Our church (First CRC of Mount Vernon) just installed a new sound system. It's much cooler than our previous sound system -- lots more channels, monitors, speakers, etc. Anyway, they're also looking for people that are willing to run the sound board on occasion, and asked people willing to consider becoming a "sound technician" to come to church and learn about the new equipment.

So, though I have little interest in monkeying with microphones and speakers and feedback and everything else, I have always had a great curiosity about what all of those little knobs and buttons on the sound board are for. I've always assumed that they can't be too terribly complicated, but they're pretty intimidating to look at.

Anyway, as it turns out, it's really not all that complicated. Of course, to be a good sound technician, you have to be fast on the draw, so to speak, so I'm sure that experience is key. I haven't decided yet whether I'll be willing to be on the official sound technicians team, but I imagine that if they need another warm body, I'll volunteer...

If you give a man a digital camera, he'll probably want to take it on vacation. And if you let him take it on vacation, he's sure to ask for a carrying case. And if you give a man a carrying case for his digital camera, he's going to take lots of pictures. And if a man takes lots of pictures, he's bound to want an extra battery for when he uses up the main battery. And if you give a man an extra battery, he'll more than likely want a travel/car charger to go with it. And if you give a man a car charger, he'll ask for a tripod, because he'll want to get the total bill for all the camera accessories above $60 so that SterlingTek will ship it all to him second-day FedEx for free.

I'm not terribly comfortable with Internet stores that I've never heard of before, and I generally figure that if it's too good to be true, it probably is, but SterlingTek has great reviews, so I went out on a limb. The big draw was the generic camera battery, which cost only $18.50, in comparison to the Sony camera battery, which retails for $60! The carrying case was also cheaper than I could find anywhere else, the car charger seemed like a smart idea, especially consider we'll have two batteries now, and a tripod is the best way to get high-quality portraits. It all added up to $81.96, no tax, free shipping -- a pretty good deal, considering all of the stuff we got, and the fact that it arrived in two days, and the fact that it all works. Call me another satisfied customer. Now I just have to wait for our next vacation...

This past Saturday, the family spent some time visiting car dealerships shopping for a new minivan, but came up short. However, we all left the house early this afternoon in a 1995 Plymouth Grand Voyager with 120,000 miles and returned home in a 2003 Chevy Venture with 12,800!

Our new minivan has some amazing features:

• When you turn the key, the engine starts.
• When you press on the gas pedal, the van goes forward.
• When you press on the brake pedal, the van stops.

These are critical features for me, and I'm happy to report that the new van performs them admirably.

But wait, there's more! Our new van has a number of additional incredible features. For example:

• When you apply the brakes to a complete stop, the new van doesn't shudder and slide.
• When you accelerate from a slow speed, the new van doesn't lurch when switching gears.
• When you make a sharp turn at slow speeds, the new van doesn't make horrible metalic noises.
• When you attempt to use the cruise control, it actually works.
• The new van doesn't have a slow but annoying transmission fluid leak.
• The new van doesn't have a loose hood ornament; in fact, it doesn't have one at all.

Needless to say, we're quite happy with our new van. It also has a few less interesting features:

• Dual sliding doors, one of which is a magic power sliding door.
• Power windows and power door locks.
• Remote keyless entry, including a button for opening the magic door.
• Eight-passenger seating; any or all of the three middle seats can be folded, reclined, or removed.
• Driver-side power seat control.
• Magic doors that lock when you start driving.
• Magic headlights that turn on when it gets dark and turn off when you get out.
• V6 engine, ABS brakes.
• CD player.
• Rear defrost, rear wipers, rear washer fluid.
• Rear climate control.
• Lots of storage space in the back, including cute little compartments under the floor.
• Roof rack.
• A couple years of bumper-to-bumper warranty.

Watch for our new van tooling around Mount Vernon, or cruising down I-5 somewhere between Western Washington and Southern California in the early spring...

Last week, we found the fourth season of Babylon 5 at Costco for as cheap as I could find it anywhere online, so we bought it. Julie and I finally sat down to watch the first episode tonight, and it was great. Julie is quite kind to watch it with me -- we own and have watched the first three seasons, of course -- though I hope that she actually enjoys it from time to time. I've mentioned on my work blog that I believe Babylon 5 to be the best Science Fiction that's ever graced the television screen, so I won't go into that here. Suffice it to say that if you enjoyed the best of Star Trek, you should really give Babylon 5 a try. I saw these episodes when they were first released, of course, but they're well worth seeing again. We own very few videos that aren't for kids, but I'm willing to pay to see Babylon 5 again. It's that good.

We're big fans of our library here in Mount Vernon. We try to get to the library one evening a week so that we can check out a bunch of children's books for the kids to read and for us to read to the kids. Better still is Story Time on Tuesday nights, where a very nice young woman named Lisa has a half-hour with the kids to tell them stories, sing songs, and the like. We've participated in Story Time for the past three years or so, and we're still loving it. So, we love the library -- free books, free entertainment, and it's always a bonus when you can directly benefit from your tax dollars at work!

As you may know, I'm on the school board of Mount Vernon Christian School, where Sarah started Kindergarten this year. This is my first year on school board, and it has been a good experience so far. We meet about once a month, and I'm also on the Education Committee, which also meets about once a month. The meetings go as late as 11 p.m. every so often, but it really hasn't been a terrible hardship, and it is enabling me to become more involved with the school, which is important to me, since I'll be sending my kids there for as long as we live here...

Anyway, we had a meeting Monday night. Despite the fact that we made some pretty big decisions, I was home before 10, so I was happy. The big Association Meeting is coming up at the beginning of March, and we'll be having two informational meetings with parents and staff in the few weeks before it, and I still have my two normal meetings around the same time, so things will get a bit busier in a few weeks. Hopefully I'll still be as positive about school board when it's all over...

Bethany had her dentist appointment with Dr. Larson this past Friday morning. I expected that I'd have to tell you that she refused to get her X-rays and screamed through her cleaning and exam; after all, that's what happened last year...

But I don't have to say those things! Because she did great, and I'm really proud of her! She sat very still on my lap for the X-rays, and she didn't terribly mind the pretty hygienist cleaning her teeth while she watched Dora on the ceiling TV. She even managed to endure the dentist poking around in there (she doesn't fancy most men, even in the nicest of circumstances). She got a brand new toothbrush and a little toy top for her troubles, not to mention a big happy hug from me and her mom.

Oh, and the results were good, too. No cavities, and her two front teeth are hanging in there (they've suffered quite a bit of damage due to a couple of bad falls). We have to floss a little more often than we already have been, but otherwise it was a miraculously pleasant visit to the dentist. Hooray!

Enjoy these portrait-worthy pictures of Rebecca!

#1:

#2:

#3:

#4:

#5:

Last year (that is, three weeks ago), we found ourselves without a working dishwasher. Old Faithful, which we had inherited from the previous owners of our house, finally wore out, suffering irreparable damage to the controls inside the door.

So, we went to Anderson Appliance, our friendly neighborhood appliance store, to look for a new dishwasher. A friendly salesperson (who also happened to be Mr. Anderson himself) helped us find the perfect dishwasher -- the cheapest of the quieter dishwashers, which also happened to be on clearance. So we bought it, I picked it up the next day, and I proceeded to install it.

That's right, I installed the dishwasher. Mr. Anderson insisted that if he could do it, I could do it, and I wasn't about to pay $100+ for the privilege of one of their esteemed employees to do it for me. I'm more than willing to pay for services, but how hard could it be to replace a dishwasher?

As it turned out, not that hard. In fact, I had the dishwasher running by the end of the evening, late though it was. Except, of course, the plumbing leaked. Pressurized water pipes and I have a history -- I do my best, but my connections always leak. Perhaps with enough practice...

In any case, the connection under the dishwasher leaked, as well as the valve under the sink, once I touched it. But, they were slow leaks, so I put a pan under one and a towel under the other and we continued life as usual, changing the pan at least once a day. A good short-term solution, but no good for the long-term. So, I decided to call an expert -- a plumber. Only, my timing wasn't great, because that was about the same time as Winter Storm 2004, and all the world's plumbers were busy fixing the frozen pipes of homeowners in Western Washington.

So, I waited a week, and finally found a plumber that would stop by, through Bert Plumbing. I stayed home from work on Wednesday morning to take the dishwasher back out and watch him do his handywork. The bill will be less than $100, and it was worth every penny. He replaced the valve under the sink, connected the dishwasher with a flexible pipe (instead of the fragile copper pipe that was there before), and even fixed a slight leak in the toilet valve in the downstairs bathroom. He used all manner of tools and techniques that I would never dare attempt myself, so I was happy.

And now, the dishwasher is installed. I even screwed the access panels on this evening, so the story of the dishwasher is over. Well, except that I still have to take the old one to the dump...

Sarah and Bethany both use Dr. B. J. Larson as their dentist. He's a pediatric dentist, so we probably pay a little extra, but his office is pretty amazing. The friendly voices, calm atmosphere, special names for dental tools, comfortable exam tables, televisions showing cartoons built into the ceilings, and a chest of trinkets to choose from when its all over make it more like an amusement park than a dental office!

At any rate, Sarah had her latest dentist appointment on Tuesday afternoon. Unfortunately, she's had a few cavities over the last year or so, so we've been pretty fastidious about brushing twice a day, flossing every night, and chewing a fluoride tablet once a day. Thankfully, it all paid off -- no new cavities! The X-rays, cleaning, and exam all went smoothly, and we don't have to make any return trips until her next exam in six months or so. Hooray! We have only to look forward to her losing more baby teeth -- 2 down, 18 to go, and one of them will be falling out any day now...

Things are considerably less exciting around here now that the snow is gone. Last night we had a little video game party with friends of ours from church, so that made for a more entertaining Friday night than is typical for us.

I did some chores this morning and went to work this afternoon -- trying to make up some hours for the snow day I missed. While I was gone, Rebecca started doing a few exciting things, though. She's beginning to laugh, which is always exciting -- nothing funnier than watching and hearing a newborn baby laugh! She also rolled over, though she wasn't happy about it. Attached is a video of the event, recorded with our new digital camera! Let me know if you have trouble viewing it. (Click on the link below; it might take a little while to download, so be patient...)

RebeccaRollsOver.avi

I slept in yesterday in case the roads were bad, but I needn't have bothered. The drive to work was almost totally clear, and there was very little snow to be seen anywhere on the way home. Winter Storm 2004 is officially over, at least for us. Well, it was fun while it lasted. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

It seems like we spent all day out in the snow... I certainly didn't have a very productive day off work. At least I took some pictures. Here's a better picture of the snow -- to capture falling snow, use the flash!

Rebecca even made it out into the snow today!

Here's Julie and Bethany walking down our street.

And here's our snowy house.

Forecast calls for rain, so we'll be saying farewell to the snow real soon now...

Yesterday was a cool, clear day, so I actually made it to work, though I went in a little late, and made sure I carpooled. Not that I’m particularly uncomfortable driving on solid ice, mind you – I did spend three winters in Michigan, after all – but my truck happens to have less traction than your average toboggan, so I was happy to drive most of the way in a compact car with front-wheel drive.

Today, however, is a different story. As predicted by the weather people, we have awoken to this:

(I need to play with the camera some more; I'm trying to get a picture of falling snow, but it either looks like haze or rain so far...)

Schools were already announcing closures last night in anticipation of Winter Storm 2004, so the kids have no school, and I’m certainly not going to work. Hopefully we’ll make a fun day out of it.

I certainly hope today will be a better day around here than yesterday, when the furnace broke! I wasn’t here, so Julie had to deal with the excitement. The same part that failed about a month ago failed again, so we called the same company out to fix it. Fortunately, they were able to make it here yesterday afternoon (Julie and the kids stayed at a friend’s house for a while), and they made the repair for no charge. So our rapidly cooling house was warm again. I just hope the same part doesn’t fail again...

We did decide to go for it, and thankfully made it to church and back without incident. Our steep driveway and sloped street were my primary concerns, but it didn't turn out to be a problem, at least for the van. Hopefully my pickup won't have difficulties when I head to work tomorrow morning...

When we got back from church, I snapped a shot of our backyard with Sarah's camera -- yes, we really do have snow:

After church and lunch, we went back out there, this time to go shopping. I'm not fond of shopping on Sunday, but we weren't able to get out yesterday, and there were some things we needed. And one thing we wanted, i.e., a new digital camera. That's right, the Ball family is now the official owner of a super-cool digital camera, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P10, a compact 5MP camera. I haven't had much time to play with it yet, but I'm sure you're dying to see a photo, so here's a snapshot of our piano:

When we got back from the store, the kids and I played a bit outside with Joe and Kiara again, so it was a busy day. Hope you had a great weekend yourselves!

Oh, and one more thing: Happy Birthday, Eric!

Happy New Year! Welcome to my first entry for my new Weblog! I decided that one of my "resolutions" for this new year should be to keep in better touch with family and friends, so this "blog" is going to be my attempt at doing so. Check back periodically to find my latest posts, if you like. Most of what I write may only be interesting to my Mom (and maybe not even her), so I don't expect that this blog will be well-read. But, it'll give me a place to vent a little bit, and hopefully some of you will be curious enough about the latest goings-on in my life to drop by every so often. (Believe it or not, I already have a "work" blog, which you can find at http://www.ejball.com/EdAtWork/. That one is really unlikely to be of interest to many of my family and friends, but you're free to check it out if you like.)

Anyway, today was an exciting day -- we woke up to a few good inches of snow on the ground! We won't be leaving the house any time soon -- our vehicles aren't "winterized" by any stretch of the imagination -- but we had a great time in the snow this morning. Sarah and I had a particularly good time, finally having an opportunity to use the plastic sled we bought a year or two back. Inner tubes work best up in the mountains where there's plenty of puffy snow, but hard plastic was great for speeding down our street, which is a pretty decent hill (as a poor teenage girl found out when she tried to drive up it -- she didn't make it up, and had to turn around).

The wildest part about the morning was actually meeting and talking with a few of my neighbors! That's right, real, live, next-door neighbors! Now what were their names again? Sarah and I mostly hung out with Joe and his daughter Kiara; the two girls sped down the hill many times on the sled, with Joe and I running beside, trying to keep up, mostly to keep them away from parked cars and mailbox posts! We largely succeeded, and there were thankfully no injuries. Anyway, this was the first time we've experienced what it's like to really play in the snow at home, so we had a great time. The snow is too soft for an easy snowman for the moment, but maybe we'll figure something out before it all melts...

(One other thing -- the trouble with a Weblog for “keeping in touch” is that it can be a bit one-way. The Comments link below is a great way to keep the lines of communication two-way; if you read this and have anything at all to say in response, even just “Great to hear from you, Ed!”, please click on the link and leave me a note. Thanks!)