Author Archives: Sparks

Bringing home Einstein

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This past weekend we added a new member to our family. We welcomed Einstein to the mix. He is a 2 1/2 month old rescue. We are told he his a mix between Boxer and Lab. The vet mentioned she saw some Beagle as well, but we’re not sure.

I won’t rehash the whole story of how we came to decide to get a new puppy. Ron already blogged about that story (check it out at http://binarybiker.wordpress.com).

Anyhow, I wanted to share how our first few days have been. In short, TIRING, but fun! It almost brings back memories of when Ashlee was a baby. Forgot all the hard work that comes along with puppies. Apparently, it is not always playtime.

Einstein (who has also been nicknamed “Monkey”), is a very active, but sweet puppy. He is a bit clumsy still. His paws are HUGE, hence he is going to be a big boy. So he trips and slips, but it doesn’t stop him whatsoever. He gets along famously with Cassie, our Beagle. They play very well together. They both iniate the playtimes as well. Either Cassie will bump him with her butt or he will come over and slap her with one his big paws. He is very inquisitive and gets very determined to figure things out.

Einstein also loves to have whatever Cassie has. If she is playing with the ball, he wants the ball. If she is chewing a hoof, he wants that hoof. How do we know this? Well, Einstein crawls up close to her and barks at her. Cassie, being so mild-natured, just gets up and leaves whatever it is and lets him have it. So adorable! We haven’t decided who will become the alpha dog. We’ll see as time goes how that plays out.

We have been actively working on crate training Einstein as well. We’ve been getting him to go in and get treats and toys, trying to show that the crate will be his safe place. He even took a nap in the crate yesterday (after some coaxing, but he did stay for an hour). Bedtime, however, is a different story.


On night number one, given he isn’t ready to spend the entire night in the crate, we tried putting the crate in our room so I knew when he needed to go outside. Yea…that wasn’t a good idea. He wanted nothing to do with sleeping in that crate. This puppy wanted to be held. He can fall asleep on a dime when I hold him. That’s right, I have sucker written all over my forehead. I held him, got him to sleep and then put him in the crate. As soon as I turned around, BAM! Wide awake again. So, I looked lovingly over at Ron, hoping he had some dog training wisdom to share. Silence. We were both tired, so we decided to just let him stay in the bed with us. He slept like a rock until around 4:30am. So I took him out, came back in and tried the crate again. Silly me. 10 minutes later, Ron grumbled something like “just put him in the bed so we can sleep”. Ok, maybe it didn’t come out that grumpy, but it was 4:30 in the morning. As soon as I put him in the bed again, he was out like a light! Yep, we are 2 suckers! We fell for it.

This picture below shows how he can just fall asleep if I hold him. This was us in the car the other day.


So, here we are, coming up on the end of day 4, Einstein has slept with us every night. Tonight, we are going to stand tough and put the crate out in the other room and hope it works. Wish us luck.

Today was also the first day he stayed in the crate all day. It was so hard to leave. Ashlee rushed home after school and confirmed he made it through the day. He did have an accident, but he was VERY happy she was home. Tonight, we are setting up the “puppy cam” so I can check in on him from the office to make sure he is doing ok.

So here’s hoping for a good night’s rest and hoping for less accidents in the house. We always have to have a goal right??

Week of mixed feelings

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It’s been a week of emotions.


A wonderful person lost her 2 year battle of cancer this past weekend. I worked with her until she had to go on disability to take care of herself. Holli was like no other person I had met. She had the most positive, hopeful, upbeat outlook. She just knew she was going to beat her cancer and at any time she would be back at work doing what she loved. Over the past two years, her battle had its ups and downs, but in the end, Holli passed away surrounded by her friends and family. She is no longer suffering and is now an angel looking over all of us who knew her.

This past week was also the start of some check-ups for Ron. It’s been 2 months since his 1st post-treatment scans came back clean. He has to continue to have check-ups to make sure everything is still looking good. It could be too easy to quickly believe that he is cancer-free, but you have to keep a bit of realism with you and remember that it takes a few years to be fully sure the cancer is gone.

I constantly find myself with an internal battle. You can’t live your life in fear, but you also can’t be naive. How do you balance the two? I am still working on figuring it out myself. I have good days and bad days. Mostly good, but sometimes you can’t help but worry. He is my love, my life, my future. What would I do without him?

Thursday was Holli’s memorial service. I knew I would be sad, because I was sad she was taken and I was sad for her 19 year old daughter. Man, I had no idea how I was going to be affected by attending that service. It hit way too close to home. To think it could have been Ron, because he was in some pretty shaky spots at times. I felt like a bus was sitting on my chest sitting there in the chapel. I did a really good job of keeping my tears to myself. I didn’t want to lose it. When the service was over, we decided to head home. I wasn’t in a place to be around others and I could sense that Ron wanted to go home too.

As soon as we got to the car I lost it. I can always be myself with Ron. He knew what was happening. He was dealing with his own demons as well, but he pushed that to the side to make sure I was ok. (One of the zillion reasons I love that man.) We both acknowledged we don’t know what tomorrow will hold and we are thankful for every moment we have together and with our family. Can’t ask for any more than that from anyone.

Here I am a day later. Tonight was the Relay for Life event for the American Cancer Society.

We signed up to participate weeks ago with the group at Ashlee and Christopher’s school. Really neat event. It’s an 18-hour walk. Teams have their members sign up for hour blocks. It goes all through the night. Each team has their tents set up and there are activities for all. To start the race, the first lap is only for survivors. All caregivers join the survivors for the second lap and afterwards, everyone else for that time block joins in. Great event. We decided that next year we are going to get our own team together and do the whole thing. Sleep-over and all. So get ready, we’ll be recruiting!!! The picture below shows Ron on the survivor lap. The young girl in the middle is in Ashlee’s class. Her name is Ebony and she is a one-year survivor.

So what have I learned this week? I have reminded myself that I am so grateful to be healthy, be with the man of my dreams and have the best friends and family. Some times it takes something big to slap you back to reality.

What I learned from Holli is to never give up, always keep hope and smile every day! Thank you Holli, you are missed!

Do you have a hobby?

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At dinner tonight, Ron was playing 20 questions with Ashlee. We enjoy throwing out different questions about all types of topics, whether it is about school, her friends, what she thinks about different issues, etc., all so we can try to get inside her head and see how she thinks. So one of the questions Ron asked, is if she could have any hobby, what would it be?

That got me thinking about how I would answer. I don’t have a hobby. Why don’t I have a hobby? Am I too busy? Is there nothing out there that interests me? What are my choices? I have friends that scrapbook, make jewelry, knit, so what is it that interests me and why haven’t I ever acted on it?

I have always been drawn to photography, specifically nature photography. I can actually remember conversations over the past few years where I have mentioned this in passing and have even said that I should take a class. So why haven’t I ever acted on this?

I do believe having a hobby can actually be healthy for people. It becomes a distraction from the normal every day stresses. It lets you have an escape, lets you blow off steam, lets you reach a different side of you that maybe you don’t normally expose. In my job, I am so focused on details and technical aspects that I don’t get to reach in and use my creative side. It’s like a muscle that isn’t being stretched.

I think it is time that instead of lightly talking about wanting to explore the possibility of photography, I am going to take some action. It is important to be well-rounded, have something that is yours, that you had a hand in creating. By posting this out here to the world, it is going to force some accountability on my end. Feel free to ping me to see where I am in this journey.

Here is my task list to start:

  1. First things first, find a class. Our neighbors told me about some classes at Crealdé School of Art in Winter Park that offers classes for all levels. I will start there and see what they offer.
  2. Second, determine whether I want to go down the digital or film route. I am leaning towards digital.
  3. Third, going to need an camera.

Well, wish me luck! I will keep you posted on my journey into photography!

Gender Gap in Video Games?

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Here is my thought provoking question of the week. Is there a gender gap in the video games market?

This past week, young Christopher Sparks spent his hard earned money on the new Nintendo DSi. I have to say, it is pretty darn cool. Christopher already had the DS Lite, so he was kind enough to take pity on Ron and I, and therefore “let” us have it since he has the new one.

Ron and I, the geeks we are, were quite excited! Now we have our own portable game system! We realized quite quickly that we did not have any games for it of our own. Christopher and Ashlee grudgingly said we could borrow a game, but there was no giving us a game. So much for the fact we bought half those games!

So Ron and I took a trip over to our favorite Target store to see what we could find. Ron was bouncing all over the place. He was finding all sorts of games that were piquing his interest. There was Call of Duty 4, Lego Star Wars, Pokemon, Speed Racer, Transformers, Zombie Teenagers, Iron Man, must I go on? I was not so lucky. I don’t like the fighting games, so what does that leave me with? Cooking Mama? Nintendogs? High School Musical? Petz? They were all more interactive/role-playing games, which are not so intense. Not that there is anything wrong with these games, I just found it amusing how there is truly two different markets.

Fighting and violence for the boys and arts and crafts and pets for girls. What does this say about us? It reminds me of the old nursery rhyme:

“What are little boys made of?

What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails,
And puppy dog tails,
That’s what little boys are made of.

What are little girls made of?

What are little girls made of?
Sugar and spice,
And everything nice,
That’s what little girls are made of.”

So the question is, is there a problem? Is there a missing vertical of video games? I am on the fence. I am sure there are girls who like the fighting games and I am sure there are boys who like the interactive-type games. I don’t even know what the missing game type would be, so is there really an issue? I feel like something is missing, but maybe not.

I guess I will go play Animal Crossing and think about it some more……. (wink wink)

Caterers, menus, tastings and more….

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So last week Ron and I met with two potential caterers for the wedding reception. We had no idea what we were getting into. Who would have thought there was so much that went into a simple, sit-down dinner for 75 people?

  • Do you want buffet or plated?
  • If you want plated, do you want to give your guests choices? If so, then that adds a whole new layer to the RSVP’s and seating arrangements.
  • Will there be small children who will need a kids meal?
  • What if we choose a kids meal and the child preferred the main dish or vice versa?
  • Are there any dietary conditions to be addressed for any of the guests? Food allergies, vegetarians, diabetics, etc.
  • What type of water do you want? I’m sorry? Water is water, or so we thought. Apparently there is a new fad going around about Cucumber water.
  • What flavor of iced tea do you want? Mango, Green, Black, Sweet…I could go on.
  • Do you want a bar? Beer and Wine or Full Liquor?
  • Do you need a dance floor? Since when does food coincide with a dance floor? Is there a clean up crew that comes along to clean up from kids who just ate and then start spinning on the dance floor to the Cha-Cha Slide?
  • What color linens?
  • What plate style?

So you are catching my drift here, right? Ron and I were in way over our heads! We must have looked like deer caught in headlights. They were seeing dollars signs in their eyes, thinking “Boy, we got them now!”

We listened, took notes, asked lots of questions and politely told them we needed to soak it all in and weigh our options and we’d be in touch soon.

Now, the best thing about the process of choosing a caterer is the tasting parties! You can’t make an informed decision on something as important as food without sampling some of their goods. Apparently, what these companies do, is periodically throw a tasting party. They bring in tons of food for all their potential clients to sample and they also bring in other vendors to also get your business (like a mini wedding show).

So on Sunday afternoon, Ron and I attended our first tasting party. It was held at a local art museum. We walked in and it was like we entered a cocktail party. There was a DJ, buffets set up around the room and high top tables placed throughout the room. We didn’t waste any time! We jumped right in and grabbed a plate. (Did I mention that I didn’t have lunch so I would be able to eat plenty?). There were some high points and some low points. We tasted our first (and possibly last) glass of cucumber water. It was ok. We ate and ate. I mean, it’s only fair that you try everything. We didn’t want to miss out on something that could possibly make it on our menu. It was so fun, even just to look at other couples in the same predicament we are in. We met one bride in which this was her 5th tasting for the same caterer. She is getting married in May and wants to make sure she tries as many dishes in order to make the right decision. Now that is my type of girl! We left eventually, pleasantly full and happy.

There was another tasting party on Tuesday, but unfortunately work issues got in the way and we did not make it. Hopefully there will be another soon.

As you can see, these wedding plans are much more involved than we expected, but we are having a blast doing them together. I am so lucky and excited that Ron is insistent on having an active role in the planning. I hear of so many men that just prefer to let it all get done and they just show up. Maybe that works for those couples, but Ron is my partner in every way and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Anyhow, I will keep you all posted on the latest adventures as they come. In the meantime, we are contemplating going to other caterers just to see if they have tasting parties. There are always potential events we may need food for…..