Second picture).

The Man Who Was Thursday

Some of you (yes, you in the back...) may have noticed I added a new section to the side bar of this site recently tracking the books Amy and I are reading or have read recently. I was updating this with a book I finished last night when it occurred to me that I wanted to take a moment and draw attention to it. The book is The Man Who Was Thursday, by G. K. Chesterton.

I received this book for my birthday and was intrigued enough to pick it up Tuesday night and start it. I got hooked enough that I finished it last night (please note that it is only 180 pages long). I highly recommend this book to just about anyone. Set in the early 1900's, the hero of the story is a philosopher and poet turned member of a secretive police force whose purpose it is to investigate and stop an equally secretive group that is bent on the destruction of humanity. Without going into any spoiling detail, this was a thoroughly enjoyable book that oscillated between being seemingly predictable and genuinely nightmarish. It's a short read, and the ending is just bizarre and sublime enough to leave a lasting impact. Feel free to borrow my copy! (Shipping and handling not included...)

Boy Meets Sidewalk

I have a great wife.

She bought me a mountain bike for my birthday.

I picked it up Monday after work.

I then proceeded to ride it.

I rode quite quickly.

Then I needed to stop to avoid hitting something, so I squeezed the brakes.

I squeezed the brakes quite firmly.

The bike stopped.

I did not.

At least not until the sidewalk made me.

Actually it was a combination of the sidewalk and my chin.

They both receive credit.

I received six stitches, lovingly delivered by my wife, also known as Dr. Bredenberg.

I have a great wife.

Surprise!

For those of you who don't know, Monday was my birthday. My sneaky (but altogether lovely) wife, Amy, planned a surprise birthday party to help me usher in the new decade. She did a fantastic job, and kept me completely in the dark! I've never been the subject of a surprise party before, but this one will go down in the history books. There were about 35 friends and family members hiding in the living room at my parents' house when we arrived!

I must say, it was a great birthday in every way. Amy gets full credit for the best birthday party I've ever had! Another mark of the greatness of this birthday is that I have my work cut out for me to read all of the great books I was given (including Winston Churchill's "History of the English-Speaking People", which I've already started!)

I'll post some pictures soon, along with pictures from our weekend trip to a get-together of friends in Huntsville.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful…

... but our Duraflame is quite delightful,
so since we've lots of food to eat,
let it sleet, let it sleet, let it sleet!

Who said winter was over in Dallas? Certainly not the One who makes those decisions, at any rate! I praise God for a warm house and a few good books to read, and pray for those seeking shelter from this weather.

Click on the thumbnail above for a view of our front porch!

Doggie Dental?

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has taken his or her dog to the veterinarian's office to have their teeth cleaned. I'm probably also not alone in scratching my head wondering if this isn't some sort of practical joke being played on dog owners. I kept looking for the hidden cameras and waiting for some slick Hollywood personality to jump out and announce that I'd been fooled into paying good money for someone to clean my dog's teeth.

Having said that, if you had smelled my dog's breath recently, you, like I, might have been willing to take that risk in hopes of any improvement. Now I sit here, hoping to hear from the vet's office that she is recovering from the anaesthesia, and wondering if I couldn't simply have laced her food with Arm & Hammer...

Blog more!

As a friend of mine said recently, "...get to work! Blog more!"

Some people go for the QUANTITY aspect of blogging, while others go for QUALITY. I myself fall into neither camp, and prefer sporadic, meaningless entries, but that's beside the point. I'm going to BLOG MORE!

So, can I tell you about how I spent my Saturday morning setting up a CUPS server on my Linux box so I can print to either of my printers from any of our computers, especially my work laptop, without having to transfer files over? Or, how about getting the latest issue of Linux Journal which, by the way, is focused this month on blogging and other online fora. I would link to the specific story that talks about setting up a blog and mentions MovableType, but you have to be a subscriber to get to that part of their website, so it wouldn't do much good. I do recommend perusing a copy if you find yourself in the presence of a news stand or bookstore, though.

I could also detail how I've been spending time on another web-related project, but it is top secret until we can announce it publicly, so I'd better not. Granted, I had hoped to have the site up and live long ago, but there's only so much progress you can make when you're working in spare time.

In other news, I'm finally taking my last undergraduate class at UNT that is required prior to starting the Masters program. I'm supposed to meet with an advisor this week and discuss the options. I have to admit that taking one class at a time really makes this a long haul, but with the encouragement of my wife, I am staying on target so far.

I suppose I should stop now, or I'll run out of things to talk about, and I need to be able to post again soon, lest I be chided again for not blogging more!

Things to look for next time:

• an update on how our dogs are healing after getting into a fracas over a bone
• pictures of my wife's office (finally), and
• a discussion of the complexity involved in determining the boiling point of a duck!

Getting my desk back!

Recently, I was working on the computer and I heard a loud POP and my monitor went dead. Being the technological genius that I am, I knew immediately that this was not normal behavior. (I know, I know, I amaze myself sometimes.) I got the image to come back eventually, but about half the desktop was permanently blurry, no matter what I did to resolve the issue. After a few weeks of getting headaches when reading, or moving windows to the edge of the desktop to the remaining "clear" area, Amy and I decided we had to replace the monitor.

Given the current state of technology in which we live, I suggested looking at flat panel monitors. Amy readily agreed. To leave out all the gory details, I ended up finding several on eBay that got good reviews but were at prices that made it a short stretch from a traditional CRT to Flat Panel.

The immediate result was the stress of trying to win something on eBay, but eventually this produced the fruit reflected in the pictures I'm about to show you. The first picture is a shot of our computer desk with the dying monitor. Notice the lack of anything that can really be called desk space.

The second, however, is the same desk with the new flat panel display. Notice the healthy 15" of room to sit and actually do something at this desk!

The lesson from all of this, obviously, is that I should not have waited so long to pour coffee on the monitor. Er, did I just say that?

Seriously, Amy and I have a love-hate relationship with technology in that when you buy something new, you frequently find yourself needing to buy other parts and components to be able to use the features of the original purchase. We would have preferred not to spend the money, but given that that was not a viable option, I must say we're both very pleased with how things worked out!

Victorious at last!

Perhaps it is inevitable in the course of human events that everyone who plays Risk will, at some point, win. Having gotten that bit of humility out of the way...

I AM SKELETOR, PAY ME HOMAGE!!!

Okay, okay, I'm not that pumped up, but it was a pretty good feeling to watch my armies march to victory over my opponents Saturday at our quarterly Game Day. It was, as you may have guessed, the first time I have won a game of Risk. It was a fun and new feeling just to be in the game and not watching from the sidelines as the game progressed. When it came down to the endgame, however, it was awesome! All who stood in my way scattered before the gathered might of my military hordes, and my iron fist smashed their strongholds to dust!

For those of you who missed it, be glad you were spared the carnage! Prepare yourselves well for our next outing, however, as my campaign continues to build steam! Do not misunderestimate me!

Picture is worth a thousand… hours?

I realize I have not added any entries to this site in almost a month. Without making any lame excuses, I will say I have finally started the process of uploading Christmas photos! While I still have a bunch of repeats to comb through and weed out (courtesy of the two other digital cameras present on Christmas Day), there are a few dozen ready to be viewed on Ofoto. I will try to get the rest up soon.

Amy and I have had a great start of the year, considering the wildly fluctuating weather we've had. We've enjoyed watching it snow while sitting by a fire, we've enjoyed rollerblading in the park with our dogs in short sleeves, and everything in between, usually within a few days of each other! One Saturday we even flew to Ardmore, OK, for a quick hamburger and excuse to get up in the air. We've been doing so much, in fact, I haven't stopped to write anything down here!

In the meantime, I have been working off and on (more of the former than the latter) on setting up a new server so I can retire the eight year old computer currently hosting this site. In fact, if you are viewing this at present, it is more than likely on the new(er) box. Please forgive any glitches while I experiment with the latest version of Apache and try to iron out the bugs (I'm probably not the only one to notice some slow response times...).

At any rate, we hope you all continue to have patience with us as we work to get our Christmas photos online and get back into a routine of "blogging".