Today commemorates the 7th anniversary of me coming to terms with the fact that I was going to lose my hair. Thus, in a preemptive strike, I shaved my head. I had only planned on seeing what I was going to look like when the baldness came, but even after letting my hair grow for 7-8 months afterwards, it was never quite the same. That is the only time I've let my hair grow for more than 2-3 months (usually 6 weeks) since that first cut.
So this morning, I celebrated this tradition and shaved it all back off.
Tammy's making candied yams for dinner today while I'm making pumpkin pies. I'll have pictures (and if you're good I may even share my recipe) later.
I just wanted to make sure I got the Happy Thanksgiving out there before the day got away from me.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Seriously, So Blessed
Ok, so I decided I didn't have enough blogs to read, and I have friends who have blogs that I didn't know about, so I started looking around. Checking blogs that my friends read, and trying to find other people I know or, at the very least, interesting blogs to read.
From Steph's blog I found Christi's blog. And from Christi's blog I found Seriously, so Blessed.
I don't know who she is (from what I have seen, NOBODY knows), and I'm ok with that. She's a local blogger who has taken it upon herself to satire the "mormon blogger mom." And she's hilarious.
Check her out at http://seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com
Tammy and I have been sitting here reading and laughing (often hysterically) when we should have been getting ready for church. Tammy finally dragged herself into the shower commenting on how I needed to get the princess into a dress.
So I wrote this blog instead. The shower just turned off, so I guess I had better get moving if I want to be less than 20 minutes late.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Family Update
Ok, so here's the latest on the Casper Family:
Tammy is working from home, doing some data entry. She has also been interviewed (and possibly hired, pending the results of a drug test) for a second from-home job doing customer service. The data entry work is paid pre-tax (so I get to figure that out, yay!), and doesn't have any insurance benefits. The CS job does have benes, but they don't start for 90 days.
This leaves me in a bind... Zion's offers some of the most ridiculous health care options I've ever heard of (only slightly cheaper than Cobra). For $200-300/month in premiums, we can have somewhere between 25% and 75% coverage on any medical expenses that exceed $5,000-$10,000 in the calendar year. This means we have to pay, minimum, $200 every month to the insurance company in order to guarantee partial coverage of expenses incurred in excess of, again minimum, $5,000. They offer no co-pays. It's all out of pocket until we reach the $5,000 mark. Then they cover a range between 1/4 and 3/4 of our expenses.
My question is this: In what way is this insurance? Other than being able to document "coverage" so that when we get real coverage we can prove that we don't have "pre-existing" conditions, this is hardly insurance at all. It's a scam. I even called Cigna and Aetna to double-check with them that I was reading the benefits chart correctly. The Customer Service people I spoke with were as shocked as I was. They verified I was reading it correctly, but they said they had never heard of such awful plans, and had no idea that their companies were involved in something so terrible.
If I go with Zion's I'm locked into it until next November unless I quit, which is at least a possibility, as I've applied with UTA to become a bus driver (better pay, better insurance, and I'd get to drive around all day). If I don't go with Zions then I really need to hurry up and find another provider till Tammy's benefits kick in at the new job.
On a lighter note:
We went out to dinner tonight at Chili's with my Wife's local family for her brother-in-law's birthday. Cordelia got a little plastic cup of water, pretty tightly sealed, and she brought it home with her. She accidentally dropped it on the livingroom floor as I was closing the door behind us. No big deal, I thought, the cup didn't come open, and only a couple of drops of water escaped (which I didn't even notice, frankly), so I picked up the cup and put it somewhere safe.
As Tammy went to the bathroom to floss some chicken out of her teeth and I was distracted by something else for a minute, Cordy went into the kitchen, retrieved the mop, and brought it to her little spilled droplets. She efficiently missed every one of them, as she pushed the towering mop-handle around without an ounce of dexterity, but with a barge-load of heart and enthusiasm...
I just love that kid.
On a completely unrelated note:
I just posted my first book review to my Once Upon a Time... blog ( http://bookoobooks.blogspot.com ). I don't plan on updating this blog every time I update that blog, but since it's new, I thought it couldn't hurt if I did once or twice.
Tammy is working from home, doing some data entry. She has also been interviewed (and possibly hired, pending the results of a drug test) for a second from-home job doing customer service. The data entry work is paid pre-tax (so I get to figure that out, yay!), and doesn't have any insurance benefits. The CS job does have benes, but they don't start for 90 days.
This leaves me in a bind... Zion's offers some of the most ridiculous health care options I've ever heard of (only slightly cheaper than Cobra). For $200-300/month in premiums, we can have somewhere between 25% and 75% coverage on any medical expenses that exceed $5,000-$10,000 in the calendar year. This means we have to pay, minimum, $200 every month to the insurance company in order to guarantee partial coverage of expenses incurred in excess of, again minimum, $5,000. They offer no co-pays. It's all out of pocket until we reach the $5,000 mark. Then they cover a range between 1/4 and 3/4 of our expenses.
My question is this: In what way is this insurance? Other than being able to document "coverage" so that when we get real coverage we can prove that we don't have "pre-existing" conditions, this is hardly insurance at all. It's a scam. I even called Cigna and Aetna to double-check with them that I was reading the benefits chart correctly. The Customer Service people I spoke with were as shocked as I was. They verified I was reading it correctly, but they said they had never heard of such awful plans, and had no idea that their companies were involved in something so terrible.
If I go with Zion's I'm locked into it until next November unless I quit, which is at least a possibility, as I've applied with UTA to become a bus driver (better pay, better insurance, and I'd get to drive around all day). If I don't go with Zions then I really need to hurry up and find another provider till Tammy's benefits kick in at the new job.
On a lighter note:
We went out to dinner tonight at Chili's with my Wife's local family for her brother-in-law's birthday. Cordelia got a little plastic cup of water, pretty tightly sealed, and she brought it home with her. She accidentally dropped it on the livingroom floor as I was closing the door behind us. No big deal, I thought, the cup didn't come open, and only a couple of drops of water escaped (which I didn't even notice, frankly), so I picked up the cup and put it somewhere safe.
As Tammy went to the bathroom to floss some chicken out of her teeth and I was distracted by something else for a minute, Cordy went into the kitchen, retrieved the mop, and brought it to her little spilled droplets. She efficiently missed every one of them, as she pushed the towering mop-handle around without an ounce of dexterity, but with a barge-load of heart and enthusiasm...
I just love that kid.
On a completely unrelated note:
I just posted my first book review to my Once Upon a Time... blog ( http://bookoobooks.blogspot.com ). I don't plan on updating this blog every time I update that blog, but since it's new, I thought it couldn't hurt if I did once or twice.
Friday, November 21, 2008
My New Blog
Ok, this is just a quick heads-up for anybody who is interested. I just started a new blog for books I'm reading. I'll read 'em, I'll post about 'em, I'll probably go on and on about some of them.
The blog address is http://bookoobooks.blogspot.com
Everybody is welcome to comment, criticize, recommend, etc.
That is all.
The blog address is http://bookoobooks.blogspot.com
Everybody is welcome to comment, criticize, recommend, etc.
That is all.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Update
Hey, so it's been a while since I posted, and I think I'm not going to post much right now, just wanted to bump myself back to the top of any lists I might be on, so nobody out there who might occasionally think about us forgets we are here.
Here is a cute pic of Cordy taken while I was making breakfast. I thought it would be cute to hand her the pancake flipper for the picture. When I stepped away from her to take the picture, she was hard at work making sure the eggs didn't over-cook.
Here is a cute pic of Cordy taken while I was making breakfast. I thought it would be cute to hand her the pancake flipper for the picture. When I stepped away from her to take the picture, she was hard at work making sure the eggs didn't over-cook.
Get this... not a single yolk was broken. She's got the touch.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Winter is Upon Us
Wednesday, I was in the shower when I noticed the vague and distorted image making its way through the bathroom window didn't have the usual color-scheme. I immediately suspected snow. Cracking the window a bit, I looked out and was shocked to see that it wasn't just a little snow; the entire neighborhood was blanketed in 3-4 inches of powder.
I shut off the water and hurriedly dressed and got outside to shovel the driveway. You see, in that very moment Tammy was getting Cordelia ready to go to grandma Lynda's house. Grandma was taking all her grandchildren, of whom Cordy is the oldest at 22 months (Garrett is pushing for 5 months, and Madison is barely 3), to get their pictures taken together. Madison had made a special trip out from Virginia for this opportunity (not to mention poor Patty – Madison's mom – is all alone at home right now, because Chad – Tammy's brother – is crazy-busy during election season). I needed to get the driveway clear before Tammy left.
If you never shovel, or just don't have to shovel the driveway clear of snow at your own house, you may not immediately understand why I was in such a hurry. So let me explain: Clearing snow while it is still fluffy and powdery, or even if it's crusty and icy, is always much easier before it gets compressed under 2-3 tons of steel and fiberglass concentrated over 192 square inches of rolling galvanized rubber. Sure, compressed ice can be cleared away, without too much difficulty, with a metal shovel, and I'll certainly have plenty of opportunities to do it that way over the next several months, but why not take the opportunity to avoid that mess when I can?
Anyway, I got it all cleared out of the way before they left, so good on me.
Then yesterday Cordelia found her Disney Princess shoes (which are velcro and still a tad big for her), and slipped them on. She then grabbed Tammy, who was still in her sleepin' clothes and tried dragging her by the thumb out the front door. Since I was already mostly dressed, I convinced her that I'd be more fun outside, so she helped me find my shoes, and she found my jacket for me (she's a very good helper, you see). After switching her shoes to the right feet, I grabbed the leash and we took Argos for a walk around the block.
Argos was almost immediately frustrated, though he would never admit it, since he likes to walk briskly when we go. Cordelia's idea of hurrying is a really cute attempt at running consisting of throwing one foot in front of the other haphazardly in a really awkward, yet adorable, speed-walk. Besides, she was in no hurry. She stopped to step and stomp on every stray chunk of snow that had found its way onto the sidewalk. What would normally be a 5 minute walk around the block, 3 if Argos is to be kept happy, took us the better part of 15-20 minutes at Cordy's distracted-munchkin pace.
When we got back to the house, she still wasn't ready to go inside, so I let the dog in and let Cordy try to drag me around the block again. I stopped her at the property line and instead made a snowball that I threw at her. She thought that was hilarious, so we started making snowballs to throw at Argos who was staring dejectedly at us out the front window.
Cordy's unfortunately tiny hands aren't capable of turning fluffy powder into solid masses of snowy ice, so I was quickly converted from a daddy into a snowball manufactory dedicated to the cause of supplying my offspring with ammunition that never launched straight. That got old after a grueling 20 seconds and I started rolling my next snowball into a snowman body. Cordelia was momentarily upset by this change, until she realized daddy was making a big ball (“bau?” she said). The snow was PERFECT yesterday. The snowman took me no more than 5 minutes to build. The hardest part was rolling his lower segment up our steep front yard so he could stay in the shade of the house and hopefully last a few days.
Anyway, here's a picture!
By the way, he's currently faceless, because I was getting concerned by Cordelia's purpling hands. She has mittens, but since we hadn't been planning on playing in the snow, and she had been in such a hurry to leave, we didn't bother finding them. And since she freaked out for the two seconds it took me to fetch the camera, I don't imagine I could have spent any time looking for them once we had started playing in the snow, either.
I shut off the water and hurriedly dressed and got outside to shovel the driveway. You see, in that very moment Tammy was getting Cordelia ready to go to grandma Lynda's house. Grandma was taking all her grandchildren, of whom Cordy is the oldest at 22 months (Garrett is pushing for 5 months, and Madison is barely 3), to get their pictures taken together. Madison had made a special trip out from Virginia for this opportunity (not to mention poor Patty – Madison's mom – is all alone at home right now, because Chad – Tammy's brother – is crazy-busy during election season). I needed to get the driveway clear before Tammy left.
If you never shovel, or just don't have to shovel the driveway clear of snow at your own house, you may not immediately understand why I was in such a hurry. So let me explain: Clearing snow while it is still fluffy and powdery, or even if it's crusty and icy, is always much easier before it gets compressed under 2-3 tons of steel and fiberglass concentrated over 192 square inches of rolling galvanized rubber. Sure, compressed ice can be cleared away, without too much difficulty, with a metal shovel, and I'll certainly have plenty of opportunities to do it that way over the next several months, but why not take the opportunity to avoid that mess when I can?
Anyway, I got it all cleared out of the way before they left, so good on me.
Then yesterday Cordelia found her Disney Princess shoes (which are velcro and still a tad big for her), and slipped them on. She then grabbed Tammy, who was still in her sleepin' clothes and tried dragging her by the thumb out the front door. Since I was already mostly dressed, I convinced her that I'd be more fun outside, so she helped me find my shoes, and she found my jacket for me (she's a very good helper, you see). After switching her shoes to the right feet, I grabbed the leash and we took Argos for a walk around the block.
Argos was almost immediately frustrated, though he would never admit it, since he likes to walk briskly when we go. Cordelia's idea of hurrying is a really cute attempt at running consisting of throwing one foot in front of the other haphazardly in a really awkward, yet adorable, speed-walk. Besides, she was in no hurry. She stopped to step and stomp on every stray chunk of snow that had found its way onto the sidewalk. What would normally be a 5 minute walk around the block, 3 if Argos is to be kept happy, took us the better part of 15-20 minutes at Cordy's distracted-munchkin pace.
When we got back to the house, she still wasn't ready to go inside, so I let the dog in and let Cordy try to drag me around the block again. I stopped her at the property line and instead made a snowball that I threw at her. She thought that was hilarious, so we started making snowballs to throw at Argos who was staring dejectedly at us out the front window.
Cordy's unfortunately tiny hands aren't capable of turning fluffy powder into solid masses of snowy ice, so I was quickly converted from a daddy into a snowball manufactory dedicated to the cause of supplying my offspring with ammunition that never launched straight. That got old after a grueling 20 seconds and I started rolling my next snowball into a snowman body. Cordelia was momentarily upset by this change, until she realized daddy was making a big ball (“bau?” she said). The snow was PERFECT yesterday. The snowman took me no more than 5 minutes to build. The hardest part was rolling his lower segment up our steep front yard so he could stay in the shade of the house and hopefully last a few days.
Anyway, here's a picture!
By the way, he's currently faceless, because I was getting concerned by Cordelia's purpling hands. She has mittens, but since we hadn't been planning on playing in the snow, and she had been in such a hurry to leave, we didn't bother finding them. And since she freaked out for the two seconds it took me to fetch the camera, I don't imagine I could have spent any time looking for them once we had started playing in the snow, either.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Halloween
So Halloween was kind of a joke this year, but Cordelia had fun and that's what is really important. Tammy and I had a miscommunication about Cordelia's costume. I was under the impression that she and her mom were working on a costume for Cordy, so I didn't really think twice about it. Tammy, on the other hand doesn't really get into Halloween the way I usually do, so she didn't think it was a big deal if there wasn't a special fun costume. So since I had boughten Cordelia a Halloween outfit (orange with little black cats) a few weeks ago, Tammy had just been planning on putting her in that outfit and then draping her in a black cape that her mom had made for her when she was about Cordelia's age.
When I found that out, on Halloween, I accepted it, because honestly that had been one of the possibilities we had discussed, and then just saying she was "Halloweeny, the Great Pumpkin's Consort" or something like that.
So, as things seem to happen around Cordy, the black cape went missing. We searched high and low for it at my in-law's house with no luck. By the time I got home to get Tam and Cor, we were already half-an-hour late for the Trunk or Treat at our ward, and since the people in charge of organizing the activity this year had opted for 1 hour Trunk or Treat, so that people could go home and man their doors for the kids who weren't coming to the ward, we were running a bit behind schedule.
Sadly, there wasn't a big turn out for the Trunk or Treat this year (last year it was huge... but we also had dinner served before hand, and it lasted 2-3 hours).
When we finished with the trunk or treat, we made tracks for Grandma and Grandpa Healy's house, where Cordy did some more Trick or Treating at Grandma's and then at the next door neighbor's (where she had never been before, but decided it would be ok to walk past the owners and head up the stairs).
After the Healy's we decided to run past Grandpa Ron's house, but he wasn't home from work yet, so we stopped at Teri Gwynn's house just up the street. For any who don't know, Teri's daughter Cindy is married to my brother Stanley, so they're family. While we were visiting, Cordelia decided to unload her spoils right on Teri's floor and start sorting and organizing them.
When I found that out, on Halloween, I accepted it, because honestly that had been one of the possibilities we had discussed, and then just saying she was "Halloweeny, the Great Pumpkin's Consort" or something like that.
So, as things seem to happen around Cordy, the black cape went missing. We searched high and low for it at my in-law's house with no luck. By the time I got home to get Tam and Cor, we were already half-an-hour late for the Trunk or Treat at our ward, and since the people in charge of organizing the activity this year had opted for 1 hour Trunk or Treat, so that people could go home and man their doors for the kids who weren't coming to the ward, we were running a bit behind schedule.
Sadly, there wasn't a big turn out for the Trunk or Treat this year (last year it was huge... but we also had dinner served before hand, and it lasted 2-3 hours).
When we finished with the trunk or treat, we made tracks for Grandma and Grandpa Healy's house, where Cordy did some more Trick or Treating at Grandma's and then at the next door neighbor's (where she had never been before, but decided it would be ok to walk past the owners and head up the stairs).
After the Healy's we decided to run past Grandpa Ron's house, but he wasn't home from work yet, so we stopped at Teri Gwynn's house just up the street. For any who don't know, Teri's daughter Cindy is married to my brother Stanley, so they're family. While we were visiting, Cordelia decided to unload her spoils right on Teri's floor and start sorting and organizing them.
Once we finished visiting with Teri, Thomas, and Shayleen, we were headed out and planning on just going home, but as we buckled our seat-belts, Grandpa Ron pulled into his driveway and we stopped to visit a few minutes with him. While visiting, Grandpa put some food out for Patches, the cat who at the best of times won't let anybody, even the people she knows and trusts best, pet her. But since she was hungry, she did the unimaginable: She let a small child pet her! This picture was taken after she realized that it wasn't me touching her, so she was exhibiting a little skittishness.
And, as is my nature, I have a video for you. This is a couple of videos spliced together, the first part is from earlier in the month. Lynda (grandma Healy) had just bought a door decoration that plays "Gouls Just Want to Have Fun", and Cordelia decided to choreograph a Monster Mash-ish dance to go along with it. The second half is the dark, oh-so-dark, attempt at capturing the baby's first night Trick or Treat-ing.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Stills
Ok, so I promised to put some stills in the blog this time, but what can I say, I love to be technologically with-the-times. So I compromised. Here is a slide-show I put together made up of various pictures taken starting the day Cordelia was born up until a couple of weeks ago. Please note, not all of these pictures are in chronological order, so if she looks suddenly younger it's because I put the photo in the wrong place. Please forgive me.
The music I put this slide show to is "The Red Aspens" from the album "Key of Sea" by Jennifer Thomas. This was done without prior permission from Jennifer, however she has since given consent (as noted in the comments).
Please visit her site: http://www.jenniferthomasmusic.com and if you like her music, buy it. I do, and I did.
I'll be adding a Halloween post soon, though I'm not sure when. I got a very brief video of Cordelia at Trunk or Treat, but we'll have to see if the light from my camera is bright enough to have made the video watchable.
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