Keeping Y'all In The Loop

Howdy all. We are photo-less this week, so I'm going to have to just update everyone on what's going on with us this time around. It's been Monday since I updated and we wanted everyone to know how things are going! Don't know why we don't have photos to upload, but we'll have some soon for sure!
Well, we'd be remiss if we didn't dive right into work, since that's kinda been the focus of our past week. Amy went back to work last Monday and students started on Thursday. This year she is at Gates Elementary 100 percent of the time. She's also the technology integration specialist (or something like that) so she will occasionally have to travel to other schools. But from week to week, Gates will be her focus. The school is about three minutes from our house, which is a welcome change from her first five years. If you don't remember, she has traveled to Palmer, Chapman and Farwell for work before and that was ridiculous. So, she is now at Gates full time and it's close to home which is perfect!
This is actually the first year she's ever had a focus at one school, so she was able to decorate her room. Before, she was all over so really didn't have a home base to call hers. Her room at Gates looks exactly like a teacher's room instead of a coat closet! I went to their open house last Wednesday and met a lot of the faculty. They are all really nice. Her principal is Julie Martin, who was also her principal at Seedling Mile several years ago. They work together really well and Mrs. Martin is a very hands-on administrator. Amy is always amazed that she finds time to attend all the meetings for every kid! Not many principals would do that!
I started work on Thursday at NTV and I have to say it's a great fit. My boss, Susan (Friehe) Christensen is originally from McCook and she and I will get along really well. She works out of Lincoln mainly, so I'm on my own mostly.
If you log on to http://www.nebraska.tv/ (actually you should bookmark it while you're there; it's an awesome web addy) you'll see what my main focus will be--for the first few months anyway. They just revamped their main webpage and it's my job to sell advertising on it. This was never a focus of theirs before but to keep up with competing media, it's a must. And that's where I come in. I am to become their internet sales guru guy! I'm in charge of creating revenue through the webpage, including the My Local Search on the right side of the page, and spearheading many Internet advertising opportunities and projects. So, as you can see, I'm both excited and nervous! The plan is for me to get the web revenue going, build a great earnings base on that, then dive into selling television spots! It's going to be a big undertaking learning all about the web ads then learning about TV since most of my experience has been in print, but I'm ready to take it on!
But the best part of the whole thing--by far--is that I have my weekends back to spend with my fam. And to me, that's the most important thing in the world. This weekend has been great. We've been able to spend some real quality time together. And, after all, that's what it's all about, right?
Jack went back to Laurie's on Monday and at first it seemed like he vaguely remembered her and the other kids. He was a little standoffish for about two seconds, then started having a blast! The first week, they had picnics and played outside and went to the park by Laurie's house. He is really enjoying it and his new friends have all grown so much! When summer hit, Jack was still just kinda crawling around, but now he's back and he's walking all over, tries to talk, eats real food all the time, etc... Laurie's house has sure changed since last fall when Colson, Deni, Makenna and Jack were all just babies. Keyara is the oldest of course. She turned three this spring. She and a new girl, Brooklyn, are the oldest at Laurie's.
When I dropped off Jack the second day, Laurie's own kids Jayden, Austin and Brody were there. The look on Jayden's face when Jack started running around was priceless. She was not expecting that AT ALL!
The flooding situation has stabilized. It stopped filling up last Sunday so we're in the process of getting everything out of the garage and back into the basement. I'm trying to find some pallets that I can put everything on so that if it happens again, we have 2-1/2 inches of breathing room before everything gets drenched again. My garage is looking horrible and is a source of anger for me. I can't do anything with all the stuff right now and it's a nightmare. Whatever. What doesn't kill us only makes us disorganized and disheveled, right?
The garden is doing well despite a couple weeds and my complete lack of attention to it this summer. I planted some pumpkins and they are overrunning the entire thing. There are a lot of pumpkins setting on and I'm not sure what to do with all of them. If interested in some pumpkins, give us a call!
We have several friends expecting children at the end of this year and beginning of '08, so we're enjoying that excitement. I would like to reiterate that I was correct in predicting another boy for Aaron and Cara, and last weekend I found out that I was correct when I predicted a girl for my cousin Vanessa and her hubby. So that's two for two so far! We'll find out what my sister is having soon, so I'll keep you posted! I predicted a girl, but I'm not sold on that prediction! I actually think she might have four boys at home here soon!
And we just found out that our friends Reagan and Trish are expecting their first in February so we're extremely excited for them too! I'll give a prediction soon, but I'm thinking a girl for the Wilcox's! I can't write that in stone yet, so give me a couple days to ponder that one!
We are also looking forward to birthdays for all our nieces and nephews coming up. In fact, they're all in the next three months: Nathan on September 7, Matthew on October 14, Tori on November 3 and Peyton on November 12! Luke just had his at the beginning of this month, but we missed the party. Dang it!
We're looking forward to seeing the Huskers and Broncos volleyball teams in action this fall. We have been avid Husker v-ball fans for years and Tori will probably play a lot more volleyball this fall as a sophomore at ol' Wau-Pal so we're glad we have weekends free to go watch her in action!
Other than all that, I can't think of anything else to say!
So, enjoy the rest of your August and we'll get some photos uploaded!

The Vrbi