From the Vault: Favorite Subject

Another one from my school scrapbook. It really speaks for itself. I'll note that it does go a long way to explaining my grammar (or lack thereof).


Maybe a math blog...

Book Review: Appointment With Death by Agatha Christie

Appointment with Death
by Agatha Christie

I'm terribly behind in writing up my book reviews. I'm going to try to catch up in the near future.

I'm guessing my regular readers weren't expecting a review of an Agatha Christie novel on RetroBrett. Surprise! Honestly, it wasn't something that was sitting on my to read list so picking it up was kind of a whim. Here's what happened.

With the birth of Jesse, the labor was induced. That meant it was scheduled and we had time to plan, pack, and prepare. I knew we'd likely have a decent amount of down time in the hospital while we waiting for labor to actively begin so I packed It's Superman by Tom DeHaven. With Jonah, it wasn't so scheduled. Oh, we had plenty of time to get ready but my picking out a book from my shelf wasn't a top priority. The plan, actually, was to grab a Narnia book but I completely forgot about it.

Anyway, we're in the hospital...waiting. I needed to run out for some lunch and contemplated a stop at Target or Barnes & Noble to pick up...I don't know...something to read. Instead, I opted for Goodwill. I knew I could find something there. I knew it would be cheap. And I knew stopping at a bookstore would overwhelm me with choices. I wanted something engaging but still something I could put down/pick up/put down/pick up/etc as needed. Something fun but still with some meat to it. I wasn't sure what I'd find. What I walked out with was this Agatha Christie book.

Now, I'd read Christie before but it's easily been a decade since. The book fit what I was looking for perfectly. I found myself wrapped up in the mystery. It easily passed the long hours of waiting at the hospital. And it was actually fun to read. I haven't read many mysteries so I don't know how it compares to others. Now, I'm not really one to play Clue with the novel. I don't try to pick out the culprit as I read. Really, I'm more along for the ride. This was even more the case when I was sitting in a chair, anxiously waiting for our second child to arrive. Regardless, it was a good ride...to be along...for.

Anyway, I really enjoyed the book. Probably the biggest testament to this has been the direct results of reading it:

1. I've since read another Christie book (yet to be reviewed).
2. My wife and I have gotten hooked on Poirot DVDs from the local library (I'll post more on this later).

Operation: Early Bird (continued)

I've been doing a decent job of keeping up with my art endeavor. Time is rather tight but colored pencils (my modus operandi) are nice in that they don't require a lot of prep or clean up. By that, I do NOT mean colored pencils are easy. That's certainly not the case as they require just as much effort to master as any other medium. What I mean is simply that they don't require some of the extra work other material require. There's no cleaning of brushes. There's no curing of clay. You get the picture (Hah, get it...picture). I have taken and developed a few photos to serve as reference points but that's not exactly labor intensive.

I've been pleased with the results thus far. My goal is still to get an Etsy store up and running but, before I do that, I really think I need to have at least three different pieces of art to sell. So far, I have one completed and one in the works. More importantly, I think the second piece lends itself well to being the start of a kind of series and that feels promising. It at least puts off the question of "What will I work on next?" as I'm stare at a blank sheet of paper.

Prepping for Etsy leads to to this question...how does one go about getting prints made of artwork? Does anyone have experience in that? Or, do you just search the Yellow Pages and try out a printer? I'm curious if any of my regular readers have any ideas.

And don't get me started on coming up with a name for an Etsy shop. I have no idea.

Reel Deal

I love garage sales. It's like having a Goodwill store on every corner. Over that past few weeks, I've managed to hit a decent number of garage sales. I've specifically been looking for tools, a small desk to replace our over-large desk, kids toys, video games, and anything else that catches my eye. Thus far, I've picked up good deals on some toys for Jesse, a jigsaw, and even some random free stuff people were looking to unload. I'm still looking for a small desk and a couple bench-top power tools but we'll see.

Anyway, this post is specifically about something I picked up last weekend. We came across a reel lawn mower at a nearby garage sale. It's a couple years old and I think it originally came from Walmart or Sam's club. I'm not sure. It really doesn't matter. Since we moved to the new house and now have a smaller yard, I've been thinking about a reel mower for some time. We have a perfectly good gas mower so I couldn't justify buying a new mower just for fun. But, it's hard to turn down a good deal on something you were curious about anyway.

Well, so far, I really like the mower. It cuts reasonably well. I did have to sharpen the blades and I greased the whole thing while I had it apart. I think it will do even better if I adjust the blades a bit more. Otherwise, the mower has a lot going for it:

• No need to buy gas specifically for the mower.
• Environmentally friendly.
  
• I need the extra exercise.
• Doesn't require extra time...just more effort.
• Takes up less space in the garage.
• Quieter. This means I can actually hear the music from my headphones. It also means I can mow earlier in the day and later in the evening without bothering the neighbors. I can also mow during nap time without worrying about waking the kids.
• It's kind of therapeutic to see all the grass clippings go flying.

Anyway, I haven't gotten rid of the other mower. I'm not sure I'm ready for that just yet. Still, we'll see how the next few mowings go.

Welcome Home, Jonah! Part 2.

My previous post was a quick one to get the announcement of our new arrival posted. I did want to post a few more details regarding our past several weeks.

It all started early Thursday morning (05/22/2008) when my wife woke up during the night with some contractions. This wasn't really all that out of the ordinary and she was able to get back to sleep without too much difficulty. Once she woke up, the contractions did get stronger but they still weren't too bad. Like I said, contractions weren't all that uncommon so we weren't getting our hopes up, fully expecting them to pass and nothing to happen. We actually had our weekly Dr. appointment scheduled for 10:30 that morning so we figured we'd just wait and see what the doctor had to say...again, fully expecting to find out they were normal Braxton Hicks contractions.

I was at work and the plan was for me to meet my wife at the doctor's office while Jesse stayed home. Knowing we were getting close to the due date and that we have an 18-month-old to keep up with, my Mother-in-Law had already planned to visit and stay with Jesse while we were at the appointment. I got a phone call mid-morning from my wife saying the contractions were getting worse. Well, by 10:00, the contractions were hard enough that my Mother-in-Law had to drive my wife to the appointment.

Still not expecting a lot, we were surprised to find that my wife was already dilated to 4 or 5 centimeters. My wife must be pretty tough because she was still smiling through the contractions. Anyway, the doctor said it was time and called the hospital. Soon, we were racing to the hospital.

Late-morning/Early-afternoon was pretty uneventful at the hospital. The contractions got stronger and more frequent. And my wife got pumped with fluids to get ready for the birth. Eventually, the epidural was administered and that smoothed out the contractions. My wife could still feel the contractions but they weren't painful.

So we waited and waited some more.

By 4:00 in the afternoon, we were getting close. By around 4:15/4:20, it was time to start pushing. Not that I had a lot to do with it, but it seemed to go pretty smoothly. By 4:53, we had a new little baby boy.

The doctors did have to rush Jonah to the room's baby alcove to clean out his lungs (he had a stool mishap in the womb). That was a little stressful...not getting to hold him right away. But, we were told ahead of time about the situation and we knew what to expect. We were very grateful for the warning.

We spent two days in the hospital and everyone recovered well from the birth. We had a few visitors but not so many that it was crowded or stressful. We appreciated the peace and quiet. The doctors and the nurses were awesome. We especially liked the night nurses. All were incredibly helpful, patient, and knowledgeable.

I was fortunate to be able to take two weeks of vacation with the birth. Memorial Day even fell in there so I got an extra day off. The time off was terrific. It was, of course, a lot of work. It continues to be a lot of work. But, still, it's an amazing blessing. I can't wait to go home at night.

Welcome Home, Jonah!

This will be a quick post. I know I disappeared for a couple weeks but those of you that read this blog probably already knew why...we had our second little boy!

Jonah Benjamin was born 05/22/2008 at 4:53pm. He weigh 7 pounds 6 ounces and measured an even 21 inches. He just had his two week appointment with the doctor this morning and everything is looking great.

My wonderful, lovely wife is also recovering well. She's handled the last two weeks in stride. Brig brother, Jesse, is fascinated with the new addition, "Jo-doh".

Here are some initial pictures. Maybe I'll post more details in the near future.