Day 27... The CPAP Machine

So... if you have been following the blog, you know that I went for a sleep study a couple of weeks ago.  Well, turns out I wake up about every 30 seconds because of an apnea (stop breathing).  So, when I think that I have slept for 8 hours, I really have only slept about half of that time.  For the past couple of nights I have gotten to sleep with my own CPAP machine.  I have to put water in the machine (to create some humidity and not dry myself out) and then attach a tube that connects my mask to the machine.  There is a little air pillow on my mask that fits up on my nose and basically forces air through my nose and down my throat.  It keeps my throat open so that I don't snore and I don't stop breathing.  I am still getting used to the feeling of having something on my face all night and air blowing into my nose, but I am sleeping a lot more!  I am sleeping better than I have slept in years and I am not getting nearly as tired during the day!

Day 26... Things That Make Me Smile

Some things that made me smile today:

1.  Being out of the office and on the road again (even for just a short trip down to Ennis and back)

2.  Meds (always a good thing)

3.  Pasta from Market Street

4.  Michael Jackson's This Is It on Blu-Ray!

If you know me even just a little bit, you probably know how number 4 really made my day!  Michael Jackson was/is one of my favorite artists ever.  In my eyes, no one can top the man that was Michael Jackson.  He was legendary, absolutely one of the most talented people to ever walk this planet.  I went to see This Is It on opening night (call me a nerd all you want).  I can't wait to watch it again this weekend with Lana!

Day 25... There's an App for That!

They're not lying... there's an app for EVERYTHING!  After hearing about the guy in Haiti surviving in the rubble for days thanks to an iPhone app, I am truly amazed at just how much there is out there for the iPhone!  Since Lana got an iPhone this weekend, we have been playing with the App Store, non-stop.  As always, I only download free apps, unless I absolutely love it, then I might consider buying the full version.  Lana found this latest app... Lego turns any of your photos into Lego mosaics.  Kids will love it and adults that are easily amused (such as myself) will enjoy it too.

Day 24... A New Cover

So I got a new cover for my iPhone... do you like it!?  Haha... no Lana was so excited to get a new cover for her new iPhone, so I had to take a picture.  I think she said something about trying out for The Real Housewives of DFW...

Day 23... Welcome to The iPhone Cult Baby!

Lana finally joined the cult today!  We all welcomed her with open arms!  We went to the AT&T store this afternoon and purchased Lana her very first iPhone.  The Blackberry (that she LOVED) was finally coming to the end of its life with our family.  It did not go to where all good Blackberries go, because it didn't actually die.  We decided to put it up for adoption and we were so lucky to have a friend in need that gladly accepted our old friend!  You see, our friend that was in need... well, let's just say that Zach Morris finally got his cell phone back from her.  She stole it from him in 1995 and was not giving it back!  She was SO excited to get her new phone, and we were SO excited for her.  So, Lana, welcome to the iPhone world.  Jodie, welcome to 2010!  :)

Day 22... Top Down

January 22nd and the top of the convertible was down!  I love when the weather is nice enough to take the top down!  It was about 72 degrees here on Friday... crazy considering all the snow we had at the end of December and how cold it was at the beginning of January.  I LOVE cold weather, but after becoming the owner of a convertible... I LOVE the warm weather even more!

Day 21... Broken

Last night, Lana and I went and bought a new scale.  Our old one was a dial scale... nothing too high tech.  We decided we wanted one of those fancy ones that tell you Body Fat and Water Weight and all that stuff.  I find myself asking why in the world I would want to know those things, but we decided that is what we wanted.  We were excited to get it out and test it out, and when we opened the box, the dang thing was broken!  I get so frustrated by opening damaged merchandise.  I am sure someone returned it to Target, and told them, "Oh, nothing's wrong with it, we just decided on something else."  So Target took someone's word that there was nothing wrong with it and put it back on the shelf.  Come on people, we know the world is not an honest place!  Sure, take it back and then when the people leave, check it out... save me the time of having to return it and buy a new one!

Day 20... Pizza the Hut

Last night, Lana was going to make chili for dinner.  She didn't feel well.  There were storms all around.  Pizza sounded perfect, so we stopped and got pizza from Pizza Hut.  It made me think of watching one of the greatest movies of all time, Spaceballs.  Pizza the Hut was one of the characters... it was absolutely disgusting to see this character on screen... even if you LOVE pizza, you would be repulsed.  I love how the smallest things can trigger cool memories.  Happy memories.

Day 19... It's Not Crossover, It's Country!

I hate it when pop music stations claim that they have a great NEW song by a crossover artist.  They act like they discovered this unheard of talent.  Really!?  I have been listening to Lady Antebellum for what seems like years, and now this music station in Dallas is getting all excited and playing country music and calling it crossover.  I really kind of wish Shania had never done the whole crossover thing... country music is country music... if you like it, you like it.  I don't understand why some people feel like it is okay to listen to country if a dj calls it crossover but only after it is called crossover.  Regardless of your feeling towards country music... Lady Antebellum is one of the greatest country music groups ever... they can't record a bad song!  Whether you hear it on a country station or on a pop station... ENJOY!

Day 18... It's That Time Again

That time of year has come again.  The time of year when I cringe as I drive down the road and see the desecration of some of our country's most beloved symbols.  Tax time.  The person dressed as the Statue of Liberty isn't even a woman!  When did national symbols of liberty and patriotism become synonymous with getting your tax refund in less than 30 minutes?!  I personally think it is sad.  I don't think that our symbols should be used in that way.  I understand that these places need cheap advertisement, but dressing as a gorilla would get them the same amount of exposure and would leave far less of a bad taste in my mouth.  I'm just saying.

Day 17... Trades Days... err... Trades Day... ummm TRADE DAYS!

So, I have lived in North Texas for almost 5 years now.  I have become part of the massive throngs of people that make the trek to First Monday Trade Days in Canton and Third Monday Trade Days in McKinney.  I even know that Trade Days is not open on Mondays as you might believe, the first and third thing is to indicate which weekend Trade Days is open... the weekend before the first Monday or the third Monday.  I know... doesn't make a lot of sense.

For five years, FIVE YEARS, I have heard people refer to these events by many different names... Canton, First Monday, Trade Days, Trades Days, Trades Day, McKinney Trade Days, McKinney Trades Days... you get the picture.  My biggest pet peeve is when people call things by the wrong name... or when they write things down the wrong way, for example, I teach teachers to use SMART Boards... NOT Smartboards, SMARTBoards, Smart Boards.  So when people call it Trades Day, Trades Days or any variation of... it rattles my cage.  I never say anything, because who wants to be the rude guy that corrects the person?  So, here on the internet, where I can say pretty much anything I want, because let's face it, you're at my blog, I am going to tell you that it is Trade Days.  The only plural in the phrase is Days.  Period, end of discussion, quit calling it the wrong thing.  I took a photo of one of the many signs to prove my point!  :)

Day 16... Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head

Anyone that knows me, knows about my Mr. Potato Head Collection.  I have nearly 100!  It all started about 3 years ago when I took my first teaching job in Texas.  I had two Mr. Potato Heads at the time.  One was from our honeymoon to Walt Disney World... we thought it would be a fun souvenir, it was but it had no place in our house.  The other was Darth Tater... I thought it was so funny when I saw it... the name got me!  So in my classroom, there are two Mr. Potato Heads, and there the collection started.  My kids LOVED giving me Mr. Potato Heads.  I have Mr. Potato Heads for almost every holiday, about 7 or 8 from the Star Wars franchise, two Transformers, an Indiana Jones and even Mr. Potato Head as Gene Simmons from Kiss!  It is a fun collection and I can't help but to stop and admire when I see Mr. Potato Head somewhere.  In fact, this summer there was a store window for Barney's New York that featured Mr. Potato Head.  I had to stop and take a picture.  I definitely miss being able to display all of my collection now that I am not in a classroom!

Day 15... Sleep, Snore, Sleep Some More.

HAHAHA... I know that you are all cracking up at this picture... I did too when I looked at it.  Last night I had to have a sleep study.  The doctors think I have sleep apnea... I stop breathing in my sleep.  So... I had to go sleep in the hospital.  The bed was comfortable, a king!  I had 19 attachments throughout the night.  All but four of the attachments monitored my breathing/snoring/non-breathing.  The other four were, 2 attached to an EKG and 2 to monitor my leg movements.  After about 2 hours of restless sleep, the technician came in and woke me up to tell me that I had met all the criteria of someone with sleep apnea and that she would be hooking me up to a CPAP machine.  Basically, to force air through my nose and keep my airway open.  I am a mouth breather... so it was fun trying to get adjusted to breathing through my nose.  Once I finally got used to the machine, I fell asleep and slept better than I have in years!  I had the most vivid dream... it was crazy!  I never have dreams because I never get that far into sleep.  I don't think I even know what it is like to be fully rested.  I am excited about getting my own CPAP machine and sleeping better!

Day 14... Not Much Going On.

So the only new photo on my iPhone for Day 14 is this one.  Thought it would be a cool wallpaper... turns out I don't really like it.  Oh well...

Day 13... That's Why They Call Them Wal-Martians!

This picture has not been doctored in anyway.  I pulled up to a Wal-Mart right of the George Bush Turnpike in Plano today, and this was what was parked in front of me.  Had to get a picture... who drives a little green car and has a plate that says Booger?!  I even tried to hunt the person down while I was in Wal-Mart.  No luck... there were definitely some contenders for the title of "Booger," not sure just who Booger is though.  Funny.

Day 12... Crazy Dogs!

Our dogs have their own room in our new house.  We suspect that this would be where you would enter from the garage had our house been designed with a rear entry garage, so it is this room between our kitchen and bedroom.  Perfect room for the little doggies that can't be trusted to roam free all day.  I submit exhibit A above, this is the reason that they can't be trusted to roam free!  Zoe, our Dachshund, loves this bed, but she and Jake decided that it would be fun to pull out all the stuffing yesterday.  Fun mess to clean up!

Day 11... Oh What a Beautiful Morning!

This morning when Lana and I walked outside to get in our cars and head to work, this is the site we saw!  How amazingly beautiful the morning was... you can even see the tiny crescent moon towards the top right of the picture.  How can your day not be great when it starts on such a beautiful note!?

On another note... it has been really cold here for the last 5 or so days.  So cold, that the fountains have all frozen!  This one is outside of Maggiano's in Plano.  I have driven past it for about a week and just marvelled at the fact that it was frozen, yesterday the temps were in the 40's and it did not thaw!  Today the temps are supposed to be up in the 50's so I thought I should take a picture before it thaws out!  I love the cold weather!

Day 10... It's About Time!

We moved the week of Thanksgiving, and have been going, going, going ever since!  It still feels like we haven't had a chance to just sit down and breathe... between the many Christmases, New Year's, Trade Days and Lana's Birthday we have been busy people!

Tonight we finally took all of the random boxes from moving and Christmas to Kerri's apartment complex and threw it all away in the Dumpsters (did you know Dumpster was a proper noun and thus should be capitalized?).  I think... just maybe, we will be able to get two cars in our two car garage now that all of that is out of the garage!  Yay for progress!

Day 9... A Bit Disappointing.

Sorry... I neglected my picture taking duties today.  It was a good day, for the most part.  I just didn't take a picture.  So now, as I sit here taking in the Cowboys victory over the Eagles and prepare for bed, this is what I have for you... the Blogger screen where I create my posts.  Goodnight.

Day 8... The Big 3-0!

Day 8 was Lana's 30th birthday... I woke her up with confetti in the shape of 30's, as well as her blinking 30 pin, her 30 Mardi Gras beads and her Over The Hill party hat.  She was a good sport and wore her items to school... and to dinner (minus the hat).  I got her a Coach purse for her birthday, which she loved (can you tell??).  When she got to school, her teammates and the entire 5th grade were wearing all black, a friend had decorated her classroom, and her room moms had gotten cupcakes for her whole class.  We went to dinner at Lana's favorite restaurant... and when we got there, about 15 of her friends from work, church and even college were there.  All in all I think she had a great 30th birthday... it was fun to celebrate with the love of my life!

Day Seven... The Whistling Waiter!

One of mine and Lana's great friends, Jodie, took us to dinner tonight to celebrate Lana's birthday.  We ended up getting to sit at the table with a waiter that had waited on Jodie and her daughter Darbie before.  As he walked away the first time Jodie started to tell us the story of how this waiter whistled anytime he was not talking... and just as she began to tell the story, he started whistling... very funny.

We told the waiter that it was Lana's birthday, and he came back with a huge piece of tin foil... you should have seen the look on Lana's face.  She was not excited about whatever was going to happen.  Turns out the whistling waiter is a man of many talents.  Below is the finished product of his tin foil creation.  Needless to say, the tin foil was a hit!

Day 6... better late than never!

Last night was the night.  It finally started.  The end of Christmas.  I hate taking down the Christmas decorations... absolutely hate it, so while Lana went up to our office to start taking decorations off of one of our 3 trees, I layed on the couch and played Bejeweled on my iPhone.  I just can't bring myself to say goodbye to Christmas.  I guess January 6th is as good a day as any to start taking it down and packing it away for next year.  Only 351 days until next Christmas which means only like 325 days until I can start unpacking!  :)

Day Five... They call it commuting!

"They call it commuting."  One of my favorite places in the world is Walt Disney World in Florida.  One of the attractions there is called "Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress."  My dad and I share this as our absolute favorite place in the parks.  Walt worked on this project for the 1964 World's Fair.  It chronicles the life of an American family in the 20th century and it's all about progress.  In one scene the "Father" talks about cars and how people are doing this new thing, "It's called commuting."  He marvels at the idea of someone driving any distance into a big city for their job and then driving back and doing it all over again the next day.  Pretty funny when you think about today.

Last fall I took a job with a company and my office is about 25 miles from my house... my commute grew by A LOT, from about 3.5 miles!  I really enjoy commuting, it gives me time to think, time to sing at the top of my lungs, and a lot of time to talk to my dad.

At the end of every scene on The Carousel of Progress, Father says, "And that's progress..." and then breaks out into song...  "There's a great big beautiful tomorrow, shining at the end of every day, there's a great big beautiful tomorrow, and tomorrow's just a dream away."

Day Four... late again!

Lana's grandparents bought us a Wii for Christmas... a few weeks later at another Christmas, Lana's dad and step-mom gave us a Wii Fit.  We then went out and bought The Biggest Loser game for our Wii.  We have both been having a lot of fun... who doesn't love a little competition between married people!?  Ask me in a few weeks if we still like the Christmas gifts!

Day Three... moving right along!

Tonight Lana asked to go to Half Price Books... an old favorite haunt of mine.  I used to LOVE book stores... I guess I still love them, but for me they have lost some of their former luster.  Last fall I invested in a Kindle... and I LOVE it.  Traveling a lot requires that I pack light... learned that lesson the hard way!  When I went to Europe this summer I took three books with me and finished them all... and I was in such a remote area that I could not buy any books written in English!  The Kindle was an obvious choice to rectify the problem.  So now I read and download books on my Kindle... I have moved into this new millennium and am adjusting well!

Day Two... a day late!

Day two of this New Year saw our last Christmas celebration of the season with Lana's family.  Her sister Alicia, her husband Denny and our two nephews, Connor and Cameron joined us in Dallas ahead of their Dad, Step-Mom, sister London and brother Andrew.  We spent the afternoon going to see Ice! again at the Gaylord Texan resort.  We had previously gone with my family during Christmas week.  It was LOTS of fun the second time around, -4 degrees in Texas is something else!

After Ice! we drove back to Frisco and Lana's mom and step-dad and another brother Cole, joined the rest of the crew at Buca di Beppo to celebrate Lana's birthday... a little early.  Her birthday is the 8th, but this was the first time in a long time that her whole family was together in one place at one time near her birthday... so why not?!  Celebrate!

Day One... and day 365 of 2009

Last night Lana and I were invited over to celebrate New Year's Eve with some friends from church.  Kerri, Lana's sister, went with us also.  We had a blast and enjoyed some great food... our friend Brent is not, but needs to be a chef... his dishes are amazing.  The picture above shows the various flatbreads he made for us last night... they were great!

Tonight we spent the evening playing Lego Rock Band on the Playstation 3.  Singing is my brother-in-law Kyle (who would die if he know I posted this, so we will keep that our little secret!)  On drums is my nephew Cameron, and on the guitar is my other nephew Connor.  Kerri is sitting in the leather chair taking it all in before she joined in on the microphone.  This is a house full of talent folks, let me tell you!  We had a blast, what a great way to start a fabulous new year!

I hope you enjoy following along with me as I chronicle a year in my life through pictures.