I spent the early part of the evening playing with my new toy.

When we rearranged our bedroom over the weekend, part of the master plan was to ditch the TV, move the computer in and use the new 19" flat panel monitor in place of the television.

I bought a TV card at lunch and installed it in the desktop PC and it works like a champ. The monitor's viewing area is the same height as the viewing area in our original television and only 1" less in width but it's really not noticeable.

I did stop long enough to eat and take the family on a road trip to Wally World. Carmi wanted to buy some new table lamps for our bedside nightstands.

We truly don't watch much TV except for the news...and the Travel channel...and the Weather channel...or the History channel...oh, and the Learning channel...and let's not forget the Disney channel...but it's pretty cool to be working on the net and just open another window to catch our favorite shows.

I can see it now. Eventually I'll have to get another 19" flat panel and run a dual-monitor setup. I need to join Geeks Anonymous.

I was driving down Hwy 150 on the way to a computer store at lunch when a doe came from out of nowhere and ran head-first into the Camry. Surprisingly the car didn't sustain any damage but the same can not be said for the poor deer. I'm certainly not a member of PETA and I'll eat a chicken, cow or pig in a skinny minute but I still felt awful about killing Bambi. Rest in peace...

Update: Carmi called me at work and asked if I wanted venison for supper. Ha! Ha, ha! Bop upside the head...

Oh my gawsh...I'll be popping Ibuprofen like candy all day. Even my back side hurts! I certainly don't get a lot of exercise but I'm not a complete couch potato so I really didn't think I was so out of shape. Seems that there are two options...exercise more or work less. I'm leaning towards the latter. Dear?

Me and my big mouth. It never ceases to amaze me how such a little thing can cause such big trouble!

I had cut grass in the back yard this morning, took a break for lunch and then headed back out just long enough to finish bagging several big piles of grass clippings. When I finished, I came inside at the tail-end of a TV program that Carmi was watching called Trading Spaces.

The credits began to roll and she commented, "I'm always motivated to do something to our house after watching a show like that".

In my infinite wisdom and without so much as stopping to think, I countered with, "Ya know...I have actually been thinking about how we could rearrange our bedroom" and then proceeded to explain my vision with gusto.

A few seconds later she nods her head in approval and crys out, "Let's do it!!".

Just like that, I had another job to do.

We measured and moved and groaned and grunted. When the dust settled at the end of the day, we had a brand new bedroom. Our bodies ache pretty bad right now so it will be interesting to see if we can get out of bed tomorrow.

As an aside, here's a picture of Eliana before I interrupted her afternoon nap. Oh yeah...she really likes stuffed toys...

Carmi was scrapbooking all evening so the Empress and I had a date. Woohoo!

I went all out tonight and took her to one of the finest eating establishments in town...the Chick-Fil-A. For eight bucks and change, we dined until full and then headed straight for the indoor play area.

There were no kids in that play area the entire time we were eating. As soon as I emptied our tray and headed for the door with Eliana in tow, we were almost run over by a young boy and girl clamoring to get in. I'm not good at guessing ages but I would say they were probably in the first or second grade and accompanied by a young fellow who appeared to be in his early teens. Kids are kids, I know, but these two were quite obnoxious.

After listening to them scream like banshees for a good fifteen to twenty minutes, they were called down by their guardian and started making their way to the exit. As they headed out, I heard the boy say something like, "A kid with dark hair peed up there".

Now there had been a few more children in and out - two little boys with black hair and a couple of really young girls with blonde hair - but I just KNEW that the brat was talking about mine.

I called Eliana out and as she stepped into view, sure enough...her pants and socks were soaked. She had the most pitiful look on her face and kept saying, "I'm sorry...I'm sorry..." as we walked to the car. I couldn't be too mad.

Not long after E and I arrived home, Carmi called to see what we were up to and Eliana was little miss chatty patty as she talked to Mommy.

Carmi took the day off. She and Eliana made their bi-annual pilgrimage this morning to see the dentist, Doc Davis, who is a member of our church and just an overall-really-nice guy. Both of their appointments were scheduled at the same time but that wasn't a problem as Carmi said the Empress did very well on her own. No surprise to me but Carmi said there was a lot of very serious conversation taking place in the adjacent room!

After work, I hustled over to the local mom-n-pop computer store and bought a brand new 19" Acer flat-panel LCD monitor for our desktop PC. I have lusted after really, really wanted a 19" flat-panel for quite a while. Our previous 17" CRT monitor was still working but the picture has been darker than normal so I knew it was only a matter of time before it crapped out. Yeeeeeaaaaah...that's it...

We also went to Staples to look for a new computer desk. The "hobby" room where our desktop currently resides is quite cluttered so we thought to move the computer into our bedroom which would require a smaller desk. It just so happened that our friends, Ron and Jennifer Chilton, called before leaving and volunteered to watch Eliana while we shopped. We went to Staples and found the perfect desk and...dang it...they didn't have it in stock. The Associate ordered the desk online and said it would be delivered to my work on Monday.

We're gonna have one big ol' corner desk to get rid of. Can you say "yard sale"?

From the CNN website...