End of February Randomness

- Sara and I were talking this morning, wouldn't it suck to be born on Feb. 29th? You could only celebrate your true birthday once every four years. The rest of the time you have to decide if you'll celebrate it on Feb. 28th, or March 1st.

- Speaking of Leap Day..when did it become such a big deal? I've heard people talking about it at work today, and one lady even brought in a cake to celebrate the occasion.

- I was reading in the news the other day that Starbucks closed all of their stores for a few hours to re-educate their employees on the "Starbucks experience" in an effort to boost morale, and get them back to help make each customers visit feel special. Personally to me, it sounded more like it was a ploy to get a bunch of free publicity and advertising, because that night on every news show I watched, this was one of the top stories. Like they taught in all of my marketing classes in college - the best publicity = free publicity. I'll still take a Dunkin Donuts coffee over Starbucks anytime.

- Mmm coffee. I'm addicted. I forgot to set the maker to brew some this morning, and as a result, didn't have my cup this morning. By 11:00 I was having withdrawal symptoms as I started to get a headache. Thankfully we have free cans of Coke at work, and that helped ease my lack of caffeine.

- Blake has baseball tryouts tomorrow. He's playing in a different league than he has in the past 2 years. My questions is, since when do they have tryouts for the 7-8year old players? Actually they aren't tryouts, but more "talent evaluations" so the coaches can see the skill level of every player, so they can target who they want to draft pick for their teams. I can see having tryouts/evaluations for the league where the kids actually play to win their league and play in tournaments, but to have that in a league where they're still getting pitched to by a pitching machine..what's the point? It should be interesting. I hope the parents in this league are as laid back as the ones in the other league that Blake played in.

- Spring training games have finally started, and it looks like the Tigers have been doing good so far. I can't wait to get the regular season started. In July, the 4 of us are going up to Baltimore to see the Tigers play the Orioles. I can't wait..I get to see my favorite team in one of my favorite places to watch a baseball game. It'll be Blake's first time going to a pro game (well other than the Richmond Braves), and it'll be Tuckers first games as well. I hope he'll have as much fun as a 8 month old could possibly have.

- I can't get into American Idol this year. I've tried to watch a couple episodes, and I end up turning to something else. Maybe I'll try once they get to the Final 12, but right now I've been completely bored with it.

- Its supposed to be nice out this weekend (50's and 60's). Can't wait to hang out on our patio, and cook on my new grill. I'm for spring to get here and for the weather will be warm on a consistant basis. I want to be able to wear shorts all the time.

- I came across this commercial the other day that wasn't allowed to be shown during the Super Bowl. Funny stuff! (Bathroom humor will never get old to me)

Pictures

This weekend the weather here in Charlottesville was unseasonably warm. On Saturday while Blake was at a birthday party, Sara, Tucker and myself went to Babies R Us to look at some stuff for Tucker. We walked out with a Jeep stroller for the little guy. Yesterday, with the temperatures in the 60, and the sun out, we decided to take Tucker out for a little trip in his stroller. The four of us walked down to Blake's school and hung out at the playground. Tucker seemed to enjoy being outside (it was the longest he'd been outside), and riding in his stroller. It had to believe that Tucker is almost 3 months old already. Here are some pictures..

Tucker in his new stroller:


Blake and Tucker getting ready to leave the house:


Sara and Tucker chilling out:


Blake and Sara swinging:


Me and Tucker trying to swing:


Blake swinging:


Me and Tucker hanging out:


Me and Tucker trying to go down the slide:


Blake, Sara, and Tucker posing for a picture:


Tucker trying his hand on one of the rides on the playground:

Craaaash

Everynow and then I check out the online version of Eastern's online newspaper, just to see what scandal is currently brewing around the campus. Today was one of those days, and to my surprise, the leading story involved the first apartment complex I ever lived in.

Out-of-control car slams into apartment
Driver, residents unharmed; vehicle lost traction on ice

By James Cavanaugh / Staff Writer
MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 2008

Several Ypsilanti residents were surprised by a large boom Saturday evening when a woman driving a beige Chevrolet Cobalt crashed into an unoccupied ground-level apartment in the Brickhaven complex at the corner of Washtenaw and Ballard.

The woman, who was conscious when removed from the scene, appeared uninjured when taken from her car on a gurney by paramedics. The Ypsilanti fire department declined to release the woman's name. No one was in the apartment at the time of the crash and no one else was injured.

According to Ypsilanti fire department Lieutenant Max Anthouard, the woman lost control of her car in the snow while traveling east on Washtenaw Avenue, drove approximately 40 feet across the lawn and crashed through a sliding glass door.

Anthouard also stated that alcohol was not involved.

Eugene Holst, a third floor resident of the complex, was the first person to find the woman and her car — sitting in the apartment.

"I was upstairs working on my computer and there was a large noise," said Holst. "I saw the tracks in the snow and thought it wasn't a good thing."

"She looked shaken up," said Holst. "But she appeared to be OK."

According to Holst, the first thing he did was calm the woman down and then had fellow Brickhaven resident Anita Hargrove call 911.

Hargrove was taking out her trash when the crash occurred.

"I've never seen anything like this in my life," said Hargrove.

Several residents of the complex and surrounding apartments noted hearing the crash, but at first weren't sure what happened.

"At first, I thought somebody was moving a couch and it fell down," said Karen McAdoo, who lives in the apartment complex next to Brickhaven.

EMU technology studies graduate student David Gladding was in his house, two doors down, when the crash occurred.

"I heard something while I was watching T.V.," said Gladding. "I heard the fire engines and was worried my house was on fire."

"It shook the building," said Lisa Hampton, who lives at the Brickhaven complex.

There was no major structural damage according to Lt. Anthouard, but the crash did damage a hot water line that may affect the heating system in the building.

Immediately following the crash, firefighters on the scene advised occupants of the apartment directly above to stay off their balcony. However, according to Anthouard, "the building inspector [later] came and said everything was fine."

I didn't think that Brickhaven could get anymore ghetto than it was the last time I drove by there 4 years ago...I guess I was wrong.

Are you kidding me!?

So I get a daily email from a website called Uncrate whichs finds cool stuff for guys on the Internet, and lists the coolest of the cool in an email. When I got my update from yesterday, this was listed. At first I thought it was an error, and that a product for women mistakenly was listed, but after reading the discription, it is in fact for men.

This brings two questions to mind:

1) Seriously, there are men who would actually use this?
2) There's a big enough market for this product?

Yikes

Dreaming of Baseball Season

Randomness

- Tucker turned 2 months old earlier this week. When I think back to the day he was born, it really doesn't seem like its been 2 months already. In the same hand, it seems like he's been around a lot longer than that. I'm sure this probably doesn't make sense to anyone other than myself. Its been amazing to see how fast he's growing.

- Over the last week and a half I've really seen a change in him. He seems to have found his voice over this time, and really likes to be heard around the house. In the same time he's figured out where his mouth is, and how to get his hand in it, with relative ease now. He also has started forming opinions about things. When feeding him, he does not like to have the bottle taken away from him, nor does he liked to be burped. If you try to do either of these things, he'll voice his displeasure and won't stop until he's got the bottle back. If you try to burp him, he'll pull away from you, and try to break free to get back to the bottle. It's been pretty amazing and fun to see him develop so far.

- Blake's 8th birthday was this past Saturday. For his birthday he wanted us to go roller-skating. After his basketball practice we went over to Staunton to a roller-rink that he went to a few times over the summer with his day camp. Overall I did ok. I started with roller-blades, but after a few times around the rink, I had to switch to roller-skates because my achilles tendons felt like they were going to explode. I didn't fall down once, nor did I run over anyone either. It had been at least 15-18 years since I last roller-skated. It had also been at least 7 or 8 years since I last used roller-blades, and that was when I was run-over by a girl on a 10-speed at Gallup Park back in Ann Arbor. I'm sure that Derek and Mike can still fondly remember that instance..

- You know you're getting old when you can type about something that happened in the past, and say that it happened 15-18 years ago....

- We've had some crazy weather over the past week or so. The past couple days it was in the 70's and sunny. Today, its in the low 40's and rainy. Tomorrow its supposed to be back up in the 60's. The warm weather over the past few days got me thinking of spring and baseball. Spring Training is only like 5 weeks away!

- I love election years. I love watching the whole election process play out, and listen to all the pundits make their guesses, and see who is right and who is wrong. I'm still trying to figure out who I'd vote for. Right now I'm in a toss-up for Obama or Edwards, leaning towards Obama. After 8 years of having the Bush Criminals run the country, I will have a hard time voting for a Republican. The only Republican I would vote for would be McCain, but that would only happen if he were to go up against Hillary Clinton. This country definately needs a new direction, and I think main way to take a new direction is to not have a Presidental string that goes Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton. Obama just seems to have something about him that makes me think that things can indeed be better, and that he's the one that could pull it off. It would be nice to vote for a candidate that I really believed in on election day, rather than going into the voting booth, trying to pick the lesser of 2 evils, as I have the past couple of elections (which unfortunately backfired since the evil one was the one I voted for and who won.)

- While listening to the radio one night last week while driving up to the store, I came across a band called The Kooks, and the song "She Moves in Her Own Way". Very catchy, and the rest of the album is pretty cool too.

Like Father, Like Son

Poor kid. 8 weeks old, and he's already starting to experience the hairloss that runs on the Webb side of the family.

Randomness

- Sara and I were talking at lunch, and realized that there's basically one week until we're in Full-On Christmas mode. Next Saturday is the Christmas party at our place with my sister-in-law's family, and the in-laws. It'll be a fun time, especially with all 6 kids together.

- We're supposed to get our first taste of nasty winter weather starting tomorrow afternoon. Just what exactly we're going to be getting, is still up for debate. It seems like we're always on the border of either getting a mix of rain/snow or just rain. As much as I hate winter, and cold weather, I kind of wish we were getting hit with a bunch of snow. It makes things easier when it happens on the weekend. We'll probably end up with nothing when its all said and done. Sara and I were supposed to go see the Bob Schneider show in town tomorrow night, but the threat of bad weather had us decide against it..so far.

- Sara and I got tickets to see Bruce Springsteen here in Charlottesville at the end of April. I'm not a huge fan, I know a lot of his stuff, but I hear his live shows are legendary. He's one of those people that I've always wanted to see live. It sucks that the show is so far away. I still really want to see Van Halen when they come here in February. Now hopefully Led Zeppelin will decide to tour this summer. The only thing bigger for me than seeing Led Zeppelin, would be to see the Beatles..and well, that's just impossible.

- I had been doing pretty well with the baseball withdrawls so far this year. Having Tucker around, I haven't paid much attention to sports lately. After the big trade for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis last week however, I'm really getting the itch for baseball season. At least Spring Training is only at most, 2 months away..but who's counting?

- Speaking of baseball, the steroid report came out yesterday. I'm neither all that surprised, nor do I really care. Can't we all just agree that from the late 1980s until the early 2000's should just be called the "Steroid Era" of baseball. I really don't think anyone caught doing the drugs prior to the testing policy that was implemented a few years ago, should be punished. Baseball knew it was going on, and they turned a blind eye to it, because it was bringing back popularity to the sport. At least it gave something for ESPN to O.D. about once again.

- R.I.P. Fleetie (a.k.a. Crackwhore). You were a good, but crazy dog to Kristen.

Pictures

So it's been awhile since I've last posted. I've had a brain fart for the most part, and I've been busy at work, and when I get home I've been hanging out with Tucker and the family. Here's some pictures of Tucker, taken over the past few weeks.

First snowfall:
We had our first snowfall last Wednesday, which turned out to be a light dusting for the most part. When I went home for lunch (a perk of living only 4 minutes from the office), Sara and I took Tucker out to see what he thought of the snow.

Tucker in his snowsuit:


Tucker and Sara outside:









Back in the warmth of the house, laying on his favorite sofa:



On December 1st, we went took Tucker and Blake to Richmond to see Santa. Before we left, Sara put him in a reindeer outfit she got just for this occassion. Unfortunately, Tucker wasn't a big fan of it:



Blake and Tucker with Santa. Tucker was more interested in his thumb:



Blake telling Santa about the iPod he wants. Tucker still interested in his thumb:



Tucker finally deciding to check out Santa, only to see the inside of his hood:



After seeing Santa, shopping at Kohl's, and eating some BBQ in Richmond, we went to look at 2 houses that are all decked out in Christmas lights. Words can't describe how many lights are on these houses. Take a look:









This house has a huge tree in the front yard, which is completely covered in lights:


We went to Virginia Beach this past weekend for a quick get-away and to see the Christmas light display on the boardwalk. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to download the pictures off my camera...yet.

And then there were four!

So its been exactly a week since Tucker was born. I've been meaning to post something about it, but haven't really had a chance. Overall it has been a very surreal experience. From the time we found out last Tuesday (Nov. 6th) that the doctor wanted to induce Sara the next day, everything was sort of a whirlwind. We were up by 6AM on Wednesday (the 7th), at the hospital by 7:30, and Sara was given the induction medicine by 8:30. Sara's doctor (Dr. Blommel, who ROCKS!) told her that she had to run to her office but would be back by Noon to give her another dose of the medicine, since usually more than one dose is required, and it takes a bit for it to kick in.

By 9:30, Sara was already experiencing strong contractions that were 7 mins apart, and it stayed that way for over an hour, until they started to get closer and closer. By noon, I was down to the nurses station requesting some pain meds for Sara. They gave her an epidural around 1:00, and it was soon after that that she was fully dialated. Around 2:00 the nurse was checking her, and found out that Tucker was on his way. After having Sara push through some of her contractions, the nurse had to make her stop so she could get the doctor back in the room. Things were already moving pretty quickly, and when the doctor and 3 other nurses came in, it then really started moving. Trying to not get in anyones way, I stepped back to let them all do what they needed to do, when the doctor instructed me to stand at the end of the bed, and let Sara put her right leg up on my shoulder. My mother-in-law always told me that she highly recommended to not look while Tucker was coming out, and I really didn't know if I wanted to see it all or not, but now I had no choice. After a few pushes Dr. Blommel stopped everyone, and made everyone appreciate the fact that with all the pushing Sara was doing, and the pain she was in, Sara still hadn't smeared her make-up. Pushing then resumed and a head soon popped out, followed by an arm, and then the rest of Tucker. I was so fascinated by it all (and trying to figure out the logistics of how that fit in there the past 9 months, and then came out of there) that after Tucker was born Dr. Blommel was posing with Tucker, waiting for me to take pictures, but I was just staring in amazement and she had to tell me to get the camera. The doctor and nurses were great with letting me get in and take some pictures. After the quick photo session, I was able to finally check him out in fine detail with Sara. It was amazing to finally get to meet the little guy who had been kicking and moving all around the inside of Sara the past 9 months.

We finally all came home and were able to start our life as a family on Friday afternoon. Its been awesome. Sure, I don't get to sleep through an entire night uninterrupted anymore, and now when we want to make a quick run to the store, it means we have someone else that we have to get ready, but it really hasn't been a problem. I'm sure its easy for me to say that now, as I am off work until after Thanksgiving, and really don't have to live back in "the real world" yet. Its ok, I'll learn to adapt. If I wasn't willing to adapt, make adjustments to my lifestyle, and make the other sacrifices that I don't even realize that I'll have to make yet, I wouldn't have signed up for this thing called "parenthood".

Its been great being off work and staying home with Sara and helping out with everything. It has given me a great opportunity to get to know Tucker, and play with him (when he isn't sleeping). I've had numerous people tell me that once you have a kid, time goes by even quicker than it already does. I'm trying to remember that, and take every minute in. Hopefully Tucker's second week will go by a lot slower than his first one did.

Here's a few pictures of my new buddy:

Taking a nap on his first night.


Uncle Aadam doing the Heisman pose, using Tucker as a prop.


The two of us having a moment.


Posing in his Tigers hat that Uncle Dock got him (you can't start being a fan too early).

I also want to say congratulations to my good friends Joe and Lori, on the birth of their first kid, Quin, who was born early on Monday morning. I've known Joe since the first day of Kindergarten, and we were exactly 2 months apart in age, now we both have sons who are just 5 days apart. Its funny how it works out.