New Pictures and A New Caption Contest

I've finally gotten around to posting some new pictures on my portal:

http://www.mydnaportal.com/jdcannon

Along with them comes our next entry in the Caption Contest:



To post your comment and/or entry, just click the Comments link, click Post Comment and post away. Just make sure to select the option to post anonymously. You're welcome to post as a user, but it's not necessary.

Stock Followup

True to my ability to predict where the stock price should go (see the Stock post below), it shot up today reaching $6.44 at its peak before coming back down and closing at $5.69, which is still higher than yesterday. Fortunately, I was watching it during the time it was in the low $6's and decided to exercise some options which I was able to do at $6.23. But I saved some in case next week it went back up. If anyone is a stock expert, you're more than welcome to provide some free advice.

Dog Issues

The past couple of days, Goldie has been having some "poop" issues. Without going into great detail, she started going #2 all over the condo...mostly by the garage and front doors. At first it just seemed like a type of passive agressive behavior (yes, we look at her like a "people" most of the time). But then it just kept happening. We'd be sitting watching TV and she would do it again, even by the front door. The hardest part was the fact that they were all runny...nothing solid. That is the hardest thing to try and clean...period!

That made last night a rough one since I could hardly trust her to hold it throughout the night. We got her on the bed and hoped she would just fall asleep and stay there. But sure enough, she got up around 3:30AM. I heard her get up and walk into the bathroom. We had left the door open and the shower curtain open hoping that she might actually use the bathtub to do her duty as she had done in the past. Sure enough, I heard her hop and as soon as I got over to her found her doing her thing. Of course, I praised her :-). It's much easier to wash it down the drain than to have to pick it up off the carpet.

Throughout today, she did it several more times and we also noticed redness in it like blood was coming out. We had already discussed the possibility of taking her to the vet tomorrow since I was staying home to go to some other appointments. But by the afternoon, it was clear we needed to take her in to get checked out. So, I came home a bit early and we went to a vet close by that we hadn't gone before, but had discussed going to when we needed it.

This vet...I'm not sure how to describe him...first off, nice people, clean office, very friendly. I also noticed he got his degree in '63. Translation: he's being doing this forever implying that he knows what he's doing. Goldie pooped in the waiting room and I joked that they could use it as a specimen. It would have been even more funny had they really done that. Instead, they just came out, cleaned it up, and went on with their day. Obviously, this happens often.

Back to the vet...you know, it's really hard to describe him and it really is a "you had to be there" moment. Danielle and I both agree that he likely has ADD and I went further to theorize that he hadn't taken his medication today. Again...really nice person, very relational. Danielle says he's overly friendly and enthusiastic. But...oh...my...goodness! I can handle overly extroverted people. But he goes a bit overboard. He would be talking to you and begin moving his way toward you like he's getting more and more in your face. I was standing there listening to him and he kept moving closer to me and I kept thinking he was trying to get around me, so I would move. Then he'd move closer to me again and I'd think the same thing, so I move. Eventually, it became clear he wasn't trying to get around me...he was just getting closer. He obviously likes to get "personal". The other extremely noticable thing was that every fifth word would be either my name, Danielle's name or a combination of the two.

"So, Danielle and husband, what you need to know, Brent, is that a dog's intestines are over 25 inches long, Brent and Danielle. And what's happening, Brent and wife, is the last 4-8 inches, Danielle, are irritated. So, Danielle and B, when your dog eats, Brent, it immediately causes the colon, sir, to contract resulting, Danielle, in the uncontrollable urge, Brent, to release what's there."

Really...the above quote doesn't do it justice. And it's not exactly how he said it. But perhaps you'll get the idea. It was just odd. Danielle and I left there laughing. I could hardly keep myself from laughing while I was in the room.

The end of the story is...he told us not to feed her for 24 hours and not to give her water for 12 hours to help get whatever's there out of her system. He gave her a couple of shots as well to help. Then he wants to see her tomorrow and I think give her another shot. To be honest, I don't really know what he was doing. I was too distracted. We'll see how tonight goes and see him tomorrow to get the final word.

Stock

Yesterday, the company I work for, Smith Micro, released their 3rd quarter earnings and did real well. Actually, we probably did better than we have for years. Today, it seemed to cause the stock price to soar from $4.21 to close at $5.38. It doesn't often jump that much in one day and may likely drop a bit tomorrow...like just under $5...but nonetheless, it's a good sign that we may be headed for higher levels. Of course, I am no stock expert...no, that's putting it lightly...I have no clue how to read a stock price. I've never understood what makes stocks go up and down. I'm just merely trying to be optimistic so I can exercise what stock options I have for the greatest profit. Here's hoping.

Rain? What's that?

Living in Southern California, there tends to be times when you almost forget what it's like to have rain. Or to know what effect rain can have on you. One thing's for sure...when it comes to driving in the rain, there are two distinct groups of people. The first group acts as though the rain energizes them to become someone they may likely not be - a lunatic. The other group panics at the first sign of moisture and drops down to half the speed and twice the erratic-ness then they may display otherwise. It's a mystery to me why this occurs. But it's easily the majority group. Of course, after having said all that, naturally the question is - what group do I fall in to? Umm...I plead the fifth.

Anniversary Day

Today is our 8th wedding anniversary. After dating for almost four years prior to that, it's weird to think we've been with each other for nearly 12 years now. But I certainly wouldn't trade it for anything!

This morning, I made Danielle breakfast in bed including a freshly cut yellow rose from our front patio. That surprised her and gave me some serious brownie points. Brent - 3; Danielle - 0.

On my way home from work, I stopped off at a flower shop and got her a beautiful bouquet of flowers in a really nice arrangement in a basket. Of course, it not only included some beautiful red roses, but also some of her favorite flower, the star gazing lily. That shocked her! Brent - 7; Danielle - 0.

Then we went to Claim Jumper for dinner after she fed Joshua so he would be full and contented when taking him. I could say that "I" took Danielle to dinner...but that would not be accurate. It was a fun time for all. No brownie points awarded either way. Still Brent - 7; Danielle - 0.

Back at home, I finished watching the Red Sox become the first team ever to come back from a 0-3 deficit in the playoffs to force a game 7 tomorrow. That was fun to watch...because I have to admit, I've never really liked the Yankees. They always seem so pompous and stuck up. So, I'm giving myself some brownie points only because I was so pleased by the outcome of the game. Brent - 9; Danielle - 0.

Then Danielle gave me the best back rub. Very loving and sweet. She really knows how to use her hands...and we'll just leave it at that :-). Brent - 9; Danielle - 10.

But no day would be complete without acknowledging the work that any stay at home mom does to take care of the family, whether it's one child or ten. For Danielle, that gives her enough brownie points to never need to do another thing for me because I know she is the best mom a child could ever have and the best wife a husband could ever have.

Final score: Brent - 9; Danielle - priceless

Happy Anniversary!

Miracle Blanket

One more post for the night and I'm heading to bed...probably more than you needed to know...so, after reading what I just wrote, I'm amending this first sentance to alert you that this is essentially a SMAMELESS PLUG ALERT.

I failed to point out when mentioning people in our church bringing us meals...one of those families got us a Miracle Blanket. What's a Miracle Blanket you ask? At the risk of sounding like an advertisement (too late...here's the web address http://www.miracleblanket.com), it's a specially designed blanket for the purpose of swaddling an infant. Up to this point, any blanket we'd use to swaddle him, he would eventually wiggle his way out.

But this blanket is designed to not let him do that...and I have to say, it does what it claims. That's not to say that immediately after wrapping him in this, he stops crying and fussing. He may still continue to fuss for another 15-30 minutes. But often times, the reason for that is because he soiled his diaper. Change his diaper, wrap him again and he's down in less than 5 minutes. I'm impressed and Danielle is grateful. If you are having a baby or know someone who has or is having one, this would be a great baby shower gift for them.

Some Firsts

The past week or so, we've had a few firsts. A week ago Saturday (exactly one month old), he gave daddy his first smile. At least, that's my claim and I'm sticking to it. Since then, he's been giving us a little smile here and a little smile there. Of course, VERY cute!

A day later, we gave him his first full bath. Now...before you start wondering how we could not give him a bath for a month, just understand that we had been using some rinse free stuff given to us from the hospital up to that point. You wet a washcloth with this solution and wipe him down. Very convenient. So, I don't want to get a phone call from social services this week about this! Anyway...he did great. Just laid there and took it all in. He wasn't smiling necessarily. But he wasn't crying or fussing either. Just sort of checking it all out to see whether he liked it or not. We have some pictures I'll post sometime soon.

That same night, we tried letting him sleep through the night for the first time. Mind you..."through the night" means missing a feeding, which when done every three hours, means 6 hours max. But he practically did it. I believe Danielle ended up feeding him at 1:30AM and he slept till 7:30AM. Since then he's slept on average about 6 hours at a time. Danielle was especially excited about that! I, on the other hand, have been relatively oblivious since I have been normally falling sound asleep by 11 or midnight...and I mean SOUND asleep. The past few nights, Danielle would tell me the next morning how she would have full conversations with me and I would have absolutely NO recollection of them. Or she would ask me if I felt her scratching my back or whatever. Nothing. No recollection whatsoever. Too bad...I would've enjoyed those back scratches.

More Baseball

Even though the Dodgers and Angels are out of the playoffs, the division series are still quite fun to watch. I just got done watching the Boston Red Sox squeak out another extra innings win over the Yankees just like last night...er...earlier this morning...all thanks to the Sox's David Ortiz who hit in the game winning run in each game. Pretty cool. Then turn it over to the Astros and Cardinals to watch the Astros' Jeff Kent hit a 3 run home run in the bottom of the ninth to win it. That is some serious baseball and makes it really fun to watch even if your home team isn't in it. Sort of makes me want the Red Sox to win the next two games to be the only team ever to come back from a 3-0 deficit. Of course that means more games to watch...much to Danielle's chagrin. The upside is it gives me more time to teach Joshua the finer things of baseball.

It's About Time

No excuses for not posting anything till now. I could use the same old tired excuses like:

"I've been busy"
"I was too tired"
"I have a baby"
etc.

But why? No one will believe me...so on with the post...I notice the previous post had to do with a potential Freeway Series with the Angels and the Dodgers. Guess not! Wow...talk about being blown out of the playoffs. The Angels especially could have made it a little more interesting. At least each team won their respective division.

The last couple of weeks, we've been blessed by having several people from our church bring us dinner. Danielle has also been going to a MOPS (Mothers of Pre Schoolers) group. Okay...before you make some comment about how we don't have a pre-schooler, it's really just a group for moms. Besides, Joshua is in the "pre" school stage, right? In the last meeting, a lady came to speak and shared about her...umm...I guess you could call it a service, even though it's probably a business for her too. Anyway, it's called The Grocery Game (http://www.thegrocerygame.com/) and it's all geared towards saving you lots of money on your grocery bill, mostly through coupons, but there seems to be a whole lot more to it. We used it when going shopping last Sunday and I guess we did okay. It's supposed to be a few weeks before we really begin to see the full effect of the program...or the "game".

So, we've been wondering how much Joshua weighs. At his two week checkup, he weighed in at 8 lbs 15 oz, which is about 4 oz more than his birth weight. A week later, I thought I'd check his weight by weighing myself and then weighing myself while holding Joshua. Came out to 11 lbs. I couldn't really believe he had gained over 2 pounds in just a week. So, I'd been wanting to find another way to weigh him and get a more accurate reading with pounds AND ounces. Somebody suggested that we weigh him on the produce scale at the grocery store. So we did that last Sunday. At four weeks and 3 days old, he weighed in at exactly 13 lbs. I then weighed him later using the scale method and confirmed he weighed 13 lbs. Yeah...I guess he feels 5 pounds heavier.

Freeway Series?

I just got done watching both the Dodgers and the Angels clinch their respective divisions, the NL West and the AL West. That was pretty cool. Especially the fact that both wins were come from behind...the Angels scoring 3 in the 8th inning and the Dodgers scoring 7 in the bottom of the 9th capped by a grand slam. As much as I like the Angels more than the Dodgers, I have to say that the Dodgers game was much more dramatic to watch, especially since they were playing here in LA. The excitement you could feel from the fans was as much fun as when the Angels won the World Series in Anaheim two years ago.

Of course now, the possibility of a Dodgers/Angels World Series is more realistic. How cool would that be? I know...it's still light years away really. But one can always hope.