Poured Concrete & Other Delights....The Pawn America Digital Camera Saga Continues

The excavation is complete, the footings are poured, and the foundation walls are formed up and are supposed to be poured today. I decided to go with nine foot basement walls to overcompensate for having seven foot basement walls in our last house. I think poured wall foundations are the way to go. I took bids on several types of foundations and the poured concrete type are competive in price and a better product. Now, I have to pretend I know how to lay drain tile. I also have to put down the rigid foam insulation and tubing for the in-floor heat in the basement and garage.

We took Henry in to the doctor because he has been feverish and had a raspy Keith Richards-esque cough that we had mistakenly attributed to teething - WRONG! Our little achiever was diagnosed with bronchitis. He's been on the meds for a few days now and is doing lots better and sleeping much better. He's doing ok in the daycare center. It seems like we don't get to see him much lately -- kinda depressing. Ma has been very busy getting up to speed with her new teaching gig (new district, new grade and what have you) and I am trying to do the stuff with the new house and work full-time, all while juggling my reign as father and husband of the year. My two-in-one shampoo and conditioner continues to be a time saver and a blessing. However, I have switched from Pert Plus to Suave as a cost saving measure as we continue with the construction of our new house.

I am not sure if I mentioned this before but I was able to purchase a cow skull from a flea market vendor at the Almelund Threshing Show for twelve bucks. I intend to make one of those thingies at our driveway entrance and hang the skull over the top of the driveway. Kinda like this, only with a cow skull for added elgance and sophistication.

We may also have to come up with a cool name for our "ranch".

I found a camera at Pawn America just like my old one for $60. It doesn't work. So I have to go back to pawn shop and do some dickering. Maybe I will see if they would be willing to throw in the huge unicorn mirror for my troubles.

You want the word on the street? Talk to Applesauce...

OK, I really need to accept that we will not find our camera. I need to bite the bullet and buy a new digital camera soon. Our friends are having babies and Henry is just about walking and we gots no camera. I went down to the friendly Forest Lake pawn shop thinking I might find a deal on a used or stolen camera and they were all old and ridiculously overpriced -- like $120 for a 1.6 megapixel camera the size of a breadbox. No can do.

This is an old picture of Henry. It reminds me of the movie Mask -- the cool one with Sam Elliot and Cher, not the lame one. There is a scene in the movie where the deformed guy looks in an amusement park mirror and looks normal and has a revalation. In Henry's case, I think he is having the revelation that he is completely awesome and there is nothing anyone can do to change it.

So... Henry can take about a step or two if properly encouraged. The general concensus is that he will be walking in no time.

Henry has been running a fever the past few days and hasn't been sleeping through the night so good.

He was at his new daycare for the first full week. This place charges only slightly less per month than our old house payment. I get about three hours tops of face time per day with the little dude if I am lucky. I don't like it.

We have given Henry a new nickname. We call him Applesauce. It is like his street hustler name. He likes applesauce and that's what we call him.

We break ground on the house on Monday and get the footings started on Tuesday. I think this house stuff is another decent reason to have a camera.




I can relate to this picture because I have, only recently, conquered my addiction to the cruel and seductive mistress known as Eddy's Grand Cookie Dough Ice Cream. I still might do it on the weekends from time to time -- but never during the week...

I promise to get a camera soon.

Hardcore Corn

Our digital camera has gone M.I.A. Not cool. So, I don't have much for pictures and what not and I haven't posted for a while. After analyzing my Site Meter statistics, I have concluded that my readership in France and in the Mission, Kansas area has all but given up on me. What is a guy to do?

Even though it is rated R for adult language and snakes and what not, I promised Henry we would take him to see Snakes on a Plane if he could finish off an entire ear of corn on his own and the little bugger did it. He only has four and a half teeth -- but he did it.

I received this complimentary calender from a bank a while back. Each month features a different pioneer days scene and I'll be damned if Henry's head doesn't keep ending up transposed on that of the pioneer. I am considering this for a monthly feature on Henry James Johnson: An American Legend...

We received our building permit in the mail the yesterday. Kinda exciting. We were assigned an address, too. Things should be happening soon. Excavating and footings and septic systems and what have you... All the good stuff.

We had settled on a new daycare lady. However, it was recently discovered that our interpretation of her as "fun and new-agey" turned out to be more like "flakey and possibly mentally unstable". So, we had to scramble and put him in a center for now starting on Monday. Ma had to go sign a permission slip for buggy rides today. Sweet.

A few days back, Henry pulled off one of the heat registers and threw Ma's cell phone down it. Luckily, my dad was able to fish it out. He loves cell phones, maybe he hates 'em -- I don't know. He rendered one of my cell phones useless after sucking on it for about three minutes. He also managed to break my financial calculator ($79), Chuck Norris-style.

He has also developed the habit of pulling out wipes as his diaper is getting changed. This works well when he has a super poopy diaper as I can just grab 'em and wipe as quick as he can dish 'em out -- but it is not-so-great the rest of the time.

That's all I got for now. Seacrest, out!

Full Flavor!

Since the move and the wife's subsequent new job, we are forced to seek new daycare. Finding a new daycare provider is a serious drag. Luckily my productive and efficient wife is in charge of that so I can concentrate on various other endeavors.

This lady will provide full-time professional care in a structured and disciplined environment for the nominal fee of $85 and one carton of Doral Full Flavor 100's per week. Not too shabby... We are going to explore our options nonetheless.

We had steak and corn on the cob at Grammy Judy's place last nite. For whatever reason, his teeth are coming in in a very random pattern, his upper gumline goes gum, tooth, gum, tooth, gum. Despite having a less than ideal bite for the task, Henry liked the cob corn very much.

Henry had his one year check up last week. He is hovering at just over 20 pounds. He has dropped to the tenth percentile for weight. His height is at the sixtieth percentile. His new pediatrician has diagnosed him with acute and persistent awesomeness.

His hair is filling in rather nicely and has been described as both thick and luxurious. He is also developing a killer set of six pack abs.

Henry is a total freak for mandarin oranges. Grapes, too. And hummus toast.

Henry James Birthday Festival - continued...

Henry got a ton of presents...

As the party progressed, and after consuming copious amounts of watermelon, Henry's cousin Jada bore a striking resemblence to Sissy Spacek's character in the movie Carrie (or is it just me?).

Henry was less than into the cake. We had to take of his shirt 'cuz he got frosting all over it. Note the look of excitement on Mama's face.



Here, Henry encounters a Texas-style rubber duckie and attempts to choke the life out of it because it displeases him. This is a huge rubber duck -- big -- and our little Henry is virtually manhandling the poor thing. Note the sweet cap he is wearing; a gift from Sean.