Zach Dotsey

“So, Zach,” I hear you say.  “I notice that you’ve changed the look of your blog.  What’s up with that?”

First off, I know it is a blog, but I don’t like calling it one.  Blogs seem to generally have a theme or a purpose, like talking about sports or technology or commenting on news.  My site really doesn’t have a point other than to chronicle my day to day activities.  While it seems pointless now, centuries from now some archaeologist will find it and love it.

Yes, apparently my site and the internet will still be up and, what’s more, accessible, centuries from now.

To the point, I just thought I’d switch it up.  I had the last design up for a good long while.  This new design is simple but sleek.  There was another one I was going to use, but there was a bit of configuring that would have to take place before it would look right, and I just didn’t feel like messing with it.

Cyra commented on her titular post today!  Huzzah, it’s been forever since I’ve had a comment!  Turns out though that registration was turned off and one of the plugins the site was running messed it up further, but that’s all been rectified now.  If you want to leave a comment, feel free.  It’s much easier to do so now.

Not too much to go into today.  Milly slept all through the night and didn’t get up until 8:20, which was after my shower.  Actually she did cry briefly sometime after Amanda got out of bed, but it didn’t last long.  She’s such a ridiculously pretty baby.  That’s here nor there, but I just love looking at her, even when she’s crying her face off.  The best, of course, is when she smiles.  Sometimes she’ll give this sly grin while looking at you out of the corner of her eyes, then sometimes she’ll have this big, wide open-mouthed smile.  I just love it.

Since Amanda went back to work I’ve mostly been working out of the living room, because it gives me more options with Milly during the day.  I had a number of phone calls to make today though, so once Amanda got home I sequestered myself back in the office.  I really need to pick that room up a bit.

Angus came and sprayed the house today.  I guess he saw my Duke posters because when he came out of the office he mentioned being a Duke fan.  We’ll have to have him over for some games this season.

Speaking of Duke, there sure is a lot of recruiting buzz going on right now.  First of all, Kyrie Irving has yet to publicly declare for Duke, though pretty much everyone still feels confident about him heading there next year.  It was thought that he’d end his recruiting after his official visit to the university a couple weeks ago, but he is planning on going on his other visits.  I’m not too worried about it.

Harrison Barnes, the consensus number one player for the 2010 class, was long considered a heavy Duke lean.  Now it seems to be a battle between Duke and Carolina.  Coach K had an in-home visit with him on Monday, the last day such a visit was available.  Everyone was excited because Duke had the last in-home and was also scheduled for the last official.  However, for some reason the Barnes family invited Roy Williams of UNC to have another visit, and it ended up getting scheduled to be right after Coach K’s visit.  That had a lot of Duke fans worried, but that’s worn off some.  Every possible scenario concerning the event has been posited, but really nobody seems to know anything concrete outside of the Barnes household.

That’s pretty much it for today.  Amanda and I watched Supernatural, Heroes and House before she went to bed at a little after 9:00.  She was tired tonight.

Zach Dotsey

All of my family, that is, is now gone to Kentucky, not me.  Mom and Erin drove to Charlotte and picked up Andra and Addy and Adam got a flight from Wilmington to Lexington (only $10 more than going to Louisville- well worth the extra few dollars!).  I’ve gotten to where I’m cool with being here.  I expressed that to Amanda’s grandfather when he called and offered his condolences.

Earl told me that he had missed his grandfather’s funeral.  He had just gotten back on his ship a few days earlier after being on leave and they didn’t tell him for a few days.  That had to have been hard.  There’s something about going through everything at least mentally at the same time as the rest of your family.  Of course, Earl was also on a ship when his first was born, so at least I get one of the two.

Speaking of the firstborn, Amanda and I discussed it and I think we’re going with Omelia Mae.  Adding Maeleigh to it, while I like the name, just sounds off to me.  We could change the Melia part (we at least added the O), but then we’d either have to just name her Milly (we’re sold on that) or it would sound like you’re mispronouncing Maeleigh.

In other Milly news, she’s still not here, although we feel like it’ll be before long.  There’s been no real indication or anything, and it could just be that we’re just getting antsy, but we both feel like it’ll be soon.  Of course, it will be soon, one way or another, it’s just a matter of degree.

I’ve been listening to Rhett Miller as much as I can, which I tend to do when I get a new CD.  I don’t think there’s really a bad song on it, although Happy Birthday Don’t Die doesn’t quite fit in with all the rest of the album, in my opinion.  Not that that’s a bad thing.  Some of the songs sound very Old 97’s.

The last thing I need
Is another girlfriend
Two’s enough for me
Two is enough
And you would make three

I did another design that I was pretty happy with today.  The support side of the job has been a little slower lately and I brushed up on all the sales, which has given me a little bit of time to play with Photoshop a little, which I’ve been enjoying.  Not having gotten my fix with just work, I played around a bit with making some Twitter backgrounds, which could actually turn into a little more business money.

That’s about it for today.  Amanda came home and we watched the season finale of House plus an episode of The Soup from the DVR.  Bonnie Narron, our neighbor, took my car today so her husband, Dave, could do a few things with it.  He was going to fix the right blinker, which has been out for a week or so (probably just the bulb is my guess), give it an oil change and take a look at the window that doesn’t want to roll up and the air conditioning.  Lots of stuff, but at least the car’s paid off.

Exciting day, I know.  Maybe tomorrow will bring more excitement.

Zach Dotsey

Dear Milly,

When I got out of bed this morning, the first thing I looked at was the cradle, and I thought to myself, “There should be a baby in that.”

I met your mother for lunch at J. Michael’s Deli today.  Her friends and co-workers Cyra Sherburn and Billy Supplee were going to go too, but Cyra had a lot to do so it was me, your mom and Billy.  There was a woman sitting near us who was very interested in your mom’s belly.

After work your mom and I went for a walk, which is one of the most recommended ways of hurrying labor up.  Her feet were swollen though, so we didn’t do that for long.  When we got back to the house she made some mac & cheese then sat on an exercise ball, which is supposed to help get you into position for delivery.  The ball is supposed to help that, not the mac & cheese.  We then tried looking up some pressure points that are supposed to help.  We couldn’t find any comprehensive info, so we didn’t try that for long, although, maybe coincidentally or maybe not, you sure did start moving after that.

Speaking earlier of getting you into position, we aren’t sure if you’re right where you’re supposed to be yet.  I think at this point you should be pretty much in a vertical position, but you seem to be either diagonal or maybe even high and horizontal.

We watched a couple episodes of House on the DVR then tried something else to get you moving.  So far, nada, although I did notice before your mom got into the shower (showers and baths before bed have been helping her relax) that her belly looks like it’s dropped a little, so that’s promising.

At this point I don’t have much hope in you coming in the next couple days.  I guess it’s easier to prepare for something you want to happen not to happen than it is to constantly get your hopes up.

I helped Jason Revill, my friend who I’m assuming you’ll know decently well throughout your life, with an idea of his.  He was watching Yankee Doodle Dandy and was inspired for a t-shirt design.  He’s learning some Gimp, a free graphics program I turned him onto, but I was able to do just what he wanted in Photoshop.  In fact, he said I probably couldn’t have nailed what he wanted more than what I came up with after listening to his ideas.

Not that you’ll care any more than your mom did, but I’m pretty proud of the job I did on that logo.  It’s easy to put an image behind letters, but I converted a flag to black and white then spent a little time dirtying it up to give it a more vintage photographic look, added a sepia layer then blended it just so.

He put it up on CafePress.com, and I like the baseball tee version enough that I might just get myself one.

Oh, in case you’re wondering, my sunburn wasn’t that bad.  It might be because I got plenty of aloe on it last night or it might be because I took some online advice and mixed some vinegar into a hot bath this morning, but either way, while my back, shoulders and upper arms are a little itchy and sensitive, I’m not in pain.  The lesson still stands though- don’t forget to put on your sunscreen!

Dad
.

Amanda called me just after 8:00 those morning to tell me I should come to her office.  If I wouldn’t have had to battle cross-town traffic at 8 AM I might have done it.  Her co-workers had stayed an hour after she left yesterday and gift wrapped literally everything in her cubicle.  The computer monitor, the phone, a breast cancer ribbon, pens, folders, her chair- you name it.  Pretty impressive feat.  They did it because her birthday is tomorrow.

Though it’s no big surprise, Gerald Henderson has hired an agent, meaning he’s ineligible to come back to play his senior year at Duke.  Though I’d have really loved for him to come back, I hope he tears up the NBA.

Well now, after a few weeks of pretty hard work, the load wasn’t as bad today and it started to pay off.  Yes, May is going to be a good month.

I did quite a bit of running around this afternoon.  I had to pick up and deposit my paycheck, I dropped off the mortgage check, picked up some stuff Erin had left at Sam’s house when she stayed with her (Sam and Dickie don’t live far from here) and stopped by La Casa Warkentien to check on Gipper’s food supply.  I didn’t find a Gipper, but I found exidence of one.  His food (though there was still plenty left) was eaten and he’d used the litter box.  It wasn’t overpowering yet, the litter box, so I left that for Nick and Amy for when they get home.

Amanda’s mom, Karen Mercer, came to stay with us for the weekend.  Phil, Amanda’s dad, is at Portsmouth Island and will not be returning until either late tomorrow or Sunday.  Plus, Barry Frazelle is getting back from helping teach dentistry in Africa late tomorrow too, so we’re going to do Mother’s Day here in Wilmington instead of Beulaville so he can take it easy.  Plus, Amanda wants to go to Raleigh tomorrow.  I wasn’t too keen on spending all day traveling just to shop, though I gladly would have since it’s Amanda’s birthday.  Karen decided she’d go with Amanda, so they’re planning on leaving around 9:00.

I’ve been trying to call my parents for the past couple days, but I can’t seem to get in touch with them at all.  I was going to let them know we were going to be in Raleigh to see about meeting for lunch, but oh well.  I chatted on Facebook with my cousin, Jeff Cherryholmes, and he mentioned that he was going to be in town and that he and my dad were going golfing, so I doubt the timing would have worked out anyway.

Karen brought the things she’d bought with our Babies R Us gift cards and so far I’ve gone as far as setting up the (no assembly required) high chair.  I also discovered that our Jeep stroller, which is for use on the beach, has an iPod hookup on it!  How freakin’ cool is that?

I picked up some Subway for dinner for the three of us (though Karen paid for most of it) and we ate.  Amanda and Karen then did something upstairs in the nursery- I think Karen was drawing a tree, while I played a little bit of Medieval 2: Total War before we all watched an episode of House.

I have a busy day ahead of me, I think.  I need to mow the lawn, then I want to get in some surfing, and I should probably get a cake for Amanda for when she and Karen get back home.  Painting the nursery some would also be a good idea.

Zach Dotsey

The answer to the question I posed myself last night is that is doesn’t matter- I can pull the toenail and a new one will grow back or I can leave it on and a new one will grow under it, pushing the old one off when it’s ready.

The story of the day is canceled plans.  Michael Mercer said something about going surfing after work, so I was planning on doing that, but it was windy and choppy and the surf report was decidedly negative, so we didn’t go.  Then Amanda and I were going to go to Nick and Amy Warkentien’s to watch Lost, but Amanda’s still feeling a little sick and didn’t want to accidentally get baby Eli sick, so we canceled that too.  She ended up getting in bed by about 8:30.

We did watch the last two episodes of House.  The first one was very interesting because it was about a patient who was “locked in” and couldn’t move, and it was told mostly from his perspective, from the camera shots to his internal dialogue.  In the second one, Kutner, one of the main characters, inexplicably killed himself.  It would have been a pretty big surprise, except I saw it on a news blurb in my RSS feed today.  How irritating!  The preview text in the RSS link gave it all away, so by the time I saw the spoiler alert at the top of the story’s page I’s already gotten the spoiler.

Zach Dotsey

Happy birthday to Lauren Millard!

I had a pretty busy time this morning and into the early afternoon catching up on work that came in over the weekend.

My brother-in-law, Michael Mercer, spent the morning here at the house.  His apartment was being sprayed and he had to be out of it until 2:00, I think, which happened to be the exact time he had to go to work.  He showed up at 9:00 on the dot with his cats, Mooo! and Goat then proceeded to go to the guest room to sleep until about 1:00.  He got up and showered then we grabbed some Subway before he went off to work.

Exciting day, huh?  The cats pretty much kept to themselves, although Goat paid me a visit and sat on my lap when I went to the bathroom.  Michael came back by after he got off work (with a smoothie as requested by Amanda) and had a bit of a time getting the cats.  Goat he was able to get and put in a pet carrier (our pet carrier, which he has yet to return, I might add), but Moo! got spooked by Harvey when Michael had her and he ended up with scratches from both animals: Mooo! clawing to escape and Harvey jumping on him to try to get Mooo!.  Bruce and Cobb didn’t seem to really notice they were here.

He didn’t have a second carrier and let Moo! roam free in his car.  That ended up a bad idea, as she decided to pee in it on the way home.  I hope he went someplace to get some Nature’s Miracle, because if he didn’t act quick he’s going to regret it.

Amy Warkentien called today to report in and see how Gipper’s doing.  There’s not too much new with Missy, but there was some more concern for Jerry.  Basically what she told me was that nobody really knows what’s wrong with him but he’s in a lot of pain and the kidney people said there’s nothing wrong with him kidney.  So remember to keep both Missy and Jerry in your prayers.

That’s about it.  I did some exercising in the morning, which I’ve been trying to do, and Amanda and I watched Saturday Night Live (from two weeks ago), House and Heroes tonight.

The Blue Devils only dropped to ninth place today, which was a little surprising to me, honestly.  I really, really hope they can put the pieces together and come out strong for the rest of the season, play like they did up until about a month ago.

In other college basketball news, UConn lost to Pitt tonight, which is fine by me.  I’m guessing that, should the rest of the top teams win out, that’ll put Oklahoma, the current #2 team, in first place or Pitt, who was #4 (behind #3 Carolina) might leapfrog everyone and go to the top spot.  Oklahoma’s my bandwagon team this year.

I came to a realization about Milly the other day.  You see, my wife is a Talker.  My wife’s mother is a Talker and her mom’s sister is a Talker and my wife’s grandmother is a Talker.  I’m having a baby girl in June, and as much as I know I’ll be looking forward to her first words, I realized the other day that, just like her mother, her grandmother, her great-aunt and her great-grandmother, my baby girl will grow up to be a Talker.

One day scientists will be able to cure this genetic disease (probably with stem cells), but until then I will have burdened society with another Talker.

Zach Dotsey

Today was busy.  It reminded me of times past, when I was just almost overwhelmingly busy.  It started off when I was told a client needed a project scope within about two hours.  I worked on it and got it all nice and professional, then when I went to save it I got a session timeout and lost it all.  I redid it, converted it into a PDF and sent it to the client with about twenty minutes to spare.

Also, the client I met with yesterday has decided to go with us.

So, we’ve decided to disband our small group.  It’s not something Amanda and I decided on lightly, but we’ve been discussing it and praying about it for a while now.  We don’t fault anyone, but between health issues and work schedules, for the past month only me and Amanda and Mike and Kaitlyn Boscaljon have been able to meet.  I talked to Mike when I got word that we wouldn’t be able to meet this week, and he said he and Kaitlyn had been considering going to the next Group Connection or joining an existing small group.  So with them gone and Elliot Clark and Melissa Nicholson’s schedule and Lisa Hauenstien’s health problems, there’s really no way we can continue.

Like I said, we don’t fault anyone.  Conditions just aren’t conducive to continuing the group as it is, so we’re going to start over.  I hate giving up on things, so I’m trying not to look at it that way, but it was really hard to make this decision.  Though we’re the only remaining original members, this small group has been in existence for just over three years now.  It’s the end of an era.

Amanda and I watched Heroes and House.  This was, I guess the mid-season premiere(?) for Heroes and skipped ahead a few months from the last episode.  The government is now hunting down people with powers and this episode ended with them all in a plane that’s about to crash.  As Amanda pointed out, Peter now has flight and super strength (assuming with the new mutation of his power he’s able to collect powers and not just use one at a time), so he could slip out of the plane and save it.

Milly was moving a bunch and I tried to capture some of it on tape, but she seemed to get camera shy.  In semi-related pregger news, Amanda got a leg cramp later in the evening, which was certainly no fun for her.

Zach Dotsey
.