Wow - I haven't posted in my blog for half a year... I've been busy! Listen to my podcast to learn what I've been doing.

Looks like I'm long overdue in updating the journal. I've put the house on the market, but I'm not sure when it will sell. It's a buyer's market down in Austin, so we'll just have to see. Hopefully, the fact that there's the new grade school just six blocks away will help convince a family to buy.

I flew to Topeka last weekend, and it was really great to see Rebbie, Kenny & Bri. We looked at a couple of townhomes, but haven't found something we all really like. I've been re-assuring Kenny & Bri that we really are going to have a place all our own, and to be patient.

I really miss them when I'm down here, but it's just the way things are for the present. Hopefully this will be changing sooner than later.

Headed to Topeka again on Saturday. Rebbie & I are going to be in court all day Monday, May 2nd. We've both grown concerned because the guardians ad litem appear to have already made up their minds after talking with the dads. Neither guardian as made an effort to contact me, which is frustrating and disappointing. Rebbie is unhappy, and the kids are both worried that they won't be able to come to Texas.

It's in God's hands. As difficult as it is for all of us, we have to trust in His plan for our family.

More news when I get back on Tuesday.

Today, my friends Chris & Karen were married. Chris and I worked together at MessageOne before he started his own graphics and marketing company, MagDesign, last year. Word on the street (and from Chris himself) is that his business is enjoying some well-earned success.

Chris met Karen in 2003, when he was living at his apartment. She lived across the way in another part of the apartment complex, and she always had a special interest in Chris (or, at least, so it seemed to me, anyway). About two years ago, he confided that he'd started seeing her and shortly thereafter, he and Karen invited me along with their other friends to North-by-Northwest for their informal "coming-out" party. I remember telling Karen not to break Chris's heart, and telling Chris not to let her get away. Seems that they followed that advice!

So today, I'm very happy for the two of them. It's been great watching their lives come together and grow.

The only thing that would have made today perfect would be to have had my wife & kids here at their wedding. Soon, I hope, that will become reality.

Congratulations, Karen & Chris.

Well, what a relief! I've got my car back!! I was fearing it would be several hundred dollars, but it turns out that it was a bad battery. Apparently the battery in my 5-year-old car had cracked (and for quite some time, according to the service department), and it finally died on the way home from Topeka. Because the car's system voltage was under-powered, it was messing up the in-dash computer, and wreaking havoc on the car's engine & transmission. After replacing the battery, everything is pretty much back to normal. I'm still getting some "hissing" noises when the car is first started up, but it quickly subsides after a minute or two.

The lease on the car is about up (expires in August '05), and the tires and brakes are probably due to be replaced anyway. Time to start looking and some new transportation, I guess.

I'm back! It was really great being with Rebbie, the kids and the rest of her family. The best part of the trip for me was being able to take the kids to school every morning and pick them up in the afternoons. One afternoon, I went to get Bri and waited outside her home room as I'd done most ot the week. At 3:30, the bell rang and the kids started coming out of the classroom. Normally Bri is among the first, but on that day I hadn't seen her come out. After several minutes, I wondered if her dad, Ron, had already picked her up before class had let out. I was about to go to the office to inquire when Bri's best friend, Lauren walked out of the classroom with one of her girl-friends. I asked Lauren if Bri was still in the room, to which she replied she was. I thanked Lauren and she and her friend continued walking. I then heard her friend ask who I was. Lauren answered, "That's Brianna's daddy. He's really nice!"

That made me feel warm & fuzzy...

We also had the custody hearings on March 2nd as planned, and the judge agreed to appoint two guardians ad litem for Kenny & Brianna. Now they'll have a voice in the custody hearings. They've both asked Rebbie & me repeatedly why no one was listening to what they've been saying, so when we told K & B that now they'll both have someone who are their representatives in court, they were very happy. We told both of them that they can tell the guardians exactly what their wishes are, and the guardians will speak up for them. The next hearing is set for May 2nd, so I'm already planning my next trip to Topeka.

Getting back home was a hassle. Just south of Oklahoma city, my car starting giving me trouble. I couldn't accelerate quickly, and I lost momentum going up hills. If I tried to accelerate, the car made "slapping" noises, and slowed down. I continued to nurse it along through DFW and feared that if I stopped, I wouldn't be able to restart it. UGH!!! I finally stopped the car in south Fort Worth, adding some gas treatment (because I'd just filled up north of Oklahoma City, and wondered if I'd gotten some tainted gas), then topped off the tank. The car started up again, but with squealing noises I'd never heard before. Figuring I'd gotten something on the belts while I had the hood up, I limped back onto I-35 and headed south. As I got close to home, the car finally just gave up on me. Fortunately, it was just north of Georgetown, only a few miles from home. I called a tow truck and a friend who came to take me the rest of the way home.

Today, the car is in the shop, and I'm dreading the phone call from them. It's probably going to be an expensive repair. In the meantime, my buddy is letting me drive his pickup until I hear from the shop.

It's good to be back home... sort of.

Regrettably, I can't travel to Topeka to be with Rebbie on Valentine's day, but I've ordered a nice arrangement of roses to be delivered to her. I'll be sure to call her, too, to give her my love.

I hope we can resolve the child custody issues soon, so we can finally all be together here. Hopefully, we get these matter resolved soon. Rebbie & I will be headed to custody and child-support hearings on March 2nd to finally begin the process. It seems to me, though, that Kenny's & Bri's dads aren't putting their children's interests first, but rather their own.

Rebbie & I are going to try to get guardians ad litem appointed to Kenny and Brianna, so that their voices are represented in court. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Okay, I've put it off long enough. I need to get back to work on the family website. The trouble I'm having is that between the tools I'm using and what I want to accomplish, I'm running up against some tough problems. I know that there's a new version of RapidWeaver coming, so I haven't made up my mind whether to publish the site now, or wait for the new version that will do what I know is coming.

Being a beta-release tester for Realmac Software has its upsides and downsides. Knowing what's coming is a double-edged sword for me. But after weighing everything, I think I'll continue with the work and publish it when RapidWeaver 3.1 is finally released.

Haven't had much time to work on the website the past couple of weeks. I've been too busy shopping! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, but it's also unlikely the website will be ready for a Christmas unveiling.

Oh, well.

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of Christmas. I can barely wait to see the kids faces when they open their presents. Of course, Rebbie's got a couple of nice surprises coming, too!

As part of the redesign of this website, I've added a weblog ("blog") that will be updated with current musings, comments, and observations. I don't anticipate that this will be anything profound, but it should give visitors a little insight as to what's going on in our world.