Happy 35th to Sarah... hope it continues to be a great day.

Skye says hi.

In case you were started to think about getting me a birthday present (June 11th... hint hint) you could consider this... the Vertical Mouse since I am on the computer all the time.

Jerry and Elizabeth Howes came over for dinner and cookies Friday night. They also brought along the newest addition to the family (although it has been 18 months so he is not that new). Shawn and Regina came over as well and we got to provide them with dinner (such a rare thing!!). He and Jack Tureman played around while the adults caught up. I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to the Howes for not preparing some of the tortellini with no sauce added. Should of thought of the mess factor, I will learn these things with time :)

After Jack Tureman left it was time for Jack Howes to show how to use the computer, and to show of Dad's current project and company website. All in all it was a very educational experience for everyone involved. Jerry is working on the new ride, Curse of DarKastle at Busch Gardens Williamsburg so hopefully we will get to see them more! He landed a pretty phat job when he relocated to Orlando.

Sherry's employer, Virginia Wesleyan College, got a new website today.

You can see her name in lights on the advancement staff page.

Check out #19 Norfolk / Va Beach on CNN's "Top housing markets" list.

We are thinking that we could already make 49% for our house... and it has only been 1.3 years :)

So Sherry's surprise was a trip to NEW YORK CITY! We went with Shawn and Regina (no Jack) and had a wonderful time.

Quick run down of what we did:

Saturday - fly to NYC, walk around town, walk to Rockefeller Center, walk to Central Park, go Ice Skating, check out "The Gates", walked down 5th all the way home (even though the girls had blisters), went to Pravda for the best meal of the trip, went to a Piano bar for drinks.

Sunday - get Metro fun card ($7 all you can ride...the way to do NYC), ride to Grand Central Station, take shuttle to Time Square, take Metro to WTC site, shopped, bought some fake purses and movies from some street vendors, went home and laughed at the shitty construction of aforesaid purses and movies, went to dinner at Saga after deciding that we didn't want to eat at City Lobster, walked home and stopped at Irish Pub cause it was too cold.

Monday - took Metro to FAO Shwartz, took Metro to China Town, walked around (in the rain) and checked out the sites, ate some Chinese Food in China town, went back to hotel and headed to airport.

All in all it was a great trip.

More photos can be found on Flickr.

Thank you soo much, Sherry. It was a wonderful surprise and you pulled it off beautifully.

Happy Birthday to the flouncy one. Sorry for the delay, but you failed to inform me of yesterday's importance until lunch time. (Thanks for the prayer)

Charges denied in lethal enema case

Newborn boy survives being thrown from car

to my sister Leigh for making the Dean's List... I always knew you were an artist.

We are looking at rental places to stay when my sister graduates in late April from FSU Library Science's department (with a masters!)

here is the list of places we are looking at... just figured you guys could use a break from work:

Wakulla Springs Lodge (could get a room that sleeps 4 from $79 to $99 a night, would need 2)

Sweet Magnolia Inn - They have a house but it only sleeps 4, they also have rooms so we could come up with a combo deal

A whole lise of rental homes here http://www.obrealty.com/rentals/index.php

the shore list is:
 Endless Summer
 Sand Castle
 Gulf Vista

In case you wanted to help with the search and email me good finds... we need to sleep 8, and are looking to stay the night of the 29th and 30th of April, and we need to be less then an hour from Tallahassee.

Here is an article on my sister-in-law Shelley (Sherry is mentioned too)... how funny is it that they write up articles on everyone that works there??!?!

Go grandma Go!

A man walked into the ladies department of a Macy's and shyly walked up to the woman behind the counter and said, "I'd like to buy a bra for my wife."

"What type of bra?" asked the clerk.

"Type?" inquires the man, "There's more than one type?"

"Look around," said the saleslady, as she showed a sea of bras in every shape, size, color and material imaginable.

"Actually, even with all of this variety, there are really only four types of bras to choose from."

Relieved, the man asked about the types. The saleslady replied:
"There are the Catholic, the Salvation Army, the Presbyterian, and the Baptist types. Which one would you prefer?"

Now totally befuddled, the man asked about the differences between them.

The Saleslady responded, "It is all really quite simple...
The Catholic type supports the masses.
The Salvation Army type lifts the fallen,
The Presbyterian type keeps them staunch and upright, and
The Baptist makes mountains out of mole hills."

Update on Pearl, she started what will hopefully be her last round of radiation this week (on Fat Tuesday). So far so good, although she was talking to another patient (which she does often... as you can imagine, each waiting room is an instant support group), and the other patient warned her that this type of chemical is pretty bad, so she is a little scared.

So pray up for the next few months, please.

Sherry has a surprise planned for me on this Valentine's day... I have to admit that I am quite excited about it... but don't want to get overexcited, cause I can think up some pretty crazy things. I don't think we are going out of town, and it is a two day thing. Day one is on Saturday... supposedly it is like the prep day, and then on Monday we do the actual thing. This is the first big surprise that I can think of that she has done, except for the 27th (?) birthday surprise at Boomers in FLL. It is very nice to switch responsibilities for this Hallmark Holiday.

Happy Birthday (late) to my friend Andrew. His birthday was on the 3rd. He says that he played games and didn't do much for his birthday, man we are old.