I called the police and basically learned it would be worthless for them to come out unless there was more significant damage. So we swapped insurance information and I drove home wishing Quizno’s had been open (the first choice for dinner). Obviously this was totally his fault since our car was stationary in a parking space and I wasn’t even in it. Looking back on it, though, I realized I really should have checked around to see if anyone saw what happened so they could be listed as a witness for the claim. Even though it was clearly his fault, I don’t want to get stuck paying the $500 deductible. I already called State Farm and gave them all the info for our claim, so now I get to sit back and wait for our rep to call to figure out what happens next.

Next, you’ll notice there’s a section in the sidebar showing recent comments and trackbacks. This one is also kind of useless because no one actually leaves comments, but maybe that will change one day. Thanks to Krischan Jodies for this one.

The last and probably coolest change is that I’m now able to use Lightbox to display (some) photos. To see it in action, try clicking on one of the thumbnails in a post below.

Edit: I almost forgot - a little while back I fixed my flickr integration so you should be able to see all of that again at /photos/. (I lied - some combination of FAlbum and/or flickr is being a pain in the ass.) Eventually I’d like to put a button on my nifty toolbar up there, but since this is a part of my latest theme, I have to figure out how to hack it first. Also, this doesn’t use Lightbox; I’m not sure how complicated that will be.

Edit 2: I also wrote a few posts over the last year that I never posted for whatever reason. Their now sprinkled around in the archive on the appropriate dates, mostly from our honeymoon last February.

I really hope Penn decides to come back to the radio.

The lack of updates could mean I’m just lazy. It could mean I’ve been working on our taxes. Or it could mean that I’ve been working on improving the site. Over the weekend I started working on some additions that should make things a lot more interesting around here. At minimum, I’ve got a photo gallery in the works (that’s right, Jamaica pictures are coming) and who knows, maybe I’ll also get rid of the default WordPress theme soon.

The photo gallery is actually online already, but I’m keeping it’s location under wraps for the time being. I’ve got a little bit of work to do in giving pictures more interesting names and making sure things are in order. It’s setup through my new flickr account and a pretty little plugin called FAlbum that I discovered yesterday. I’m still trying to figure out what all I can do with it - I’ll unveil it soon.

Edit: No, I’m not nervous. Just tired of waiting around.

I’m really looking forward to adding more photos to this site. I’m hoping I can make it a regular thing, but there’s a lot of planning I need to do first. Be on the lookout for more visuals coming soon.

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For as long as I can remember, I’ve had trouble sleeping on the night of Christmas Eve. When I was younger it was due to excitement for Santa and all the presents that the morning would bring. But even into high school I’d still get that rush of excitement as I tried to go to sleep that inevitably meant I was going to wake up early (or at least lay in bed as long as I could stand it). The last few years the problem hasn’t been with falling asleep or even sleeping well. The problem has become going back to sleep if I wake up during the night. If I wake up much at all, the thought of presents pops into my head and that’s all it takes. I’m usually wide awake. Well, this morning I woke up about 8:10. And in keeping with the trend, there was no point in trying to go back to sleep. And that’s actually a decent time, unlike years past.

So we did the present thing. My parents decided to try a different tactic and gave us the big stuff first…

This is what makes the rest of these pictures possible.

While not unexpected, digital cameras are always awesome! My sister got an identical one that just happens to be the same model my dad got about six months ago. Imagine that. Of course, that means I’ll be taking lots more pictures, and I’ll probably post (some of) them when I get around to it.

My dad replaced my keyboard for me. If you never heard about it, I had an unfortunate accident with some keyboard-frying juice over the summer. This makes me very happy

My sister decided to get creative and designed this cross stitch pattern based on something we both enjoy: the world of Harry Potter.

So as the day wore on, I decided to test out the new camera and took some pictures around the house. Here’s a taste.

Albee is our oldest dog. He got a new collar today.

He may be old, but he still knows a trick or two.

Mirabelle got a new bed.

You’d think she has a rough life or something.

Boomer belongs to my aunt and uncle. She got to tag along on their Christmas road trip.

I leave you with a little Christmas spirit. And look, there’s still a few gifts under the tree. We’ll save those for a little later. Merry Christmas!

Currently Playing: Coming Home by The Appalachian Christmas Quartet