schmenzer speaks!

I remember this bit from last year and it was funny then. Still is now!http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1304035668

I have an 8-year old daughter and a 1-year old son (as of this writing) and have wanted to sell some of the clothes they won’t be using anymore on eBay. I’ve had good luck selling other items on eBay and did a bit of research to figure out what the best listing strategies might be for selling boys and girls clothes on eBay.

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Well, I thought I’d never had them and was a bit worried when my 10-month old son contracted the chicken pox a few weeks ago and after a couple of weeks began to think that I must have had at least a mild case in the past that gave me the immunity but, alas, nope. The little buggers attacked with a vengeance last Tuesday so I went to the doctor who confirmed what they were.

After I told a few people I started to hear comments like “ohh! that can be bad if you’re an adult!” and “my friend had that when he/she was XX years old and almost died!” Yikes! I did a bit of research on the net and found, for the most part, healthy adults should weather the storm OK. It is folks with other, more serious, maladies that could have a problem or the really old folks. I guess it is some consolation that I got them now instead of when I am 80. “Kilt dead by the Chicken Pox” doesn’t seem like a great epitaph.

Later on Tuesday I got a call from the doctor saying there was a drug that may help if taken in the first 48 hours. I said bring it on. Acyclovar (sp?)

For most of last week I was miserable. Fever, hot/cold, achy, tired, plus, the little buggers popping up all over and itching, especially on my scalp, like mad. The most affected areas are my face/head and chest as well as my upper arms. There are a smattering elsewhere but maybe the drug arrested the outbreak before it got to my extremities. I did get a couple on the bottoms of my feet though. That sucks!

Now getting better but still really tired.

More later.

Well, It took a couple of hundred shots to capture the real Garrett! Wendy and I tried 4 times or so and in the end it all it took was bouncing on the bed standing over him for him to laugh up a storm. He laughs often but actually capturing a photo had been a somewhat daunting task.

Garrett’s Announcement Photo

Yeah, it has been a while. Quite a few life changy things and more work than normal, coupled with not feeling tip-top for the past week or so, has been a challenge.

My dad passed away peacefully on April 6th after declining health related to Alzheimer’s and an auto accident about 15 years ago that left him partially immobilized. I set up a site to honor him and will be adding stories and photos as time goes on. I sure do miss that guy.

A little over a month later my son, Garrett, was born. I wish he could have met my pop and vise-versa. Garrett is super cool and while he does not do much more than eat, poop and sleep he is beginning to smile a lot and seems to be more aware of what is going on around him. He’ll have to have a site soon as well! I already set up an email for him it is garrett(at)gasworksdesign.com if you want to send him a note.

Finally, I’m catching up on work and have a couple of big projects just about done. Working on something for over a year is a task I have not done for quite a while and I am looking forward to wrapping up. More when that is done.

Wendy, Sydney and I spent a pretty quiet night at home for our New Year’s Eve. It was the first that Syd stayed up to watch the ball drop on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Show. She even made it to midnight local time and so got to celebrate twice!

I’m looking forward to 2006. I’ve got a few resolutions in mind that I’d already started working on in late ‘05. Some will last. If the past is any indication, some will not. I do what I can!

2006 will see the birth of our son in May and that looks to be the biggest event we are likely to see for the year but I imagine there will be other memorable times as well.

I hope you and yours have a happy and prosperous 2006!

Wendy finally got around to posting another review on her educational mom web site. When the school year is going she doesn’t have much time but the Discover America State by State Alphabet Books series really got her intrigued. We have been through a few and they are really cool!

Tonight was the annual Smith family pumpkin carving evening. Here are the results.

Daddy, Syd, Mommy

It is my dad’s B-day today. He was born on this day in 1931. Hope you got many more in you! Love ya, Pops.

The Navy demonstration team, the Blue Angels, did a couple of shows at the Milwaukee lakefront last weekend. F-18’s are cool!

We went to watch the show in Milwaukee’s harbor on Wendy’s dad’s boat, a 34-foot Crusiers. There was a 12-15mph wind so there was some chop on the water even in the harbor. Not the ideal camera platform but there were a few good shots.

I posted more info and pix at:

http://www.slopeflyer.com/artman/publish/blue_angels.shtml

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Happy Birthday to me! I’ll be going to the local parade where my daughter is marching with mom and the Girl Scout Troop. Probably hit Summerfest if the rain quits for a while and then try to catch some fireworks tonight.

Got a cool new toaster from the family that does bagels well. It has wide slots and in bagel mode only warms one side, very cool. It is a

“Hamilton Beach Classic Chrome Extra-Wide-Slot Toaster”

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Bill and Linda have been the most active in finding, and sampling, the wares from several local custard stands. The pair has visited Gillie’s, Kopp’s (several times due to its proximity to the reunion activities) and Leon’s. They also plan to hit a Culver’s in search of the best in the area. At this point Bill says they will need to stop at each again at least once more to confirm their initial impressions. We await the results!

My observations:

• I am going to give Kopp’s the nod mostly because it is 6 blocks from my house.
• I liked Leon’s for its 50’s feel.
• Gillie’s has been a Milwaukee staple for years but the nearest location is 10 miles away so I don’t get there often.
• Culver’s has become too big and homogenized although I do still enjoy a malt there from time to time.
• LoDuc’s in Delafield has custard puffs which make it tops when I can get out there!

On with the testing!

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Saturday was a pretty food oriented day for the reunion attendees beginning with a great brunch at Papa and Susan’s house. Assorted champagne based drinks loosened up the guests and we had lots of excellent food choices to eat. Many bellys left a little more than full!

After brunch the kids went swimming at the hotel where some of the out-or-town guests were staying.

While the kids were swimming I had planned to do some work at the new warehouse space but forgot my key. I also noticed the wind was subtly blowing out of the east and it had been quite a while since I got to do any flying so I loaded up a couple of light planes and went to the Gun Club in Cudahy. The wind was light but the lift was OK and I got in several flights. Michael and Mirko also showed up for some needed flying. Report at slopeflyer.com.

We had our big reunion dinner at Botana’s Restaurant, a great Mexican restaurant, in the Walker’s Point district of Milwaukee. Margaritas were flowing, the food was really good.

Jenny and Wendy had arranged for all the dinner attendees to get Botana’s t-shirts and also provided Fabric Markers so we could all sign each others shirts. This was a bunch of fun and reading what other’s had written provided a lot of laughter and banter.

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The bi-annual Smith Family reunion is now underway in Milwaukee. We have about 25 attendees this time with family members from California, Arizona, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Wisconsin. We’ve had a couple of dinners at host homes, a boat trip on the Milwaukee River, biking at the lakefront, a traditional Fish Fry at the Lakefront Brewery and more on tap for the next three days. Hope it all keeps going as well as the first couple of days.

My mom’s friends the Bowers rented a limo for my mom, my sister’s family and my family as we all made the 2-hour drive to Chicago for brunch at the Ritz-Carlton!

On the way down my mom opened about 70 gifts to go with her 70 years. As you may imagine, a lot were on the silly side but that made it fun and my mom loved it!

Holy cow, what a spread! The Ritz sure knows how to do lunch!

The long weekend seemed like a good time for a family trip since Wendy and Sydney both had off so we headed up to Ephraim in Door County, WI. This is located up the “thumb” of Wisconsin on the Door Peninsula.

We left Whitefish Bay at about 5 on Friday for the 3-hour drive to DC. It was an uneventful trip except for the Luetenbach’s fire we saw just a couple of miles from our destination at the Hilltop Inn.

The Hilltop is really nice. We had a 2-bedroom suite and it was perfect for the weekend. That, and it was pay for two nights and get the third free!

Friday evening we just settled in and I did some prep work for a meeting I had with a client in the area on Saturday.

Saturday I had a meeting at Tannenbaum Holiday Shop where I am helping with marketing and web site stuff. Nice meeting with Ron, the owner. I shot about 200 pictures of the shop for future use. The Nikon D100 and Nikon SB-600 flash worked great!

After I got back form my meeting we headed to the Top of the Hill Shops in Fish Creek to look form some boots and mittens for Syd. She got a nice pair of Giordano mittens but no boots.

After the shopping we looked for a sledding hill and found the nice big one in Peninsula State park but it was TOO big for Sydney. We then headed to Pottawattamie State Park where they had a smaller hill from the Sydster.

While Wendy and Sydney were doing some runs on the hill I got out my Majko. It is an electric powered RC sailplane. Really sweet. I flew for about 30 minutes and could have flown longer but I am not sure how the LiPoly battery I am using in it likes the cold.

We went to dinner at PC Junction. They have a cool G-gauge or some large gauge train that runs along the top of the bar and delivers your order on flat cars. Syd loved it! No derailments today and the food was good. I really like their Chile.

Saturday evening Wendy, Sydney and I watched Elf. Pretty funny that Will Farrell!

I woke up at 6:15 on Sunday morning hoping for some good sunrise light to shoot the Tannenbaum shop but when I looked out the window it was snowing pretty hard and the wind was kicking about 25 plus so I closed the blinds and hit the sack for a couple more hours. Nice!

Sunday night Wendy and I watched The Usual Suspects. Last time she watched it she fell asleep. What a travesty! Well, this time she made it to the end and so finally saw one of my favorites!

The only real disappointment of the whole trip for me, besides having to go home, was that I never got good light for the exterior shot of the Tannenbaum building. Maybe Photoshop will be the ticket. Worst case I guess I’ll have to go back and do it again. Oh, Darn!

6 years old and splashing around like a mad woman! She is getting much more comfortable in the pool. Dog paddling around and what not.