So you all know now that Owen has come. I'll post some new pics soon. You also know about some of the results of Owen, like the minivan. A while back, loyal long-time reader Carolyn sent along a hilarious little video, and I had meant to post it a few weeks back but somehow neglected to do so. It's really a good one and she deserves the credit. Here it is: Mom My Ride. Check it out, since it's definitely worth it.
I've been enjoying the new Battlestar Galactica on SciFi, but I must say, there's still definitely something to be said for the original. I'm watching a couple of episodes on one of the Christian/family channels, you know, the ones that show the re-runs of "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman", "Highway to Heaven", and "Walker, Texas Ranger". It's great to see the old ones, especially since I was a HUGE fan when I was a little kid. Some of the first space toys I remember playing with were Battlestar Galactica toys. (Star Wars toys were the other.) Lorne Green as Adama...I can still hear "Alpo time...Alpo time...HA HA!!"
So I'm very, very tired, but last week was a WONDERFUL week. It was really nice to get a great week after having so many not-so-good ones. First, of course, was Owen's great birthday, on Palm Sunday, on April Fools' Day. We thought the last one was particularly apropos, considering how much trouble he gave us along the way. Even the end was quite deceiving. We spent 22 hours at the hospital (9:00 pm Saturday through 7:03 pm Sunday, his time of birth), with Owen fighting us the whole way, so that he could finally decide to cooperate a mere hour and a half before his birth, and so that Heidi could push him out in a mere five minutes after starting to push.
We've all been pretty tired as we all try to adjust to the new schedule (in other words, Owen's schedule). We're doing very well, though, especially Heidi. She is truly at her best now, being a mommy, being with Owen. She has an amazing amount of patience with him, even when he's screaming at the top of his lungs. Owen is a beautiful little boy, and everyone tells us how cute he is. His cries, however, don't match his physical cuteness. Some babies have cute little sad cries, but Owen's is the really nerve-wracking, nails-on-chalkboard sound that some babies can conjure up. Many times it's difficult for me to stay calm, but Heidi does it with an amazing amount of grace, making it look so easy.
I was off work tending to family matters Monday through Wednesday, of course; let me tell you, that whole not-going-to-work thing could really get addicting. However, Thursday I couldn't miss, however, as I had a presentation to make at a local information security conference. That was a bit overwhelming, as I hadn't spoken to a large group in quite some time. I had over 50 folks in my session, a nice little hour-long talk on the basics of security incident handling and forensic analysis. The talk went very well, as did the conference, and so again, it was another good day. One of the Root Group's sales guys sat in and said he heard a few other folks say favorable things about my presentation. I admit, I was concerned, as all the other folks speaking had titles like "CEO" or "Founder" or "National Director" or "Chief Information Security Officer for the State of Colorado" or the like. As a lowly engineer, it was definitely humbling to be in such company.
Finally, Friday capped the week off very well. As most of you know, I've been looking for another job. There are lots of reasons for this, but the most important is that I need to get back to doing serious security work again. I had a line on a job with a company that has a 5-year contract with the Federal government. This job has a lot to offer. I would get a security clearance, which is a great thing to have in my line of work, as you might imagine. I also get to go back to war, doing serious, hands-on, technical security work like I want to do. I get to rejoin the fight, and I'm really looking forward to it. I actually got the offer a few weeks back, and all that stood between me and setting a start date was getting the usual amount of government paperwork done (i.e., several pages of in-depth background information to dig up and fill out BY HAND, with signatures on many pages) and passing a fingerprint-based nationwide background check. I finally got the word Friday afternoon that I had passed and that we were good to go.
Again, a very good week.
The weekend was good, too, and finished off with a wonderful Easter day. We went to church as you might expect, and it was a great service. Owen got his first blessing during Communion, and the message was excellent. What a wonderful day of celebration, emerging from Lent into the beauty of Easter. We celebrate the resurrection of Christ today, knowing that despite the world's continuing persecution of Christians around the globe, we are saved and through the body and blood of Jesus Christ, we will have victory. God bless you all on this wonderful day.
Thanks for reading along.
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