Posted by richard
Wed, Jan 28 2004 21:59
The snow and ice are almost gone. I am expecting to finally get
back to work tomorrow. I have been telecommuting the past couple days
which has been nice. With the way our new system is setup at work, I
can do almost anything I do at work at home if necessary. I think
telecommuting has real potential if your employer is willing to
realize the benefits - easier said than done.
Anyway, things are hopefully going to get back to normal at this
point. I know Suzanne, Reia and Tucker enjoyed having me around the
house even if I was working. At least I didn't have to spend at least
an hour driving to and from work.
Posted in General
Posted by richard
Mon, Jan 26 2004 16:29
Yesterday about mid-morning, we started getting some snow. It snowed
on and off most of the afternoon and turned into freezing rain by
later that evening. It stayed in the 20s all day.
Today we are expecting more freezing rain and sleet. It hasn't
started yet, but it is to the south of us. I just took Tucker for a
quick walk (23 F outside) and the streets are frozen over. It is
probably 1-2 inches thick. Hopefully it warms up soon and all this
ice melts.
Posted in General
Posted by richard
Fri, Jan 02 2004 20:36
Well, Christmas has passed us by. We (Suzanne, Reia,
Tucker and I) had a good trip to Florida for the week of Christmas. We were gone about 9 days and that is a pretty good amount of time
especially with a baby. Reia did well with the process.
We started our journey on Friday after I got off of work. We
traveled to Ormond Beach and stopped there for the night (arriving
about 2:00 AM). The next morning we were up pretty early considering
how late we got in. Everyone was excited to see the newest addition to
the family. We were packed back up on and the road by just after
noon.
In St. Cloud for Christmas
We arrived in St. Cloud before Matthew and Anna. We got something to
eat and just hung out with Grandma and Grandpa. Later that evening
Grandma ordered pizza and we opened Christmas gifts. The people there
were: Grandma, Grandpa, Rebecca, George, Matthew, Anna, Suzanne, Reia
and myself. It was a good time and I think everyone enjoyed
themselves. During this time, I was busy feeding my DVD burner blank
DVDs to make movies to give to people.
The next morning, Grandma, Grandpa and I went to church while the
others were waking up or taking care of Reia (she is a lot of work).
After church was just waiting for family to arrive. Mom had estimated
about 26 people or so (see the complete list below).
Grandma (Suarez)
NAO (Outten grandmother)
Melissa and Jon (cousins)
Uncle Bill, Aunt Sherri and Jennifer (cousin)
Uncle Don, Aunt Kathy, Erin (cousin), Amy (cousin) and Eddie (boyfriend)
Aunt Carol and roommate's family
Matthew and Anna
Rebecca and George
Richard, Suzanne and Reia (Tucker too)
Grandma and Grandpa (Linda and John)
It was quite the crowd. The highlight of the day was Grandma (Suarez)
with her marshmallow gun. It was made out of PVC. You stuck a
marshmallow in the top and blew it out. It would shot out the front.
Grandma was demonstrating it and shot Eddie in the eye, but no damage
was done. There was lots of good food and presents for the kids.
Everyone pretty much left before it got dark. Gramdma doesn't like to
drive on Nova Road at night (deer frequent that road). That night we
just hung around the house (Matthew, Anna, Grandma, Grandpa, Suzanne,
Reia and myself). Grandpa, Matthew and I shared the latest computer
ideas. The women put together a showering plan so everyone would be
ready for pictures by 10:00 am the next morning.
The next morning was pretty hectic with everyone trying to get ready
for pictures. I also had problems with the powerbook's touch pad,
but I will leave that for another discussion (it eventually started
working). It took some effort and me forgetting to shave that
morning and having to go back and get my razor, but we made it to
Bruce's on time. As usual, Rebecca and George arrived late, but not
that late. We started with shots of the entire family and then worked
our way down to individual families. It was quite a time trying to
make Reia look a certain direction and laugh with everyone else trying
to do the same thing. It worked out in the long run and we got some
good pictures.
After that, Grandma and Grandpa took Reia home with them while the
rest of us (Matthew, Anna, Rebecca, George, Suzanne and myself) went
to see "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King". We stopped at
Fazoli's on the way to the movies for some fast Italian food. Then
came "Return of the King" and let me say it was a long movie. It was
a good movie, but I think it was hyped a little too much - I actually
liked the previous 2 movies better. After the movie, we made our way home
so Matthew and Anna could get on the road to Indiana. That night we
just hung out in St. Cloud.
The next morning, Grandma had to go to work, but Grandpa was still off. We had made plans to go to meet Grandma that afternoon and go to Disney World. We did the normal stuff that morning (feed Reia, bathe her, put clothes on her, etc). We ate lunch and went to get Grandma at work. Grandma had to show off Reia at work. Once we were done at Bruce's, we packed up in the car and headed for Disney.
Reia had a great time at Disney with Grandpa, Grandma, Suzanne and I. Reia enjoyed looking at the wheels on her stroller, chewing on the bar of her stroller and being in pictures. We were able to get some of the same pictures that Grandpa and Grandma got of me when I was a baby. We didn't make it on any rides, but we sure did have fun. We headed home and readied the car to travel to Ormond Beach.
In Ormond Beach for Christmas
We arrived in Ormond Beach late Tuesday night and we pretty much said hi to a couple of visitors and then said good night to Nana and went to bed. The next morning, Christmas Eve, we went to Embry-Riddle for a visit. We were only able to meet up with Sally and Lisa in Career Services that morning. They really enjoyed meeting Reia.
Christmas Eve night we went over to Suzanne's grandmother's (Nannie) house. Nannie ordered sandwiches and had the group over (see list below). Reia got to open a few gifts from Suzanne's cousins while sitting in Uncle Mike's lap.
Uncle Mike, Aunt Debbie, Michael (cousin), Jonathan (cousin) and Katelyn (cousin)
Ashlee (Michael's girlfriend)
Nannie
Nana
Richard, Suzanne, and Reia
Christmas morning we got up and went through the normal routine with Reia in the morning. Nana fed her and bathed her. After that, we started opening presents. Reia only got through a few before she needed to go down for her nap. At that point, Suzanne, Nana and I continued opening our presents. After Reia woke up from her nap, she opened the rest of her presents and we got things loaded to take to Nannie's house.
We arrived at Nannie's when it was just Nannie and Mammie there cooking Christmas dinner. The rest of the crew arrived later. Reia had to go down for a nap and slept while we ate dinner. Dinner was very good and we had a full table. After dinner, we continued opening presents and hanging out enjoying the company. We then headed back to Nana's to let the dogs out and feed them.
The day after Christmas, Nana, Suzanne and Reia went to the mall that afternoon. I took Tucker for a walk down to the pier on Halifax. It was a very long walk. Nana, Suzanne and Reia made it back to feed Reia her carrots that afternoon. That evening we had Jon, Jennifer and Amelia over for a visit. It was interesting to see the interaction between Reia (6 months) and Amelia (14 months).
The next day, we took Reia out to the beach. We took a few pictures and shot some video. It appeared that Reia really like that beach. The wind was really blowing and it was definitely cooler with the wind blowing. There were also seagulls flying around for us to see. We then picked up Reia's food at Nana's and headed over to Nannie's to meet Sarah (friend from Ormond Beach library) for a visit.
Sarah came over to a visit to see Reia and chat with Suzanne and Nannie. Reia was fed at Nannie's while I tried to pull up pictures of the family we took earlier in the week on Nannie's computer (boy, dial-up is slow). We then went over to Manny's for a pizza. After dinner, we went back to Nana's to get ready for our trip back home.
The next morning we had several visitors saying goodbye to us before we got on the road. We were on the road by 9:30 which was good considering traffic was pretty busy headed home.
What a trip! It was good to get to see everyone and I think Reia handled all new people and places very well.
Posted in General
