080928 - Philadelphia

080928 - Up and played w/ the boys while L ran in to church. She got home and we had some lunch. Then out in the backyard to throw the football and drive the gator for a bit. Then the whole fam took me to the airport to see me off. We said goodbye and Jack gave me a big monster hug that was hard to let go of. It seems that each trip gets harder and harder to go...
The flight in Columbus was delayed and I am now being rerouted to London to get to Amsterdam. This only adds 6 hours on to the flights. We finally boarded in CMH, only to be told there were delays in Philadelphia. We sat on the runway for 2 hours before we took off.
Finally made it to Philadelphia and got some food, euros and two blow up travel pillows (one for my boney butt, one for my neck). Walking around killing time before the London flight I stumbled upon this life size replica of the 'Liberty Bell' made of Legos! How cool. Well I'm on the plane now, have gentleman next to me, so it looks like this wiill be a tight flight to London...

080927 - Manic

080927 - Up in the chaos of tired boys... I sanded the mud on the beams and then went out back to play w/ the boys. Grant can now drive the gator, well at least push the gas... Here he is very pleased with himdelf that he took off too fats and lost his passenger in the back! L got some lunch for the boys, then D,J&I headed out for some errands: watch bat, hair cut, socks gel & beer, movie store. Home to watch the end of the Bucks game & talk to Doc as he resurfaced his driveway. L headed to get groceries, G took a nap and the big boys & I played the Wii. L home and unpacked, we ran out got some grub on the way to the Pataskila Antique Power Show where we saw a bunch of old tractors, some I rember driving... not much action though, we got there pretty late. Stopped at Lowe's on the way home. L gave the natives baths while I replace bulbs in the outside lights and a fixture in the playroom. Everyone back downstairs for so popcorn and Wii. Got the boys all tucked in and then loaded up the suitcase and tied up loose ends.
080926 - Really fast day, too much to do and not enough time... After work the fam headed out to eat. We went to On the Border for some Mexican food and had a wonderful dinner. Everyone ate and no one threw anything or screamed. We then headed to Kohls to get me some clothes for work. That took too long... Home and the big boys and I headed down to the basement to watch War of the Worlds, Jack zonked out quickly and Howdy and I stayed up, watched the movie, then How its Made and Mythbusters. I got him to bed by 1am...
080925 - Normal day. Howdy came home with a bad math grade and more sketchy homework notes. I heard L ask him if he could see the board and saying something about a glare... I printed off an eye test, and the boy definately needs glasses! Headed out tonight w/ Jeff to a house buying seminar.

080924 - Gotcha!

080924 - Up and got the morning stuff done then headed to lunch. Amazingly I ran into an old friend, Don Kaufman! Well, it wasn't really Amazing... Let me explain...
There is this online professional network called 'linkedin'. It allows you to link yourself to people you have worked with and met along the way. Well Don found me on linkedin.com and sent me a mail. I read his mail and was about to respond when I noticed his signature and the company he worked for. What got my attention was the company he works for. I know the VP of this company! So, I immediately called called Courtland, the VP. I confirmed that the Don working for him was the Don I grew up with. The evil plan was then set in motion. I didn't reply to Don's mail very fast, and when he wanted to get together for lunch I always had something to do: this was to buy time. You see after talking to Courtland I called everyone I could think of, including his wife, that would know an embarrassing story about Don. I gathered these over the weeks and was feeding them to Courtland. Cortland in turn would tell Don stories about his youth and Don was amazed at the similar life paths he and Cortland had. Well today when I walked into the restaurant I greeted Don and then was 'introduced' to Courtland, Don's boss. I was invited to sit down and chat and immediately Courtland & I were obviously NOT compatible to be at the same table. I made fun of his political party, his clothes and his looks, which sent him huffing off to the bathroom... Don was quite flustered, fidgety, nervous and sweating bullets... Well Courtland returned, sat down and said 'I thought you would have enough sense to be gone when I got back', Don was about to die. I responded, 'Courtland, I can't do this any more'. He said 'I can't either', and Don was so twisted and confused he didn't know what to think. We then told him of the evil plot and the color returned to his face and got a good laugh out it. He was floored to find out that his friends and wife would take part in the plot and that Cortland really had no stories resembling his past. We had a great laugh and a good lunch!
GOTCHA DON!!!!
After lunch Don, Courtland & I went shoe shopping at Nostrum. Then home to finish the day, with the typical P disaster at 5:05pm... Played w/ G upstairs and then the big boys on the Wii, got some baths, played some games, read some stories and then off to bed. I came down and did some more work on the beams, almost ready to hand off to my painter!

080923 - Up and had a really strange day at work: I was at my desk all day long, but really felt like I got nothing done. Out to the kitchen for dinner, then a rush off to Jack's guitar lesson and then his soccer practice. I then took the family on a little drive to the store, Gamestop, where I picked up a copy of Lego Batman. I was a hero! Home to play the Wii a bit and bots to bed. I stayed up working.

080922 - Zap!

080922 - Well back to work today, digging out of the remainder of last week. I was right in the middle of - ZAP!! - No electricity again! Went out to see what was going on and there was a team of guys cleaning the remaining limbs and things off the lines... It only lasted 1.5 hours this time. After work we had a fast dinner and G&I took Howdy to karate. We then ran to one of the rentals to drop off a letter and talk to the new tenants. We rushed home, picked up J and took him to karate. Home for baths and bed. I stayed up almost all night getting caught up.

080921 - Rare!

080921 - Up & L to a church meeting, G&I dropped off D&J and then back home to take it easy. Everyone home and we headed out, grabbed some Burger King for lunch, thenn walked down to the Gahanna Flea Market @ the High School. We then attempted to go to the Pataskala Antique Power show to see some old tractors and stuff, but were a week early... Headed home and stopped off at a craft store for L while J&G were asleep in the car. Howdy & I played some games waiting for L. Got home and I put another, and hopefully the last, coat of mud on the walls for the beam project. We sent the rascasls
outside & got a rare photo of D&J playing together nicely! I cleaned up the garage while L made dinner and then we ate dinner on the back porch. After dinner L gave the boys hair cuts. Then all us boys then played touch football. In for bath, bed and ready for a week with power.

080920 - Racing Day

080920 - Up and everyone to Jack's soccer game. He did pretty good, but was tired from staying up last night. We ran past the movie store, stopped by the house and the to the Columbus Soap Box Derby. All the boys thought it was pretty cool. But when I asked then if they would like to try it they said 'no, it looks too dangerous.' they are spending WAY too much time w/ L... Grabbed some grub and headed home to watch the OSU game, much better result then last weekend... I put another coat of mud on the barn beams & L&D went for a bike ride to the playground whil J&G took a nap. Got the group awake and back together and then headed to a bday party, where I ate too much, played football catch w/ D, and all the boys had a good time. Home and to the movie room to watch 'Speed Racer'. got the boys to bed late again. I then stayed up doing more work.

080919 - Jog

080919 - Up and got the office powered up piece by piece. Started the task of cleaning off my desk that has five days worth of work on it. Then cleaned off the new mails on the pcs and calendars. Took a break to watch Howdy in the annual 'Jog for Jefferson', where they do a sort of walk-a-thon thing. L&G made a lap or two with him, while J&I hung out at the monkey bars. J didn't have school yat because the school had no power. Back to work and stuck in my chair until about 6pm... L had her kitchen back and made us a good meal. I gave the boys a bath the watched a kung fu movie w/ D&J. Got them to bed and then back on the PCs playing catch-up untill 2...

080918 - Scouts

080918 - Up and still no power! L out to Marlene's to do some laundry and let J&G play. I did some more mail on the phone, attended some con calls and talked to t bunch of folks so I could stay on top of everything. I got the vent pipe, after 3yrs, attached from the boys bathroom through the attic hat vent, a layer of mud on the beam walls and some other chores I have had on a list for a long time.
I made a hamburger helper dinner on the camp stove and then took Howdy to the first Scout meeting of the year. It was good to see all the Scouts and Dads again. Home and Doc now has electric across the street. I got the boys to bed and then sat w/ L & Nicole in the dark living room. Then, POW! The lights came on!!!! I started the breakers one by one to make sure things worked and then turned off the generator and pushed the fridge back.
Shortly after the power came on the neighborhood rang with sirens from fire engines. An older couple down the road had their rang on when the power went out and hadn't shut it off... The house caught fire! The were staying at friends because one of them needed an oxygen machine so they were not at home. A neighbor saw the flames through their kitchen window and made the call. The house was saved but the need a new kitchen.

080917 - Cleaned up

080917 - Up and still no power! Called in to Holland, let them know we are still in the stone ages. Then headed outside to finish up the clean up effort. About noon we got the yard done, you can see the pile, this is the second and smaller of our two piles... The boys played fairly well, a little sick of being together 24x7... While the boys had lunch I made some calls for work to keep up. I grabbed some cold chicken and then played tug of war. Everyone went in and rested while L headed over to Nicole's to do a couple loads of wash. I got the boys a snack, L home, they played in the backyard and then we headed off to Jack's guitar lesson & L off to dinner w/ the girls. The lesson went really well and Jack really likes it. Dylan even said 'Jack is really good at it', amazing! Got some nuggets on the way home and G got something in his eye that made him scream all the home. Put some eye drops in his eye and he got better. Gave the boys baths, played with shadow puppets and off to bed, and not a peep. I read a book with my hat flashlight until L got home, and we had a nice chat.
To bed and still no power.

080915 - Powerless

080915 - Up and some some cold coffee. Then got the generator running and hooked to the fridge and the phone chargers. The out with the hand saw and prunners. We started at 8:30. The boys were outside ALL DAY! Everyone pitched in, u can see how Howdy and Jack pack the leaves in the bags... L saw the debris truck coming and we rushed everything we could out front. Howdy and I helped them load the brush and he was amazed how the truck worked and smashed everything. We got the guys some snacks and pop and then headed into the backyard for more. As L&I continued to clean up, the boys rode snowboards down the sliding board, shot the BB gun, played tug of war, carried sticks and just played all day. At 5:30 we gave up and headed to get some food and the store to but a camp stove to cook on tomorrow. It is a complete mad house. The stores are packed and the shelves are bare...
We drove around town, saw one house that was crushed by a tree and limbs and brush everywhere. This will take some time to get things back to normal. I can't imagine how the folks in Texas are doing... Home, baths with day light left, more shadow puppets and 3 exhausted boys fast asleep. I am catching up on the blog w/ my phone in the dark. Still no power...

080914 - Damage

080914 - L to early church, G&I dropped of D&J for sunday school. G&I home to play and prep the beam to wall seam for mudding. All home for lunch then out to Jack's unorganized soccer pictures for an hour...
Headed to a pond for a snake hunting expedition and the wind really started kicking up... We left when a limb fell too close to Jack... we headed to Friendship park for more snake hunting and a creek walk. Our hunt was cut short due to high wind and flying debris. We retreated to Wendy's for dinner. There we watched the trees bend way over and signs fall to the ground.
We headed home and were shocked to see the trees and limbs everywhere. At home we couldn't get the garage door up, NO ELECTICITY! We surveyed the damage, see the pic of the backyard, note the tree resting on top of the shed... We got baths with what daylight remaining and played games and had shadow pupet shows untill bed time.
Later I determined it would be a better plan to head out to find a generator than to join the masses that would decend on the stores in the morning... It took several stops and calls to find the last remaining generator way up at Polaris. I got one around midnight!
On the way home I hit several gas stations, that either didn't have power, gas or gas cans. I did manage to get gas in the car at one place and a can at another, but no gas in the can...
After hitting one more gasless gas station I found myself sitting at a light that would not chage to let me out... I waited about 5 rotations then give up. I made sure the coast was clear, except the one car turning onto the road I was on and ran the light. Well the guy turning was a cop... He flipped on his lights, swung up behind me and would not listen... Then, as he was on his way back to his car with my license another car stops him and says 'sir, you might want to check out that light, it isn't working right.' AMEN! The officer returned my stuff and let me know he would check out the light and if he found it was working he would come to my house and give me a ticket. Haven't seen him yet ;-)

080913 - Clean-up

080913 - Up, L,D&G out to get groceries. J&I to the Home Depot, the vacum bag store and the movie store. All met back at home for lunch and we started cleaning up garage from the project. Made 2 boards out of a scrap beam section, it took 1 hr/ board. Finished up the garage clean out so we can now get the car back in. Everyone out to Gary & Marlene's to watch the OSU game, WHAT KIND OF GAME WAS THAT? Home and to bed disgusted!
080912 - Horribly slow day! caught up on a lot of work stuff, started some clean up in the garage, took the fam to Bellacinos for pizza, tried to do some shopping... Home, baths & bed. L&I stayed up to watch a worthless movie...
080911 - Final touches on beam raising prep, inspected all ceiling and wall spaces for mold and water sources, used a camera, all good! Sealed the walls and ceiling. Called in the troops to get the beam up, 8 guys helped me get it raised up and moved into position & all the temporary walls down and the ceiling didn't fall in! THANKS GUYS!!!
L&I clnd up, then I ran over to Docs to fix his heater. Back home and L is rearranging furniture already... We sat there looking at the new expanse and she loves it! I stayed up late and finished the N doc.

080910 - Old School

080910 - Up and getting things done. Working an hour on N, then working an hour on the beam project. Little bites out of both and getting them done in good shape. I tried a chainsaw, I tried a circular saw... these old beams have no respect for modern tools. To get a straight and square cut, I got to do it old school, hand saw time. My arms are out of energy and I'm about out of beer. At least Doc is on his way with more beer!
080909 - Up and calls all morning & work all day... Had some dinner and then I took Jack to hid first guitar lesson. He listened, payed attention and did everything the guy told him to. He returned home proud ;-)
I did a bit more work on the beam project and then spent the rest of the night on the N document.

080908 - Jack's 1st Day

080908 - Today is Jack's first day of school! Lori got to go with him, while Grant & I hung out playing. L&J back and he was all smiles, he had a great day and wonderful teachers. A very good start!
To celebrate Jack's first day Howdy, Jack and I ran to the store and got the ingredients to make Chicken Tortilla soup. Jack and I threw it in the pot and then my helper fell asleep. Getting ready for dinner and we had a special visitor, GmaW. We all had tortilla soup and it was fabulous! out to the backyard for wingerball and then mor beam preparation.

080907 Horse Parade

080907 - Up in the am working on the beams. Playing w/ the boys and then off to Delaware to the Horse Parade. Grant had a good time and liked the baby horses. Took some back roads home. Got some dinner, then home to get ready for another week.
080906 - After OSU managed to barley win I headed to lowes and got the rest of the supplies for the beam project. Came hame and made the headers, then called some guys for some help. While waiting for the help to arrive I played 'Wingerball', an adaptation of badmitten, soccer, football & volleyball... Jeff showed up and we got the first support header up and the second one started before the Bible Bangers got here. Dan, Joe and Pete helped get the second support header up

080906 - Soccer

080906 - Up and everyone to Jack's first soccer game. Jack did great and got a goal! Ran errands on the way home and then power washed the beams, THEY LOOK AWESOME! Had some lunch, the boys playing in the back of Doc's truck. Watching the OSU game, measuring for lumber for the beam project, then out to the playground for halftime.
080905 - Up and worked all morning. Got Doc's truck & headed up to the farm. Mom & Dad helped me sort through beams to find some we could use in the house. We measured & discussed, measuered and finally found ones we think will work. We cut them up then Dad used the tractor to get them into the truck, thank God! Drove home, my shoulders in knots, affraid the talgate would fall and the beams would be all over 71. Made it home, had some dinner, played some kickball, gave baths and watched a Fred Astaire movie w/ the boys.

080904 - Too Much

080904 - Up on calls & formulating a plan for the mold... What was to be a nice project has suddenly turned into a monster that need to be destroyed and sealed up. I made arrangements w/ Doc for a truck, the neighbors high pressure washer and Gma&paW to go up to the Farm and pick up some beams. After dinner L headed out to meet Jack's teachers & I took the boys to get Jack's soccer uniform and then to the playground. I will be on a mold hunt to find the source the rest of the night...
080903 - Up too early & rode bikes to school w/ Howdy. Had a loud hectic day at work but got a ton done. After dinner I ran Howdy to karate. He hasn't been there all summer and after a short refresher he was back to his black belt style. Ran home and picked up Jack, he said he would give it another try... Jack had a good time and remembered a lot of his moves, he said 'I love it'! We will see how he feels in a week or two. Home and L&I watched the new, first female vice presidents speech. Pretty impressive! While we listened we removed the rest of the wall between the dinning and living room. And we found MOLD inside the wall!!! We were up untill 1am making sure we got every piece ipof drywall, dust and rusty nail. Lori scrubbed the 2x4s w/ bleach to kill what mold we could get to....

080902 - Jack update

080902 - Jack update
Ok so the Dr called back today and said there are 2 things abnormal from Jack's blood test.
1 = Neutrophils are 990 [1500 - 4000 is normal, Jacks were about 990 7 weeks ago]
2 = Haptoglobin counts are low; these are lower in anemic people.
[I am getting a copy of the CBC. If you know how to read this and want a copy please let me know.]

The Dr. said at this point based on the initial neutrophil count of 300, we all did the right thing by taking immediate steps to see why they were so low. But with this latest test result with the neutrophils in the 990, being almost identical to the original blood test that gave the pediatrician the flag to look into the anemia, he thinks this may be Jack's normal level of neutrophils. While it is lower than average it may be a result of some previous infection that may have gone even months back...

BUT, we still do not know why it dropped so low into the 300 range...

Bottom Line: They are not sure what is going on with Jack, but at this point they are not alarmed.
Plan: Jack will have a blood test every 4-6 weeks for the upcoming six months to see what pattern, if any, there is in his blood counts. Further action can only be decided with these tests.

Please keep Jack in your continuing thoughts.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

080901 - Slip n slide

080901 - Up in the am and back to the Johnstown swap meet for more junk on the way to Gma&paB's. Had a big lunch and then a couple round around the bases and some slip & slide action.
080831 - After J rode around the yard a bit we headed to Johnstown for their annual swap meet. The boys were in heaven and each bought some junk. We stopped at Twisters for foot long hot dogs on the way home. Home, bathes and then watched 'The People That Time Forgot'.