Yay - more SNOW!!!!!

Ok - for those that are not aware that is what we call some serious sarcasm. I moved to Virginia to get away from shoveling snow. So far this year we have had over 2 feet of snow fall over 3 storms. Yesterday they called for a couple of inches - we had six. Well the good news was it was all snow - spurred on by the fact that it was 5 Fahrenheit. So yeah not only snowy with icy roads but cold - a great Saturday.

Well we made up for it on Sunday - Sunny and almost above freezing. Myself, Laura and the girls went out for burgers at The Counter in Reston, a neat custom burger place with GREAT sweet potato fries. Tika had a great veggie burger and everyone else varied it up. From the reactions everyone liked it.

After lunch we went bowling. We all played the first set of frames and then Sam, myself and Laura played a second set of frames. We won't say who won (me) since we all had fun (I won). Myself and the girls are just playing some Xbox now before they head home.

I am off to Nashville this week so I hope everyone has a good one

.... cu

Haiti Update

I guess everyone has seen the varying news coming out of Haiti. Things, of course, are still very tough but there has been light at different points. Laura's colleagues in Haiti have been doing everything they can to bring aid and support. They have been delivering babies on dining Room tables, perform surgeries on the injured wherever they can and feeding and sheltering the kids that they have been taking care of. Their work has even been featured on NBC and MSNBC.

Laura's colleagues in North Carolina have been gathering supplies to send to Haiti. They have already sent one plane of supplies to Haiti and are preparing to send more medical and water treatment supplies to help address the greatest needs.

Laura said that she has even heard from the Doctors that she has worked with that they want to continue their work on cervical cancer and HPV research. It is hard to believe the dedication of these people but that is oen of the reasons we are always willing to help them where we can.

Lets continue to keep them in our thoughts

.... cu

Sam's Guitar Concert

Tonight was Sam's eighth grade guitar concert. Myself, Tika, Kris and Sam went out for some Thai at Burapa in Lansdowne before the concert - we always enjoy their food. This night Sam and Tika had curry dishes while myself and Kris had chicken dishes. At one point Sam was fooling around, as usual, and started mentioned about counting her alphabet (she had been washing her hands and used the old wash as you say the entire alphabet). It made us chuckle so Sammy started "counting" the alphabet - 1 A 2 B 3 C etc ... and she only missed one or two - LOL. At one point Tika asked her what number S was so Sam thought for a second and came back with 20. Tika was a bit surprised and asked Sammy how many letters were in the alphabet, knowing Sammy counted back from Z. Sammy quickly said 27 and the next thing I knew Tika was laughing so hard she had curry in her nose. Given that it was a hot curry it was less than comfortable but we all laughed - even Tika.

BTW - Sam does know how many letters there are - it turns out Sammy just had a Civics test and was thinking of the number of amendments to the constitution.

Well after dinner it was off to the concert. We met their Mom there and got situated for the quick concert. I managed to get a few videos of the concert:

• This is of one of the other girls in the 8th grade who did a solo of a Dixie Chicks song - sorry that it is askew I am trying to fix
• This video is Sam's class doing a suite of international pieces
• Finally this is Sam's guitar teacher's version of Little Drummer Boy

Sammy did a great job - worry she was in the third row so I could not see her.

OK - off to bed for me

.... cu

Tech update

This is my first blog post from my Android based phone. It is taking a bit to get used to a virtual QWERTY keyboard but the apps certainly outweigh that. I can run with my phone and have it track pace and distance while I listen to Led Zeppelin. While at the Smartgrid conference I can check work email via the phone network or WiFi and keep up on the power industry acronyms. And of course I can blog about it all. Now all I need is to get VPN working on it.

Ok - back to work

.... cu

A day of mixed feelings ....

For those that saw my last post - today should be a very happy day but that happiness is mixed with the tragedy that occurred yesterday in Haiti. The tragedy is magnified as Laura has spent many years working with people in Haiti. She has worked with people in Haiti and organizations that provide services to the Haitian population specifically in the health-care arena. The people in Haiti think so much of Laura that they sent her a hand-made  tree of life sculpture.

As you can imagine when she heard the news yesterday of the massive earthquake she was very concerned. She has heard from a couple of colleagues, one of which left Port-au-prince yesterday, and we have managed to get some news from Haiti. So far the news is not horrific, bad but not horrific, but there are still areas where getting news is difficult at best so we are keeping our hopes as high as we can. If you are interested in following the news you can check the Family Health Ministries website. FHM doctors and staff are some of Laura's closest colleagues. FHM is also one of the charities that Laura supports and if you are inclined I know they would be grateful for the help.

In the meantime please keep the people of Haiti in your thoughts.

Happy Birthday Laura!!!!

Sweetheart, I wanted to let you know how you have changed my life. Each day is an adventure but one I look forward to each and every day. I hope you have a GREAT birthday and I will do everything I can to make it wonderful.

Thank you for being you

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!






and lyrically .... 

I love you

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAM!!!

Well it was one thing to have all teenage girls but now to have my youngest daughter turn 14 and being in the throws of finishing up Middle School means that in 8 months my youngest will be in High School. I hope I do not seem as old as that sounds.

OK - it is not the most flattering picture BUT Sam does want to get into drama next year so her '09 Halloween Jennifer's Body make-up seemed somewhat appropriate for her.

So this afternoon I will pick her up at school and we will go out to dinner and then home to a cake I made for her and a few surprises.I know we will make it a great day.

Happy Birthday Sam - we all love you