The Pnebleu Blog » family

A Disney Thanksgiving

Daniel Cole — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 15:09:27 +0000

This year for Thanksgiving week my family (including Aunt, Uncle, Cousins, and Grandparents) went to Disney World in Florida. I have a good time, but I don’t see myself returning to Disney World for many years, or until absolutely necessary. It’s a park designed for kids and Disney fanatics, neither of which describe me. Though it was a lot of fun to see my younger siblings and cousins have so much fun.

On the drive to Florida, we were able to take a detour through George, so now I’ve been to a total of 30 states! It was good to take a vacation with the family again. Now I’m looking to February to go see one of the last shuttle launches.

New Year, New Nephew

Daniel Cole — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:04:52 +0000

So the month is almost out and I’ve been busy for the past couple weeks. There’s also a new member of the family. My sister had her son at the beginning of the month, Layton.

Click for larger picture.

Not November!

Daniel Cole — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:57:06 +0000

Wow, it’s already November. Time is flying. So to elaborate on my October post, the last few months have been quite crazy! I’ve gotten settled in to my 2-bed, 2-bath apartment that I share with me, myself, and I. I’ve taken my first business trip that lasted 6 days (I worked in Beaverton, OR, near Portland). I’ve gone on a two month spending spree to fill out my apartment. I discovered the gender of my soon-to-be nephew. I’ve installed Windows 7 on my PC and I’m loving it! And I’m planning my schedule for the hectic holiday season.

I love my new Canon EOS Rebel T1i. I’ve got a lot to learn, but ever since I got my first digital camera in 2002 photography has been a passion. These two photos are a few of the things I’ve bought to fill out my apartment. Most of the dishes are dirty at the moment, so the cabinet seems a bit empty. It’s normally full to the brim. I have enough settings for 8 people.

I’m looking forward to the coming months. I’m planning a holiday party for some of my coworkers. This will be a good début of the dishware, my cooking skills, and my hosting abilities. Amanda, my sister is due in January. I’m very excited about the addition to our family. Plus, babies can be used as chick-magnets . I’ve also started planning for the purchase of a house. It probably won’t happen until after 2010, but I want to get a fixer-upper. I don’t want it to be falling apart, but it could be in need of a remodel.

MeToday 4-27-2008

Daniel Cole — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:38:15 +0000

A summary of this weekend.

April, The Worst/Best/Busiest Month of the Year

Daniel Cole — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 16:37:53 +0000

This month is the worst and best month of the year. It has always been the busiest month for me and my family. I finalized my new lease for June 2008 through June 2009. I have received information that I might be getting $300 from the IRS for the Economic Stimulus Package. The tests and projects are revving up. I had one test yesterday. I have two tests on Wednesday (4/9/2008) and more coming later this month. My immediate family has 3 birthdays this month, including my own.

Money is tight at the moment, so I’m watching every purchase with great vigilance. I have to get groceries soon, but I don’t get paid until 4/16. I’ve been needing to get an oil change, so I finally did today. My wallet hurts a little; $55. This afternoon and evening I decided to procrastinate as much as possible, so I didn’t read the 200+ pages for my 2 exams on Wednesday. I researched my schedule for the fall and I’ll talk to my adviser to determine if what I choose is appropriate. When I have a nailed down schedule I’ll post something about it. I’ve also been cleaning: the bathtub, vacuuming my room, sweeping the kitchen and entry, and washing my dishes. After that I listened to and watched a few podcasts. Security Now! 138 I finished my day just with Finance homework and blogging. I hope your month is better than mine. (My month isn’t really that bad, but I like to over-exaggerate.)

How Things Roll

Daniel Cole — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 20:35:59 +0000

Life has been rolling along at lightning speed for the past couple of months, and I’m not the only one to notice it. I’ve had to find an new apartment to live in for the Summer, Fall, and Spring coming up, which actually didn’t take that long. I only have about 5 weeks left of school this semester. Chores that I need to do are starting to stack up as I’m getting behind. My car, for instance, will need some maintenance done on it in the next couple of months, yet I’ve been waiting because I didn’t and still don’t have the money to do it. I paid off all of my taxes early, so that I don’t have to worry about now. But, my wallet is decreased because of it. The price of gas, therefore the price of everything else, has increased quite a bit recently. It’s now about $3.15/gallon, whereas last year at about this time I paid $2.42/gallon. If the price of energy continues to rise exponentially, I am going to have some trouble along with the world economy.

The 2008 election is coming up real fast and I don’t like any of the choices. It will be interesting, however, who wins the Democratic nomination. If they were smart, Obama and Hillary would ask the other to be the Vice President when they become the nominee. I’ll probably be voting for McCain, but there are so many things about him I really dislike.

Braden and Mikayla, my younger siblings, entered photos and desserts into the county fair at home. Braden won 2nd Place for his photo and Mikayla was the Reserve Grand Champion. Braden also got 1st Place for his Banana Nut Muffins and Mikayla got 1st Place for a Pound Cake. Each of the food items made the sale, so Monday they will be auctioned for and the kids will get the proceeding money. I’m really proud of them. They are so much fun to be with. Since I moved to College Station, I haven’t been able to spend much time with them as I’d like. I really miss seeing them everyday before and after school. My family means so much to me.

I will add some pictures of “the kids” and their ribbons as soon as I can.

The Future Needs Glasses to See the Past

Daniel Cole — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 04:53:43 +0000

Hindsight is 20/20, yet it gets blurry real fast. We don’t look at the mistakes from the past, very often, before we make them again in the present. Sometimes we look back at the past and wonder why we felt the way we did. You forget your own perception from the past. This isn’t confined to people as individuals, it can be expanded to include countries and even the human race in general. Life happens in cycles. We may develop new technologies and have different details, but people do the same things over and over. There are wars for land and resources. There are cycles of civic and social growth, which are followed by decadence, the Roman Empire for example. People are born, grow up and learn, find love, procreate, grow old, and finally die. Then, the next generation does the same thing over again. There is nothing more cyclical. If we want to break the cycle in some places and improve our existence, it requires looking a the past, learning from other’s mistakes and doing things differently in the future. But, you still have to teach the next generation or they will “forget” and the cycle begins again.

Breaking from the circle of life, to use a cliché, is not always a positive thing. The break from traditional nuclear families during the last half of the 20th century has had some negative consequences on the children of non-traditional families. The rise in youth violence, youth depression and other mental illness, and lowering education scores may have something to do with the new family structures that are increasingly in use. Just because this is the most advanced time in human history and we are able to do things people a few decades ago couldn’t even imagine if they wanted to, doesn’t mean we know everything and should try to change the nature cycle. We may just inadvertently wreck havoc on basic human existence. We should be careful when we change tradition, look at all of the consequences. If you look to the past for the future, you may just find it; we’re doing the same things people did before us.