Columbus Trip

Here are some pictures from the trip. ( Thanks to my sisters for alot of these )


Clark and I



Peter and Kevin getting their fill of German Sausages

Teaching Clark, Colin, and Peter how to play chess... yess....



Awesome shirt



Go cougs!!



Attention stealer



Matching glowies!!!



Discussing important schtuff



The grandparents with the grandkids



After the blessing on Sunday



Clark taking a nap

Ohio Trip

So a few weekends ago I took a trip to Ohio for my nephews baby blessing. It has taken a few weeks to get some pictures of it up (thanks Marilee and Melissa) hence I am adding it on here two weeks post trip.
Let me say just one thing about the flight over to Columbus. I have never been on a plane so small, or so old. It had a propeller on each side and looked like a duck. I thought someone was going to come out and pull down on the propeller to get it started. Anywho, I had a layover in New York and since I had never been to the city it was fun to see. (I was probly the only one who enjoyed the layover)
Columbus was great especially since back in DC there was a huge storm and rainy the whole weekend. Both the Cougs and the Buckeyes won that weekend so it was an especially good weekend.
It was so good to see those who were able to make it out there for the blessing and to hold and play with Clark, Colin, and Megan. Kevin did a great Job with the blessing and the experience just reminded me of the newness of life. Here is a little baby just starting out on his journey through life. So many exciting adventures and experiences awaiting him. And to think that we all began the same way and are on the same path learning and growing.
I wish I could have stayed longer but alas, work was calling my name early Monday morning.

my sweet ride

These were taken after camping out Friday night and attending an all day exercise seminar for work, hence the red eyes and tired look.

Kias and Corollas

We had just left the Chantilly IMAX from watching the latest batman movie and were heading out to the parking lot. We said goodnight to our friends, and those who had rode with me climbed in my Kia. I turn the key and nothing happened. I turn it again. Nothing. Hmmm. It was 10:30 and we had a ways to go home. So what do you do in that situation? Well, I did what any man would do, whether he knew what he was looking at or not, and opened the hood. After looking around and prodding different cables and making sure the ferrets were in their cages, we decided to try to jump it. Nada. I won't bore you but in the next 3 and 1/2 hours we waited for the tow truck, played some ultimate frisbee in the Air and Space museum parking lot, waited for the tow truck, got in trouble from the security guard for playing frisbee in the parking lot, waited for the tow truck some more, and then waited a little bit more. Anywho, I got home around 2am thanks to the kindness of a friend who took us all home after the tow truck came.
Original thoughts were that the problem might be the starter motor. But it started right up for the mechanic. And every time for the week it was in the shop it would start fine. So they did a "some needed work" on it and I was off again. A few days later I get in the car to go to institute and with a slight supination of the wrist, nothing. :( It was weird because if it sat long enough it would start up after a few days or a week.
After spending quite a few pennies in repairs that seemed to be more and more frequent I decided that it was time to get rid of Panzer(my Kia. see picture above) It was a sad day but Panzer was eating more than I do and taking more trips to the doctors office than I could afford.
Thus began the adventurous car search that led me to a Nissan dealership last Wednesday night and driving home in a new Toyota corolla!! (see pictures below, no name yet, suggestions welcome)
So lets just say that this has been a good learning experience. I'd say the biggest thing I learned was about doing your homework. "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear" Car salespeople can be very VERY ferretish and sly. And one must be about his own ferretishness otherwise he could get ferreted big time. I was worried I wouldn't know what to say or feel overwhelmed. But the first time I sat down and we started talking about a car I test drove, it was clear to me that I had done enough prep and so talking and negotiating with them wasn't scary at all. It was frustrating at times, but I was ready.
So let me tell you a little bit about my car. It's an '08 Corolla with only 4k miles on it! hohoho! Practically a new car for a used car price. ;) It has good pickup when merging on to these crazy freeways and best of all, it starts every time. :) (a ray of sun shines down on the car and a heavenly choir begins to sing...)