Working Late
I have a huge consultation report due very soon for a medical clinic up north. It was a very tight timeline, so tonight I brought my work computer home to wrap things up working through the night. And if I'm going to work late, this is how it's done: Holed up in my office with the heater on (quite ...
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Santa's Real!
A couple days ago I came home to find a present on our doorstop. We waited very patiently to open up the two wrapped packages inside the bag on Christmas morning. We were quite surprised to find a couple very nice wine-related gifts inside (an instant decanter and some cool wine opening tools). Upon ...
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Evenings in the John
Last weekend we had the pleasure of spending a few days at Seaworld in San Diego. It was a blast! Jonah really enjoyed seeing all the animals up close, including dolphins, sting rays, killer whales, walruses, beluga whales, seals, and the list goes on and on. We found a pretty good deal at a Holi ...
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Happy Anniversary
Back in 2001 I got to marry the most wonderful woman a man could hope for! Thanks for nine great years and one beautiful child, Heidi! Here's looking forward to nine more!!! Years that is...
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Covenant Transport
On my way home I saw a trailer with an interesting sign on its back. It was a Covenant Transport trailer. There were a few standard signs that were blue boxes and white lettering painted on the back like "Drivers Needed" and "Call xxx-xxx-xxxx to give feedback on our drivers". However, there was als ...
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Wedding Ring
One of my coworkers, Glen, lost his wedding ring during an impromptu snowball fight in SiteCrafting's parking lot today. He sent an e-mail requesting anyone to keep a vigilant eye out for a shiny round object as they walked to and from their cars. Needing to take a break this afternoon and seeing ...
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TSA Ridiculousness
Everybody should read the following blog written by John Tyner about his encounter with the TSA in San Diego. This is absolutely ridiculous the extents to which the government is going in the name of "security". During the first video, the following line by a TSA agent says it all: "upon buying y ...
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Make a Wrap
Jonah likes to take his wooden blocks and build tall towers with them. He then enjoys backing up with his new monster trucks that he got from Grandma and Grandpa for Halloween. It's one of those "give it a push and the gears take over to propel it the rest of the way" type toys. He lines up the mons ...
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Man I Feel Like A Man!
What is it about working on a car and getting your hands greasy that really makes you feel like a man? I can remember hours under the hood and under the car spent with my dad during my adolescence. Getting a broken car running again really gives you a sense of accomplishment. So it was a lot of f ...
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Where are you?
Heidi told her mom about a conversation Jonah had with her in the car yesterday. Jonah had used some words we had no idea he knew (i.e. "enormous"). Joanne let Heidi know that is the result of reading to him so much. Of course, being such a huge reading proponent, I'm sure that made Joanne quite hap ...
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A New Analogy
There's been some discussion as of late on the use of Internet Explorer 6 and its compatability with heidimark.net (and the web in general). At work we have decided to no longer test on IE6 unless specifically requested by a client. And if we're asked to ensure identical functionality and experience ...
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Plate Compactor
Well, I can officially mark off "plate compactor" on my "tools to use" checklist. And yes, I do keep a checklist like that. Still unmarked are items like jack hammer, welding torch, steamroller, and dump truck. This weekend I finished up a project that was started a couple weeks ago and then dela ...
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A New Site
So, quite a while ago I posted something about a new website coming. Well, that kinda stalled for a while. But I spent some time completing it last night and this morning, and now it's all ready to go. Tonight is the big unveiling of the new heidimark.net. I know ... I know, you're all so excited ...
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Tales of Past Roomies
I lived with this guy in college who is now on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ in Spokane. His name is Bobby. I don't know how relevant all that is, other than to set up this story. He was quite a character, always pulling some kind of shenanigans. Recently, I read a message he posted on Fac ...
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I Got Published #2
Many years ago (okay, only 4) I wrote about an article of mine being published on my company's website. While exciting, it wasn't all that difficult (since I work there). Recently, however, I had the honor of being published on an entirely different website. And this time, it wasn't an article that ...
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Brad Paisley
I like Brad Paisley. If you don't know who that is, you're missing out! He writes great songs and is a fantastic guitar player. Oh yeah, and he's a country singer (sorry John). He's by far my favorite country artist. So when I heard he was coming to the Gorge, I got pretty excited. Heidi and I ar ...
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A Day at the Beach
A few weeks ago Heidi and I spent the day with our community from church out on the Hood Canal near Twanoh State Park. One of our pastors owns a place that is part of the Twanoh Falls community, and thus has access to the Twanoh Falls Beach Club. While we had a lot of fun, we (and when I say "we" ...
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National Night Out
Has it really been that long since I've written anything in my blog? I guess I just have a boring life! Actually, it's been an exciting past month. A trip to the beach. A new white picket fence in our front yard, complete with lamp posts. A new neighbor. And most recently a great first-ever Natio ...
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Feeling It
I think moving 1 1/2 tons of pavers is similar in sustained pain to playing a 40 minute game of indoor soccer. I was fine yesterday (other than the knee injury). Today my shoulders hurt from diving on that hard ground. Kinda feels like it did when I moved all those pavers (three times in one nigh ...
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A Ton of Pavers
My friend Mike gave me a bunch of paver stones that he had pulled out of his yard quite a while ago and isn't using. We thought they were a bit lighter than they were and loaded them all into my truck. Turns out, we were wrong. Each one weighed in around 22 pounds. And after Heidi and I finished ...
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The Wrong Kind
So I spent the evening in the E.R. waiting to see what's going on with my hand. Found out I've got some kind of non-contagious, non-blanching dermatitis of undetermined etiology. Anyway, it was weird walking in there feeling totally fine, so we had a good time being quite jovial with the staff. A ...
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From Dog to Child
Today was a beautiful day. Heidi really wanted to get out of the house and enjoy the sunshine for mother's day. She had been wanting to go on a bike ride for some time as well. So this morning we got up, ate a wonderful breakfast, loaded up the truck, and headed out. Our first stop was the Puyall ...
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National Recognition
It's always cool to be recognized. Even more fun to be recognized in a nationally-distributed publication. SiteCrafting was recognized by the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City as one of the top 50 inner-city companies in the nation! We're #41, and hopefully climbing. Brian was in Boston ...
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Dad at the Mall
Got this story from my dad today and had to share it... ----------- I took my dad to the mall the other day to buy some new shoes (he is 92). We decided to grab a bite at the food court. I noticed he was watching a teenager sitting next to him. The teenager had spiked hair in all different ...
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It's a Man's World
Heidi's now down in Scottsdale with the ladies and Jonah and I are home alone for the weekend. Spent the day wording from home while Jonah played, ate, and watched cartoons on the laptop. I could really get used to working from home a lot more often. Tomorrow will see an early morning for an elde ...
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Jonah's Juicin'
Jonah's got his first major cold. Fever for going on three days, runny nose and coughing so hard he's thrown up a few rimes. Not pleasant at all. But a cuddly kid with a hoarse voice is still pretty cute. Anyway, I took him to the doctor today on the recommendation of the nurse-line. Dr. Ory ran ...
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Today's Reading
Just read an article about abortion and found the following paragraph to sum it up quite nicely: ----------- Scientifically, medically, constitutionally, morally and ethically, the case for abortion rights is so intellectually bankrupt it is a national embarrassment that we take those who argu ...
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Widdle Wabbits
A story sent to me from Dad: ----------- A precious little girl walks into a pet smart shop and asks, in the sweetest little lisp, between two missing teeth, "Excuthe me, mithter, do you keep widdle wabbits?" As the shopkeeper's heart melts, he gets down on his knees so that he's on her level ...
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Revelation
Worth is the lamb who was slain. Holy holy is He. Sing a new song, to Him who sits on Heaven's mercy seat. Holy holy holy. Is the Lord God Almighty. Who was and is and is to come!!!
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The Proposal
Just finished watching The Proposal with Heidi. Haven't sat down to watch a movie on a Saturday night in quite a while. Great movie. Had both Heidi and I cracking up so much we woke up Jonah.
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Ahhh Saturdays
Checklist for the day: - Got up early (thanks Jonah!). - Made pancakes - Enjoyed pancakes - Sealed up some vents in the eaves where birds were trying to make a home - Went for walk to playground where Jonah cavorted for about an hour - Walked home - Mowed lawn - Weeded - Now sitting in a ...
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Jonah's Famous
SiteCrafting recently launched a new site for PEMCO Insurance. Their "We're a lot like you" campaign has a brand new website (www.werealotlikeyou.com). While we were building it, we created some fake profiles in the "community profiles" section. I used a picture of Jonah for one of the shots. Wel ...
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Disney Parade
Have you ever been in a parade? Have you ridden on a float? Have you been at the top of a float? How about inside Disneyland? And was it a parade in your honor? If you answered "yes" to all those questions, you must be Heidi (or me). You see, Disneyland decided to throw a parade in our honor and ...
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Sunset on the Moon
I think that's quite possibly the most clever title I've come up with for my blog. Duplicake is close, but this one tops it off, especially when it comes to content. You see, it was a beautiful day. The clear skies giving way to eve and the sun began lowering itself to its nightly resting place. ...
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Reach Out
Got to go to the "Reach Out" event last night. 25 homeless guys staying at a church at night, working during the day. Our church (LifeWay) took on one month of feeding the guys. Got there at 8:15pm with Adam and his teen son Lucas, as well as Brian (the kid I mentor). First task was to get the di ...
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Crepes
Just tried my hand at crepe making. Thin rolled crepes with a Suzette-style orange glaze (butter, sugar, orange juice, and triple sec) and a dusting of powdered sugar. With sides of sunny-side-up eggs and crispy bacon, we had a wonderful dinner. For my first foray into crepe making, I think they ...
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Three Blind Mice
I realize that many children's rhymes contain quite sinister story lines. From Jack and Jill to the man who bumped his head and got a concussion. It seems that each of these "fun" stories is wrought with disaster. So it should have come as no surprise when I read Three Blind Mice to Jonah. But, a ...
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Poker
The last group of guys left (and yes, it's 12:30 AM). Polished off a couple huge pizzas, a cooler of cold long-necks, a few bags of chips, and countless cookies. Up $8 on the night (nearly doubled what I started with). Nick was the big winner gaining $17 on the night. Now on to the cleaning of th ...
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He Finds You
For a good laugh today, go to www.google.com. Oh, the fun doesn't stop there, you actually have to do something. In the search field, type in "Find Chuck Norris" and then click on the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button. Sit back ... and enjoy! ...
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ER
I was going to title this blog entry "I Should've Snopes'd It", but then I checked out Snopes and the myth wasn't listed on there. Last night Jonah woke up a couple times early on. Figuring it was just his teeth, we comforted him and put him back to bed where he promptly fell asleep. Then, at abo ...
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New Beginnings
A new year ... a new site. I've been working on a new design for heidimark.net off and on for a while now. It's still not quite ready, but I thought I'd give you all a sneak peak of the new site. http://beta.heidimark.net There are quite a few changes to how things work on the new site, beginn ...
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