More Snow!

Kate and I are back in Fort Collins...and we are once again being hit by a snowstorm. :-)

This storm doesn't look like it's going to be as bad as last week's blizzard, but we still got peppered with almost a foot of snow. It was enough to cause the closure of both the Fort Collins and Loveland libraries - so Kate and I got yet another snow day today! The snow is supposed to be continuing on through Sunday (New Year's Eve). We'll have to see if it affects our plans for a holiday party.

Here's some pictures:











Fortunately, the city is being pretty prompt about clearing the roads so we ought to be able to make it to work tomorrow.

Oh, as a random addition...my folks took me and Kate to a small Chinese restaurant called Shanghai in Colorado Springs. Kate and I got a kick out of the messages in our fortune cookies.

Kate's: "You'll be so rich that many banks will ask you for financial help."
Mike's: "You'll be chosen to be heir of a kingdom in Europe."

I find myself looking forward to the future. ;-)

Thanks for reading and we hope you're having a great holiday!

Merry Christmas!

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirini-us was governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

- Luke John 1:12

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch of their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

- Luke 2:8-11



I have shown you in every way by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.

- Acts 20:35



For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

- John 3:16

If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this Love each other as I have loved you.

- John 15:10-12



Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things.

- Philippians 4:8

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

- John 14:27



Kate and I wish you and yours all of God's blessings this holiday season. May you have a very merry Christmas!

Blizzard 2006

Well, I figured I'd better document the "great blizzard of 2006" that sort of adjusted our holiday plans. On Wednesday the 20th a massive storm system descended on Colorado and dumped on just about the whole of the state. Here in Fort Collins, we must have accumulated over two feet of snow! Words don't properly express so take a look at some pictures...







Kate was actually scheduled to work a full day starting at noon and going until closing, but thankfully the Loveland library decided to shut down before she had to make the trek from Fort Collins. We started to get word trickling in through the afternoon that different places were shutting down as snow, cold, and wind just kept anything from happening. The roads were nonexistent, crippling traffic from Fort Collins to Pueblo. Kate and I started to worry whether it was going to be worth the risk to try driving down to DIA the next day to catch our flight to Selah, Washington. Then my mother called me to let us know that DIA had canceled all flights for Wednesday and Thursday and shut down the facility.

Well, that sort of made the decision for us. Plus, we were being told not to drive (especially along the interstate) unless it was an absolute emergency. Not that that stopped some people. Reports of accidents and stranded travelers abounded.

But in Fort Collins, Kate and I decided to settle in for a 'snow day.' We spent the day packing for the flight to Selah and got all the housecleaning we meant to get done finished. We ventured out once to drop off a couple packages with the post office and that convinced me that we didn't need to go again that day. Since we had nowhere to be on Thursday morning now, we invited Bill, Tammy, and Ron over to play games. It was a great way to spend a wintry night!

The next day (Thursday), Kate started trying to call Frontier Airlines to see when we could reschedule our flight. Unfortunately, it sounded like ALL of Frontier's other customers were doing the same because Kate kept getting an "All Circuits are Busy" message whenever she called. (To this date, she still hasn't been able to get through!)

The snow had stopped in Fort Collins by about 9am on Thursday (though it continued on into the afternoon in southern Colorado). I noticed that our neighbors had shoveled out our walk for us.



Just for fun, Kate and I let Chiral come outside into the snow-covered back porch to see whether she'd like it. She complained constantly, presumably about all this stuff that we had deliberately put in her way...





We invited Rune out as well, but she didn't want anything to do with the cold, wet stuff...



Eventually, we headed outside to get some exercise and air...and discovered that a number of neighbors had turned out to shovel out the driveway and parking lot. We decided to pitch in and help out. Seemed only fair after all...


Kate helps out...

Ron struggles to excavate his own car...






As the evening grew colder, Kate and Bill took a little time to play in the snow...






A number of our neighbors made snowmen...






And a group of our neighbors created an awesome snow castle!




Thursday night was spent with our friends again. Kate learned that DIA would be closed through Friday mid-day so we stayed up chatting with our friends. The next day I spent part of the morning un-burying my own car...



Kate still couldn't get a hold of Frontier and we finally realized that the trip to Selah wasn't going to happen. We decided that if the interstate wasn't too bad over the weekend, we would head down to Colorado Springs and see my folks - then we could try again next Christmas to see the O'Connells. As luck would have it, the main roads were actually in pretty good shape so we adjusted our plans and rolled with it.

Sometimes things just happen, I guess. Kate and I are thankful that we were able to spend our 'snow days' with friends, that we have helpful neighbors to work with, and that we could still see some family for the Christmas holiday.

Life doesn't always work out as planned - but that doesn't mean that things are ruined. :-)

Thanks for reading and we wish you and yours all the best this holiday season!

Catching Up

Uh, yeah, so... :-/

How about I just hit the high points? :-)

1. Kate and I visited my family in Colorado Springs at the beginning of October and made a trip out to Helen Hunt Falls. Pictures will be up...one day.

2. Kate and I celebrated our first anniversary on October 16th! W00t us! As a gift to ourselves, we had dinner at a swanky restaurant in Loveland called the Inglenook. If you're ever in Loveland and need a really nice, cozy spot for dinner, we highly recommend the Inglenook. Oh, and yeah for us making a whole year! :-)

3. Our library district initiative for Fort Collins passed in November. Yay! Naturally, it must have had something to do with my appearing in the Rocky Mountain Collegian (CSU's student newspaper). Yeah, right.

4. My family came up to join us in Fort Collins for Thanksgiving. It was a lot of fun because it was the largest group meal that Kate and I ever prepared. Again, pictures will be showing up one of these days.

5. The semester is over and I'm sure glad to see it go! It was a rough one. I just completely finals last Thursday and thankfully I think I did fairly decently on them all. We'll see how the final grades turn out. :-/

Ongoing things include:

- Kate's working like a dog between three jobs. The extra money has been nice, especially during the holiday season, but Kate's really looking forward to our Christmas vacation to Selah.

- Since we've upgraded to high speed internet, I've canceled my old dialup access...which means that some of the online photos I stored with that account may no longer be accessable. I'm in the process of moving things either to Shutterfly, Photobucket, or another Yahoo Photos account...but until everything is moved over some of the links found in the archives of this blog or on our website probably won't be working.

(Oh, yeah, and I'm hoping to be updating that archaic webpage sometime while I'm on vacation next week.)

Once more, I feebly promise to try to be more up to date on this blog, but by now readers probably know not to rely on my word. ;-)

Thanks for reading and I hope you're having a wonderful holiday season!

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

I know it's half past midnight, but that technically puts it at the 28th of September so it's now my parents' anniversary! Hooray!!

My parents have been married about a year longer than I've existed on Earth...though I don't think I'll mention how long that is just yet. ;-)



In this day and age, it's so rare to see people stick it out for a long-term marriage that it's always great to know that my folks are one couple that have. (Of course, wouldn't it be cool if lifelong marriages became so commonplace that celebrating another year of life together seemed odd? Kate and I are sure going to shoot for the forever scheme!)

I'd like to thank my parents for all the love and support they've given me (and continue to give me) over the years. While I can probably blame them for a few of my bad habits, I also have to credit them with virtually all of my good ones. :-)

Thanks for everything, Mom & Dad! Hope you Vegas trip is going great!

Happy Anniversary!!!



Kate and I are planning on visiting Colorado Springs this weekend to see my folks and my sister. As part of the anniversary gift, Dianna is going to make a big family breakfast on Saturday morning while Kate and I will be making a family dinner that evening. Kate has a spiffy seafood pasta recipe that her Dad showed her how to make that she's eager to try out on my family. It's actually pretty good...and I don't even like seafood! ;-)

Mom and Dad don't actually get into town until later Friday night so Kate and I are going to stay and Heath and Dianna's place for the first night. Back when my folks were in California, Kate and I would stay at my sister's place a lot. We're wondering if maybe we ought to get back into that tradition. Maybe on a typical Colorado Springs visit, we could stay at my sister's place the first night and my parents' place the next night. Hmm...possibilities... :-)

All in all, it ought to be an enjoyable visit. It's always nice to see my family.



So again, another Happy Anniversary to my folks!!

Love you guys!
Your son, Michael

Happy Birthday to My Dad!

It's my Dad's birthday today! Hooray! He made it one more year!

(Don't worry, Dad, I won't mention how many years you've made it through so far...) ;-)

Things I recall about Dad:

1. Most questions are answered with a "Go ask your Mother."
2. Being told to sit quietly in the car and watch the scenary (in Kansas and Nebraska).
3. Suggestions to quit our "pretending" (playing with our toys) and go outside for a change.
4. Dad could fix anything - just get out of his way until he's done.

Among other gems. :-)



So happy birthday, Dad, and I hope you're having a great time in Vegas!

Try not to have TOO much fun...



Enjoy!

From Your Son - Mike

Stuff I've Been Thinking About

Couple things going on in the world and locally that I wanted to throw out:

1. My mother homeland of Thailand recently had a military coup to oust the current prime minister under reasons of corruption. So far it sounds like things are quiet and business is normal - although martial law has been imposed and a few civil rights have been suspended. My mother mentioned that she'd heard from my relations in Thailand and everyone's fine. I hope the situation in Thailand continues to be non-violent.

2. Our church was vandalized this last weekend. The sign outside of the building was tagged and damaged and apparently the title "St. Elizabeth Ann Seton" church was altered so it could be read close to "the Catholic Church lies." Ugh! I just can't stand these sorts of acts. To do this to a holy place just seems obsence. If someone's got issues or disagrees with the Catholic outlook in things, he or she is welcome to that opinion. I'd have just thought that we'd evolved beyond the need for such crass expressions of our opinions. Guess I was wrong. :-(

Okay, got that off my chest...on to more pleasent topics.

I finally recovered from the head cold that I had all last week. I probably would've recovered quicker if I could've taken some time off from everything and just stayed home and rested. But, with all the exams I had scheduled, that sure wasn't going to happen! But I'm all recovered now - today was the first day in maybe seven that I felt perfectly normal again.

I weathered my exams fairly well so far. I got A-level scores on my Databases and my Computer Organization classes and a solid B score on my Telecommunications exam. I'm still waiting to hear about the Weather & Climate test, but I'm not real confident. I threw down a lot of guesses on that one. :-/

I had hoped for a few days to catch my breath following the midterms...but no such luck. I've got three assignments all due sometime this week so I'm juggling my schedule to make time for them.

Also, I looked at the syllubus for each of my classes and guess what? It's really only another three weeks or so until the next run of exams!

Oi.

Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you're having a great day!

Happy Anniversary to the In-Laws!

Although I'm a couple of days late, I'm throwing out a fast shout-out to Brendan and Mary Ann for their anniversary!



Many well wishes and congratulations from your son-in-law! :-)

Academic Bodyslam

I just finished with my first exam of the semester. And now all I have are three more exams all next week. Ack! There goes my weekend. :-)

Here's how my semester is playing out...

BD350 - Telecommunications and Networking
I'm learning all about network communications concepts. There's even a semester project that involves setting up an actual server. The next couple of weeks look like they're going to involve a lot of Linux work. Cool.

BD355 - Business Database Systems
How do design and build a working database and all the considerations and nuances that one must be conerned about. It focuses mostly on Microsoft Access but the conceptual stuff is applicable for all database providers. There's a semester-long team project where we are designed an intended-for-real-use Access database for a local non-profit organization.

CS270 - Computer Organization
This class deals with the nitty-gritty details of what makes a computer work. We've worked through numbering systems and logic circuits (ugh - electrical engineering flashbacks) but toward the mid-semester, we'll be delving into some assembly language programming as well. This is unfortunately the class I'm struggling with the most.

AT350 - Intro to Weather and Climate
My 'fluff' class. I still needed 2 credit hours of science classes to meet my university requirements so my advisor suggested this one. The class talks about all the factors that influence our planet's weather. It's pretty intereting stuff!

With all the reading, studying, and homework I've been getting hit with, my free time (such as it was) is getting slammed into a pulp. :-)

I guess that's the cost of stretching the old brain muscles.

Thought I'd share. Thanks for reading and hope you're having a good day.

High Speed

W00t!

As of this moment, Kate and I are part of the high speed collective! We've been plodding along with dial-up for a while now as we weren't sure if the cost of upgrading was worth it or not. Plus, since we're at work most of our time, we just use the LAN connection there.

Well, with Kate about to start work as an online tutor with the Sylvan Learning Center, we needed to make the investment. We did a little checking around and found a good deal that we could do through Qwest if we bundled service in with our local phone package.

The set-up was cake. All the equipment showed up today - Kate and I had decided on the more expensive high speed modem that had wireless capability built it. I just popped the CD into the main computer and installed everything we needed. Then I popped another CD into the laptops and boom! We have wireless access!

Don't get me wrong - I never had any issues with Prodigy/SBCYahoo or its services. (And I highly recommend them for anyone looking into simple dial-up service.) But it sure is nice to have the fast wireless connection and the knowledge that it's also secure. (I'll be doing some work on all three computers to lock the wireless access down pretty tight.)

I also need to go through my current e-mail account (which is through SBCYahoo) and archive all my saved messages. I'll also need to be making some changes to the links to my photos online. Not a big deal - but it'll involve a bit of work.

Beyond that, we both busy with either work or school - or both! 'Nuff said. :-)

Thanks for reading. I'll try to post more sometime soon. Have yourself a great day.

Happy Birthday to Dianna!

I wish my "kid" sister Dianna a very happy birthday!

She turns the "big three-O" today. I wish I could have come down for a surprise visit like she did for me three years ago but....

For those who don't know the story, my wife (then girlfriend) Kate and my sister Dianna schemed to have her surprise me with a visit at work on my thirtieth birthday. So caught up was I in a minor networking emergency we were having that day that I didn't even register her standing in the break room as I walked by. She even had my five-month old niece with her! Woosh! Right over my head. :-)

I ended up taking the day off from work and we had dinner over at Kate's place while Julie crawled around playing with everything she could get her hands on.

Sorry, Sis! Darn school and work schedules! ;-) I guess you'll have to settle for my online wishes and something arriving shortly in the mail. Watch for it!



And I hope you have a wonderful birthday! You deserve to get everything you want. :-)



Love,
Your Brother