2007 In Review 

Don't forget to check out our annual newsletter if you haven't read it already.

http://www.kevinandmartha.com/TheCarrollNews2007.pdf
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It's been two years? 

Wow, I can't believe it's been 2 years since I last blogged. As I was typing an update to a friend, I thought this might be a better place to do it. I'll give it another try anyway.

Martha has one of those illnesses that’s going around – sore throat and low fever, but not strep we think. She’s pretty miserable. I think my new diet and exercise regimen is keeping me healthy, knock on wood.

We bought a membership to our community center at the beginning of the year and we’ve been going 2-3 days every week. I think this may be the first time I’ve lifted regularly for more than 3 weeks. It feels good. My diet basically consists of a multi-grain English muffin and a shake (1/3 cup of egg whites blended with 2/3 cup of fruit juice and 1c of frozen fruit) in the morning, a mid-morning apple, a light lunch heavy on the vegetables (V8 usually), a piece of fruit for an afternoon snack, a light dinner, and a multi-grain snack (Frosted mini-wheats) before bed. I have lost about 15 pounds since Jan 1. Granted, I put on about 7 pounds over the holidays. Pretty good overall though. Our Spring Break cruise has been one of my main motivations. In January, I set a goal of losing 1 pound per week until the cruise with a stretch of 1.5 pounds per week. After a slight set-back, I was at my target for Friday mornings weigh-in.

We’re pretty excited about this cruise. We’ve (I’ve) been planning it since October or something like that. Let me know if this is something you might be interested in doing with us in the future.

Anyway, I’ve already started the web site where I’ll post our pictures ( http://www.KevinAndMartha.com/Cruise2008 ). I’m also using it to keep track of our excursion decisions and information about each of the islands we’ll be visiting. We’re flying down to San Juan a night early (just to be safe). The ship will go to Barbados, Antigua, St. Lucia, St. Thomas (USVI), and Tortola (BVI) before returning to San Juan.

Let’s see… what else is going on? Same old same old at work. My team has made a lot of operational changes since I’ve joined. It’s been exciting to see opportunities in this assignment rather than just do what’s expected. My last group did a much better job of this whole application development thing. So I’ve been able to reapply some of their practices. We’re also going to be going through some organizational changes soon. Hopefully my reporting structure won’t change much. I chose this group for the people as much as the work.
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Flu Bug? 

How fun is it to spend a holiday weekend in bed? Not much fun. Saturday night, Jan 14, was the first time in years that I have been sick enough to "lose my lunch". At first, I thought maybe the movie was to blame - Sideways was nominated for awards? Put it up for WORST movie of the year - and I'm not hard to please when it comes to movies.

Okay, but no movie could make me throw up 3 times in one night. No, I thought maybe it was the food I ate. Mexican on Friday night, 3 slices of bowling alley pepperoni and sausage pizza on Saturday afternoon along with a pack of Twizzlers, a York Peppermint Pattie, white chocolate Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and then a greasy burger for dinner on Saturday evening. Needless to say, my stomach was not happy by the end of the evening. By about midnight, it began returning its contents. :-) And again at 2am. And again at 4am. Yuck.

I was so tired on Sunday that I slept most of the day. By Monday, I was feeling better, but still exhausted and sore. My chest was tight from all the exercise. Needless to say I didn't get much work done on the Patio Roof.

Anyway, thank goodness I had a healthy weekend this past weekend. I was able to actually get some work done. I now have 2 of the 4 beam sections up. Call the overall project about 30% done maybe? I'll have to check my Microsoft Project plan. ;-) You think I'm joking, but I'm serious. :-)
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Happy New Year! 

On a lighter note...

Well, this interface is even easier to use than I realized. I have no excuse for not using it. Let's see if we can get 2006 started on a better note. Martha and I even got our New Year Newsletter out this year.

So let's start this out with a quick New Year's note. We had a New Year's Eve party at our last night. It was much smaller than in years past, but more intimate as well. Jason and Kelly brought Allie and since I wasn't feeling very well, I chose her as my primary company for the evening. Can you believe that baby was up past midnight?

Speaking of midnight, you have to hand it Dick Clark for hanging in there. He was a little quick on the countdown (unless our audio/video timing was off) and sounded like he had a lot of trouble speaking, but it was good to see that he's still kickin.

Martha and I started off the New Year with some cleaning, work, and updates (like this one). We also took a break to watch Batman Begins. Great story, in my opinion. Chalk one up for successful prequels. I hope I can define myself by my actions this year.

Have a happy New Year!
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From Seisures to Suites 

Quick back entry from just before Christmas...

Since Chief and Kolder's breeder was unavailable to watch them while Martha and I were out of town, we ended up taking them to the new PetSuites that opened up about 10 minutes from us. They do a subpar grooming job, really just a simple wash and brushout, but the two seemed to get along well in one "large" run. Food there is free, as long as Iams or Eukanuba is okay. No sponsorship or agreements with P&G. I asked out of curiosity. :-)

PetSuites also afforded us slightly better monitoring than family or friends could have. This was important because the Wednesday before we left, Chief had a scary seizure right in front of me. I had just got done yelling at him for getting into the trash, so I felt terrible. He hit the floor and his legs went straight up in the air. He was shaking uncontrollably, his back was arched, and his mouth was wide open. I held him until he calmed down a minute or two later, but then I was even more afraid. He was completely unresponsive and staring right through me. He seemed to respond to my voice, so I stayed with him. Martha's family had just put their dog down the might before (old age) and I was afraid I was going to lose Chief too.

I finally decided I needed to call a vet and as soon as I sat down, BOOM! He jumped right to his feet as if he didn't remember what had happened. He was terribly thirsty and hungry. When I let him outside an hour later, he was doing sprints back and forth across the back yard - as though he had been reborn. As soon as the contractor left (roof work), I took him to the vet. Dr. Lisa at the Animal Care Center in Forest Park said that, based on the symptoms I described, it was definitely a seisure. She did a blood test and everything came back okay. She said that is the nature of a seizure - he could have one again that day, in a few months, or possibly never. They have always slept in the room with Martha and I, so I'm pretty sure they have never had one before while we were home. I usually wake up at their slightest cough. Anyway, we're so glad he is okay.

Thank God for our health! and our pet's health!
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