Reflections of the year 2008

Hello all,

I've been working on this entry for a few days now, and it is finally coming together. The year 2008 has been a very tumultuous time for my family. It started out with the absence of Steve Brown at Embarq. His retirement left a big hole for me. I missed his constant presence for the past 10 years. He was always there to say "Good Morning" to me when I would stroll into the office. I missed the words "coffee coffee" coming over the partition wall. I never knew where the conversation would head during those technical discussions, but they were always entertaining and educational. Chris and continued to make trips to the coffee pot, but they were never the same to me without Steve. Soon Amy Krohn took a new position at Embarq and Sterling McCullough was our new supervisor. That was the writing on the wall for me at Embarq. They were determined to make choices that were not sound. They were always reacting a day late and a dollar short. So I decided to leave and pursue a life as a software contractor with eVergance.

Evergance was a good learning experience. I now know what I never want to do again. I am not built to be a contractor. There is far too much stress and no time to learn what they want you to do. I'm sure if given enough time, I could have made it work there, but it was good to get out of there with the lessons learned and my sanity.

With every door that closes, another one opens. DST had always interested me while I was at Embarq. I left eVergance on a Friday and had accepted a position with DST before leaving on vacation the following week. Now all I needed to do was learn everything I could about a new industry and the framework which they built their application on. Simple enough really. If I could learn how to make a C application fork a telnet process to talk to a computer built in 1973 and turn on dial tone for Ma Smith in Virginia, I could learn how to invoke a transaction to sell 100 shares of company X for a broker in New York. I am looking forward to what is coming my way at DST.

As for the family, it has been a great year. Zac started Kindergarten at Oakwood Manor. His vocabulary has grown so much! He loves to count and do addition and subtraction. He still wants either mom or I to read to him. He is getting much better at recognizing small words and sounding them out while I am reading. That is very impressive for him. He did not show any interest in doing this before he started school. Zac is officially 4' 3" tall at six years old. He is one of the tallest in his class.

Alexandria is growing more into the little girl every day. She is 4' 7" tall and looking forward to her first basketball practice in January. She loves 2nd grade and more importantly loves spelling, math and science. Ali likes to be challenged to reason out more complex math problems and enjoys the praise that she receives from Jen and I when she gets the answer correct. Her favorite things are Hanna Montana and High School Musical. I doubt I even remember what those are in 10 years, but I'll put them down now for good measure.

Jennifer and I celebrated ten years together in October. We didn't go anywhere special on our anniversary. We agreed to go on a cruise sometime in 2009 to celebrate. In December Jennifer was promoted to Customer Service Supervisor at Unimed. She is still planning on taking her GRE in the Spring and starting her teaching certification. I'll keep you posted on that as the event nears.

And finally, this is Dad's birthday. My dad would have been 66 today. Happy Birthday Dad! I hope you are enjoying a warm day in Heaven and playing a round of golf. I want you to know that you are in Ali and Zac's prayers. They really miss you. We all miss you and wish that you were not taken from us so soon.

-Andy

Getting Ready for 2009

Hello all,

What an unusual day.... I left this morning and found almost no traffic on the road. When I walked into my office, it was basically empty. Gradually people managed to make it into the office, but it was well after 9:00 when that happened. The conversations centered around the MU / Northwestern football bowl game where MU managed to win in overtime and the lack of good TV coverage of the game. It was more entertaining to watch Chase Daniel's family react to every bad decision he made on the field. Anyway, there were a lot of water cooler conversations about that game to put it nicely.

I went to lunch at Chipolte and was surprised to find the temperature so mild. The wind had subsided and it was quite pleasant outside. I just never know what the weather will do in Kansas City from day to day. I don't think the people who forecast the weather know either!

The best part of the day happened once I returned home. My kids were in good moods and EVERYONE was happy to go shopping for food for tomorrow night's get together at our house. We made a shopping list and then headed to HY-VEE. We let the kids navigate the store to find where the chips, soda and hamburger were located. They had a blast being "in charge" of the shopping. They held hands and skipped through the grocery isles. It was very rewarding to see how well our kids behave when given the freedom and responsibility to demonstrate they know what they are doing.

It was then time to head home and put all of our groceries away. It is going to be a great night tomorrow!

-Andy

Nana's Visit

Hello all,

The kids had a lot of fun with Nana and Grandma today. They were both able to sleep in and enjoy the morning. Then they went out shopping at Kholes for some jeans for Zac. Nana then went and did some shopping for herself. The kids had fun shopping with their two Grandma's. They even talked them into taking them to Wendy's for chicken nuggets. How cool was that!

Once Jennifer and I returned home from work, we were told all about their fun filled day. I made dinner for Nana, Zac and I while Ali and Jennifer went bowling. After dinner, Nana and I watched Pirates of the Caribbean on ABC. It had a lot more action in it than The Sound of Music which we watched last night. I was going to put in the Goonies, but that would have put us in bed far to late.

Everyone was in bed by 10:00. What a great night.

-Andy

Nana's Visit

Hello all,

The weather has cleared today and the snow has melted. Kansas City is having some very strange weather recently. It was 68 degrees on Friday. Saturday it was 30. Today it was 40. Tomorrow it is suppose to be in the 50's again. Then by Wednesday it will be freezing rain and snow. I just don't know what to tell the kids anymore when they get up. Do I tell them to put on their winter jacket or just put it in the car for later? It is all very confusing for a 6 and 8 year old.

Anyway, Nana is in town for the next few days. She will be spending some time with Ali and Zac while Jen and I are working while the kids are on winter break. Tonight Jennifer went to a Sigma Kappa Alumni event and had a great time. While there, I drove mom and the kids around the Plaza to see the lights. On our way home, I drove past my current office and the place DST is moving us to in April. All in all, it was a great night.

-Andy

Happy Birthday Nana

Hello all,

First of all, I would like to say happy birthday to my mother Carol Scott! I hope that you are having a good day. I hope you stop and get a Starbucks on your way to visit the girls today. I hope that you stop and go shopping and get something that you nice with them at your side. Jen and I are looking forward to seeing you on Sunday!

-Andy

Long Night

Hello all,

Well, the night went about as well as Jen and I expected. Ali coughed for most of the night. It is all nasal drainage. It is the same story that we have been battling with Ali since she was born. She does not have the strongest immune system and any little bug she gets knocks her down quickly. I hope you start feeling better soon Ali.

-Andy

Merry Christmas

Hello all,

Good evening to all of you. I hope that you have all enjoyed your Christmas with your friends and family. It has been a mixed day at the Scott house. The day started great. The family opened presents in the front room and everyone received lots of very nice things. Ali and Zac both received scooters from Santa. Zac's is a Hot Wheels while Ali's is High School Musical. The kids rode them around the house for many hours today. After lunch we went to see "Bedtime Stories" with Adam Sandler at the Dickinson theater by our house. It was a great show. I laughed out loud many times. At the end of the movie, everyone in the family was cheering the happy ending.

Then our day took a turn for the worse. On the ride home, Ali started to complain about not feeling well. We took her temperature and she was at 102.8 and was laboring to breathe. Now, she has recently fought off pneumonia and neither Jen nor I wanted it to have a repeat of that so Jen and Ali went to Urgent Care on Christmas Day. I stayed home with Zac and prepared the Christmas turkey while they waited to be seen. After an hour, I receive a text message from Jen saying the doctors think it is a virus that will need to run its course. After they returned, it was time to eat.

This was my first turkey baked in an oven. I think it turned out better than I could have expected. Everyone enjoyed the meal and talked about the day. What a day it was indeed.

-Dad

Christmas Eve

Hello all,

Today is Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas everyone! I am at work right now and waiting patiently for the minutes to pass until 1:00 PM. DST is releasing staff early today when the New York Stock Exchange closes for the day. It was a welcome gift from our board of directors. I was going to skip lunch and just eat at home, but someone on the floor decided to make popcorn. That was enough to tell my stomach to start complaining that I had not eaten since breakfast. So, I walked across the street and went to Planet Sub for a turkey sandwich. When I returned, it was only 30 minutes left in the day. The clock could not move fast enough. I feel like a kid waiting for the final bell before school break!

Well, I should finish this up so I can shut my computer down for the break. I hope you all have a great Christmas! Our family is going to Good Shepherd's Christmas Eve service at 5:00. After that we are going back to Diane's house for dinner and opening presents. Then we have to head home before Santa comes to leave his presents for Ali and Zac!

Merry Christmas!

-Andy

Wrapping Presents

Hello all,

Tonight I sit on the living room floor wrapping presents for Jennifer. This is my favorite day. I have completed my shopping and I pull all of the gifts that I've acquired from time to time over the past few months from all of the secret spots and lay them out in front of me. I did a great job staying within my budget and getting the things that I think she will enjoy. As I wrapped each present, I think about what your face is going to look like as you open each present. It is the highlight of my Christmas experience. Buying the gifts is fun, but watching you and the kids open the presents is the best part.

I love you!

-Dad

Happy Birthday Alexandria

Hello all,

Today my little girl turns eight years old! I can hardly believe it. She was just my little baby girl and now she is in second grade! Where did the time go? She has moved on from Elmo to Barbie dolls and Hanna Montana. It is hard to even think about what she will be excited about next year? She loves the color pink. She changing more and more into the person she is destine to become.

-Ali, your mother and I are very proud of you. You are the best little girl that a mother and father could ask for. Thank you for being the best little girl. Do your father a favor and don't grow up so fast. Ali, cherish each and every day.

I love you,

-Dad

Christmas at Larry and Pattie Ann's

Hello all,

We celebrated Christmas at Larry and Pattie Ann's this evening. It was very nice to spend the evening with them and play some games as a family. I received a turkey fryer! The kids received more presents than they thought possible. Thank you very much for your generosity Larry and Pattie Ann. It was great spend the evening as a family. I especially enjoyed playing dominoes and euker with you. Thanks for letting Jen and I win at least one game. It would have been a very long drive home if we went without winning at least one game.

-Andy

Ali's Party

Hello all,

Today was Ali's 8th birthday party! Happy Birthday BOO! We had her party at Gladstone Bowl. She had several friends attend and she received a lot of very nice presents. Thank you all for showing up and celebrating Ali as she turns one year older!

-Andy

Christmas Shopping

Hello all,

Tonight was a busy night for me. I went Christmas shopping for Jen tonight and made a lot of progress. Now I need to get them wrapped.

-Andy

Freezing Fog/Thunderstorms

Hello all,

Tonight I witnessed something that I've never seen before: Thunder-freezing rain. Has anyone ever heard of this before? Can a thunderstorm happen while in the midst of sub 20° F weather? I thought it had to be much warmer for a thunderstorm to occur. While I was making dinner tonight, Ali came to me and asked it if I saw the lightning outside. I dismissed it and said it was probably someone's headlights reflecting off of a neighbor's window. Then a few minutes later it happened again, but this time I heard the thunder roll. I must have confused it with the sound of a snow-plow the first time. Finally, I went to the window and found watched the sky and there it was. Lightning in the middle of a freezing rain storm. Now who would have thought that could happen.

The second strange weather event that happened while on my drive home. I know that fog is just the presence of moisture at the surface . And I know that moisture when cooled enough turns to ice. So, it should not have surprised me to find that fog will freeze, but it did. On my way home from work the fog over the Peso bridge was very thick. I had my windshield wipers on and soon had to turn the defrost on to melt the ice that was sticking to my wiper blades. It was just weird. The cloud I was driving in was freezing to my car as I pushed my way through it. It was just one of those days that I learned something new about the weather.

-Andy

Feeling Much Better

Hello all,

What a difference 48 hours can make. I'm feeling 100% better today. I returned to work this morning to find my Inbox on my email with over 100 new messages! Wow. Then I listened to my voicemail (17 new). It is amazing how much goes on in a day that I don't realize as it is happening. The day went well for me.

Jen had a touch of the flu today so I brought home Panera soup and bread for dinner. The family really likes it when I bring home Panera's chicken noodle soup. Ali likes the bread the most. Jen is on the mend. I hope she is better tomorrow.

Tonight I shoveled the driveway and sidewalks. It took me over an hour to get it done. Tomorrow the weather is suppose to be bad again and we will have freezing rain. Oh boy...

-Andy

Feeling Better

Hello all,

I'm feeling better today. I've been able to eat some food and drink some water. I've managed to move from the bed to downstairs and sit on the couch and watch some TV with my feet up. It is really cold outside today and the wind is whipping around. Snow started to fall early this morning. It looks really nice outside today, but it is bad to drive in. I hope I feel better soon.

-Andy

I have the Flu

Hello all,

I feel really bad today. I have the flu and am writing this message from bed. I hope to feel better tomorrow to write more.

-Andy

Chiefs Lose

Hello all,

It has been some day. The Chiefs lost a heart-breaker today to the Chargers (22 to 21). The weather was in the 60's at 9:00 AM, but by the time of the game it was 26! YIKES!!

Ali, Zac and I bowled while Jen pre-bowled. Ali and I tied with an 81 each. Can you believe it? We managed to both get an 81. Good job Ali on your game. You are getting so much better. Zac you bowled great as well.

OK, it is getting late in the day.

Good-night,

-Andy

Visiting with Family

Hello all,

Today was a great day! Zac and I were up first, but we went back to bed. It was too early to be up on a Saturday. We finally went downstairs at 8:00 to find Nana already downstairs drinking coffee. She must have slipped by us on her way down the stairs.

Bowling was good. Zac bowled a 77 and Ali bowled a 71 and a 73. GREAT JOB both of you.

Mom and I made hamburger-potato casserole and green bean casserole for lunch today. My sisters Danna and Nicole joined us for lunch. They brought their daughter's Brooke and Madeline. Ali was VERY happy to see her cousins. We laid out a blanket for them to play on while the adults watched the Bearcats lose a heart-breaker today for the National Championship. Oh well...

It was soon 4:00 and time for everyone to head home. Thank you all for coming down. We really enjoyed seeing you again.

Good-night,

-Andy

Final Christmas Performance

Hello all,

Tonight my mother drove down from Iowa to attend the final production of Good Shepherd's Christmas County Spelling Bee. Tonight's performance was highlighted by my son lifting his shirt up and showing his belly to the crowd. It must have been hot on the stage for him to do that.... The kids sounded great tonight and everyone enjoyed cookies and lemonade after the performance. Vanna and Kellen were also in attendance and enjoyed seeing the kids do so well. Afterwards we all went to the Olive Garden for dinner. Zac fell asleep on Diane's lap before his spaghetti could arrive. He was just too tired to eat.

After eating, we came home and got ready for bed. My mom slept in Ali's bed and Ali slept in our room. It is now time for me to sleep.

Good-night,

-Andy

Christmas Performance

Hello all,

Well the day did not start off very well today. This morning at 3:30 Zac walked into Jen and my room and stated that he had thrown up in his room. The poor guy had the flu. I cleaned and disinfected his room while Jen cleaned him up. He laid down in the chair in our room with an ice cream bucket next to him. Thank you Diane for agreeing to work from home today to allow Zac to recover at your house. By noon he was feeling much better.

At 6:00 both Ali and Zac performed in "The Christmas County Spelling Bee" at Good Shepherd UMC. Ali had a speaking part while Zac was in the Kindergarten chorus. They both did a great job. Larry and Pattie-Ann as well as Diane were in attendance to see the performance.

After the performance we went home to have a little something to eat and then it was off to bed.

Good-night,

-Andy

Shopping

Hello all,

Tonight Jennifer and I did our last Christmas shopping for our families. All we have left to do it buy for each other. I'm thinking that I'll get coal in my stocking, AGAIN, this year. It is just really hard to be nice all year round!

-Andy

Wrapping Presents

Hello all,

Good evening from the Scott house. It is very late in the evening and Jennifer and I just finished watching the video I took from Christmas 2005. Zac was 3 years old and Ali was 5 years old. Listening to them talk was great. They were so sweet and small. I forgot how small they were just three years ago. Wow, times sure do go fast.

After taking are break to watch our lives on video, we got back to work wrapping presents. Actually, Jen wrapped and I just made the labels. It was the best use of both of our talents. We finished sometime after 1 this morning.

-Andy

Catching Up

Hello all,

Tonight I did a lot of catch-up work on my blog. I have been writing each entry and then emailing it to myself at home. I am then suppose to go and put that entry into the blog so that everyone can keep up with what is going on. I looked the other day and realized I was over a week behind. Wow, how can I get so far behind! So, for ten minutes I copied and pasted each entry into Blogger. Then I set Zac up for some computer time on Noggin.com. Since Jen was bowling, I took this time to go and clean up the kitchen from tonight's feast of pancakes.

She was home at 8:30 and we watched Extreme Makeover Home Edition with the family. The kids went to bed at 9:00. We watched the weather and it called for snow tomorrow so I headed for the gas station and filled up both the car and van tonight. We are now ready for the winter weather.

-Andy

Delta Sig Alumni

Hello all,

Today was our annual Delta Sigma Phi Alumni gathering at Hooters. This month we met at Hooters over at the Legends. It was great to see so many of the guys again. I was able to sit and talk to Trey and Jeremy for an hour as we watched the football games and talked about present and the past. It was soon 3:00 and time for me to head to Good Shepherd to pick up Zac from practice. Ali was staying with Diane since she had a touch of the flu today. The rest of the evening was uneventful.

Good-night,

-Andy

Bearcats WIN

Hello all,

This morning Jennifer and I went to Maryville with a good friend of ours, Stephanie McKaig. We were all at Northwest at the same time. Jennifer and Stephanie were in Sigma Kappa together so they spent most of the drive up to Maryville trying to remember who people were and what they were doing currently.

We stopped at A&G for lunch and Justin Brandt stopped by our table for a few minutes to catch up with us. He is in his final year at Northwest and will be graduating in May with a degree in Marketing. Congratulations Justin!

The game was very cold. It was 12 degrees on the field. Most of the crowd was gone by the end of the third quarter due to the weather and the score. It took me almost two hours to warm up after the game. I was very cold for sure.

-Andy

Long Day

Hello all,

Today was a very long day for Jennifer and I. We worked a full day and then had an open house for BeautiControl in Lee's Summit. It was a long day, but we met a lot of very nice people. It was the first BeautiControl activity we have had in over three months. Jennifer and I were both pleased that we were able to make some new contacts and have hope for 2009.

It is late. I'm heading to bed.

-Andy

.99 Cent Gasoline

Hello all,

Tonight I spent some money to save some money at HY-VEE. The promotion was if you buy $80 worth of groceries then you can get $.40 cents off a gallon at the pump. Well, I'm not the brightest bulb in the store, but I know we can always use dry goods in the pantry as well as frozen orange juice. So I bought 10 cans of frozen OJ, spaghetti noodles, some macaroni, spaghetti sauce, canned fruit, some coffee as well as a loaf of bread and a 12 pack of coke for me. It was $80.12. I then filled the van up for $20.11. That tank of gas would have cost me over $80 alone in July. Now I have a full tank of gas and a stocked panty. I should not hear "There's nothing to eat in this house!"

Good-night,

-Andy

Basketball & Swimming

Hello all,

Tonight I took the kids to Gladstone's Fitness center for some R&R. We shot some baskets from 6:30 - 7:00 and then swam in the kids pool from 7:00 - 7:30. I wanted to show Zac that he could make a basket. He finished the night making 7 baskets and Ali made 9. Just as an FYI, I went 8 for 12 from the free throw line. I must say that tonight was the first time I had shot a basket in eight years! I had forgotten how good it sounds to hear the ball swish through a crisp net. It really put a smile on my face.

As I was tucking Ali into bed tonight we talked about basketball for a while. Earlier that night, I had shown her how she could control the ball with the pads on her fingertips. So, as she laid in bed I could tell something was on her mind. So, I asked her.

She said nothing...

So I asked her "Who do you think taught me how to dribble, Ali?"

"I don't know..." (Ali)

"It was Grandpa. He loved basketball. Dad and Grandpa would play basketball all the time when your dad was your age." (Dad)

"Really?" (Ali)

"Yep, and you know Grandpa Scott would love watch you dribble and shoot baskets. I bet he was in the gym tonight watching the three of us play together. " (Dad)

"That is cool."

"Yep, it is very cool. I bet he kissed you on the cheek when you made your first basket." (Dad)

"Thank you Dad. I love you Grandpa Scott in Heaven. Thank you for coming and watching me tonight." (Ali)

I just kissed her on the forehead and gave her a hug. What a great little girl.

Good-night,

-Andy

Cold Day

Hello all,

It was a nice day in Kansas City today. The air was cold, but the wind really didn't blow that much. It was a typical November day. If you walk around with a coat on, you were fine. I met Jeff Rogers at Popeyes today for lunch. It was good to talk to you again Jeff. It is always good to get another dad's opinion on stuff. Thank you for that. Also, I appreciate the two CD's of 80's music that you burned for me today. It was very nice to get a new sample of music for me to add to my collection for work. Vintage Sammy Hagar is necessary sometimes.

Tonight I was a part of the December release for Vision. The install began at 9:00 and went until 11:30. It was smooth sailing. It was nice to be back in the loop again.

-Andy

Back to Work

Hello all,

It had to happen eventually. I had to go back to work after being off from work for four days. It was a slow start to a day that turned out to be very productive. I was able to make good progress on my tickets that I've been assigned and learned a lot about Vision. I've been here four months and I have a much better understanding of how things work than I did last month.

As for the kids, they had great days. I read "Cook-A-Doole-Doo" to Zac while Ali worked on her worksheets for class. After reading the book, Zac worked on writing his numbers 21, 22 and 23 as well as spelling "Twenty-One", "Twenty-Two" and "Twenty-Three". His handwriting has improved since we've been working with him at home.

It was soon time for bed and Zac and Ali reluctantly obeyed. The house was quiet by 9:00. Ahhh....

-Andy