My Name Is Earl...

No, not the TV show...me. My middle name is Earl. Norman. Earl. Hall. That's the name that my parents gave me, and I've had it my whole life. Both my first and middle names are family names (a great-uncle and a grandfather, by the way) that have been passed on down through the generations to me.

Anyway, I bring my middle name up because like the title character of the NBC sitcom, this Earl had a run-in with karma (you reap what you sow...) just the other night.

Here's the story.


At T.G.I.Friday's on...er, Friday...Tara and I had a horrible waitress. She spent most of her time at the table next to ours, talking with someone who apparently was either a good friend, or co-worker with the night off. Anyway, I think she came by only once to check on us, and only refilled my Tea glass one time. That's a pet peeve of mine.

She walked by a few times, and I thought she would surely notice that my glass was empty, and offer to refill it. I thought wrong. She either didn't notice, or didn't care.

When the check came, I told Tara that I wasn't going to leave her my customary tip, as the service was sub-par. While I wanted to leave her pocket change, Tara talked me into a little more than that. "It's not that I didn't tip her, it's that I didn't tip her very much...", I muttered as we walked away, hoping that she'd realize we thought she wasn't good at her job.

In walking to our car, karma decided to teach me a lesson. It occurred to us that we'd left Jaxson's bottle on our table. I stiff the server, and we leave something behind. Great...karma!

We found out that we'd left the bottle, when the not-so-decent waitress, was a decent enough person to bring it out to us in the Parking Lot.

I felt horribly. She could've just decided to "not notice" and let us drive off without the bottle. She didn't though, and brought it out to us.

"Don't you feel terrible?" Tara said, and I agreed that I did. Maybe she was having a bad night...who knows. She was kind enough, even though I wasn't kind to her, to do the right thing.

From now on, I'll give servers the benefit of the doubt. They work hard, and often don't make what they should, because of schlubs like me.

There's a lesson in there somewhere...

We went back and "made it right", and are glad we did. Tiff, if you're reading this...sorry, again.


We've done more lately than shorted a server. On Thursday, I fell for a classic new father scam...hard. As I walked into the Day Care--I call it school--where Jaxson goes, they said, "Be sure to check out Jaxson's pictures this afternoon...they are so precious."

I didn't know that they even took his picture at school. They did--here's proof:

As you might guess, I took one look and said, "I'm prepared to give you a thousand dollars for these RIGHT now!" They weren't quite that much, and we do have pictures of Jaxson dressed as a Cowboy. Why a cowboy? I don't know, but we've got them anyway...

...Isn't he adorable?

(Please tell me he's adorable. I spent too much on them not to get a comment, or 65...)


So that was Friday and Thursday...

Saturday was our company picnic at work. It was a good time. We had a GREAT turnout at Cedar Canyon Dude Ranch. I was looking forward to it, because a lot of people from work had been asking to see Jaxson, and this was their big chance.

Let's just say that he was a BIG hit with my co-workers. Some thought he looked just like me, while others said, "I'm glad he doesn't look anything like you." Either way, he's our kid, and we love him.

Tara and Jaxson left pretty early, and I stayed to the end. She enjoys going, but it was tough for her having to wrestle him around while I "worked", so she came home.

When I got home, we played around with Jaxson a little, and took a few good pictures and videos. Here they are...enjoy!

I hope that everyone was able to view the last video we posted. I'm going to try to put them up pretty often. I'm trying to keep them "short and sweet" so that they don't bog down your cyber-world. If you do have any problems with them...let me know. I'll try to figure out something to make it enjoyable for everyone.

Here's two quick videos showing what Jaxson has been doing lately--sharing his slobber with us:

...and with the world:

We hope you're having a good week. Tip your waitress. You never know when you're going to see her again...

Until next time...

The Halls

Trip to McAlester, OK

Hellooooooo, Internet!

Sorry about the mini-post from last night. I was working on a super-mega-gnarly 'Blog, but the PC gremlins would have none of it! After two hours of work (and research on something that will take this 'Blog into the 21st century), my PC just decided to die.

My work--died with it. This time, I'm going to save this thing every minute or so--just in case. (Thanks for the reminder, Kyle!)

So...here's what we've been up to--Take 2!


Over the weekend, we went to McAlester, OK (home of the Oklahoma Prison Rodeo) to visit Tara's Grandparents, an Aunt and Uncle, a cousin or three, and some family friends.

It was a great trip. Tara had been promising to visit her Nanny and Papa (the Glovers) for a while. Then, Nanny offered a bribe: a Catfish Fry with her new Deep Fryer. We couldn't hold out any longer, and we decided on Monday to take a weekend trip.


On Saturday, Tara's parents met us in McAlester, along with our friends the Bryans (Geron, Kenrie, Kayly, Abby, and Emma) for some Italian food at Roseanna's. I've had a lot of Chicken Parmesan in my day, but this is THE BEST! After stuffing ourselves, we headed over to spend some time with the Bryans. Here's a few pictures from that afternoon:

After that, we headed back to Mr. and Mrs. Glover's house for the Fish Fry. It turns out that Tara's Aunt Vanita and Uncle Joe (along with cousins Lauren, Lara, and Lana) were coming over for some Fried Catfish, too. It was a Glover family reunion--like Thanksgiving only with Tartar rather than Cranberry Sauce.

I don't know what Nanny's secret is...but the fish was excellent. Some Bloggers (they'll remain nameless) made pigs of themselves, eating long after the others had sworn off fish for a long, long, time. Surprisingly, Tara ate her share of catfish, too. I didn't think she even liked it. I think I'll keep her.

Anyway, here are few pictures from that evening:

On Sunday, we went to church in Kiowa, OK (That's Kye-O-wah, by the way...), with Tara's grandparents, the Glovers. It's a small church, and the "New Couple with the Baby" stuck out like a sore thumb. Everyone was very friendly, and wanted to tell us how good-looking our son was. I know that Nanny Glover got a kick out of showing off her First Great-Grandson.

From church, we went into town to meet Tara's other set of grandparents, the Edwards. We went to Western Sizzlin' and had a nice visit. Though two of Tara's cousins weren't able to come to lunch, we did enjoy the visit with Great-Grandma and -Grandpa Edwards, and Tara's cousin, Jordan. Between them, they spent pretty much the whole meal holding Jaxson. Tara and I both got to eat our meals before they got cold, which was really nice.

Below are a few pictures from our lunch:

It was a GREAT weekend of food, family, fun, and more food.

Jaxson's too young to understand how great it was to see all his family from that part of the world at one time. He did, however, appreciate a gift from his Grandparents. NoName and Papaw Chucky Ben got him an Exersaucer, and he's loving it.

Once in there, he bounces around, and plays with every toy on there for about three seconds before moving on to something else. He's completely OVER-stimulated by it. Sometimes he gets to rocking back and forth so much, it looks like he's going to go into orbit.

Watch him for yourself in the window below (it's streaming video--sorry Dial-Uppers, but it is reasonably short) :

(Click the "PLAY" button to enjoy the video clip.)

Now that the cat is out of the bag...I plan on including video clips periodically for you to see Jaxson (or us) in motion. I hope that they're not too much trouble for you to download. Truth is, figuring out how to get them to work was probably harder than viewing them (see previous post), but I think they'll be fun for everyone to see.

As you can see, a lot has been going on. We had a good weekend, and this weekend will be just as exciting, as we have my Company Picnic on Saturday. Many people from work will get to meet Jaxson for the first time, which will be a lot of fun.

We'll keep you posted on the latest...so come back by often.

Until then,

Norman

Technical Difficulties...

I was putting together the most amazing and astounding Super-Mega-Blog Article ever...and then, CRASH! My PC died right in the middle of it.

All the work...all the awesome-ness...GONE! Two hours lost...

After crying for about 3.8 seconds, I've decided to rebuild.

I'm going to put together the same blog (or close to it) and put it up later this week.

Trust me, it'll be worth the wait.

Here's a little tease of the awesome-ness that is to come.

And, Yes, that IS an Exersaucer! Thanks NoName and PaPaw Chucky Ben!

We'll try again later...see you then.

Hi, Remember Us???

Hello, Internet!

It's been too long since the last posting from The Hall Monitor. Though I'd like to find an excuse, I haven't one. I just didn't take the time.

Remember in our first posting how I said that this would be a regular update on our lives? It seems that as the months have gone on...our definition of regular has changed. Once, it was synonymous with "daily", and now it means, roughly, "every fortnight or so".

Here's what's been happening since we last talked.

Jaxson--still cute.

Tara--still amazing.

Me--still charming.

Basically, nothing's really changed, but we've been busy.

Actually, Jaxson has changed some. It seems that in the last week or so, he's gotten a lot more interesting. Let me rephrase that--he's a lot more interested in stuff. As an example, today, I thought it would be neat to take a picture of my little man as a real Man's Man--on the sofa, with Remote in hand.

Here's that adorable pic:

Anyway, I gave him the remote just long enough to take two pictures. He was fascinated by the remote ("Like father..."). He was pushing buttons, and putting it in his mouth, just like he's seen Dad do a million times before.

Another example: Sunday, at lunch, he was determined to get my menu. I'd move the menu, and he'd follow it. He's getting good at reaching for stuff, and this Red Robin menu was thing that he wanted most in life. I couldn't get it far enough from him. It really was kinda funny.

Speaking of reaching for things...

JAXSON DOING STUFF UPDATE! (Cue SportsCenter music)

The other day, when I went to pick Jaxson up from School (Daycare to some), he reached for me. That's right, I walked into the room, and he put his hands into the air, as if to say, "Dad--I'm SO glad you're here! Get me out of this place."

Needless to say, my heart leapt. I'd had a rough day, and that really put me in a good frame of mind.



As I said, we've been busy. Last week, an old friend of mine came into town for a concert, and while he was in town, we went to the Rangers' game. Tara, Jaxson, Geoff, his wife, Erin, and I all loaded up and headed to The Ballpark. It was Jaxson's first ballgame. We weren't sure how he would do.

I'm proud to report that my son loves sports. He had to be in our laps the entire game, but he really seemed to like the game. I thought the noise might bother him, but he literally watched most of the game. There was a lot of great new stuff for him to look at there.

The game lasted well past his bedtime, and unfortunately went into extra innings. Oddly enough, Jaxson stayed awake for the first nine innings, but went to sleep before the start of the tenth. It's almost as if he'd decided that he was going to stay awake for nine...but anything after that, was too much. (By the way...Adam, The Fries are awesome!)

The next night, Jaxson and I watched our first Aggie game together. I only wish that it had been the romp that I promised him it would be, but I could tell he liked watching the game. I eagerly await the day when he, I, and Uncle Travis go to the games together each fall.


Well, I've rambled on long enough, covering everything from menus to fries to reaching for Dad. We've had a good few weeks. We hope that you have, too.

Here's a few pics to keep you coming back.

See ya next time. Soon, I promise.

Norman

5 Months!

Today, Jaxson is FIVE MONTHS old.

Isn't it crazy how time flies by? Jaxson Kyle Hall has been part of our family for 5 full months.

It seems like only yesterday, I was standing in the hospital waiting room, my wife taken out of the room by an army of nurses, and me left to put on the hospital "scrubs" for Tara's C-Section.

At the time, I was thinking about how our lives were about to change, and praying that everything would go smoothly in the Operating Room.

Well, things did go well. My prayers were answered, and it's been amazing how life has changed. Five months removed from that early evening in April, Tara and wonder what we did BEFORE having a child.

As I've chronicled here in earlier posts, Jaxson's growing quite well, and has really developed into a little person. He's a lot of fun, but I'm eager for him to get a little bigger. (I'm dying to wrestle with him.) Tara cautions me not to rush him any, because we'll someday wish he were little again.

Here's a few pictures that we've taken of the little man recently.

The smudge on top of his head? Beans that Dad dropped on him at dinner. Ha!

Tara, Jaxson, and Yoda!

EXTREME CLOSE-UP! WHOOOAAAAaaaa!

(and don't tell Tara that I told you this...but I think Jaxson's a Daddy's Boy. Tonight, at dinner, he was watching me eat, and trying to get ALL my attention. When I would look at him, he'd get excited and would laugh hysterically. He doesn't do that with Tara. He loves Dad more.)

Thanks for dropping by...

Norman