Einstein

So lately I have been reading a book about Albert Einstein. It is actually his biography that has been written by Isaacson. It is well written. I guess I am a bit disappointed because I wanted more about his life and less science but reading his biography it isn't quite possible to get that. His entire life was about theoretical physics and everything else came second. Oh well it is really interesting. I am even beginning to understand why is theories are so important.

One of my favorite quotes is "A blind respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth." He definitely lived by this phrase he coined the first half of his life but the second he went away from it and actually hurt his career and where it could have gone. Very ironic.

On the kid side of things it is so funny the things that kids can say and do. For example my daughter is now 23 months old is such a COPIER! she copies Alison, Zach, Josh and Myself. She is also very hard headed. Overall though she is amazingly adorable! If you read this years later Andrea, you are an amazing child. Even if at times amazingly hardheaded for good and bad. We often want to discipline you and your skin is to thick! Or you think it is just a game. Other times your brother beats you so hard that it is hard to believe it doesn't hurt you little head but you bounce right back up and look at us and ask with an adorable look "what is the bid deal?" You have definitely sustained some seriously significant blows to your head buy accident and brother and hardly flinched. The worst that comes to mind is one time Zach was rocking the chair back and forth very roughly and you walked behind it and got hit with a horribly perfect blow that knocked you flat on the ground. It looked like a cartoon segment (one you hope will never actually really happen, but it is okay in cartoons because it is pretend) that is unreal. Alison and I watched is pure horror as we both had thoughts you may just be dead (I was seriously concerned as I rarely am). You popped up and didn't even think twice about it. Wow.

The start of that previous thought was a funny thing my kids do lately. If they see us eating anything they say "I want some! What are you eating?" Which I think is absolutely hilarious. Most of the time however we are eating something yummy and they know it. Their instincts on these subjects are really good. I tend to think that my kids and perhaps many other peoples kids often are more precocious in thought and action than we think.

Last night Josh went the entire night without eating. We had to help him back to sleep a few times, but we are on our way to him sleeping all night long. For my wife this is a wonderful thing. She will be able to sleep through the night when he does. This is mainly because of breast feeding. I just don't seem able to do it! Josh is becoming quite an amazing little boy. He is so interactive and follows our every move with beautiful eyes.

Yesterday my wife and I had to turn in several papers that verified our income, living situation and the existence of Josh for our welfare insurance. What a trial that is. Wow. Our greatest benefits were that we were organized and had done it before. Usually we have a few days or weeks to get it all together. This time we had only two days. It really did consume all that we did for a few days! I am glad that we are done. I did have to wait in line for an hour to drop the papers off which was quite a trial. Luckily that is much better than other times when I have had to wait longer than two hours. Ouch!

We have everything in and it will be interesting to see if we still are qualified for the free insurance. It is been wonderful to have while we were in school and especially in paying for out first 3 kids births entirely. Now though I feel ready to move on. They may tell us it is time to move on as well because we are doing a bit better than previously. I will like the continued support if we qualify, but if not then we are ready for what is next and totally believe that we aren't going to be on that forever. We will see.

Lately Alison and I have been trying very hard to pay off our debt. We have been trying hard to make smart decisions and are doing really well. The frustrating thing is how fast we have been able to proceed. Just recently we have had a second job open up for me back at the Desert Research Institute where I did my masters degree research. The good news is that it pays well and I will likely be able to do quite a bit there while still maintaining my current position. It will basically amount to about $5000 extra over the next few months. That is really nice and will go a long way towards helping out our financial goals. I am very grateful, and now a bit busier!

Today now that I don't have much to do I will be happy to go home and swim with my family (whenever I get home)!