Schierer Space

Nate’s wake-up call assured that I was up early enough to head out to the coast to capture the first sunrise of the year. It was WICKED cold here with temps in the single digits and a breeze. My normally robust glove liners and mittens were not up to the task as the morning light finally peeked through the ocean clouds.

I stayed to watch the sun climb up through the clouds and illuminate the mist on the ocean. At least until my hands started to get really cold.

This wasn’t quite the earliest glimpse of sun on the USA, but close enough in my book.

Happy New Year!

Of course this is also the year when Nate really stepped off into being his own person (literally). The period from 8 months to 19 months is a pretty dramatic one. Personally, this has really been a year for bonding with the little guy now that he reacts and learns and interacts so effectively. I’m looking forward to more of the same.

So many accomplishments… here are just a few.

He started moving on his own,…

learned to crawl,…

learned to walk,…

and kick a ball.

He ate more solid foods,…

tried blueberries (still a favorite),…

tried ice cream,…

tried birthday cake,…

and apples (as well as anything else he can get his hands on).

He learned to play games,…

and color,…

and recognize letters.

He met some fuzzy friends,…

and wet ones,…

and some real ones too.

Mostly he’s just growing up while continuing to be the cutest kid EVAR…

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And yes Heidi, these have definite Christmas card potential.

When we woke up this morning, we saw that the ‘horrible brutal snowstorm that blasted the North East’ had left a beautiful blanket of fresh snow outside. K thankfully bought a brand new plastic sled, so Nate & I went outside to go sledding. K then followed up with the camera.

A track through the snow…

… means it’s time for sledding!

I hope you enjoyed the snow too.

We recently posted another big chunk of pics, mostly of Nate. If you’ve haven’t been checking the recent updates on the gallery, this is a sample of what you’ve missed…

Wicked cute pics of Nate and family…

The Schierer family gets their Christmas tree…

Great fun on the tractor ride out…

…but cold and miserable by the time the tree was selected (K insisted on a picture).

More wicked cute pics of Nate…

Some much overdue pics from T-Day In Millville, NJ, have finally hit the gallery. Nate had fun playing with the cousins and we all enjoyed the Millville holiday parade.

We’ve been spending my work bonus lately on some nice-to-haves that hadn’t managed to make it to must-haves. Here’s a quick run down with a little story about each:

• Bigger Backups: As I’ve discussed previously, I’ve got a whole automatic backup system running. We protect our documents and important files, but the biggest hog is the tens of thousands of digital images. Anyhow, between K’s PC and mine, we finally exhausted the 250GB drives we had been using. We’re running at 750GB now (which I got at the bargain price of $99).
• Liquidation of Late Models: With the help of File Shredder, I was able to quickly and effectively clean the drives and sell them to coworkers for $50 each. I also sold an old graphics card for $50… so that one piece of closet junk went away and I got something for it.
• Dishwashing Delight: A new, quieter and -even better- EFFECTIVE dishwasher now resides in our kitchen. This was a mostly painless install except for the mysterious hole in the wall discovered behind the old dishwasher. It was as if somebody needed to open up the wall to access something…. except there wasn’t anything there. Actually, there was a drain pipe from upstairs, but there were no seams or other inputs that would explain the hole in the wall. It did explain why the cats were always starting at the bottom of the dishwasher. So, a chunk of drywall and some spackle later, another major rodent access point is removed. I must give a shout-out to the Kenmore dishwasher engineer who put the hex heads on the top of the threaded leveling feet so a socket wrench could be used to drive them up and down. Unfortunately, I must critique the access to the water inlet. The water line (copper tubing with compression fittings in our case) comes from behind the dishwasher and meets the inlet under the front left corner of the dishwasher. As the appliance is backed into the cabinet alcove, the tubing fits nicely around the pump/motor assembly to meet the inlet. Great so far. THe problem is the elbow on the inlet is now facing away from the installer (me). So I manage to thread the compression nut onto the fitting and start to tighten it… but I have to apply a wrench. The amount of clearance between the floor and the bottom of the dishwasher is such that I can get 1/12 of a turn from each stroke. Yes, 1/12 of a 6-sided nut. I have to turn the nut, remove the wrench, flip the wrench over, turn the nut, flip the wrench over and repeat. Good thing the crescent wrenches have an offset angle, huh (kudos to whichever engineer figured that out!!).
• Finally, a Phone: Yes, I have finally submitted to the wireless communication revolution. K & I did some math and showed that the increase to her cel plan to add another line was less than our average long distance bill. Now we will use the cellphones exclusively to make long distance calls. In addition, most of our long distance calls are at night when the minutes are free. We have NOT shut off the land-line, but are considering the trade-offs for the future. For now, we get our broadband via DSL, so that would require a double utility switch. If you want to add me to your phone, add 1385 to K’s cell number to get mine. I will not promise that it will be active at all times.

As I was watching CNN pan around the enormous crowd in Chicago looking forward to celebrate the election of Senator Obama, I heard Nate cough slightly in his crib.

I realized then, that should these predictions hold (and it looks pretty certain), that Nate will grow up in an America where the President does not have the same skin color he does. Should President-Elect Obama serve for 8-years, it’s quite probable that Nate will carry this as the image of the first President he ever knew. ^[1]

That seems pretty significant to me, and I hope this is just one sign of the beginning of a new, less divided America.

Edit (11:33PM):
I just listened to Senator McCain’s concession speech. You know, if he had been speaking in positive gracious terms like that for the last 6 months, this election might have been much closer. I hope he does return to his more centrist roots and provides a rallying point for Republicans to unify with the Democratic majority. I’d love to see the centrists run this country for a change, instead of the flip-flopping polarized politics of the last 12 years.

Edit (5 Nov 7:20AM):
If you didn’t hear the speeches, I’m really sorry you missed them. Here are the transcripts:

• McCain’s Concession Speech
• Obama’s Victory Speech

1. I’m guessing that at the age of 6, the President is not something that sticks in your head. [↩]