We are in so much trouble...

Mattheus just figured out how to open doors and he likes to wake up early. Even those of you without kids should understand the gravity of this situation: a two-year-old with free reign of the house without parental supervision == really bad news!

We will have to spend the next couple of days hunkering down and getting ready for the destruction. Either that, or we can just put up the baby gate at the top of the stairs. I think we'll go for option #2.

New Pics Posted

Spent most of the evening loading pictures onto my Facebook account. These were long overdue and the easiest way was to create an album for every year:
2003 (5 pics)
2004 (6 pics)
2005 (33 pics)
2006 (36 pics)
2007 (12 pics)
2008 (12 pics)

Enjoy.

Gotta Love Springtime

The sun is out, it's warm outside, and the kids are playing in the sandbox. Just another little piece of heaven.

6 years and counting...

Yesterday, Wifey and I celebrated our 6th anniversary. To tell you the truth these were really easy years. Over this time we haven't had a single fight (in fact we've never had a fight any time in our relationship) and have had only 1 or 2 "discussions". When I was thinking about this the other day I had to double check with her just in case I had forgotten about something. Her response was "No, but why are you asking about this? Do you feel like you need to pick a fight with me?" I guess I must have had my serious face on when I asked the question...she always knows just the right thing to say to get me to laugh.

About the most stressful part of the marriage so far has been the cross-country move to Colorado which has taken us away from all of our family and friends. Probably the worst night of my life happened when Wifey had to have an emergency appendectomy while we were all out here looking at houses on my interview trip. After being stuck in a strange town without any friends and a very tired 2-year-old waiting for your wife to get out of surgery, the stresses of moving to the same strange town aren't quite as bad. Hey, at least we knew the hospitals were good!

In short, these have been the best years of my life. I have a smart, funny, and beautiful wife and our kids have inherited all these traits. I can't wait to see what the upcoming years have in store for us. What more can you ask for?

Rock on you crazy fool!

Going to my friend's house to play Rock Band today. We're fairly addicted to the game and have been known to play for hours on end without a break. In honor of simulated video super stardom and having to tape bags of frozen peas to my arms attached is a hilarious video review of Guitar Hero III for your enjoyment.

Guitar Hero III Review

Books Since October

New rating system (sorted lowest to highest):
(1) Made me puke
(2) Did I really need to read this?
(3) Eh
(4) I liked it
(5) Don't wait up honey, I'll be reading until the sun comes up

Contact by Carl Sagan - 10/30/2007
Rating: Eh

Travels with Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck - 11/21/2007
Rating: Eh (didn't finish)

His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik - 11/25/2007
Rating: Don't wait up, reading 'till dawn

Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik - 12/1/2007
Rating: I liked it

Black Powder War by Naomi Novik - 12/18/2007
Rating: I liked it

Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik - 1/1/2008
Rating: I liked it

Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest - 1/19/2008
Rating: Did I really need to read this?

Crystal Rain by Tobias S. Buckell - 3/29/2008
Rating: Eh

Nimitz Class (audio) by Patrick Robinson - 3/20/2008
Rating: Did I really need to read this?

Duma Key (audio) by Stephen King - 4/8/2008
Rating: Eh

A Fine and Private Place (audio) by Peter S. Beagle - 4/15/2008
Rating: Did I really need to read this?

The Forever War (audio) by Joe Hadelman - 4/22/2008
Rating: Don't wait up, reading 'till dawn

A Room with a View (audio) by E. M. Forster - 4/22/2008
Rating: Made me puke (didn't finish)

Currently Reading:
The World's Religions by Huston Smith
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear

The Snape Song

Zoe just loves this video.



Occasionally she'll just walk around the house singing "Snape, Snape, Severus Snape. Dumbledore!"

I love my new job...

I just started a new job a couple of weeks ago. It's in this group called "future plans". It's a small group on a really large program that has a lot of influence on the program. Basically, we are the people who do a lot of analysis and determine the direction that the program needs to take in the future. It is very math/science intensive with a lot of independent research going on. In many ways it is a dream job for a math geek like me. I don't even mind the hour long commute to Denver I'm so excited to go to work.

Here's what sealed the deal for me:
Earlier this week, my team lead and I were in his office talking about a new problem we were working on. In jest, he started to write down an equation which he said would solve all of our problems. I then added my own parts to the equation. We went back and forth for a couple of minutes and ended up with a triple integral involving politics, time, and money as the key variables in our equation. I know that this probably sounds like it would be hell for most people, but that's the point. Since I've started my professional career I've never felt comfortable enough to make a math joke like that. In fact, the one time I did try it before, I distinctly remember the querulous look that my friend made and I never tried it again. It hasn't been since I was president of the math club in college that I've been able to do jokes with math.