2010 January: Bates

Well, I've been a busy bee.

I am working on several side-project websites (some of my own, and some as favors to other people). So that has encompassed most of my free time.

We've also been passing a cold back and forth between us, so we've been pretty sick and tired recently. Orianna is starting to feel better though, so hopefully we will get more sleep because she wont be up as much at night.

In the entertainment realm, I bought Lego-Star-Wars for the Wii, so I've played that most everytime Orianna has kept me up at night. It is entertaining to play, and cutsie enough that it distracts Orianna from feeling sick.

I also ventured a Wal-Mart visit at 2AM to get some more orange juice for Orianna, and I discovered an amazing fact: Walmart has AMAZING deals... at 2AM. We usually shop about 6PM on a weekday or 10AM on a Saturday. I always see these empty racks with $1 - $7 signs... but nothing except XXXXL clothing is ever on them. Well, at 2AM these racks are populated with cheap clothing and doodads. I ended up buying Orianna several $1 shirts, several $2-$3 dresses, and myself several $2-$5 shirts. So, the next time I want to go clothes shopping, it will be at 2AM.

Tamara had her first doctor's visit, and the ultrasound is scheduled for next week, but we aren't finding out the gender (at least not from the technician, but I'll review the DVD to see if I can figure it out on my own).

Cheers,
-Rob, Tamara, Orianna, *expected-one*

2010 January: North

Sorry I’m late this month. Things have really been piling up. I’m sure I’m not alone in that sentiment. This has been an unusual winter for Southern West Virginia. My neighbor said today that in a normal winter the occasional 3-inch snow fall is big for them. This year we have had nothing but snow and cloud cover. Church has been cancelled 3 times due to the weather, and tomorrow we are only having sacrament meeting. The school kids in the area are probably going to have to make up snow days during the summer because they’ve missed so many. This is a very rural area and it takes a long time to get all the little windy roads cleared off. Friday afternoon I braved the storm and went and bought snow chains so that if there ever was an emergency we could get around. We put them on for a test drive and I felt like I was in a tank, I plowed through snow piles, and crawled up the steep icy hill in front of our house. When you drive on asphalt you still feel like you’re in a tank because the car bounces around a lot. Becky made me come home before I tried anything too crazy…it’s probably a good thing.

I’m keeping up in school. It is sometimes long and painful. I’ve been sitting at this computer all day doing homework and taxes (it’s now 7pm and my brain is fried). We just finished one of our biggest classes for 1st year students. I think I got an A, it’s kind of exciting. Usually when one class finishes another one starts to take its place, but for my particular track nothing is taking its place for a couple of months. That means that I don’t have to go in to school on Tuesdays. I can do all my work from home. Beautiful!

Becky is still working at the pediatric dentist’s office. The dentist just had a baby last week and so she is relying on Becky quite a bit. She must have seen that Becky is someone she can trust. Becky likes the people she works with and is learning some very valuable skills.

We hope everything is going well for you all.

Godbless,

Stewart and Becky