Spawn and Swag
Well, Erin turned *cough cough* on Friday, and was sick... so spent about twenty minutes playing Guitar Hero 2 on her new Playstation2. Her brother spent about the same amount of time playing the game, apparently Guitar Hero 2 has more rock ballads (that I grew up with) than Guitar Hero 3 (which is what introduced Erin to the Guitar Hero games), causing him to want to play Erin's version - and, apparently, his guitar is not working properly anymore.
I think, after I spent a good portion of the day making large messes with a dual layer cake and homemade butter frosting, the outcome was a good day for Erin. No, there were no balloons (gross) or streamers (ACK!!!), but I did try to make the day special for her and I hope that I succeeded.
Apparently, my shifting away from my avoiding birthdays-slash-holidays to make something special for her helps reaffirm that I am going to be a good papa, father, padre, male-parent, and etc.
We didn't go see the play we were meant to see on Friday night (because of illness), which didn't bother me so much... I was just trying to make the night special. Erin's brother did come over (already said that) and hung out for a while, until one of his friends called and he took off to hang out (and probably play more Guitar Hero)... I got Bajio, which is always fun - especially when they overfill my order and I can't eat it all.
On Saturday, we basically hung out around the house before heading north to Logan. Logan is a long, long, long drive from Provo; but we were (a little) obligated to go and support one of Erin's friends who is performing with the Young Ambassador's this year. The YA's are a group that sing and dance, according to a theme, for groups of people and, every year, travel to a distant country singing and dancing as a means of sharing with that country. Since we didn't hear about the performances (on campus) until it was too late to go (sold out) we ended up buying tickets for Logan and then driving up.
I have to say, the trip was worth it - even with Erin not feeling well on the way up (and our making a stop only to discover that what I'd been told, repeatedly, had been untrue), me needing to make an emergency stop at a Walgreens, and then arriving at the theatre and waiting amidst a large (and growing) group of old and young, many of whom felt they were entitled to be allowed in (and seated) before the group that had been standing at least as long as Erin and me.
Anyway, we got our seats, row four, center, in the orchestra, to watch the YA's.... It was, hands down, a better show than what we went and saw last year.
On to Sunday, and Erin was definitely not well. Her teaching partner (for Primary) announced that she would be out of town for a month (something that sounds a lot like the boy crying, "Wolf!" to me as she has told Erin repeatedly that they would be out of town for days and weeks and never leaves town) and then I brought Erin home because her voice was gone and she needed rest.
Fortunately, I was able to share my body pillow with her, which allowed her to rest and sleep for several hours. I worked on stuff, watched some TV, and generally avoided the bedroom as I (apparently) start out snoring and can disrupt Erin from sleeping.
This morning, we went to see the doctor for the first time. That was an experience. I think I am referring to these visits as OB's. Anyway, the product of our being there was for Erin to learn that "Yes" she is pregnant, "No" there is no need for an ultrasound, she (la doctora) will perform one at week 20, and "Yes" the next time we visit we should be able to hear the heart beat.
We also learned that if Erin is carrying twins, the "bump" will be above her bellybutton, otherwise, it generally forms below the bellybutton for the first large chunk of the pregnancy.
Moreover, we learned that la doctora is a strong advocate of breast feeding and prenatal vitamins. Though she did not go on (as long) about the prenatal vitamins as she did about breast feeding - a list that had to equal the gross national product of most small nations in length and size - she did go on about both and the necessary benefits they had on a) a healthy pregnancy; and b) the life of the child and chances for problems later on.
Anyway, we go about in about three weeks (a little more) and get to hear a heart beat, bump-bump, bump-bump, which should prove to be more fun than we had today.
Outside of that, the department's (I work for) website got hacked last week. Which is interesting to be on the receiving end of a hack. They changed the code back to what it is supposed to be, though you couldn't see the additional data anyway, and then showed it to me. I tried to access the data and access logs; but couldn't go back far enough to see the IP address of the person who did it. I turned on more recording of access on the server, checked the files for additional uploaded material, and then called it good.
On top of that, I am still learning .CSS. I admit, I will probably be a long-time in working this out and becoming proficient at it; but by the time I am done (with the book I am using) I should be good enough to know the ins and outs of the site I am being paid to work on - AND I will have actually created an HTML document with a CSS stylesheet attached to it. So... this is proving to be good and interesting.
The next step: tackling basic PHP programming followed by PHP and MySQL. So, I am prepping myself to be semi-good at what I do, though proficient and an expert are still (most likely) a long way (to never) off. I like being good at what people are paying me... and not just having a job because I CAN edit stuff, and I CAN make an HTML page, and I CAN provide proof of ability; and I CAN write (which is one of the biggie reasons I was hired).
Here's to programming languages (web-programming).
That's about it. Cheers.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Pricess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly