TW3NTY THR33

It's close to 22 but comes with a whole year of experience that 22 doesn't.
For those of you who don't know, my birthday was yesterday! It was an interesting birthday...very different from the ones prior.

It started on Friday. Mom texted me and wanted to know if she could watch Riley so Linz and I could go out to dinner to celebrate. We of course said YES and decided to go to Grotto's Grand Slam in Lewes. It was awesome. I had a 1/2 lb. Bacon Mushroom Burger cooked medium well with a Long Island Iced Tea. MmmmMmm.

Saturday was shot because we had to go to a wedding. Not just a wedding, the wedding of Candice (Linz's ex-manipulative best friend) and Bill. I'm almost certain you will be able to read more about this if you check Lindsey's blog in about a week. I'm leaving it be since I have better things to tell you about. Oh, and it was open bar so that was cool. Yay, drinks two nights in a row, fun!

Sunday was my actual day. We slept in till about 10 and Lindsey wanted to get me donuts for breakfast. :o) (It's like she knows me or something.) Before she left she wanted to check on the dogs. Not sure if I mentioned in earlier posts but Sadie has been pregnant for sometime now and last night she started scratching around in their outdoor kennel we built for them. So Lindsey was sure they were coming soon. So she gets in their house and yells back "OMG Josh!" "ONE!" And I'm in the doorway of our house thinking "Oh my God what? it's dead?" "Oh my God it's here? It's cute?" She finaly elaborates and I get run to get her a towel to dust the poor guy off.

It's cold, dark and sandy in that dog house so we decide to set up the largest dog crate we have in the dining room so we can oversee the other births. While I was getting the crate out of the shed out back, Sadie runs over to me and looks like she's saying "HURRY! HURRRRRRRY!" And I tell her to get back to her baby that needs her. When she walked away she left a big blood trail behind her so I figgured another one was on it's way - CRAP! Hurrrrryy!

On my way inside with the crate I saw Sadie run back into her house. When I was inside the door I heard Lindsey say "TWO!" immediately followed by "Could we BE any less prepared??" No. We couldn't have. But then again there's really nothing we could have done differently. We were trying to avoid bringing the dogs inside because if we do that we have to pay a $200 security deposit to the landlord. (the last renter's dog chewed up the house)

Ok, now we're inside. Sadie is in her crate with her two puppies and lots of towels and blankets. I'm sure it's not ideal to move any animal as its giving birth but we knew that Sadie had been wanting to come inside to have those puppies for quite a while. So we didn't feel bad letting her in.

I feel as if I need to clarify on something. For me, I was so bent on figuring out a way around having to pay that $200 deposit, that the only plans I had made were to get the shed out back cleared out and to find some straw for the pups. Well the landlords crap was in there and they were away for the weekend. So I DID make an effort. But once the pups started coming, my mind changed instantly. So it's not that we don't care, it's just that we're uh...financially stretched? ;o) And I'd rather be caring over rich any day.

This is turning out to be a long post so I'll wrap it up. Sadie Ann had 8 puppies for my birthday! Which at $250 a head comes to $2,000 making that the best birthday present I've ever gotten. That is of course if Lindsey lets them all go. They are adorable aren't they? You know you've seen the pics already you skipper! You can also see a clip of the pups if you feel up for it. Ok enough with the puppies shpeel.

What else happened? Ma took Lindsey and I out to dinner last night. Ruby Tuesday. Mmm. This time I decided to partake upon the Triple Play. Lil bit a shrimp, lil bit a ribs and lil bit a chicken. Oh and the drink this time was Mojito. Oh yes - even mom liked it!

Lindsey got me an XBOX memory card unit (YAY! Finally I can stop lugging my entire XBOX around!) and also the new Need For Speed game for her DS which surprisingly it isn't nearly as good as the XBOX version. Which I guess makes sense, the XBOX has a lot more power to push out than the DS. So tonight we're going to try to exchange it for The New Super Mario Bros. which I've heard rocks. I missed you Mario.

Also tonight Dad has invited we three over to his place and will be cooking us a roast and sharing his DVR Recorded copy of Dane Cook on HBO. New stuff - I can't wait! Oh and of course we have to break for Prison Break and 8:00!

Aaaaaand that's it. I love stretched out birthdays!

Here's to 23! BooYah.

------------------------
Eight Of Em!


The Anxious Father, Jax:


My Sister-In-Law (the farthest girl) and her friend came over to see te puppies being born. Then they let me kill them numerous times in Halo. You guys rock!


Sadie doing a great job being a new momma!


Checking to see what markings they will have!

My LongHorn Country

As of 12:25 AM, October 25th LongHorn's website is LIVE!

It's my best web work thus far so check it out! All you web developers reading this (I know there's at least two of you) try not to pick it apart too much. But do let me know if you find something I should consider changing.

There's still a few features to add but for the most part it's done...FINALLY!

WooOOoo HooOOOooO!

www.mylonghorncountry.com

Camping With THE Man

Somehow a three-day weekend slipped past us last weekend. I remember three days, but it sure felt like two. I guess because we were in the car for so long. OK, wait. Let me back up...

Friday morning we three arose and headed out to Boonsboro, MD for a weekend adventure in the wilderness. Actually, thanks to dad as 'wild' as we got was sitting around eating and drinking in the cold until 9:30 (the Man's bedtime) and going back to our heated hotel room. :-)

That sub-story is cute in itself, so lets visit that for a moment shall we? Lindsey and I wanted...Nay...NEEDED to go away to some distant land and escape life for awhile. Adstrategies, with whom we have a business relationship with, invited us on their annual staff camping trip - all expenses paid. We said "Don't mind if we do, thank you!" and decided to go. Now, there is of course the recently added issue of having an infant that cannot leave Momma's side for more than a few hours. (I have a headache so I'm just going to skip to the cute part ok.) grandpa didn't want grandson to have to stay out in the cold in a tent for two nights. (We didn't want that either. But at this point we were still trying to figure out a way around it.) So he offered to put us up in a hotel for the weekend...To save Riley and allow us to get away. :-) Awww, its so cute, OK. Back to the story.

We ate at the Greene Turtle on our way up there, which was my first experience with the turtle so I have to give it a little plug here and say how much I enjoyed their food! It truly was one shell of a time! The rest of the time we pretty much cooked hotdogs and hamburgs over the fire. It was a blast and we all had a great time. Riley even got compliments from the owner of the company on how good of a kid he was. "I don't think I heard him cry once this whole trip!" That's my boy!

Here's a few pictures I snapped up there.

Lindsey and Riley playing:


The Man trying to find something on the tube:


The Man texting his other buddy man's back home:

Heeeere's Riley!

The First Type

- Typed by Riley Thomas Sammons in an IM window to daddy at work.

Yep, that's what the man was feeling at 11:53 AM this morning. And since he's not starting a blog until next week, I figured I'd post it for him here. I remember seeing a few years ago the first thing I typed at my grandmothers workplace. And it total rocked, so now it's only right to pass the favor along to my kin.

I love it! He's so cute and learning so fast. I know I sound like one of those first time parents that obsesses over every little thing their kid does for the first time but, ..oh wait...I am that parent!

Oh well. Congratulations Riley on your first typing experience!

Professor Josh

..as Dad puts it. :o)

So it's official, as soon as the paperwork goes through I will be an official Adjunct Faculty Member of Wilmington College!

Classes start in January and I'll be teaching the "Advanced Animation" course, which is actually both an undergraduate and a graduate class under the "Design" category and is a follow-up to the "Fundamentals of Animation" course. We will meet once a week (Wed) for 17 weeks at 3.5 hour intervals (5:00-8:30).

It's all about advanced techniques in After Effects, workflow, time management, etc so as you guys can imagine, I'm pretty psyched about teaching it!! Here's a course description I just found on their website:

DSN 310
Advanced Animation
3 credits
This course is an extension of DSN201 Fundamentals of Animation. The student will manipulate text, computer animation, and motion graphics to create visual effects seen in commercial video. Students learn about composition, rendering, lighting direction, and time management. Projects allow for creativity as well as ability to adhere to guidelines and follow instructions.
Prerequisite: DSN 201

I guess I am a little nervous. I've never taught in an actual classroom before, though I do feel I have the heart of a teacher. Lindsey tells me this all the time. So that's very reassuring to hear!

There are only two down sides I can see at this juncture.
1. The drive. 1.5 hours each way! (Ah well, I'm still making out really good considering the pay. :o)
2. LOST is scheduled while I'm going to be driving back home...:o(. (Thank God for TiVo and family that has it, that's all I have to say!)

Configuring a Linksys WET54G Ethernet Bridge (for Mac)

This is really just for my own records but I suppose someone could stumble upon this in a Google search so...here goes.

If you travel in the likeness of any of the media circles I do, people (including Apple's and Linksys' tech support) will tell you that it isn't possible to configure a Linksys WET54G Bridge (or any other wireless device) to get a Dual / Quad G5 machine online. The box has the Mac logo right on it but once you break that seal the Macintosh platform is mysteriously forgotten altogether.

Well guess what, it is possible! It just takes a few more steps than you're probably used to.

After little effort researching this problem I found this helpful and very straight foreward article. For the why's and how's check it out. Like I said, this post is just so I remember how to do it. :o) Oh, and it works for OS X and OS 9.

Enjoy!

--

WARNING: You may have to rest the device prior to these steps.

TCP/IP Prefs:
- Connect: Built-In Ethernet / Manually
- IP address: 192.168.1.2
- Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
- Gateway/Router: 192.168.1.225

| APPLY |

In Browser:
- Hit: http://192.168.1.226
- Username = "admin"
- Password = "admin" (sometimes = "password")
- "Wireless" Section > click on "Site Survey" button
- Click on desired base station
- Set Security Settings (if any apply to network)
- Apply changes in pop up window.
- Apply changes from main window as well.

TCP/IP Prefs:
- Connect: Built-In Ethernet / Using DCHP

| APPLY |

Surf The Net!

Harvest This!

I can't believe I made this instead of working on freelance that is due next week.
...haha, yes I can. This freaking rocks!

I guess I should share the backstory for those interested. While recently in NJ, Lindsey recieved a gift from my grandmother. Yes, it was a thanksgiving wall hanging thing which looks (almost) identical to this one. I came home from work one day and Linz had hung this up on our front door. I was intrigued as I was certian we did not own anything this country looking. So I squinted at it from the drivers seat and tried to read what it said up top. Harrrrveeeessssttt......this?? HAHA!! It actually says "harvest time."

And so that's how the idea was born. Later I told Dad about it and he very jokingly said "You should make it say that". So I did.

And now, my latest 1280 x 1024 Fall Season wall.

Cheers!