Last night, Esther Derby came and talked to the local Agile RTP group. Her talk was called "What's a Manager To Do?". With agile teams being self-organizing, what is the manager's role in this situation? An agile team can start to take on some of the items that a manager used to do. Task assignment and tracking are two items that seemed like good candidates for the team to take over. There are some things that require a manager that aren't going away. HR related issues and budgeting are two examples.
There are several grey areas that could go either way depending on the maturity and organization of the agile team. For instance, conflict/friction issues might need to be handled by a manager, but for the health of the team, might be best addressed at the team or individual level. If someone reports to their manager that someone on the team isn't performing and the manager goes to this individual and says 'I heard you weren't performing (doing or not doing X)', this isn't going to be good for the team. Who can they trust on the team? If the team has been letting an issue fester for a long time (not addressing the issue with the other team member), this can cause even more issues. From Esther's experience, it sounded like 1) openness between the team members is critical and 2) the manager should really fine tune their observation skills so they can catch issues as they come up.

Another grey area is the decision making process. If the team assumes they have the right to make decision X and the manager vetoes this right, that can really discourage the team. It can also work the other way where the team is assuming the manager is going to make a decision, but the manager is expecting that from the team. Esther's suggestion was to layout a decision matrix that helps clarify who is responsible for making decisions. Although it wasn't directly said (or I didn't hear), I suppose this helps with the transparency of the team which is a common theme in the agile space.

An underlying theme, from my perspective, was the reference to teams, in particular team sports, where it truly is a group of players working together (her example was basketball). Many of the agile concepts that appeal to me came from my experiences playing basketball. I am frequently reminded of how my experiences playing on a team were so similar to being on a team at work. Everything from how to interact with others to keeping a goal in mind and staying on target.

Overall, the talk was good and reaffirmed some of the ideas we were already using. Clarifying decision making, dealing with friction and the "team" concept were some of the key points I am taking away from last night.

I like step #23 on the Google directions from Orlando to London.

I am trying out a new picture gallery site called SmugMug. I was pretty impressed with their service and the features they offered. One of my main reasons for using them, the pictures will be backed up in 3 states (see first paragraph). As we take more and more digital pictures, I saw the need growing. Photo sharing, keywords and cost were also high on the list of things that helped me make my decision.

Last week, my brother shared this article about Best Buy's strategies for the work environment. The "results-only work environment" (ROWE) is extremely interesting. I have wondered before why more companies didn't offer employees the option to telecommute, but ROWE seems to take it to another level. They say you can work when and where you want to work.

I have been checking out Smugmug as a potential place to put my photos (the site looks impressive and so is their story). While I was looking around, I found this photo and it made me laugh.

Here are a few photographs of the leaves changing here in North Carolina. It seems to have taken a while, but they are finally (and constantly) falling now. It even looks like it is raining leaves when the wind blows.

Fall Leaves - November 2006

Tonight was the Kenny Chesney concert in Raleigh and it was a good one. He puts on such a good show. This past month has probably been one of the busiest months in my professional career and personal life. With all that I had going on it was interesting some of the thoughts that popped into my head during the concert. During There Goes my Life, it brought back all kinds of memories and it made me really grateful for everything we have and all the opportunities I have been given. Back Where I Come From was another one that hit me in a very cool way. It is amazing how music can touch you in so many ways and for me, most were in a good way.

Kenny was awesome!

Some people have too much time on their hands and I am glad they do. I enjoy seeing the funny ideas they come up with.

Now, I don't get to do this often and probably will get in trouble for it, but it was fun. Tonight I cooked dinner (grilled chicken, rice and salad) and ate it in the living room while watching the race.

You guessed it! The rest of the family wasn't home (other than Tucker, but he didn't mind). I am also glad I didn't spill anything that I wasn't able to clean up. Turned out to be a great race with Matt Kenseth beating out Jamie McMurray. Good food and good race!

You may have seen this on digg (or here), but it was so cool I had to write about it. View Bob Hoover pouring tea while doing a barrel roll in what looks like his "Shrike Commander". I have gotten to see Bob Hoover perform at an airshow and he was very impressive. This was just another example of his piloting skills.

If you haven't noticed, there is a new look to the website. I had been toying with updating the site for a while now - mainly upgrading the version of Typo. Last night, I broke my old installation of Typo so I had to do something. It might not be completely functioning as it used to, but it should be close.

I was running a very old version of Typo that I had customized. Putting those customizations back in was a challenge, but they were actually easier this time (many of the improvements to Typo helped). Also, it might look a little funny if you are using Internet Explorer, but I will probably get around to fixing that.

Enjoy!

It's no secret that I don't enjoy cleaning house and in fact will do my best to avoid the task whenever possible. Having just cleaned vigorously prior to Richard's mom and dad's visit last weekend the place doesn't look too bad. Maybe I am hoping to keep it that way or maybe I hit my head on something but for whatever reason I decided to do some cleaning today. I told Reia we were going to vacuum but then I remembered that you are supposed to dust first. When I got out the duster Reia said "Oooh. We have people coming over." She was very confused when I said that we weren't expecting any company. Guess that tells you what it takes to get me to clean.

Tonight, I ended up painting the living room. Suzanne picked out the paint color today while I was at work and our neighbors picked it up for us (thanks guys).

This time we purchased Sherwin-Williams matte paint. The color was Kilim Beige which Suzanne was worried would be too light. It worked out well and seems like just the right shade for the living room.

As for Sherwin-Williams, they have excellent paint. It is slightly more expensive, but it has the following:

• matte finish in a washable paint - unlike our old paint which showed all of the marks
• the paint buckets are well designed - screw on lids with pour spout

I am glad to have that project over with. Here is a picture of the new paint going over the old paint color.

Apple Intel

I played with a few of the new Apple Intel base systems last week. Wow, definitely faster. Of course they will have issues, but I am sure Apple will get them worked out. Needless to say, I think Intel was a good move.

Prototype Tutorial

Good write up explaining the many features packed into the little Javascript library called Prototype.

Tech Books

This is an interesting approach to writing tech books. We have purchased several electronic copies of technology books at work recently. Of course, a hard copy is also nice to have.

New Camera

We recently purchased a Canon SD600. The Canon ELPH series usually has good reviews (although I didn't find many reviews for the SD600). This one had a couple of new features (compared to the SD450) which include Widescreen mode (16:9) and ISO 800 for shooting indoors with no flash (as I understand it). I am sure you will see pictures from it in the future.

While I was in Nashville last week, I had a chance to visit with Scott Collins (a friend from college). I have to admit I haven't stayed in touch well, but we were able to meet up for an early dinner (I didn't do a good job planning my visit so I was pumped to be able to meet up with them at all). Scott and his wife Kim gave me a tour of Nashville. Nashville is a very unique city especially when you get away from the tourist sections (like the Gaylord Opryland Hotel where the conference was).

Scott and Kim are in a couple of bands. Scott and Kim are part of Pale Blue Dot (which also includes Justin - Scott's brother) and Kim has her band Kim's Fable. They have done some traveling with each band, but it sounded like they have traveled as Pale Blue Dot the most.

I had a great time visiting with Scott and Kim. I was reminded that there is life outside of suburban USA. I realized that I get caught up in the latest tech gadgets or house improvement options and some of the most interesting art is created elsewhere. Another piece of the puzzle was how technology and art crossed paths. Even with Scott and Kim, technology has become a significant part of their lives (email, purchasing their music, etc). Kim is quite creative when it comes to Photoshop even though she hasn't had any official training.

After 6 years, it was great to catch up with an old friend.

FIYF

Steve Uzzell gave the keynote presentation this morning as part of Alliance 2006. I was very impressed and I enjoyed his presentation style. Of course, it doesn't hurt that he is an excellent photographer and had some superb photos in his presentation. Actually, his entire presentation was photos with almost no words on the screen (kind of made me think about photography as a hobby again).

The unique part to me is that one of my daughter's favorite songs right now is On the Open Road from A Goofy Movie. A theme throughout Mr. Uzzell's presentation was on the open road and the possibilities that are out there. To say the least, I thought about the many times I had sung the Goofy song with my daughter.

After just 6 years our kitchen storage containers were looking pitiful. We had Rubbermaid containers that didn't seal at all and tons of Gladware pieces that are supposed to be disposable, so I decided to host a Tupperware party to get some new stuff. As it turned out I ended up getting just a few new bowls for leftover storage and instead invested in solutions for the pantry and the freezer. Check out my full post for more details as well as before and after pics of our pantry and freezer.

Not much to this post. Just a few videos that made me laugh or I thought were cool.

1. Two Students - made me laugh
2. Emperor Cruise - reference to Star Wars
3. Water Cannon - I would like to build one of these
4. Windows 98 - well...it's Windows

This past weekend I went to Myrtle Beach for a scrapbooking weekend with my friends Eileen and Heidi. We had a great time and got a lot of scrappin' and a little shopping done.

This was something I learned as a kid which was ingrained in me by my parents. It didn't stop there. In college, I was reminded of it when I was part of the program. I was told countless times "thanks for saying thanks". Now, it is coming up again in my career. Over and over, our team is being thanked for their effort. When done sincerely and not when expected, it makes people feel appreciated.

If only we can instill this value in our daughter - I think we are off to a good start.

On Saturday, I went to Eric and Niki's wedding in Ft. Lauderdale. The wedding was at the River House Restaurant on the Riverwalk which I got to checkout before the wedding since my flight arrived on time and I had some extra time to walk around. As Eric would put it, it was the best wedding...ever.

This past weekend the neighbors got together at our house to watch the NASCAR race at Talladega. It was a good turn out. I think it was the first time some of our neighbors even watched a NASCAR race and some of them really got into it. Even if they didn't, most appeared to have fun.

For the party, I cooked BBQ chicken and some steaks. This was something I learned in college at our basketball barbecues. My mentor for cooking this style was Chip (an instructor/mentor/friend at school) and I have used it a couple of times since. We also had some really good sides that the neighbors brought over.

As for the race, I was a little disappointed that one of my drivers got knocked out, but at least one of the others I like finished well.

This is an interesting article on engineering students and why the higher education system isn't working in the US. I have to say, that where I went to school, I didn't run into most of these problems (courses were taught by professors not T.A.s). Although, I didn't stay in the aerospace engineering field mainly because of the fear of being laid off (for example from the article, "...getting laid off from a great job at General Electric.")

From this slashdot article, you can read this blog about the survival in New Orleans. It talks about some of the challenges they are having in the aftermath and trying to keep their systems online. There are even links to some pictures.

I talked with a friend's wife who has family in Slidell, LA. It sounds like everyone survived the storm with little damage although some of her family is still waiting to hear. My friend's family weathered the storm at their house and had a couple of trees down, but nothing major.

As for my friend who is on a tour of duty, they are expecting him back soon. Definitely keeping the folks in the gulf coast in our thoughts and payers.

Tonight, we saw Kenny Chesney in concert. It was a pretty awesome concert. Pat Green opened followed by Gretchen Wilson. The were both pretty cool. Kenny was several notches above them. He just looks like he is having so much fun on stage. We even got a surprise visit from someone who goes by "Uncle" for his first name. If you like country music, I would definitely recommend that you go to a Kenny Chesney concert.

This Friday and Saturday I attended the Creating Keepsakes Scrapbooking Convention in Charlotte with my friends Eileen and Heidi. During the convention I took several classes. My favorite class was a card design class sponsored by Die Cuts with a View. During the class we made four cards and were given supplies to make six more. The cards were relatively simple in design and in the materials used but the final product was very impressive. I can't wait to try out the new techniques that I learned. I also took a class on finding inspiration, one that explained how to use several tools and embellishments that I haven't worked with before and one on organization. The organization class was very interesting. The good part was that I learned a new way of organizing my scrapbooking stuff that should make it easier to find things. The downside is that the system they recommended is fairly expensive. They showed the Scraprack which runs about $200 for the entire system. You can get a smaller set for around $100 but over time it requires adding additional pieces.

Downtown Charlotte is really nice. We stayed at the Westin Hotel right across the street from the Convention Center. The convention is across from the public library and a very nice area with a green and a water play area for kids. There are also a few restaurants there. We did find that most restaurants close early in the evening and on weekends. We ended up eating breakfast in the hotel lobby because there weren't any other places open.

All in all I had a really good time and learned a lot of new things. I bought a few things at the vendor fair that I haven't seen anywhere else. I also made a list of new things that I need to pick up! :)

Well, I have switched to "typo":http://typo.leetsoft.com/trac/ to run my blog. You have probably noticed the difference in appearance and I am hoping this will mean more posts as well.

For those techies, I am now using an application written in "Ruby":http://www.ruby-lang.org in a framework call "Ruby on Rails":http://www.rubyonrails.org. It is my first experience, I will let you know how it goes.

Enjoy!

I have recently heard the housing market is skyrocketing. Reading this article just reaffirmed the fact. I am glad we got into our home when we did.

Today was all about teamwork. Today was our day long "working" retreat. It started a little rough, but eventually, we came up with some good conclusions. These conclusions were all the result of some great unselfish teamwork. Now, did it take a little longer than I would have liked...maybe, but it was still good. I heard this quote this past weekend at the NFJS conference (I will probably blog more about the conference when I get a chance): "aim for success, not for perfection". In one way or another, I think that is what we are starting to realize.

My second example of teamwork was tonight in the basketball league I play in. There were only 4 of us there tonight, but we were still able to win. This demonstrated teamwork as well - maybe some of the best we have had all season. OK, I admit, we did get some breaks, but we still played well.

Today was all about teamwork.

I have had some general thoughts and conversations about continually learning and growing. It started a couple of weekends ago when my parents were up visiting. My mom was telling me about this new process she was using at work that involved learning something new on the computer. Who could provide a better example than my own parents with their willingness to learn new things.

Then I was talking about this same idea with a co-worker and how it is important to continually give people the opportunity to grow and learn something new. This is such an important factor when trying to motivate people and give them a chance to excel. By giving people this opportunity, they are poised to become more motivated and productive employees.

Today, we got our Canon Camcorder back from Canon and it was fixed. Let me give you some background. A couple of months ago I got the ZR-65 out to make some home videos. I turned it on and the screen was blank. I could play back video, but I was unable to record anything. I looked around on the web and this had happened to several people. One day they would turned their camcorder on and the screen just was blank. A number of people said they had to send their camcorder back to Canon and they would fix it for several hundred dollars (they replaced the CCD).

Needless to say, I wasn't excited about paying for something to be fixed that we really don't use very often. A couple of months later, my wife reminded me that it still needed to be fixed. She called Canon and they tried to troubleshoot it over the phone but were unable to fix it. They said send it in and they would give us an estimate on the cost to fix it.

My wife sent the camcorder in and within a few days of them receiving it, we got an email saying there would be no charge for them to fix it. This was surprising to us since we thought it was out of warranty. I wasn't about to go celebrate, but I was pleased that they said they would fix it. Today, we got the camcorder back and it was fixed. All it said was "One Time Courtesy Fix" and that made us very happy.

Today I saw Star Wars III - Revenge of the Sith and I really enjoyed the movie. Now, the fact that I haven't been to a movie in over a year might have had something to do with it (just nice to get out). It did a great job of filling the gaps. I don't want to give anything away, so I am going to keep this short.


My Rating: A+

This might be old news, but I am impressed with what Yahoo and Google are doing to provide customizable content. Yahoo for example recently revamped the My Yahoo (along with the rest of their site as well). I used to use My Yahoo on a regular basis. I liked having all this information in a single space. Then I stopped using My Yahoo as much so I hadn't visited it lately. After my recent visit, I was impressed with how easy it is to add content and manipulate the page. It will be interesting to see how often I will visit it, but I am sure I will.

I also recently setup my Google Personalized Page. It too was very easy to setup to my own customized level - maybe easier since there were fewer choices.


Both are impressive and I am sure we will only see more of this in the future.

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers out there (and moms to be). I hope you are enjoying the day with family.

Especially to my wife who does a great job at being a Mom.

A good friend of mine from Louisiana, who is in the Air Force, has been sent on a tour of duty (I hope that is the correct terminology). It makes me proud to have a friend serving our country. It is definitely something I am appreciative of and I just want to say thanks to all serving in the Armed Forces.

I will be checking up on his family while he is gone - even though I haven't stayed in touch like I should have before he left.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we painted our foyer.




I am not sure if you can really see the difference in the new color, but it is there. Also, this week's Lowe's Home Improvement ad in our newspaper (possibly others) features the "Lunar Tide" color by Valspar. Hope that doesn't mean everyone is going to paint their foyers Lunar Tide.

If you get a chance, please visit this website:

http://robgrahamfoundation.net/

I met Rob when he became the assistant coach at Embry Riddle. He came in and was an easy fit into the position. Not only did he have the basketball knowledge, but he was a good person and definitely someone you want young influential men hanging around. When Rob moved on to become the head coach at Bishop Moore, I was not only happy for the next assistant coach, but I was happy for Rob. I knew he must have been excited about coaching at the high school he attended (who I competed against a number of times in high school).

Just remember to keep Rob in your thoughts and payers and checkout the website set up for Coach Graham (several who are former ERAU players and Bishop Moore alumni).

There is also some information here.

Today was a busy day for us. Suzanne and I had talked about painting the foyer for while, so we ended up doing it today. I took the day off from work and spent the majority of the day painting. Suzanne had picked up some paint chips earlier in the week and we decided on Lunar Tide (very light green) by Valspar. Thursday evening, we went to Lowe's to pick it up with the supplies (Reia likes riding in the Jimmy Johnson 48 cart at Lowe's).

Shur Line's edging tool was a key to me getting the work done - especially high places. I was able to attach it to the roller extension bar and do the edging along the ceiling. Consider that our walls in the foyer go up about 25 feet, this was a necessary tool. It worked very well as long as I took my time. My extension ladder came in handy as well (thanks Dad) - definitely parts of the wall I couldn't reach without it.

We are now enjoying a freshly painted foyer! I will try to take a picture tomorrow during the day.

I normally don't go down the political path too often, but Trip (a friend from college) has written a good commentary about his view for the local newspaper. You can read it here (registration required). He makes some good points. You can also find more information in his blog.

This is a brief summary of our trip to Florida between Christmas and New Year's. To start it off, we left North Carolina Christmas night to avoid the snow/ice storm that was supposed to be heaviest along I-95. Boy, I am glad we did that. We heard from my great aunt and uncle that I-95 was slow going the day after Christmas so it was worth driving all night.

Sunday morning we stopped in Ormond Beach at Nana's house for some rest. From there, we headed down to my grandmother's in Cocoa Beach for our family gathering. We got to see several of my aunts, uncles and cousins. It was fun, but we were pretty tired from driving the night before. That night we headed to St. Cloud to my folks' house.


The next day we just hung out with Grandma and Grandpa. We had a good time just relaxing. That evening we opened presents with my brother, sister, sister's husband, grandma and grandpa. Reia had a good time cleaning up everyone's paper. She also started bringing people items items from Dad's storage. Once the storage ran out, she started to bring drinks which was very handy.

Tuesday was another family gathering. Most of the people that came to the house were from my Dad's side (except Great Grandma and Will who made it over again with my cousins). Reia enjoyed playing in the backyard with the kids.


The next day we were off to have pictures taken of Reia at Bruce's after we had a long night of Reia not sleeping (maybe getting some more teeth). Even with the lack of sleep, we were still able to get some good pictures of Reia. That afternoon I slept most of the afternoon - I wasn't feeling that great. Late that afternoon, we headed to Ormond Beach to visit with Suzanne's family. That night, Suzanne and Reia went out to dinner with most of her family while I called it an early night.

Thursday morning we had Christmas with Nana. We all got some great gifts and Reia enjoyed playing with them. Most of that day we spent hanging out with Nana and Suzanne's cousins. That night we all went out to dinner at Cracker Barrel. We had a good dinner - Reia really likes the corn and apples there.

Friday, Nana, Suzanne and Reia ran off to go shopping that afternoon. I went over to Chad's house and hung out with his family. That night Suzanne and I went to a surprise New Year's/Birthday party for Eric. It was at his brother's (Dave) house in Orlando. Nana watched Reia that night while we were in Orlando. I don't know if Reia and Nana had a better time or if Suzanne and I did (just kidding Eric).

Saturday we opened presents with Suzanne's cousins. We enjoyed watching Reia pass out presents. That afternoon we got done to Port Orange to visit Sally. After a quick visit to Sally, we made our way to an ERAU basketball game. It was great to get to see some people we haven't seen in a while. ERAU won by the way. That night we went over to Nannie's and had one last dinner with Suzanne's family.

The next morning we got up and had breakfast. After saying our goodbyes, we headed for home. It was a good trip, but I think all of us (including Tucker and Reia) were glad to be home. Thanks everyone for your hospitality in Florida!

Let me give you a little background. For a few years, I have kept looking at RC Cars. I just haven't come up with a good reason to get one. Well, my wife organized getting our family members to chip in on a gift for my birthday (one of those bdays with a nice round number). She didn't buy a car (good thing). She gathered up some money for me to get one of my choice - pretty cool, huh.


I have been researching the different options. I have ruled out a nitro car - gas can get messy and isn't recommend for your first car. I am looking at a stadium truck (ST) or a buggy (BX). Both of these can go on-road or off-road. My understanding is that the ST is a little more off-road and the BX is a little more on-road. I am just trying to narrow it down between the two types and a couple of different manufacturers. There is also the decision of getting a RTR (Ready-to-Run) versus a kit (which you build). With kits, you typically have to buy a number of different parts separately and this might cost a little more. The RTRs are pretty much ready to use (except for batteries and charger). I am leaning towards a kit since part of the fun for me is putting it together.

Part of my research has taken me to a number of different web site forums (like http://www.rcgroups.com or http://www.rcuniverse.com. I will let you know what I decide on.

Again last night, one of our smoke detectors started chirping. This is probably the 2nd or 3rd one this year. I did a quick search on the internet and found this site. They suggest changing the batteries once a year since they will most likely start chirping in the middle of the night when the temperature is cooler. Our smoke detectors have consent power run to them and the battery is just a backup. I am thinking we should change the batteries every 2 years so everyone doesn't get stirred up by the noise. I guess I will be replacing the rest of them today.

We had a good Thanksgiving again this year. Matthew and Anna came up for a visit. They were here from Tuesday through Saturday the week of the Thanksgiving. Reia enjoyed dragging them around the house showing them her toys and every time the neighbor's garage door opened.


On to Thanksgiving Day. Suzanne and Anna did a great job with dinner (I would hardly consider it a loss). We had mashed potatoes, green beans, bread, turkey, cranberry sauce and more. That afternoon we just laid around and hung out. Oh, we did take Tucker for a walk that afternoon to get outside.

Friday, we hung out that morning and then Suzanne and Anna went shopping. They were gone all afternoon. Matthew and I were in charge of watching Reia. We were going to hang Christmas lights up, but it was too cold for us. We took Reia outside for about 10 minutes, but we got too cold. We came back in and played with Reia. Suzanne and Anna got back from the mall and we had leftovers. That night we watched a movie and then hit the sack.

Then it was Saturday. The day Uncle Matt and Aunt Anna were leaving. Again, we just spent some quality time hanging out and played with Reia (boy, Reia got a lot of attention). We dropped Matthew and Anna off at the airport that afternoon. It was a good trip and I think everyone had a good time - I know Reia did. I think Uncle Matt got close to counting 50 different words that Reia could say (he was a little generous with his count).

This is pretty cool. I had to at least add a link to my blog about it. NASA's X43A uses a scramjet to reach these extremely high speeds.

More Info

Boy, this summer weather in North Carolina is definitely nice sometimes. It is currently 76 degrees at 4:00 PM in the afternoon on August 6. How crazy is that? Being from Florida, this is a real treat. Tonight it is supposed to get down into the 50s (record lows).

Nice change during the hot summer!

Well, this was Reia's first visit to church. She had a good visit. Everyone really enjoyed meeting her. It was nice.

We continued our NASCAR streak this afternoon. We actually Tivoed the race last night and then watched it this afternoon. I am not sure why we have started watching NASCAR, but it is fun.

The wind has definitely picked up, but there isn't much more rain. It is blowing in from the north. We have had our power flicker several times and we have shutdown anything extra we had running. A couple of branches have hit the house, but I think they were pretty small ones. That is all for now.

meta-author: Richard & Suzanne It's raining here and we have had some wind but things are still pretty calm. Reia is wearing her 'Noah's Ark' outfit in anticipation of lots of rain. Richard stayed home today too. Reia is enjoying breakfast with the iPod.

Grandma and Grandpa made it up for their visit. The flight arrived pretty much on time. Reia was napping when we got home from the airport which gave us time to eat, but woke up soon after we finished. Grandma and Grandpa got to play with her and give her a bath. I think Reia enjoyed it.

Isabel has passed us over. We have some leaves and branches in our yard, but that is about it. It appears that there are quite a few more people without power in Durham including the building I work in. So, for the moment, I am still at home enjoying the fact that our power is still on. It looks like it is going to be a nice day out today.

With the number of tech jobs available to today, many of them are good candidates for telecommuting. Unfortunately, companies, like the one I work for, do not take advantage of the possibility. With good planning on the part of the company, it could decrease expenses incurred (office space, phones, etc) and increase the happiness of employees. Ok, I realize that companies might have to make some arrangements for employees who must come into work for meetings, etc. Maybe there could be a general room with temporary cubes where employees could bring their notebooks and get online. With today's gas prices rising, it makes it an even more appealing opportunity for employees. Anyway, just some thoughts I was thinking on the drive home.

The snow and ice are almost gone. I am expecting to finally get back to work tomorrow. I have been telecommuting the past couple days which has been nice. With the way our new system is setup at work, I can do almost anything I do at work at home if necessary. I think telecommuting has real potential if your employer is willing to realize the benefits - easier said than done.

Anyway, things are hopefully going to get back to normal at this point. I know Suzanne, Reia and Tucker enjoyed having me around the house even if I was working. At least I didn't have to spend at least an hour driving to and from work.

Yesterday about mid-morning, we started getting some snow. It snowed on and off most of the afternoon and turned into freezing rain by later that evening. It stayed in the 20s all day.

Today we are expecting more freezing rain and sleet. It hasn't started yet, but it is to the south of us. I just took Tucker for a quick walk (23 F outside) and the streets are frozen over. It is probably 1-2 inches thick. Hopefully it warms up soon and all this ice melts.

Well, Christmas has passed us by. We (Suzanne, Reia, Tucker and I) had a good trip to Florida for the week of Christmas. We were gone about 9 days and that is a pretty good amount of time especially with a baby. Reia did well with the process.

We started our journey on Friday after I got off of work. We traveled to Ormond Beach and stopped there for the night (arriving about 2:00 AM). The next morning we were up pretty early considering how late we got in. Everyone was excited to see the newest addition to the family. We were packed back up on and the road by just after noon.


In St. Cloud for Christmas

We arrived in St. Cloud before Matthew and Anna. We got something to eat and just hung out with Grandma and Grandpa. Later that evening Grandma ordered pizza and we opened Christmas gifts. The people there were: Grandma, Grandpa, Rebecca, George, Matthew, Anna, Suzanne, Reia and myself. It was a good time and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. During this time, I was busy feeding my DVD burner blank DVDs to make movies to give to people.

The next morning, Grandma, Grandpa and I went to church while the others were waking up or taking care of Reia (she is a lot of work). After church was just waiting for family to arrive. Mom had estimated about 26 people or so (see the complete list below).


Grandma (Suarez)
NAO (Outten grandmother)
Melissa and Jon (cousins)
Uncle Bill, Aunt Sherri and Jennifer (cousin)
Uncle Don, Aunt Kathy, Erin (cousin), Amy (cousin) and Eddie (boyfriend)
Aunt Carol and roommate's family
Matthew and Anna
Rebecca and George Richard, Suzanne and Reia (Tucker too) Grandma and Grandpa (Linda and John)


It was quite the crowd. The highlight of the day was Grandma (Suarez) with her marshmallow gun. It was made out of PVC. You stuck a marshmallow in the top and blew it out. It would shot out the front. Grandma was demonstrating it and shot Eddie in the eye, but no damage was done. There was lots of good food and presents for the kids.


Everyone pretty much left before it got dark. Gramdma doesn't like to drive on Nova Road at night (deer frequent that road). That night we just hung around the house (Matthew, Anna, Grandma, Grandpa, Suzanne, Reia and myself). Grandpa, Matthew and I shared the latest computer ideas. The women put together a showering plan so everyone would be ready for pictures by 10:00 am the next morning.

The next morning was pretty hectic with everyone trying to get ready for pictures. I also had problems with the powerbook's touch pad, but I will leave that for another discussion (it eventually started working). It took some effort and me forgetting to shave that morning and having to go back and get my razor, but we made it to Bruce's on time. As usual, Rebecca and George arrived late, but not that late. We started with shots of the entire family and then worked our way down to individual families. It was quite a time trying to make Reia look a certain direction and laugh with everyone else trying to do the same thing. It worked out in the long run and we got some good pictures.

After that, Grandma and Grandpa took Reia home with them while the rest of us (Matthew, Anna, Rebecca, George, Suzanne and myself) went to see "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King". We stopped at Fazoli's on the way to the movies for some fast Italian food. Then came "Return of the King" and let me say it was a long movie. It was a good movie, but I think it was hyped a little too much - I actually liked the previous 2 movies better. After the movie, we made our way home so Matthew and Anna could get on the road to Indiana. That night we just hung out in St. Cloud.


The next morning, Grandma had to go to work, but Grandpa was still off. We had made plans to go to meet Grandma that afternoon and go to Disney World. We did the normal stuff that morning (feed Reia, bathe her, put clothes on her, etc). We ate lunch and went to get Grandma at work. Grandma had to show off Reia at work. Once we were done at Bruce's, we packed up in the car and headed for Disney.

Reia had a great time at Disney with Grandpa, Grandma, Suzanne and I. Reia enjoyed looking at the wheels on her stroller, chewing on the bar of her stroller and being in pictures. We were able to get some of the same pictures that Grandpa and Grandma got of me when I was a baby. We didn't make it on any rides, but we sure did have fun. We headed home and readied the car to travel to Ormond Beach.

In Ormond Beach for Christmas

We arrived in Ormond Beach late Tuesday night and we pretty much said hi to a couple of visitors and then said good night to Nana and went to bed. The next morning, Christmas Eve, we went to Embry-Riddle for a visit. We were only able to meet up with Sally and Lisa in Career Services that morning. They really enjoyed meeting Reia.

Christmas Eve night we went over to Suzanne's grandmother's (Nannie) house. Nannie ordered sandwiches and had the group over (see list below). Reia got to open a few gifts from Suzanne's cousins while sitting in Uncle Mike's lap.

Uncle Mike, Aunt Debbie, Michael (cousin), Jonathan (cousin) and Katelyn (cousin)
Ashlee (Michael's girlfriend)
Nannie
Nana
Richard, Suzanne, and Reia


Christmas morning we got up and went through the normal routine with Reia in the morning. Nana fed her and bathed her. After that, we started opening presents. Reia only got through a few before she needed to go down for her nap. At that point, Suzanne, Nana and I continued opening our presents. After Reia woke up from her nap, she opened the rest of her presents and we got things loaded to take to Nannie's house.

We arrived at Nannie's when it was just Nannie and Mammie there cooking Christmas dinner. The rest of the crew arrived later. Reia had to go down for a nap and slept while we ate dinner. Dinner was very good and we had a full table. After dinner, we continued opening presents and hanging out enjoying the company. We then headed back to Nana's to let the dogs out and feed them.

The day after Christmas, Nana, Suzanne and Reia went to the mall that afternoon. I took Tucker for a walk down to the pier on Halifax. It was a very long walk. Nana, Suzanne and Reia made it back to feed Reia her carrots that afternoon. That evening we had Jon, Jennifer and Amelia over for a visit. It was interesting to see the interaction between Reia (6 months) and Amelia (14 months).

The next day, we took Reia out to the beach. We took a few pictures and shot some video. It appeared that Reia really like that beach. The wind was really blowing and it was definitely cooler with the wind blowing. There were also seagulls flying around for us to see. We then picked up Reia's food at Nana's and headed over to Nannie's to meet Sarah (friend from Ormond Beach library) for a visit.


Sarah came over to a visit to see Reia and chat with Suzanne and Nannie. Reia was fed at Nannie's while I tried to pull up pictures of the family we took earlier in the week on Nannie's computer (boy, dial-up is slow). We then went over to Manny's for a pizza. After dinner, we went back to Nana's to get ready for our trip back home.

The next morning we had several visitors saying goodbye to us before we got on the road. We were on the road by 9:30 which was good considering traffic was pretty busy headed home.

What a trip! It was good to get to see everyone and I think Reia handled all new people and places very well.

I know it has been almost a week since Thanksgiving, but I have been busy. We had a great visit with my Mom, Dad, Brother and his wife. It was fun to have everyone at our house. It was one of the few times since we have lived in our house that we had a full house.

Matthew and Anna (brother and wife) stayed from Wednesday to Saturday and my Mom and Dad were here from Wednesday until Monday. It seemed to go by very fast.


We had a good meal on Thursday and just hung out with one another. We played Star Wars Monopoly, but I don't think everyone else was as into it as I was.

Friday we got a tree and put it up several times. We had problems with the tree falling over several times. Finally, we cut the base of the trunk flat and didn't put so much water in the base. Between those two things, it seemed to work. Friday night we played Taboo. It was an interesting game and much more difficult than you would think. I think everyone else liked this game, but I preferred Star Wars Monopoly.

Saturday the girls went shopping. They were able to find clothes for everyone to wear in the family pictures we are taking over Christmas. This was a very daunting task and they were pleased with the results. Reia stayed at home and hung out with the guys. This made it easier on the girls since they had to travel to several different stores.

The rest of Saturday we put up a few lights outside and took Matt and Anna to the airport.


Sunday was just a day to hang out and put a few more lights up outside. Mom and Suzanne made sugar cookies while Dad and I put the lights up.

The next morning we hung out at the house until we had to take Grandma and Grandpa to the airport.