An engagement, new family, and no Dr. Evil Chair

Greetings and Salutations Faithful Stapleton Blog Readers!

Well a lot has happened since my last lengthy update

• An engagement
• 1st day of school
• A new little 2nd cousin
• Coat Ceremony
• Our financial system went to hell and our elected leaders try socialism.

Here we go with another excursion into blog excellence (copyright Rush Limbaugh)

On August 23rd my brother from another mother Ricky became engaged to his girlfriend Megan Kitts.  We are very happy for them and Jess & I are honored to have been asked to participate in the wedding.  They are currently planning a July 2009 wedding at an undisclosed secure location.

It is not too often that I feel old when talking about technology, but in the same sentence Megan said “we’re engaged” and “can we change out status on Facebook now?” I have of course heard of Facebook but was not a member so I thought I would check it out.  Jess and I signed up for Facebook accounts and found out we had to get remarried online.  A little strange to say the least.  Currently she has more friends than me but that could just be because people bug me anymore.  Facebook has been pretty fun and I have reconnected with a few people.  The really neat thing is everything from my blog and friendfeed automatically update on Facebook so I still only have to do updates in one place.  In a further attempt to prove that she is the more popular spouse Jess joined MySpace as well.

On September 3rd Jess had her first day of school.  She began her practicum in the Autism room at Cabell Midland High School.  Jess is really enjoying working with the students and learning this facet the Autism field.  Up to this time she has been working on the administrative end of things so the daily interaction is new for her.  She is doing great and enjoying her time in the classroom.  All in all she is managing pretty well with all the new activity and mobility.  She is still under treatment for the wreck but she is doing very well.  I am very proud of her, for all the pain she has been in for the last 41 weeks she is still a trooper.  Trying hard everyday to get back to doing what she wants to do.

On September 9th we had a new second cousin appear in the world.  My cousin Carrie and her husband Jeremy welcomed their son Jayse Casto into the world.  He weighed 7 lbs and 5 ozs and was 21.5 inches long.  Although I have to assume he has grown a little bit since then.  Mom & Baby did well, just a little infection and blood pressure things to deal with.  I will post some high res pictures when we get some, but for now you can just follow the link to my blog post.  This whole thing of people having babies that were not alive when I was born is still new to me; I guess I’ll get used to it.

On September 13th Jess & I went to Morgantown to attend Ricky’s White Coat Ceremony.  Which marks the begging of his full time clinical experience.  This means that we are ever closer to free dental care.  Oh, and we are proud of him too!

Since Jess and I have not been out of town since last August, we decided to make a short weekend trip out of the event.  So when we were finished in Morgantown, I burned some hotel points and we went to Pittsburgh for the night; Laura was nice enough to stay with Petey and Phoebe.  While in Pittsburgh, Jess and I did one of our favorite things and went to IKEA. We picked up some odds and ends and tried to buy me a new desk, but I would need a van to get it home.  So the great desk search continues.

While we were there I fell in love with a Dr. Evil chair and under no circumstances could I talk my wife into buying it.  No matter how many times I said “image how cool Phoebe and I will look in the chair” it was to no avail.  Alas all I have is a picture.

That picture was taken with my new Cannon Power Shot A590IS camera.  I did some side work and decided to use some of the proceeds to buy a new digital camera.  Ours was very much in need of replacement.  Just take a look at some of the shots.

Look at the detail on Petey

The video mode on it is great too.

As for me, I have been driving and working night and day.  I am buried by projects right now.  Hopefully I will get a reprieve soon, but I am not going to hold my breath.  You see my summer was already “fully booked”, then I had 7 additional weeks of travel thrown on me.  To be able to accommodate all this I have just been basically able to “maintain” my own customer base.  I have not been able to work in my normal proactive style for several weeks now and I feel like I have been thrown under a bus.

You see, if I had my Dr. Evil chair I would be giving the orders.

Well that’s about all the news from the Stapleton Lair.  This (in addition to my interim posts) should bring everyone up to date.

That’s the news and I am outta here!