I sometimes forget about this Blog and the things I have written on it. It is nice to go back and see all the little things that I have written over the last few years…almost a time capsule of sorts. The last year has brought some unique challenges and while I have attempted to keep track of them in the cyber world there is a lot that gets missed. Our newest addition, Max is adapting fine to his new world. He is a totally different experience than our first….They are really polar opposites in terms of behavior at this stage. Life has become more routine and not so much of a panic. The one thing that I have learned through the whole process of becoming a parent is to have patience with everything.
Sam has gotten to that pivotal point of losing his shit on a regular occasion and the "time outs" have started with frightening frequency. Since the last update not much has changed in our lives other than we now are getting better sleep…still waking up in the middle of the night but typically that is short lived. I am now to the point that I can officially say that I hate diapers. All types. Sam has started to go on the potty a bit more so things are looking up to some degree.
I have been struggling at work to find the time in the day to get things done. It seems that I am doing a lot of things for free these days….Normally this does not bother me much as you typically are working towards an order but lately it seems we are doing a lot of damage control for projects that have been mis managed or dropped entirely by our project managers or applications people. Our lead time are starting to get drawn out further and further and getting things in a timely manner is usually a major issue today. I guess that this is a good thing as it indicates that the economy is picking up and things are improving.
With the housing market picking itself off the floor in the last 6 months the talk at our house has already started about possible trying to sell again and get into something bigger that makes better since for our family. With the finished lower level it's hopefully going to bring a different set of buyers to the table as we can now sell it as a 3 bedroom. With 1500SQ/Ft of living space it seems that it should be more attractive to potential buyers. Also the builders now in the neighborhood are putting up more and more homes of our size on postage stamp size lots…with cheaper materials and much less quality. That should help us hopefully. We have lots of must haves for the next house and not entirely sure that we will stay in St. Charles. More to come on this topic as the winter winds down.
As far as BBQ is concerned… I have not had much time to get into it with everything that went on this year. It was a pretty busy summer for us and spare time has been at a minimum. I still grill out at least 3 times a week but there is still something special about an all day cooking event….You do need people to eat it however and time to sit back and enjoy it. Something I have noticed is that Lowes and Home Depot tend to not stock charcoal in the winter months which is nuts. For our family there is never an off season of grilling. Rain, Sleet Snow or any other weather event is fair game. I think possibly Christmas Ribs are on the menu this year.
I put the camper to bed for the winter this week after a much more active Season that I expected. I along with a few other friends went back to KC a few weeks ago to attend the fall race at Kansas Speedway. It was a good time and the drinks were poured heavy. It was nice to do something for myself for a few days…again not much time to do those sorts of things anymore. The racing was a bit more entertaining this race than in April but the night time enterintment was a bit less in the campground this time. Not as much rowdy parties and what not. This could be as the Fall race is more a family oriented event as I learned. We rented scanners to add to the experience and it was well worth it. I anticipate that I will be buying season tickets and the camp spot again next season. I also took the rest of the week off of work and stayed home for the first time ever. Typically when I take vacation time it is to go somewhere and being at home with Sam, Max and Ali was actually up there with one of the better vacations I have had. I was able to spend time with the kids without a schedule or Sunday night approaching as it always does. We went to the Zoo, Bowling and the pumpkin patch along with our final weekend of camping at Cuiver River State Park. I really like that place as its only 45 minutes from home and it feels like a world away. Sam is really getting into it too…it's good to see. 
