Friday, March 28, 2003

Another Little Monkey

For those of you who have not yet heard, Kendra and I are having a baby. :) The due date is October 21, 2003. These are exciting times, indeed. :-D

Kendra apparently is a carrier for cystic fibrosis, so I was recently tested. Thankfully, I am not a carrier, and thus, our child will be C.F. free (although there is a 50% chance of baby being a carrier. Please consult your Punnet Squares for possibilities.)



The Countless Days of SPX

I've been working at SPX for about five months now. The original contract was for six months, and it would have meant that it ended at the end of April (Friday, May 2nd, actually.) However, as the project I am working on has a scheduled release date in mid-July, they want to extend my contract until the end of June (it takes about two weeks for their testing/release process.) It is likely that I will continue until that time.

They have mentioned the desire to hire me as a full time employee after my contract. Although I am pleased with many aspects of this company, it is unlikely that I will take this position. As I am unwilling to commute, and they are unwilling to allow telecommuting, the only remaining option would be for us to move closer to Kalamazoo. A move is always a possibility and SPX is willing to compensate us for the move, but if we are going to move, I'd rather really make it count and go out of state (like Redmond, Washington.) And, of course, my karate school is in downtown Ann Arbor, so attending class would become a huge pain in the butt. And, since Kendra's job is in Ann Arbor, I suspect she might not be too excited to move away. Although, the cost of living is much cheaper in K-zoo, and it might be possible for Kendra to work at home, or just take care of baby. Still, I think it is most likely that I will try to find something closer to home. :)

Karate tournament this Saturday. I've taken several private lessons and have developed a routine with dual nunchuckus; it should be really cool. During the little practice session we had last Saturday, I got a round of applause from the spectators. :-D

In other Karate news, I am now officially one of the assistant instructors. Essentially, there is a program called SWAT (Special Winning Attitude Team) that certain students were invited to join. These monthly meetings are geared to help develop leadership and teaching skills, as well as help with karate skills. One of the options is to help with different classes. Since I always go to the 1:30 class on Saturdays, I volunteered to help at the 12:45 class. My first time was last Saturday, and I had a good time. I knew that the instructors were patient, but I only realized how endlessly patient they are after watching how the main instructor handled the inattentive little children for the entire 45 minute class. Amazing. :) So, I received a red SWAT member shirt to wear while assisting. Yay! :-D

In other news, I finished the heart blanket I was working on. I will post a picture of it here when I upload it.
Picture will be here when I upload it

Also, there was something amusing I noticed the first day at my new appartment that I meant to mention, but kept forgetting about. Below, you will find the exciting picture.
Fun and exciting pic will be here soon