Yep. You read that right. I just finished editing and uploading the best shots. Go check it out on Flickr. Really! It’s ok. I promise it’s 100% G-rated. See, look:

My Aunt Jill posted this to Facebook. Now, I don’t usually do these things. They’re long, time consuming, and seriously narcissistic. But this one’s pretty clever and… It’s Aunt Jill, so it’s gotta be cool, right?!

I am very guilty of filling out the ubiquitous facebook list of questions, because, well, who doesn’t like to talk (write) about themselves? But many of these questions are somewhat silly and boring, so I decided to make Jill’s quiz. I challenge all 65 of my facebook friends (Not just the ones that always do these, but the rest of you too!!) to fill it out and post it AND add a question (and answer!) not on there. Ready, set, go!!

Jill’s quiz

1. Favorite word: (This is tough!) Auspicious

2. Worst hair style: The bowl cut I had at ages 0 through 12.

3. First movie that scared you: Jaws. That scene where the dead guy pokes his head out of the hole in the boat. Gheh… still makes me squirm.

4. Favorite quote: Are you kidding me? I’ve got over 400 white board quips. You can’t expect me to have a favorite! How about:
“If God had meant people to run around naked, they’d be born that way!”

5. First big purchase: Well, I did just by a house, but… Probably the $400 Canon Rebel G 35mm camera I bought in Colorado.

6. Best place you ever lived: Colorado Springs!!

7. Most people think you are… Either mildly retarded or really goofy.

8. A surprising book you have read: Surprising because I read it, or the book itself is surprising?? Hmm. How about Stephen King’s “Misery.” It was the first of his books I read and so much more shocking than the movie. She didn’t use a hammer on his foot, people. It was an AXE!!

9. Favorite costume you ever wore: Backwards man. It was the last Halloween on which I actually trick-or-treated… in college… I was 20. *shame*

10. If you could change anything about your home, what would it be? I just moved in! I’ve only just begun to change things!!

11. Funniest thing my kid ever said: “Dude! We should tap-dance!” (Yes, Kason, you are one of my many “chi’ren.”)

12. If I was invited to the Oscars, and my significant other couldn’t go, I would go with: How could I say anything but Drew Barrymore?!

13. Brush with celebrity: Cowboys running-back Tony Dorsett, in a gas station bathroom in Dallas when I was 16 and on my first solo road trip.

14. Most surprising skill: I can jump rope and hula-hoop like a pro. (Thanks public school phys-ed.)

15. Favorite thing on your walls: Real theater movie posters from all three Lord of the Rings movies. (Although technically, they’re only leaning against my wall at the moment.)

16. Most frequent (or favorite) vacation spot: Aspen, CO. Only stayed the night once, but made many drives over Indy Pass when we lived in the Springs.

17. Why do you do the job you do? Alt-N has the best culture of any company I’ve worked for (or heard of for that matter). I love figuring out difficult problems and making the website do amazing things. Plus, the better I do my job, the more money the company makes and the more fun stuff we all get to do. (Lake party!!)

18. If you could have a talent you don’t have, what would it be? There are talents I don’t have?! Seriously though, I want be able to play anything I want on the guitar.

19. What decision changed your life? Deciding to move to Colorado Springs and “start over.”

20. One word or phrase that says something about you in each time period that applies — Teens: Stupid, 20’s: Adventurous 30’s: Blessed, 40’s: I’ll have to get back to you on that.

21. Best birthday: 12th when I got my own motorcycle. (Living in the country has its perks!)

22. Best present: Well, there was that motorcycle. But probably the picture frame filled with pictures of a bunch of my “chi’ren” that I got last year. (Thanks, Katie!)

23. Most interesting thing about my siblings is: Sabra is a college professor! She doesn’t seem to like it much, but I think it’s awesome!

24. Place you want to go: Ireland.

25. What would you change about your life? Many times I think about how different my life would be if I hadn’t made so many stupid mistakes when I was young. But, those mistakes led me to where I am and I am very happy. So, I guess, nothing. No! Wait! Washboard abs! YEAH!

Don’t forget to add your own question and answer.
26. Worst mistake you ever made: Getting physically involved with my high school girlfriend… then marrying her out of guilt. Worst three years of my life!

I know that a large majority of Americans take home ownership for granted. But for Tammy and I, the reality is still sinking in. We’ve been married just over 10 years. I’ve been living away from my parents for over 15 years (not counting 2002… *shudder*). In all that time, we’ve lived in apartments or rented houses, never anything we could consider “ours.”

The notion that, if I really wanted to, I could paint eight-foot-tall daisies on the walls and knock some walls out to make room for a colossal slot car track and no one could stop me or kick me out for violating a lease agreement… it boggles the mind.

Then there’s flip-side: The notion that if something breaks, if the water heater explodes, if the roof falls in, it’s up to me to fix it, or pay for it to be fixed… That’s down right horrifying.

To be honest, even though I’m 35-years-old (and a half), I don’t feel like I’m really grown up enough to own my own home. The whole process of house hunting, financing, and closing went smoothly, and I understood most of it, but at the same time, it was all kind of surreal. It’s hard to put it to words, but this comic from xkcd hit the nail squarely on the head.

That’s exactly how I feel.

We used to get in trouble in school for copying. Now, it’s how most programmers make their living! Can’t figure out how to make that div tag line up? Google-Copy-Paste. Can’t get your objects to serialize? Google-Copy-Paste. Can’t get your database query to work? Google-Copy-Paste.

There’s lots of talk about intellectual property and copyright infringement. But the fact is, in the world of software development, 99% of what you see is copied, massaged, reworked, preexisting code. It even has its own made-up word. It’s called “googlegramming” (i.e. programming via Google). This is a dirty word in development circles as it implies that a “googlegrammer” doesn’t really know how to write code. They just know how to copy and paste. These guys are always using a hammer to drive in a screw, metaphorically speaking. I’ve worked with some and its extremely frustrating.

But, is all googlegramming a bad thing? No. I don’t think so. You can take old code and use it to do something new and innovative. That, to me, is when googlegramming is allowed, nay, encouraged. (Although most would argue that this goes beyond the definition of the new, made-up word.) Using canned code is a great way to speed up development of a new creation. As the chair of the Comp-Sci department once told me, “Plagiarism is the highest form of productivity!”

And if you think this is a new phenomenon, check out this amazing youtube video that proves that Disney knew a thing or two about productivity long before the personal computer existed.

Life is slowing regaining normalcy in our home. Last night we were finally both home right after work, with food in the frig, and a working kitchen in which to cook it.

In reference to my previous post about the mixer, Tammy used her mom’s recipe for from-scratch, mashed potatoes and improved on it! The mixer worked wonderfully. She prepared an excellent meal. You go girl!

Some of my liberal friends plead with me to stop watching Fox News and listening to Rush. They’re going to have to expand their list to include the Vancouver Sun which reported today that Canada’s socialized health care system is likely to cut thousands of surgeries due to budget shortfalls.

“Vancouver patients needing neurosurgery, treatment for vascular diseases and other medically necessary procedures can expect to wait longer for care … [The health authority] is considering chopping more than 6,000 surgeries in an effort to make up for a dramatic budgetary shortfall…”

Yeah, you’re right, though. I’m sure ObamaCare will be nothing like that. Cuz’, ya know, our government is much better at running business.

She finally got it.

Tammy promised me years ago that when we bought a house, she’d learn to cook. (Not that she can’t cook now, it’s just… well… not worth explaining really.)

When we started serious house shopping about six months ago, she got all bedazzled by the latest kitchen envy item, a Kitchen Aid mixer. They’re everywhere! Walmart, Lowes, Kohls, everywhere! And everywhere we went, she would ooh and ahh and tell me that if she only had one of those, she could cook all kinds of great stuff in our new kitchen. When I asked for something more specific than “stuff”, I seldom got a satisfactory answer, but who needs specifics?

Two weeks ago, we finally got our new kitchen. So far, I’ve used the microwave once, and the stove and oven have yet to be turned on. This is nothing against Tammy, though. We are just honestly way too busy. We finally hit the grocery story yesterday (after nearly a month) just to buy the essentials.

This weekend, I gave Tammy her heart’s desire. We brought home a mixer. It’s black, to match our shiny new frig. (I refuse to spell it “fridge” because it’s not a “refridgerator” it’s a refrigerator!) I’ll try to remember to report back to you how this culinary magic machine effects our dining choices.

This brings us to this week’s white board quip, which concerns cake (something the mixer could actually help):

You can’t have cake for breakfast… unless it’s a pancake.
– Jim Gaffigan

What an amazing week! Last Monday we closed on our first house. (Thank you, taxpayers, for your $8000 donation to our savings account.) While the house is beautiful and in relatively good shape, it was not “move in ready.” Monday through Friday nights I was there until midnight or later cleaning and doing minor repairs. I went to Lowes at least once a day.

Friday was the big day for me. Work From Home Friday was spent at the house. Internet set up and cable installed (with all new cat-5 wiring) courtesy of AT&T U-Verse. I was able to check work email by lunch time. Blackmon Mooring was on hand to clean the air ducts and carpets. (The previous owners were clean people, but their black lab left persistent black hairs everywhere.) And Lowes delivered our new, french-door, black refrigerator.

Saturday was the big move. With great help from good friends, we got everything out of the apartment by about 4PM. Then Tammy and I spent the evening unpacking. We got the master bedroom, master bath, and kitchen operational before we crashed into bed. It was our first night in the new place, which is always awkward, but we were so tired, we slept through all the new noises.

Sunday, after church, we did a marathon session in the apartment, cleaning every nook and cranny, then touching up the paint. By 9PM Sunday night, we were ready to never see that apartment again.

There’s still so much to do, but at least we are living in our new home!!

I have to give “props” to all the friends who pitched in. Without you guys, we could not have done this. Brenda and Brittany Olson and Kiersten Harkins helped us clean the new house. Vaughn Hardman mowed our yard. Caleb Barlow, Russ and Carole Peddy, and their boys Jordan and Aaron helped us move.

P.S. The garage is still a mess. Last night, while trying to organize it, I pulled a muscle in my lower back. I’m still trying to figure out how to stretch it and what sitting position hurts the least. If you see me walking funny or grimacing for no aparent reason, you’ll know why.

I think, deep down, I posted this just to get “It’s A Small World” stuck in somebody’s head. Please comment if I succeeded.

It’s a small world, but I wouldn’t want to have to paint it.
– Steven Wright

New York anniversary trip pictures uploaded to Flickr, not all tagged and described yet.

Youth “80’s Tacky Prom” pictures uploaded to Flickr.

Middle school mission trip pictures off loaded from camera. Video not so much.

Last rent paid on apartment. Carpet cleaner and move-out inspection scheduled for next week.

House closed! (w00t!) Less than half cleaned. Lot’s of little repair jobs to do yet. Half of boxes moved. Carpet cleaner, air duct cleaner, cable/internet guy, and refrigerator delivery all scheduled for Friday morning. (Ack!)

Major project at work at least two weeks behind with delivery date in less than a month. (Double ack!)

Surfing, blogging, TV, sleeping, and weight watchers all significantly curtailed or cancelled completely.

Folllow Twitter to keep up with this crazy life.

Now, what the heck am I going to have for breakfast with an empty cupboard? (Feeling a bit like Old Mother Hubbard.)