It’s a Girl
Well, after receiving many (justified) complaints about not putting up pictures of our new daughter, I’ve finally gotten around to uploading some. Her name is Amberly. Mom, you can stop looking at Tallie’s baby pictures now. :-)
UPDATE: I’ve updated the link to point to our new MobileMe gallery.
Honda Accord “Cog” Ad
I saw this chain reaction Honda commercial years ago, but still love it. Apparently, it took 606 times to get right. None of it is computer animated.
Newsletter and Fiveplex
I wanted to write a quick update to let everyone know we are still getting the finishing touches on our newsletter. Well, actually, we’re still writing parts of it. Last year’s Christmas letter became a New Year’s letter, and this year it’s looking like we’ll have to rush to avoid it becoming a Valentine’s letter.
We also closed on our first “for keeps” investment property. It’s a five-plex in Payson about 20 minutes from our house. It’s a bit of a fixer-upper, but the price was low and the numbers worked out, even counting some needed repairs. And the best thing is that I find I enjoy being a landlord. I like talking to the tenants and hope to make the building a great place to live. Of course, I haven’t had any calls in the middle of the night yet. So we’ll see how things go.
Why Silver
I got a rare chance to see both my brothers and their families this last weekend. It was great talking to them both and catching up. I didn’t get much of a chance to bond with Owen or Tia. But Kristy’s family was very generous. It was great to experience Texas hospitality again. Scott and I went to see a movie that neither Kristy nor Cheryl would’ve wanted to see: I Am Legend. It was fairly good, but made me jumpy later that night.
Dave and Carly stayed the night in order to cut an hour or so off their drive back to Phoenix the next day. Little Addison is growing up quickly, even since I saw her at Thanksgiving. And I discovered that Dave has also considered buying silver as an investment. Since I purchased some silver recently, I wanted to write a bit about why and how I did it.
First, silver is a precious metal and has often been used as money at various times in history. Second, it is an industrial metal used to make stuff. Third, we’re using more silver than we’re digging up — the amount of above-ground silver has decreased by 90% over the last 60 years. Fourth, the current price doesn’t reflect the increasing scarcity. Fifth, there are now several convenient ways to own it. Theodore Butler has written a great article describing the reasons to own silver in more detail.
There is now an exchange traded fund (like a mutual fund, but traded in real-time instead of at the end of each day) that specializes in owning silver. Apparently, there is an ETF for oil too, but I haven’t looked into that.
I also wanted to take physical possession of some silver. I did quite a bit of research and price comparisons and ended up buying American Silver Eagle coins from Bullion Direct. The coins are minted by the U.S. Mint and are trusted to have very high quality. The coins cost a bit more than raw silver does, but are easily recognized and should therefore be easy to sell or trade when the time comes.
Inside Jokes at Pixar
I found an article that explains many of the inside jokes appearing in Pixar movies. Watching the movies repeatedly with my kids helped me notice most of these, but there were several I’d missed.
In my opinion, part of what makes Pixar and it’s movies great is this kind of fun-but-not-in-the-way stuff: there if you’re looking, gone if you’d rather just watch the movie. Brilliant.
Site Update
I’ve been meaning to put together a good design for our blog for months now, but haven’t gotten to it yet. I keep hoping someone will create a great site design I can use, making it really easy for me. In the meantime, however, I decided to add a “Recent Bookmarks” section showing my ten most recent bookmarks from del.icio.us.
Years ago, I uploaded about 400 links from my Firefox bookmarks file to del.icio.us with the intention of cleaning up the list — making sure the links were still active and relevant — and making it public. I only just finished the process. It sure does take a lot of time to sift through hundreds of old, potentially broken links. From now on, I intend to keep the list up-to-date.
I also added a “Links” section that only has links for family and friends so far. I may add others at some point, but most of what I read regularly is either tagged on del.icio.us or stored in my Google Reader account.
Cheryl and Tyler
Cheryl has a great sense of humor. Today, Tyler was being silly and asking Cheryl lots of questions he thought were funny. To one of them, Cheryl had what I thought was an incredible answer:
Tyler: “Why did the tree turn into a monster?”
Cheryl, eyes lighting up: “Um…. Because he didn’t want to be all bark and no bite?”
Making Progress on our Yard
We’ve finally got our cement patios and walks in our yard done. We added a wrap-around patio in the back, an RV pad on the side (for a shed), and several sidewalks on the other side and front. I uploaded a few pictures to our picture gallery. We’re scheduled to get our sprinklers, grass, and bark in later this week.
UPDATE: I’ve updated the link to point to our new MobileMe gallery.
Fate: A Tribute to my Grandfather
My grandfather passed away recently. It wasn’t a terrible surprise since he hadn’t been doing well for some time.
He lived across the country from me, so I didn’t get to see him much while growing up. However, I’d taken my family to see him twice in recent years and corresponded with him by email. He was a wonderful man and lived his life in kindness and service. His example still motivates me to be a better person.
A neighbor of his wrote the following poem about their experiences living next to him for many years. She very graciously granted permission for me to publish it here.
We bought our first home on a quiet little street,
where we met a man who was so kind and sweet.He walked over and said Hello,
I am your neighbor and my name is Mr. Cecil Reese,
but I prefer Cec,
just so you know.We shook his hand and said it is nice to meet you,
he said I saw you out here and wanted to come over and greet you.We said our goodbyes and watched him
carefully use his cane and walk home,
But not knowing at that very moment,
how often we would visit and he’d never be alone.Less than a week later we found ourselves at his front door,
Starting a friendship that would become greater than any we’d had before.Everyday after he’d open the door before we had the chance to ring the bell, He always had so many stories he just couldn’t wait to tell.
Time went by and our visits went to at least twice a day,
He loved to make the girls laugh and watch them play.One day he asked that we not call him Mr. Reese,
but he would love it if we called him Uncle Cec.He told us all about his church and things we did not know,
For the longest time when he started, I said I had to go.After some time I didn’t leave when he started talking about religion,
he said don’t believe the crazy stuff you hear about Mormons on the television.He showed us many pictures
of his family and his life,
And always told us he wished we had had
the chance to meet his Maisy, his beautiful wife.We watched him go from whipping around with just a cane,
to using a walker that drove him insane.The first time Maddie ever saw his walker with his new tennis balls
she laughed and said Uncle Cec, that’s silly,
He smiled and said I know I’m getting old,
so what can I do, really?Later that year he gave us a book with highlighted pages
that he thought we’d like to read,
We put it in a drawer,
since we didn’t see a need.A few days later out of nowhere came this voice
that prompted me to open this book,
I did and told Dave
to hurry and look.Inside the back of the book was a printed and signed letter from Uncle Cec,
telling us to read the book when the time was right,
Dave had read most of the book
by the end of the night.Our very first Book Of Mormon came from such a wonderful, kind, powerful man,
Who in October couldn’t wait to see Dave be baptized and hold his hand.Though I was happy for my husband I wasn’t ready to commit,
so I went on with the lessons and didn’t quit.Uncle Cec said he always knew I wouldn’t be far behind
and was so joyous the day I told him I had changed my mind.So in December it was set and Brittany and I became members as well,
Uncle Cec said he was so proud, but we could already tell.From informal lunches with bologna and cheese,
To Outback dinners, he was so easy to please.We talked of many things big and small,
and sometimes we didn’t need to say anything at all.We have grown to love this man more than words can say,
and we’ll always feel honored to have known him, all the rest of our days.He always said we kept him going even when the days were rough,
And coming back from vacation and seeing him in the hospital was very tough.We visited him there daily just as if he were home,
the girls sang him songs and he smiled and even there he knew he wasn’t alone.In less than two years time this man has brought us so much joy and love,
We know he’s smiling down and watching from above.So fate brought us here to our home on Stockton Road,
across from the most amazing man that we have ever known.© 2007 Rebecca Anderson. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
I wish I could have lived closer to this wonderful man.
Farewell Harry Potter
Cheryl and I finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows a few nights ago and really liked it. This book differs from the others by jumping right into an action sequence before slowing down dramatically. Like Ron, we got a bit impatient for the story to keep moving (which may have been Rowling’s point, I suppose), but the story picks up quickly.
By the end, Rowling has resolved all the loose ends and explained the secrets of the world she created including Snape’s history, Dumbledore’s past and family, how a wand “chooses the wizard,” and much more. I left the world of Harry Potter feeling a bit sad but very satisfied with how things ended.
