being beck

We found out last night that we are going to be an aunt, uncle and cousin AGAIN in May!!  We are excited and thrilled for you guys!…  Here is a picture Harrison drew:

Now that the cat is out of the bag (and because I am a huge nerd at heart), here is a bit more info about the already-loved-so-much & super-tiny Baby Beckman.

*Expected arrival is April 20, 2009 (on our 7th wedding anniversary!)

*I will be 7 weeks pregnant on Sept 1.

*We are THRILLED! I have been feeling hungry, moody (not that Jarrod has noticed), more tired than usual, and every bit of 35.

*We discovered we were expecting on 08-08-08.

*We are planning to find out early if it is a boy or a girl, but we will have to wait for a few more months.

*As of yesterday, the baby was 0.52 cm from end to end with a heart rate of 154 bpm (imagine how tiny the heart is right now!)

*He or she weighs less than an aspirin.

*Development is 12.7% complete.

*The 2 Beckman babies will be exactly 2 1/2 yrs apart.

*We have not decided on names yet, other than our guarantee to the child that they won’t have a crazy Hollywood name like Spoon, Table, Pneumonia, or Pie. I’m sure we will have plenty of other opportunities to embarrass him or her without delivering the life sentence of a terrible name.

And last but not least, here is a picture I took today of Gaby in her smocked crayon dress (I love Ebay) as we headed off to visit my friends at Short Elementary. For some reason, this is the same deer-in-the-headlights face she made in all 12 pictures I took today. Not sure what that’s about. Maybe it’s just a 24 hr phase.

Enjoy your weekend!!

School started this week. After teaching at the same school since 1996, this is the 3rd year in a row that I have watched the school year begin from home instead of my classroom. Although I still visit and substitute teach there from time to time, I always get nostalgic and part of me wants to jump head first in the middle of the action again.

There’s something about the beginning of a school year that is unlike anything else. Meeting new students, catching up with my friends, new supplies, an extra-clean building, and everyone starting on level ground. There aren’t  any tardies or late assignments yet, no failing grades, fights,  or dreaded parent-teacher conferences. And always a fresh hope that this will be a year to remember.  I miss teaching.

So in honor of the new school year, I decided that Gaby Kate and I would have blueberry pancakes for breakfast this morning. I’m not sure how that’s related to the first day of school, except that these are both events that would happen only once a year and so by that standard they are considered quite special.

Although I used a pancake mix, I was still proud of my accomplishment since I don’t spend much time in the kitchen. Ever. I had fresh blueberries and warm syrup and just enough butter to make them delicious.

Here is Gaby using her fork for a change. Well, sort of.

The Case of the Disappearing Pancakes

One satisfied customer

Gaby looked at me and said “Good!” three different times during breakfast, almost as if she knew I needed her reassurance that the pancakes were a success. Then she smiled her sweet smile that melts my heart.

I’m still a teacher. The classroom has changed and I don’t have summers off anymore, but I wouldn’t give up sharing pancakes with my favorite student for anything in the world.

I love you, Gaby. This will be another school year to remember.

I’ve lived in the DFW area my entire life, but had never been to NorthPark  in Dallas (that I can remember), so I figured it was worth a trip.

GK and I had fun window shopping for a couple of hours. I discovered that the mall is short on bargains, with some stores selling blue jeans that cost as much as my wedding dress – ha!

I did manage to find a couple of things at a great price, but more importantly, I was able to very quickly reach my yearly quota of exposure to over-indulged obnoxious children and very thin, very stylishly dressed male sales associates whose quick uppity glances told me that their interests were in those much more *fabulous* than Gaby Kate and me. Oh well. So much for customer service.

Here are some pictures from our busy day.

Art Appreciation – Analyzing Sculptures

The Fountain of Dancing Waters

Gaby Kate vs. Dirk

Stores where we actually shopped and found good deals on cute stuff. When their prices approach 60-70% off, they are somewhat affordable.

Stores where I can’t afford to  shop and probably wouldn’t anyway, but are fun to laugh at. Most of these stores were empty or almost empty. Can’t imagine why.

Wish I had a picture of the window-dresser in action at Barney’s. He took his job WAY too seriously.

Gaby posing at Tiffany and Co. and reacting to the prices at Neiman Marcus.

Here is Gaby refusing to shop at Oscar de la Renta, Valentino, Armani, Cartier, and Ferragamo. She thinks we should stick to Target.

Love those sweet smiles

Time to head home….yawning and resting her head….

No more pictures, please. Just put me in the car.

That’s better!

In honor of the Olympics, Gaby Kate has been practicing her car seat gymnastics.

She’s going to face a big deduction from the judges for bending those legs!

Much better this time. She should be in contention for a medal with this performance.

I encourage you all to spend 6 minutes of your Monday experiencing highlights from the the 1990 Catawba Valley Community College Beauty Pageant in Hickory, NC.  Magical Dreams, baby!

Jarrod has trained Gaby Kate to make this face on command simply by asking her to “make the face”. It is really funny to watch. She seems to enjoy it almost as much as he does.

Here are two of yesterday’s examples.

Gaby taught herself how to balance this book on her hand yesterday and could not be distracted until she had mastered the skill.  We are happy to report that she can now balance a book on her hand.

I also wanted to include some sweet pictures I was able to capture of GK and Daddy last week.  They are quite a team and I love them both bunches~

Ok, first of all, we totally suck as bloggers, we know.   As with many things in the Beckman household, we start with great intention and great progress, and then it sort of peters out. Here is a non-exhaustive list of projects that end up this way:

• Cleaning the Garage
• Juicing (with Jack Lalanne’s Power Juicer, $120)
• Eating Right
• Exercising
• Planting flowers
• Eating Right
• Putting cable ladder in my radio room
• Cleaning the Garage
• Organizing my wife’s ever growing inventory of Gymboree Clothes for Ebay

Yes, I know I listed some things twice.  Those are probably the most egregious of the bunch.  Anyway, all we can hope for is to strive to get better.  I predict that will last about 2.45 weeks.

Today’s blog title is a nod to my close friend, mentor, and all around partner in tomfoolery, Donny Ray Jones.  Most of you won’t know him, but much of my technical knowledge, particularly when I was a teenager and in my 20s, came from this man.   He introduced me to my first computer, my first ham radio, and my first flashy light console. In a word, Donny Ray Rox.

Floobydust simply means “a mixed bag of things”.  No central theme here, just some random thoughts, particularly since we haven’t posted in awhile….  Yes, because we suck as bloggers.

If you haven’t tried wasabi peanuts,  you simply must put everything down right now and order some.  Of course, the Beckmans don’t do anything halfway (except all that stuff above), so instead of buying a couple of pounds, we bought fifteen.

What in the heck is up with men wearing women’s jeans?  I quietly held my tongue with the bed head hair, the really wide white belts, and the “fitted shirts”, but this has just got to stop.  I know I dress like I work at six flags, but like NASCAR and the career of Alanis Morissette…. I just don’t get it.

It used to be that soccer was the most boring sport at the Olympics (it is a known fact, look it up), but after a few minutes of watching the “Eventing Dressage” of the Equestrian event this morning, I think we have a new contender.  I honestly am completely lost at what these people are doing besides wearing a foppish outfit and riding a horse.  I thought at some point they’d put some barrels out, or maybe some clowns or monkeys would show up, but no, the qualifications to compete here appear to be “Can I sit on this horse while it trots around this fence”.  I fell asleep watching it.

Those opening ceremonies were something else, weren’t they?  Say what you will about those pinko communists, they really put on a show.  If you missed it, you can catch it a good review here.

Poo Poo has over $900 in sales so far in August!  Go Poo Poo!

If you’re looking for some great, free, high resolution wallpapers without sign ups, etc, check Interfacelift.com.

Faberacoustical has come out with a real-time spectrum analyzer for the iPhone.  I wouldn’t EQ a room with it, but its pretty darn impressive for quick checks. http://www.faberacoustical.com/products/iphone/

Even better than that, though, is WinAdmin, which allows you to RDP from your iPhone.  http://www.iphonewinadmin.com/

For those of you needing a good GK fix (and who doesn’t), here’s a recent pic of her.  More to come…