Family Update – 27 Oct 06

I took leave today to take care of a couple of things.  First, I had to visit the doctor to diagnose a problem I have had with my back for the past week or so.  I have been experiencing ”pinched nerve” type symptoms in my back, which have sent pains down the back of my leg;  it has been quite uncomfortable.  The diagnosis from the witch doctor, ummm…err….I mean military doctor was that I have sciatica, which simply means inflammation of the sciatic nerve.  The initial treatment includes two weeks of medications (anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxers) to kill the symptoms.  If it doesn’t improve after that, I am supposed to go back.  Next, I had to pick up Karen’s car at the auto body shop.  We picked it up late this afternoon.  Although it was raining quite hard, it appears to us that they did a tremendous job fixing the dent…..it looks brand new!  We were unable to detect any flaw that would indicate that it had been repaired.  I will inspect it closer after the rains end, but so far I am happy.  Mr Britt may be less happy with the bill he had to pick up!

Karen and I also took advantage of a day off together to grab some lunch at a restaurant in Reston, VA.  It was nice to spend a little time together away from work and without distractions/interruptions from the kids.  Karen is also suffering some pain this week.  Her neck has seized/stiffened up with a large knot (as it has in the past) leaving her very uncomfortable.  Early in our marriage she worked for a chiropractor who offered to “crack her neck” for her to alleviate the symptoms she was having.  In the course of the adjustment, Karen punched him in the jaw (if you know Karen, this is the last thing you would expect from her)!  She claims it was an involuntary response to the pain, but she also was not very fond of the Doctor…..so I am still unsure.  That weekend, we ran into the doctor at a restaurant and he inquired as to how her neck was feeling.  I shot back with an inquiry as to how his jaw was feeling!  We both recounted that funny episode during lunch today and it made us both laugh. 

Tonight we had a “Fall Festival” at the kids’ school.  It was (as most of these things go) a crazy, unorganized, jumble of kids, food and festivities.  There were lots of games for the kids to play for some low budget prizes.  We only stayed about an hour before the kids had enough and decided they could be having more fun back at the house.  Karen and I were glad to oblige and we left before the announcement of the “how many candy corns in the jar?” contest winner….I hope it wasn’t us!  

We have no big plans this weekend.  We had contemplated a road trip to Philly tomorrow for the Penguins/Flyers game, but have decided against it.  I will have a much better and far cheaper seat in front of the 55″ HDTV broadcast in my living room!  We are also getting ready for our first houseguests to arrive on Halloween.  Karen’s parents will be dropping in for a few nights on their way back to Vermont.  They have been vacationing in various parts of Virginia and the Carolinas.  We are looking forward to spending some time with them and the kids are excited to have the Grandparents come spend some time with them. 

On a completely unrelated note, if you have visited the website on occassion, you have probably noted that I like to tinker.  Well, I have been tinkering again.  Perhaps the most noticeable, I have added a new Weather page to the website that can be accessed by clicking on the Weather tab at the top of the page.  Using links to Accuweather.com, I now display the current conditions and radar for a few locations of personal interest.  These locations include Washington, DC…Essex Junction, VT….Dayton, OH…..and Fort Walton Beach, FL.  The Weather page also displays a current US Weather Map and an animated Current US Surface Analysis Map.  I have also added a small weather graphic to the sidebar entitled “Our Current Weather”, which lists the current conditions and temperatures in the Washington, DC, area, with quick links to forecasts, maps and radar. 

In other areas of the website, I have made some minor tweaks and fixes that are more subtle:

1. Photo Gallery updates 
1. Updated Photo Gallery page to provide links to all 2006 albums
2. Increased the size of the Gallery embedded area for easier picture viewing
3. Added “Slide Frames” to photos in Gallery for better aesthetics
4. Added mini-thumbnails pictures as navigation aids within the Gallery
2. Replaced “Related Posts” Plug-in with “Similar Posts” Plug-in for better relevance of similarity
3. Updated the “Live Shoutbox” in the sidebar to a new version
1. Shows you when other people are online within the shoutbox
4. Fixed default page template to correctly display the footer on every page
5. Added the “snowflake” bullet (replacing the VT Maple Leaf as a seasonal change)
6. Changed options so ANYONE can comment on a post (log-in/registration no longer required)
7. Fixed the “Contact Page” so it now works to e-mail the webmaster, aka ME!  (it was conflicting with a plug-in that allowed you to e-mail a post….that plug-in has now been disabled).

That pretty much details the recent changes we have made.