One Red Squirrel in Statesville: 365 Day Project

Day 81

2009-10-23T07:45:00.002-04:00

Day 80

2009-10-21T19:24:00.003-04:00

The neighbors are starting to decorate for Halloween!

Day 79

2009-10-21T07:57:00.000-04:00

I forgot to post yesterday's picture, so here it is. I know it's not very original, but it's what I got right now.

Day 78

2009-10-19T21:33:00.001-04:00

Sunflower Maze

Day 77

2009-10-18T21:19:00.003-04:00

We took the kids to Stowe Botanical Gardens in Gastonia today. This was the ceiling of the joint when we first walked in.

Day 76

2009-10-17T21:58:00.002-04:00

Day 75

2009-10-16T17:03:00.002-04:00

Lindsay and I were having a race at the park today and I got this shot off of her trailing me.....she ended up winning.

Day 74....blah day

2009-10-15T20:02:00.003-04:00

Day 73

2009-10-14T15:32:00.002-04:00

Day 72

2009-10-13T08:35:00.003-04:00

Day 71

2009-10-12T17:23:00.004-04:00

Woo went the wind, and out went the light, and five little ghosts flew out of sight.

Day 70

2009-10-11T20:19:00.006-04:00

Lindsay went to a class-mates 4 yr old birthday party today. They had a pirate ship piñata that was made from industrial strength steel plating. It took an adult whacking that thing, and then ripping it open to get any candy out. Then the mad dash to scoop up the mini-sized chocolate bars and sweet tarts from the stained floor of the pavilion at the Statesville Soccer Complex. This is a picture of Lindsay sitting next to her new BFF, Hailee.

Day 69...teehee

2009-10-10T21:15:00.003-04:00

Day 68

2009-10-09T20:03:00.002-04:00

I find this lizard everywhere in the house. It usually hides in a dark corner and I catch it in the corner of my eye and jump, thinking, "What the hell is that!! Oh yeah. That damn lizard."
It's also the answer to today's What is it? game on Facebook.

Day 67

2009-10-08T20:04:00.003-04:00

Day 66

2009-10-07T16:52:00.001-04:00

'Shrooms make the afternoon so beautiful, don't you think?

Day 65

2009-10-06T08:28:00.002-04:00

I let my 4 yr old daughter, Lindsay, do 100% of the editing on this one. I love it! She also edited today's photo on What is it? You should check it out.

Day 64

2009-10-05T20:06:00.003-04:00

Day 63

2009-10-05T07:40:00.003-04:00

My family spent the weekend at a cabin in Bat Cave, NC. One of the evening activities (if you hadn't had too much to drink yet) was puzzle building. If you did have too much to drink, you made fun of the puzzle builders. Note that I am not at the table building a puzzle.

Day 62

2009-10-05T07:35:00.001-04:00

Day 61

2009-10-02T20:18:00.001-04:00

Prequel to a Giant Leopard Moth

Day 60

2009-10-01T23:09:00.001-04:00

Day 59

2009-09-30T20:02:00.002-04:00

Day 58

2009-09-29T16:23:00.002-04:00

Day 57

2009-09-28T19:07:00.002-04:00

Day 56

2009-09-27T20:27:00.002-04:00

Pumpkin patch in Boone, NC.

Day 55

2009-09-27T20:19:00.002-04:00

Day 54

2009-09-25T15:26:00.002-04:00

A very sleepy little boy.

Day 53

2009-09-24T19:07:00.002-04:00

Back at our old stomping grounds of 12th floor Brenner Children's Hospital today. Very good check up!!

Day 52

2009-09-23T18:41:00.002-04:00

One year ago today, Lindsay's bone marrow biopsy came back negative. So, to celebrate this very emotional anniversary, we asked Lindsay what she wanted to do. "Have friends over! And have a cake! And have ice cream!" It was a really happy day.

Day 51

2009-09-22T16:27:00.001-04:00

When inspiration alludes you, take a picture of yourself.

Day 50

2009-09-21T07:40:00.002-04:00

Sorry, if this is redundant, but little else has happened in the last 2 days. The clubhouse is finished!!

Day 49

2009-09-20T10:04:00.002-04:00

Almost finished building the clubhouse with my neighbor. Just needs the walls put up and some more lattice and a roof and.....

Day 48

2009-09-19T07:34:00.002-04:00

Day 47

2009-09-18T07:26:00.002-04:00

Day 46

2009-09-17T21:47:00.003-04:00

Day 45

2009-09-16T07:29:00.002-04:00

My morning, noon, and night snack.

Day 44

2009-09-15T06:31:00.003-04:00

Day 43

2009-09-14T12:23:00.002-04:00

Michael, Avery, and Lindsay
Uncle Kevin and Avery came to visit this weekend to see me get me head shaved for the St. Baldrick's Foundation!!

Day 42

2009-09-13T07:28:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, I had my head shaved for a fundraising event for childhood cancer research. The St. Baldrick's Foundation gives hundreds of thousands of dollars away in the form of grants to researchers searching for cures. My daughter is a leukemia (AML) survivor and directly benefitted from the better medicine coming from that research. I think this may be an annual event for me.

Day 41

2009-09-12T21:41:00.001-04:00

Robot voice: "Do you want to play a game?"

Day 40

2009-09-11T07:34:00.002-04:00

I can't wait for Halloween!!

Day 39

2009-09-10T06:51:00.003-04:00

Join Team Lindsay and help raise awareness of childhood leukemia!

Day 38

2009-09-09T09:13:00.001-04:00

Day 37

2009-09-08T09:42:00.003-04:00

Day 36

2009-09-08T06:42:00.003-04:00

Day 35

2009-09-08T06:36:00.001-04:00

Day 34

2009-09-05T08:07:00.003-04:00

Day 33

2009-09-04T14:59:00.001-04:00

Day 32

2009-09-03T20:35:00.002-04:00

Day 31

2009-09-02T07:10:00.003-04:00

This is one of my favorite shots. I can crop different sections of it and it becomes a pretty amazing sight.

Day 30

2009-09-01T18:16:00.002-04:00

Day 29

2009-08-31T07:59:00.003-04:00

Day 28

2009-08-30T15:58:00.001-04:00

Day 27

2009-08-29T07:28:00.002-04:00

Day 26

2009-08-28T08:01:00.003-04:00

Day 25

2009-08-27T07:30:00.003-04:00

Lindsay's Lemonade Stand!!

Day 24

2009-08-26T07:48:00.001-04:00

Day 23

2009-08-25T08:01:00.000-04:00

Day 22

2009-08-25T07:52:00.002-04:00

Day 21

2009-08-23T20:26:00.003-04:00

Day 20

2009-08-23T20:20:00.003-04:00

Day 19

2009-08-21T11:59:00.004-04:00

You might not ever get rich, but let me tell ya, it's better than diggin' a ditch!

Day 18

2009-08-20T07:36:00.003-04:00

Day 17

2009-08-19T16:58:00.002-04:00

Day 16

2009-08-18T17:47:00.002-04:00

Day 15

2009-08-17T08:28:00.003-04:00

MOTO

Day 14

2009-08-16T07:06:00.003-04:00

Day 13 (A Clockwork Purple)

2009-08-15T11:26:00.001-04:00

Day 12

2009-08-14T08:25:00.002-04:00

From our day at the park yesterday.

Day 11

2009-08-13T07:38:00.003-04:00

Day 10

2009-08-11T18:25:00.003-04:00

Cooling off after working at the lemonade stand.

Day 9

2009-08-10T20:26:00.002-04:00

Orchard Spider

Day 8

2009-08-09T08:00:00.002-04:00

FB answer is in the comments.
You're gonna be mad.

Day 7

2009-08-08T17:16:00.002-04:00

At the zoo

Day 6

2009-08-07T07:24:00.002-04:00

FB Guessing Game Answer is in the comments.

Day 5

2009-08-06T07:30:00.005-04:00

What is it? FB Guessing Game answer is in the comments

Day 4

2009-08-05T07:29:00.004-04:00

FB answer - find it in the comments

Day 3 (or the official one-upper)

2009-08-04T07:30:00.003-04:00

There's something about expressions on dogs' faces that are just as interesting as peoples'. I'm pretty sure I know what's going on in his head. It's a complicated mingle of emotions. Disgust, boredom, a dash of sadness and fear of the camera lying on the floor and refusing to make eye-contact with it....... Or maybe he just likes looking out the window.

Day 2

2009-08-03T07:42:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, after about 7 years, I went for a run. It only amounted to 1.5 miles, but it still counts. I pushed Michael in the jogger and finished in 15-20 minutes. Yes, that is a long time for only 1.5 miles, but believe me, it felt MUCH longer. Next time, I'll pre-med myself with some Advil to save my knees some torment.

Day 1

2009-08-02T10:09:00.007-04:00

In an attempt to "one-up" my brother, I'm gonna post 1 new picture every day. Here's today's (actually taken yesterday).

Happy Valentine's Day!!

2009-02-14T09:48:00.003-05:00

I had a great day taking pictures in Lindsay's hospital room yesterday. This is my favorite.

More Christmas Fodder

2008-12-28T07:56:00.001-05:00

I got a singing Christmas card this year and now cannot get the song out of my head. It's been 4 days....HELP!!!!

Christmas Confession

2008-12-27T21:52:00.002-05:00

Up until last year, I never realized that it was the dad dressed as Santa getting kisses from the mommy under the mistletoe. I always thought the mom was a horny Santa freak. What the hell does that say about me as a kid?

In transition

2008-10-19T09:19:00.003-04:00

Sorry about not posting too much lately, but as we've been in the hospital in Winston-Salem for most of the past 2 months, there's not much to say about Statesville. Anything going on here at the hospital is being posted about on www.caringbridge.org/visit/lindsaytempleton
So head on over there to get caught up....don't worry, it's not a really depressing blog. We try to keep it entertaining. Also, check out www.lindsaybeans.net
It's a website that a friend of ours from back in Madison, WI set up for Lindsay.
See you in the funny papers.

Do I have to?

2008-10-06T22:26:00.003-04:00

Really, I think I do.

This experience with Lindsay's leukemia has really thrown me for a loop, twisted me in a knot, kicked me in the balls, put my head in a vise, got my panties in a wad, etc., etc.....

I've not been a big fan of Statesville since we moved here. Seems like some crazy bad shit happens around every turn. We had the whole Nightmare on Elm St. We had really bad house buying experiences (structural issues, sellers holding ernest money hostage) Now Lindsay's AML. I hate Statesville....or do I?

I know about 12 people in town fairly well. That's it. About 5,000 people know us now and have shown an amazing amount of support for us. It is pretty unbelievable. People we don't know, and will probably not ever know, are giving donations to help us. There are fundraisers all over the place. I just read a comment someone made about an upcoming fundraiser for Lindsay. I had no idea what she was talking about. What fundraiser??

Ginger's work has supplied us with a pretty bad-ass laptop. Lindsay gets to video chat with uncles, aunts, and cousins now and is having a blast doing it.

A certain group of NC at home dad's (whether they all know it or not) donated some Whole Foods Gift cards. I've only met these guys once!!!

We get constant letters from people that heard about Lindsay from a friend of a friend of a cousin of the mother of a kid whose dog walked by our house once.

So, do I have to like Statesville now? I think I do, whether I want to or not.

Art Crawl

2008-09-13T09:21:00.003-04:00

In case you didn't know, I take photographs. I just started in June of this year (with a good camera), so I'm very much a novice. I filled out an application to show at the Statesville Art Crawl and got accepted. Now came the hard work. I had to pick which shots to use, get them printed, get them matted/framed, figure out how to display them, come up with price tags, get business cards made.....
Just before I got my notice that I'd been accepted in the Art Crawl, we found out that our 3 year old daughter has Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). If you want details and updates about that, please visit www.caringbridge.org/visit/lindsaytempleton
So when I saw the email saying I'd been accepted, I almost immediately replied that I'd have to bow out, because there was no way I could get all this stuff done with the emotional state that we all were in. But I didn't reply. I told my wife about it and she said that I had to do it. A very good friend and her daughter stepped up and said they'd take care of the printing and matting/framing. My father-in-law took care of the business cards. All I had to do was pick which shots and get them to my friends.
The Art Crawl was last night and it was pretty cool. I actually sold some pictures (I came up with prices as we were hanging the shots) and had a great time!

Olympic Gold

2008-08-10T09:46:00.004-04:00

We can only pray for a repeat.

Wal-Mart gets everyone's stimulus packages.

2008-07-10T09:22:00.003-04:00

Ew, nasty. Wal-Mart. What a nasty place to shop. I hate it. Never mind the evils of Wal-Mart driving out small local businesses, it's plain and simple a nasty place to go. I get physically ill just walking in and seeing the people that live/shop there. You all know what I mean. Physically repulsive people smacking their kids, waddling down the entire width of each isle in stained spandex pajamas, and t-shirts sporting confederate flags or an iron-on picture of Mickey Mouse.
I waste precious gas and money to drive an extra 15 miles to go elsewhere when I HAVE to. That said, their business strategy of marketing the lowest prices has made them even richer. This time they can thank the government.
I've never been to Costco, so I can't comment on them.
Great. I love capitalism, but damn, some shit you just don't need to spend your money on. I'm not even sure why I'm so irritated about this. It's not that Wal-Mart greatly benefited from the stimulus packages. I think it's because something so aesthetically displeasing did. If Target had made headlines, I wouldn't have had a second thought about it.
If you gotta buy it, buy it local.

No fatties please!

2008-07-06T16:53:00.001-04:00

I saw this big guy on a morning walk today.

What happened in Room 545?

2008-06-30T08:33:00.003-04:00

This is the haunted room in The Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC.
"As the tale goes, the ghost is that of a young woman dressed in pink who fell to her death in the Palm Court Atrium around 1920." She has been seen by many hotel employees.
To get this picture, I had to travel to the 5th floor in a small elevator built into the rocks that make the hotel. The elevator operator took us to the 5th floor. I had my 14 month old son on my back in his carrier. I saw the door as soon as I got off the elevator and got my camera up to shot. As soon as I paused at the door, my son starts screaming as loud as he can. I quickly try and take the picture, but the screen reads "CF card is full". NO WAY!! There was only about 35 pics on this card!! I quickly delete a couple of pics and am able to snap a quick shot. I get my son off my back and get back on the elevator. I tell the operator, "I guess he doesn't like the 5th floor." He replied, "Well, it is haunted, you know. It strange, though. The Pink Lady supposedly likes kids."
Weird.
My son calmed down as soon as we returned to the main floor.
Really weird.

Friday After Five

2008-06-16T10:14:00.004-04:00

We went to Friday After Five downtown the other night (Friday). It was really hot still and we took the kids. We got there at about 5:30. We were 4 of about 20 people. Well, maybe a few more people were there than that. It actually did pick up a little shortly after, but my first impression was, "Uhhh, really? This is it?" There was a church playground right next to where the band set up so we just hung out there so the kids could play.
I must say, I did like the song selections by the band. Tom Petty, Green Day, Lynyrd Skynyrd. I guess they are your typical cover band, including the fact that they sounded like crap. I have no idea what the band's name is, so, sorry, I can't post their schedule.
My favorite band member had to be the lead singer. Very stationary, unenthusiastic. Bright, red polo shirt with the collar up....way up.
There was a huge empty space from the stage to the "crowd". I'm not sure if there were supposed to be people in that area or not. Maybe people were staying clear of the bass guitarist (the guy in black) hocking the biggest loogies I've ever seen out into the street. I did get a sweet picture of them...from the back. I do have a side shot, but it doesn't capture the fiery energy of this gas-powered rock and roll band.

War is not the answer.

2008-06-09T18:32:00.008-04:00

I visited the Quaker church here in Statesville a couple of weeks ago. To me, this is surprising on a couple of levels. a) Statesville has a Quaker church??? and b) why am I going to church in the first place.
Answers:
a) yes
b) that's a good question

I went without wife or kids. It was part scouting mission to see if kids would be cool at a Quaker meeting...that's what they are called, meetings, and part looking for something different that might appeal to me in Statesville.
It turns out that, yes, children are very welcome at the meetings and they can talk as much or as little as they want. The same rule applies to adults.
There is no pastor/minister/priest/holy man.
No performance to watch.
No music to listen to (unless you bring your own).
No obligation to pray or read aloud or anything else that I've had to do at other churches (mostly Presbyterian, because that's what I was raised)
They have Bibles and hymnals if you want to read scripture or songs.
They believe in The Trinity but don't make blanket statements in regards to it because they believe that what you believe is not necessarily right on with what the guy next to you believes through and through. And it's not their place to question others' beliefs. Be peaceful with yours and I'm peaceful with mine.
You are supposed to (I think) be at peace with yourself through self awareness and self discovery. Also be at peace with everything and everyone else. (the Quakers are pacifists) Contemplate what you will and if you so choose to talk about it to anyone else or the entire group (I was one of three people there) then you go right ahead.
I gotta say that I liked it. I was alone with no obligations to anything. I could just sit in the silence and look at the stained-glass windows and really old organ. I read a pamphlet on prevention of deadly conflict (very insightful)
In the end I did not stand up and share my thoughts with anybody else. I did talk to the guy in charge before and after the meeting. I learned about the history of the building and a little bit of lore about Statesville.
I will go back and try it with the fam. Maybe not too soon though, they didn't seem to have any air-conditioning.
I did return later that day to take some pics. Click here. The pics are not separated into albums, so you'll just have to look through the list. If it looks like a small church, that's it.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I got a bumper sticker,
WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER

I don't remember getting that at any other church, but then Quakers don't have an annual BBQ to advertise on T-shirts either.

My Flickr

2008-06-02T08:37:00.003-04:00

Most of my new pictures are going into my Flickr account. You can see some of them on the top right of this page. I'll keep posting here too, but it's better organized on Flickr. Check it out. Make comments please. Tag them as favorites if you like them.

New Camera

2008-05-29T23:10:00.002-04:00

It's a Canon XTI Digital Rebel. It finally came today. My dog Jones was one of the first guinea pigs. For pictures of the kids, you gotta go to their blog.

Oak Island, NC

2008-05-26T12:06:00.007-04:00

We went to the beach at Oak Island, NC!! We have never taken a family vacation before, so we decided it was time. But how much time is enough? The answer to that question is 4 days.

Old Man by the Sea

We saw lots of pelicans

and more pelicans

We saw some boats, too.

Big boat going into port.

The house we stayed in

Seagull

We saw a lady from the DNR rescue a hurt bird.

The Oak Island Lighthouse

Holy cow!!

2008-05-17T06:24:00.004-04:00

I woke up today and the Cubs have the 2nd best record in baseball!!
Also, the Statesville Farmers' Market opens in about 30 minutes...fresh, organic produce!! Thank you Milk and Honey Farms!!
Me thinks it's gonna be a good day.

Bitter Sweet News

2008-05-16T12:24:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I found out that a manuscript for a children's book that I sent to a publisher had been accepted. Then I realized that I can not afford the author's investment required for a new author. Pretty cool getting accepted. Pretty crappy not being able to do it. Oh well. Life goes on.

Things in my backyard

2008-05-15T13:51:00.004-04:00

recycling bin

pink soccer ball

this tree

a old pile of bricks

one rose

a window

another window

vagina tree

When I was a child, I was a genius....or

2008-04-28T14:56:00.003-04:00

I may have been really stupid. A memory came to me as I was driving down the highway this morning. I past a road sign "Bridge Ices Before Road".
When I was a kid, I had the worst trouble trying to figure out what this sign meant. I had it in my head that the word "before" was referring to the "in front of" meaning. As in, "What do I see before me?" So when I would read the sign, it would come across as the bridge ices in front of the road. What the hell does that mean? Is the sign saying the road is a witness to the icing of the bridge? I actually remembered having that thought.
I think, genius.