Sadie Caroline

We wanted to introduce our new little girl, Sadie Caroline. She was born last night, Dec 4, at 10:42pm. She weighed 7lbs, 5ozs and is 19 1/2 inches long. For those that don't speak baby, that's pretty much average, though it seems incredibly tiny.

Both her and her mom are healthy, though the epidural didn't kick in during labor until we got to pushing. And that hurt. But everybody's doing fine now. Especially since we have a cookie bouquet. Thanks Shane.

We're at the hospital now and will go home tomorrow night. I'll be able to make it to the Ryman show, so I'll see a lot of you there. Thanks for your prayers and support!!

here we go!

water broke. on the way to the hospital now. more later...

waiting

Yeah, yeah, I know. My last post was nothing but another fingerprint in a giant zip-lok baggie, out to prove that I'm a nerd. And I duly confess, yet again.

I will also confess that I just looked up the word "wait" in my iTunes to see what songs may fit the theme of the past couple days. A few highlights:

"I'm Waiting For The Day" - Beach Boys, Pet Sounds
"Waiting on the World to Change" - John Mayer, Continuum
"Waiting on Light" - Matthew Perryman Jones, Throwing Punches in the Dark
"Wait" - The Beatles, Rubber Soul
"Waiting for the Worms" - Pink Floyd, The Wall
"The Waiting" - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Greatest Hits
"Waiting for the Sun" & "I've Been Waiting" - Sixpence None the Richer, Divine Discontent
and a heck of a lot of Tom Waits...

Pretty good playlist, I know.

We headed out for a little family trip to the library tonight. I know I won't be able to concentrate for long periods of time in the next few weeks so I got reading that I think can be done in quick bursts. Fargo Rock City by Chuck Klosterman (whose book Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs I absolutely loved) and That Distant Land, a collection of short stories by Wendell Berry. I read his book Jayber Crow in the hospital when Ella was born and it was amazing. Andrew Peterson had loaned it to me, it's one of his favorite books. In fact, I still have it, so I should read it again.

I love short stories. As a genre or form or whatever you call it, I just think they're wonderful. Some of my favorite books are short story collections from Hemingway, Mark Twain, Steinbeck, Orson Scott Card. Years ago I dreamed of writing a book, but I've actually been thinking of trying to start writing stories more recently. If I ever do, rest assured, if it gets past Quality Control (i.e. Alison) you'll be the first to read it.

Well, Sweet Ella just went to bed and we've got a short list of chores to take care of before we settle down and read (or I read while Gilmore Girls plays in the background...) If nothing happens in the night we'll head to church in the morning and then come back, take some naps, and start the playlist another time. Keep you posted, have a great evening.

Super Text Twist Million Point Acceptance Speech

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you all so much!

I'm thrilled to be here, and I want to thank all the other great contestants. It could have been anybody's game.

I want to thank Marcus Myers for letting me know about Super Text Twist in the first place. Without you I never would have made it here.

I'd like to thank GameHouse.com for creating the game in the first place, and for only putting enough room for a six digit score. That makes it look way more awesome when a million points spills over other graphics.

There are some other people and companies that helped me get to where I am today:

The General Electric Company. Without you I would have been able to put one or two strands of lights on our Christmas tree and they might have all worked and that would be it. But you guys made strands that keep shutting off, so that I had to put four strands, each with the unlit half bundled up and "hidden" among the brances. And then when two of the working ones died on the tree I had to take them all and start over with the other two strands left, another of which halfway quit in the middle. Had they all worked the first time I would have gone to bed like a normal person and not needed to sit and play a word game on the computer to calm down, and then I never would have gotten to a million points.

My wife, Alison, I never could have done it without you, baby!

The Gilmore Girls. Thank you for making a show that my wife can't stop watching, but that I don't really have to care about. I can sit here and play while she enjoys episode after episode. The small amount of curiousity I have about the show can be quelled by listening and asking the occasional question while I pursue my dream of a million Text Twist points.

Thank you.

Thank you to our new little girl, as of yet unborn. Your waiting these last few days has given me the time to keep playing. I've made it now, though, so come on anytime!

To Apple computers, for making awesome computers that make my friends and I feel cool.

To Ella, for wanting us to sing Jingle Bells all day, because you love to dance to it.

And finally, to Super Text Twist, for being so addictive and awesome. And for letting all me friends download it and play it for free right here. You've made me into the million point champion I am today.

Thank you all very much for this honor.

STT: 1,080,550