- Nichelle’s health has been amazing. Actually, Nichelle looks amazing. She is doing Tae-Bo and weight training almost every day. She is absolutely transformed, to the point where that picture of Storm I posted for her birthday is truly not very different than reality. This is a far cry from the woman who two years ago sometimes had trouble holding a fork and knife at dinner. This is by far our biggest blessing.
- Since Nichelle can now kill me with her pinkie, I started on the weights with her and our friend Phil about a month ago, and get in several days a week of Tae-Bo or cardio stuff as well. It’s already made a big difference, although Nichelle puts me to shame. Phil is cracking the whip on the weights and controlling our diet as well. Last night we got to eat a single piece of cheese for the first time in about 3 weeks. My doctor should be very pleased with these lifestyle changes. I will say having Nichelle working on the same things has made it immensely easier. What would I do without her?
- As far as we can tell, David made highest honors again. Although Isaac needs to apply a slight amount of effort in math and history for the first time in his life, he did very well also. I love Isaac’s wit, and David amazes me with his insight, especially because he’s only 8.
- Isaac bought a ball python about two months ago, which he named Knotty. Ball pythons are really cool, although we’ve learned that they really do have poor eyesight, and have become familiar with their striking distance …
- Command and Conquer 3 and Jaws Unleashed have overtaken us for gaming, even to the point of neglecting World of WarCraft and our beloved Wii. C&C 3 is every bit the game C&C/Red Alert lovers have longed for, providing that magical balance of interesting units and fast-paced strategy for which Westwoood Studios was famous. In Jaws Unleashed, one controls Jaws himself, attacking swimmers, dolphins, boats, and other sharks and sea life. Isaac and David love it to the point of addiction, although it hasn’t received very good ratings from adult gamers.
- We officially resigned from our old church a week ago—a decision which was clearly God-directed—although we have not yet joined a new one. We believe we will end up at Heritage Baptist in Hooksett, which we attend most, although we are checking out the Wednesday night program tonight at MVBC—Heritage doesn’t have anything yet for the kids on Wednesdays.
- Nichelle will compete in the National Chicken Cook Off on May 3–4, in Birmingham, Alabana. I get to go with her. She is up against some tough competition, but the first prize is $100,000. That wouldn’t be too shabby.
- John seems to be doing well for the first time since he left last June. We’ll see how things work out—he hasn’t had a very good track record—but he’s working again for the first time in months, and seems to be much more rational than previously.
- We’re also planning a trip to Florida to attend my Mom’s wedding in June. Did I mention my Mom is 80 years old? I have a great picture with her and her fiancé George, which I’ll post shortly. The whole family is very excited.
- NaNi is still the world’s cutest and smartest three-year-old. I had always wanted to have a daughter, but she is more awesome than I would have imagined. She has a delightful sense of humor, too. Last Saturday she woke me up by hitting me repeatedly with a chain saw, chanting, “Dad! Banana bread!” She’s also informed me, “You don’t get any hugs: Hugs are for Mommy. You get knuckle sandwiches,” and I assure you she means it. She can also locate Alabama on a map. Every time she says grace, she includes, “Thank you that Mommy is feeling better.”
- Work has been excellent. We are winding down, mostly fixing small bugs, in preparation for the release of version 6.0 of our product. I’ve been working on the user interface revamp, which has been a year in the making, and is absolutely amazing. For the first time in years, our software will look as good as it runs. Navigation and other user operations have been dramatically improved, and everything is consistent end-to-end.
- We finally got caught up with “Lost.” Now it’s agony to wait a week between episodes! We also are backwatching “Gray’s Anatomy” and “Smallville.”
- Last Friday, NaNi, Isaac, David, and the Dunn children were sitting in the bleachers at a basketball game, and were all singing “Chiron Beta Prime.” I was so proud of those little geeklings.
- Keith Lancaster’s acapella CD “Glorious God” is amazing. Thanks to Bernard Farrell for recommending this CD, as well as its predecessor, “Awesome God: An a Cappella Worship Series
.” Nothing warms my heart like hearing NaNi and the boys singing “Our God is an Awesome God” around the house, and we love to listen to these while traveling.
- After reading Michael Crichton’s Next, I’ve added about 9 books on genetics to my list of books to read near immediately. (I may never finish Mao’s China and After or The 9/11 Commission Report, but I’ll keep plugging at them.) My goal is to be able to talk the language of genetics fluently with a PhD friend of ours. I’ve already got my DNA screen saver!
- We’re getting new carpet in the basement, courtesy of a water heater failure about two months ago. ServiceMaster came out at the request of the insurance company, and saved us from serious long-term problems from water damage. Too bad our insurance doesn’t cover the water heater itself (due to its age), but as disasters go, this one wasn’t too bad.
- Sorry for not posting more of late. I was very busy getting my accounting caught up so we could file our taxes, and I’m working on a very long post that analyzes (refutes) a popular KJV-only tract.
Welcome to the Wilcox Family weB LOG, your source for the latest Wilcox news, anecdotes, and rants; and, as Jack Benny quipped on his first radio show (March 29, 1932), “There will be a slight pause while you say, ‘Who cares?’â€â€
Thanks for the updates, Wilcoxes.
We love you and continue to keep you in prayer.
Mark, Shelby, Vivienne, Juliana, Caleb, and Gabriella
Hi guys, really enjoyed your posting!! Saw Madelyn for Easter, nice to add another cute girl to our family collection. How nice that we space out the young children so we always have a few hanging around. I’m rooting for Nichelle’s chicken. Love to all, Cindy
I was going to ask you about Smallville, good thing I kept reading before I asked!! Although, since we brought a brand new puppy into our home in February, I’ve missed a lot of TV, so I’ve just added everything to my Netflix queue… which I think is better. I can skip commercials… but it also means I have to wait until just before the new seasons start to watch everything: Smallville, Gray’s Anatomy, Heroes, and CSI (the original one).
Oh, and speaking of Crighton… Do you read a lot of his books? I love his writing! Of course the whole Human Biology/Genetics research that I’m interested in, is probably why I like him so much!
Do you watch Heroes?
We’ve never heard of Heroes. We watch only 3 things “live”: House, 24, and Lost.
On DVD we’re working our way through Smallville and season 2 of Gray’s Anatomy.
Regarding Gray’s, we’re concerned that it might become (in season 3) a little too much soap opera and a not enough medical drama. Any thoughts? By the way, Gray’s is so good that it’s affecting our enjoyment of House, which tends to be too formulaic.
I’ve read every book Crighton has written, including The Electronic Life (which as a retrospective of technology prognostication is fascinating) and Eaters of the Dead.
After reading Next, I made a list of 9 books on genetics and eugenics that I’m going to read. I’m interspersing them with my regular pile of books to read, which was already enough to overflow my dreser.
The best way that I can describe Heroes is “X-Men with a little mystery, and slow paced/very detailed.” My dad and I started watching it from the first episode. For some reason, I missed a few episodes, and decided that I would just wait until it comes out on DVD to finish the season (rather than try and figure out what I missed). My dad watches it every week, and tells me that I’m missing out… August is soon enough!
24 is the only show that I watch “live.” I admit to watching a few of those reality shows (only American Idol, and Survivor)… but if I miss an episode, it’s not a big deal. I tape it, and watch it later, or I find out the next day what happened.
All the others, I have on my dvd list to watch this summer/early fall.
As far as Gray’s Anatomy is concerned, you’ll have to ask my mom to be sure (since I purposely don’t watch, knowing the dvd’s are coming). From the few episodes this season that I have seen, I would have to agree that it is turning into a soap opera. I stopped watching Smallville for that reason, but I’ve been told it got better.