This Christmas, I had the idea of sending a little candy to my cousin Darren, stationed in Afghanistan. Amanda let the idea blossom into something wonderful- sending candy to Darren's troops stationed in Afghanistan! She spent many hours cooking up about eighty pounds of candy (only a portion of it is shown here) which we mailed today. Each person reporting to Darren should get their own bag of People Chow. To those who are stationed overseas this Christmas- Merry Christmas, and thank you for all you do!

The Democratic Party PartyBuilder Fair Taxation
Here's a surprise! Opponents of the Fair Tax are always saying that it's a Republican scam, a way to stick it to the middle class. But here is a fledgling group of Democrats, registered right on the Democratic Party's website.

I personally see it as simply a better way to do taxation than the current, very broken system.

The Banana Splits - Google Video

Last week's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me episode had a question about The Banana Splits, and boy did that bring back memories. I remember watching this show as a child and loving it. I still find myself singing the theme song in my head sometimes (it's very catchy!).

If you remember watching this when you were young, please let me know!

Halloween night, one of my family's favorite times of the year. We set out at 6 PM, as usual; we set out just as it gets dark so that we can all trick-or-treat together before Amanda heads back to the house to hand out candy. This year was different, however- there have been very few kids out so far, including our own! Emily and Alex went to about twenty houses, and then they declared they were done - we were home by 6:40! At 7:15 I convinced them to visit some other houses in the cul-de-sac (two), then at 7:30 or so Amanda convinced them to go out for a little longer; they probably hit 5-10 more. It's been a very light year for trick-or-treating, but at least our kids got "their fair share". :)

Happy Halloween!

You just can't get enough

Emily, Alex and I are partaking of one of the last weekends at American Adventures. They've decorated for Halloween. Some of the decorations are pretty scary! You wouldn't expect that at a park aimed at small children. Well, they make up for it by giving candy at each of the rides. That's what we need- more candy to add to the 5-10 pounds we got from our earlier endeavors.

But as you can guess, the kids love it.

Go LEMA!

Our team-building exercise was to build a "world class" organization. We flew through that and went on to make a world class architecture.

And oh, the Dreams we Have...

Zurg in Jail
Originally uploaded by GalapagosFinch.

We were at Magic Kingdom on the first da of the "Year of a Million Dreams". We had so much fun! Our touring plan (www.touringplans.com) worked very well here because Claire can ride all the rides in Fantasyland. Things went very smoothly till lunchtime; after lunch, all we did was Tom Sawyer Island (my first visit there _ever_) and shop. We went home for downtime in the afternoon, then returned to the park around 7 PM. We were only expecting to stay for two hours, but saw a sign saying "extra magic hours", which worked out great! Steve and Amanda got to ride "Pirates of the Carribean" (Shirl rode it earlier in the day) after the evening fireworks with only an eight minute wait. Sure, we didn't get home till after 11:00 AGAIN (even with the ride home the next day), but it was well worth it. All in all, visiting the Magic Kingdom last really topped off our great vacation.

Happy Anniversary

A Great Way to Celebrate
Originally uploaded by GalapagosFinch.

While our anniversary was Thursday night, we waited until Saturday night to celebrate. We went to Citirico's for dinner, dressing up like adults for a change (a rare thing for us indeed). They served us with customized menus; Mickey and Minnie adorned the top dressed in their wedding finery, with the title "Happy 10th Anniversary Steve and Amanda". And as you can see from the picture, our dessert was decorated just the same. While Amanda and I rarely live it up like this (it was the most expensive dinner we've ever had) it was well worth it. Ten Wonderful Years together and a whole lot more to go!

Breakfast at Mickey's

Greetings by Goofy
Originally uploaded by GalapagosFinch.

We had breakfast at Chef Mickey's. Goofy welcomed us with open arms. We met Mickey, Minnie, Chip, Dale, Pluto, and Goofy, and received a nice anniversary cupcake. Lots of fun- perhaps the high point of our kids' visit!

Boo to You!

Boo to You!
Originally uploaded by GalapagosFinch.

Friday night was "Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party". Despite being a "hard ticket event" (requiring extra cash), it was worth every penny! Emily and Alex trick-or-treated (the adults did too!) and scored more than 500 pieces of candy! In addition, Alex and Emily rode Dumbo, then Alex and my mom rode Dumbo while Emily and I rode the Carousel. Emily danced with Chip, Steve rode Space Mountain, we saw the fireworks ("Hallowishes"), and we saw the "Boo to You!" parade- TWICE. We watched it in Frontierland from a bad vantage point, then made our way toward the front gate only to be blocked by... the front of the parade! And the second time, we were in the front row! We didn't get home to 11:30 (with some very tired kids), but it was well worth it. Good thing the next day was a down day!

Tree of Life

Tree of Life
Originally uploaded by GalapagosFinch.

We spent Friday morning at Animal Kingdom. We did the Safari, which had to stop three times because animals were in the road. We saw lots of animals out and about- too bad my camera couldn't handle it! Most of the photos were blurry. After that we made our way to the Jungle Trek, and on the way ran into a "living vine"- a cast member dressed up as a vine, climbing lamp posts, entangling herself on railings, etc. After the Jungle Trek we saw the Festival of the Lion King then had lunch, after which we spent some time looking for Alex's lost sunglasses, then headed home for downtime to prepare for the Halloween Party.

Night Fountain at Epcot

Night Fountain at Epcot
Originally uploaded by GalapagosFinch.

Thursday was Epcot. Soarin' (in the Land Paviliton) was great- Emily and I rode it TWICE. The ride had technical difficulties the second time, while Amanda rode with us. Emily loved it. Living with the Land was very interesting and educational. Alex was scared of the dark parts but loved the greenhouse (we have lots of pictures). We even found two mickeys (I'm sure one of them qualified as "hidden"). Turtle Talk with Crush was also great- very interactive. And the fish in The Living Seas- Wow! Another hidden mickey, albeit a pretty easy one to spot. Took the boat across the lagoon, saw some characters, ate a Teppanyaki Lunch, saw the fountains, then went to the hotel for a break. (I highly recommend downtime during the hot part of the day.) When we returned, we parked at Boardwalk so we coudl come in and leave via the International Gateway. We rode Spaceship Earth, which everyone enjoyed, then had ice cream while we waited for Illuminations. I do believe this was the first fireworks show that Emily enjoyed! Unfortunately, Alex and especially Claire did not. Claire wigged during the fireworks. After that we made our way home with some very tired kids.

Greetings from Disney/MGM

Today was a great first day to our vacation. We checked into Saratoga Springs at 10 and were in the park by 11:30. We've seen lots of great shows and met a bunch of characters. I think Alex liked meeting the Green Power Ranger the most, and Emily liked Kim Possible. Steve *finally* rode the Tower of Terror- what a rush!

Albert Einstein Quotes

"Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe - a spirit vastly superior to that of man. . . . In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort, which is indeed quite different from the religiosity of someone more naive."

Pump You Up!

Another Pump It Up birthday party. Kids sure do have a lot of energy! They can run without stopping for an hour and then eat sweet stuff. Oh, the humanity- and the metabolism.

A Labor (Day) of Love

Kids Love Superman
Originally uploaded by GalapagosFinch.

We met the Bunkers in Paducah, KY, for Labor Day this year. We visited the Paducah waterfront, went across the border to Metropolis, IL, to see the giant Superman statue and visit the old fort, spent time in a freezing cold pool, played video games, and last but not least, went to the Paducah Labor Day parade. Lots of fun for the weekend and good memories for us all.

And we scored five pounds (literally!) of candy at the parade!

And Claire Marches On...

Claire Stands in her Crib
Originally uploaded by GalapagosFinch.

In addition to a full crawl, Claire is pulling herself up now. She is rapidly progressing when it comes to mobility. Emily was that way - she walked at 11 months. Claire turned 9 months yesterday, so it could be "no time at all" before she's toddling.

(And boy is she cute!)

Claire Crawls

Claire Crawls
Originally uploaded by GalapagosFinch.

It's official - Claire crawls. She's still in the super-grumpy stage (kids get grumpy when they are in the process of learning things) but she can now coordinate her arms and legs to move around. It seems like slow motion when she does it, but I'm sure that will last all of three days before she'll be racing around the house. Time for us to put those gates back up!

LBDelicious

A friend's girlfriend is a very good cook, and also a communications major, which leads to an excellent blog about cooking and eating. If you are partial to either one, give her blog a skim.

A fairly taxing debate - Orlando Sentinel
Another FairTax rally. Some debate on how many people showed up, but it was still in the thousands.

I'm sad that the first person they talked to didn't get it. Yes, his income tax would go down, but he makes it sound like he wouldn't be paying taxes. Government can't exist without money; taxation is a "necessary evil".

One point they bring up is that the "real tax rate would end up being higher" than stated in the current bill. However, that would only occur

if Congress voted to increase the tax

. Well, or if they changed it before the bill in its present form was enacted. Either way, future changes require Congress to increase the tax rate, which would become a very public obstacle to them increasing their spending.

This story also points out that the FairTax rewards saving rather than spending. This means that people who take care of themselves (via saving for the future) will be taxed a "little less" than those who don't. Those who live beyond their means are the ones that are really screwed (they were screwed to begin with; this just speeds them to their coming crisis).

Transition still worries me, though. People need to understand the ramifications of the FairTax before it goes into affect lest mayhem ensue. And we can't have mayhem, now can we?

YouTube - Thanks Comcast

Clark Howard pointed out that YouTube has become a place for people to post videos/audios of their customer "no-service" experiences. This one is a Comcast technician who fell asleep while on hold. There's another one of AOL bullying someone who is attempting to cancel their account. If you have a bad story - publicize it!

Beach 2006 001

Emily and Alex in Sand
Originally uploaded by Grand_Vizier.

We went to the beach last week and had lots of fun. See a slideshow
at Flickr

BonairePhotos - Junk Shrine
From a friend of mine:

I saw your blog entry about plastics in the ocean.

I’ve seen that exact problem when I was in Bonaire. On the western side of the island, the windward side, we saw a bunch of plastic stuff blown onto the shore.
This was made from the junk.

Found on the internet...

Going from the McMansion to the McMausoleum

Baby boomers on the downhill slide are thinking about the afterlife. And they are coming to the conclusion that it should be supersized. There is a growing market for ostentatious, very, very expensive mausoleums. “Nobody wants a cookie-cutter burial anymore,” said a funeral association rep. Claims one cemetery owner,“The mausoleum says, ‘I’m really significant in this world.’” (Or was.)

PBS - The Voyage of the Odyssey - Sailing on a Sea of Plastic

I never knew there was a location in the ocean where stuff gets trapped. It makes sense; when you have motion in multiple directions there are often high points and low points (signal interference patterns are a good example). But that we could accumulate so much plastic garbage in one place is, well, embarrassing. We really should be ashamed of ourselves.

Emily and her Glasses

Emily and her Glasses
Originally uploaded by Grand_Vizier.

Emily went for an eye exam this morning and lo and behold, she has the same problem Alex has, only not as severe. Amanda took her to the mall and they picked out some very nice glasses. Emily says she's excited - she knows she looks good in them!

Talking Cats - Google Video

"Oh Long Johnson, Oh Don Piano". See it now!

Alex and the White Belt

Tae Kwon Do 6-1-06 (49)
Originally uploaded by Grand_Vizier.

Alex broke the board and got his white belt! This was his third lesson in Tae Kwon Do and they had him take the test to get his belt. We didn't even know it was time for that, so we weren't all that prepared - Amanda wasn't even there! But given the number of belts on the wall, I'm sure she'll have plenty of chances to see him break things with various parts of his body.

BTW, the young man holding the board is Daymon Mayham, Alex's instructor for the day. He's the son of a friend and coworker, Scott Mayham. He's been doing this since he was Alex's age, and now he's a third degree black belt who has won championships - something to which Alex can aspire!

Emily's last day of school was on Wednesday, concluding with a "Character Traits" ceremony where the teacher recognized their best qualities. Emily was recognized for Excellence, as she always wants to do her best. Emily was sad to leave school, but she knows she'll be seeing her friends again soon. But she sure will miss her teachers... 

Claire's Baptism 2006 003

Claire's Baptism
Originally uploaded by Grand_Vizier.

Our beautiful baby girl was baptized on Sunday. She was perfect during the ceremony- not a whine or a whimper. Emily and Alex were good, too. Emily did a very small wave at one of her friends, and at one part of the ceremony, Alex got curious about what was in the baptismal font.

You can see other photos at Flickr.

Steves Digicams - Canon PowerShot SD300 Digital ELPH - User Review

We just got this camera yesterday. I'll post pictures from it soon.

Are We There Yet? - AutoWeek

Oh No!

The Prius gas mileage has been beaten - by a German!

Claire & her tongue

Claire & her tongue
Originally uploaded by Grand_Vizier.

Don't you love it when children discover new things?

Discovery Channel :: Vegetables Fight Global Warming
Eat your veggies and save the world.

Hangers

Bales of plastic hangers to be recycled. Something I saw back in February but forgot about.

Go figure.

AA Again

(That's American Adventures)

E&A rode Crazy Bus (not pictured) five times- in a row! The girl running the ride thought they were cute- how each time they told her (again) that they had just ridden the bus. The thing is, they were just about the only people riding it, so they were hard to miss!

Angels Over Atlanta

The Blue Angels are visiting Atlanta this weekend. We parked at the Walmart diagonally across from Dobbins Air Reserve base, and it was a great location. We might not have seen every move, but they flew RIGHT OVER US multiple times. It was great- and loud!

Homestar Runner
Have I mentioned this before? Some really goofy videos about some very odd characters. Don't forget to stop in and see Strong Bad answer user emails.

Free Comic Book Day 2006
Check the website for a store near you that is giving away comics from a list of 28 special editions. The comics range from Archie to Star Wars to Donald Duck and beyond to the "not so recognizable" names.

FairTax on Wikipedia
It's crazy but true - I never even thought of checking Wikipedia for information on the Fair Tax Act!

MMFA Artworks

In Montgomery

We're in AL today visiting Amanda's mom, who's not feeling well. I've taken the kids (well, E&A) to the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, where they have a section just for kids. It has numerous "interactive exhibits", some computers, and an area with books, pillows, and a puppet theater. The kids are enjoying it, but I believe Alex was hoping for something more on the scale of the Georgia Aquarium. Too bad for him. :-)

BOOK TV.ORG
More Fair Tax Discussion, this time on Book TV. Neal Boortz debates Michael Graetz. It's long (1-1/2 hours) but if you have the time and want to hear both sides of the argument, this is a great way to get educated.

American Chronicle: The 'Fair Tax'
Congressman Linder makes a mistake in referring to the tax as 23% (it is only 23% when viewed "tax-inclusive"; the sales tax amount is 30%), but overall a good article.

With regards to "tax-inclusive" vs. "tax-exclusive": if the amount is considered as part of a whole, we say it is "inclusive". For instance, if you make $10,000 and pay the government $2,300, you have a 23% "tax-inclusive" rate (since the 2,300 is 23% of the "whole" 10,000). If you thought of it as $7,700 take home + $2,300 tax, then the $2,300 is ~30% (2300/7700) from a "tax-exclusive" point of view. You can see how this translates to sales tax- the latter would be the price ($7,700) + 30% sales tax ($2,300).

BTW, "$10K" was used in the example so I didn't have to pick up a calculator. There is also the matter of the prebate, which lowers the effective taxable base, but you should investigate that at the Fair Tax website.

Understand now?

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

Who Wouldn't Be Happy?

And the Fun Begins

This year I purchased season passes to American Adventures. After all, we live about three miles from the place- and I had never even been there! So far we've only been to the Foam Factory, but I imagine that we will easily get our money's worth.

Where Is Everybody...Really?
Good summary of some answers to the question of "are there intelligent species outside our own planet?"

Claire is Almost 4 Months Old

Hai!

Today is the birthday party of Jack, one of Alex's friends. Jack takes Karate, so his birthday party is at the dojo. Alex is having a great time! He got to play with some Karate equipment at Jack's house and loved it. He's already asked to start taking lessons, which he probably will in the Fall.

Emily's "Other" Birthday

"Granddad and Nana" came to bring Emily (not pictured) her birthday presents, to play with the kids, and to take us all out to lunch. And a good time was had by all...

Alex's Field Trip

Alex's class went to Fernbank today to visit the planetarium. The show was "The Friendly Stars" and was _definitely_ aimed at small children. It was a great experience for us all (I was the only person in the group who had visited a planetarium before!)

Love is amazing. It causes us to act in the strangest ways, to feel the most wonderful sensations, to experience life's greatest moments. And yet we have such a hard time capturing it.

Wikipedia defines it as "acting intentionally, in sympathetic response to others (including God), to promote overall well-being". The Greeks couldn't put their finger on it; they have five words for love. And of course English has but one word, but we love to put adjectives in front of it to describe how it feels - "endless love", "brotherly love", "tainted love", "forbidden love", "unrequited love".

One thing is certain - I may not know how to describe the feeling, but I know it when I see it.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Emily Knows Walt!

Today was Emily's day to present her "Famous American" project (she's the one standing up front). She chose Walt Disney, who as we know created Cantelope- er, I mean, the Disney company. We found lots of great stuff about him on the Net. My favorite website was www.disneydreamer.com because it had lots of info the Disney Co. omitted.

Green Cars Today Weblog
NewDream.org is a great resource for finding out how we can reduce our ill effects on the environment. They can get a bit extreme at times; use your intelligence to filter out what you don't want. In the end, they have a lot of good information buried in there.

Oh, and they now have a "Green Cars Today" weblog promoting the use of hybrids and alternative fuels.

In case there was any question as to how cute my kids are... 

Gymnastics Class

Emily and Alex have so much fun at Gymnastics. And because they are so cute, the owner couldn't resist putting pictures of their classes on the website. Alex is right up front; Emily is in a black leotard in back.

The Fairtax Calculator
Calculate how much tax you'd pay under the Fair Tax rather than the current income tax system. And this doesn't calculate the time you'd save from not having to fill out forms!

Fair Tax Benefits All Americans

... and it does.

Support Our Troops

We were very fortunate to have Specialist Brett Barton with us at church Wednesday night. He told the kids of FW Friends about some of the things heLs seen over in Iraq. He's only here for two weeks before going back, so we will keep him in our prayers (along with all the others in harm's way).

FAQ about the Fair Tax Plan

Many people still don't know the details of the fair tax plan. This is widely supported by all types of people, from economists to business owners to physicians to... well, lots of people. Most of the fear about it comes from not understanding it, as well as from misinformation spread by politicians that don't like the idea of losing their grip on the current "evil" tax code.

Read the FAQ, talk to your friends about it, then write your congressman.

Visiting

We're in TN today visiting my mom. She took Emily and Alex to the Children's Museum for the afternoon. Then, Bev stopped by, and now Becky, Sam, and Dakota are here. Gotta love family!