Umm...one time...at choir camp...

During my high school days (many well-lived years ago), I was magically whisked away to All-State choir. It took place at St. Olaf, where selected choir students spent a week preparing advanced choir material for a concert that was performed at the end of the week. I am ever so slightly emberrased to admit that I had a great time.

For the last five years or so I've looked for a song that we performed in that concert that I loved, but I was never able to find it. Luckily, while listening to the public classical radio station at work, 99.5 KSJN, I heard it and the composer's name!

I present to you a contemporary take on the Ave Marie by Franz Biebl.

AveMariaBiebl.mp3 (to download, right-click & Save Target As)

It's a boy!

I'll get right to it, then.

We had our first sonogram this afternoon. Everything looks good with the baby. Our doctor told us that, while she can't be sure and to not paint the room yet, that we're having a boy.

Here are the pictures we got from our sonogram:

Leeroy Jenkins!

My resolve to keep my friends & family abreast of the current social trends of the Internet has forced me, once again, to share with you a recent video circulating the net (there are a couple of curse words, but it’s not too bad). So, I suggest that you sit back, start downloading the movie, and read through the following background. I’m betting you’ll love it.

Background:
This is a video of a bunch of teenage boys playing an online computer game called World of Warcraft. They are connected to a voice chat system, so you can hear them talking to eachother. Each one of the characters you see on the screen represents one of the players. They are in a dungeon that is very difficult and have probably spent a few hours just getting to this point. The room they’re about to enter is difficult and takes some planning, which you will see in this video.

Thus, we come us to Leeroy. Leeroy is one of the players, and actually, is the reason they are in this dungeon to begin with. You’ll see him on the left in the first part of the video. You’ll also notice an “AFK” next to his name. That means he is away from keyboard, or not at his computer, at least up until…well…you’ll see.

Make sure you can hear the sound. Enjoy!

Leeroy.wmv (to download, right click then click Save Target As...)

If you desire even more Leeroy goodness, here’s an entire site dedicated to him: www.leeroyjenkins.net.

Y.A.P.V.P.

[Yet Another Parle Vouz Potpourri] - that's what the title stands for. Oh, don't pretend you don't care...I know you do. As I said in the last one of these PPP posts (and I won't mention it again), "I'm going to break with tradition a little bit and talk about a few different topics instead of beating one topic into the ground like I usually do. Oh, what fun!"

Dan, my brother, has bought himself a fierce new vehicle. You may recall the modified van I almost purchased last month. With my refined taste and keen searching skills, I was able to find a vehicle that was a great match for Dan, but I was didn't contact him before he bought this great truck, so someone else will get it. Here's the *cough* vehicle I think he should have gone with instead:



Betsy and I will most likely find out if our baby is a boy, girl, or "other" next Monday afternoon. I'll be posting the gender on this very blog as soon as I can get to a computer so keep an eye on this space after 4pm!

In traveling news, our very loved and missed family members, Tracey and Kevin, are moving back from Miami next weekend! We're all so excited! Next, my parents are going to Denver(?) on Thursday. My dad is teaching out there and my mom is going with for the scenery. Also, this past weekend we had Kirsten and the girls at our house. We had a great time! And at last, Betsy's mom is coming down to visit us this next weekend. We were supposed to see her the last two weeks, but weren't able to, so we're very excited to see her soon! (Did I just say "excited" 17 times?)

Lastly, our Harry Potter event went smashingly. It was truly a unique experience being in a bookstore with over 500 people where you could barely move. It was pretty hectic, but Dan and I had a great time being in the middle of it all.

That's all for today. Everyone stay safe and take care.

*updated* Reminder: Harry Potter this Friday!

As I mentioned earlier, we are attending the Barnes and Noble Harry Potter book release this Friday night and would like any of you to join us.

Here’s the deal from Dan:

Call and reserve your copy at the Burnsville store. (952-892-9280) You don’t have to pay but you get it for $18 if you pre-order. Also, the sooner we can pick up our wristbands the better. They are numbered as to when you get the book. They start passing them out at 9 in the morning.

The guy I spoke with at the store told me that the last time they did this it only took 45 minutes to get everyone checked out, so that no one is there later than 12:45 or so.

Please let me know if you you’re coming by calling me so we can pick a time and place to get together beforehand.

Update: As a weekend bonus, I'm including some T-shirts I found humorous from www.bustedtees.com. See if you can guess my favorite one; the answer's in the comments.

Survey says?!

Anyone reading this is probably old enough to remember the old TV show Tool Time, with Tim Allen and the now new host of the Family Fued, Richard Karn. One of the "bits" they did on this show was that Tim "the Toolman" Taylor would seek advice from his neighbor Wilson next to their backyard fence whevenever he had a problem(note to self, purge this information from my brain later on). I had a similar experience, except I'm not a toolman, my neighbor is not an older and supposedly wiser man, my sidekick never went on to host an arguably lame TV game show, and I don't have an alliteral middle name surrounded by quotes - but aside from that it was exactly the same.

My neighbor and I were talking about kids, since she has 3 now (all under 4 years old - yikes!). Specifically, we were talking about how her dogs acted around the kids and how, while I have seen Bones with kids and he's been wonderful, that I still sometimes think about whether I should be doing something to ease the transition. Well, from keyboard to your monitor, I present to you Jackelo Poopiepants:




Like my good friends Reginold and Elenor who conducted a shady familial transaction from a crack whore named Lulu, Bets and I bought a baby yesterday. We actually had Jackelo setup in a swing last night, wrapped in blankets, and held him for awhile. He's my special boy! Now, before you tell me I'm nuts (which can't categorically deny), the reason we're doing this is to get Bones used to the idea of having baby stuff around and even, to a very small and weird extent, a baby. My neighbor says this really worked well for them.

The results so far: Bones couldn't care less about the baby or the baby stuff, which is good, I suppose. We only got a couple of sniffs from him, so I guess we're okay so far.

The last thing I need to address is that this is the third baby picture in a row I've posted. This ends today. I apologize for the monotony.

Parle Vouz Potpourri?

I'm going to break with tradition a little bit and talk about a few different topics instead of beating one topic into the ground like I usually do. Oh, what fun!

First and most importantly: Our thoughts are prayers are with Jon and his family. Hang in there, dude (and co.). That's all the further I want to get into that here.

Now, something else...

We had a family reunion for my mom's side of the family this past weekend at their farm. My expectations were mediocre with a side of reservation, but the reality of the events were actually very enjoyable. The reunion lacked any sort of "fiasco" or "shenigans" and was instead a lot of fun. Kudos to my Mom and Dad for pulling it off so well. I recorded some video, so after I get it edited, I'll try to post it here.

Bets and I are expecting (as in a baby, not spitting - that's expectorating), as you probably well know. After our last visit, and some tests, we know that our kid is not likely to have down syndrome, spinabifida, or a bunch of other abnormalities. So far, so good, as they say. Bets is feeling pretty well at this point. She only gets a little sick if she doesn't eat for a long time. Oh, and she's starting to show, but only I can tell. It probably won't be really noticeable for another few weeks. She's about 17 weeks along if you were wondering.

We have visitors coming to town to visit Bets and I soon! This next weekend, Betsy's mom is coming to see us. I'm not sure what we're planning on doing, but I know we'll have fun. To quote Mike Nagita, an Asian guy with a thick Minnesotan accent from the movie Fargo, "She's a super lady!" The weekend after that, Kirsten and the girls are coming to visit. I can't wait to see them! Oh, and Kirsten, too. ;)

I think that'll do it for now. I leave with the immortal words of Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber after being told the chances of him dating this lady is about one in a million: "So you're sayin' there's a chance!"