Some family and friends have asked what I’d like for Christmas.  To keep it simple, click here for my wishlist on Amazon.

Sorry I haven’t posted since we’ve come home.  I got caught back up in work and a full house.

David is doing well.  We went back to UAB Monday to see the cardiologist, and he was pleased with the progress.  We go back next month, and we could be on-track for another heart cath sometime around September.  We were told of some possibilities after that, but I don’t want to go into specifics.  Please just pray that his right ventricle will increase in size between now and then.

Alyssa is settling back into being at home.  She had a really rough time being away in Birmingham for six weeks.  Being at home is definitely the best medicine.

We are thinking about making some changes at the house and possibly looking for a new one.  It’s amazing how quickly your house shrinks with more kids.

My Xbox 360 was laid to rest tonight thanks to the “Red Ring of Death.”  Piece of junk.  That’s the second time in two years.  I have a Wii, so I really don’t want to invest in another 360.  However, I’ve got so many games for it.  What to do?  I won’t invest in a PS3 because it’s the same price as a 360 Elite, and I have a stand-alone Blu-ray player.  Eh.

My bosses bought me a sweet powerhouse PC last week, and I finally got everything installed on it today at work.  It’s so fast.  I want to cry tears of joy. 

That’s about all I can think of for now.  Please pray I can get time to work on my freelance Web sites.  We need the money (and who doesn’t?)!

I haven’t updated lately, and I apologize.  Not that many people actually read this thing…

I’ve been slammed at work, and I’m so tired when I get home I don’t feel like being on the computer.

Granny isn’t doing well, but she’s hanging on.  We went down to see her a little over a week ago, and she’s near death.  She’s 91, so this isn’t a surprise.  I love that little lady, and I hate to see her go.  But… she’ll be in a much better place soon.  Please pray my family can cope with this.

Amy and I now have a Nintendo Wii!  Amy’s never been one for video games, but she seems to like this interaction.  Granted, a pregnant woman can’t do much moving around, so we have a couple of low-key games.  It’s amazing to finally see these things on store shelves.  Granted, they’re not there the next day…

I guess everything else is just rocking along.  I was on the live cam (look in the column to your left) for a good bit today at work.  I’m thinking about buying a cam and leaving it in my office.  I had my laptop in there today (cam built in), and I had a couple of people drop a note saying they saw me.  Trust me, though.  It’s not terribly exciting.  However, you do get to see my blue office with my auto’d Linkin Park poster on the wall.

A lot of changes will be taking place around here soon.  We’re debating modifications to the house and new modes of transportation with an extra kid.  I hate being in debt, but we’ve got no other choice right now if we do these things.  Believe me… they’re not wants, but needs.

Also this past week, we kissed T-Mobile goodbye.  Those jerks locked me into a two-year contract in 2006 without my permission (or asking me, for that matter), then wouldn’t let me out.  Last Monday my contract was up.  Last Monday night, Verizon Wireless became my new carrier.    T-Mobile can stick that poor customer service right up its nose.  I vow never to be a T-Mobile customer again.

Plus an employee discount of 19 percent with Verizon ain’t bad. 

Greetings on this fine Saturday night. It’s been a week since the last post, but I won’t get into how this week has been. I’ll just say it’s been good, but boy… I cannot wait until Friday again when I start my vacation. I love my job, but I haven’t had a string of days off since Alyssa was born in February. It’s time.

Today was a relaxing day. The females of the house went to Macon to see a friend, and I did basically nothing. That is, until I went shopping shortly after 10:00 a.m.

I have wanted a DVD recorder for the last four years. We were living in Tuscaloosa when they first hit the shelves. I drooled over them, but I wasn’t ready to jump at the $800 price tag they were commanding.

Since that time, I have adapted and overcome. We’ve had TiVo for more than a year, and it’s set up with a wireless connection to my computer. I download the shows and transfer them to DVD with my PC’s burner.

Needless to say, it’s a lengthy process when a two-hour show takes about three hours to transfer through the air. I’m keeping a lot of my reports and newscasts on TiVo, but space is becoming a precious item. I needed a way to get them onto DVD more quickly.

All that’s been said to talk about my “deal of the day.” The recorder I’ve been looking into costs $170 at Best Buy (which I’m a proud “Reward Zone” member). The last three weeks have been good to me concerning BB.

My “Reward Zone” membership landed me some gift certificates, and it also gave me a 12 percent off coupon in the mail. Throw in a couple of gift cards from the station Christmas party, and I’m in good shape.

Today, I bit the bullet. I marched in there, picked up the recorder and headed to the cashier. Poor girl never knew what was coming as I whipped out two WTVM Visa gift cards, a gift certificate, the 12 percent coupon, cash and a check card. Yes, you counted correctly: Six forms of payment.

She just looked at me, and I immediately apologized. She laughed about it and told me it was the funniest thing she’d seen all day (glad I could make her smile). I watched with delight as she knocked all the “free money” off the price.

I thought I would still wind up with paying a bit out-of-pocket, but the total of my hard-earned cash came out to $0.76. I bought a $170 DVD recorder for less than a dollar. Even Amy was amazed to see what I pulled off when she got home.

So, I now have that recorder, and I’ve put it to good use. I’ve already burned nine stories off the TiVo, and it’s breathing easier with the extra room. However, the funniest part of the deal is I ran off from home and forgot my change on the kitchen counter.

I had to put the $0.76 on my check card.