Watching Movies

Hello all,

Could you believe it was in the 60's today? What a GREAT day to be outside and enjoying the warm weather. After Ali's game, we decided to call Vanna and Kellen to see if they wanted to have dinner at our house and I would be grilling hamburgers. It was great to get back outside and listen to the sizzle of a grill again.

Dinner was great if I do say so myself. The night continued with a trip to Blockbuster to get two movies for the four of us to watch after Ali and Zac went to bed. The evening concluded with a slice of ice cream cake.

Good night,

-Andy

First Bean

Hello all,

Today I made my first major change to a Java Bean. I know it might not sound like much, but until I worked at DST I had not been exposed to Beans before. They are a lot like Java classes, but they have special characteristics that make them unique. One of the cool things about Beans is they can be instantiated by the web.xml file and available to JSP's from that point on. I know it sounds like a bunch of tech geek stuff, but was a lot for me to understand before I could make the change. The syntax was the easy part. Knowing what properties inside the Bean had been populated at the time of my logic's execution took much longer to understand. Anyway, I've taken another step in my understanding of the system I support. Thanks for listening to me cheer!

-Andy

Back to Urgent Care

Hello all,

I took Zac back to Urgent Care tonight. He has not been showing any signs of improvement since last Tuesday. It was just not right to have him keep battling this cold without some antibiotic to help kick it out of his system. He is now on Amoxicillan and it should be taken care of in 10 days.

-Andy

Girl Scout Cookies

Hello all,

Tonight Ali and I delivered the last of the Girl Scout cookies together. The deliveries went quickly since all of the homes were on our block. They were the people that were not home last week when we were making our rounds. Now we are ready to turn in the money. I'm thinking we should take it into the bank and have them consolidate some of the change back into bills, but that is yet to be discussed. Other than that, we didn't do much tonight. Everyone has the same head cold. Jennifer went back to work today after missing yesterday with her head cold. Zac and Ali are still fighting it off and I'm trying not to catch it. I haven't walked on the treadmill all week. I just have not had the energy to do it. I hope to get back on my routine on Saturday.

-Andy

Basketball Practice

Hello all,

Where do I begin? It has been over four weeks since we first started to practice as a team. Most of the girls understand the basic concepts of dribbling and shooting. It is very rewarding to see them thinking on their feet and executing the offense that we have been practicing. The part that is frustrating is how quickly it all breaks down. It does not take much to sidetrack our team when one of the players don't want to listen. We only have the court for 60 minutes and it would be very helpful if the girls would come to practice with the understanding that it is not free time to run around and play. All three coaches try to keep the practices fun by playing little games to stress the fundamentals of dribbling, passing and shooting. I don't know any other way to make the game fun other than by playing it.

I know why my dad loved to coach. It is fun to watch a group of kids learn to work together for a common goal. Thank you for teaching me to play the game Dad.

-Andy

Pancakes

Hello all,

Tonight was a lot of fun for Zac and I. We ate pancakes at home while the ladies went to the bowling alley. After dinner we played Wii until the girls came home. It was then time to head upstairs and get the kids into their PJ's and settle in for the night.

-Andy

Seeing Family

Hello all,

What a great visit with my family! It was great to see my sisters and their families this weekend. My little nieces are growing up so fast! They will be walking before I know it! Dade, you are just too darn cute. Zac and Ali had a great time playing with you this weekend. And Kirk, don't take it too hard that you could not beat Ali in Mario Cart. She beats everyone she plays. If there is a career in Mario Cart racing, my daughter will be a millionaire. Unfortunately, I don't think there is a job market out there for Mario Cart. Keep trying on Tiger Woods. It is a fun game to play. It takes some time to get the hang of all of the little things.

-Andy

Heading to Nebraska

Hello all,

Ali has her first basketball game today in Liberty and then we are heading to Nebraska to spend the night with my sister Nicole and her family. We have the car packed and Ali is dressed in her uniform. I know the game will be fun for everyone. I just hope the girls don't forget everything we have tried to teach them over the past four weeks.

-Andy

Pampered Chef Party

Hello all,

It has been a long week and nothing makes me happier than to have people over to our house and laugh. Tonight we had a Pampered Chef party at our house and had 10 or so friends drop by to see what new products had been introduced this year. We made a great chicken pasta dish and just had a great time getting back in touch with each other again. The best part of the night was having so many of Jen's friends over again. It really put a smile on her face.

-Andy

Very Tired

Hello all,

I'm at my desk right now. It is 4:15 in the afternoon and I need a nap. Last night we were processed out of Children's Mercy at 12:30 in the morning. Zac fell asleep on the car ride home. He has the flu. He did not have strep or anything else. We waited for over an hour and a half to get a room and another hour to see a doctor. We were the last patient/parent to leave before they closed for the night.

It was a short night of sleep. I had a training course at Thayer this morning at 9:00 AM to discuss the system's development life cycle for a project. I did a great job and stayed awake during that presentation. I then drove home to eat lunch and get my badge that I neglected to pick up this morning. I made it into the office at 12:15 and have been working all afternoon. I'm really looking forward to taking a much needed standing nap when I'm making dinner tonight.

-Andy

Not Feeling The Best

Hello all,

I'm a little run down today. There is a bug floating around the office and I think it has found me. I want to go home and just lay down.

-Andy

Back to Work

Hello all,

The day has really been going fast here. I am working on a change to a digital certificate for a client and things are not going as smoothly as I had hoped. It is being tested at 2:00 and being put into production at 9:00 tonight. It is almost like I'm back on SODS again.

-Andy

Day Off

Hello all,

What a great Monday! Well, it is great because I am off work and have the kids at home with me today. School is closed to celebrate MLK Jr. Day and DST is closed because the stock market is closed. So, here we are all at home on this chilly day. We are heading out for lunch with mom around noon and then going down to Colormark printing to see Larry and deliver his boxes of Girl Scout cookies. So far this morning we have played on the Wii and watched some TV. I've finished some laundry that has been left over from the weekend and sorted some clothes. The plan for the day is to do nothing too serious.

-Andy

Sunday...

Hello all,

I am sitting here in my living room writing this blog entry. We had roast beef with carrots and rice for dinner tonight. Ali and Zac both ate well.

Ali was a big help with laundry again today. Thank you for your help tonight Ali. You are getting to be such a big helper.

-Andy

Saturday Cookie Booth

Hello all,

What a day! The kids had bowling early this morning and then it was time to head to Hy-Vee to sell excess Girl Scouts cookies. Jen said the girls were VERY energetic while selling cookies. They sold all but 27 boxes. Great Job Girls!

-Andy

Great Night

Hello all,

Jennifer and I had a great time at Ernie and Biggs piano bar tonight with Vanna and her friends. We had a great meal at Houlihan's before we headed down to Westport. The best part of the night was hearing Van Halen "JUMP" played on piano. You know what, it did not sound too bad! Thank you for the invitation tonight Vanna. Jennifer and I had a great time.

-Andy

Happy Birthday Vanna

Hello all,

Happy Birthday Vanna Easley! You are now one year older and wiser than you were last year. Thank you guys for coming over tonight and allowing the family to extend our most sincere birthday wishes. Jennifer and I are looking forward to going out with you and Kellen tomorrow night to celebrate.

-Andy

Gym

Hello all,

The weather has decided to plunge the KC area and most of the US into a deep freeze. As of 3 o'clock this afternoon it was 16 degrees and falling. When we left the house at 7:00 for the gym, it was 10 degrees. It was absolutely frigid. I took the kids to the basketball court to work on ball handling while Jen went to her kickboxing class. The main goal for tonight was working on keeping the ball on your hip. Ali and Zac both have a tendency to push the ball out in front of them and not control it. That is fine when you are in the open, but if you need to stop, the ball does not stop with you. Both kids did well with these drills and enjoyed running back and forth. We then passed the ball and hit a moving target. Again, both kids did well at their exercises. With the final 15 minutes of the hour we went upstairs and walked on the track. Well, I walked. The kids ran to show off how fast they could run. They CAN run fast. They just can't run fast for very long.

After the gym, it was time to head home and get cleaned up from the night. Ali and Zac both took bathes upstairs. After bathtime, they read some books with Mom. We watched a little bit of TV and then it was off to bed. It was a great night. The only thing wrong with it was the temperature. Hopefully this arctic air will move on and we can at least be in the 30's.

-Andy

Basketball Practice

Hello all,

Well, tonight in a nutshell was very chaotic. I rushed home from work to pick Ali up from Girl Scouts and then rushed to Diane's house to pick up Zac. Ali and I quickly changed into basketball clothes at our house and made it to Liberty just before practice started. Rush Rush Rush....

Practice went well for the most part. The coaches and I are with the girls to teach them how to run a "Pick and Roll" offense. The girls do a great job at first, but after a few minutes, the play turns into one girl running with the ball and everyone else chasing her. I'll keep you posted to the progress of the offense. As for the defense, it is strict man to man. The girls are not allowed to switch the person they are defending so that allows for the screen and roll to work so well.

After practice I fixed some dinner for and looked forward to relaxing for a bit. Before I knew it, the clock was reading 10:30. My oh my the night has flown by.

Good night,

-Andy

Good to see you today Jeff

Hello all,

Today I met Jeff Rogers for lunch at Popeyes. We both had taken our lunches today, but something was urging us to eat out today and socialize for an hour. The food was excellent, but I'll have to walk further to work off what I ate today. Tonight Zac and I are heading over to pick up Ali's Girl Scout Cookies. It should be a lot of fun to sort those out and get them into bags for delivery.

-Andy

Found Sam's Keys

Hello all,

Have you ever lost something for a long time and given up hope of finding it? Well, that is what I had done with my truck's keys. I last had them in 2005 when we moved into the new house. I had them on the hooks with all of the other keys by the back door. This was a mistake since the kids must have taken them downstairs to play with their car. Now that the back story has been told, I found them under a box of toys in the basement today. I had decided to clear out some of the "stuff" that had been gathering dust and get it moved to the curb before another year passes without knowing what it in the boxes from the old house.

It was a very happy day for me. I could not believe it when I found my original keys to Sam. I thought I had lost them and now they are found again.

-Andy

Busy Day for a Change

Hello all,

Today was a great day. The kids had bowling this morning at Gladstone bowl. Ali beat her average both games. Her average is a 58 and she bowled a 75 and 84! Way to go Ali. Zac worked on keeping his hand straight while releasing the ball. This should help him from throwing a BIG hook and only getting three pins per frame. Hopefully he can get back to bowing in the 80 again.

After bowling, we headed home for lunch and then off to Ali's basketball practice. She is really good at defense and knows where to be for a rebound. Shooting touch will come in time. After practice the team went to McDonalds for Sundays and it gave the team a chance get to know one another. It also gave the parents a chance to meet the coaches.

Finally, Ali went to Riley M's birthday party/slumber party. The girl packed enough stuff for three days. It must be a girl thing: 2 pillows, sleeping bag, tooth brush, change of clothes for the morning, pink bathrobe, PJ's, slippers and pink blanket. Really now... Riley's parents must have thought she was moving in for a week!

That is about it for our day.

-Andy

FINALLY FRIDAY

Hello all,

This week has just crawled. There isn't anything big happening in town this week. The Chiefs have not hired a new General Manager. Baseball does not start for another month. Basketball conference play does not start until Monday. There are the NFL play-offs this weekend, but I'm really not too excited about those match ups to be honest. Maybe tonight will be a good night to rent a movie and just be entertained.

-Andy

Boring....

Hello all,

I wish I had more to write about, but alas I do not. Things are going well at DST and the kids are doing well in school. I heard from my sister Nicole that she and Kirk have set a date for Maddie's baptism. Jennifer and I are looking forward to traveling up to Omaha and seeing the family at the end of the month.

Good night,

-Andy

Slow Day

Hello all,

There is not much to talk about today. It is cold outside, but it is January and I expected that to be the case. The kids are getting back into the swing of being back in school again. As I said, it is a very slow day.

-Andy

Back to School

Hello all,

It was a rough morning for Ali and Zac. They had to get up at their normal time today and not sleep in until 9:00. Ugh, what a chore it was to get up and eat breakfast with closed eyes! The morning passed quickly and it was time for me to head to work. The drive was normal again. The same pace as it was before the Holidays. It appeared that everyone else had to go to work again, too.

The report from school this evening was good. Both kids had great days at school.

Ali had a good basketball practice. She likes defense more than offense since you can take the ball from other players on defense. She worked on her ball handling skills by keeping her left arm out in front of her while dribbling. She also worked on shooting the ball for a while. Shooting will be a skill that will come with more experience.

-Andy

Vacation Day

Hello all,

What a day! The kids and I went and dropped Jen's van off at Goodyear this morning to get new shocks installed. We then went over to McDonalds for breakfast to celebrate our last day of freedom before returning to school. Jennifer came home for lunch which made everyone very happy to see her. After work, Jen took Ali to bowling and Zac and I went to the gym to work on basketball stuff and then go swimming.

-Andy

Cleaning House

Hello all,

In a word, today was about having the kids pick up their stuff and put it away. The break from school has been fun, but school starts again on Tuesday and Jennifer and I wanted the kids to find their school stuff and get it ready for Tuesday. Our kids were great and they found their backpacks quickly and were ready for school again.

-Andy

Basketball Practice

Hello all,

Today was Ali and my first day of basketball practice for Upward Bound. I could not keep the smile off of my face as I watched Ali dribble the ball around the court. I watched with great pride as she passed the ball from player to player as instructed. I think Ali likes running back and forth for fun the most. She thinks it is fun to run with her team. Oh, the things she will learn later in life. Our next practice is on Tuesday. I'll write more at that time.

-Andy

Slow Day

Hello all,

It was a very slow day at work today. Most of the team had taken the day off. I was left to work on my tickets and send emails. I was very happy to head home and then drive out to Olathe to see David and Susie. We all went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner and then back to their house to play Wii bowling.

-Andy

Huskers WIN

Hello all,

It is the first day of the new year and the Scott household is VERY happy today. The Nebraska Cornhuskers won their bowl game today and showed the country the BIG RED is on a comeback! The defense played great all day and the running game picked up in the second half. The best part of the game was having the whole family watch it together. Ali and Zac where cheering on the Huskers as they made good plays. After the game was over, we headed out for ice cream to celebrate the victory!

-Andy