December: the Recap

So, this work thing is really getting in the way of my blogging, and Tracy doesn't seem to want to pick up the slack.

Quick recap since the last posting:

1. Grandpa Bill and Grandma Cheryl were down babysitting for a week while Tracy, Aimee, and Amanda went off to Portland to watch "So You Think You Can Dance". I think that everyone had a great time. The girls brought back way too many gifts for everyone (so many that the Mastercard Lady called to see if we had misplace our card and then proceeded to tell me that it was going to be a very nice Christmas) and Dominic told us all the stuff that was going on when I was away at work. That little guys has got to work on his blackmailing skills.
2. We had a lady come in and do some interior decorating for us. I guess Tracy got sick of all the bare walls and decided it would be a good idea to let someone spend our money without us first okaying the plan. The whole reality decorating show idea is great, but scary when it's your money. It turned out great though and now our house is ready to have visitors (i.e. house warming party - January 5)
3. Tracy got sick of hearing me complain about my skis and so went and picked me up a new pair. I was extremely shocked and thankful, then she told me it wasn't a Christmas present and she would be garnishing my wages to pay for them. I don't really care, cause they look great and I can't wait to carve some turns in Jasper over the holidays.

We all hope that everyone has a great Christmas full of friends, food, and presents.

Kaboodle

So, with some people being so anal that they feel the need to finish their Christmas shopping before the end of November, the Kwasny family in Lethbridge is releasing their shopping lists that everyone has been crying for. The lists are on the right of the blog and will be added to (and hopefully subtracted from) up until the 6th of January (for those of us who celebrate the Orthodox Christmas). All of the items are from online stores, and have a link to "buy it at" that store. I believe that this will take the item off the list, but I'm not entirely sure. You can also click "reserve" if you want it known to other shoppers that you are buying (or have bought) that gift (i.e. not online). Don't worry, we won't be checking on what is on or off the list (well, I won't but I can't speak for Tracy).

Please don't feel that this is an exhaustive list, or that you need to buy us anything at all. This is totally just meant to help people (i.e. Grandmothers) out with their shopping.

And for those of you who left the mocking comments and who obviously are not on top of their Marvel Comic Book characters, Dominic was Spider Man and I was Doctor Octopus.

Catch Up!

So obviously I need to do some catching up as some people think that somethings could have happened in the last 2 months. To get the easy stuff out of the way, school is good and Tracy is still enjoying being at home.

Now, Liam is doing very well. He seems to be growing a little bit stronger everyday. According to our records, he appears to be about the same weight (although Tracy is going to tell me that I'm wrong after she reads this) but is longer then Dominic. He's making lots of noise and has taken (over the past two weeks) to throwing a bit of a party in his room every evening around 3:00 am. He's not angry or anything, just feeling the need to wake us up and let us know that he is rested and in a good mood; I thought those days were behind us.


Dominic is as busy as ever. Tracy tries to get him out swimming at least once a week, and he really seems to enjoy the water. He's taking Kindermusic again with Breeanne, but he is sometimes the hooligan of the class as he just wants to run and look at himself in the big mirrors on occasion. Grandpa George bought him nicer skates then Mommy and Daddy have and he has been out twice on the ice. No big falls yet (an he has asked to go by himself a couple of times) and maybe that's why there is no big fear. He seems to enjoy it, but my back can only handle it in small portions. He liked wearing his helmet everywhere for awhile, and it earned him $2 for a guy in the grocery store asking me if he was a "special" kid.

Halloween was a great adventure. After we convinced Dom to get his costume on to go trick or treating, he loved it. But convincing him he would was a bit of a task. We hit about 10 houses altogether and got a half a bag full of candy. Add to that the 100 pieces of candy that we didn't give out (who knew we would only get about 12 kids - but did the last few ever hit the jackpot) and you get a lot of sugar for Mommy and Daddy. Dominic was pretty excited about it when he got home, but the novelty has worn off. Liam "the Pumpkin" had a little photo shoot with Mom while Dom and I were collecting loot, but we managed to crash the last couple of pictures.

And so it begins...(again)

So the month of August has come and gone and with it's passing signifies the beginning of school for another year. I can't say that this summer was not full of adventures, even though we didn't go anywhere. Dominic kept us moving and active, as sitting around the house for too long lead to a grumpy little kid, so it was just easier to take him to the park lots. Although Liam slept for over two thirds of the summer, his three hour eat-sleep schedule kept us busy for no real good reason. And as with any house, there is always one more task to fill up some time.
We did get away for a bit, all in August which should explain the lack of posts this month. A few weeks ago we spent some family time in Edmonton and to the horror of his Grandmas, Dom was about Grandpa George and Grandpa Bill (Uncle Jeremy did get a little bit of love to). This was also about the time that Liam started to smile and coo. It's amazing how this little bit of interaction conveys so many emotions. Oh yeah, and Dominic and Tracy's first visits to West Edmonton Mall as tourists.
A couple of days at home followed (to do laundry) and then off to Canmore. I had a video-conferencing conference there and Tracy Dominic, and Liam came along for the ride. I think that everybody had fun even though we didn't make it out and about too much. Also, just because a restaurant says that you can bring a stroller in, doesn't mean that their menu is kid friendly! All kidding aside, Canmore has some great restaurants and it's too bad a guy couldn't afford to sample more of them.
Finally, we spent this past long weekend in Fairmont with Susan and Nick, Krista, Doug, Ben, Braden, and Claire, and Barry and Michelle. It was a great time, topped off with some time in the hot pools, some time in the hot tub, a fire and some roasted marshmallows, some geocaching, and a chance meeting with a cougar (sorry Krista!). Overall it was a great weekend spent with our friends. A really nice way to end the summer!

Finally, some pictures.

In case there was any question, Dominic is definitely Tracy's son. A mosquito bite a little above his right eye left Dom with a Rockyish looking face for a couple of days. The swelling is not unlike that which Tracy gets whenever she is bitten. Don't worry though, everything is back to normal. Oh, and enjoy this hair picture, because Dom had a visit with Tasha today (that's his hair dresser; ask him, he'll tell you).

Also, just because it's so damn cute, a picture of Liam.

Partial redemption

So Dom has partially redeemed himself. Yesterday was a good day without any accidents, but a lot of scary moments for Tracy and I. Basically, whenever Dominic stopped moving, we freaked out because we thought he was pooping. Dominic now has the appropriate attitude when he says "For the 10th time in 10 minutes, NO I don't have to go potty."
Further redemption came this morning when he asked me (through a grunting face) to go poop. But we did make it in time and everything was okay.
Now, I'm not bragging or saying that we are out of the clear or anything, just want to keep you all in touch.

And then Kharma bites you in the butt!

Well, although potty training had been going well, we seem to have hit a wall. Dominic has had a couple of big accidents in the past couple of days that happened to coincide with Tracy and I thinking that we had it made. Also, the terrible twos seem to be upon us and, unbeknown to Tracy and I, there is a huge amount of frustration that accompanies this stage. Thanks for the incite all of you other parents!
On the other hand, Liam is frequently sleeping through the night (okay, 11:00 pm to 6:00 am, but come on!) and pretty much our favourite child at this point in time.

Oh yeah, and we are in the middle (hopefully end) of a freaking heat-wave; haven't seen a drop of water since (it feels like) February.

Oh that sweet smell!

Just a quick update (I know 2 posts in 1 day, wow!). Today was Dom's first complete accident free day (Pooh didn't do so well though). In fact, he asked to go to the potty twice this morning with Tracy (1 number 1 and 1 number 2) and once this evening, both times when we were not at our own home. Sweet freedom from diapers I can hear you call... oh crap, Liam's still got to get trained!

First International match

Okay, for those of you looking for an update on the kids - they are doing fine. Tune out now, because the rest of this post is going to be about Jason.

First, my shoes (and spandex) finally came in so now I can start riding my new bike. I spent a bit of time riding this morning while I was getting the pedals set up and the bike tuned a little bit (i.e. pumping up the tires) and I think it was money well spent. So now I have no excuse for not training for the triathlon in Fort Macleod at the end of the summer. I think I'm down to about 3 weeks before the race and I haven't been in the water in awhile. Should be interesting.

Second, as of last night (and this is stretching reality) I consider myself an International Rugby Referee. There was a touring U18 side from England (a school north of Newcastle) that played the Lethbridge Rugby Club. I thought I did a pretty good job even though my legs started to give out in the second half. Overall, the outcome was right, nobody got (too) hurt, and I didn't miss (too many) calls. The best part, I got 1 free beer for my troubles. Damn I love this sport!

Sometimes you're the pooper, sometimes you're the potty.

This past Tuesday Tracy started potty training Dominic and his potty training buddy Pooh (hey, I know most of the posts are about Dom but all Liam does is eat, sleep, and poop - kind of like his dad). Things have been going really well, with only one major accident. Dominic gets treats whenever we check and he has stayed dry and whenever he goes to the bathroom on the potty. We've taken him to Sam's birthday party and to 2 baseball games, all without major incidents (mind you, I wouldn't go swimming in Sam's pool if I were you).
Now, the major incident occurred on Friday night, after an accident free day. We all went to Dairy Queen for ice cream and to the park to play. Things were going really well until we went to get Dom to leave and noticed the stream of crap that was down his leg. In his defense, it looked runny and maybe he didn't feel it coming on. Dom was obviously very embarrassed, and is now down one pair of Curious George underpants (I don't think he's curious about somethings any more). Overall, things are going well and Dom is doing very well.

Dom's day of indefinate length

So yesterday we went to Calgary to order some stuff for our house, and to make our time more efficient, Shawn agreed to babysit Dominic for us. Once he warmed up to the setting, and got over his initial Buster incident, Dominic had a great afternoon at the Young's. Unfortunately for us, a great afternoon doesn't include time for a nap. He did sleep for about 30 minutes in the car, but at 11:00 pm at night (after a couple of closed door-"Go to sleep"-crying sessions) Tracy had to lay with him for a long time until he fell asleep. This was a great demonstration how a child reacts when over tired. Oh well, I got a couple of extra hours this morning as both Dominic and Tracy slept in.

As for little Liam, he is doing good. His eating is great, he is sleeping and being awake well (although not always at the appropriate times), and crying from time to time.

A few quick pics. The first is Liam sleeping (oddly enough), the second is Liam and his biggest fan, and finally Dominic and his cousin Alex (Jason and Michelle's daughter).

False Alarm

So, it appears that all is okay with our little Liam. There are a bunch of options for why he eating habits dropped off so dramatically, but I guess we'll never actually know. He seems okay now, especially since Tracy and I have figured out that he doesn't really like to eat in our arms. It's funny, but he is a much better eater when he is laying on his back somewhere. Doesn't really matter though, as long as he is getting the mLs in.

On another note, my garage is getting organized nicely. I feel more like a kid in a candy shop then ever when I go to the hardware store, cause there is so many great things to get your garage organized. I promise that when I get a little farther along (I've got one more shelving unit to build and a small work bench) I'll post some pics. Jer, I'm almost jealous that I don't have a blank slate again, treasure these moments. Losing my garage virginity has been fantastic, and I haven't even parked my car in there yet.

Food?

So, small issue with Liam, he doesn't think that he needs to eat! Over the past couple of days, Liam's intake has dropped to about 1/2 of what he normally eats. A trip to the Emergency on Monday, and a trip to the clinic today has led to no indication about why this is happening. Both docs that he saw did a bunch of tests (including blood work at the hospital) and nothing showed up. So, I guess these are the joys of being a parent. We've got an appointment with his doctor tomorrow, and hopefully she can give us some help.

Chateau de Kwas

So, it's almost been a month since we've moved into our place, and I think that we are getting settled in. Thankfully (for all of you) my dad was here this past week, and took some pictures.

I'm not a super huge fans of a garage sticking out so far in front of the house, but I'm willing to accept that this is how you get the best use of your lot. Doesn't look like the driveway has been poured here, it's in now though.

The kitchen turned out pretty nice, even with us changing the colour of the cabinets after we had chosen everything (tile, flooring, counter tops) based off a different colour (or a picture of a different colour). I'm actually really happy with everything in the kitchen. I was worried that we wouldn't have as much space (due to not having a pantry), but I think that we ended up with more.

Also very happy with the fireplace in the basement. Rob (our builder) explained what he thought we should do, but I really didn't get a clear picture until it was framed. Once the mantel got installed and the rock set, I was really happy that we listened to what he said.

Hello, from the car in front

Of all the car tech things I've read about, this probably excites me the most. This is just like in "Armageddon", when the President said that everything we have done until now has prepared us for this moment; every piece of in-car technology until now has been created to be used with this.

Researchers are turning cars into nodes that 'talk' to each other, forming a new type of wireless network. As cars enter the mobile network, drivers can download multimedia - including movies, images and songs - or get real-time information about traffic.

read more | digg story

The iPhone

So Apple is coming out with the iPhone this summer; the cellular phone that will revolutionize cell phones. Unfortunately, I'm jumping on board the "it's going to suck" bandwagon. Here's my reasons:

1. You can't load second party apps.
2. There's no expandable memory.
3. The competition is already strong (stronger then when the iPod came out) - see the HTC Touch
   

and my ace reason for Canadians:

• It's going to be carried on Roger's cell network.

Sorry Cory, looks like you are waiting for a big loser.

Kwasny family update

So, it's been over 3 weeks since Liam was born, and almost a week since we moved into our new house, so I think it's time for a photographic update (note: whining messages on the answer machine asking for pictures will result in further and more extended delays).

This is a picture of Liam in the hospital. We had said that we weren't going to take any pictures of him in there (just because he looks worse then he actually was), but you can't really ignore the first 3 weeks of your child's life. He came home on Monday, 1 day short of his 3 week birthday and 5 days short of his actual due date. Things are going good at home. The fantastic nurses on NICU got him on a great schedule, and he is already sleeping between 3 and 4 hours at night. The down side of this is that he sometimes needs medicine and so we have to get up in between feedings, but Tracy is working on a schedule so that we can eliminate the extra wake ups (or so she tells me.

Dominic is doing well and is very excited that his new brother is living at "Dominic's new house". I'm a little nervous that the jealous phase is going to come, but right now he is pretty understanding about not getting 100% attention anymore, and I think that he is growing pretty fond of his new little brother. He really enjoys holding Liam, and is now randomly throwing out some "I love you Liam"s (they actually occur in groups of 10, because I think Dom is waiting for Liam to reciprocate his love).

Tracy is enjoying life out of a box and is doing her best to get us settled into our new place. As of Monday night she got counter tops, and on Tuesday she got a kitchen sink and two more functional bathrooms. I am still waiting to reap the reward that is a garage and once the boxes are out, my dream will become true. We're really enjoying our new house, and I think that now that everything is basically done I'm going to miss Rob (our builder) as we've all grown accustomed to having him around. In fact, Tracy says that Dom greets him with a "Hi Rob" whenever he stops by. All kidding aside, someone was looking down on us when we decided to build with him, because I don't have a bad thing to say about the whole process. In fact, when we were waiting for counter tops, he really went to bat for us with the supplier/installer. And he bought us a couple of suppers and offered for us to go to a movie (his daughter would have babysat, except Liam is just too small) when the counter tops were being installed (starting at about 7:30ish at night).

Me, well I'm counting down the days in June. Not much more to say then that. Oh, and for those who are unobservant, I've added an RSS feed to my kaboodle wish list. Just a little reminder that an important date is coming up... and my birthday is the day before that important date.

Life's coming together

Sorry for the hiatus, but things have been a little hectic with the move. So really quick update, probably should have Jaikued this.

1. Liam is home; it's been about 4 or 5 days since he has been tube fed and he is gaining weight regularly. No issues so far, but tonight is the first night.
2. Dom loves his new baby brother. Picking Liam up was comparable to when Dominic discovered trucks (those of you who were in Quebec will hopefully remember that).
   
3. Our granite was installed tonight. Although you might not think it, it is difficult to survive without a "true" kitchen.
4. Our new house is in shambles, but this will hopefully be rectified soon (see above point).

Look Ma, almost no tube!

Quick update on our new addition (and our busy lives). Liam is doing really well, gaining strength and eating a lot more on his own. His IV got pulled a couple of days ago and he is into a regular bed (not an incubator). His feeding has really picked up and he is barely ever eating through the feeding tube. I think that he is basically gaining the strength that he would have gotten if he has stayed in the tummy a couple of more days, and so he is able to do all of this stuff on his own now. He has to go 48 hours without taking any food through the feeding tube before we can take him home, so we still have a little bit to go.
The house is coming along. I was just dropping some stuff off in the garage at 7:30 and there were still people there working. There;s not really that much left to do, but I have a feeling that we will have some trades people hanging around after we have moved in. Of well, 30 years from now, when we are selling, this will look like nothing.

Liam news

Well, Liam is still in NICU, which is sad, but the outlook is good, which is happy. He slept really well last night (which seems to be all he does), but was awake for Tracy and I this morning, and fed pretty good off her breast. He seems to be gaining strength and endurance almost every time we feed him. The doctor said that things are looking good and he should have his IV out shortly. Since all of the food has been staying down and getting digested lately he doesn't need to be supplemented through the IV, which is happy. Unfortunately, he still is not taking enough food in on his own and needs to be tube fed, which is not sad but not happy either. Things are looking up everyday.
Dominic went to see Liam again today, and was quit excited just to look at him through the window. He says that he likes Liam and wants him to come to Dominic's home. I'm getting the feeling that Dom thinks that this Liam kid lives at the hospital and we just visit him lots.

Liam update

So little Liam is still in the NICU. His blood cultures came back and they are infection free. He has been improving on his breast feeding technique and is awake a little more often (though it is usually around the 8:00 pm feeding, so hopefully he'll have his days and nights worked out soon). He is still not eating a tonne of food yet, and sometimes has trouble keeping it all down. But he's getting stronger and things are looking up.

Welcome to the big world little Liam

So once again Tracy had here oven set too high, and our little baby was finished before the recommended cooking time was over. On Tuesday night at 10:47 we welcomed little Liam into our world. He was very small (5lbs 3oz) which should have made the delivery easier, but he came out face up (as opposed to the recommended face down) which made the delivery more uncomfortable. And not just for mom. At one point, Tracy bit down on my thumb, and I think that I still have teeth marks.

Everybody was happy to meet Liam. and aside from a little jealousy, this includes Dominic. He loves his little brother, was so proud to be holding him, and got upset when he couldn't go into NICU to see him, but he was a little jealous when Mommy was holding Liam and not Dominic.

So for those of you reading every second word, I did say NICU. Because Liam was small and early he has had a couple of issues. First, he is having trouble staying warm. Second he was a little dehydrated. This all led to him being admitted into NICU and the wonderful (I really mean wonderful) staff there taking care of him. I'm happy to say that he is doing great, and it is just more of a precautionary thing then anything else that he is staying in there.

As for Tracy, she is doing really well. With Liam being formula fed in the hospital, she is pumping to get her milk in. She came home today, but we'll all probably spend the next couple of days at the hospital watching over our new addition. Special thanks to Aunty Aimee who put in the request for the baby to be born during her vacation in Lethbridge and for watching over Dominic when Mommy was delivering too.

Counter tops are an option?

So, we took a quick tour of our new house today to talk about the tiles. We also saw our cabinets, installed, for the first time. I was away in Europe when Tracy made the final decision on the cabinets, so I actually had only a small idea of what to expect. I am very satisfied though. Our Kitchen is not as open as the one we have now, which I think is going to take some getting used to, but I'm really excited.
We also got word that we might be moving in without counter tops. We are putting granite into this place, and the guys who do that in Lethbridge are a little bit behind. So even though Rob Pohl (our builder) is putting the pressure on, there isn't to much hope in moving in with them installed. The good news is, they should be in right around our possession date.
Speaking of excited, Dominic was very excited about his new room. Tracy told him that he could have hockey pucks on the wall which in his mind equates to hockey pucks, hockey nets, hockey sticks, and basically anything related to hockey! Oh well, we'll do our best.

It's just like coaching?

Someone once told me that refereeing rugby was just like coaching, because you could coach the teams while you were in the actual game. That's probably true if you are in the right position, not out of breath, and the teams are listening to you. Don't get me wrong, there are coachable moments on the pitch, but there are a lot more "Oh $%^&!" moments.
First year reffing has been a blast. Hopefully I'll get a lot more games in before the end of the season, and feel a lot more comfortable on the pitch.

Jaiku to you too...

So you may notice that I have a Jaiku presence badge on my blog. Following in the fame of Twitter, Jaiku is a "new" mini-blog site. Once you sign up, you can post quick messages (140 characters or less) from just a computer or SMS (text) from your cell. I'll admit, it sounds extremely stupid, but it is very addictive. I wasn't going to get involved, but after all the hype around Twitter (you have to listen/read techie stuff to hear the hype) and the news about Leo Laporte (TWiT fame) moving over, I took the plunge.
Another cool thing is that you can use it as a type of RSS reader, allowing you to subscribe to blog feeds. You can also set up contacts of other people who are using Jaiku and keep track of their Jaikus as well. Again, sounds lame, but once you leave it running for a day on your computer at work, you just get drawn in and end up posting because you can.
Click on the badge to check out mine (if you want) and let me know if anyone signs up so I can put you on my contact list. Or if you are into Twitter, send me the RSS feed link.

Sold

We sold our house! Took a couple of days, then 4 more days to clear the conditions, but our house has been sold. Thanks to the booming real estate market in Lethbridge, this was a very comfortable experience.

Greece and Italy sans wine!

Well, I didn't think that it could be done, but I managed to complete the trip to Greece and Italy with 6 other chaperons and 54 grade 11 and 12 students without a regular drink. In fact, my total alcohol consumption for this trip was about 2/8 of an ounce, all coming from 2 samples of Lemoncella (an Italian liqueur) given in store before I bought a bottle of the second stuff I sampled.
That being said, the temptation was there; day 1 - a student lost his passport, day 2 - the passport turned up in Athens (with another student), original student still in London, sleeping in the airport then going to the Canadian consulate to get another passport, day 3 through 12 various student stupidities and crying sessions, day 13 - flight from Rome canceled after 4 hours in the plane, day 15 - arrived home at 3:30 am.
Great trip though. I loved Rome and think I would go back in a second. In fact the Euro that I threw into the Trevi Fountain pretty much assures that I will be going back some day. Greece was great too, even though I didn't enjoy Athens that much (aside from the freaking Parthenon!).

Construction

So, here I sit once again, making the promise to update this blog more often. A small amount of motivation has come from the overwhelming number of posts that Cory has been uploading, even if very little has to do with information that any of us care about (aside from the sicknesses - hope you are feeling better Nardine, and the report card - well done little Dylan).

Tracy is doing well, and the baby is definitely growing. Aside from the constant feeling of being fat ("No Tracy, you're pregnant.") and a sore back, things are going really well. That being said, talk to her at the beginning of April, when I'm gone, our house goes up for sale, she's taking care of Dominic, and the builder is asking her shat shade of taupe the walls are supposed to be and the answer might be something completely different.

Dominic is doing well, but I think he is hitting the "terrible twos" a little early. He is very insistent that stuff is "mine", and wants to do everything on his own. Including walk/fall down the steps in front of our house last Thursday resulting in some scrapes on his face. Dom is considering being a contractor, and has asked that I update his resume with the following pictures of him inspecting our new house; I feel sorry for whoever left the empty tube of adhesive lying around, they are in for an earful.

Quick update on what is going on with me. In less about 1 week I am going to be boarding a plane bound for Europe. Stopping first in London, then continuing on to Athens for an educational tour with students. Notice educational is not in quotation marks, because we are under strict orders from the School Board to abstain from any type of alcoholic beverages. Now, going to Greece and not drinking Zambucca is bad enough, but we will continue into Italy where we are also not allowed to sample the wine. I'm a little up set about that one, but I'm sure it will be made up for at some point in my life. Nice thing is that the school is footing the bill so that I can scout out all the great spots for when Tracy, Dom, Jr., and I all go back.

Do you want to go again? No.

So, we took Dom snowshoeing for the first time (I know, this is supposed to be about Maui, but this is more recent). He was a little stiff sitting in the sled, but every time we asked him if he was having fun he nodded yes. After the trip we asked him if he had fun and he nodded yes, but when we asked him if he wanted to go again he always responds no. In my defense, he said this on the trail before I flipped the sled and gave him a bloody nose.

Over all it was a successful trip, with one big low point. Hopefully Dom's memory is short. Check out the picture in our photos.

Best intentions don't count for much.

So unlike what my previous posts said I have not maintained this blog. I fully intended to, but that don't count for much. So new year, new enthusiasm.

As some of you already new, my New Year's resolution was to take a picture a day for 2007. That way, at the end of the year I could look back and see what I had done. It started out strong until we lost our digital (and only) camera in Maui. I was fully going to snap some picks and say they were from January 1-3, but that wouldn't be right. Then I figured that you guys would give me a pass on the first couple of days due to the circumstance and the emotional trauma that I am still living through. Unfortunately I have missed a couple of other days since then.

So, new New Year's resolution, to take lot's of pictures (try for 1 a day), post them to a Flickr account, and keep them organized and commented on every couple of days. Along with this, I have revived Denali 2005, under a new title, Denali 2012. I have started the research and began recruiting members. Although a long-term goal, hopefully this one will work out.

I'll post some pics in a couple of days and through out some details of our Maui trip, but for now, good night.