Average Grod's Average Blog

This is my first attempt at something in Photoshop. It's pretty rough but it is kinda funny. If you can't tell it's Yoda and Emma meshed together. Sort of. I took it straight off of an online tutorial and I still couldn't get it right. The color is off. So is the only highlight I attempted. Not to mention the right side of the face is messed up. It was a fun experiment and now I have something entertaining to show besides a headache. Photoshop can sure do a lot but man it is tough to learn. I guess I can only get better.

My Grandpa says they don't make movies like they used to and that a modern comedy is mostly just jokes about body functions. I completely agree! Just go watch The Nutty Professor with Eddie Murphy. And although I'm not a big fan of poorly written movies that rely on a well timed fart I do enjoy the low brow humor when it involves cartoons and stick figures. Thank goodness for Adult Swim and Smurfbite!!! I don't have cable and there aren't any new Aqua Teen Hunger Force DVDs out there right now so I guess that leaves me with the stick men. Yay! Head on over to www.smurfbite.com and enjoy. I was the guest doodler today(Friday). I want to thank my brother Gabe for turning me onto the site. You can thank me or blame him depending on how offended or entertained you are. Here is a link to MY contribution.

This is my 100th post! Thanks for spending a few minutes of your day on my musings. I hate it when TV shows have an episode that is just a compilation of old episodes like the Thanksgiving episodes of Friends. But this is my blog and so I get to do it anyway!
When I started this Shanna was definitely showing but Emma was still a ways off.
We got a dog and gave him away. I partially destroyed my knee and came to grips with a weight problem. I also made it through surgery and have managed to lose weight instead of gain it. I fought with my backyard, reviewed a couple movies and concerts, and have posted copious amounts of baby pictures. I also launched a podcast and kept it up for 2-3 posts (btw this isn't entirely dead). Not counting this blog I have written just over 23,500 words*. I guess this is in the ballpark of a 100 page novella. Pretty cool huh? Thanks again for checking out my blog. I appreciate your comments both online and off. Keep reading and have a great day.

*25,533 words, 93,743 characters not counting spaces or any automated posts such as dates or "posted by:----" Just blog words and titles. I got these stats from Microsoft Word. I blog an average of once every 2.8 days.

Lately I have been getting up with Emma and hanging around with her during the day. It's pretty fun but separation anxiety coupled with the fact that we now cage her into the living room make for a sad little girl at times. If I walk the few feet from the living room to the kitchen to make her a bottle she starts crying. She can see me as I am standing right in front of her, but she can't get to me. We had to gate off most of the house since she is now able to climb stairs. For now she does ok at nursery and the houses of family members but we will have to see how she reacts if we ever have to leave her with a babysitter who isn't family.
After the Emma shift I pack up and head to work. This isn't to taxing but it does take eight hours. Over nine when you consider breaks and driving. I get home at about 12:30 and hit the Flash most nights. Last night I went til almost 6. Usually it's only 2 or 3 though. Regardless, this seems to make at least 2 or 3 nights a week 12-15 hour shifts. At least one of my projects is almost complete and the second one should get knocked shortly thereafter. At least it's fun stuff and it looks like it may be taking me in a new direction, not to mention career.
It may be a few days til I post again. I am putting together a special post. Sorry to disappoint but it won't be about Emma but rather the blog itself.

Emma learned two big things this week. First she learned how to take off her clothes. She can't do snaps or zippers yet but once I start she helps me finish. Or if I am trying to dress her she does everything she can to keep the clothes off. Yesterday I got one arm and her head in her shirt and she managed to take it off before I could get her other arm in. I was dressing her on the floor of her room as well as changing her. Once I got the diaper off she rolled over and crawled about 5 feet before I caught her. I set her in the diaper for round two and she rolled over, stood up leaning on a stool, then started laughing and dancing(shaking up and down actually but dancing is a pretty good description of what it looked like). It looked fun and I wanted to strip naked and dance too but One: the windows were open and Two: I had to go to work. Anyways, she goes to sleep pretty easy now. Shanna put in a lot of long and hard nights so I guess it is only fair that I get a shot at some hard work. Dressing her takes up to 20 minutes now and she screams, cries, and fights like she did when she was learning to sleep by herself. Except she is 2 months older, stronger, and louder now!
She also discovered the stairs. I used to leave her in the hallway and go up the stairs to watch what she would do. She would crawl to the end of the hall and look around for me but never move toward the stairs. Today she found em and climbed em. DONT WORRY! Shanna was with her the entire time. We aren't one of those people who build climbing walls in there apartments or anything. Not that there is anything wrong with it but we didn't want any broken babies. I wish I could have been there but Shanna told me she crawled up the steps behind Emma and didn't touch her the entire time. Emma just went up the first flight, then the landing, then up the second flight and all the way to my room with no help from mom. My hope is she was looking for me but my guess is she wanted to play the gamecube. Or maybe just play with the clutter of CDs and paper on the floor. Speaking of which I should get cleaning.

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Nah just kidding but I honestly have been busy. I am working on a couple sites for people and when they are finished I will post links so you can check them out. I am hoping that all this will lead to a career change. So far it looks promising. I was planning on launching a business in January but now my fledgling company may be swallowed up by another company before it has been fully birthed. Weird how things work out and I am excited to see how this year shapes up. I will be adding some great links to this site soon. Check back regular like and I will keep you posted. Thanks for any prayers you have been sending up with our names attached to em. Keep em coming as this is year will hold a lot of opportunity as well as choices.