Wed, 30 Jul 2008 03:40:39 -0400 http://www.birchetts.com/ The Birchetts en-us http://www.birchetts.com/images/logo.gif http://www.birchetts.com/ webmaster@birchetts.com http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=36 So we just got back from Vegas a few days ago and it was an awesome trip, but I haven't been able to get to sleep since I got back.  It would be cool if it was just jet lag, but it's not and I'm not sure what to do about it.  To tell you why I can't sleep, I need to tell you what happened after we got back home and went to get the kids from Mom and Dad. Usually when we travel without the kids, we send the kids to my parents in Virginia.  A lot of the time, we'll meet halfway in Henderson or in Durham at Northgate Mall.  When we got back from Vegas, we drove to Northgate to meet Mom and Dad and get the kids.  This usually entails a brief meeting in the mall - sometimes with a meal in the food court, sometimes not.  This time, it was a quick get together because Steph and I had slept very little since the day we left Vegas, maybe 2 or 3 hours.  So we met the folks in the mall and then walked out to the Vans to exchange luggage and scooters and all of the paraphenalia associated with the boys.  While we were doing this and chatting, some douchebag was tearing through the mall parking lot, sqeualing his tires and narrowly missing other cars in the lot.  Being a sarcastic family, Mom, Dad, and I waved our arms at the truck and yelled "Woo hoo!" and "Impressive!".  I've done this before and never really thought twice about it.  This time, the guy slams on his brakes and whips around in a U-turn then squeals to s stop beside us.  We're standing there outside of our mini-van with Gabriel and Colby strapped in their seat belts and this guy just starts flying off the handle.  He screams at Mom and tells her to "stop waving her fucking arms" and says "that's a good way to get shot."  Dad and I can't resist pointing out that he is waving his arms at us while he s saying this.  This infuriates him even further and he tells all of us to "shut the fuck up".  Mom and Dad tell the guy to watch his language around the kids and he just gets madder and yells more profanity at the kids.  I make some sort of mocing gesture at him and he puts the truck in park and goes for the door handle. At that point, I start thinking maybe this guy is on steroids or pcp.  Maybe he has a gun and he's crazy enough to go to prison to prove he is a man.  I turn around and get my phone out the van and start to dial 9-1-1.  He asks who I'm calling and I tell him the police.  He says "What are you gonna tell them?"  So I think to myself "I 'm gonna tell them a crazy guy just pulled up to me in the mall parking lot and threatened to kill my family because my 60-year-old mother waved her arms in the air and he perceived it as a threat."  But since I think the guy may be batshit crazy, I tell him "I don't know, but I just want them here." At this point, Mom apologizes for offending him and he and I have a stare down for about 3 more minutes.  He finally puts his truck back in drive and takes off with another squeal of tires.  We finished getting the kids packed up, laughed about the incident, and parted ways and I didn't think about it again for awhile.  Last night, when I settled into bed, I started thinking about it again.  What if he had a gun?  What if he had gotten out and shot someone?  What if he had shot wildly and hit Gabriel or Colby?  What if he had killed Steph or Mom or Dad or Me?  What would happen to the kids if they saw opne of us shot to death in front of them?  Why was this guy so angry?  Was he crazy?  Did we narrowly miss getting hurt because some sociopath wanted to prove a point?  What if he had pointed a gun out the window and I tried to stop him.  What if I had gotten shot doing this?  What if I had caused him to shoot someone else while trying to stop him?  This went on and on in my head for literally hours.  The good part is I got in bed at 8:00pm and slept until midnight, then woke up at 2:30 and started this spiral, so even though it kept me up until 4:00, I still got a lot of sleep. Tonight, I went to bed at normal time and I'm still up at 3:40 AM.  I'm thinking about going to the doctor to get some Ambien or something, but I know that is just a band-aid?  Do I need therapy or do I just wait it out until it's a bad, but faint memory? I guess I'll ask the doctor. Wed, 30 Jul 2008 03:40:39 -0400 http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=35 The original front walk at our new house was pretty awful.[mg2:2216 class=right]  It was a short, right-angle walk from the front door to the driveway.  The ground underneath the pavers had settled in random spots, so the walk was rippled and uneven.  We decided to redo the front walk and, in the process, enlarge it to serve as a patio.  This gallery shows the progess. [mg2:2215 n=3 type=randomImage class=center]  Tue, 27 May 2008 10:30:11 -0400 http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=33 Once again, I am thwarted.  I had to work all week and, even with daylight savings, I didn't get a chance to work on the sand box any more.  Now it is supposed to rain all weekend.  I suppose I will spend some of that time working on the cover design and possibly the Lower Deck on the house.  Dumb Stupid Rain. [mg2:2156]  Update (3/15/2008):  I ended up cutting out the seats and dry-fitting them in the rain.  It's looking good.  If I had had the foresight to buy some long exterior wood screws, I could have had the seats on today.  I finished up the cutting right before the rain let loose.  Update (2/16/2008): I went to Lowe's and bought some screws.  Mission Complete!  Pix are in the  sand box gallery. Fri, 14 Mar 2008 23:22:34 -0400 http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=32 It's that time again!  Spring has sprung and I have about 1,000 projects I'm ready to get started on.  The first one to hit the drawing board is the sand box for Colby.  It's the only thing Colby has asked for as a birthday present besides "A Thomas the Tank Engine that sticks to the wall."  Here's the sketchup image:[mg2:2164 type=randomImage n=2] I have the sandbox base done and the box is already full of sand.  Next come the seats.  Then the cover.  I'm still designing the cover. Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:56:33 -0400 http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=31 So I broke my toe the other day falling down the stairs right after I woke up one morning.  That's a funny story, too, but this is about a side-effect of that awesome event.  I have been putting off going back to the gym because I'm afraid I'll hurt my toe doing exercises with a lot of weight. Also, the tennis shoes hurt like hell, too.  So I looked around the net for some bodyweight exercises I could do at home with just my bodyweight and barefoot.  I stumbled on Matt Furey's combat fitness articles and he had several good things to say about traditional Hindu martial arts exercises.  The three major ones, in his opinion, are the Hindu Squat, the Hindu Push-Up, and the Bridge.  I thought they would be moderately hard since I have been working out steadily for a few years now, but MAN!  Those things are tough!  I'm going to try to incorporate this stuff into my regular workout as much as I can. Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:34:11 -0500 http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=30   Christmas this year was filled with family, travel and an enormous remote control tractor trailer.  Easily the largest toy I've ever seen, this gargantuan semi was one of the highlights of the gifts received by the boys this year.  Dad and Janet's house was complete chaos after they brought this thing out.  For a preview, check out the gallery. [mg2:1857 type=randomImage n=3 class=g2image_centered]   Wed, 02 Jan 2008 19:49:46 -0500 http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=29 We went on a trip to Kentucky for a wedding.  Click below to read the details.[mg2:1832]  Thu, 01 Nov 2007 10:31:54 -0400 http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=28 We are in our new house and things are going well.  On the day of closing, we tested the limits of our penmanship in a frenzy of signatures that seemed to drag on for hours and hours.  After the last page was turned and the last papercut treated with band-aids and neosporin, we walked out of the lawyer's office without the key to our new house.  I was a little frustrated. Ok.  I was pretty pissed off.  The realtor for the seller said he had to "Call the seller and ask her about her emotional state on the issue" of giving us the keys before the sale was recorded at the courthouse.  Nevermind the fact that the keys are traditionally handed off at closing. We went to lunch to raise my blood sugar a bit and let me cool off and while we were there, the realtor called us and said he had left the key under the mat at the new house. That was the only real problem with the closing other than the fact that we closed a day late.  The new house is 3100 to 3400 square feet and we are still loading our stuff in.  The kids are having a ball and there is a 5 year old boy next door, so Gabriel has already made a friend.The boys are still adapting to their new house when bed time comes around, but Gabriel slept in a cardboard box in the living room last night and seemed to enjoy it immensely.  It was the first night he slept through until morning, so the box is staying as long as it's necessary. Mon, 27 Aug 2007 13:53:50 -0400 http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=27 We were initially a little worried about selling our house because the market was supposed to be kind of bad right now.  Several houses in our neighborhood have been on the market for quite some time, so we had some doubts after we took the plunge.  Fortunately, the time and money we put into the house paid off.  We sold it in five days and the buyer is in love with the paint colors and the upgrades we've made.  She is expecting a new baby Aug. 15th and her family  wants to move in by the 20th, so even though the stress of selling was gone, we suddenly had the stress of not having a place to be.  We spent a few days looking at houses and found several we liked and a few we loved.  It seemed like every time we found a fantastic house, the yard sucked.  The houses with good yards were bland and uninteresting or had the wrong room configuration.  Finally, we narrowed it down to two houses and deliberated for awhile over which one to grab.  The one we decided on is huge (3100 sq. ft.) and sits on a 1.3 acre wooded lot.  It has lots of nice updates inside, but is in desperate need of some TLC on the exterior.  It is 18 years old and still doesn't have flower beds around the house.  There are some boxwood hedges in the front yard that will have to go.  Aside from the landscaping, though, it is perfect.  It's in a nice neighborhood and we've seen plenty of other kids around.  It's also in the best school district.  We're putting in an offer today, so wish us luck.  Here's some pictures of the house:[mg2:1734 type=randomImage n=3 class=center]  Update July 31st - The offer was accepted and we are under contract! Update August 13th - We are still waiting for our lender's appraiser to appraise the property.  One week to go and we still don't know if we can get the house... Fri, 27 Jul 2007 10:40:44 -0400 http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=26 We put our house on the market this week.  After some painting and cleaning, it looks really nice inside and out.  Hopefully, it will sell fairly soon and we can move to our new home.  Of course, we don't know where we're moving yet, but we'll burn that bridge when we come to it.  We are looking in Winston-Salem and the Richmond area and we've seen some good stuff.  Unfortunately, we are going to sell before we buy, so we can't look too seriously until we get a contract on our house. Tue, 10 Jul 2007 20:17:05 -0400 http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=25 We just got back from a week-and-a-half vacation in Surfside Beach with the boys.  I'll write about it soon. Update: It doesn't look like I'm going to write about it after all, so, to summarize, we had a great time.  Gabriel loved the ocean. We did some different stuff this time, like going to the state parks and finding ocean creatures.  We had a blast and even Colby started to enjoy the water the last few days.[mg2:1732 type=randomImage n=3 class=center]  Sun, 10 Jun 2007 10:55:23 -0400 http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=24 It may not seem like it, but I try my best not to talk about poop very often.  Some stories, however, demand to be told.  Yesterday afternoon, I decided we would all go out for pizza because everyone in the family loves it and we usually have a good time.  There are several pizza joints in town that sell a variety of styles, so we never get tired of it.  I could honestly eat pizza every day and be perfectly happy.  I would be extremely obese, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices to achieve a goal.  Anyway, we decided to go to the Mellow Mushroom this time.  This place is a throwback to the late sixties and early seventies.  The decor is psychedelic and the staff looks like a collection of people who got lost on the way home from Woodstock and decided to set up shop in the center of downtwon Winston-Salem instead of losing their buzz and going home.  The pizza is delicious. The salads are great.  We  had a wonderful dinner and the boys were so well-behaved, it was almost creepy.  Normally, they get in trouble multiple times over the course of a restaurant meal, but Gabriel was quiet and Colby didn't throw his silverware on the floor.  They both ate well and even stayed quiet while we were waiting for our food.  It was going to be the best night out in a long time. After dinner, we walked back down the street toward the van, which was parked acoss the street and down about a block.  Some asshat™ almost ran over Gabriel when we crossed at the crosswalk because he ignored the 'walk' signal, but I glared at him so hard, he stopped.  Hopefully he felt like an asshat™.  The van was parked right outside of a small park that's nestled in-between the art museum and some high-rise apartments. Attached to the museum is an Italian restaurant with outside seating, and across the street from the park is a church.  There's an amphitheater-like set of stairs that drops down to a large fountain at the bottom.  Inside the fountain is a cool-looking rock formation with waterfalls and a wooden bridge.  The kids are drawn to it like yuppies to Starbucks.  We weren't in any hurry, so we decided to go down to the fountain and play around.  We were having a good time when all of a sudden, Gabriel said 'I have to go poop!'  So we gathered up the boys and started heading back.  Of course, both boys started whining because they didn't want to go, but Gabriel started heading back to the van on his own.  Colby, on the other hand, tried to get away from us, so we spent a few minutes running him down.  After I caught him and started carrying him toward the car, a process that only took about a minute, we turned around to see Gabriel at the top of the stairs with his pants down, squatting slightly.Steph and I both jumped to the same conclusion and yell-whispered “Gabriel! Pull your pants back up!  You can do that when we get home.”  We both looked over at the restaurant to make sure no one had seen our son exposing himself at the park and then hurriedly made our way over to him. We are always discovering new talents that Gabriel has and we are constantly surprised by a good majority of his actions, but we have not been this surprised in a long time.  In the course of that short minute, Gabriel had managed to poop on the ground in the middle of a public park without being seen.  Lying beside him on the ground was the product of his efforts and it was substantial.  How he managed to get that out in such a short time I will never know, but I have to admit that, through the shock, I was a little proud and more than a little impressed.  The more immediate reaction was embarassment and fear, though.  After a quick look around again to make sure no one was looking, we made him pick it up with a paper bag and throw it away.  He did a good job of picking it up, but then he kept trying to shake it loose from the bag into the trash until we told him we weren't keeping the bag.  Steph and I stumbled over each other trying to get him into he van.  It was more like a terrorist abduction than a parent getting his kid in the car, but we had to get the hell out of there. All the way home we lectured him on why he shouldn't do things like that and I doubt he heard a word. Thu, 24 May 2007 09:58:36 -0400 http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=22 [mg2:1338 class=right]Surprisingly, there are some benefits to having someone burn down your deck.  The main one is that you don't have to fix it yourself if you have insurance. We lost a good chunk of our deck to a fire a few weeks back and now there is a construction crew rebuilding it.  Not only are they repairing the fire damage, they are also finishing the stairs, which I was unable to do last summer.  It's going to save me a couple of weekends and keep my stress level low. Thu, 19 Apr 2007 10:07:08 -0400 http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=21 [mg2:996 class=left]I went to the [url=http://techmentorevents.com/]Techmentor Conference[/url] last week.  It was pretty cool, but I don't think I will ever go to Orlando again without the boys in tow.  Steph came with me and hung out at the hotel all week, getting a well-deserved break from being a mom. It was fun, relaxing, and a nice change of pace. Warning - The full article is pretty long...  Tue, 03 Apr 2007 07:25:08 -0400 http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=20 While I was working in the house at Surfside Beach today, I stopped to enjoy the cool breeze and distant ocean sounds.  I closed my eyes and  listened for a moment, letting it all soak in and feeling myself relax.  When I opened my eyes, I noticed this across the street: [mg2:504 class=left] Apparently, I wasn't the only one stopping to enjoy the day.  Fri, 23 Mar 2007 16:26:21 -0400 http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=19 Colby was having a bit of a dry spell this week.  He'd kept nothing on his stomach for three days and we started getting worried.  I called his doctor and she suggested taking him straight to the ER for IV fluids. [mg2:374 type=randomImage n=3 class=center] Thu, 15 Mar 2007 10:19:37 -0400 http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=18 I don't want children anymore. I want to go back to the days when I was only responsible for myself, when no one depended on me to take care of their every need. When I didn't have to worry and wonder and stress over EVERY insignificant detail of their lives. And that's only the trivial stuff. [mg2:342 iframe=dots class=center show=title] Mon, 12 Mar 2007 15:48:05 -0400 http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17 I went to see Pan's Labyrinth tonight and I was blown away. The previews marketed it as some kind of fantastical voyage through a faerie-like world and, in some ways, it was. The actual movie was so much more and so much better than that. It was more about a girl, traveling with her mother who has recently married a captain in the Spanish army during the Spanish civil war. The girl, Ofelia, reads books about fantasy lands and creates a world like this for herself to cope with the awful reality of her new life. It may sound boring, but the movie is deeply moving, at times disturbing, and visually breathtaking. The dialog and text are in Spanish, but the movie is subtitled in English and, after the first few minutes, you forget that you are reading them. I loved the movie and I would recommend it to anyone who is marginally good at reading. :) The man beside me in the theater looked at me as the credits rolled and asked, "Did you know this movie was subtitled?" "No," I replied, thinking [i]What does it matter? The movie was awesome.[/i] I could barely make out his face in the darkness to gauge what his motive was in asking the question. Then, out of his massive frame, I heard a long huff and a sigh. "I had no idea," he said, sounding angry. "They should warn people." Then he stood up and left. I sat there thinking about the wealth of emotions and thoughts that the movie had provoked in me and couldn't understand how this man had only come away pissed off at having to read a little bit. Welcome to the U.S. of A. Yee-haw! Sun, 25 Feb 2007 18:39:32 -0500 http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=16 Nobody likes diarrhea. At least, I hope nobody likes diarrhea. If there is someone out there who gets excited when the first little tickles start in their bowels, I don't want to meet them. I don't like diarrhea. Unfortunately, our house has been full of it for a week or so. Not literally, we do have toilets, but all members of the household - I won't name names to protect the innocent - have it, have had it in the last week, or are getting it again after having it and then getting well. I'm sick of being sick. I'm sick of the boys being sick. I haven't been to work since mid-December, which is ok since I work from home anyway, but it's nice to get out of the house and go to my staff meetings on Wednesday. Gabriel has been to school one day this year. He has to be, in the words of the principal - "diarrhea-free" for twenty-four hours before he returns. How I would love for our house to be in such a state. Until then, keep the TP rolling... Wed, 10 Jan 2007 14:09:58 -0500 http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=15 For those of you that have not heard, the holidays are over. Unless you bundle MLK day in there with Chirstmas, Hunnakah, Kwanza, the Winter Solstice, and New Year's Day. Gabriel and Colby don't, so I won't. Not that I'm not looking forward to it... Mon, 08 Jan 2007 23:03:26 -0500 http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=14 Ok. So having a sunken driveway over very tall eaves on a house makes it extremely difficult to hang Christmas lights on your house. I love Christmas lights, and every year, I think to myself, [i]This year, we're going to put some lights up![/i] Sat, 02 Dec 2006 13:26:10 -0500 http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=13 I hit 50,000 words last night and I "won" the NanoWriMo thing. It felt really good to have written a novel. I actually still have about a chapter to write, but I met the goal already, so that's pretty cool. The purpose of NanoWriMo is to get you in the habit of writing every day and to get you inspired. I started with no idea what I was going to write about and ended up with a full story, lots of characters, and a cramp in both hands. It was usually fun, at times frustrating, but ultimately very rewarding. Now don't get me wrong when I say I've written a novel. I won't be packaging this thing up and sending it to a publisher tomorrow. I have a complete story and it's 50,000 words, but the nature of a month long adrenaline rush toward a word count goal leaves several things out of the writing proces, including:[list][*]Spelling[*]Grammar[*]Continuity[*]Fact checking[*]Exercise[*]Sleep[/list]There were several changes I made to characters and plot that I didn't go back and fix in earlier sections of the story, so those will have to be addresses. First, I'll let the manuscript sit for about a month and then come back to it with fresh eyes (sounds gross - 'Would you like some Chianti with your ojos frescos, seniorita?') Once I reread it, I'll decide whether it's worth reqriting or it's just a crapfest destined for the trash can (virtual, of course.) If I decide to rewrite, it could take up to a year or more to get it in shape for a submission to a publisher. Whatever happens, I'll keep you updated (does anyone read this site?) and let you know what's going on. Thu, 30 Nov 2006 07:57:48 -0500 http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=12 The writing is going well. I made it over the halfway mark (25,000 words) a few days ago. I haven't hit any roadblocks like I did last year, but I still don't know where the novel is going. I'm going to have to take a long, hard look at bringing the characters to some sort of ending pretty soon. Wish me luck. Sun, 19 Nov 2006 15:06:23 -0500 http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=11 Steph told me to make sure I was home from work by 5:00 PM yesterday because we were having "Date Night". She didn't tell me what we were doing except that we were eating out and the babysitter would be there by 5:00. It turned out to be quite a surprise. Click the article to read more... Thu, 16 Nov 2006 09:44:30 -0500 http://www.birchetts.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=10 We decided to treat the kids Saturday and take them out for something different. We got exactly that. Sun, 12 Nov 2006 13:06:17 -0500