Music is Overpriced

OK I'm probably going to sound like a broken record cuz everyone complains about the price of music, but I'm going to complain anyway. Yesterday Jen and I took the kids to the mall, they had a stage set up so people could play Guitar Hero, it was kind of cool because they had monitors spread out on the floor so it looked like an actual band jamming and anyone could jump up and play. We stopped to watch and they were playing You Give Love a Bad Name from Bon Jovi. Being one of my favorite bands I went out and bought Guitar Hero 5 pretty much just for that song (and you get Guitar Hero Van Halen fro free when it's released later this year which I'm can't wait for).

So when I got home from the mall I had the 80's kick and I started searching my old CD's for 80's music to import to iTunes. Well I could've sworn I had all the Bon Jovi CD's but I must have never upgraded my tapes so I was tempted to buy them on iTunes. All their old albums (self titled, 7800 Fahrenheit, Slippery When Wet, and New Jersey) were priced at $8-$10. That's crazy. They're the same price as newly released albums. If they were $5 I would've probably bought their first four Albums. But I'm not paying $10 for them. The recording industry is missing the boat here, if they sold music for half price after 10 years they'd probably sell a lot more. Using Guitar Hero 5 as an example, I can understand Slippery When Wet costing $10 since demand is probably going to go up a bit but their older CD's which sold next to nothing, come on it's not the same value and therefor it should be half the price. But whatever I guess. If I had a Zune Pass I guess I could just download them all...

The Big 35

I'm creeping ever closer to, well, I won't say. But the world just spun around another 365 times making me 35 years old. How did I spend my birthday, I worked, and watched the kids while Jen worked. In all it was fun as the kids are a blast to hang out with. They keep me feeling like I'm 25 still. Oh I forgot to mention that I also farmed today on Farmville. I'm hooked on it. Hayley helped out after the twins went to bed and she's about ready to fall asleep in the chair so I better get her to bed.

Here's a video of the kids in a tire swing.

The Cozy Coupe

Elliott and Braxtyn got a new toy.

The 4th

The 4th was a blast this year. We went to my sister's cabin for the annual event. Our twins are old enough to run around and play and they didn't need to be held all the time. We got to take the twins out in my sister's pontoon, they seemed to enjoy it for the most part other than having a huge life vest on them. And one of them got to wear Hayley's old pink life vest. Oh well, we weren't going to buy another life vest for a boy since they will probably only wear it a couple times.

Family photo with my brothers, sisters and my dad and step mom.

On Sunday we headed to Jens parents. Jen took the kids to a parade while I went for a run. She forgot the sun screen and the kids got a little sun burnt. Hayley is 3.5 years old and she never got sun burn until now. Next time we take the kids somewhere we'll remember the sun screen. During the afternoon we took the kids for a swim in Jens mom's pool. It was pretty fun but the kids were all pretty tired so they didn't last that long.

The Taste of Minnesota

Jen and I took the kids to the Taste of Minnesota today. We were really nervous about it at first because the kids were pretty fussy all day. We planned on going with another couple and their kid but our plans were thrown off when our sewer backed up. We called Minnegasco and they told us they could be at our house between 5-10. So we canceled and waited. The guy showed up about 15 minutes later. He had it unclogged in about an hour and we decided to head out then. We didn't really know where to go and the roads we planned on taking were blocked off. So we kind of drove around looking for parking and we ended up parking at some house for $5. That was nice since most parking was $10 or more. The kids ended up being really good. I thought the State Fair is way better as far as food goes, but we ended up using most of our tickets on rides for Hayley anyway so it wasn't that big of a deal. When it came time to watch the fireworks we found a front row spot. We got there about an hour early and the kids ended up finding other kids to play with so time went really fast. The fireworks were awesome. I think that's the best place to watch them as they shoot them off across the river.

At the park

Video taken, edited, and uploaded to You Tube from my iPhone.

There's an app for that: iMapMyRun

Since I started training for the Urban Wildlife Half marathon this August I've been using the web site map my run to track my progress. Basically you trace the route you ran on (you can enter walks and bike rides as well), time, and some other metrics that you want to track. It'll also track how many miles you've run in your shoes so you know when to replace them. When you trace the route it gives you mile markets and total distance as well. Although this is nice it's tough to exactly trace your route. And sometimes I just forget to enter my run as well.

Since I got the new iPhone with GPS I downloaded iMapMyRun. It use the GPS function on the iPhone to automatically trace my route that I'm running along with average pace per mile and current pace per mile. This is nice for tracking your goals as it gives you instant feedback. There's no more trying to guess your speed. When I finished my workout I upload it to the web site and it automatically draws my route. That is awesome.

Anyway, if you're interested in a web site to track your progress give a try. Here's the link to my workouts.

Video From My 3G S

Here some video I took from my new iPhone. Pretty outstanding quality. I also used blogger to upload one video and You Tube to upload the other. NOTE: I just previewed the video and I forgot that blogger and YouTube compress the video so these don't look that great.

Locked Out

Today I got to work and grabbed my stuff out of the passenger seat, while I was grabbing my stuff I put my keys on the driver seat. As I shut the door I realized my keys were still in the truck. We still haven't made an extra set since Jen got her purse stolen with the keys in it while we were in CA. What a great way to start the day out. I called a few lock smiths and they were all around $90. I didn't want to pay that much so I searched Google to see if there was cheaper way. No good solutions were found but there were a few cocky suggestions like "break your window" or "call the dealer and have them make a new set of keys". That actually got me thinking, since we needed a new set of keys anyway what would it take to get a set made. I was sure the would be expensive too. But I figured why not give it a shot. So I called the local dealer and they said if I brought in my truck it wouldn't be a problem. I told them my only set of keys were in the truck. They said to bring in the VIN number with proof of insurance then. I asked what it would cost and the guy said $15. I couldn't believe a dealer would sell something that cheap. So Jen cut her trip to St Cloud short to drive back and make me a key and we saved about $70. What a nice wife I have.

Sliding

This twins had a blast sliding down this tube slide. Hayley was doing this sitting up by herself around 8 months. Just goes to show how strong of a core she had at a very young age.

Big Weekend

We had the twins birthday bash on Saturday. It was pretty cool, we had a big turnout. I'm working on a photo montage now but I didn't have time to finish it. As soon as it's finished I'll get it posted. Thanks to everyone that attended, it was nice to see everyone and the kids all had a blast.

Funny Pick

Elliott tries taking a drink from the bath tub fountain.

The Birthday Bash

Ok the real bash isn't until Saturday but we had a little party today. I took the day off from work and Jens mom came down to surprise the boys. We took them to the park and they had a blast sliding down the big slide and swinging on the swing set. We got home and let them open a few presents and get messy eating cake.

Happy 1st Birthday Braxtyn and Elliott

The boys are going to be one year old tomorrow. Last year at time we were going through this. Anyway, it's been a roller coaster ride but it's been totally worth it. The twins are so much fun no days and they are on the verge of walking. It's going to be an exciting second year that's for sure.

10 Years with Hotmail

I just got an email from the Hotmail team letting me know that I started using the service 10 years ago. 10 years ago I was working nights plucking turkeys at the Jennie-O. Good times. I also owned an Ford Explorer back then and I tried to create an email address "explorer@hotmail.com", well somewhere along the line I wasn't paying attention and I ended up with setrum@hotmail.com. Today I recieve close to 100 emails, mostly just junk mail so I don't really use it that much. I think the developers over at Microsoft have done a good job with it. I use Skydrive, which is a virtual hard drive in the cloud. It's integrated nicely in the Windows Live suite.

Hayley Asks for a Sister

I admit that I spoil Hayley pretty bad. She's got to the point where she won't even ask mom for toys and treats, she just waits for me to get home. The other day I about fell out of my chair when Hayley asked for a baby sister. Then I caught myself actually thinking about it... and if we could guarantee a girl I would probably consider it. Well then I snapped back to reality and realized that Hayley almost got me thinking we should have more kids. Man, I just can't imagine what would happen, I'm sure we'd get triplets or something. Whew, I think I needed that wake up call. I think I need to schedule an appointment when the doctor before anymore crazy baby thoughts come to mind.

Living Repainted

Last week I mentioned to Jen that we should paint our living room. Well she didn't hesitate to call in the cavalry. Jen's brother Matt, his girl friend Jen, Jen's mom, sister, Jean, some of Jean's friends, and Jody stopped by to help out. We painted the ceiling, hallway, moulding, and walls. We started out around noon and finished at about 10pm. Matt wired in new outlets for the cable and electricity.

It's going to be so nice since the twins loved pulling on the TV cords.

Anyway here are some before and after. The camera must have had some humidity built up on the before pictures. But you get the just of it. Nice deep dark red.

No more cords. This is going to be so nice!! Thanks Matt.

F-150 Tidbit

During this cold winter the heater on our F-150 hasn't been working the best. We thought it was kind of strange since it worked awesome in years past, I thought about changing out the thermostat a few times but I just figured it was the super cold weather causing it. (the temp gauge seemed to indicate the temp was OK) Well on our way home two weekends ago the check engine light kicked on. I waited until the next weekend to finally bring the truck to O'Reilly's auto parts store to use their computer and check the fault. They let you use their diagnostic computer for free which saved me about $50. The error code came back with something "not enough antifreeze for closed loop operation". I was taken aback by that since I had enough antifreeze in the truck. I took it in and asked the guy about it and he said it's probably a stuck open thermostat. He said the truck is basically running in warm up mode all the time and that I was probably getting bad gas mileage. Man did he hit that on the head, the truck has been getting terrible gas mileage. For the most part I never monitored it until gas started hitting $4 a gallon. We drove up to Little Falls and I put in a new thermostat. On the way home the heater worked great and the trucked seemed to get about double the gas mileage. I'm anxious to fill up the truck again to see what mileage we'll actually get.

So I'd just like to give a thanks to O'Reilly's for offering the free use of their computer. It was pretty handy to find the problem and just buy the parts all in one shot. I recommend it to you do it yourselfers if you ever want to run diagnostics on your car.

Snow Fort Revisited

I wasn't to happy with Hayley's snow fort and she kind of rushed me a bit when she got bored the first time so on Saturday we spent some time trying to make it a little bigger. Most of the yard had been snowed in again so I had plenty of snow but it was not sticky at all so it wasn't going to work well building up the snow fort. I built it up a little and made the opening wider but Hayley still wasn't that interested in it. Oh well, I'll have to wait until the twins get older, maybe they will appreciate a good snow fort. Anyway here are some pics of the modified snow fort.

I finally gave up and let her climb on the dumb fort. I thought it was going to cave in but it held up rather well.

The opening is a little larger and she can almost stand, in this pic she's ducking down for the camera.

On Sunday we had some visitors. My brother and his wife stopped over for a visit before they headed out to Florida. (I'm so jealous) I was amazed that the twins took so well to them. Lately the twins are so weary of anyone but mom and dad. Kathy also was able to tell them apart pretty well from the time she saw them. I was impressed.

Helmets

While I was in VA the twins had their final appointment for their heads. They had an appointment a month earlier and Jen got the choice then to have them wear the helmets another month or call it good. The doctor said another month would probably be good so she went with it. Well going another month knocked another .02 off (whatever that means), all I know is their heads are a lot more round then when they started. It'll be so nice to not have to give them a bath every day and clean the helmets. It kind of would be nice to see a before and after picture. We never thought of it before.

Snow Fort

My flight back from VA got in today around 10ish this morning and decided to take the rest of the day off to play with the kids since I haven't seen them for so long. I spent the early afternoon just chasing the boys around the house and after Hayley got home from preschool I took her outside to build a snow man. The snow was still not sticky enough so I ended up trying to build her a snow fort. After a couple cave-ins I finally got it. Hayley really wasn't that interested in the fort. She kept asking if she could climb on it. I guess she is just into different things then when I was a kid. I used to love building snow forts. I'd have the back yard shoveled and the sidewalk would stay snowed in.

As for Hayley's fort here are some pics.

After this picture I dug it out more. The inside is about twice the size now.

First Class

I've been so spoiled this year. I've got to fly in first class just about every flight I've taken to VA. I love first class especially on these Embraer airplanes. They are smaller so they seat 2 by 2 in coach so and 1 by 2 in first class. There are no isle seats which is cool. Anyway, I'm flying back home early as the power is being turned off to do electrical work on the ship for two weeks so there was really no need to stay here. I'm excited to see the family again. Not so excited to see six inches of snow though. Boooo. Hopefully it's sticky snow so Hayley and I can make a snow man. The snow this year has sucked for it so far.

Kids Playing Peek a Boo

I guess they were playing for a long time but Jen got the camera and they stopped. Darn kids.

Sick Again

Ever since I got to VA I've been dealing with vertigo. I don't know for sure but I think it was motion sickness from the ship sitting in water. It's been tolerable for the most part but super annoying. Today I woke up planning on going to the doctor at some point but I was interrupted by the stomach flu or food poisoning. I never really got stomach flu until I had kids and since Hayley was born I think I've had it like six times. (The worst was Christmas Eve 2006, I got most of the relatives sick that year) I pretty much spent the day balled up on the recliner waiting for the next episode of throwing up. Fortunately I only threw up once. Last time I was sick Jen bought me some medicine that suppresses throwing up and man I was shocked at how well it works. So I'm trying to recover from my super aching back and a headache now.

I was planning on helping Jen take the twins to their helmet appointment too. Jen was a trooper and she handled it without me. She took Hayley to a daycare center ahead of time and came back for the twins. They are under the point at which helmets are recommended but the doctor suggest one more month. At least the end is in site I guess.

Happy Birthday Jen

Sorry I'm in VA and not there to enjoy it with you. What a crappy hubby I am. I'll try and make it up to you along with the 50+ makes I still owe you.