Tag: photos

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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

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.

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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.

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Look at the detail on Petey

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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!

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Jess's First Day of School

Today was the first day of Jess’s Autism practicum at Cabell Midland High School.  In Celebration of Jess’s return to daily activity (or you might as well call it work for all she will be doing this semester) and it being her first day of school I wanted to document the event.  After lengthy negotiations and determining that she was unwilling to let me take the picture at the bus stop I settled for the downstairs foyer.

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Pain wise Jess did very well today better than I ever could have hoped.  She will be at Midland 3 days a week this semester.  She also scheduled a second interview for her dream job that will take place on the 11th.  (Please direct all prayer traffic accordingly)

Good Luck Grumps on all you are setting out to do over the next 8 months.  Compared to what you have endured over the past 8 months this should be a piece of cake I am very very proud of you!

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Jess’s Surprise 30th Birthday Party

Well today was the big day for Jess’s surprise 30th birthday party.  I am thrilled to say that it came off without a hitch and she did not figure anything out until the last second.  (I just can’t seem to hide 15 cars)

A fun time was had by all and it was good to see Jess out and about having a good time.

Happy Birthday a couple of weeks early grumps.

Covert Operational Document Archive

Thanks to all of you who lied this week to make this possible.

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Anniversary Number 9

Well today is our 9th Wedding Anniversary, so I had an idea for a new tradition.  In addition to updating the famed paragraph below from last year we are going to take a picture.  I think it will be really neat to take a picture on the same day every year.  Sometimes life goes by so fast you forget where you came from, this will make us stop at least once a year.

So after 2 houses, 1 rental, the cars going to Graley’s Auto Body 13 times, 2 BA degrees, 4 computers, 2 beds, 3 TV’s, 8 DVD players, 11 jobs, 6 cars, 2 surgeries, 1 major wreck, taking in Petey & Phoebe, and finding a church home were still together so it must be love.

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Happy 9th Anniversary grumps, I love you.

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Family Reunion, painful software testing, and a newspaper ad that nearly cost me my life.

Greetings and Salutations Faithful Stapleton Blog Readers

It appears that I have let the blog go slightly stale again but not too much.  Kind of like eating bread that is just 2 days out of date but still looks good.  As opposed to eating bread a week out of date with mold on it.

Let’s see what has been going on since the last update.  On June 8th we had the annual family reunion at Cedar Lakes.  The attendance was pretty good it was a little hot however.  Jess didn’t make it because of a migraine and that bummed her out she really wanted to go.  But all in all a good time was had by all.

(See pictures of happy family below.)

My next week was spent on the road doing customer calls and conducting a user group meeting.  The last 2 weeks of June were spent in the old home office doing software testing for a major release.  If you have never performed software testing let me describe it to you this way.  Imagine repeatingly poking your own eye out with a hot poker, realizing you have put on lawn aeration spike shoes in the wrong direction, while simultaneously receiving a prostate exam.  Sure the job is needed and necessary but it is painful to endure.

There was a bright spot to my testing weeks.  I helped Jess’s dad remodel a kitchen in one of his rental units.  Just the kind of job I like.  Lots of demolition, absolutely no straight walls, and we did not have to do the finish work.  I ended up the month of June with starting a massive conversion at one of my banks on June 30th.  The customer is happy but I am not satisfied at this point.  I think that several more things need to fall consistently into place before I feel like I can walk away from this one.  If you looked at my twitters at all this week you know what I talking about.

On the Mrs. Stapleton front we continue to progress with her recovery and the search for work.  A lot of people ask me how she feels and all I can say is she has good days and bad days.  Fortunately there are a lot more good days than bad days.  So if I respond to you this way please do not think that I am blowing you off; there just is not a better way to describe it.  She continues to be treated twice a week at Davis Chiropractic and sees her pain management doctor about every 4 weeks.  The non-narcotic cocktail that he has her on is working pretty well so we are obviously very pleased.

(Psst let me tell you a little joke I made, I thought it was hilarious Jess found it not so much.)

We were coming home from the grocery store one night a couple of weeks ago in her car and I looked down at the odometer.  She only has about 1300 miles on the car and that is for about 6 months.  In contrast I have had my Camry about 45 days and have 3000.  That immediately lead me to thinking about putting an ad in the paper.

For sale 2008 Toyota Camry great condition only 1500 miles.  Garage kept only driven to the doctor, store, and church on Sunday.

I immediately started cracking up, again Jess not so much.

All joking aside she is doing better and is getting quite a few hits on her resumes.  (Jess does not think so but she really is.)  She is going to an interview on Tuesday for her dream job.  So please keep her in your prayers she could use a good boost right now.  All in all she is recovering nicely we knew with soft tissue damage it was going to be a long road to travel.  However when you are the one who’s life has been put on hold time does not pass too quickly.  Getting better day by day is only cool in the movies with a nice music montage behind it. (Preferably 80’s music of course)  Or as I have told her on many occasions

“A Storm is only pretty from a distance when you are not the one in the middle of it.”

(I made that one full credit to me and copyright to JakeStapleton.com)

Well that’s about it from Stapleton HQ sorry for the short update but not really all that much going on right now that I did not mention in my intervening posts.  Everyone take care, that’s the news and I am outta here.