Getting cold and dark around here!

New Horsey Slippers!

It's getting dark by the time Rowan and I make it home from daycare this week. We still have a month before the Winter Solstice and the shortest day of the year. Ugh. I really hate the shorter days and longer nights. The cold I can deal with, the pitch dark at 6:30 is another story! Now that we live out in the country, it's really dark. No street lights, no cars. It'll take some getting used to. [Wikipedia]

The IU basketball season has gotten off to a fast 3-0 start. So far, so good. Brooke will be making her first appearance at Assembly Hall on Sunday for the Evansville game. Hopefully they can send us home with another win. [Evansville Purple Aces]

Defending my title in the Fort Wayne Fantasy Football League isn't going well. I've basically been relegated to the also rans, otherwise known as the 9th Place Bowl. The top 8 teams make the Fantasy Bowl playoffs, the other four make the 9th Place Bowl playoffs. At 2-8, I'm one of those teams. However, all is not lost in the fantasy realm. I bought into a solid team in a league my buddy Travis runs in Warsaw. This team is 9-1 and looking really good for the long haul. So not all is lost! I'd rather win in Fort Wayne, but at this point I'll take whatever I can get.

This week's News Quiz. [Chicago Tribune]

Peanut bans at the ballpark? Some allergy experts think that's going too far. [NPR]

They're playing football at Wrigley this weekend as Northwestern hosts intrastate rival Illinois. Looking at these pictures of the field I noticed that the one endzone looks a little 'close' to the famous brick walls in the outfield. Seems the Big Ten agrees, as today they announced both teams will head toward the endzone with more room while on offense. [Big Ten Network & New York Times]

Heading out to help Mom feed the horses

The top 10 quirky and weird US houses. [Rand McNally]

Roundabouts could be gaining in use and not necessarily in popularity. Find out the history and how to work them with this link. [Wikipedia & New York Times & Roundabouts USA]

I'm predicting IU football goes down in a ball of awful on Saturday but that the Redskins redeem themselves vs. Tennessee. We'll see...

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Summer Vacation!

Finally got our vacation photos up on Picasa. They're in their own folder called Summer Vacation 2009, over 115 photos of our trip to Washington, DC; Myrtle Beach, SC; the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, and Gatlinburg, TN.

You can see them here on Picasa.

I also made a video montage of Rowan traveling, exploring, and touring Washington, DC. Even added text and music! The video is below and best viewed from my YouTube channel. In order for email subscribers to see the video, they need to go directly there or the blog by clicking HERE.

We're off...soon!

Vacation feels like it's here already...maybe because packing starts tonight for departure tomorrow. Washington DC, then Myrtle Beach, SC to see Shiloh, then the Great Smokey Mountains to break up the drive home. Rowan's going to dip her feet in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time! I'm hoping to have blog updates on our adventures throughout the weekend and week coming up. You're inbox may get a bit full if you're on the subscriber list.

We finally saw Transformers last weekend. We both enjoyed it and my review is up on the main page. Also got some new movies listed in the Webb there, any of them that may interest you? [SpydeysWebb.com]

No news quiz this week...take a breather.

Sesame Street is 40 years old this week. Can't wait to discover this amazing series again with Rowan. Take a look a the many Muppets on the series. How many do you know or remember? [National Post]

New toy that helps you to become a Jedi Knight! [New Scientist]

Sad week in Chihuahua news...the Taco Bell dog passed away. [People]

How do you like your pizza: square or slice? I'm a square man, myself. [Chicago Tribune]

More awards for Christian's architecture firm. Check out the Brave/Praxis blog.

I've been studying up on DC lately. Check out where we'll be, in particular all over The Mall and East End areas. [WikiTravel]

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Mid June Picture Update

Got photos from the last few weeks in June up on the Picasa site. This includes a visit from the Godfather, a day on the lake, hanging at the cabin and seeing some friends.

I think the total was over 50 new photos. They're in the June album.



Here's a cool video of Rowan captaining the boat on the way back to shore. If you're viewing from the email subscriptions, you'll need to hit the real blog on the web to see this video. Just click the title of the blog post, Mid June Picture Update at the top.

Friday April 24th

Rowan had lots of daddy time this week. I stayed home on Monday, which was a planned day off since I thought I'd be getting home late from the Sunday night Cubbie game. No game, but took the day anyway. We had lots of fun. Tuesday was barn night for mom, so dad was in charge again. This pic is from one of our times playing together.

Like the new color scheme of the blog? I've been looking for a new template all week and finally just changed the colors of the one I currently have. Seemed all the other templates I used would erase half the widgets I have on the right side! That would be no good. I'll keep looking, any comments are welcome. [BTemplates]

NFL Draft this weekend. I can only hope the Redskins are kidding about going for another QB, which would be a new QB, which would be even more time before we're a serious contender for a Super Bowl. We have more pressing concerns (OL or LB or DB), and Campbell's getting better. I know this is too much Redskins talk for everyone, but I had to vent a little cause it they trade to get Sanchez tomorrow, I may need to find a new favorite team! (But I know I won't...I own too many team clothes) [NFL.com & Washington Redskins]

I'm following coach Tom Crean on Twitter now. Very cool inside dish updates from Coach. Got a new commit this week for the Class of '10. Forward from Jacksonville, FL named David Williams. Hadn't heard much about him, but he looks like he's getting better as he gets older. I'll have to trust the staff on this one...By the way, you can follow me on Twitter if you like, I go by SpydeysWebb on there. [Twitter & Indy Star]

Got out to see State of Play last night or as I told people what movie we were seeing, "the new Russell Crowe one". We really enjoyed it and the review will be up on the main page sometime this weekend. Brooke said at the theater that it'd been a while since we'd seen a movie like this, and it's true. We stick mostly to comedies or comic book/super hero flicks! Speaking of comics, Wolverine comes out a week from today. Not sure if it's an opening night trip, but sometime in the first week we'd like to check this one out. I think Wolverine's opening is the start of summer movie season, previewed here by Rotten Tomatoes. Gets earlier every year! [IMDb.com & SpydeysWebb & Rotten Tomatoes]

This week's News Quiz. How'd you do (comments section is open!)? [Chicago Tribune]

The Great Wall of China is getting greater. They've discovered that it's longer than previously thought. [AP]

Interesting article about Chinese government and citizen's names. There are a lot of Chinese characters but not all of them are recognized by the government for personal names. Yours not recognized? Then you'll have to change your name! [NY Times]

Space shuttle's next mission will be the last trip to work on the Hubble telescope. This week scientists found a few Earth size planets out there..[NASA & AP]

How to save Flint, Michigan? Tear it down. [NY Times]

Web site of the week: Redskins blog I found searching for info on the draft. Hogs Heaven.

Hot this weekend! We're getting out in the yard to enjoy it. Rowan's already beaten me to it...maybe she mowed the lawn this afternoon? Have a good one!

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