Townes Has Arrived!!!!!!!

I am a little late with this post but the last couple of weeks have been hectic, to say the least. On December 14, 2007 at 7:05 pm Townes Alexander Baker was born. It was an amazing experience! Jamie was a champ at the delivery. I was preparing myself for a delivery similar to those you see in the movies with a lot of yelling and profanity but none of that ever happened. She was awesome!

So far, he is a perfect baby. He doesn't cry much at all and he keeps his room clean. He is a fantastic Salsa dancer and he can already beat me at arm wrestling!

Babies, Paint Sprayers and Babies

We are getting closer and closer to the arrival of our first child. We went to the doctor yesterday and she informed us that it would be very soon. I was almost positive that we would have a precious baby boy this morning but to no avail. Maybe the house is still too cold for him and he would rather stay in the 98.6 degree hot tub he his floating in. I know I would. Or maybe he is waiting for his Dad to get the basement finished. What a sweet kid! On that note, I know in earlier posts I was unhappy with the Wagner Fine Spray that we bought. I tried using primer in it and that didn't work very well so I cursed its name. I have been using thinned Latex paint and could not be happier with its performance! It has multiple settings and let me tell you when you set the power level to 4, look out! I love it! I hate painting but I love this! I recommend everyone get a paint sprayer and paint something. Paint anything!

Relief At Last!!!!

Finally, the power has been restored to the Baker home. I can now finish the painting that I had started in the basement, rid the fridge of all of the spoiled meat, cut the tree limbs that are currently blocking the driveway, check the water pipes and catch up on the news.

Peace Out!

The Iceman Cometh...

The Baker family has been without power for three days. I cannot say that we have dealt with it the way our ancestors dealt with no power. With no TV I have been lost. I truly hate to say those words because I feel that I am a well rounded person and that I do not need TV to live my life. I do. I get all of my news from the internet or the TV. I get all of my entertainment from TV. I cannot help but think that God has cast this demon of an ice storm on us because I need to change my evil ways. I realize now that my life hinges on electricity. I have to have TV to function. No longer do I read, no longer to I do push-ups and sit-ups in the living room, no longer do I sit and play my guitar as much as I should. My weight gain and lethargy is due to my reliance on TV. I have no one to blame but myself. I will make a promise tonight that I will no longer rely on TV to entertain myself.

I cannot wait for our electricity to come back on. I miss sitting at home with the lights on and the heat churning. I miss my house!

If the ice storm is my fault and God has spread his wrath on Missouri to teach me a lesson, I apologize to everyone for bringing this terror upon us.

Freezing.

More Thoughts From a Soon to be Father

As we get closer and closer to the moment that my life will change forever, even though it already has changed in some respects, I cannot help but ponder the many thoughts that I am sure all future fathers ponder. I wonder what interests Townes will have? I wonder if he will enjoy the same things that I enjoy? Will he enjoy the same things his Mother enjoys? Will he be athletic and if so what sports will he enjoy? Will he appreciate all kinds of music like I do? All of these questions continue to fill my head and sometimes haunt my dreams.

I hope he enjoys the outdoors as much as I do and looks forward to spring when the fish are biting or the fall when the deer begin to move. Of course, he might be allergic to everything in the woods and scared of "flying, stingy things".

I hope he enjoys all kinds of music. I hope he has an appreciation for the music of our past and recognizes that it had so much more meaning and originality than the music of his day or mine. Of course, he might think that the music his Dad plays is boring and that Danish Speed Metal is the only way to ignite the passion in his soul.

I hope he is somewhat athletic. I hope he enjoys sports and competition. I am not too picky on what sports he enjoys as long as it is not soccer or soccer. I really do not have anything against soccer players but I cannot teach him anything about this sport.

I hope that he learns that there is no such thing as "womens work"...anymore. I hope he finds interest and joy in the things his mother enjoys. Mainly, yelling at Dad. Just kidding! As a child I loved watching my Mother cook. I was always told that I should watch how she cooks because "women these days don't cook very much." Today, I enjoy cooking and making things the way Mom made them. Townes can hang on to his Mom's leg and follow her around and study the way she does things.

As I write this I realize that I am saying that I hope my child turns out just like me. "How arrogant!" you might say, I guess it does have a certain amount of arrogance and self righteousness to it but I know that I bonded with my Mom and Dad over these same interests. If I were interested in soccer my Dad would, most likely, not be able to teach me any fundamentals of the game. I say most likely because my Dad could have secretly played on the 1970 Men's Olympic Soccer Team and just not told me all of these years (You know, as not to brag). He did, however, teach me how to throw a ball, how to swing a golf club (I am still working on this 23 years later), how to catch a pass and how to shoot a basket. These are fond memories of my childhood and I hope that Townes will have fond memories of his childhood as well.

This turned out a little more serious than I had hoped but it's my blog and I'll cry if I want to!

Another perspective on snow....

Jamie here. I have very fond "snow day" memories as well. Sledding, snow angels, cold pink cheeks, and soggy wet snow boots really could wear the 4 Johnsen kids out! However, so many things are changing right now, and the first thing that crossed my mind when I saw the flakes was "will we be able to get to the hospital?" David is a fantastic driver in the snow, and I know that nothing will keep us from OB when the time comes, but it did cross my mind! I am 36 1/2 weeks, and the knowledge that in theory I could have the baby at any time now is very exciting. Because he is a big baby I am pretty sure that if labor hasn't started on its own in 2 weeks or so, I'll be induced. Only 2 weeks!

Snow Day!

It never ceases to amaze me how a smell can remind you of something in your past. Or a song can stir up emotions you have not felt in a long time. For example, watching reruns of Andy Griffith always reminds me of supper time when I was a kid. We would watch TBS from 4:30 until 6:30 so we would not miss "The Beverly Hillbilly's", "Andy Griffith" and "Sanford and Son".

Something that continues to amaze me is the fact that everytime it starts snowing the first thought that pops in my head is "maybe they will call off school." I do not mean that I want the local kids to get out of school early I mean that for a split second I am hoping they will call off school for me! Or maybe it is the hope that they will call off work. Either way it is very exciting!

I gotta dance!

What Will My Child Look Like?

I have grown tired of thinking and writing about the rather large remodeling project we have undertaken and have chosen to write about another question I often ponder, "what will my child look like"? We know that our child is a boy so that helps me to narrow my visions a bit. I am hopeful that his looks will match his name, Townes. I also hope that he looks like either his Dad or his Mom and not a combination of both. A combination of both would leave him looking strange and not so friendly to the other boys and girls he will encounter throughout his life. I myself have deep set eyes, high cheek bones, a small nose and a round face. His mother has a slender face, a Norweigen nose and almond shaped eyes. A combination of these features could leave him looking similar Lyle Lovett or Buddy Hackett. Do not get me wrong, his Mother is beautiful and if he looked like her he would be a handsome young man. If he looked like his Dad, minus 130 lbs., he would not look too shabby either.

I know all of this sounds shallow and focused on the exterior of a child but I cannot help but wonder. We will love him regardless of what he looks like. Lyle Lovett is a great singer-songwriter and was married to Julia Roberts for a short while. Buddy Hackett was a great comedian and had it not been for his talent the original "Herbie" movie would never have been so successful.

We will find out soon what Townes looks like. I cannot wait.

Peace Out

Things I am Thankful for...tonight

As I struggle through another night of scraping, painting and cleaning I happened to reflect on things for which I am thankful. Of course I am thankful for my family, friends, job, etc. but I have found a few more things that I feel worthy of mentioning. I am thankful for paint rollers. As I slapped on primer I began to imagine what this job would be like with a single brush. Brutal. I am thankful for shop vacs. Tonight I decided that I needed to clean up my work area a bit so I cranked up the vac and sucked away. It was wonderful! All of that loose crap that I have been struggling to scrape off the floor disappeared in an instant. Finally, I am especially thankful for the scraper that Jay and Jerry Howell from Howell's Carpet allowed me to borrow. Without this wonderful machine I would certainly be dead. It is loud, heavy and old as dirt but I love it! I love it so much I have given it a name, Don Knotts. Why Don Knotts you ask? I am not sure but I loved Don Knotts and I love this thing.

I have posted a couple of pictures of the basement at its current state. I cannot wait to post the final pictures.

All for now. Giddyup!

Basement Remodeling 101

For the past three months I have worked on remodeling our basement. This might sound like a familiar statement to many of you. Many of you have probably remodeled your house or even a basement or two. I, on the other hand, have not. I am not a fix-it kind of guy. I do not work on cars, install ceiling fans, fix general plumbing problems, re-wire anything and the list goes on and on. I am of the mindset that "why try to fix this myself when there are qualified people to do this kind of work"? Sure I will pay the bloated "labor" costs if it allows me to wash my hands of the project. Unfortunately, I am unable to "Pontius Pilate" the remodel of our basement.

We are laying carpet. I lucked out on this step. I do not know how to lay carpet, period. We have someone laying the carpet and installing the tile. I found out that laying carpet and installing the tile is the easy part. Scraping the 2o year old foam adhesive off of the uneven concrete is the hard part. My parents tell me that we as a family scraped the same adhesive off the floor when the carpet was changed for the first time. I do not remember this and I am pretty sure why, any child that is subjected to that kind of torturous labor would probably choose to block it out of their memory.

We are painting. I hate painting and I refuse to take my time and I usually end up "coloring outside the lines." My Latest duty has been priming the walls. This is not too bad of a job if you have a good roller with a long handle. I found a good roller with a long handle but I still sought the easy way out. We bought a paint sprayer. I must have been spelunking on the Yucatan Peninsula when everyone around me bought a paint sprayer and had a horrible time cleaning it after they were done. I had no clue of the adventure I was in for! I bought the sprayer, filled it with Kilz and sprayed the basement wall. The Kilz was a little too thick for the sprayer and it came out in a fine mist that only allowed me to "touch up" some areas. It did not work as well as I hoped but I am confident that when I use something that is the right consistency it will work fine. Let's get to the good part. I finished my job for the day and began the clean up process. You are supposed to fill the tank with Mineral Spirits or another cleaning solution and spray it as to clean the nozzle. I put the mineral spirits in the can aimed it into a bucket with a little water and let her rip. The spray came out great! I thought to myself, "so this is what the paint should look like coming out." As I was admiring the amount of spray I took a deep breath (because I was squatting down and that is what chunky people do when they squat) and almost fell over. The Mineral Spirits just about claimed another life. I quickly grabbed my mask and put it over my mouth. Feeling relieved I took another deep breath, SAME THING! This time I put the sprayer down and went upstairs with the fresh air. I laid on the couch and enjoyed the ride. I met people from far off galaxies, I traveled to ancient times and made friends with those pesky sock gnomes that steal one sock every time you do laundry. It was the weirdest 12 mins. of my life. After I mellowed a bit I finished cleaning up.

As I told people about my ordeal I began to hear the same wailing and gnashing of teeth from them regarding the cleanup of a sprayer. Had I known that this was such a widespread epidemic I never would have purchased the sprayer. Oh well, you live and you learn. Or maybe it is "live by the sprayer, die by the sprayer."

I am almost done with my part of the basement remodel. I cannot wait until it is finished. It will be a nice room for the baby to play in and also daddy. I will update you when it is finished.

So close and now it is gone

For those of you who did not catch the game last night, we lost. The Missouri Tigers we have watched all season did not arrive in San Antonio. Instead we had a team that looked a lot like the Missouri Tigers we have watched in previous seasons. I am not completely sure that the players are to blame. I will hang my vote on terrible play calling. We have watched an unpredictable, exciting, high-powered offense all year and last night we watched the most predictable and boring offense from the days of old. I am beginning to wonder if every team I cheer for is destined to fail.

I guess there is always next year!

Another Day in Paradise

I find myself running out of things to do this time of year. I try to keep busy throughout the year with various hobbies. The unfortunate truth to the matter is that my hobbies tend to stray to the expensive side. Playing golf in the Spring, Summer and Fall can be very costly. Deer hunting in the Fall and Winter has proven to be very expensive this year. Trout fishing in the early Spring can be expensive when you factor in the gas it takes to travel to my favorite trout parks. The only thing that does not cost an arm and a leg is bass and crappie fishing. The only hobby that pays for itself is playing gigs at local bars and wineries.



Reality sinks in when I think back through 2007. I went trout fishing in March, had a great time and caught some fish. None to hang on the wall but caught some fish. I golfed all Spring, Summer and Fall. I still can't break into the 80's but I had a blast playing (most of the time). I bowhunted in the Fall. Nothing to hang on the wall much less fill the freezer. I went rifle hunting in the Fall and Winter. Again, nothing to hang on the wall and nothing to fill the freezer. So here I sit, deer season is winding down and I am about to enter a period that scientists and wildlife biologists call, hibernation.



Why did I take the time to write this post? I am not sure at the moment but with a child arriving very soon I find it very therapeutic.

Daddy Baker

Another Blog

We had a novel idea to start another blog. I know that there are not many blogs out there and we felt that adding another forum for people to put their boring and mundane lives into words was essential to the advancement of society. As soon as I can figure out how to resize pictures and add clever captions to them we will make good on our promise to give you a "sneak peek into The Baker Life."

Tonight has been VERY exciting! We went to Target and bought some stuff and now we are watching the only channel our cable service provides...HGTV. Or at least that is what Jamie keeps telling me. Man, time flies when "House Hunters" is on! I hope you are picking up my sarcasm because I am laying it on pretty thick.

Our newest addition to the family, Townes Alexander Baker, will be arriving soon. Yes, we are naming him Townes. For those of you who don't know Townes Van Zandt, you should. Townes Van Zandt is one of the greatest songwriters of all time. If you get a chance, look him up. He was, and still is amazing.

Stay tuned for more excitement. Beam me up!