The Lindenbergs

Wow, time keeps racing past -sorry for the delay in a new post.

Things are pretty busy with the Lindenbergs. We had our first driveway movie of the season, completed a weekend cub scout camping trip over the weekend, Nora and I are gearing up for our family Corolla vacation at the end of May, I (Eric) is working with the local community college to start teaching some continuing education classes, Pierce's soccer season is in high gear, we're shooting a professional wedding videography gig in a couple of weeks, and I have built/sold a few more Ghostbuster props on eBay.

Anna is truly growing like a weed. Now that the weather is turning warm we're digging out her warm weather clothes and NOTHING fits. Her cute little Buddha belly is rapidly disappearing -she looks like she's been stretched.

Along with her physical growth, her personality and intelligence is ever expanding. She's completed her first workbook at school which covers both reading and writing and is moving into lessons that cover reading non-phonetic sounds. At bedtime she frequently reads to us (and her enthusiasm for the process is growing). The other day she read me "The Cat in the Hat" with almost no assistance.

Unlike the rest of the family, she's incredibly curious. Any new experience prompts loads of questions (many times the same question repeatedly). Nora and I are really walking the fine line of being responsive to her inquiries, and asking her to stop asking the same questions over and over again ;)

Pierce and soccer are starting to gel. Over the last couple of weeks its like a light bulb went off in his head. His time on the field is far more impressive, with him mixing it up to get the ball, chasing the players up and down the field, and paying far more attention to what's occurring on the field. During the games, Anna and I kick a spare ball around. She's got some natural talent and enthusiasm. It will be interesting to see how she plays during the fall season. Pierce is talking about wanting to play coach-pitch baseball once the soccer season is over (we'll see how that develops; I have my doubts).

Speaking of sports, Pierce and I have been shooting baskets in the driveway. Again, the improvement of last year is amazing. He's shooting from all over the "court" and starting to hit some nice buckets. The other day when we were playing and I indicated I was getting ready to call it quits, he said he'd play on with out me.

A week ago we had our first driveway movie of the season. We showed Wallace and Gromit Curse of the Wererabbit (sp?). Attendance wasn't bad. Some of our regular attendees were not present, but we picked up a new family that's already asking when we'll have our next movie (hopefully next week). We were worried we'd have to cancel due to weather, but the evening stayed dry. Towards the end of the movie a spring chill was in the air and we were all snuggled under blankets. The next showing will probably be "Back to the Future".

We have this Spring's first professional wedding videography gig on May 24. Nora and I have met with the bride and done a church walk through. The church is downtown and is gorgeous. I'm attempting to upgrade some of our recording equipment beforehand, some in the market for some new, pro consumer level cameras -yikes, expensive. Hopefully I'll have everything nailed down by the end of the week. We have a couple of other bookings that should take place in the fall; hopefully we'll get some more interest through the summer. To visit the company's website go to www.editedmemories.com

In an attempt to generate more funds to be spent on video equipment, I've sold a few more Ghostbuster props on eBay (forgive me if I've listed these before):

Proton Wand
Proton Pack Shell

I've got another wand completed and a Ghost Trap done, but I'll hold off on getting them listed until we're back from the beach -I like to have a spare as a reference when I'm making new ones. Hopefully, once we get the more immediate tasks behind us, I'll be able to build up inventory to sell before Halloween.

I've been working on the 2007 Corolla video. We got some great video of the family on the beach, at the pool, and lounging around the house. This year's "presentation" will be done as a mock newscast with Nora and me acting as the news anchors. I'm hoping to have the whole thing complete in a couple of weeks (before we shoot the wedding video).

I can't remember if I previously posted, but I successfully passed the PMI Certification exam and am now a PMP Professional. This designation is the highest level professional certification a project manager can receive and is roughly equivalent to an account getting their CPA certification (but with a much, much smaller commitment in time and money). I found out that the community college (JCCC) where I took my PMP prep class is looking for Project Management class instructors -so I've been in contact with them to teach some classes. I've passed the first round of interviews and am scheduled to teach a "mock" class in a couple of weeks. Hopefully I'll be teaching in the fall.

Pierce's cub scout troop had its Spring family camping trip last weekend. The weather was surprisingly cooperative; Saturday was beautiful and we all enjoyed hiking, structured activities including a scavenger hunt (Nora ran it), a short hike, horseshoes, badminton, kickball, and (after dinner), a campfire with jokes and skits. We crawled into our tent about 9:00 and promptly froze for the rest of the night. None of us got much sleep -do they sell battery operated space heaters?

Sunday was a quick camp breakfast, breakdown of the campsite, then back home. Nora and I met with our Edited Memories customer to do a church walk through around lunch so we had to get everyone cleaned up and out the door. The process was somewhat slowed when we found ticks on Anna and me (yuck). Anna's been asking about tick biology ever since (Why do they suck blood? How do they stick to your skin? Where are there teeth?, etc. She and I have actually looked up ticks on wikipedia to answer most of her questions).

On Monday, we had a quiet evening in with a little movie time. We picked up a copy of "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" at the library and it was a HUGE hit with Pierce and Anna (Nora and I liked it too). Pierce was literally on his feet yelling at the TV during some of the more exciting parts. Both kids are lobbying to watch the sequels: Honey, We Blew Up the Kid and Honey, We Shrunk Our Selves.

-Eric (Dad)