Recently in Wife Category

Where did the month of May go? 31 days, and no blog posts. There aren’t a huge number of pictures to share, but a lot did go on. There was someone’s 42nd birthday (mine), someone’s 12th anniversary (mine and Kellie’s), a first birthday (my niece), another birthday (no age provided, Mom!), weekly Blastball games for the twins, Cub Scouts and swim lessons for Will, other birthday parties to attend (kids), a vacation (to the Outer Banks), a 5k race (placed 3rd in my age group), and the pool has opened up (Sean and Daniel are now kicking themselves around the pool with arm floats without Mom and Dad holding on, and Will is swimming all around on his own).

Here are a few of the cool pictures from our vacation earlier this month. The weather was great (lows in the 50s, highs around 70), the crowds few, and just enough wind to fly the kites, like this evening on the beach.

We did take a trip to the Corolla Lighthouse, and all 3 kids made it to the top without a problem. It was windy (~20 mph), but it was kind of cool to let the kids see in all directions. The sky was clear enough that we were probably seeing up close to Virginia in the north.

Even cooler was the shot I got at the bottom, while Kellie and the kids visited the gift shop — an upside-down rainbow appeared behind the lighthouse.

The surprise of our visit? It would have to be the raccoon that decided to hang out next to one of our sliding doors. We have no idea why he thought we’d be a good place to hang out. The only reason he left is that the maintenance staff (with a little assistance from me) almost caught the bugger (he escaped the fish net they originally snagged him in). He ran off after that, never to be seen again. Not to say we weren’t paranoid he might return.

Here’s hoping everyone has a great summer planned. May you not be visited by uninvited guests — like our racoon.

Yup, we’re getting socked by another snowstorm this winter. This is our third significant snow, though only the second one I’d call major. But having two major snowfalls in Richmond in one winter is out of the ordinary. The snow started overnight, but was relatively light. However, shortly after 8am, the intensity kicked up, and it has not let up since. In fact, it may be snowing even harder now, with more wind, too.

We ventured out into the snow around 10am this morning, and we already had 5 inches of snow at that point. The kids had fun stomping around in the snow — even Sean and Daniel stepped right into it. I shoveled the driveway off for a first cut, knowing more would come later, and the kids had fun wiping snow off the cars. They had fun catching snowflakes on the tongue. Unfortunately, this snow is fine and powdery, not good enough for snowballs or snowmen. But the kids were out in the snow for almost 45 minutes, enough to get just wet enough.

As I write this entry, not quite 4 hours after coming inside, I can barely see any evidence of what I shoveled on the front walkway. We’ve had that much more snow fall and get blown around. We also cannot see any tracks in the yard where Kellie and the kids walked around. And this storm isn’t over yet. Total snowfall could be interesting for this one.

Yes, it’s that time of year again. I hope she had a good birthday, although probably not as relaxing as she would have liked. Daniel had to see the doctor this morning about a cough. We seem to have caught it in time. There went much of her free time she had planned on today.

(The photo is one from October, when we visited Aunt Iris and Debbie at their farm. Yes, from an event I haven’t written about.)

Then, it was off to see Legendary Santa. All 3 boys actually sat still (no crying or shyness) for Santa — a first as a group. (There has always been at least one before this time.) More on that later. After all, this is about Kellie’s birthday.

Which meant a birthday dinner out — at O’Toole’s. This one was kind of cool, in that her brother Tim was also in town, so they got to celebrate their birthday together for once. (I guess I should wish him a happy birthday, too.) Of course, 3 kids don’t last forever in a restaurant, so we were the first to leave, while the rest of the Padgett clan stayed behind.

I know she’s tired, but I hope she still enjoyed her birthday. Now, for that backrub she was asking for…

OK, first off, mornings are never good for me. I am not a morning person. But Sean picked up Will’s backpack and put it on (almost the the ground, but he could walk around with it), so of course, it’s picture time. And then Sean and Daniel insisted everyone should have a picture taken. And that lead to this round of pictures.

My second excuse? It’s been seven days since I first came down with the flu. I’m actually over it now (really, yesterday), but sleeping was tough most nights, with all of the coughing. So that’s the “real-life,” droopy-eyed view you get of me. I normally look much more chipper. (I think I also didn’t try to look better when the picture was taken.)

I hope none of you get this flu bug. It’s one of the longest lasting ones I have ever gotten.

Today won’t be the detailed rundown of how everything went. I’m still playing catch-up from being out of the house since Tuesday. The family took a trip to New York City (well, part of us did), and everyone had a good time. The pictures and video are bountiful, so I’m going to need some time to pull it all together. However, a bullet-point summary of what we did the past 5 days would go like this:

Tuesday

• Travel to my parent’s in Northern Virginia after school with all 3 kids

Wednesday

• Leave the twins with my parents (thank you for watching them) to drive to Manhattan to visit my sister Emily for a few days
• Walk around the tour of the Macy’s Parade balloons, as they are moored next to the Museum of Natural History (only 1 block from Emily’s apartment) — it was crazy/busy there

Thursday

• Watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade from the middle of 73rd Avenue — we couldn’t get any closer, but was close enough to see almost everything
• Take Will to a playground in Central Park for a while, then walk over to Strawberry Fields and back to the apartment
• Eat a Thanksgiving dinner with Emily

Friday

• Ride the subway twice — first to go to the Empire State Building, then to go to Rockefeller Plaza to watch ice skating, see the tree (unlit), and eat lunch
• Meet up with Emily and visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral
• Walk to FAO Schwartz, only to find the wait in line to be rather long
• Take a taxi back to Emily’s apartment (Will’s first ride in a taxi), then back to the playground one last time
• Go to the movies to see Madagascar 2 (all 4 of us enjoyed it), then go out to eat at a diner-style restaurant

Saturday

• Try to leave early, only to discover the battery was dead — finally got a jump from AAA
• Drive back to Northern Virginia to spend the night at my parent’s house
• Got to see Dena, Dennis and Nicholas at dinner — Will really enjoyed seeing his new cousin again

Sunday

• Drive back home in the rain — only took about 30 minutes longer than normal, and that included a stop for gas

That’s a lot going on in one long trip. We all survived, and we really enjoyed the company of everyone we met over those days. We hope everyone else had a fun and safe holiday weekend. We hope to see you soon.

As I said, I hope to post pictures and video at a later date, but I hope this suffices for a quick summary at moment.

Last night, Kellie went to see one of the Irish Tenors come perform in Richmond. (Happy birthday, dear, just a little early.) Anthony Kearns (official site and Wikipedia) is her favorite Irish tenor, and he did not disappoint her. I don’t have the details of the concert, but I believe he performed over 2 hours of material (with an intermission) and left her saying that is was the best singing she’s ever heard.

And she also mentioned that he looks an awful like Tim (her brother). When I looked at the pictures on the small camera view screen, I kind of agreed. Looking at the pictures now, I’m not so sure. Here’s a clip of audio from the concert that was taken on the digital Elph.

We did get out to the Richmond Folk Festival, and I’ll be honest — we had a great time. The weather was perfect (mid-70s, a light breeze, mostly sunny). Will still talks about how much fun he had, so I think we’ll want to go back next year.

We actually parked by 11:30am and found a spot just a couple blocks from the festival area (down on Brown’s Island and the Tredegar museum area). We were there before any of the acts started at noon, and we also beat the crowds. Things were definitely getting more crowded by the time we left at 2pm. (The kids needed to get some rest.)

But in the time that we were there, we were able to catch parts of 3 shows, all of which were excellent:

• San Jose Taiko (Japanese ritual drumming)
• Dale Watson (honky tonk country)
• Líadan (Irish)

As we wandered around between stages, we overheard a couple of other acts — a bluegrass and a Persian percussion act stand out. There were many more performances which we didn’t get to stick around to see that I would have enjoyed, but we have kids now. I think Kellie really wants to go back to see Dale Watson tomorrow afternoon. We’ll see — though he did mention that he comes through Richmond a couple times a year. He was very good.

Here are some quick pix and video from the three performances that we did catch. (My apologies on the quality, as everything was taken with a small digital camera at a distance at max optical zoom.) Maybe you can join us for the festival next year.

Actually, I guess this makes 3:

1. Don’t get any of your expensive stuff near me. Things keep failing. First a laptop, then a hard drive seizure, and now the first floor AC is kaput. Ugh! Yet another unexpected expense.

2. Speaking of that hard drive seizure, we got the bad news today. Data recovery will require a clean room operation to try to get it back. We’ll see how much can be recovered. (Recovery is not cheap. Lesson learned.)

3. Kellie has her new call sign. It is KJ4GRE. Time to get her on-the-air.

Just a quick bit of news from the better half. Kellie sat down yesterday to take a test to receive her Technician class license for amateur radio privileges from the FCC. She was a bit nervous about the test, but all of her studying to this point paid off. She passed the test. And guess what? She didn’t just pass the test — she aced it.

(If you didn’t know it, my dad and I are long-time amateur radio license holders — he’s held his a bit longer. And my mom went and passed her test back in May of this year. Mom also aced the test.)

So, congrats to the newly minted ham. I’d say she’s more excited about this right now than probably I am with my licensed privileges. Heck, I’m not sure what license I hold right now, as I held an Advanced license back in the age when you had to take a Morse code test as well.

Yes, that’s right — no code test requirements any more, even for the top licensing level. So, you too can get your amateur radio license. Why don’t you?

[A] mother is one to whom you hurry when you are troubled. — Emily Dickinson

That’s right, it’s Mother’s Day. We’ve had a grand day today, hopefully letting our mothers know how special and important they are to us. Without them, there isn’t us. I just want to call out a couple of the mothers that are obviously so near and dear to my heart.

Kellie — you know how much you mean to me and the boys, and how things would just fall apart without out you. You are so kind and understanding to realize I just need to sleep in a few extra minutes some mornings. You support my attempts to play basketball, to run, and to exercise. You are there to help fix the boo-boos and mend the sad hearts.

Mom — you were my first mom. (OK, my only mom - thank you.) I grew up under your guidance and care, and if I’m somewhat successful in life, it surely would not have been possible without your love and patience. (I’m sure I tested the latter over the years.) I treasure your thoughts, your prayers, and your wisdom. Please know that as you were there for me, so I shall be there for you. If I don’t say it often enough, do know that I love you.

Faye — without you, I wouldn’t have a loving and caring wife and mother to my three sons. Thank you for being available as an emergency babysitter when our work schedules don’t allow us to stay with a sick child. We would not be the same family without your presence and support.

And to all of you, thank you for being such shining examples of kind, decent and caring women. God bless each and every one of you, and all you other mothers out there. You keep us men from going too crazy.

And next year, there will be a new addition to this honor roll. Stay tuned.