A Talking Raven Quotes Poe and the Muppets

I'm sure you've read the famous poem by Edgar Allan Poe called "The Raven". I like Edgar Allan Poe. His stories and poems were among my favorites when I was a teenager and young adult. Yeah, I was morbid like that. Anyway, I had a lighter side, too. When I was a kid (and still today), I loved the Muppets. Today, I found a video of an actual Raven that quotes the Poe poem (Well...at least the "Nevermore" part) and Fozzie Bear (Waca Waca Waca). The best of both worlds. I didn't even know Raven's could actually talk. I thought the video was a fake, so I looked it up and found countless other videos of actual talking Raven's. And I found out that it is an actual verifiable fact that Raven's have the ability to mimic vocal sounds just like Parrots. Who knew? Anyway...enjoy the video.

Talking Raven Says "Nevermore" - Watch more Funny Videos

Knock Out Eileen

Since my friend, Holly, has been posting music videos from her teenage days on her blog, I thought I would follow suit. But, I'll take it a step further. I'll post a mash-up of one of my favorite teenage songs called "Come On Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners...with a fun rap song from the 90's by L.L. Cool J called "Mama Said Knock You Out." It's a really good mash-up and it's even got a video to boot. Enjoy!

Freakin' Car Seats

When we moved to Colorado, the law was that you had to have a car seat or booster for a child under the age of six. When a child turned six, you were free from the hassle of car seats forever. My family was counting down the days. It was going to be a rite of passage, like the day we potty trained our last child and said goodbye to diapers forever. Gavin, our youngest, turns six on October 15th....just 17 days from now. Like I said, we were counting down the days. He is our last child who still requires a booster. Gage has been out of a car seat for a year.

Yesterday, Joi took Gage for his seven year old physical and the doctor informed us that they changed the law in Colorado as of July. A child now requires a car seat or booster until they reach 8 years of age. This means that we have to put Gage back into a booster and Gavin still has another two years before he will be free of a booster forever. It was a blow to us. Seriously??!?!? Two more years of freakin' car seats? We gave away Gage's booster to some friends last year. So, we have to buy a new booster for Gage. And we need to keep Gavin's for another two years and 17 days. Also, keep in mind that Gage is big for his age. At his physical yesterday, they determined that he is at the 96 percentile for his height and 86 percentile for his weight (although his BMI is still well into the healthy range). He's a big boy. I can't imagine him in a booster for another year. Are the powers-that-be going to keep upping the age for boosters until teenagers are still using booster seats? Or 20 year olds? "I'm sorry, Nana, I know you're 89 years old, but you need to be in a booster seat." Where do we draw the line? I was excited to be free of boosters in a short 17 day period. But now, we have another two years and 17 days. Oy vey!!!!

Having a Breakdown

I'm tired. Normally, I am a people person. I get energy from people. But lately, I am so burned out, that I don't even want to be around people I dearly love (my wife and kids excluded, of course). I am tired of being busy. We've seriously been non-stop busy since Joi's family reunion in June. We now lead two ministries at church. Gage and Gavin play soccer. We've got Friday school for all of the boys. We baby sit on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. We've had out of state visitors, birthday parties, and church activities that we needed to go to. I can't remember the last time we had nothing to do. On Saturday, I declared that we would have a "Do Nothing Day". But, we had to go to a soccer game for Gage and Gavin in the morning (which was cool...they won 4-2 and Gavin scored another goal). So, we decided that after the game, we will try to have a "Do Nothing Day".  We ended up going to the Hamburger Stand for lunch, since someone told us that they had Wienerschnitzel Hot Dogs and we hadn't had those since California. After lunch, since we were already up north, we went to the library. By the time, we got home from these errands, it was after 1pm. So, half the do-nothing day was spent doing things. We decided to watch movies at home and eat out...so that there was very little to do in the way of cooking and doing dishes. We even let the house get dirty and the sink fill with dirty dishes, because I said that we would do nothing. But, then Sunday rolled around. We got up early and went to church at 9am, because we are being trained to take over the Connection Team Ministry. After church, we had lunch, got home, and began to clean because we were hosting Life Group at our house and it was our turn to lead the group. We super-cleaned the house (which took longer because it was dirty from our Do-Nothing-Day) and somewhere along the line Joi and I began to argue about something. I don't even remember what. I just remember that I wasn't making sense and that I was contradicting myself. At one point, I admitted this to Joi and said that I am so tired and burned out, that all I want to do is curl up in a ball and cry. She sent me upstairs to rest and have some alone time. I took the Life Group book and questions with me, so that I could prepare for the group. I finished that up and tried to take a nap...but all I could do was look around the room and see all of the things I could be doing. I could dust that entertainment center. I could put my hats in the closet. I could clean up the clutter. Eventually, my mind took over and I jumped up to begin cleaning and straightening. I gave up on rest and alone time and came down stairs, much to Joi's chagrin (who hoped that I would actually rest and relax). Then we had Life Group, Skyped my Dad, and went to bed...only to wake up early and start our busy days again. I went to work and Joi got ready for baby sitting. I'm finding that any little thing that goes wrong makes me want to have a mental breakdown. I know this is not normal. This is not me at all. I'm just burned out. The last time I felt like this was when I finished up my bachelors degree and was preparing to get married within the same 2 month period. I ended up sleeping 15+ hours a day while on my Honeymoon....because I was finally able to crash. I'm wondering when I'll get an opportunity to crash this time. If I feel this way, I can only imagine how my beautiful wife feels. She is an introvert and gets energy sucked from her when she is around people too often or when she is too busy. I feel badly for her, too. Sorry if my blog sounded complain-y. That's just where I am today. I'm tired. I'm ready to crash.

Happy Birthday, Gage!!!

My middle son, Gage, turns seven years old today. I can hardly believe that he is already seven. It seems like only yesterday when we brought him home with us from the hospital. He weighed in at 9 lbs 11 oz...and he was was long/tall. We joked that Gage never had the baby stage and that he came out as a toddler. Even today, he is quite tall. We measured him this morning and he is about an inch taller than Garrison was when he turned eight. So, he is way ahead of his brothers in the growth category. We expect him to reach well over 6 feet by the time he reaches his maximum height.

Yesterday, I took the day off of work to spend the day with Gage, since he had Friday school (home-school enrichment classes) on his actual birthday. We were baby sitting Morgan, so she went with us on our activities. We went to Namaste for lunch. Gage loves Indian Food. Then we went to the Apex Center for swimming, basketball, playing, and ice skating. However, when we arrived at 12:45, we were informed that free skating ended at 1pm. So, we didn't get to go skating. It was a bummer because Gage really had his heart set on ice skating...but he was a good sport and went with the flow. After the Apex Center, we went home quickly for Nachos and then off to Soccer practice. Today, the boys are going to Friday school and it's picture day...so they are all dressed up. Joi is going to surprise Gage by bringing cupcakes to one of his classes. Tonight, we are having a small cake and ice cream birthday party for Gage with some friends from church, Sissy and Dylan (Russell and Josiah are camping), and Uncle Dale. He loves people, so it should be fun for him. Also, tonight, he gets to open his first knife. Our tradition is to get our boys their own pocket knife when they turn seven. So, we got him his very own Leatherman PS4 Squirt. He already opened the rest of his presents yesterday and this morning, which included a new iPod Shuffle (he loves music), the DVD of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and a t-shirt of "How to Train a Dragon".

Gage is such a fun loving kiddo. He loves people and is very affectionate. He is always the first to ask me, "Dad, can I snuggle with you?" when I sit down in my Daddy chair at night. He enjoys playing Wii and listening to or playing music. He is a day-dreamer. There are times when you are talking to him and you can see by the expression on his face that he is thinking about something completely different and has no idea what you are saying. He, also, loves to draw and create. He puts together picture books with drawings that tell a story like a graphic novel. He is very "go with the flow" and easy going. He is happy in most situations. He is not very competitive, but shows strong determination and resolve when playing soccer. He thrives on positive reinforcement. He loves babies and little children and does well with them. Gage is a handsome little boy with a mop of curly blond hair and deep blue eyes. He has some light freckles on his nose that are so cute. Gage is a great son and he makes me proud to be a Daddy. Happy Birthday, Gagers! I hope you have a wonderful day!!!

Gage and Gavin Playing Soccer

I said that I would post some pictures and video of Gage and Gavin playing soccer. Well, here I am keeping my promise. I am very proud of my boys. I have never seen Gage so focused and determined. He loves to play and really loves the positive feedback. Gavin is naturally athletic and he is picking up the concepts pretty quickly. He already scored two goals in the last game. I enjoy being a soccer Dad. Not because I particularly care for soccer, but because I am a proud Daddy and I enjoy watching my boys and cheering them on. Here are some pictures from the last couple of practices and games.

Here are some video clips from the last game. I tried to only video when Gage and Gavin were in the game at the same time, which didn't happen very often. I missed Gavin's goals because I was too busy cheering him on. But, I did get some good shots of them in action. Enjoy!

My Birthday Activities

Since my birthday fell on a Sunday this year and it would be filled with church related activities, we decided to celebrate my birthday for two days. On Friday night, we had my nephews over and celebrated Dylan's birthday with Chicken Fiesta and home-made Black Berry Pie (two of my favorite things - which were requested by Dylan...so bonus for me). We watched Duck Soup and enjoyed the evening together. They stayed the night and we went to Gage and Gavin's soccer game in the morning. Their team did much better and they scored five goals (two of which belonged to our very own Gavin). Gage was quite the defender and worked hard keeping the ball away from their goal. In the end, the game was tied 5 to 5. We then went to downtown Denver for Octoberfest. We were hoping for some authentic German food and some German music, dancers, and/or costumes. What we found were 90% beer related booths, and since we are not drinkers, this was unsatisfying. We did find a vendor that served schnitzel burgers and goulash. So, we had lunch and listened to an interesting band for a while. We left after a couple of hours. We went home and prepared to have the Wakefield kids over for the evening because we are trading date nights with Mark and Sarah. We had chicken enchilada's with green sauce and Spanish rice (my request) and Joi's awesome chocolate cake. On Sunday, we got up and Joi had decorated the house with pink streamers and balloons because when she asked me what color I wanted, I answered in an ornery fashion and said "Pink". So, pink it was. I opened up a few presents and read the homemade cards my boys and Dylan made me. The boys spent their own money and bought me a cool camping knife with a sheath. Joi bought me Pirates of Pennzance on DVD, a Wii game, a book I wanted, and the Best of Enya (CD and DVD). Also, Mom had given me a book about Knott's Berry Farm and my Dad got me an Amazon.com gift card. I was stoked with so many wonderful presents. We went to church early and began to train to take over the Connection Team ministry. Afterward, we went home and I BBQ'd steaks and lobster tails for lunch. Then we hung out for a while and I took a nap with my wife (which was definitely the best part of the day). Later that evening, we went to our Life Group, which we are now co-leading. It was a good group and we enjoyed the ability to go deeper now that we are a smaller group than before. Sarah Wakefield made me a cake and the group sang Happy Birthday to me. They also gave me a card that they all signed. Afterward, we went to Red Robin and used the free birthday coupons that Gage and I received for our September birthdays. I had a Patty Melt, which was new for Red Robin, and it was quite good. Afterward, we went home and enjoyed a little downtime, fed the snakes, and I read to the boys. It was a good birthday. My wife and kids worked really hard to give me a special day and I appreciate everything they did for me.

Giving My Kids What I Didn't Have

I remember wanting desperately to play sports as a child. Specifically, baseball. I was given a pitch-back net for a birthday when I was younger. I used to set it up in the dirt field outside my Dad's t-shirt printing business and pitch into it for hours and hours and imagine that I was Fernando Valenzuela from the Dodgers. I got really good at being accurate and fast. I probably would have made a pretty good little league pitcher. But, life and circumstances dictated that I would never have the chance to realize my little league dreams.

I think every parent wants to provide things for their kids that they never received or experienced when they were kids. I'm the same way. I wanted for my kids to be able to play sports if they wanted to. When we lived in California, there was no way we could have accomplished this for our kids. I just didn't make enough money and the sports programs out there are really expensive. Colorado is a different story. I'm making more money here than I did in California and sports programs aren't very expensive. In fact, Gavin and Gage just started playing soccer at a church run league and it was only $35 each. This included a jersey and a trophy at the end. Not too shabby! They started practice last Thursday and had their first game on Saturday. They had a blast, but lost 7 to 1. Most of the kids on our team have never played soccer before, so there was room for improvement. They practiced again yesterday and they have their second game tomorrow. I expect them to do better after learning more of the rules and fundamentals in practice. Gage already looked so much more focused and determined in practice yesterday. He was trying really hard and soaked up the praise that he got from his coaches. Gavin has always been competitive and sporty, so this is right up his alley. Once he gets the fundamentals, he will be a force to be reckoned with. I can hardly wait for the game tomorrow. It's fun to see how much they enjoy this...and I am so happy to be able to provide them with experiences like this. I'll post some pictures next week...and maybe I'll put some video on Youtube for the Grandparents and family that can't come to Colorado to watch a game.

Hyland Software Buys Hershey Systems: Update

I wrote a blog on September 1st about how Hershey Systems was acquired by Hyland Software. I noticed almost immediately after posting it that someone from Westlake, Ohio had read my blog. Hyland Software's headquarters is located in Westlake, OH. So, someone from Hyland found my blog and read about my reaction to the purchase of Hershey Systems. In that blog I mentioned that I had worked with Hershey for eleven years and had eleven years of Hershey swag to show for it. Well, today I received a UPS package from Hyland. It was filled with Hyland and Onbase swag and had a personally written note that stated "Dear Chris, We read your blog and wanted to welcome you to the Hyland Team. We are very excited about our companies coming together. Please find some Hyland swag to add to your collection. We hope you enjoy it. -The Higher Education Team."

Impressive! They read my blog, saw my sadness and nostalgia at the end of the Hershey era, and responded with a welcome and some very nice swag. Now that's how a company should do business. The fact that they found my blog at all is a testament to how they must care about their corporate image and care about how their customers are responding to this merger. I must say, I am impressed. If Hyland takes this much time and effort to help me feel at ease with this change, I can only imagine what they will do with their products. Their effort certainly worked. I do feel welcomed and I am looking forward to working with Hyland. In fact, I am excited to see how their attention to detail and their obvious excellent customer service will translate into a better document imaging product and a wonderful working experience. Thanks, Hyland. Your efforts are appreciated!!

In case you were wondering, here is the swag list:
A large folder/portfolio with note pad.
A smaller folder/portfolio with small note pad.
Two Hyland branded baseballs.
Two Hyland pens.
A 1GB flash-drive with Hyland logo.
A personal, hand written note.

Music for Reading

I enjoy reading...and I enjoy music. I enjoy both at a deeper level when I combine the two. For instance, I just finished the book "Fan of Ophelia". I read it on the bus on the way to work in the mornings. I would usually put some classical music or Berlioz on my iPod while I read it. Sometimes I would put some Enya, Clannad, or other Celtic music, since it dealt with Ireland in many spots. Matching my music with the reading helps me to be completely immersed in the experience. It's how I get the most from my books. When I completely get into the book and the music, I am barely aware that I am in a bus surrounded by people. Sometimes I fear that I will miss my stop altogether because I am completely in another world....the world of the book augmented by the music.

I just started a new book today. It's a Sci-Fi/Fantasy book in the Dragonlance series called Dragons of the Highlord Skies. I need some suggestions. Does anyone have any suggestions about good music to listen to while reading a fantasy book like this? Do any of you combine music and books in the same manner? If so, please offer some music suggestions. I need some good music to go with my good book.

A Walk Through the Bear Creek Green Belt

Yesterday, after I returned home from work and we consumed dinner, Garrison asked me if we could take a walk through the "nature park". The "nature park" is what my boys call the Bear Creek Green Belt that is across the street from our house. I said yes and we headed out. The boys took along the walking sticks that they made in Durango, because what is a hike without a walking stick? We went to an area we've never been to before that is across another street from where we normally go. At first, it was just a straight dirt road, but then a trail veered off to the left, which led us to a heavy forested area, some small ponds, and some very secluded areas. I could hear Bear Creek babbling in the distance, but we couldn't get to it before it got too dark to continue exploring. We plan to go back and explore some more, when we've got a little more daylight. It was neat to explore this area that we've never been to before. There were far less people here and it was quiet. We saw lots of animal scat that the boys kept stopping to analyze and guess what it was from. I'm thinking coyotes. When we were returning back home, I took this picture of the sunset. It was pretty and I couldn't resist snapping a shot with my camera phone.

Cherry Creek State Park

When summer arrived, we promised ourselves that we would go camping at least once or twice. We blinked our eyes and suddenly, it was mid-September...and we hadn't gone camping yet. So, we packed up our trusty Ford Taurus (and when I say packed up, I'm not kidding...every crevice was filled) and headed off to a local treasure. The Cherry Creek State Park in Denver, CO is smack dab in the middle of Denver. In fact, If you looked at it from the air, you'd see that it was surrounded by sky scrapers and businesses. But, when you are in the park, you don't notice any of that. In fact, we saw deer...in the middle of the city! Can you believe that? When we arrived, we set up our Jeep four-room tent (it's huge) and moved in. I began pumping up our air mattress because if I'm doing a drive up camp experience, I'm just not going to rough it the same way that I would when I backpack. However, the 4 D-cell batteries just didn't have enough power to pump it up. So, we decided to sleep in Steff and Russell's trailer and let all of our kids sleep in the tent by themselves. My boys were so excited to get to sleep "on their own" in a tent with their cousins. Also, some friends join us and we talked them into letting their kids stay overnight in our tent. So, the tent held 9 children, ranging in age from 5 to 14. They had a blast, but they were awfully tired the next day, as we found out on Sunday after a few emotional breakdowns. Joi and I enjoyed hanging out with Steff and Russell and the Warren's. We had a camp fire. Roasted marshmallows and ate smores. We BBQ'd. We went to the lake and let the kids swim, have a mud fight, bury Josiah, and look for sea shells on the beach (what the sea shells were doing in a lake in Colorado, I'll never know). It was a nice trip. We decided afterward that it was a LOT of work for just an overnight trip...so, next time we plan to do it for a couple of nights, at least. Over all, it was fun. It was nice to shower and sleep in my own bed last night though. The joys of camping. I don't have any pictures to post, because I haven't downloaded my camera. But, I'm not sure we took that many pics anyway. I'll have to see. But, I did post a picture that I found online of Cherry Creek State Park...so that you get the idea.

Doodling for my Sanity

Have you ever had one of those meetings? You know the one...where there is stuff being talked about that doesn't really pertain to you and you feel trapped listening to the endless chatter thinking that you could be at your desk actually getting things done. Well, I had one today. I was up early today, so in order to help myself not fall asleep (that would have been bad since my director was at this meeting), I decided to doodle. I took a picture of the doodle and submitted it here for your viewing pleasure. I have been creating swirly doodles like this since junior high school. Sometimes it is just swirly circles and lines. Sometimes I hide words inside the doodle or my own name. I don't know why I doodle like this. It's just something I do. It makes me feel serene and peaceful. It's therapeutic, really. And it is helpful during those boring meetings that you have to attend. Fortunately for me, but unfortunately for my masterpiece, the meeting was shorter than usual. So, it will remain an unfinished work. Until the next meeting, that is.

Durango Trip

We just returned from a four day trip to Durango, Colorado to visit my Dad and Step-Mom. Well, technically, we arrived on Saturday afternoon and left on Tuesday morning...so it was really only a 2 and a half day trip. But, we crammed a whole lot of manly activities in those 2 1/2 days. Since Joi hurt her knee and was required by the doctor to stay off of it for 3-5 days, we figured this trip would be a great opportunity for her to relax and put her feet up. And...unlike Joi, she actually stayed off her feet for the most part. I was proud of her. Dad, the boys, and I  spent most of our time out and about. We hiked Dad's property. We shot BB Guns. We rode in Dad's mini-tractor and took rides in the bucket of his large tractor. We made hiking sticks out of these weird twisty bush sticks. The boys sculpted things out of plasticine. We listened to music. We played football and horseshoes. We played pool.  We celebrated Mom's birthday with a BBQ and a yummy (from scratch) chocolate cake that Joi made. We cleaned up bark and debris from under Dad's cabin where he stores his firewood. We cut down nine trees that were either "standing deads" or were in the way. Dad taught me how to notch and fell a tree. By the ninth tree I got pretty good at felling it exactly where I wanted it to go. I was like Babe Ruth and I pointed the chain-saw in the direction I wanted it to go...and after some sawing, I laid it down exactly where I said it would go. But, holy cow, was I tired after that endeavor. I've never used some of those muscles before. But, a soak in the jacuzzi afterward helped. All in all, it was a fun weekend. The boys seemed to enjoy themselves and it was fun to see them come in after a long day with dirty faces and tired bodies. Durango is only a short six hour drive from our home in Lakewood and most of it is through some very pretty scenery. So, the drive went by pretty quickly. We plan to go back their next year. Hopefully, we'll get a few more days...so that we don't have to cram so much into so little time. Here are some photos of our activities. Enjoy!

First Day of School

The title of this blog isn't entirely accurate, since my boys have been home-schooled since a very early age. Also, they have attended enrichment classes at various places through the years. But today, they are starting to take enrichment classes at H.O.P.E. (Home Option Program of Education). For some reason, this feels different to us. Joi and I feel like this really is their first day of school, even though they've done school at home for years and have taken enrichment classes outside the home at various times. Why does it feel different? We're not sure. Perhaps it is because our boys are taking multiple classes, have a lunch period, and are required to move to new classrooms after each period. Perhaps it is because they will be at these classes from 7:30am to 3pm. Maybe it is because Joi is not required to stay (although she will be volunteering time occasionally). Whatever the reason, today was filled with excitement, nervousness, and trepidation. Over the last couple of weeks, as we prepared them for "Friday school", there was concern about how they are going to find their classes, whether there was going to be enough time to eat their lunch, whether they were going to make friends or do well in new classes. Also, there was excitement as we bought them new lunch bags and school supplies (always my favorite time of the year), and packed their backpacks in preparation for today. We got them up at 6:30am so that they could dress, eat breakfast, and comb their hair. As I was leaving this morning to catch the bus, I took this picture (above) to capture the moment. Joi texted me at 8am, as I was walking to work from the bus station and told me that Garrison got teary eyed and then got frustrated that he cried when she dropped him off at his class. Poor guy. He's been the most stressed about this day. He's my little introvert and my little worrier. But, he'll do fine and I'm sure he'll have fun stories about his day when I get home. Gage woke up this morning with an exclamation that "Today is going to be a good day!" He's our extrovert and loves being around people. We're just worried that he'll lose his class schedule or his backpack, since he tends to misplace things from time to time. Gavin seemed excited and ready for the challenge of the new day. He'll be in kindergarten classes because of his age, even though he reads at the 2nd grade level. Joi and I are a little worried that he'll be bored and will find ways to entertain himself that might be distracting to other kids. But, his age requires that he take kindergarten classes. I'm sure he'll be fine. The boys are going to take classes like history, writing, Spanish, drama, art, and other fun supplemental courses. I can hardly wait to get home from work and find out about their day. Plus, I'm excited that Joi will get Friday's to herself and will have more time to continue working on her second book. The first day of school....how fun!

Hershey Systems Acquired by Hyland Software

Today, I was shocked to receive an announcement in my email that stated that Hershey Systems was acquired by Hyland Software. I have been working with Hershey Systems since 1998 when I first started doing Document Mangement at Azusa Pacific University. At the time, they were a reseller of a software called Keyfile, which was eventually acquired by another company (Lexign, if I remember correctly). Then Hershey Systems developed their own software called Singularity and ceased being a V.A.R. (Value Added Reseller). I continued to work with Hershey Systems for ten years before I left Azusa Pacific University to move to Colorado. Then, as fate would have it, I found and applied for a job at the University of Colorado Denver because they were implementing a new document imaging system using Singularity and working with Hershey Systems. So, again, I began working with Hershey, but at a new institution. Cumulatively, I have 11 years of working experience with Hershey Systems. As a result, I was shocked when I heard that they had been acquired. I attended a webinar presented by Hyland Software today where the CEO of Hyland Software described what this means for Singularity users across the country. It sounds like they are going to continue to develop, sell, deploy, and support Singularity...but they may be integrating it with their Higher Education DM sofware, called Onbase. It should be interesting to see how this affects the product and the service that we previously received from Singularity and Hershey Systems.

In a way, I'm sad to see the end of an era. I've got a lot of history with Hershey. I've still got tons of Hershey swag from over the years with their branding and logo. It's a nostalgic thing, I guess. I'm sure this will lead to bigger and better things for Singularity and for UC Denver....but it's weird to think that Hershey Systems will no longer exist after today.