Thursday, March 13, 2008

34

Another birthday has nearly come and gone. And I'm happy. When I was a youngster I thought that the only things I wanted in life would be a good wife and a nice car. And I have that. Anke is a good woman and wife. Things aren't always all peaches and cream with us, but right now they are pretty good. I'm a believer that happiness is a choice. Of course there can be barriers to this, like financial difficulties or finding out you spouse isn't who you thought you married as has happened to a couple of friends of mine. Luckily I'm not really burdened by those things. And it is luck. I could have easily ended up with a different career that paid less well. There are girls that I might have married that would have resulted in much rockier relationships. Anke and I aren't rich, but we earn enough that money isn't an issue. A lot of that is that we do live rather more frugally than we have to. Anke and I have also evolved as we've been married. Together in some ways, apart in others. But we both want it to work out, so we try to make it work through difficult parts.

At work today I think I've found a solution to an issue that has been plaguing me. I haven't coded, let alone tested it yet so it can all still go sideways on me. But I think it'll work and that makes me feel good about myself and getting that damn project done.

I don't feel like I thought a someone in their mid 30's should feel like. I feel as spry as I ever have, aside from the occasional back and knee pain. I feel young still. And that's good.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Peace with the Opossum

This little fella was clearly just a wayfarer and not some rogue raider like others that will remain nameless. I let him travel in peace.

War with the Raccoons

So Sunday night we hear this loud banging rumbling sound at around 3ish AM. I'm not quite sure what it is, but I really should find out. Our fear is that our furnace is about to blow up as it's nearly 30 years old and all. But first I check in Corwin's room as occasionally he'll go a bumpin' in the night. He was sound asleep, sans blankets. So I cover him and move on down the the basement and check the furnace. It's running fine as usual. No bumps or explosions.

I check out the front door and don't hear anything. I check out the back deck door. And there is a raccoon on the deck railing trying to eat the woodpecker suet cake. I run back in the house to get the camera, but when I return he buggers out down the deck support pole.

Monday night, he is at it again but this time he's after the seed in the swanky bird feeder. It really makes quite a racket as the tree is just outside of our bedroom window. But it's nearly empty of seed so we go back to bed when they quiet down.

Yesterday I refill the bird feeder and move it further away from the deck railing, hoping that he can't reach it there. More clattering sounds at 3 am again. Louder than ever. This time he's invited a friend to come along. As I look out the bedroom window one of them is in the tree, shaking the bird feeder for all it's worth. The other one is trying to get at the suet cake. I bang on the window to scare them away. They proceed to ignore me.

So I stumble down the stairs open the door and find one of them has taken off. But the other is hanging out in the tree, cool as you please. So I wander back in and find the little point and shoot, cause there is no focusing the DSLR in this dark. So I snap a couple of photos. Then I roar like a great ogre, flailing my arms. He just looks at me like I'm some lunatic. And a harmless lunatic at that, cause he isn't running.

I think the better of engaging him in hand to mouth combat, because he has sharp little pointy teeth and eyes that glow with the fire of Beelzebub. That raccoons dynamite! I think a broom vs. a raccoon will even the odds in my favor. I run in the house and get the broom and return to the deck. When I return he's advanced on the door, surely thinking he's scared me off. But when he sees me return wearing nothing but glasses and boxer briefs wielding a green broom, he knows it's better to cut his losses and run. I swing at him whacking the deck a few times but he gets away. As he stops halfway across the yard to glare at me, I whack the deck railing again with the broom making a most satisfactory sound. He hightails it for the forest after that.

As I return to bed, victorious, Anke tells me that I'm much louder with a broom than the raccoon raiding bird vittles. Ungrateful wench. I bet she couldn't do half so well with a mop.

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Squirrels!

The squirrels are under the impression that spring is coming. They've been more active recently.


I'm so happy that there is a black squirrel living in the forest behind my house.


His coloring is really awesome.

If you look closely you'll notice that there's a red squirrel glass squirrel house.

Life

I've been feeling a bit down lately. Anke's paternal grandmother has been ill lately. We fear that when we visited at Christmas will be the last time that we meet her. My Dad had accident with his truck a few weeks ago, so he's been off the road during that time. That weighs on my mind. One of my retaining walls behind the house is deteriorating. We knew when we bought the house that it'd have to be redone at some point, we just didn't think that point would come so soon. We're going to go with the lowest bidder- still being 4K- to fix the wall and hope that'll hold until Corwin is in school. After that we'll have more disposable income to rebuild the wall completely. The drain for my drive way is currently frozen shut, so I've been fighting the thawing snow that pools into ice at night at the bottom of my driveway. And I discovered this week, that by clicking the wrong button while signing up for group benefits this fall, I diverted $2000 from my HSA plan into a limited benefit FSA plan. The HSA plan can be used for health care expenses, builds interest, and rolls over from year to year. The limited benefit FSA plan can only be used for dental or vision expenses. Doesn't earn interest. And doesn't roll over. On the bright side, it looks like I'll be getting that lasik surgery for my eyes a few years sooner than anticipated.

Life isn't all bad though. Corwin and Conrad are doing well. Conrad moved into his room this week, and has been sleeping pretty well after the first night. We've been doing some more decorating around the house. We got a couple of our nice but not worth much German prints framed and hung up. I'm happy with how they look. Anke is doing well also aside from general exhaustion. My new laptop should be arriving tomorrow. I went with a Dell XPS over a Macbook Pro and Sony Vaio. The day after I ordered the Dell, Apple introduced upgraded Macbooks. Grrrrr. I don't know that I would have ordered the Macbook Pro, but it would have been something else to think about.

Fontenelle Forest a couple of weeks ago. I love the matching coat and boots.

Corwin after his bath

We spent Saturday at the Durham Western Heritage Museum Saturday. Lots of trains (model and full size) meant that Corwin loved the place much more than one might have expected.

Conrad tries to steal some of Mommie's rice at the Thai Kitchen.

Corwin on his little bike.

Conrad and Anke.

Bad things happen to everyone, but posting and looking at these photos remind me that I am truly lucky and blessed. I have a wife and children that love me. And that's only the people in these pictures. There are parents, a brother, in-laws and friends too.