BoBoswell.com Piccal Updates

Jan 31, 12: Cart Sleeper

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

The moving process has taken its toll on the boys as well. Tonight we had to make a trip to Lowe's. Turner fell asleep in the car on the way there, then once we got inside he laid down in the cart.

If the cart would've been a little bigger, I might just've crawled right in next to him.

Jan 30, 12: First Night

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

After moving what we could for the past three days, the movers came today to get the remaining stuff. This day was very tiring, but Traci's mom and my mom came up to help out with the boys while we focused on getting stuff moved in and setup. .

Tonight was the first night spent in our new house. While I was dead tired, I actually didn't sleep as well as I was expecting. I'm thinking it's because of being in a new place. Or it could be the unsettling thought that our garage is full of junk and boxes and junk. There's a lot to do and it's difficult to find a starting point. Even though there are many, many starting points

Jan 29, 12: Backyardigans

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

The boys finally got to visit the house today. They played outside for a good bit and thoroughly enjoyed the playset and being able to run around free...or as free as one can be inside the safe confines of a fence. I'm very glad that they are have a positive reaction to this move.

Jan 28, 12: Redneck Stadium Seating

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

We've been moving stuff over to the new house in our cars since yesterday. We took out the car seats to make room in the Pilot, and the boys promptly adopted them as seats for viewing TV.

Jan 27, 12: In Closing

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

We closed on our new home today. It's been a tiresome (but exciting!) process from selling our Blackman home and finding a new one that met our needs.

Our realtor presented us with this stamp as a gift. Traci's been looking for one of these for awhile, so it was much appreciated.

Now we get to begin the fun journey of moving our sh*t in.

Jan 26, 12: Studio Shots

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

More action in the studio today. This time with nearly a full band. The basics, anyways.

Jan 25, 12: Brush

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

Weston hates his toothbrush for the most part. But he has no problem reaching for mine and inserting it without caution into his mouth. This is the 2nd time he's done this in the past week. Those inserts are expensive! I threw the first one away because it was old anyways. This one was just a few days old, so I just washed with some soap and resumed using it.

Jan 24, 12: ...And They Play With The Box

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

The boys have been spending a good bit of time playing with the seemingly endless number of empty boxes at our house. This setup has worked for them for a longer amount of time than I was expecting it to. I figured it was worthy of snapping a pic of, if for nothing else but a reference on a method for keeping their minds and bodies occupied for a small number of hours.

Jan 23, 12: Hi Point

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

Some time ago, my dad gave me his Hi-Point 9mm. It's a seemingly indestructible piece of metal. Aaron often jokes that it'd do more damage to my target if I threw the gun at it.

It has an 8 round magazine, yet when we went to the range I found that it typically jammed if I put more than 5 rounds in it. Sometimes this can be attributed to the type of ammo, but I remarked that it could use a good cleaning or a new magazine entirely. Aaron mentioned that the Hi-Point company has a great warranty, and after checking into it they certainly do.

I pulled out the gun together to get ready to send in to Hi-Point for a good cleaning and perhaps a new magazine. I figured I might as well take a pic while I've got it handy.

Jan 22, 12: A House

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

One thing about being a parent is that whatever you're doing, the kids are going to be into it. Their curious little minds can't be content to simply watch with wonder. They will want to actively participate, which is a nice way of saying they will "mess with your stuff."

As Traci and I started packing today, the boys became enthralled with the boxes. It doesn't matter if we're actively putting stuff into the box or if we haven't even put it together yet. They will mess with it. It effectively becomes their box, and are insulted if you take it away to put it to its actual use.

And you know what? It was a blast.

Jan 21, 12: It's A Me!

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

Mario came by the house today. The cab of his small truck packed tight with what I assume was his family, all decked out in thick winter clothes. A sign that the truck had no heater.

Mario was responding to my CraigsList ad about our riding mower. Since we're moving to a house with a smaller yard, and since our HOA covers lawn care for the front of it, then I will only have a small modest area in the back in which I'm responsible for mowing. A riding mower will not be needed for this yard, so we decided to start thinning out some of our equipment to ease our move.

Up for sale was our riding mower, the wagon that came with it, and our push mower which was included in "As Is" condition. It was missing a muffler.

I started up the mower for Mario and he nodded approvingly at confident hum of the motor. He then signaled that he'd like to get on and try it out. He hopped up, depressed the clutch, then let it go quickly to pop an unintentional wheelie. He then halted the mower, turned it off, and turned bewildered eyes to me saying, "It is very powerful!"

He tried to bargain with me but I held firm at the price. I had at least 5 other interested buyers and let him know this, that I couldn't discount the price when there are so many who are willing to buy. We dealt in cash, which is the recommended form of payment with all CraigsList doings.

After Traci posted this on Facebook, she apparently caught some flack because we didn't shop our mower around to our friend-pool first. It's not that it didn't cross my mind to do this; I intentionally went to CraigsList first because I have had bad experiences when selling used items to friends. Twice now, when I have sold something to a friend, the item broke within a month. After learning about this, I felt horrible and in both cases offered a refund. Neither accepted, but I have always felt horrible about it. I would much rather do the deal with a complete stranger and then wash my hands of it.

So Mario carted off the lawn equipment in his impossibly packed truck. Turner and Weston waved bye-bye from the window. Then I let out a sigh of relief that our garage will not have to house large mowing equipment that will go unused.

Jan 20, 12: Matchro

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

Just wanted to play around with a macro image of the matchbook I've had in my coat pocket for over a year.

Jan 19, 12: Awarded

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

Some months ago, Jennifer asked me to take a pic of this award to feature on our work's blog. I have been hesitating ever since. Taking photos just isn't my thing, you know.

She finally said if we don't do it for this month's newsletter, then it's pointless to use. Because, like I said, we actually received this months ago. This pic is probably a little overkill for what we were needing, but at least it's been done.

Jan 18, 12: Women Drivers

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

I'll just let the pics speak for themselves. Not sure exactly what happened here, but it's safe to laugh because no one was hurt.

Jan 17, 12: Fried Lego

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

Legos and kitchen accessories are just everywhere in our house. Everywhere.

Jan 16, 12: Hugger

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

Weston is not near the cuddler that Turner was/is, but he does enjoy frequent hugs. Today we were hanging out in the playroom and he was up on the rising near the window. He would come up behind Traci and get her a big hug as she was sitting there. He just kept doing it over and over, pausing once in awhile to smile for a photo.

Jan 15, 12: In Closing

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

Another shot with the lens that I'll have to return soon. It's got a very narrow field of focus, which looks great assuming you can nail the focus perfectly. Weston is a little easier to work with right now in some ways, especially when Turner is on his bike.

Jan 14, 12: Simple Things

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

Canon is having a big rebate on some of their lenses this month, so I ordered one just to try it out since there's a 30-day trail period. I do like this lens quite a bit, but not sure I can justify the price considering the move that's coming up soon.

Jan 13, 12: Drummer

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

Drum session in the studio today.

Jan 12, 12: First Snow of the Year

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

We had the first snow of the year today. The boys got to play in it for a few minutes before they got cold and were ready to come in. They took a few minutes to say hey to Stella first.

Jan 11, 12: Fencing

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

For some reason this fence has always caught my eye on the way in to work. I just grabbed a quick shot of this today that could possibly be used as a photo background or something.

Jan 10, 12: DC Fitness

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

Tonight I made the drive up to White House, TN to take some shots for DC Fitness. This was a very difficult shoot for me. Firstly because I was basically working in a sauna doing some shots in a Hot Yoga class. It was dark and hot and moist. I had focusing issues because of the darkness. There was also a wall of mirrors which caused me some trouble with my flashes. I'm not thrilled with the shots that I ended up with but hopefully they'll work for the owners. I think I'd do things a little differently if I did this again, but not convinced I'd end up with any better shots.

Jan 9, 12: Books to Read

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

One of the differences between Turner and Weston is that Turner loved for you to sit and read to him. He enjoyed taking part in the story and making sounds or motions where applicable. He did a great job actually remembering the words and repeating them at the proper place.

Weston is completely different. He gets very unsettled when you try to read to him. He'll squirm away and try to grab the book. He wants to hold the book and go through it himself and he cares little for what it actually says. He'd rather hold it and flip through it himself. Tongue out, of course.

I'm not saying one way is right and the other is wrong. As a parent, I enjoy reading to the boys and Turner makes that easier. I'm just interested to see how this difference either magnifies or dissolves as they grow older.

Jan 8, 12: Colors

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

I was just playing around with colors tonight. I'm always attracted to photos that have a green separation light, and sometimes having a purple accent. I really wanted to have the purple light coming in from the opposite side, but I couldn't find any place to put it at the time, so I just had to mount it overhead. Via a clamp. Fot to keep out of the curious hands of one young Weston.

Jan 7, 12: Jelly

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

Sandy. Whoever you are. I love you.

Jan 6, 12: Phoney

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

Yet another example of a toy that is an object of dispute between two young men.

From my point of view, I can agree with both their motives: Turner wants to use it to call Mamaw; Weston wants to eat it. Their intentions are both honorable.

Jan 5, 12: The Man With Two First Names

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

This man named Paul David was in the studio today recording some guitar tracks. Paul and David. Two first names or one whole name?

At least I didn't give my kids last names as first names.

Jan 4, 12: Going Bananas

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

It's hard to imagine that this little toy banana could cause so much conflict and opposition between brothers. Especially when they have a WHOLE FRIGGIN' KITCHEN SET, in addition to nearly the entire Thomas the Train catalog of trains, 2 miles of track, the entire line-up of Pixar Cars cars, shopping carts, and generous access to my iDevices.

Jan 3, 12: Brother and Sister Night

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

When Boog asked me what I wanted for Christmas, the first thing that came to mind was a Brother/Sister Night so we could go have a couple of drinks. We tried to do this last week but she got sick, so I was glad that we were able to get this planned for tonight. We went to the Patterson House and had a few drinks and split a panini. It was nice to hang out and hope we get to do it again soon. Thanks to Mamaw for footing the bill!

Jan 2, 12: Door Jam

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 12:00:00 CST

We tried to play outside today, but it was just too cold. After a few moments, we (or, I) was too cold to continue. Turner didn't approve of this decision and instead sat in the doorway for a few minutes and man that door is dirty!