Monceaux.org

More updates are here…don't you feel special? So let's see, what has been going on… Well, with the help of Grandma Pat Pat and Ming, we were able to clean up our garage and the scrapbooking room in less than two days. Pretty impressive feat, actually.

The following weekend, I began a painting-spree. I primed the room twice. Then I put two coats of both colors we chose on the walls. As you can see in the many photos, we chose a lavender and a green color. Additionally, we installed a white chair rail and crown molding. I completed 95% of the work over a weekend. I had several touch ups to do during the following week. So now, the painting is done. The most immediate things left to do in the room are to clean out the closet and install a closet system, install the nice two inch faux wood blinds, and finish installing the new ceiling fan.

Aside from the most important event unfolding in our lives (baby), what else have we been up to? Hmmm, we have began working in the yard. Kristie has planted a number of flowers, and they look pretty good so far. Hopefully the tons of rain we received last year will not return to injure our plants again. I am in the process of building new flower beds and cleaning up the older ones. I have also installed a swing in the back yard that Kristie's parents gave us. I sanded and refinished it. Looks pretty nice. Although it has a few bite marks in it that a darn squirrel, for whatever reason, decided to place in a select few places on the swing. I guess that is about all of the outside stuff that we have done.

Did you ask how work was going? Oh, you didn't? Well, I'll tell you anyway. You could stop reading now if you wanted, but obviously you haven't, so I'll continue. I twisted Kristie's arm and made her quit her job. I think my exact words were something to the effect, “No woman of mine is gonna work while she is pregnant!”. My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I'm almost certain it was something like that. So Kristie is now sitting at home all day in misery since I will not let her work with the psychotic children at the junior high school. She seems to be adjusting though.

As for my work situation, it is going pretty well, I suppose. I'm still employed, so that's good. My projects aren't going horribly, but they could be going a bit more smoothly if I had my wish. I have a very nice project manager, and we recently found out that we won an award for outstanding team effort. We will be at a ceremony with other people winning awards in May. It feels good to be recognized for superior effort, even if you don't feel like you deserve it .

What's that? Oh, how are my classes going? Glad you asked. I am almost done with my final class, Formal Languages and Automata. Despite the topic, it is actually a very good class. The professor is actually someone that works on my hallway. He is very good. Although, you know me, no matter how great the class, I'm just ready to be finished. And now, the word “finished” actually has an additional meaning. Not only will I be finished with this class at the end of this semester, I'll be done with my Master's degree. WooHoo!!! One class per semester for 11 semesters makes for a loooong ride to a Master's degree. I started in fall of 2001 and am finishing in spring of 2005. I plan on jumping right in to my PhD work, though. So I am still a long way off from being “finished”. I doubt that I'll ever be finished with learning stuff. I certainly hope not, because when I lose my enthusiasm for learning, I'll probably be ready to die.

Why, yes. We have been traveling some. We traveled to my parents', Kristie's parents, Kristie's sister's, a couple of crafts shows, and maybe a few other places. Most recently (as in yesterday), we traveled to Starkville, MS. For those unaware, Starkville is the location of Mississippi State University. Oddly enough, that is where I will be receiving my Master's degree from, and that was the first time that I had been on campus there. Our reason for traveling there was not school-related, however. For my birthday (oh, yeah…that was something else that happened…more on that later), Kristie got me tickets to see the band Sugarland. So why would I want to see Sugarland? Well, the lead singer is Jennifer Nettles. She used to be in a band The Jennifer Nettles Band. I saw them once in Atlanta at Eddie's Attic in October of 2001. I was very impressed with her voice, and kinda just followed the band's progress on the web from then on. I was glad to hear that she made it as part of a new band, Sugarland. They have a big song on the radio now called “Baby Girl”. Anyway, I was just glad to see that she was getting recognized, because she can really sing well. So we went to see the band play in Starkville.

The band was really great. Even better, was this was at a festival, and there was no seating. We actually made it to the front barrier in the center of the stage. This was the closest I had ever been to the stage at any concert, so it was pretty cool. I took many photos. They actually had another guy open up for them, Brian Fuente. His music reminded me of something that would be on a WB show…in a good way. It was just him and a guy playing some percussion. It was really impressive. I wouldn't mind having decent musicial talent like that…oh well, I'll just settle for my devistatingly handsome looks, I suppose.

After he played, Sugarland came out and did their thing. They were really good. Being up front didn't hurt either. Nothing can make you appreciate a good singer more than seeing them in concert. It is then, especially when up close, that you can see how well they can really sing. Jennifer didn't make any noticible errors while singing that I could tell. It's also impressive how much people there cheered, especially when they played “Baby Girl”.

So after about ten songs or so, they got off the stage and went to sign autographs. We got in line. We bought a sign, which Kristie got signed, and I bought a CD for them to sign. It was pretty cool. I asked Jennifer to sign it to “Baby Girl Emma Grace”. So that was pretty cool. I asked her if they played Eddie's Attic anymore, and she said sometimes. She asked if I had seen her there. And I gave her the scoop on how cool I was that I saw her back in the day. She seemed mildly interested. Can't say that I blame her, especially when there is a line of people behind me waiting for autographs. Anyway, it was still cool. I didn't get a photo with them though, but I suppose I'll live. Overall, still the coolest concert that I had been to, mostly stemming from the fact that I got to be in contact with the performers.

Also, one thing I learned on this trip is that Ruby Tuesdays sucks!! Hey, maybe it's just me, but I think ordering a simple hamburger at 3:10pm and receiving it at 4:00pm is just a little bit of a problem. Am I wrong for being upset? Should I have sat by while people coming in 20 minutes after me get their food before me? I don't know if it was some combination of a kitchen and waitress screw up or what, but it sucked. The only kudos I can give is that I didn't have to pay for it. So we just paid for Kristie's salad bar, and that was it. I know a single experience in a single restaurant should not keep me from going to another Ruby Tuesdays, but I think I'll look elsewhere for my dining experiences for a while.

Oh…yeah…you're correct. I DID say something about having a birthday recently. Thanks for reminding me. Well, I am now offically 29. I can hear the death march music playing. So we went to my parents' the weekend before my birthday, and they gave me a cake and mini-celebration, so that was cool. Then Kristie gave me my very own birthday week! She gave me candy, cards, and sweet little notes all week long. She also got me the first season of Smallville on DVD (which I had 2 and 3, but was missing season one). Finally, she got me a hoola hoop. I think I was too big for that particular hoola hoop. It was VERY SWEET of her and Emma Grace to get me all of these wonderful things!

Well, I'm glad you could stop by and visit. I am all typed out. So I will stop and update again another day. Maybe tomorrow!!

Wes

Well, the last few months have been busy. If you have looked at the photos, then you have probably figured out that we are having a baby! We found out in December, and the spoiling began.

You can also tell that we went to Orlando right after Christmas, which was exciting. However, we suggest that you NOT go during this time unless you have already been. There were so many people that you almost could not enjoy yourself. Seaworld was the best and not as crowded as the Disney parks. We adventured to Magic Kingdom on New Year's Eve, as did everybody else in this world. The fireworks at midnight were awesome, but the crowd leaving wasn't. We felt like a herd of cattle. We didn't have to walk – we were pushed by the crowd, and you know, there are some VERY RUDE people in this world. You could certainly tell who was American and who wasn't. We wanted to ask some of them if they had ever heard of the words, “Excuse me”. But, oh well, all in all it was a very fun trip.
Also, you can tell from the photos, that we put a new floor down and it is WONDERFUL. However, the putting down part wasn't.

Well, back to the most important thing – baby. We had an ultrasound done in February, which the lady said looked to be a girl. She suggested that we not go “pink” crazy yet. We had another ultrasound done on March 8, and the lady again said she thought it was a girl, but she wasn't sure. All we can say is we have an active one on our hands, which is fine with us. The lady had trouble sometimes trying to get her images because “our active one” liked to move around. The VCR in the ultrasound room didn't work, so they took us to another room so we could have a videotape of it. On the videotape, you can almost certainly tell that we are having a girl.

When we didn't know exactly what we were having, we called him/her “Peanut”. However, she is now known as Emma Grace (no, Brad not Little Baby Girl Chandler or LBGC as you like to call her.) And, now that we know she is a girl, Grandma Pat Pat is going crazy. She barely can contain herself from purchases. (so we hope it is a girl) We ordered a bed from a place in Jackson, which should arrive in late April or early May. We are working on getting the room cleaned up. We were using that room for scrapbooking, and it looked like Michael's had exploded in it. Once we get that all cleaned up and things moved to the computer room, we will start painting.

Anyway, we are very excited, and welcome all interested people to send lots of advice, words of wisdom, and, of course, MONEY!!!

Well, that's that, and that's that. Hopefully more regular updates are on the way!

Kristie and Wes