Randman's World

I am very pleased to welcome little Noah Johnson to the world. Noah is the newly born son of Derek Johnson and his wife, Jen. Derek was my co-worker at Ferrellgas, and one really great guy, and will be a terrific dad!

This is the only photo I have of Derek. He normally doesn't look that mad, but he had just lost his camera in a taxi cab in Vegas.

Noah was born on June 15th, in the afternoon, and weighed in at 7 pounds 15 ounces. Apparently, he wasn't quite ready to make his appearance, so they had to go in and get him by C section, but mom and Noah are doing great.

Welcome, little Noah!

No, it's not the latest Disney marketing catch-phrase. 15 years ago today, Kim and I were married back home in Kansas City. The next day, we left on our honeymoon . . . for Walt Disney World.

Who woulda thunk, huh!?!? The circle is complete.

Tonight, we are going to dinner at Narcoosee's, at the Grand Floridian hotel. Suppose to be very nice.

Tomorrow is Charlie's 3rd birthday. He has a Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Cake coming, plus a toy shopping extravaganza (courtesy papa and gree-gree and Auntie Bev). Then, after a Saturday of house hunting, we'll probably go back to one of the parks, so he can watch fireworks. He really loves fireworks, and the big smile on his face makes any hassle with crowds worth it.

Last Friday, we had an "only in Florida" moment. Of course, everyone knows that the Space Shuttle Atlantis blasted off Friday evening, after a long delay (due to the Columbia disaster and a freak hail storm). All the news channels in Orlando broke in with coverage of the launch. I had thought about driving over to Cocoa Beach to watch the launch, but work kept me from having time.

So, while sitting on the couch in our condo, we watched the shuttle launch. Then, I looked out the front window, and there it was. We could see the shuttle going up. We even saw the booster seperation. It was extremely cool. I thought to get my camera, but after booster seperation, you couldn't really see it anymore.

I hope to actually get over to Cape Canaveral to see a launch some time. I had seen missle launches as a child when we lived near Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, but I really want to see a shuttle go up. And, of course, I want Charlie to see one, as well.

It's Sunday, and we are at the end of our first week as a family in Orlando. It's been stressful, but it's so much better being all together. A lot has happened this week.

First thing, we had to find Charlie daycare. I checked out several, and found one we really liked. It's not too far from the apartment, and although it's very expensive, it made leaving Charlie there much easier, due to it's cleanliness and overall look of fun.

We got settled in the apartment. Yeah, I was right . . .it's cramped in here. Charlie hasn't figured out that this isn't just a hotel room for the week. But, he's been good as gold, for the most part. I'm sure the neighbors downstairs don't appreciate him running and jumping, but what are you going to do with a 2 year old.

We went house hunting with our realtor yesterday. We got pre-approved for a loan. It's amazing that they approve you for more house than you could ever afford. Really stupid. And of course, that's the price range our realtor wants us to look. We did find two homes we loved, but now, we have to wait until we sees Kim's take home at her new job to see if we can afford the payment.

We took Charlie to the Magic Kingdom on Thursday night, and he saw both Spectromagic (the parade) and Wishes (the fireworks). He liked the parade, but loved the fireworks. The look of absolute delight on his face during the fireworks was worth every minute of waiting. And he learned a new word . . . "COOL!!!!!"

Today, I'm not sure what we will do. It's very warm, as summer is officially here, so we may stick with something inside, or head out to one of the parks.

Tomorrow, Kim starts her new job. She's very nervous, but I think it will be ok.