For Squirrel and Erin

It's been requested that we make an update regarding our living situation, so here goes. In late March, we put a bid on a house in a different part of town, one that's newer and a bit more family friendly. Our purchase of this house, however, was contingent upon the sale of our old home.

We put our old house on the market in late March. Within in one week of being on the market, it was sold. We closed on our new house on April 20th. We moved into that house on April 21st, when Michelle was 40 weeks pregnant. We closed on our old house on April 27th. Michelle was still pregnant then.

Our new house is approximately double the size of our old house. It's got three bedrooms, two and a half baths, a first level family room, a formal dining room (which we're using as a toy room and will turn into a sitting room some day), a huge kitchen, a finished basement with rec room, two car garage, a huge backyard, and a small storage shed in the yard. So far, everyone loves the house. There's a place for Luka to play; there's a place for Michelle to cook; there's potential for Chris to have his dream game room; there's a place for Bernard to poop freely.

We don't have any pictures, so we'll have to take a few soon and post them.

For the love of Foo Fighters

Adjusting to a new baby is hard stuff., much harder than I thought it would be. The first full day home was spent crying and crying, lamenting the life we had before C arrived. It's not that I didn't want her; it's just that over the span of 22 months, I had forgotten what it was like to deal with a new human being.

I've decided that some people in this life are newborn people, some are toddler people, some are older child people. I am most decidedly not a newborn person. I love the stage that Luka is at-- inquisitive, learning new things, silly, but then again, that could be a reflection of loving Luka so much.

Some days are easier and some days are harder with C. She's a great sleeper when you can get her to sleep. She's a champion eater as evidenced by her weight gain. She loves baths and didn't cry at all when we gave her the first real bath of her life last night. BUT... she won't sleep in her own crib. That makes me insane. I want to cuddle up with Chris for one long night of unadultrated sleep, one night where there isn't a child glued to my chest. Is that so much to ask?

I know with all of this bitching will come the realization that this newborn baby stage will be over in a flash, and I'll find myself saying, "Where did my little girl go?" Until then, I will continue to wish for sleep and way to understand this wriggling baby that Chris and I made.

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On Saturday night, Chris and I went to probably the nicest wedding reception we've ever been to in our time together. Our friends, Joe and Becky, got married and threw one cool party. I loved the reception because it was so relaxed. We had fun just mingling among our friends. I was a little self-conscious about being 12 days post-partum and looking frumpy as hell, but that soon melted away with good food, good friends, and good conversation. I even had a few sips of white wine!

We left the chilluns with Papa T, and by all accounts, that went well. Thank God. I'm glad we didn't have to cart them along, because we would have had to leave before we even got to eat.

Ah... weddings....

Home buying 101, Flores style

Today Michelle and I officially had our offer on this house accepted. It's not a done deal, it is contingent on us selling our house, and the sellers can still take offers, but we have right of refusal if we drop the "selling our house" contingency. Basically, this house is ours if we really want it.

Now you may be saying to yourself, "but Chris, I don't know you guys were even looking for a new house." To which I would respond, neither did I. Pretty much it went down like this, paraphrased the short attention spans of the YouTube generation.

---------------- Home buying 101, Flores style --------------------

M: There's an open house today, want to go to it?
C: Sure.
---------------- After attending open house --------------------
M: I really liked it.
C: Me too, do you think we should buy it?
M: I want to.
C: Me too.
C: Let's run the numbers and see how they come out.
---------------- After running the numbers --------------------
C: I think the numbers work out.
M: Really?
C: Yep. I'll call the realtor.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

So there's that. And there's this new baby thing coming up*. Plus, it's demo time at work which means long work weeks for me. Needless to say, we know how to shake shit up. Official shit shakers of Cedar Rapids. Say that five times fast.

Factoid: The Cookie Mintster at Coldstone with an addition of caramel syrup is heaven on earth.

* Note to self: Stop making the "what are you now....deuce, deuce and a half" jokes to Michelle, I don't think she enjoys them as much as I do.

Sleep to dream...

I think I can safely speak for both Chris and myself, though I really feel like this applies more to me: I have seriously wondered, in the past three days, what it would be like to go to sleep and not wake up for several days. I am so tired at the end of each school day that all I can think about is seeing Luka, seeing Chris, and going to bed. Food is optional.

PS3 vs Wii

"I like go-karts, vroom-vroom!"

Google Earth

I decided to play around with Google Earth a bit tonight. So I made place marks for all the places I have ever lived. It's incomplete and basic, but an entertaining start to say the least. To view what I have done, download and install Google Earth, then open up the help and read about how to add a network link. The path to add to the link line is this:

http://home.mchsi.com/~caflores22/PlacesChrisHasLived.kmz

Check it out if you get a chance. I'll keep playing, this could be fun.

Stayin' alive

Yep, we're still here, just being bums recently. Added a link to my Mom's new blog, because she was unable to bend the Internet to her will and make it work for her old blog. Personally, if I could bend the Internet to my will I am not sure if I would use it for good or evil, I suppose we could ask Google, the current undisputed Internet overlord, what their philosophy is on that.

Factoid #1: The name Genghis Khan is apparently a gross mistranslation of the dudes real name. His real name in Chinggis Khan (like Chingy, the rapper).

Factoid #2: In Mongolia, horses outnumber people 13 to 1.

Factoid #3: Mongolian horse are shorter (12 to 13 hands) than European horses (16 hands).

Played Wii for the first time on Sunday. Needless to say, it was fun, and I am pretty sure that even my Mom could play it.

What if?

Hypothetically speaking, what if you went to see your buddies gig at a bar in Iowa City, only you took your brother-in-law with you and by the end of the night your brother-in-law says, "Hey, I'm going to get a ride back with her [ed. her being the alien head wearing belly dancer for your buddies band who also happens to work at the same company you do]." What if you knew your brother-in-law and sister-in-law were having issues? What if you wish you really just didn't know as much about those issues as you actually do know? What if you weren't really sure which side to take or who is in the right? What if you discover that you have totally misread somebody?

This shit is weird yo, hypothetically speaking.

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Speaking of what if's, what if someone you knew from back in the day was trying to make it as a rapper and you kind of enjoyed their stuff? Then I think I am obligated under R. Murdoch Myspace Act of 2004 [US House #2456-9, article 2] to present Fire Drill aka Gabe Phillips from back in the day.

Life imitates art, or is it the other way around?

I'll admit it, my current #1 favorite show on TV is not South Park, is not Lost, it's not Dancing with Emmit Smith, and it's not Man vs Wild or Survivorman (although those two are quickly climbing the charts). Nope, my #1 favorite show at the moment is "The Wire" on HBO. If you haven't seen it then you have no idea what you are missing and I can't really take the time to talk about it here. For more information see this wonderful running commentary (currently twenty-six entries and counting) on Slate and check out HBO's web site. Or check your On Demand if it is available to you and start catching up. You won't regret it.

The current season of the show revolves around the lives of four middle school aged boys. Each boy comes from similar circumstances and much of the season has been spent examining the events that cause good people to become bad, bad people to become good, and what happens when seemingly insignificant decisions lead to bad things for everyone. For instance, one of the boys, Randy, begins the season as a cheerful outgoing type with an entrepreneurial spirit. He hustles candy bars to classmates at school and is always eager to make a buck. At one point a local drug dealer (Little Kevin) pays Randy to pass a message to a fellow drug dealer (Lex) to meet a girl at a local park. Unbeknownst to Randy, the message is a setup and Lex is subsequently murdered.

After getting caught with his hand out once again, this time being paid to stand lookout while three students have sex in the restroom in school, Randy gets caught in the net when the initially willing girl alleges rape and upon threats of criminal charges or expulsion Randy confesses to the school principal that he knows about Lex's murder. Randy's teacher, Mr Prez (a former police officer) gets Randy to talk with the police by contacting a detective that he trusts (Detective Carver) and having Carver promise that he will keep Randy's involvement quiet and keep Randy safe. When Carver gets other, less diligent, officers involved word gets out on the street that Randy is a snitch. Eventually Randy is beaten on the street in front of the school and police watch is stationed in front of Randy's house waiting for the whole issue to blow over while Randy stays at home and away from school. After the police watch on Randy's house is called away by a false call to dispatch, Randy's house is firebombed and in the last scene we of the most recent episode we see that Randy's foster mom is in the burn unit at the hospital and that Randy is in the waiting room alone. Detective Carver shows up (after many promises to keep Randy safe, all of which have failed) and what at the beginning of the season was the bright cheerful face of Randy is now sullen and full of rage.

Randy's life has now been destroyed because of seemingly insignificant decisions that he made but also by external forces that he had no control over. I fear for what will become of Randy in the next few episodes.

Yesterday in my life something significant and bad happened between some people I know. I am not going to comment on who or what, but just as Randy's life has been ruined by seemingly insignificant decisions that when combined with external forces suddenly cascaded into a heap of trouble, and although the causes for the people I know are a source of speculation and amateur psychology at my house I believe insignificant and bad decisions combined with external forces may be the case for the people I know. Also, last night it was raining, just the type of rain that if you saw it in a movie you would think something bad was going to happen. So you tell me. Does art imitate life? Or, does life imitate art?

As for what is going to happen with the people I know, the situation can only get better or worse from here on out. Fortunately for them that script has yet to be written, and they get to have a hand in how their life will be played out from this point on. I hope they will make the right decisions, for Randy's sake.

Yin and Yang

As the holiday season approaches I've been doing a lot of thinking about needs and wants. I've noticed that while I have everything I could possibly need in order to sustain my life I always want more. Oh, you've got more food I'll have a second helping. Oh look, Nintendo Wii comes out this weekend and even though you already have a 360, that Wii sure looks nice. Man, would it be nice to have a laptop, or to get Vista when it comes out. Those Bron's at Finish Line sure look nice. Want. Want. Want.

Tonight we watched an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in which the featured family was one where the 20-something Mom was full-time breast cancer awareness advocate after witnessing her own mother's struggle to beat breast cancer. After dedicating her life to fighting breast cancer she herself was diagnosed breast cancer and it was currently in remission. This women had dedicated her life to helping others, and all I can think about half the time is what stuff I want to buy.

Where I work you can designate part of your check to go to charity. The first couple of years out of college I donated about $10 or $20 a paycheck to the United Way. After that I decided I would like to keep that cash and volunteer my time instead. I volunteered for exactly one thing and that has been the extent of my personal community involvement in the last two years. The problem is that I am not good at actively seeking out volunteer opportunities. When someone asks me if I would like to help out with something then I usually will find the time, but I do not get excited about cold calling someone and volunteering my services.

When I was growing up my parents always did a good job of taking us to church, nearly every Sunday we were there. I always bitched about it, but mainly because I found the sermonizing part of it EXTREMELY boring. I always liked the social aspects of it, especially Sunday School, and Youth Group. Looking back at that time in my life I see that it was easy to find opportunities to do good for the world, something that I feel like I am sorely lacking right now. I'm pretty sure recycling and buying a programmable thermostat don't count too much on the scale of helping humanity.

I feel like I've been sucked too far into the consumer culture and because of that I haven't been doing a good job of helping other people out. I need to strike a better balance between helping myself and helping others. I'm not sure where to start, but something needs to change. In my past church has provided avenues to help, but currently my mindset is about 75% against going to church because I have mixed feelings on religion. I would like to find something where I can make a difference that will be easy for me to get my foot in the door. There are so many bad things in the world, there's got to be something I can. Send me some ideas and/or links.

When the Saints come marching in

Right now I'm watching the MNF game between Atlanta and New Orleans, the much-hyped reopening of the Superdome. This is obviously a big moment in the rebirth of the great city of New Orleans, but it begs the question what does the future hold for New Orleans?

When, if ever, will pre-Katrina population levels return? This seemingly simple question spawns a slew of intriguing questions. How long is the rebuilding process going to take? We are a year removed from the hurricane and much of the city has been leveled but for the most part new construction has yet to commence. Will the people come back, or will the city die a slow death, relegated to history books and adventure travelers like so many Mayan ruins, a relic of an era gone by.

Second, will the rebuilding process yield an improvement in the city? Before Katrina New Orleans was one of the poorest and most uneducated of large American cities, now the city has been presented with an opportunity unique in the annals of history, an opportunity to rebuild, Sim City-like, nearly from scratch. Can they improve their schools and infrastructure? Will they take the opportunity to improve the quality of life for all citizens.

Third, has the government learned it's lesson in the wake of it's massive humanitarian failure? Last week I watched "When the Levees Broke," Spike Lee's moving documentary about the hurricane and it's aftermath and some of the stories are simply astounding. People stranded for days at the Convention Center, interstate onramps, and the Superdome; people sent to far flung locations without knowledge of where they were headed, families scattered to the wind all across the country, and death in spades. Remember it took days for basic needs items like food to arrive in New Orleans at the places where people were stranded. It took days for transportation out of the city to arrive. People have waited months upon months for FEMA trailers to arrive and then not have the keys arrive to, rendering the trailer useless. The government failed on all levels on this, city, state, and federal. The racial issues in this case have been widely discussed, I believe that while not wholly true there is probably a nugget of truth to the claim of racism, I just can't imagine this type of response if the city in question was say Minneapolis. On the other hand, a disaster of this scope hasn't ever occurred and while there had been various doomsday scenarios tossed about regarding the levees in New Orleans I think they were mostly taken with a grain of salt. It certainly isn't beyond reason to imagine that all the levels of government involved were simply underprepared and overwhelmed by the situation, thus causing the now familiar scenes of hopelessness, desperation, and despair.

Whatever happens, the events surrounding Hurricane Katrina will be indelibly etched in the consciousness of Americans for generations, and hopefully the Saints will keep on marching and no one will have to march second line in the the funeral of a great American city.

With man gone, will there be hope for gorilla?

Ok so I lied, the MNF is on and I am powerless to change the channel, so here sit trying to type something. I have a feeling this post may meander a bit, so if you want something short and concise go read some Hemingway. So there's this whole thing with Shel being impregnated again, which is cool, except now we have to make some choices like: which baby get which room, what will we have to buy for the new baby, is Luka old enough to sleep in a bed, are we still going to get a new bed, what color are we going to paint the spare room, where the hell is Luka (in the basement probably), who is going to watch the new baby, can we afford to send the new baby to RC daycare if necessary, is the new baby a boy or girl, what will be the new name of said boy or girl, what is the hell is Luka eating, who do I need to start in fantasy football this weekend, and other topics of various peril and impart.

I got Madden 07 the other day and I am no good at it. I think they have finally reached the saturation point where I can't possibly handle all the options anymore. Did you know that defenisvely before the snap these are all the options you have to choose from:

Defensive line audibles
Spread the defensive end outside the tackles
Move the line in tight between the tackles
Shift the line left or right
Crash inside or outside
Crash left or right

Linebacker audible
Spread out the linebackers
Move linebackers in tight
Shift linebackers left or right
Put all linebackers in hook zones
Blitz all linebackers
Blitz left or right linebackers

Coverage audibles
Put DBs into press or loose coverage
Show blitz
Shift safeties and linebackers into better position to cover their assigned man
Shift safety coverage left, right, or out

Zeesh! It makes my head hurt. On the plus side I actually returned a kickoff for TD on the Pro setting, although I think the Pro setting is too easy (the All-Pro is too hard for a schmuck like me).

Other than that I've been spending a lot of time playing 360 and watching football while patiently waiting for Shel to get over her morning, noon, and night sickness and I think we are nearly at the end. This is a good development.

And for my grand finale Gabe has shown me the city council meeting brilliance that is this video. Beware of rogue helicoptor pilots! A quality effort on Gabe's part to get this information out to the public.

Last week I read Over The Edge of the World and would highly recommend it to any history buff. I couldn't put it down, why don't they make movies about this type of stuff? Who knew how absolutely fraught with danger and derringdo the first trip around the world was? I've now begun reading Ishmael, which comes as a gift and highly recommended by Loren, it's something a little bit outside my normal reading lists and so far it seems to be focusing on a telepathic gorilla. We'll see where it goes.

Over and out, I'm going to bed I think.

What?

This weekend Luka added a new word to his vocabulary. "What?" He says it Lil' Jon style. Oh, that and he started walking. I will now return to playing 360 and not posting.

Service with a smile

Sometimes things happen that really piss you off. It doesn't have to be a big thing, but something that strikes your nerves just right. As some of you know we recently upgraded our cell phones. Our old plan was a holdover AT&T Wireless plan. In the last year or two Cingular bought out AT&T wireless. Because of the buyout we officially had to switch over to a Cingular plan when we bought our new phones.

We returned from Disney World a day or two before we got the new phones and plans. Through a miracle in scheduling that happened to be at the end of the Cingular billing cycle, so we had a cell phone bill that included a vast majority of our vacation waiting for us when we got home, about $150. We had previously setup for our bill to be automagically withdrawn from our checking account, so the bill explicitly said "Do not pay, the balance will be automatically withdrawn" or language to that effect. It should also be mentioned that before we left for Disney World I lost my debit card and it had to be replaced.

Fast forward, the Cingular payment never comes out of our account. Whether that is due to me losing my card or the changes in plans I don't know. I don't hear anything from Cingular, I figure I will just wait for the next bill and contest any late charges.

Lat Friday the bill came, the late charges were insignificant, about 35 cents. So I set up a bill pay to send a check and nearly forgot about it. Until we got a call Monday, and Tuesday, and today from a Cingular rep demanding our late payment and saying that if we didn't pay in the next 10 days our service would be cancelled.

Now, we've sent the money already, I suspect they will have it by tomorrow. What I don't like is being overtly accused of intentionally not paying my bill. Couldn't Cingular have called us when the original payment didn't go through, just to say "hey, it appears something is wrong here." Where was the courtesy call? Instead we get, "pay up asshole, or your phone will be disconnected" like we did something wrong. I don't know, that really just rubs me the wrong way. So, when our contract is up I believe we will be switching cell providers.

Moral of the story, don't use auto bill pay, it'll screw ya in the end.

Candy Mountain

If you can watch this with a straight face then your veins run ice cold. I double dog dare you.