FINALLY!

Finally, on Friday, the police were able to return our camera, and about 10 movies that had been stolen out of our van after Christmas.

There were a couple hundred pictures that were on the camera. I will put up the slideshows here, one post at a time, starting with December 14th or so. What's so special about that day, you might ask? Oh yeah, my birthday! And the kids' birthdays, too!

Lara Turns 40!

I wished my wife a happy 40th! Unfortunately, she got this:

Okay, just kidding! It was a crazy day, but a good one.

To come: Pictures of Maggie's broken arm. Yes, not Carl, but Maggie, who broke her arm a couple of days back. Never a dull moment.

A Surprise Trip To Dallas, and a Sad Homecoming...

Over the weekend of January 3rd, we decided to visit my sister in Dallas. Her family was throwing a surprise 50th Birthday party for her, and on the spur of the moment, we gathered up the kids and drove down to visit. We left Friday day, and arrived at about 2:30 am Saturday morning. Her surprise party was not until the evening, so we decided to spend the day at the Dallas Zoo.

After the zoo, we got ourselves ready, and prepared to surprise Carla at the wonderful party set up by her daughters. I think we did!

We had a nice drive home, but had suspected, and actually talked about, the eventual death of one of our old cats, Ptolemy. When we got home, we were informed that Ptolemy hadn't eaten or drank anything since we left. He was having a hard time standing on his own, and was obviously in pain. We decided that night to end his life. Here are the last pictures we have of Ptolemy, with a sad group of kids around him. The kids each wrote a remembrance of Ptolemy, and read them before I buried him in our backyard. May you rest in peace, Ptolemy.

Ptolemy 1994-2009.
Rest In Peace, you lovable little shithead.

Carl Is A Teenager.....What????

Yeah, 13 years old on December 17th. Crazy. I still remember taking Lara to Carbondale Memorial Hospital, getting her prepped for the C-section, and her doctor trying one last time to turn the baby before committing to surgery, and Lara about breaking his arm at the elbow.

Once the procedure started, everything was quick. In one moment, there was an incision, and the next, a perfect not-so-little baby. He really did look perfect, too, no head squishyness from being pushed through the birth canal. Then, after Lara was in recovery, and I tried to make calls, and was blubbering to all of my relatives. I was pathetic.

Flash forward 13 years later, and Carl is every bit the dork I hoped for that freezing Winter's day in Carbondale.

Maggie And Katie Turn 8!

Here's my birth story for these two. Lara had them at Western Baptist Hospital in Paducah, which had a great room, with home-like fixtures, where she was prepped for giving birth to the girls. It so happened that a Murphy Brown episode was on, the one about how much trouble Murphy was having with her new baby, and then there was a Planet of the Apes marathon on. So, there was a little something for both Lara and me. Then, when the girls were born, (V-back) and a squirrely looking orange-haired swarthy kid with a weird shaped head came out, Lara and I had to decide real quick whether this was Maggie or Katie. We both agreed that this one had to be Maggie. For about 10 of the next 20 minutes, I think Lara and I were wondering, if this was how weird the first one looked, just what the hell might the second one look like?? 20 minutes after Maggie, the next one was born, and she looked perfectly round (not having her head stuck funneled into the birth canal like Maggie had) and could have been Carl's twin at birth (cute as a button, bald as a baboon's ass). As they have grown, Maggie still has been the wilder, unusual one, (though her skull bones finally moved to where they needed to be) while Katie still shares many of Carl's facial features.

Roger Is Old

Officially 43, on December 14th. In the second picture, I can really see my mom in my face. I always said to Mom that I looked forward to my birthday, because I set it aside for to express my thanks to my parents for having me. I always thought that's how it should be. Being born is no special event to you, but a huge event in the lives of your parents. Birthdays should be about reminding the parents that you're glad they stuck it out with you. Every year, until Mom died, I called her on my birthday, and told her I loved her, because she was the reason I have the celebration at all.

Lara Turns...OLD!!!

For awhile, these posts will be out of order, chronologically, until I get some of the recent events put up on the blog. Lala's birthday was a small affair this year. I rarely get to take pictures of her, however, in the last month or two, she has relented, and I've been able to take some photos.

Get your violins out, I might as well say it now, our family has some tough times ahead of it. Unless our governor gets his head out from inside his own ass where it has been planted for some time, it is possible (read as looming large like a mushroom cloud on our horizon) that she will be laid off. It is possible that she will not only lose her job, but that her position, among many others around the state, will be eliminated(that is, no job to come back to even if she were laid off). This has generally put a damper on things like birthdays and such, and has added so much stress to her already stressful life (she puts up with me), that I really stand in awe of her composure. I mean, I am composed in this situation, but that is only because I choose to ignore the dire consequences which might face us. She is staring them straight in the face and still is hanging in there.

So, here was Lara's understated, but love and happiness filled, birthday, on October 1st: