New Camera, New Section, New Feed

I haven’t been very good so far about filling in the details around rhya’s pregnancy, but I’m working on it. One thing I did do immediately (well, the next day) after finding out was to buy a new digital camera. I went the budget route, with a Canon Powershot A75. It tended to get the better reviews in its price class, and can do 30-second movies. Anyway, that means the there will be a new “Pictures” section to the website (check it out at the right, or here). Also, for you RSS lovers, the feed is here. There are just random pictures in the one lonely album so far, but expect it to fill in quite nicely.

Update: Here’s a sample…

Wondering who the cute kid is? It’s Macullen, Charlie and Amber Rusk’s boy (and Joey Rusk’s nephew…). We’re going back over to their house on Sunday, so there will be more to come!

Netflix is a bust

As cool as the RSS feed on the website was, and the thought of movies delivered to our doorstep, it just wasn’t all that we thought it would be. Maybe we live too far from their regional distribution center, or the fact that a lot of movies are on a wait list, but we couldn’t get around the shortcomings.

But, for those of you that are enjoying your service….act like you are going to cancel it anyway on the website. They will come back with an offer to cut $2.00 off the monthly subscription.

May the looks come from the mother…

Rhya’s pregnant! We found out the Thursday before last (the 11th), and we’ve been trying to make the rounds to call everyone. If we missed you, we’re sorry. Things have been a little crazy!

That’s right. I came home from Chip’s on Veterans Day, and Rhya called and asked that I bring home a pregnancy test. To tell the truth, I didn’t think much of it, because Rhya thinks she could be pregnant every month. Anyway, I took one home, and she came out of the bathroom with a …hhmmmm.. different look in her eyes. She said that she thought she was pregnant, but that the second line was reaaaaalllyy faint (1 line = no baby, 2 lines = baby). So, she took the other one in the box, but it was faint too (but a little darker). I decided that this 1 line/2 line stuff was too ambiguous, so I went back to the grocery store and bought a 3rd test. This one was called “Certainty”, and had a digital readout that says either “Pregnant” or “Not Pregnant”. I brought it home, and it was supposed to show one of the two readings after 1 – 3 minutes. Well, after about 10 seconds, Pregnant was lit up in all its glory.

We went to the doctor yesterday, and everything checked out great! A lot has happened between when we found out and now, so I’ll try to piece it together over the next couple days…Also, the category “peanut” has been added.

Friday Night Poker

I played poker seriously for the first time on Friday night since I moved to Peoria from San Diego. As most of you know, I was playing upwards of 120hours/month the last few months back in CA. I basically couldn’t even watch TV without playing poker at the same time. Then, we moved, and I didn’t really have time. But, a bunch of my Dunlap buddies get together about once a month to play in a small $10 entry tournament, and I jumped in this last one. I’ll update this post with exactly what happened in the tournament (one of the organizers keeps a pretty detailed log of the evening), but in a nutshell…Erik Nelson picked up third place, and won back his entry fee, Chip took second and won $20, and I grabbed the top spot and netted $70. Probably not a strong indicator that I’ll be jumping back into playing a lot (don’t really have time), but it was a good way to come back.

Wide World of Brandon

Our friend Brandon has decided to start a new weblog. Check it out! Good luck Brandon…you’ve already got two readers from Illinois. I believe that could count as a national readership.

Also, I’ve added this site to the link section.

Maybe Next Year

(thanks, Dad!)

Mossville vs. Farmington – Family vs. Friend

Yeah, it’s really not that dramatic. I went to a junior high basketball game last night, since Rhya left me home alone. Farmington Community Junior High played against Mossville Grade School. Farmington was undefeated before the game, and Mossville had only lost once…by one point. Now that all of the suspense has been built…

I went to the game because Chip is the coach for Farmington. This is their first year as a consolidated junior high, and the feeder schools all had strong basketball teams. I’ve gone to most of the home games, because it’s neat to see a good buddy succeed (and they are…the kids are really good).

So, when I got there, I saw Adam Rock warming up (he’s my second cousin), and I saw Chuck and Doris (my Aunt and Uncle) and Jeff and Julie (my cousins) in the stands. I went over and talked to them at halftime, where I was summarily told by Doris that I would be disowned if I didn’t cheer for Mossville.

Farmington beat Mossville pretty handily, keeping their undefeated season alive…but Adam and Mossville was definitely a strong player and a strong team, respectively.

I also got to see Chip’s aunt Terry and grandma Grace, along with Ryne and his buddy at the game.

By the way, Farmington built a new school this year, and it is MASSIVE, and very nice. But, some of you probably don’t know the History of Farmington Schools.

Usage Statistics for www.mattandrhya.com – Last 12 Months

Usage Statistics for www.mattandrhya.com – Last 12 Months

I’ll try to update this post later, but take a look at this…

Happy Birthday Janet!

Late! Late! Late! Sorry for the lateness of this post, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM! (it was the 12th). We had a really nice time going out to dinner with you at Johnny’s!

Birthday? Come and gone…

It was my birthday on Wednesday. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to sit down and really enjoy it because I had two huge presentations; one on Wednesday, and one on Thursday. But, there were definitely some memorable and wonderful moments. I got to go to dinner with my whole immediate family – 2 (Jo and Brooke were a bit under the weather. Hope you guys have made a full recovery) on Tuesday night at good ole’ Old Chicago. Then, since I had to go in early on my birthday, Rhya got up with me at 5:00 in the morning and made breakfast. When I got home from work (in between little bits of preparing for my meeting the next day), Rhya and I went to Illinois Cycle and Fitness to look at home gym equipment. We have our eye on this. She got me a shower cd/radio/shaving mirror. I haven’t got to use it yet – gotta find some C batteries first.

Anyway, it wasn’t the most ideal birthday situations, but the meetings went great, and I have some really good memories!