When Mommy is away the kiddies will play....

The other day Stacey and I were chatting on ichat when Sami told Stacey that she wanted a bottle. So, Stacey put me on hold to get the bottle. Meanwhile, Sami crawled into the chair and took her spot ichatting with me. She just started jabbering and not really saying anything, but she felt like she was having a conversation with me. She was doing exactly what she saw her Mommy doing. I took some pictures of our conversation.

The New Twilight Eclipse Moon

I wanted to clear the air on a misconception that most of you out there have - no, I am not reading the Twilight Series....should anyone ask please let them know that. Candidly, yes, I am reading the Twilight series, but no one is ever going to know that - is that understood? I have made powerful friends in Salem, farmers and grape growers that you would never want to mess with (mainly because they smell like manure - but that is beside the point). In the spirit of not taking responsibility, I am going to blame this one on Brandon. Let me explain: Stacey has been trying to convince me for a very long time to read the series, but I always responded with 'maybe someday' (which in man-terms means 'never,' along with 'okay,' 'I'll get right on it,' 'Yes Dear' and 'Right after the game' - which is technically true but we didn't tell you that it will be right after the BCS Championship game in 2029). Stacey and I were having a conversation about how Brandon joined a dance troupe because a girl asked him to do it. Stacey asked me 'Would you have ever joined a dance troupe for a girl in High School?" I responded with an enthusiastic "Heck, yeah!" An answer to which I dug my own grave - Stacey then said "So, you would join a dance troupe for a girl, but you won't read The Twilight Series for me?" Several strong, poignant four letter words raced through my mind, but there was no way I could respond other then "Boy, that chainsaw is a beauty isn't it? A real manly tool." I was trapped - and I knew it. So, I read the Twilight book and I am now in the middle of New Moon. New moon has taken me about a month and a half to get through - I said I would read it but there was no time limit as to when I would finish it. The books have been a little difficult to get through. But once I got past the "what a magnificent creature" and "a perfect face" and "adonis-like features" and "beautiful" and "amazing chest" from Stacey's buttering me up, I decided to start reading the series....

What's New?

2010 has started off with a bang. Let me do a quick run down for you: My wife and I are separated, I have a baby coming in July, I am living in a shed, my house flooded, and there is no Lamar's doughnuts in Salem. Sounds pretty bleak doesn't it? Well, things aren't that bad. Stacey is hanging out in Utah until our house closes, however, the bank has to fix the house before we can move in. They appear to be moving forward with getting that taken care of but we haven't received the final papers yet for closing on the house. Supposedly, we should have all the paperwork completed by the end of the week. Right now we are just anxious to get complete resolution from the bank and get the documents completed so we know exactly what is happening. It does put off the reunion of the family a little while longer, which is definitely the hardest part. Of course, I have to live in THE SHED for a while longer as well! By now, most of you know that we have a baby coming in July - Stacey is pregnant. Crazy! We are excited and shocked at the same time! That is the hardest part for me - not being able to experience the day-to-day changes in Stacey (which can be good on those bad day, am I right guys??). But we are crossing our fingers that things will progress quickly and we will be together soon. Today marked my second day as being the lone Administrator at Saalfeld Griggs. I am very excited about the job, and I have really enjoyed the experience so far. Wonderful people - great opportunity - and a good manager (for those of you slow on the uptake I was talking about myself there). 2010 hasn't quite started out the way that I thought it would, but I am very excited about what it has to offer and the experiences and adventures that will come our way. Happy New Year everyone - I miss you very much!

Salem House

So, Stacey and I put an offer on a house on December 20th and the broker counter offered on the 23rd. The broker said that an offer was coming the next day, so their counter offer was for the original price of the house. Stacey and I felt like we were getting such a great deal on the house that after much deliberation we decided to accept the offer at about 9 pm that night. They accepted our offer and the next day someone did submit an offer for the original price of the house that would have forced us into a bidding war. But the house was ours pending inspection. Today, was the inspection. Upon walking into the house, we found water seeping through the ceiling due to a busted pipe in the bathroom upstairs. Apparently, the people managing the house winterized the pipes, left water in the pipes and left the heat off. Not a good mixture - thus, resulting in a busted pipe and flooded kitchen. The video shows a little of the water, but it was all over the floor, the countertops, on the carpet in the master bedroom, seeping into the walls, and most likely underneath the linoleum in the bathroom. Anyway, I have attached a video of the mess as well as a picture of the outside of the house. This is what we are facing at the moment and unsure as to what will happen next...

Christmas eve travel

This is a first for me in several ways. First, I am traveling on Christmas eve by plane and alone. I don't think that I have ever done that before. Second, I am blogging from my iPhone while sitting in the Spokane airport (maybe if Cari and Scott had planned better they could have met me here instead of spending Christmas in Idaho - geesh!). Due to work and price of flights, I am traveling on Christmas eve. But I am so excited to see my family - I wonder if Sami will even recognize me? As you can imagine things have been a little busy in our family. Our family has been spread across 4 different states this past week. Stacey was in Denver overseeing the final moving of our house - Hunter and Ryan were in Idaho with Tim & Misty - Sami was in Utah with Grandma McClanahan. Crazy to think about. We are just hoping that no bad weather gets in the way. Well, I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas holiday! I love you all! Merry Christmas.

Salem

Things are starting to feel more settled in right now in salem, so I am going to try and start posting a little more. I miss my family tremendously. That has been hard. I learned that I don't have much of a life without them. I am working 11 to 12 hour days...mainly, because I don't want to go home to THE SHED. When I get home, I find I have no energy to do anything. In Denver, I would come home and my boys or my little girl would want to play with me so I could find the energy to do things. Here my brain is so fried from training all day long that I come home, play on the guitar for a while, then lay on my inflatable bed and watch LOST (you see, all the seasons are on abc.com and I have not watched the show since season 1). I am currently on the start of Season 3. I had all these aspirations about doing all these things with my free time, but I think it just depresses me to come back to THE SHED. Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing the family in 4 days - I can't wait!!

So, I thought that I would attach a couple of pictures of some of the highlights at the firm...

Yes - that is a soda fountain and juice bar with full access each and every day!!

Ryan-ism

I just had to write down this little Ryan-ism. Last night Ryan and I were lying on my bed after a tickle fight. I expressed to him how much I loved him and I wanted him to know that he was more important to me then anything in the world. He asked me if I loved him more then all the money in the world. I said "Yes." He asked me if I loved him more then all the cars in the world, to which I replied "Yes." Then, he asked me if I would love him when he got married. I said "Of course I will still love you. I will love you forever!" Then, he said "Will you still love me if I marry a Spanish woman?" That question took me back a little bit and I said "Yes, I would love any woman that you loved and wanted to marry." His reply "But I don't know how to speak Spanish!"

I guess that would make things difficult...

Music

So, Stacey is always accusing me of listening to music that is 'gay.' By this, I can only think that she means happy, or "full of or showing high-spirited merriment." Anyway, I have put a video on this post so you can check for yourself if I listen to 'gay' music - this happens to be one of my favorite songs at the moment. Just to be clear, just because someone does listen to 'gay' music doesn't mean that the person likes to bake and dance...okay, I like to bake...and I like to dance...but I am way into manly sports and machinary and chainsaws!!

Observation

I read recently about a 70-year old man from Florida who hit a 250 yard drive into the lake. Upon retrieving the ball, a crocodile reached out chomped on his arm pulling the man into the lake and ripping off his arm. My first response was "How could a 70 year old man hit a 250 yard drive? I wonder what type of driver he was using?" My second response was "I bet that man increased his handicap."

Oregon?? What happened to Denver?

Many of you are probably asking yourself What is going on with John and Stacey? OR Why are they moving to Oregon? OR MAYBE What are the details? and some of you might be saying Who are John and Stacey? Maybe we should start with the last question first - a couple of crazy people that are leaving Rockies-land and great weather, sunshine to go to Oregon where it rains in the winter. I was offered a job to manage a law firm in Salem Oregon. The firm is called Saalfield Griggs and has 25 attorneys and 50 total staff members - a far cry from the 5 attorneys and 15 total staff members I currently manage. I applied for the job and after several phone interviews, an assessment test, and them calling my references, they flew me out to Salem to check out the firm and the area. I had Stacey come with me because I knew that I could not make a decision without her input. We went out on Sunday and spent the day checking out the area. That evening Stacey and I had dinner with 3 of the partners of the firm. We had a nice relaxing dinner with them. The next morning, I went to the firm and spent the morning visiting with 7 different attorneys - each of them interviewing me. After that, I went to lunch with 4 partners of the firm and spent most of the lunch with one attorney interviewing me. After lunch, I interviewed with 4 partners (3 which we had dinner with the night before) for about 2 hours. Then, spent some one-on-one time with the Managing Partner of the firm. Stacey spent the day going around with a couple of the attorneys' wives checking out the area. After the interview, the Managing Partner told me that there was one other candidate that they had to interview the following day and that they would get back to me in a few days. Well, apparently they liked me or something, because they called me back on Tuesday at 5 pm and offered me the job. I asked them for a few days to think about it as we were unsure as what we wanted to do. I knew the firm was the perfect fit for me and loved the whole set-up of the firm, but moving to Oregon was a big proposition. I called the Managing Partner on Thursday night with a counter offer. They accepted the counter offer and I accepted the job. The job is a huge raise on top of them paying for my insurance, which is another huge savings. The biggest part is that I will be managing a large firm and gain huge experience, as well as possibly have the opportunity to spend the rest of my career with this firm. One of the things I negotiated was the starting date - they wanted me to start mid-November, but with so many things going on and me wanting to give my current firm some time to find a replacement, they said that I could start any time but I will most likely be starting by Dec. 7th. Crazy to think that we are leaving Denver, but this is a great opportunity and once again we are packing up and heading to another state. We have spent the past couple of weeks packing up the house and getting it ready to sell and we are finally getting some breathing room. Everything is starting to settle in yet so many things are still up in the air. Stacey and I are heading out to Oregon again next weekend for an attorney retreat and to also look at the area. Hope we get to see some of you in Oregon soon. But don't worry....We will still be Rockies fans....

Blogging

It becomes very difficult to blog during the summer. When I get home at night, I want to play with the kids, go outside, or watch baseball....or go outside with the kids and play baseball. But I figured I had better post something, since it has been a while. Last weekend, we went to Breckenridge and had an absolute blast. We spent most of Saturday riding the Alpine Slide and riding a ski lift to the top of a mountain to hike around. The kids had so much fun...though Hunter and Ryan were a little nervous about riding the ski lift. We went to our favorite little cookie shop in Breckenridge, as well as our favorite Mexican dive for dinner and Pizza joint for lunch. We stayed in a hotel Friday night and took all the kids swimming. By the time we got home on Saturday night we were completely tired. But one funny little incident happened on Friday night. When we got to the hotel there were a couple of bottles of water sitting on the counter. I told Stacey that the water probably cost $3 a piece, but she thought they were free. She asked me to call the front office to see. Jokingly, I asked Hunter to call the front office to see. He heads over to the phone, picks it up, and calls the front desk. When the front desk answered, Hunter asked if the water was free -- however, he tried his hardest to make his voice sound extremely deep and adult. Stacey and I were laughing so hard, but he actually thought he pulled it off - though in reality his voice was still really high pitched and there was no doubt that he sounded like a kid trying to disguise his voice. Silly kid!

Becoming a Man

In my opinion there are two things in life that lets you know that you are a man. 1) The ability to grow hair where ever you want to (and as you grow older where ever you don't want it), and 2) Owning a chainsaw. About the ripe old age of 14 I began the journey to manhood (and, subsequently, about 6 years later starter losing hair) and finished the journey yesterday after purchasing my first chainsaw. Obviously, as a kid growing up, my parents (and Santa) weren't going to let me get a chainsaw as every Christmas my requests were denied, to a tune similar to that of a Christmas Story - You'll cut something off! Now, that I am grown-up and on my own, I can do just about anything I want - I will typically eat ice cream for breakfast, or run through the house with scissors, or stay up late (okay, maybe later). There is nothing that Mom can do about it now - so HA HA! There is nothing greater than owning a chainsaw (though next best comparison is owning an industrial strength shop vac) and nothing makes a man feel more like a man then holding a chainsaw in his hands and feeling the sure strength and power of what a chainsaw can do. The metal teeth spinning wildly and grinding up 6-inch logs and chopping down trees in a matter of moments. I hope you other 'boys' out there will someday become men and own your own chainsaw. Now, can someone please help me turn this thing on, so I can drown out Stacey's continual "You're gonna cut something off!"