Hello everybody!
I wanted to fill everyone in on what has been happening in our lives lately. Shea's vocabulary grows and grows and his enunciation of words he already knows gets better each day. He's started putting words into short sentences too. His favorite phrase: "Go Outside?" It's too bad that he doesn't realize it's 30 friggin' degrees outside. Still, we bundle him up and put him in the stoller or backpack. He enjoys it for 5 minutes or so and then just waits for it to be over. Shea's also been exploring coloring (okay, making marks on paper) and climbing. He's testing us at every turn, whether it's putting the crayon against the wall and smiling at us, or climbing on top of anything and everything. Ah, the joys of raising an independent and curious child!
The reason we can't document any of these events is that the "security" features on our computer corrupted our photo software, deleting every digital picture we've ever taken. After much searching, I found them somewhere else on the harddrive, but wasn't successful at fully restoring them. All this has taken up so much space on the harddrive that I've gotta buy an external harddrive to backup the entire harddrive so I can fix things. So, please be patient with us until we can get things back in order. Also, our camera has not been working very well, including the autofocus not working, the lens getting stuck, and the flash operating on occasion.
In other news (pun intended), anyone reading the local papers these days knows what I've been going through lately at work (www.gloucestertimes.com - search for fishing articles). In short, the District Court in Boston just threw out regulations I helped write nearly 3 years ago, but didn't suggest replacement regulations, causing chaos and uncertainty in the fishery and everyone to blame my agency for causing the ruin of 400 years of fishing heritage. According to one journalist, me and my agency are Communist rogue minions colluding with the U.S. Coast Guard to wage war on righteous blue collar middle class innocents, dedicated to the complete ruination of everything holy to God and country. Let's just say, it's been a busy few weeks full of "interpretative" journalism and public rancor. I've been working long hours and weekends, with little time to pursue the 900 other things I've wanted to do - most importantly, spend time with my family. Needless to say, I'm exploring what other things I can do for the next 30 years that will provide us with a decent lifestyle, but allow me to enjoy it at the same time.
Luckily, I've been able to bang a few nails now and again - my type of therapy. Jess has been kind enough to take care of Shea for a few weekends when I haven't been working to allow me to frame out a playroom in the basement. I've been encasing the sewer pipes and water meter, putting storage shelves and bins underneath and building a closet behind the stairs. I'd show you pictures, but...I can't. I'll post some soon enough. It's coming along nicely and Shea likes to play among the studs and shelving units for now. I hope to get some sheetrock up shortly and finish it all up after a few more weekends of therapy. It'll look good, I promise.
Anyway, thanks for your patience. We'll keep you updated. I hope everyone is well!
Love,
Doug, Jess, and Shea
I just love this picture. It captures his essence, I think.
I think I may send this image to Peta. What do you think?
"I evicted Skittles from her cat bed because she couldn't pay the rent. Hey, these are tough economic times for everybody!"
"I'm practicing to be a member of Blue Man Group." 
"Is that dog doing what I think he's doing?"
"Why do you insist on taking pictures of me getting dressed, really?!"
"I was not NOT licking toads."
"I could rip this moo cow doggie toy to shreds in seconds...watch me!"
