Just Write

Today is what we will now refer to as Death to the Deck Day, or D2D-Day for short.  Amy and I mentioned to her brothers a few weeks ago that we were considering tearing down our deck because we didn’t feel it was safely constructed.  The middle of last week, I was texting my brother-in-law Ryan when I received the following text message:

Since it had been nearly three weeks since Amy and I mentioned tearing down our deck, we exchanged a few more messages to make sure I understood what he was getting at.  Fast forward a few days to the hear and now, and today did become D2D-Day.

Amy and I never really felt safe on the deck, mostly because it wasn’t actually affixed to the house in any way, and was essentially resting on small concrete blocks, though not affixed to those either.  Though we had some great times on the deck, we decided it was in our best interest to tear it down and start anew.  We’ll start the process of obtaining bids for a porch this week, and will now move forward telling stories of the day the deck died.

We once had great times on the rickety deck.

In one final homage to the deck that passed away today, here’s a 30-second video of its near-final resting place:

Check out our gallery for more pictures of the day the deck became but a memory.

A few minutes ago, a new gallery of pictures from the Bennett Baby Shower thrown by my mom and sister was added to the Just Write Gallery page.

Thank you to my sister for the initial batch of pics.  I’ll add more as we receive them.

Today it’s official.  I’m one of the new bloggers for the AT&T Mom (& Dad) blog.  What does that mean?  It means, in addition to maintaining our family blog here at Just Write, I’ll also be providing content for Calm, Cool, & Connected.  This will consist of basic blog posts, vlogs, and posting about the occasional contest as AT&T gives away some sweet hardware to some lucky readers.

If you’re keeping up with us at Just Write, be sure to stop by Calm, Cool, & Connected to see what Bennett Family fun makes it on that blog, and join in the conversation with some very cool AT&T mom’s and dad’s.  Learn new ways technology can help keep you in touch with your family/friends and in tune with your children.

In the spring and summer, I find that we spend much less time playing video games and watching tv because we’re outside playing sports or working in the yard.  Our gaming consoles lay dormant, begging for some sort of activity.  The same can’t be said for our wireless phones.  I find that, while we don’t game much at home when it’s nice outside, we now spend more time gaming away from home.

Waiting in line at the grocery store, DMV, or movie theater?  That’s not the test of our patience that it once was.  Now, we get out our wireless phones and pull up our favorite game to kill time that previously would have spent looking for a clock and muttering the unspeakable under our breaths.

With wireless phones and devices that are more powerful than the computers and gaming consoles we played as children, you can almost always have your favorite game in hand, ready for the next time you’re stuck waiting.

Where do you game?

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again (and will keep on saying it).  Our family is incredible.  Be it the Gilligan side, or this weekend the Bennett side, our family always goes above and beyond to let us know that we’re loved and that everyone else is as excited as we are for the new addition coming to our family in September.

On 7/11/09, the Bennetts and the Fairweathers threw Amy another amazing baby shower.  This weekend held significance, not only for the fact that another baby shower was thrown, but also because the boys were given an opportunity to meet up.

While the women gathered to enjoy delicious food made by my mom and sister, share gifts, and tell stories, the men had a get together planned at Darcy’s Pint, a great Irish pub with the best Horseshoe you’ll ever eat.  When we were about 20 minutes outside of town, I received a call that my grandpa Fairweather was in a fair amount of pain, and not up to going out to lunch.  After dropping off Amy and my mother-in-law, I spoke with my uncle and cousin, and then made a trip over to my other grandfather’s home to pick him up.

After striking out on ordering pizzas from a few local establishments, we decided a quick trip to Subway for a round of $5-Footlongs would make the most sense, and get us to our destination the quickest.  1 footlong Turkey sub and 4 footlong Meatball subs later and we were on our way to New Berlin, IL to spend an afternoon with the guys.

It turned out to be a perfect afternoon.  We had lunch and then sat around and talked for a couple of hours while the shower was winding down.  There were 3 generations of Bennett men, and 3 generations of Fairweather men all told, with my dad, both of my grandfathers, my uncle Andy, cousin Nick, and cousin Sean in attendance.  We cut up, shared some laughs – some at each others’ expense – and genuinely enjoyed each others’ company.

I also was afforded the opportunity of spending a good hour and a half in the car with my grandpa Bennett.   I learned so much in that short period of time. It’s rare that just the two of us get to sit and chat.  We of course talked about Cardinals baseball and reflected on when I worked for him for a few summers as a child.  Our conversation covered the gamut of  subjects and made 7/11/09 ad day I won’t soon forget.

I introduced my Grandpa Bennett to my iPhone 3G, Bluetooth speakerphone in our ‘08 Nissan Altima, and clued him in to just how big of a geek I really am.  Geek or not, the technology came through in a pinch and allowed us to get everyone to the same location in a matter of minutes, and kept us from wasting time trying to get lunch from places that weren’t yet open.

Thank you to my Mom and my sister Christy for putting together a great baby shower, and also to my aunt and uncle Cheryl and Andy for hosting the event at their home.  Thank you to all of the guys for being flexible and making it possible for our lunch to go off without a hitch.

Check out the Just Write gallery for pictures that will be added as soon as everyone sends them my way and I have a chance to consolidate them.

When most people think of the Fourth of July – especially when it falls on or around a weekend – they think of barbecues, weekend getaways, and fireworks.  The same can’t be said for my wife’s family.  For them, the Fourth of July usually means a trip to the hospital.  It’s not because they’re irresponsible with fireworks or party too hard at a family picnic.  It’s a matter of happenstance.

Last year, my mother-in-law slipped a disc in her back, pinching a nerve and causing discomfort that I can’t begin to fathom.  This year, it was my wife’s turn.   Amy earned herself a 4-day stay at St. John’s Mercy Hospital for a Fourth of July we won’t soon forget.

Flowers for Amy.

The week leading up to our nation’s birthday, Amy developed a fever and a nasty habit of going from the chills to overheating.  We first took her temperature on Tuesday, and while she did have a fever, the nurse we called said it wasn’t high enough to warrant an unscheduled visit to her OB/GYN.  Because her department was working through a quarterly rebalance, Amy wouldn’t call in sick to work.  Fortunately her supervisor sent her home earlier than expected on multiple occasions.

The fight between the chills and the sweats continued throughout Wednesday, and on Thursday Amy awoke with a fever of a toasty 102°.  I was finally able to convince her to call in sick, and after a call to the doctor later that afternoon when her fever persisted, we were told to proceed to the Women’s Evaluation wing at St. John’s Mercy so they could run some tests and diagnose her.

Hours later, it was determined that the cause of Amy’s discomfort was a bladder infection.  Later on that weekend, we found out that her kidneys were also infected.  What we thought would be a quick trip for a prescription of antibiotic(s), fluids, and plenty of rest turned into an overnight stay with an expected 24-hour Ancef treatment via IV.  On Friday we were told that the common treatment required 48-hours of the antibiotic.  Later that evening we were told that all would be well 24 hours after her fever last broke.  Come Saturday morning, we were told that the doctor wanted to keep her an extra 24 hours to ensure that the infection had run its course.

Amy's BFF for the weekend

Come Sunday, we were both mentally and physically exhausted.  Amy spent the weekend with an IV in her arm, connected to a pump that regulated the amount fluid she would receive and the speed at which it would be delivered.  While I almost never left her side, that pump was her BFF (for the weekend).  Amy and Baby B are both doing well and our lives back to business as usual.

Through all of this, and thanks to Wi-Fi, our wireless phones and a laptop, I was able to let friends know that we wouldn’t be able to make it to the weekend’s festivities using Facebook, Twitter, and email.  I kept our family members up to speed and directed visitors to our room with phone calls and text messages.  I even took pictures of the flowers Amy received, her new friend the IV pump, and the fireworks we could see from Amy’s room.

While enduring a situation that would make any first-time expectant parents nervous, we were able to keep our loved ones in the loop, and put their minds at ease, all the while keeping ourselves abreast of all of the latest news and sports happenings.  Our Unlimited Messaging for Families plan got quite the workout that weekend.

We wonder what’s in store for the family come July 4, 2010.

Tomorrow marks the start of the 31st week of Amy’s pregnancy.  A journey that started off as a 9-month period of growth and expectancy is down to 9 weeks (give or take).  Tomorrow also marks day 3 in the hospital for Amy.

Since Tuesday, Amy has wavered between running a fever and having the chills.  She was increasingly tired as the week went along, and had to deal with a rebalance at work requiring some very odd hours that only compounded the problem.  Following a phone call to her doctor, she was admitted that afternoon (7/2/09). Tests of a urine sample pointed to a bladder infection.  She’s been on a steady treatment of Cefazolin (otherwise know as Ancef) via IV, and spent quite a bit of time sleeping.

We originally thought that it would be a one night stay, but learned this morning that she would be kept for a minimum of 48 hours.  This morning, a woman from pastoral services left us a few prayer cards.  One of them contained a Gaelic Prayer (pictured to the right).  No matter what your religious affiliation or beliefs, I think we can all agree upon the notion of peace.  I drew peace of mind from reading the prayer, and the thought of being able to take her home tomorrow and let her relax in our home and sleep in our bed is a thought that brings me great peace.

While Amy’s hospital stay is but a hurdle in the path to our forthcoming parenthood – though Amy may disagree after receiving treatment intravenously for what will be 48 hours tomorrow afternoon – it still reaffirms for me how much I care about her.  You think you know how much you love someone, but until you see them in a hospital gown, receiving fluids, and wavering between freezing and burning up, absolutely uncomfortable, you don’t really know. All it takes is the image of them not being around, even for the briefest instant, to make  you realize just how fortunate you are.

Beta

Our site is in what I would refer to as an invite-only beta.  While the domain justwritestl.com is live, and anyone that wants to can conceivably access the site, I’ve only shared it with a few people.  The trusted few – you know who you are – are family and friends who will give honest feedback and provide constructive criticism. Then, there’s my mom.  She’ll no doubt help bolster my ego as opposed to critiquing the site with an unbiased slant.

I want to know what’s not working, what doesn’t look right, and what you would like to see on this site as it expands.  If there’s something you like, let me know that too, but I’m mainly looking for ways to improve these fledgling pages.

If you’re reading this now, you’re likely part of the aforementioned trusted few. That, or you’ve stumbled across a social bookmark or some SEO razzle-dazzle I pulled.  Please, take a moment to add a comment or two to any of the blog postings.  Check out the Contact page and fire us an email.  Shoot us an IM when that functionality is available. By all means, bookmark us anywhere you deem relevant.  If someone else has a family blog you think we could benefit from checking out, send that our way,

And if you’re a Mac addict, and have suggestions as to the best editing tools for a Mac, let us know.  I know Photoshop has quite the following, but if there’s a better value that will allow me to create precision custom imagery for our site to replace the current basic look and feel, I want to trial it if possible.

On June 28th, I created the Just Write website as a home on the web for Amy and I to post our thoughts, pictures, videos, and experiences for the benefit of our family and friends. The initial publish of the website was hosted through Apple’s Mobile Me and written using iWeb ‘09. While iWeb allowed me to quickly publish our website, it made it difficult for me to ensure that the website was authentic to Amy and I, and to make it Just Write, so to speak.

On July 7th I decided to sign up for hosting services using Just Host, and initialized the new Just Write blog using Wordpress. The next three entries are what I moved from our original blog, posted on June 28th, June 30th, and July 3rd.

Enjoy, and keep the comments coming. I hope to have the next iteration of the beta release of Just Write up and running in a few days. In the mean time, check out our blog and let us know what you think.

EAVB_IIXISJEHYZ

Our iMac - Tweetdeck install

On June 16, 2009, we made a fundamental switch in how we manage our digital lives. That was the day we ordered our 24” iMac, the day our dying Windows-based PC became an afterthought, used only to transfer our important financial files, photo and music collections. That was the day our conversion began.

When Amy’s laptop died a few months back, and my desktop became increasingly slow – to the point that even checking email became a hassle – we began discussing what we’d do to replace both. We determined that the desktop would be replaced with an iMac, and after seeing both the 20” and 24” models side-by-side, there was no way we could go with the 20. That’s not entirely true. There was no way I could choose the smaller one. That extra screen real-estate (and added processor speed, memory and HDD space) was too hard to pass up.

The iPhone 3G and the 24

Now that we’ve been using the iMac for about a week, we’re both convinced that we’ll never purchase a Windows-based PC again, unless it’s for the benefit of our child(ren). Knowing both

operating systems could be handy.
My iPhone 3G is now a willing accomplice to the productivity provided by our iMac. Using Mobile Me, I can sync my email, address book, and iCal with the push of a button, and always be in control of our calendar.

A new MacBook to replace Amy’s dead laptop is a likely future purchase. Until then, we have a desktop that provides us the functionality to manage our photos, edit video, keep our music current, and our lives in sync. Thank you Apple. I now look forward to multitasking on my home computer again.