The Woods Family Website

My week at work was pretty intense.  I was involved in the hiring process for a position at ALMACO. Normally, this isn’t a huge deal, but the interviews were quite lengthy and required me to keep my schedule clear for most of the day. As a result, things were pretty slow in between interviews making the days arduous. I think they went well overall, and I’m glad I had an opportunity to contribute to the decision. This is just one of the many reasons I enjoy working where I do; I love wearing different hats.

Tuesday we did BW3s and haircuts after work. The kids and I were overdue. We’ve been going to SportClips and while they aren’t the best in the world it’s quick and not too expensive. We still are having trouble finding someone to cut Isaac’s hair well. This lady does better than anyone has to date, but there’s still room for improvement.

On Wednesday, we surprised Aaron with a new bike. He’s needed one for awhile now, and we’ve been holding off. With his most recent growth spurt it was unavoidable. Aaron now has a new Schwinn that he’s absolutely in love with. Convenient for us, because we recently told him he would have to curb his video game playing. Not because he’s been playing too much, but because he’s been asking to play too much. Anyway, immediately following our trip to Toys-R-Us, we met Jeff and Melissa at Chuck E. Cheese. Both of the boys played until well past their bed time and were still awake by the time we got home. It made for an interesting evening, but once they calmed down the

Thursday we put together the bike and played outside. We took pictures with Candice’s new camera to share with everyone.

Read the rest of this entry »

I decided a few months ago to start my own LAN party.  If you’re not sure what those are, you should visit Wikipedia or just do a Google search.  They are basically an event where gamers bring their computers, set them up on a local network, and play computer games against each other.  The idea is to have a fun social gathering for gamers to come and interact with each other.  In addition, there are usually tournaments and contests to win prizes provided by sponsors.

While I’m not a network guru or a fantastic web developer, I do fundamentally understand what makes LAN parties fun.  I think Central Iowa is really missing out on having these big events.  Cities like Omaha, NE and Springfield, IL have shown that it doesn’t take the population of Chicago to have a well attended event.  It’s my goal to start a big LAN in the area, and this is my first step.  Along with a group of friends, we found a venue, built a website (www.iowalanhunt.com), and started looking for sponsors.  The event is going to be this weekend and I am anxious to see how it goes.  This is our first crack at this, and we’ve got a lot to learn before we can go big.

We took Aaron to get his hearing checked again today.  We’d had his hearing tested when we were living in Fort Dodge and the tests indicated he had slight loss in his hearing.  The doctors felt this was due to fluid in his ears.

This was my first time going with him, and I was really impressed with how good he was.  They did a simplified version of the hearing tests I remember taking.  The woman doing the tests told him to listen in one ear and raise his hand if he heard the beeps.  Once he finished one ear they moved on to the other side.  He was really patient and did exactly as she asked.  When she finished she said Aaron’s hearing in his right ear is bad.  She did another test to see how the ear drums behaved while it is being vibrated.  From these tests she was able to see that Aaron has blockage in his ear canals preventing the drums from vibrating normally. 

As a result she did a final test to see how his hearing would be if the blockage was not there.  This involved two sets of headphones, this was to block the sound in his left ear (the good one) to see how his right ear would compensate.  We were very relieved to hear his hearing will be fine.  Now we’ve just got to get his ears cleared out.

Lisa Lofthus-Holter died yesterday (1-1-09) morning as a result of her brain tumor returning.  Lisa was Candice’s maid of honor in the wedding and dear friend.
She will be missed.  Please keep the Lofthus and Holter families in your prayers.

Lisa and Chris at their wedding in Aug. 2007

Here’s a link to Lisa’s journal:

http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/viewJournal.do?method=executeInit

And another to some of the back story:
http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/viewMyStory.do?method=executeInit

There will be two benefits in January.  One on the 9th and one on the 25th.  More information can be found here.
http://www.myspace.com/holterbenefit

With the selling of our home in Fort Dodge, we’re now on the hunt for a home in Ankeny, Iowa.  We selected Ankeny for a couple of reasons, mainly being the school system is much better than others in the greater Des Moines area.  Link  As far as the actual home goes, we want to find a house that allows us to stay in it for awhile.  The initial investment might be a stretch for us, but we don’t want to have to move in a few years when the kids get to be teenagers and want their own space.

Read the rest of this entry »

Well, Isaac had his 2 year birthday party.  It was really nice seeing everyone and I know Isaac had a blast.  The theme was Elmo, Isacc’s favorite.  The kids spent most of the time playing outside.  Isaac had a pinata that all of the kids enjoyed.  He received many nice gifts.  Thank you to everyone who came.

I’ll post pictures as soon as I get them off of my camera.

I made ribs for the family last weekend.  It was quite the experience.  I started off with applying a rub on Saturday and letting them sit over night.  I started smoking the ribs on Sunday just after noon.  This was by far the most difficult part of the whole process.  I couldn’t seem to get the right mixture of heat and wood to keep it smoking the whole time.  After 4 hours or so, I turned up the heat and started basting and cooking.  Most of my time at Hickory Park in college was spent working on the grill so I was right at home.  By the time it was all done, I had ribs that were probably a 3 or 4 on a 10 point scale.  I have a lot of work to do to get where I want to be with these.  My goal is to be able to make ribs for tailgate parties, but I think I need a bit more practice first.

So I started my job this week.  Candice had a “Go Live” this week which means she is out of town the entire week. Had I been thinking ahead, I would have taken this week off.  Taking care of the kids while I’m adjusting is more stress than I’d planned for.  We’re really getting a taste of what the other person went through the past 4 months.  She’s away from the family, and I’m without her help.  Wow… I really appreciate what all she’s been through now that I’ve had to do it.

As far as work goes, well it’s still too early to tell.  So far I love my new job.  The atmosphere is great, people are excited to be here and actually strive for excellence.  What a huge change from my last employer.  My boss is a great guy and the other people I work with seem like we’re all aiming at the same goals.  I’ve already started taking on some tasks and have plans for bigger work down the road.  I think this is going to be a fantastic experience for me.  At the very least, it gets me close to my family and support network.

I will post again in a few more weeks and let you all know how things are going.

I had my exit interview scheduled with FDAH at 2:30 PM on Thursday.  At the absolute last minute (they asked me to stay until 3:15 PM so they could write it up) they made me a counter-offer.  I was extremely flattered.  It turns out they had been working on it all week and the request went all the way up the ladder (the president of the company had to give it a “thumbs up”).  Unfortunately, the offer they presented was not enough for me to stay.  Basically, I had to quit… again…  When it was all over, I met some people at Sports Page after work and got to say my farewells.  I feel so much better now that I’m done. J

I accepted an offer with Almaco on Tuesday.  I will give my notice at Fort Dodge in few days.  I will leave FDAH on May 15^th and start on May 19^th.  That doesn’t leave much time for me, but it’s wise financially.  We’ve talked to the realtor and will have a sign in our yard next Monday.  Now it’s time to start shopping for houses in Des Moines!