Are we done with slide presentations yet?

Back in the day, the mention of watching a slideshow of so-and-so's vacation sent the masses scrambling. What does that tell us about the nature of slide-shows?

I'm not sure about other industries, but the "Power Point" presentation is getting VERY old in my world.

Back in the mid-90's when I was in college, using a newfangled slide presentation was the coolest thing ever! Those spoiled rich kids with the fancy 486 laptop's made my overhead projection presentation look really bad.

Fast-forward about 13 years. I've sat through so many slide presentations that I don't even listen to them anymore. For years now, whenever I've gone to a meeting where slides are used, I look around and everyone has brought their laptop so they can goof around during the boring presentation.

Now the trend is to have meetings that are "closed-laptop", and now, interestingly, people look for any and every reason not to show up. If a conference call line is available, or if the meeting will be "webcast" then forget about people showing up.

I don't know what's next, what will overtake these boring slide presentations, but I'll probably be asleep during the meeting that announces it.

10 years!!

After 10 years and 5+ "downsizings" at Novell, this is my loyalty reward.

I guess these days with a technology company, and knowing that most people move around the industry a lot to gain experience and salary increases, I should be getting something like this.

Funny words

Yesterday Sasha was watching Super Why on morning TV and there is an "orge" that comes on regularly and when I came in the room, I asked Sasha, "What's that?", and she replied, "It's a 'yogurt'. He's a nice 'yogurt'."

I never thought of the similarity between "orge" and "yogurt", but hey, I was a nerdy sci-fi kid who studied ogre legends and lore.

-randy

Follow this Blog!

Ok friends and family, you can now officially follow this blog! Look over on the left hand column and you'll see where it says "follow this blog". Click on it and follow instructions. It's simple, easy and doesn't hurt a bit.

Try This

This is a fun little typing test you can try out.



73 words

Speedtest

This is Randy's

79 words

Speedtest

Memories

I love Vintage Sesame Street!!!  This is one of my most favorite clips. 
I'm in a Happy Place now.

Embedded Video

Rolling and the Purple Dinosaur

I walked into the room the other day and saw this...

And then later...
He's trying to hard and doesn't even know it!


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At the library Sasha saw a Barney DVD and exclaimed. "I want Barney!"

I thought:

"Oh no....not Barney.
Where in the world has she seen Barney?
We don't have any DVD's of that purple dinosaur!"

Well, I gave in and got her the Barney DVD . She was so excited to watch it when we got home but it looks like Barney was a disappointment after all (see below) HA!

Actually, Sash hadn't had a nap that day and couldn't keep her eyes open.

Unfortunately she woke up and it's been non-stop Barney since. I have to admit some of those songs are addictive........... Hey Mr. Knickerbocker boppity-bop. I like the way that you boppity-bop.

I've included a video for your viewing pleasure.

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I Must Share

For the 3 people who read this blog I have some very exciting news to share. Incredibly exciting! You think I jest but I am way, way excited about this.

First off, my oldest brother, Joe, is an umpire and he is right now umpiring baseball

AT THE OLYMPICS!

How cool is that??? I mean, WOW. Amazing. I have no other words for it. It's just cool.

And then for the 2nd cool news- my niece (Joe's daughter) just got hired as a dancer in the

DISNEYLAND PARADE OF DREAMS!

Oh. my. gosh. I am so jealous...but really excited for her at the same time. So, if you happen to visit Disneyland you should look for her. She's part of the Pinocchio float and I'm positively sure the finest dancer in the whole parade. She makes me weep with great emotion whenever I see her perform.... it's just precious. :)

See??? Wasn't that exciting news??
Wow! That's all I can say. Wow!

Piggy Toes and Other Random Stuff

I finally found some time to paint my toenails again since Sampson was born! While I was painting away with my feet propped up on the coffee table Sasha comes in and decides she would like her toenails painted too. So this is the first attempt at painting her toenails. She likes the fact that mommy and her have the same color toenails.

And here are a few cute pictures of Sampson. Ohhh.
I can't love him enough. He's soooooooooo
ADORABLE. (No bias here...)

Sasha was being very quiet one day while she was outside playing. Very unlike her. I can usually hear her talking to the dogs or...herself. So I went out to find her and I found this...

It had rained a little and she found a puddle of dirty
water and proceeded to do her hair and wash her face.
This is what happens when you let a two year-old out
of your sight for a minute. :)

Sleepy Sampson

This morning I got Sampson ready for church and laid him on my bed so I could get ready. He was happy and "agooing" and just being cute. Before I knew it he was zonked out on my pillow. He looked so content and precious.



Randy took this cute picture of Sampson yesterday. He was smiling and being so good natured. If you look in the background you can see Sasha in a "terrible two" moment. She's upset cause she can't reach Sampson. I just look at this picture and laugh.....

"Skeeto Bites"

We all know how much Sasha loves to be outside and play in the grass etc. Well, during the summer months she stays outside until it's almost dark and the "skeetos" come out to feast. A couple of days ago she woke up with three mosquito bites-two on her face and one on her arm. They weren't really bad at first but by the next day they were huge! I think she takes after me cause my mosquito bites swell up like hives.

My mom is very protective of Sasha and gets so distraught when she sees Sasha with mosquito bites. She thinks she's going to get the West Nile Virus or something and I have to reassure her that we put repellent on her, try to keep her inside when it gets dark, and that we put something on the bites when she gets them.

"Skeeto" is a daddy word. I've learned he's fabulous at shortening long words and teaching them to Sasha. I'm worried to death she's not going to learn the correct way to say things and that she'll be known as the "crazy girl" who can't speak correctly. (Right now she is the "crazy girl" as she's screaming her head off because she can't figure out how to do something herself.)
Ahhhh..the joys of parenting!!! :)

The Love Sac....

So....Randy picked up a love sac that Eric bought from a guy down here in Provo and we kept it at our house for a few days. Needless to say Sasha thought the "big pillow" was the best place to play with her entourage of stuffed animals.

JUMP! JUMP!

Tanner, Sasha and cousins had fun on the
trampoline while my sister and her family
were here visiting for the blessing.

Tanner is one crazy boy!

Sampson's Blessing

Well, the big day has come and gone. Sampson's blessing was really nice and we were able to have family over and visit and eat with them.



Finding an outfit for him was a little stressful. Did you know that you can find a billion baby girl blessing dresses but only about 2.5 baby boy outfits? A friend told me about a place in Lehi called Broadbent's (thanks Nicole!) and so I went there and found the cutest little outfit for Sampson. There were actually quite a few to choose from!



My sister, Denise, and her family were staying at my house and she was able to help me get the food ready for the special day. I also had lots of family bring yummy food to eat as well. It was nice to have family over for this special day. I must admit I'm glad it's over-it was a little stressful!
Randy did a wonderful job blessing Sampson and I am blessed to be married to him and know that he is a worthy priesthood holder. He is a good example to our little family.

Family News

Sampson is now 7 weeks old and still the cutest thing ever. He's getting quite chubby! He's svery good baby boy and let's Sasha "pet" him. She tries to do it "softly" but she ends up wacking him pretty hard. lol He's only cried real hard once when she "pet" him.

Sash still is not potty trained but now she's bringing me diapers when she needs to be changed. I guess that's a step in the right direction.. i dunno.. A few days ago she was carrying around her doll and had put on her winter beanie hat and they looked like twins. I had to take a few pics.

And then Randy looked to so cute going to work the other day I just had to find the camera and take a picture of him. I told him he looked like he was going to his first day of college. Cute thing!

Bath and Splash

Today Sampson had his first real bath and... didn't like it too much! He cried most of the time poor thing. It wasn't too bad though and now he smells nice and clean! He was very content when he was wrapped up in the towel. Afterwards he immediately guzzled down a bottle and went right to sleep. I think he was hungry and tired anyway. Gosh he's so precious and I love him so much!
Sasha also had fun in her new little sprinkler toy. At first she was nervous to go in the water but after awhile she was splashing and putting water on her face and hair.

Sampson and Sasha

I can't believe Sampson is 3 weeks old! Actually 3 weeks and two days to be exact. He is such a doll and such a good baby. I love to sit and hold him and put his soft, little cheek next to mine. Precious.

Sasha is such a big "helper". She wants to help me with everything. Currently her most favorite things to do are:

1. Play outside.
The dogs have to be out there too or she screams for them to come out. Poor things. All she does is chase them around. She has a blast out back jumping on the trampoline, swinging and running thorugh the grass.

2. Eating popsicles.
The first thing she asks for when she's hungry is a popsicle. We have to limit her to one a day or she would eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

3. Watch her "birdie" video.
It's a Big Bird video that teaches the alphabet and she practically has the entire thing memorized. She can sing along and recites the words before they are said. It's hillarious-she's only 27 months old! :)

4. Chase the dogs with her stoller or lawn mower.
Poor things can't get away from her! WEll, actually, they can now. I had them trained to stay off our bed but it's the only place they can get away from her and because I feel sorry for them I've let them get up there. UGH!!!

Dr. Visit

Sampson went for his two week checkup today. He checked out fine. He's only gained 1/2 lb. but the nurse said that was perfect.
I also took Sasha to have her two-year check up as well and to get a shot she needed. Holy cow she's crazy! She did NOT like it when the nurse was measuring Sampson. She kept saying "Gimme that!" How embarrassing! And when SHE had to be checked she was bawling and screaming. Poor thing. The nurse had me lay her across my lap on her tummy when she gave her the shot and luckily she only cried for a minute. I'm glad she doesn't have to get any more shots until kindergarden! :)