Family Ties

Crazy Aunt Patti has a point... we talk a lot about food. I had this conversation with my mom not so long ago. When your family and friends are distanced across America, Family is Celebration and celebration is food. I imagine that families with foreign bank accounts like to reminisce about their extended relatives whist having a jolly good game of Polo or sloshing about the Mediterranean on "Chauncey" their 160-foot yacht. My point being, that when you have the means and the abilities to do such outings, then you do such things.

But when your family gathers, what do they do?
I recently spent a too-short-of-time visit with my new family-by-marriage over the 4th of July holiday this year. The Lummus(es) (and Brands) are great. I got lucky finding someone as perfect as Lilah, but God must have really been in a generous mood to give me Charlie and Melinda, Charity and Lori, not to mention the new extended family (in the feminine alphabetical order, where applicable): Aunt Charlene & Bill, Aunt Cynthia & Tom, Aunt Debbie & Tim, Aunt Katherine, Aunt Liz and Chris, Aunt Mary Jean (haven’t met her husband yet), Aunt Sandy & Steve, and Uncle Billy (haven’t met his wife), most of whom were at the family reunion barbeque and/or at our wedding.

Honestly, what do you do with 30 some-odd people in one place? Feed ‘em or give them Wrestle-mania tickets, I say.

The Troxel family hasn’t had a reunion since we lived in Missouri, though a couple of Funerals have brought us together at various times. Dennis (that’s Dad), Marty (that’s Mom), Aunt Linda and her son Steve and Daughter Sheryl, are about all that’s left. Bob and Martha, Grandparents on my dad’s side, passed several years ago now and they’re both greatly missed not only for their familial presence, but also for the ability to gather the family into a central location for the holidays.

The Brickers, my mother-sided family, has even fewer left: the ever-popular Crazy Aunt Patti and a distanced cousin Manly. Cousin Jeremy died in his twentys. Grandpa Herb died while I was in the army. My grandmother died when childhood memory is still fuzzy and included oxygen tanks and a house in Florida with an Avocado tree in the back yard and lizards on the fence. I think there are Bricker ties left in various East coast states, but I haven’t met the majority (read “any”) of them and wouldn’t recognize them in passing. However, what we lack in volume we make up in quality: Aunt Patti is the best and I’ll challenge any man to step forward who says otherwise. Harrumph.

Pretty soon there will be new additions to the Bricker/Brand/Lummus/Troxel family tree branches, and if I have my way plenty of them. (Okay, you caught me, Brand should have come before Bricker, but how cool does “Bricker-Brand” sound, huh?!?) Even Charity has a steady Beau now; Lori is married and of course Lilah and I want a brood! (yes mom(s), we’ll be getting started soon).

Maybe one of these days we’ll all gather together in one Mega Smack-down Wrestle Mania Style reunion. Maybe we’ll gather around a big steaming plate of tofu and Broccoli… or maybe not.

To all our family: We don’t see you enough, We don’t call you enough, and We don’t write you enough! But I’ll guarantee you that we miss and love you enough!
:jnl

I guess I'll have to use a Thousand Words...

So, I've tried over the past couple of days to post some more pictures for everyone to see.

No Such Luck.

I would like to take this time to officially complain to the blogspot people on how difficult they have made an easy process. I don't know why the picture insertion routine goes through the entire (and lengthy) process of downloading the photo I have pointed to if I'm already out of room--if that's the reason this isn't working.

So that's my vent... the system is not working as advertised and it's not telling me why it's not working. Just no pictures.

Otherwise, it's a busy week! Monday and Tuesday night were grocery shopping. No, normally I try not to use two nights for shopping, but I got called into work on Monday evening, thus shortening my shopping time; Tuesday was the wrap up. Wednesday (last night) was Trap shooting. Our little group has been trying our luck with the single-shot continental setting, which throws the pigeons in the traditional 160-ish degree arc, but also throws them and different elevations at a higher rate of speed. I like to think that traditional Trap settings are very much like Duck and Goose hunting where birds set their wings and arc into you whereas continental setting is more like pheasant, quail, or grouse hunting where birds spook from the brush and rush in any number of different directions at different heights and speeds.

Tonight I will be heading to Seattle to meet up with my buddy Tristan who is down from Alaska. I was going to post a picture of him for everyone so that they could remember who he was from Lilah and my wedding down in Texas; he was one of my groomsmen. He's in town for some high tech turbo-gen research stuff that his employer, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, is backing. Basically he does the real engineer's Engineering and I'm flat out jealous. Lilah and I will be having dinner with him and catching up on his glamorous life. :)

Tomorrow night is dinner with the Stewarts! What great peeps Chelsea and Aaron are! The picture of the completely adorable black Schnauzer from the "Some Pictures and Thoughts" post is their dog, Bode. He and Calla are great playmates and in fact, that's half the fun of spending time with them. Too, Chelsea and Aaron are great cooks, which makes them fabulous friends indeed! Aaron and I work together here in the Noise and Vibration group at the Shipyard and Chelsea is a nurse in the Cardiac unit at the local hospital. We'll try to get some pictures of them so that you all can meet and greet!

Saturday night is the Sauby's dog's friends' gathering. Ha! Okay, it's really Cooper's (that's their dog--a giant of a German Sheppard) 1st birthday, but the Saubys are celebrating their German Heritage Oktoberfest Style in conjunction with Cooper's birthday as one big Brat-tober-festival Extraordinaire. I can't wait! We'll get pictures from this, too, and hopefully figure out a way to get them posted to the blog.

Sunday is... hmmm, I think we can actually stop and rest (after church and Sunday school of course) on Sunday... OR MAYBE we'll be going to dinner at Wendy's house!

Take care everyone and we'll try to keep you updated.

:jnl

Ode to a Genius

A friend of mine emailed me one of those tidbits that just cause you to burst out laughing, especially when you're not supposed to burst out laughing... like at work.

I don't think he wrote it and I don't know the author, but whomever s/he was, s/he was a genius! So, to show my appreciation of their brilliant prose, I unabashedily post it here for you all to enjoy.

A Dog Diary

5:30am: Started the day as a hero! When the sound of the newspaper hitting the driveway roused me from my deep slumber-- the impact indicating the paper was much heavier than normal -- I realized that no one in the house was yet awake! I roused my master by licking him in the face. He appeared very angry with himself for having overslept, shouting and waving his arms. His ill temper even seemed directed at me a bit, which is silly since it is I who saved him from being fired. Funny thing though: he didn't go into work, but spent the morning leafing through the large newspaper and drinking coffee. He seems to do this once a week, and I don't know why.

7:30am: Invaders! The people who live next door came out into their yard, obviously getting ready to lay siege to our house. Snarling and barking, I let them know in no uncertain terms that I was prepared to tear them from limb to limb if they came any closer, and was able to repel the invasion. This is an almost daily occurrence; you'd think they'd learn. My master added his voice to the fray as well, yelling angrily. I am sure the people couldn't hear him, but it was nice of him to lend his support.

10:00am: I was forced to move, as the patch of sun in which I was lying had, for some reason, slid over a few feet. It's not easy being a dog.

1:00pm: I have the most thoughtful master in the world! While it's true he left me alone in the house for several hours, he did set out a treat for me on the kitchen counter. It was even gift-wrapped, a courtesy I wish he'd skipped, since it led to me having a lot of plastic in my teeth. The roast was delicious, though frozen in the center. I don't want to seem ungrateful, but crunching through two inches of rock-hard beef is hardly my idea of a delicacy.

2:00pm: Most unpleasant experience when my master returned home and was furious that I had not eaten the plastic wrap that had been covering my present. He kept pointing at the small pieces of Styrofoam and other debris and raving in a most irrational fashion. I'm sorry, but he should know that I can't eat that stuff; it makes my stomach upset. When he began rolling up a newspaper I realized he'd lost all reason and bolted for the front door, which was fortunately open just a crack.

4:00pm: Spent the afternoon with the girls. A most productive day; I was able to mark territory for two blocks. "Drip 'til you drop" is our motto. We had a small snack at an outdoor cafe we like, with meat scraps and bread served out of circular containers with easily displaced lids. Ran into that rogue Sebastian, who lifted his leg with irritating nonchalance -- does he think I don't know about his obsession with Muffy, that snotty schnauzer from down the road? Last month there wasn't a male in the neighborhood who couldn't be found outside her fence, and Sebastian was at the head of the pack. I let him know I want nothing more to do with him.

5:00pm: What a treat! On the way home a flock of ravens drew my attention to a squirrel that had been flattened by an automobile. After several days in the sun, the aroma was so delicious it made my nose quiver. I rolled in the wondrous fragrance for several minutes, and when I stood up I positively radiated eau de roadkill. Let Sebastian drool over Muffy -- he doesn't know what he's missing.

6:00pm: Of all the times to get a bath! My master, still in a foul mood, made me stand outside in the chill air while he shampooed and rinsed me several times. Every time I shook the water from my fur he, too, became drenched, and in the end he was shivering. Why in the world does he do stuff like this?

9:00pm: Time to sleep, though I am not allowed on the bed whenever anyone's home. Ah, the life of a dog.

It's a Dog's Life

Well, our first show was a good experience. We came home with 4 ribbons, but zero points. The breed only had two dogs show, both of which were bitches and both were bred by my breeder with her showing the other bitch. With only two dogs in the ring there is only 1 point to award, and well, the other bitch looked better. Calla is still a little under weight and her coat was definitely not in its best condition.

But, we had a GREAT time! Yesterday was a show and go, but today after the show we hung around and did some shopping and browsing. I saw that the Whippets had a strong showing... that was the type of dog that I wanted to get and still would like to get as a playmate for Calla. There also were a couple of Italian Greyhounds present... another favorite dog of mine. But, in the end, there just isn't any better dog than a Fox Terrier. Calla is pretty young still, 16 months, and has a great many years of showing left. Dot, the bitch that she was up against, is three years old and this was her first show, too!






Good night.

Some pics and thoughts

Well, an assortment of photos tonight. From the bottom going up:

1st Two: Lilah showing off her spiffy Hawaiian "Tan"
Next Three: Lilah and I on our trip to the top of Diamond Head
Next One: Lilah on the North Shore Near Tutle Bay
Next One: Calla in our back yard
Next One: Bode, one of Calla's playmates
Next Two: Shooting Buddies: Tonya and Charles Together, Jed
Top One: Lilah getting ready for our Anniversary Dinner.

So tomorrow is the big day. I just got done bathing Calla and I'm still soaking wet to prove it. She's not the biggest fan of bathing and due to her coat type we don't bathe her often (this was her second "complete" bathing) and usually only do her legs at grooming. But, she's very excited when bath is done. I think she'll be happy as can be to be out of the house and around all these dogs tomorrow.

In other news, Lilah has been teaching Sunday School to the (early) three year olds for the past cycle (semester? year?). After graduation, the early threes were to go to the late three's class and Lilah was to get a new class coming up. However, two things have happened. One, because of low staffing, they have combined a lot of the age groups together, which acutally ended up giving Lilah two's. The other bit of news is that our new Pastor, Pastor Bandera is looking for a couple to handle the 5 & 6 graders. Given the combination of these two events, Lilah and I have decided that we would like to volunteer to do the 5th and 6th graders. Of course, God might have other plans, but this seems like an ideal opportunity to expand our involvement in our church and also to get more involved with kids. I had also thought of volunteering for the nursery since I happen to love kids, but this just seems like too good an opportunity to pass up, so I'm hoping for the best. We'll keep you posted.

Well, that's about it for tonight. Wish us luck and, of course, we'll fill you in as soon as we get back from the shows.

:jnl

Picture This!

Some photos from the beginning of 2005. In reverse order (from here up):
The two of us on the Port Angelas Ferry to Victoria BC.
Jason the Tourist! Victoria BC.
North Shore Hawaii at Shark's Cove in Early March
Lilah and Jason in Oahu Hawaii, I just picked Lilah up from the Airport for her 1 month Visit!
Lilah in Hawaii showing off her Hottie Hottie Hair-do and her new purse.
Me at the Dukes in Waikiki sporting a buzz and beard.
Lilah and I were at the Arizona Memorial and here she is as we wait for the ferry across.
The United States of America Flag flying over the Arizona Memorial.
Lilah and I in front of a blow hole that was created by a Tsunami up on the North shore of Oahu.

It's a Wireless Life

Some couple of years ago my wife and I made the move to the cellular house hold status. We just up and cut the umbilical cord of telephone servitude and that was that. Or so we thought. Admittedly, "a couple of years" in terms of cell phone technology is a generational difference; but at the time we lived in a low lying area and had spotty coverage at best... In fact there were a good many phone conversations held in the rain on the porch because that was the only sweet spot with cellular reception.

But that did not deter us. Nope, the end result and the final reason that we got a land line again and have kept it wasn't the old and antiquated but rather the new and fanadangled. We switched to DISH network and needed the telephone to communicate with the servers. Ha! go figure... a satellite system that requires a phone line to work. Well, things could have changed since those archaic days 2 years ago...

When we bought our house we brought the DISH with us and the phone line as well. Some months later when I was getting ready to make an extended off site business trip, I made the decision to get an alarm system for my wife's protection as well as both of our mental well being. I did a lot of looking at the big names and in my opinion BRINKS is the best company to deal with. If you would like to talk alarm systems, email me and I'll even give you my personal referral number (for all that will do for you). Come to find out, in order to have an alarm, you have to have a phone. Yes, it can be a cellular phone if you choose to buy the (then) $500 optional cellular system, but that just seemed silly and hey, we were already sporting a landline for the Dish, so why not use it for the alarm too? I mean, it's not as if we ever used our home phone... we both had cellular phones, right?

Apparently that umbilical cord is pretty important after all.

After an unpleasant experience with DISH we got rid of them and went back to Comcast Cable, who generously offered to buy our dish back in exchange for a guaranteed low rate for 18 months that offered more channels and digital service. Amazingly enough, all the cable processing actually happens through the cable lines... no phone cord needed (this hasn't always been true; it used to be that if you wanted to order a movie you had to call a phone number and give them your box ID number, which later progressed to pushing a button on your remote where-upon your cable box made the phone call using your phone line, to today's two-way communication through the 75 ohm coaxial cable that enters your house.)
However, who can have cable in this day and age without TIVO? And Tivo also uses the phone line to update their menus, messages, and software. You can buy some attachments that let you do this through the cable system, but there again, we have the phone line, so why?

Yup, the more we tried to stray away from the phone-line based household the more we got sucked back into it.

So as of yesterday, September 21, 2005 at 12:01pm, we gave up trying to cut the umbilical cord and instead amputated the cell phones! It's true! And looking over our Cell phone bills, I don't really feel that bad about the loss. Nine minutes out of every Ten minutes spent on our cell phones were spent talking to each other. The truth is that we can talk to each other through land lines just as easily as we can with cell phones and we don't have to pay an extra C-note every month to do so. I can think of a half dozen times a week where I need a cell phone... but is that worth the cost of the service versus the inconvenience of just waiting the extra 15 minutes or an hour that it takes to be able to make that phone call on a land line?

Seriously, by the end of one year of having no cell phones we'll have saved the equivalent of an entire house payment, or 2-1/2 car payments, or the airfare plus hotel costs of our New Orleans vacation from last year, or one quarter of our maximum yearly individual Roth IRA donation limits, or just about any of a hundred better uses than being able to be reached absolutely anywhere/anytime.

It's kinda liberating... and kinda scary. I think I need a coffee.

:j

Desperate Housecats

It's true... we recently cat sat for some friends of ours who were on vacation. Two cats here in our house with us and our two cats and our dog. I wouldn't say that these cats were any worse than ours, but only because their owners happen to read our blog... uh, I mean because our cats are just as rambunctous as theirs are. ^_^

But they were really good fun. Here's some photos!









Yup, we're great cat sitters!

So, many of you have left comments on the ole' Troxel Blog, and we appreciate that! Thanks! Now, I'll be the first to admit, that in general Blogs are new to me, too. And because of that, I wanted to go over some of the basics that I have learned thus far.

First: Click on any picture to enlarge it! Did you know that? Wanna a really good look at Scarlett's hunka hunka burning diamond? Click on the photo of the ring(S) from yesterday's post and you'll get a much more blindly beautiful view!

Also: at the end of this month, all these posts will disappear. Well, not really, they'll just get archived. You'll see that over on the right hand side of this page there is a section called "Links" and another section called "Previous Posts" and below that there is a section called "Archives", which since this is a new blog only contains the month of September. So, as I understand it, come October, if you want to read what has happened in September, you'll have to go over and click on the month of September in the Archives section.

Next: The first thing over there on the right hand side: "Links", those are links we have personally chosen to share with you.
Google news is probably the only generic one that we left from the original template and that is because I (Jason) use it as a good source of info.
The next link Photo Sig is there because I am a member and post a good deal of my photography there (under the pseudonym Jonahwhale). Before you travel there, please note that there are filters set up by default to blank out questionable material, but that if you become a member and change these filters some materials you might not agree with could be seen.
Anyway, the next link is for Wikipedia. I just love Wikipedia. Have one of those burning questions that you really don't know the answer to and don't trust the person next to you to admit when they're bullsitting? Go to Wikipedia.org. Here, try it. Do you know what TCP/IP is? Now all you tech heads who laughed and said "yeah"... do you really know what TCP/IP is and the actual science of how it works and why? Go to Wikipedia.org and enter this into the search bar and you'll find out more than you've ever wanted to know about TCP/IP's. And it's not just for technical stuff. Since it is written and edited by users, there as many topics and subjects as there are knowledgeable people. I encourage you to wiki whenever possible.
The next link is MSNBC's the week in pictures. It's a flash site, but if you have the plugin, this is a great collection of photography every week.
The local paper is for the Kitsap sun. If you're from here you're probably not interested, but my mom reads the internet version of this paper more than most locals do, so I figured maybe some other family members would appreciate a "hot" link.
The Baby Name Wizard is just one of those cool sites. It's a javascript routine that references the Social Security Administrations names database and will tell you (based on the SSA's info) where your name falls into the top 1000 names at any given time over the past 100 plus years. Basically, it's a time waster... and a darn good one!
Tech news and Video game news links are there for me (Jason) and those people who share a similar interest. The Tech news has the latest on all sorts of groovey gadgets. Video game news isn't going to go too far outside the video game box.

Whew!

Okay, that deserves a picture break.


Yes, actually, we do spend an exhorbinant amout of time taking pictures of our dog. Deal with it.

So, the last thing to share with you about blogs is the comments section. At the end of each dated post you will see the word "comments" in Green... you can click on it and leave comments about what you've just read! That way both myself and other Caffeinated readers will know which items you're commenting on!

Okay, it's late so I will sign off without telling you the incredibly embarrasing (and my wife says hysterical) story of how I got up in the middle of the night, got out of bed, grabbed my pillow, walked around the bed, got back into bed on my wife's side, and went back to sleep... all without ever knowing I did such a thing until I woke up this morning wondering how the heck I ended up on the wrong side of the bed. Literally. Glad I'm not sharing that story with you... It's just plain weird.

:j

Return from the Center of the Earth

Well, I'm topside again and darn glad to be here. My brief time spent with the fine men of the SSN 725, USS Helena was a great experience, but I wouldn't want to live there! Because of security not allowing me to have a camera onboard there will be no pictures of this trip.

So in other big news, Calla goes for her first show this weekend! (Sept 24 and 25, 2005). Here you can see a picture of her googling the competition.



Yes, she's quite focused for this upcoming battle!












She has her game face on,















and she's not taking any prisoners!
















Here is a picture of me showing her how to pose for the judges:

















Gepetto, our second cat, is one of Calla's Biggest Fans!.


















So anyway, other big news to share is that one of Lilah's friends and coworkers, Scarlett, has gotten engaged! Here's the rock(S) -- yes he proposed to her at Wingdome... but he did get her THREE rings! Darn Video Game software Programmers and their bazallions of dollars...






Well, my beautiful, and may I say Genius of a Wife is getting ready to take the next of her Actuarial exams. I was scheduled to take my Fundamentals of Engineering at the end of next month, but seeing as the study materials that I ordered through work JUST came in today and that I'm a big scaredy cat, I'm electing to take it in April after a winter's worth of studying. Not the Missus, though. Her test is November 9, 2005 and is a 2 hour exam all on interest theory. (Note, for the vast array of actuaries who frequent this blog I'm sure you already know about the change in testing structures, but for everyone else, the old system of tests (which wasn't THAT old) has changed again and what would have been a four hour test on Interest theory, Micro and Macro Economics(es) and Corporate Finance, is now structured to test just the one subject; however, wherein the old system didn't include continuing education the new system requires that you complete courses before you take tests.)

Anyway, she's a genius, as previously mentioned, but she's also very... how shall I say this nicely... put off by people who insist that she will pass before she's even taken the test. So if you pass her at the water cooler, tell her good luck, but don't tell her it's a sure thing... it's kinda like saying "break a leg" instead of "good luck" to a stage performer, I think. I just kiss her and try to keep out of trouble:


Yup, that's my life in Blog. More again later!

Aloha!

Yes, I am in Hawaii, again, and again without my wife. This time I will only be here a couple of days and yes this is work related. Those of you who know us will remember that Lilah spent an entire month here in Waikiki when I was here earlier this year on business. So, I do not feel guilty that she is not here, but I do miss her like crazy.

We have met a new friend through church and Lilah's scrapbooking; Wendy. I took an instant liking to Wendy, much the same as I did with Jeff and Charlene Sauby... could be something to do with cute kids. More on Jeff and Char and their two boys as time goes on. By the way, you can visit their blog at:

Meet The Sauby's

Wendy is a hoot! Jayden her son and Kassey her daughter both came to dinner with Wendy on Labor Day. I grilled, which of course means dinner was late. But, everyone seemed to have a good time and it was very nice to have Lilah interacting with a peer. I'm sure you'll be hearing more about these new friends, too.

Anway, the point about mentioning that Lilah isn't here in Hawaii answers the unasked question of why I'm indoors typing on a horrendously annoying WebTV keyboard: I miss her and nothing about Hawaii is at all fun without her by my side.

Speaking of Sappy: I had a chance to watch the pilot of Amy Grant's new show, 'Three Wishes', on the flight over. Let's just say that my eyes weren't red and puffy from a lack of sleep--That is one show going on the Tivo schedule. Thankfully the cast plays a very modest part and lets these heart-wrenching stories dictate the plot. There was a bit of Hollywood majic to fit everything into the 1-hour schedule, but nothing so distracting as to overpower the show's charm.

Okay, I guess I'll drag myself out to the beach if I must.

Aloha!

Fishing and Hunting Trip

So my buddy Charles and I went on a fishing and hunting trip here in washington. We were after Goose, as it is my goal to get a honker for Christams this year. But, knowing that it's early in the season and knowing that I've never hunted in Washington before, we also brought fishing poles. And a good thing too.

For starters, we didn't see a goose or hear a goose until the morning we were leaving. Smart Geese. But the fish didn't have much to fear either. I was lucky enough to get two King Salmon on the line when we were fishing on the Skokomish river, but the Kings were lucky enough to get off the line before i got them onto the shore. Smart Fish.

Charles and I stayed over at Potlatch park the first night. Here's a pic of our camp:
, which is a good campsite and I recommend it for a no-reservation campsite.





Here's my buddy Charles holding the only fish that was caught on our 4 day 3 night trip:


Like I said, the fish didn't have much to worry about either. I have a ton more photos, but I'm heading to Hawaii for about 10 days business, so you'll have to come back and check again later.

Love my peeps! :j

The first day

Hey, this is our first post; welcome!

To catch you up--I'm an engineer, my wife is an actuary. We live in a suburb of Seattle called Bremerton where we bought a house two years ago that we're currently (slowly) remodeling. We have two cats named Gepetto and Thomas, and one dog named Snowtaires Calla Romance--she's a show dog and we generally just call her Calla.

We travel a bit, we camp a bit, we like to snowboard in the winter, we attend Silverdale Baptist Church (Silverdale is a town connected to Bremerton by an invisible border), Lilah Scrapbooks and Stamps, I like to fish and hunt, and we LOVE hanging out with our friends.

That's pretty much the gist. I'll try to expound as time goes on, so sit back with a cup o' joe and enjoy some photos!