Gone Digital and another Toyota!

We went out and bought a new Sony Digital Handycam for a mutual anniversary present this past week. One of my projects to complete now that we have gone digital... Upload all the old analog video from our old camera to the computer to make DVDs. Last night was tape one. Madhatter 2k and the first look at our house here on Christmas Tree Rd. I have to admit something... I was nearly sick when I looked back at what this house was when we moved in... I had that nauseas pukey feeling going on! I think we may have been insane to plop down 120 grand for this mess back then! I wanted to turn it off after about 10 minutes, but I had no choice but to let it run. Wow! We were crazy! Don't get me wrong, I love this house, but if I we ever sell it or think about moving... I will go with something that has been kept up to date! It was hot all last week, so you know what that means? I did not get on the computer for any decent amount of time! We did have a nice weekend with rain.... It was a welcome relief. I spent this weekend working on windows. Glazing and scraping. Next weekend will be paint. (And Linda's Birthday) I created a few photo pages for news from the past 2 weeks. Check out Planet Stahl for these. The Peoria Air Show Pictures. Lots of pictures of the kids! Big surprise! Claire Roma's Baptism pictures. Timmy Jimmy makes his small screen debut for St. Jude. Does this give you a clue where my priorities are at...? Mike calls to let me know that Steele's bachelor party is August 27th. Hmmmmmm, I think I am doing something that day Mike... Oh yeah, the "Day out with Thomas" at the Illinois Railway Museum. I am going to head over to what's left of Steele and the boys in the PM when I get home. Erin emailed and inquired if I am going to the Fairbury fair this year. Quick answer, "Nope". I asked Leahy to go last week but he declined. I could go either way on the thing, but its a long drive, and I need a support staff to make it work! We bought a new car this past weekend. Shocker huh? You can probably see a similar post on almost every news page on this site! The old convertible is finally making Ang feel unsafe! Its only a 1987 VW with 220,000 some miles! We found a Celica Convertible in Chicago and decided to make the trip up. We traded the van. It was time to go, we never used it, and it was becoming a seldom used 4th car! Pictures soon. Actually, with gas prices shooting up, it was an ideal purchase. Now Ang drives that to work, and I drive the Avalon. The Tundra is sitting in the garage waiting for sub 2.00 gas prices. For those keeping track, I am still bitter that Don got to see Walkenhorst!

4H, 10th Anniversary and Bob Walkenhorst!

Don has completely done it. He managed to make me envious while on the road. Bob Walkenhorst (Former leader of the Rainmakers) plays a gig every Wednesday night in Kansas City Mo... Don just happens to be doing a 2 night stint at a club 7 blocks away tonight and tomorrow! He is going to check out Bob before his show tonight. MAN!!!!!!! I was half tempted to make the 7 hour drive at noon today! I have a "case of the covet's" as Summer's little commandments book says. July 29th, 1995. 10 Years ago today, where were you? If you are part of the family, or a close friend, you were probably at our wedding! 10 years today! A lot has changed, my hairline for one!... But, the more we change, the more we are the same. I am pretty sure I was jamming Oingo Boingo back then, and what do you know, I was doing that again this week. Probably the same CD's. Ang and I have experienced a lot in this span. I really can't wait to see what goes on for the next 10 years. Something tells me these kids will make it extra memorable. Wow, that is pretty excellent. Ang and I went out to dinner to celebrate. Our normal anniversary stop is "Jonah's" in East Peoria. She has to have Oysters Rockefeller every time. We have committed to getting a cool digital camcorder as a gift to each other, but time was running out that evening. We ended up going to see a movie. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I actually enjoyed it. Ang was put off by Depp's performance. Whatever. I thought he was fine, and I cant imagine it done much better. Burton, Elfman and crew succeeded in making a better movie this time around. We made the trip this weekend to see Claire baptized in Champaign. The church was wonderful. I really miss a traditional church. St. Joe's in Pekin is a contemporary design... Not the same effect. We then headed to the far southwest side of town to Mike and Dana's house. Great place... After Ang had her chance to hold the baby, and the kids had stuffed themselves at the cheese trays, we made for the exit. In hindsight, it may seem foolish to think you can find a better route to the interstate through country roads... But you have to remember, we were on the far southwest side of town! I did not want to head all the way back up to 74, (I forgot about 72) We headed off due West with Venus as our guide. After hitting several T-intersections and latitude adjustments on the prairie plat roads, I finally hit a major North-South 2 lane. (Still not sure what that was) We got to Route 150, and within 20 minutes made it to Farmer City. 75 minutes later we were home! Ang admits that we did see some really cool homes out in the country. 4H fair in Pekin. We made a trip out there last night. I may finally start to look forward to this... Ang went to watch horses with Summer. Aiden and I were allowed to watch the miniature tractor pull. I figured the allure of the tractors would fade quickly. Interruption!!! Don just called me from the road, its 9:16, and he just left the Walkenhorst gig... He said it was totally cool and worth a trip. He said Bob played tons of Rainmakers tunes, signed his CD, and played an acoustic version of Johnny Reb that would knock your socks off. DAMN DAMN DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Breath deep Eric... Back to the 4H thing. Anyway Aiden loved the tractors. I could not get him to leave! So, next year, I am bringing the lawn chairs and we can sit down and watch that while the women sit in the smelly dusty horse barn. Ahhhhh, payback. Side note, Summer remembered everything about the 4H fair from last year, so I guess she is finally not a little kid anymore. She remembers everything like her Dad.