Saturday, January 23, 2010

A Brand New Beginning!

I've decided to start my own business! Since our income will soon be changing drastically, I've decided to start my own graphic design business specializing in web sites, logos, and print designs. Because of this change in income, the need has risen for me to take on work outside of my normal 8 - 5 job as a business intelligence consultant.

With that said, I've already kind of began brain storming on a name for this company, but I need some help. So if anyone has any great ideas for a business name, send them my way.

But just because I don't officially have my own business yet, doesn't mean that I'm not already taking on work. I've already completed a site for the Florida Baptist Disaster Relief and God's Creatures Mobile Veterinary Services. I am also currently in the process of designing some graphics for a friend's amateur motorcycle racing team. Then after that I hope to begin work on a site for a small marketing company that has already approached me. So if anyone out there finds themselves in need of a web site for a very affordable price, don't be afraid to drop me a line @ burningwrek@gmail.com. You can leave a comment on this blog, too, but be patient with me please since I'm not on here very often. You could also leave a comment on my wife's blog here, since she checks her blog more frequently.

I'm super excited about starting my own business and look forward to all the exciting work (it's not really work if you love it, is it?) I will hopefully get to do in the future. I have experience designing websites, company logos, letterhead, business cards, brochures, blogs, banners, stickers, menus, and all kinds of other things. As the business grows, I hope to teach Angela my trade and have her take on a bit of the work load when that becomes possible.

Anyways, send me some ideas for some cool, modern, names for my company. Thanks, guys!

Monday, December 28, 2009

I'm Not Dead

Since it's been so long, I thought I'd just do a list of the things that have happened since I last posted. No one reads this stupid blog anyways, but I thought I'd do this to make my wife smile (love ya' babe!).

1. Had a baby girl named Dallas
2. Celebrated my 4 year wedding anniversary
3. Went to Disney World for anniversary
4. Celebrated Thanksgiving
5. Celebrated Christmas
6. Becoming a deacon at church

That's pretty much the highlights. Maybe if I get bored I'll cover the lowlights.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Baggie Goes to the Doctor

After talking to Dr. Kelly ( our vet ) on Saturday evening, we've arranged for Baggie's amputation to take place on Wednesday. As soon as Angela gets home from work in a few minutes, we'll load Baggie up in the car and head to Leesburg. Baggie will spend the night at Dr. Kelly's house. In the morning, Dr. Kelly will take Baggie to work with him and perform the procedure.

First they'll x-ray Baggie's furry litte chest and stomach. If no other tumors are spotted, then Baggie's back right leg will be amputated. If, however, any tumors are found in Baggie's chest or stomach, then the amputation will not be performed. We really don't want to put Baggie through any extra stress or pain with only a little time left.

To all our friends who are praying for Baggie, as well as us, thank you. Please keep praying for Baggie. She has a hard road ahead of her. Pray that she will handle the pain well and pray that God will help her to realize that we love her so much and that we will take care of her no matter what. We really just don't want her to be scared. Thank you, everyone. I'll post an update on her status after the procedure.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Baggie Update

So I heard back from the vet, Dr. Kelly, who performed the biopsy on the lump in Baggie's leg.

Turns out that the lump that was between the 2 bones in her calf area is a tumor. It's the bad kind of tumor, too. Dr. Kelly said that this kind of tumor is not usually located on a limb, though. He said typically that he sees this tumor on the body of an animal and not on a limb. But this kind of tumor is an aggressive cancer and usually when they remove a tumor like this one they have to go deep to do it. They remove any bone or muscle touching it and even then that usually doesn't eliminate it.

The good news about the tumor is that it's not the kind of tumor that spreads, typically. It usually just stays in one place. It's also good that they can just remove the leg to get rid of it. If it had been on her body, it probably would be game over. But because it's on the leg, Baggie stands a great chance of coming out of this looking good.

So the plan for this weekend, as of now, is to head down to Leesburg and let them perform an x-ray of her body to make sure the cancer is nowhere else. If cancer is found, we won't do the amputation of her leg because we don't want to put Baggie through that stress and pain if she's not going to make it. If no cancer is found on her body, then we'll go ahead and do the amputation.

Everything I've heard regarding three legged cats has been good. Cats supposedly do very well with only 3 legs, especially if the amputated limb is one of the back ones, which it is in Baggie's case.

So just pray for Baggie, Angela, and I. Pray that the cancer is not anywhere else except for the leg and pray that the procedure to amputate will go smoothly with no complications. She's our little girl and she means so much to us. I know it sounds silly for me to talk about a cat like that, but she's been with us since we were married and she's a part of the family. Just keep Baggie in your prayers, guys. Thanks.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

I've Been Tagged! Gangsta Style!

Ok, not really gangsta style, but I have been tagged by my precious, pretty, pregnant wife. So here it is. I've been tagged to answer several series of 8 questions. Also, on a side note, I'd like to apologize to my loyal reader(s) for my lack of posting. I've been really busy at work, which isn't bad. It just takes away from my time for blogging. So on to the tagging thing.

8 things I look forward to:
1. Going to church on Sunday.
2. Going to work each day. I finally have a job that I absolutely love! I could not have ever hoped for a job like the one I have. I actually get to do what I originally studied for in college, which is graphic/ web design. Praise Jesus!
3. Holding my baby girl, Dallas, for the first time! There are not words to describe what a great day that will be!
4. Seeing my wife each night! I love to kick her butt in Phase 10, which I did tonight, by the way. :P
5. Squishing my kitty, Baggie! She's like a little, furry child of ours.
6. The start of the football season. Go Jaguars!
7. Watch Criminal Minds on Wednesdays. It's such a great show, even if it is scary sometimes.
8. The day my soda belly dissolves away and my rock hard abs are finally visible.

8 things I did yesterday:
1. I played Guitar Hero 2, after pestering begging my wife to let me buy it. Thanks, babe!
2. I worked out in the morning on my Total Gym 1500. It's the one Chuck Norris endorses. I mainly chose to use that one because its cheap, easy to store, and I really want to be able to round house kick bad guys in the face while wearing cowboy boots.
3. I worked on a new website for work, called http://www.developeridol.com/. Its a contest my company, Pragmatic Works, and http://www.sswug.org/ are promoting. You can check out the site to get the rundown on the contest, but let me just say that the site is a work in progress so its not %100 functional yet. So don't email me and say I misspelled something or a link is broken.
4. I watched the last 30 minutes of the Bachelorette with my wife while trying to convince her that I needed to sleep. Let me just say that the Bachelorette is a sad, pathetic show. It's hilarious that people think they can go on a tv show to find true love.
5. I attempted to give Baggie her pain medicine. On the first attempt I missed and squirted it all over my shirt and my wife's hand. Second attempt was a bit better.
6. I ate sushi for lunch. My boss is a vegetarian so we eat at a lot of seafood places.
7. I laughed at how our VP Joe Biden revealed the location of a secret bunker. It's like him and Nancy Pelosi are competing at who can be the dumbest.
8. I ate Steak and Cheese hot pockets before leaving work to go to financial counseling. Turns out we have so much money we don't know what to do with it.

8 things I wish I could do:
1. Fly
2. Get season tickets for the Jaguars.
3. See my family more often.
4. Hold Dallas right now.
5. Heal Baggie's leg.
6. Make enough money so Angela wouldn't have to work anymore and could stay home with the baby.
7. Buy more guns.
8. Play darts all the time.

8 shows I watch:
1. Criminal Minds
2. Myth Busters
3. The Mentalist
4. Law and Order: Special Victims Unit
5. The Office
6. 30 Rock
7. Anything on the History Channel
8. Seinfeld

So that's my tagging thing I was supposed to do. Angela tagged me so I guess I can't tag her. I don't really have any blog friends that aren't my wife's blog friends so I guess I don't have anyone to tag. So I think I'll make up a new tag list for Angela to do, since she likes easy blog posts. So here you go, babe! You've been officially tagged! Here is what you must do!

1. Post a picture of you making the happiest face possible.

2. Post a picture of you making the saddest face possible.

3. Post a picture of you making the angriest face possible.

4. Post a picture of you making the sleepiest face possible.

There! You've been tagged, Angela! And because I know you'll not want to do this, I, too, will do the same thing after you have completed your post in a satisfactory manner. I love you, babe!

Friday, May 1, 2009

Pray for Baggie

So for the past few months, Baggie has been battling an injured back leg. We've been praying for her and giving her medicine but nothing has seemed to work. So earlier this week, we took Baggie back to the vet to have them look at her again because her limp does not seem to be improving. The vet recommended we take her to a pet surgery specialist that has the technology to really look at her leg.

So at 8:00 a.m. this morning, I took Baggie to the specialist. The good news is that Baggie's fracture has healed. The bad news is that she has some kind of lump in her calf on that backright leg that has caused some serious nerve damage which is preventing her from using that leg. Baggie cannot extend her leg fully or work her ankle. So this morning, to the tune of $250, the vet did a biopsy on that lump and we should find out next week if its malignant, benign, or just some swelling in there from some kind of soft tissue injury. If its malignant, her leg will need to be amputated. If the lump is not malignant, she'll start medication and we'll let it heal over time.

Please pray that its not malignant because its very expensive to perform an amputation. The good news is, however, that if she needs to have her leg amputated, its not the end of the world for Baggie. Cats do really well with 1 back leg, so she'll still be able to live a very normal life. So pray for me, Angela, Baggie, and that the lump is not malignant. We love our little kitty, and we can't stand to see her suffer.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

My Sleepy Family

So here I am, 11:29 pm at night, doing some last minute laundry so that we'll have actual sheets to sleep on. The news is playing quietly in the living room and I'm listening to a new CD I bought off Amazon for $1.84: Scary Kids Scaring Kids. Funny name, huh? The silly name was behind probably 80% of my motivation to buy the CD. That and it cost less than $2.00. But anyways, on to the real topic of this blog. My cute, precious pregnant wife and my fuzzy, little, gimpy legged, little kitty are passed out in the living room. Angela is sleeping like a rock on our couch, as is her nightly custom. Baggie is curled up in the litte, white bag we received from the maternity store the other day. With everyone sleeping so soundly, I couldn't resist a few pictures.

Every single night since we have had this bag in our house, Baggie has slept INSIDE it. I am not exaggerating one bit. A couple times I've had to take it from her at 1 in the morning because she likes to make it crinkle and I can't sleep with any kind of sound. I'm a paranoid sleeper.


That can't be comfortable.Here you can see the two sleepy girls snoozing together. Aren't they so cute? How did a guy like me end up with the most amazing woman ever created and the fuzziest, cutest, little kitty in the world? It's a miracle!Angela loves me too much to be mad at me for this. Besides, she puts silly pictures of me on her blog all the time. I love you, babe!