Quick New England Rudis family update.

Winter seems to be wearing quite thin on all of us. Kids are more than just a tad cranky and Mary & I are more than just a bit wiped. It appears we grew a bit soft in Seattle and are eagerly awaiting sunnier days and warmer temperatures. Thankfully, both Mary & the kids get a break or two in February and I head out west in March to catch up with my Seattle work-team (plus, am *so* looking forward, more than words can express, to seeing @wygle [& the WL4], @joeday, @dustindk, @krombein, @thejedi, @jsorge, @jfriend, @froissart, @aai, @harlemaniac, @geissen and a host of others).

Tori kicked butt in school this past quarter and Jarrod is also doing really well. Ian is as adorable as ever and is as scary-smart as his brother. We are really missing Liz (no one to Catan with :-) after her visit in December. Mom is as ornery as ever and the cat seems to be the only content one of the bunch of us.

Be sure to check out Jarrod's new place to post his Lego creations and keep watching for updates. Once it's less hostile out, we'll start posting pix again :-)

Well, I had some time post-4AM and pre-leave-for-work and had been wanting to make it so I could actually eat breakfast at, you know, the breakfast nook in the kitchen.

All of us in the house have a bad habit of just tossing stuff on available horizontal space and leaving it there and this counter is an extremely good target.

I took it upon myself to be the one to clean it up this time and I thought it would be a good surprise for Mary. Well, the kids got up and out without supervision and managed to turn my nice surprise into an lovely AM annoyance for her and my mom. There were two vases, one with a rose and one that Jarrod made ("pen flowers" in dry beans). Because I made the stools accessible and the counter area free to access the items, Ian took the beans and scattered them all over the floor.

Sigh.

We both got a good post-event laugh out of it, tho, and the space is clear now (for how long remains to be seen)...

Hrumph. I don't have a "health" category. Need to do that.

Well, I guess I actually could put my finger on it now that the pins are out and the cyborg attachment is in pieces (ready for Jarrod to build an army of cyborg robots with).

Alas, no video. Malpractice concerns and all that.

Taking the contraption off...hurt. The last pin came out by twisting and twisting and twisting and twisting. Oh yeah, and pulling.

What hurt worse was the "Hey, you need to go to therapy soon" followed by the immediate curling of the hand into an attempted fist. I came within millimeters of blacking out. This is why men can't have babies. Ouch. I then get the news that the estimation is now 80% functionality back in that finger. We'll see about that. :-)

Mary showed me a great deal of kindness and compassion at the doctor's office today and afterwards. I am more grateful than humans will ever know. I thank God for her. As you can read historically, she is an amazing woman with a gentle and compassionate soul.

I picked up a thinline NASB today. All e-Bibles are kind of annoying (nothing beats The Online Bible on a Mac Plus/SE) and I grow weary of licensing issues.

I hit the MHC 0630 Men's Prayer for the first time tomorrow. The rest of my day will be difficult. Very difficult. Meetings and explanations for this week. I also have to schedule physical therapy (which is going to seriously hurt for quite a while) and I have more car stuff to deal with as well. All that with the aftermath of the repercussions of my words and actions to deal with. I've got lots of Help, tho.

I also start professional counseling Monday and am getting hooked up at MHC. Looking forward to Sunday again both for church and also to celebrate Jarrod's birthday (he turns 8 on the 31^st). Red Robin and Robin Hood lanes (he's a mean bowler). Alas, I can't bowl for quite a while. But he and his friends will have fun. I'll be sure to post video and pix.

My heart is still. My mind is calm. I give thanks to God.

Mary campaigned for a position in the EVE Online Council of Stellar Management elections. You can head on over to eve-online.com to read up on the CSM. Basically, she would have been part-ombudsman (ombudsperson?), part employee.

She came in at 21 out of 61 and fell just shy of being an alternate candidate (9 seats, 5 alts). With her just getting back in the game after a hiatus, her recent surgery, our move, dealing with three kids and the rest of the stuff that's been going on I think this is an amazing accomplishment. I looked at the spread:

and clearly there were either extraordinarily popular folks or many votes from players with multiple accounts. I only wish I could have drummed up more support for her.

I'm really proud of her. She made a great effort to win this and I sincerely hope she gives it another try when they hold elections again. It is truly CCP's loss.

(trying to focus on something else)

I took Jarrod (and Tori brought Ian) to Bobcat Park yesterday (a small park near us...taking pix is kinda hard with the finger and all). Jarrod & I started tossing a partially-deflated football around (both for him and my hand, since I have to toss lefty for a while) and he has a great arm and his aim is getting much better. He opted to play with a schoolmate who was barreling down a hill in a wagon. They were having fun.

I'm not going to understand why a 2 year old wants to chase after a ball you kick/toss away, but Ian loved it. And, boy can he run. He's so fast. And, he can throw, too. He chased after the other boys a bit (I'm glad they didn't attempt to dissuade the little guy) and went on the swing (no baby swing anymore, folks) for an eternity (he loves swinging). He actually gets very philosophical on the swing, which is very cool. Two very awesome boys there.

And, not to get away without a mention... Tori's been amazing. She knows about the current situation, the boys don't (but you can tell they sense life just got different). Keep her in your prayers, but she is one special young lady.

Well, one pesudo-positive thing I've got going on is that my lovely cyborg device comes off next Wednesday. That's going to hurt and the physical therapy afterwards (and for a while) is also going to hurt. I bet I hurt worse right now, tho.

While I'm updating health stuff, Mary had post-op pain yesterday but the flu is subsiding. At least physical health issues are going away (for the moment, at least).

Another quick update to let folks know (who aren't getting e-mail) that Mary's doing well post-surgery. The cyborg-attachments are at a minimum today and she's slated for a walk later this morning.

If I can get her to post a quick "hello" video or audio msg, you'll be able to see for yourself.

I'm pretty much exhausted from lack of sleep due to the finger surgery (new xray pix forthcoming ~mon/tue). Typing is painful (understatement) and if I take the pain meds, the head is spinning. If I don't, the pain makes it impossible to think. So, one of my joys - blogging/writing - is gone for a while.

Mary goes in for massive surgery Friday (5 procedures @ last count). It's going to be a long day between that and some work stuff I have to deal with along with the rest of the fam.

News on the Delaware Rudis clan front was not great as well. Lots of really not nice things happening this year, but we're managing.

That about does it for the typing (pain/soreness kicking in already). I'll let everyone know how surgery goes for Mary tomorrow.

For all those interested in an eclectic mix of stuff, we are having a massive moving / yard / garage sale this weekend at the Rudis compound - 4580 Steuben Road, Bethlehem, PA, 18020 [Google Maps reference].

Saturday: 0700-1400 (7AM to 2PM).
Sunday: Noon-?.

Electronics, housewares, antiques, appliances, furniture, etc. Everything must go (please!).

Call 610-614-1878 with any questions or e-mail us (bob @ our-last-name . net).

I think even Spider-Man would have some trouble against this sand-man and his evil cohorts.

Two pix of Ian (one here, click on it to get to the set).

I'll post a movie of the park trip later.

The cake was tasty (Mary made it, how could it not be?) and Ian was a happy little tyke the whole day. I'm just hoping Disney and agents from the RIAA don't come knocking down my door for copyright infringement. *:^)

Well, Ian is officially 1 today! It's been an eventful year both for him and the rest of us.

His first two presents were eczema and a coloring book the pharmacist at Walgreens gave him (she felt bad for him...it probably helped that he was adorable all bundled up).

Mary made a cool cake and we'll have pix of it, him and his party later tonight.

We suspect the snow today was something he wished for (I'll try to get pix of the snow as well).

It was a great day for a hike Saturday (2007-02-17). We even managed to get a bit of new snow along the way. Pippin thoroughly enjoyed her off-leash time, too. If the temperature and precip - cold with snow or at least lack of rain - cooperate, it should be a good hike next weekend as well.