Constipation?

First of all - I want to thank everyone who came to our Halloween last night. All of our local family came to see the kids in their costumes making it much easier for us than trying to get in and out and dressed and undressed at 4 or 5 houses in one night! (Pictures to follow later after we have Trick Or Treat tonight)

So we went to the doctor yesterday because Dylan hasn't gone in 2 days and throws up a good bit and Chelsea has been having some gastro issues. So the doctor says oh it is ok - 3 days isn't uncommon for babies... WHAT... 3 days?! He then proceeds to suggest 1oz water to 1oz prune juice one time a day or so, and to add some rice cereal to the formula to help with the throwing up.

Around 7PM last night we gave each 2oz, 1 of water and 1 of prune juice. Before bedtime Dylan dropped a man size load, and before morning Chelsea had 5+ explosive ones. In fact, at one point Leah's face got all excited and concerned GET A TOWEL GET ME SOMETHING POOP ON ME POOP ON ME POOP ON ME! I thought it was funny, but went to get something anyway - but she was clean - just lots of poop in the diaper that was hot.

So noted - prune juice does a lot. Then later Dylan puke puked up his entire bottle (well, probably 2/3 of it) while I was feeding him. I don't think it was because he has reflux or anything, but it was a full belly, and a sideways burp that just snowballed into more. He then ate the rest of it and his second bottle without incident (so far!). Let's just hope we can keep this under control.

Side bar - one of the pediatricians we saw yesterday said he did his residency at a very large hospital that had a huge nursery. He said on an average week there were 100 or so babies there, and when one started crying usually the rest would start a chain reaction and get everyone going. Talk about nerves of steel - I think that 2 screaming kids might just be enough - 100 kids? Woweee!

Dylan's Ears Work!

So Dylan failed his hearing test at birth, no biggie. So we had an appointment yesterday at the audiologist and Dylan passed with ease. He can hear - woo. He is too nosy not to be able to hear.

However - Dylan is having fits of screaming due to constipation and acid reflux (the constipation we are sure of, the acid reflux we are pretty sure about.) And Chelsea is teasing us when she eats - sometimes 2oz sometimes 4oz, sometimes none - and then yells about it. But man does she hate having a wet / full diaper - to the point of "change me every time I do ANYTHING!" Hopefully after today we will get some things set!

They slept for almost 7 hours last night! Then screwed around eating in the AM @ 3:30... but I liked the long sleep... they just need to eat when they wake up again. We will figure this thing out - hopefully not too long until though, because then things up and change. (I want this, this, this, that and pay attention because it will all change tomorrow!)

We rented some space out this week - 2k - although it is month to month it will most likely be a long term client unless something else comes in to fill the whole space. We are also now in negotiations to double our recyclable stuff! Lots of confidentiality stuff but could be really good for the the county, the borough and us... win win for everyone.

I'm an electrician!

So I've begun renting out our long building in sections of 1,000 sq ft. We need to change the price we are charging - but since I already committed to a person at a certain rate the next time I would have to increase the rate. Then I have to make a movable wall.

Today, I had to run lines so we didn't have the lights on all the time. Dave helped me run a new circuit (he drove the forklift for me) and we ran 2 new receptacles at the furthest end with plug in overhead lights for them.

Felt good to do something with my hands today. Later we are going to run 3 new motion sensor lights along the outside of the Juniata Street side of the building. Now i have to do the same at home sometime. Caleb's room is on a switch ... that runs all the receptacles! I want to make the entire room hardwired live, and the switch run an overhead light. Not a big deal, actually will be pretty fun.

Also - doing the basement. Moving my pottery stuff into storage basically (all in 1 corner) and then painting the other sections with lock crete or something like it. Doing the floor, the walls, and the beams with a sealant to keep water sealed out and dirt sealed onto it. Making the basement nicer for storage is my goal really - resale value will be helped too!

We have a audiologist appointment tomorrow, and Halloween @ our house in the evening, then Thursday is my normal meeting in the AM, and then it's FRIDAY for McVeytown Halloween (we get 350+!) and then it is Saturday... I'm going to the PSU vs MICH game... how badly will they get beaten!?

Adorableness!

So we put them in their pack and play more than a foot apart, and they just love each other so much they have to get close! Man, if the whole world were more like that things would be a lot more chill everywhere. This might be one of the more cute things that all 3 have done.

However - Caleb is right up there in cuteness too. Here he is hamming it up on his bed with both of them. He is such a helpful big brother, and is really growing as a person during this whole process. He is becoming more independent to a fault sometimes, but he still needs his mama!

The Blue Man Group came to Hershey this weekend, and instead of taking him (we think it might be TOO much) I downloaded a performance of theirs from the net. I think we might have a new "TV show" to watch - he would watch it nonstop for an hour! Not that I want him to be sitting in front of the TV or computer, but sometimes, with the twins demanding a lot of attention, it is nice to have something he will focus on for a good amount of time.

We got a little video of him watching last night... not enough though and too late into it. He was learning "Rock Concert Movements" and doing what they do on the show. The head bob, the fist pump, the two arm thrust, the hip gyrations... and then he plays his knees like drums. Our future bank geek!

My Political Stance

WARNING: BIG WALL OF TEXT! If you have a question about a different topic please give me ideas!

So I have become increasingly frustrated with the actions of the government as a whole at a federal level, which makes me angry at a state level which bleeds to a local level. I would say I am a republican. I am registered as such, and vote the majority of the time as such.

I am ashamed to say I voted for change. What I didn't realize is that a mere puppet of the globalization movement was to take office. People say that Obama is a socialist because he wants to redistribute wealth, an uprising of people in middle class to take control in their hands. That is not how I feel socialism works - rather - socialism is putting the power and money in control of a very few people while maintaining that it is for the better of the nation. (More on that later in a conspiracy post some day).

So what would I do differently? For starters - tell you why you should vote for me, not tell you why you shouldn't vote for someone else (thanks Alicia).

1) Eliminate Foreign Aid. Why? The majority of our aid we send out is to people that (in general) hate the US and our ideals. In addition - it is not the responsibility of America to aid other nations (especially with wars and political conflicts). In 2008 the US gave 25 billion (yes that is a B) in aid to foreign nations... the next closest was Germany with 13 billion. This is all well and good - even though in the 70's the world's richest nations agreed to give .7%, while the US gives the most $ is is still the lowest percentage wise.

I could be convinced to change my tune IF the money was given to the people who needed it. A problem for many years is that the funds go to corrupt government officials for overpriced services and never reach the poorest people who actually need the funds. That and there are enough aid projects and events out there that actually DO work.

2) Eliminate ALL government fleets (save the military). I mean fleet vehicles. Every congressman, or senetor, or CIA agent blah blah that has the use of a government vehicle has it removed - unless it is for use DURING the work day, for WORK purposes. I don't have a value on that, but I can only image it is fairly obscene. Just a quick calculation of senators and congressman gives us over 500 vehicles (and drivers?) at an estimated cost of AT LEAST 2M for the cars - not including drivers, gas, insurance, maintenance, and taxes. You could easily estimate those 500 vehicles costing 24M a year if you include a driver!

These individuals make MORE than enough money to afford their own cars, period. It should not be a perk of the system to allow for that, and have the American people pay for it. This should go for the state level as well in my opinion. If taxes don't buy me a car, then they don't buy them one. If I ever get elected I would decline this option.

3) Bring our military home. The military budget for 2011 is over 1 TRILLION. That is a T, and it includes up to 225 BILLION of interest. 225 BILLION OF INTEREST ON DEBT. Now, if someone out there thinks there isn't a central bank conspiracy let them read that number, see who it goes to, and then come talk to me again.

Bring our overseas operations home. Focus on protecting our nation from within, and eliminate a lot of overspending. You wouldn't have to eliminate your armed servicemen either. Instead - place them posts around the country to help out police forces that are struggling to afford coverage and subsidize their salaries akin to local levels. You could do so much more locally to eliminate crime or at least provide a much better deterrent to it. Along with that...

4) Legalize marijuana and hemp. I have no personal interest in this anymore, but by allowing the sale and taxation of a product that is (arguably) better for you than alcohol or tobacco you could increase the local, state, and nation tax income by a large amount. Along with increasing revenue you would eliminate petty criminals filling the prison systems, and eliminate a lot of the drug trafficking and crime associated with it.

Not to mention the fact that hemp rope is one of the strongest materials, and hemp paper is an extremely efficient and renewable resource preferred by the book industry (specifically bibles) because it lasts longer and does not yellow. Hemp fibers last longer than cotton and can be used to make OSB and MDF, beams and compressed boards stronger and lighter than wood. Hemp oils are used in paints, varnishes and fuel, and the seeds are usable for bird containing 25% protein! Good for every industry - except loggers and plantation owners! As for other drugs...

5) If you want any kind of state or federal assistance you have to pass a piss test to get it. Unemployment, welfare, SSI, many people on these programs are users (not all - but at least in our county MANY of them are habitual users) of stronger products than pot. If you want a free ride you have to pass a piss test. Not only that - but make it harder to get and stay on these services. My wife had kids who when asked what they wanted to be when they grow up they said "I want to go to the post office 2x a month to get my check like my father and grandfather." Anyone else see something wrong with that?

6) Institute a marginal flat tax rate. There has been many papers and dissertations written over the years regarding the pros and cons of such a system, but in my opinion I believe the benefits outweigh the cons. Give a set limit - say 30,000 for a family of 2 and 5,000 per dependent. A married couple with 2 dependents could make 40,000 untaxed - and any over that would be taxed at a flat rate. However - no chance to go negative (ie: that family only made 30,000 so they would be owed 10,000... no way.)

Overall the reports that I have read with the institution of a system akin to this would actually increase the governments revenue by almost 2%, not to mention that the amount of red tape and tax professionals needed within the IRS could be drastically reduced. The same would go for corporations - taxing X% of net profits. So along with eliminating the need for a massive central IRS team you would make everyone pay the same amount of tax % wise, and the lowest group of earners nationwide would see the largest increase in spendable income, while the highest earners would still see the most amount of taxes.

7) Let all prison systems be run like the "crazy guy in Arizona" Joe Arpaio. Prison isn't supposed to be a joy ride. It's prison. Granted, all his policies wouldn't work in harsher weather areas (as far as colder) but the majority of what he does I agree with - and would love to see it implemented in other prisons across the country. He ma go a little far one the health care and food issues - but still, the majority of his actions are motivational to a community and to a prisoner.

8) Immigration. (Can of worms now open if it hasn't been already). There needs to be a serious crack down on illegal immigration on all fronts - not just the Mexican border. People can get into Canada with no problems and trot across the border with no issues along the 5500+ mile border ( 1500 of that is with Alaska) compared to the frustration in Texas. Now - along with that there needs to be inroads to the immigration and visa process.

Making it easier and more affordable to immigrate would reduce the amount of illegal immigration. However - instant naturalization won't happen, because with the new laws enacted people become citizens and immediately go on relief (welfare, unemployment, free health care...) and that leads me to my last point for the day...

9) Repeal Obamacare. It will cost too much, cover too little, and take more freedoms away from the American people.

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We need to move back to where our founding fathers saw us - as a free market society where the American dream could live it's fullest. Let the states handle their own people and the feds just oversee it - stop taking our liberties and let people live. Is that enough ranting for the day?

There are probably more things I have an (arguably) controversial stance on. For example, education, but I love my wife so I will keep that hush hush for now! Ask how I feel about something and I will respond directly, and most likely passionately. Also, please feel free to disagree and let me know!

Feeding Schedules

So, we have been desperately trying to keep the twins on the same feeding cycle. It has been going famously well actually - until yesterday.

Sometimes one will wake without the other and be hungry. It gets rough to try and keep one happy (aka not screaming) and wake the other enough to try and drink some. It has been putting our sleep timer to about 3 hours instead of 4, which is ok - but not ideal!

Last night one would be out of sorts a bit - but it wasn't too terrible to try and wake the other. I just hope we can put more in their bellies so they sleep longer... but not too much that they won't poop!

Gam Gam is here for the week - praise the lord. The help is great for Leah during the day and they (together) are able to get so much more done at home making my life a lot easier - not that it needs to be.

Work went well today. We got a lot accomplished, including fixing some leaks at Sunshine Connection, getting 1000sq ft rented and set up for any time access, a test spot of the floor cleaned and some quotes on getting the entire place polyaspartic coated. (Look it up - pretty pimp stuff!)

Now Dave and I are off to Lowes to get a light and some wire perhaps to see what we would need to set this new renter up with his own electric lights! (Basically - extension cord + plug in flood light... easy peasy!)

Colic? Let's hope not!

So last night we had our first ... fun night. Well, not true. While Leah went to Wal-Mart on Sunday I had about an hour and a half of crying / screaming from Chelsea. Turns out she was just hungry but we were trying to keep them on a schedule and she had just eaten less than 2 hours prior! But last night was different - lots of gas pains and tough BM to get out ... also she had just prior eaten the largest amount she ever had at once!

We had 2 hours or so of a crying Chelsea that was well - fun. Then Dylan decided to join in here and there - but we fought through it and I had my first near breakdown but think that since I got through it the next time should be easier.

So the weekend! Just a picture from then for you! Personally, I think this is an adorable photo of the two.

They had a pretty good time together outside for an hour or so. Playing through the tubes and down the slides and around the butterfly bush. It was definitely fun to have everyone together for an few hours this weekend.

I am very much looking forward to the years when all the kids can play together (ours alone even, all 3). They just seem to have so much more fun with more than one child together!

So I have been having some political revelations recently, which I will expound upon later. Suffice to say I think I might be able to win an election some day, perhaps starting with Mifflin County and moving up - I don't think I'd ever like to be anything more than a local representative at the state level, but who knows. My sister is right - give me a reason to vote for YOU, not a reason to NOT vote for the other guy.

So up for this week? Eliminating some more storage trailers that are either worthless, unusable, or full of junk. Also, determining if the boundaries currently fenced are the proper lines, and meeting with a recycling contact and a realtor. Hopefully, this week proves to be a positive one!

Weekend!

So we had a great weekend with my sister, Alicia, brother in law, Mike, and their son Ethan. I have photos to upload but forgot to bring the camera to work! My parents brought up lunch and we were able to all eat, feed the babies, and hang out until around 4 or so when they continued on to meet up with Meema.

It was nice to see the boys play together, even though Caleb is 10 months older than Ethan they are ALMOST the same size! Ethan is surely heavier, but Caleb is about an inch taller ... well maybe only 1/2 an inch! Pretty amazing in my opinion!

I'm very proud of my sister and her husband. They have created for themselves a very amazing and successful career and home life over the past few years. Part of me is a little jealous of Mike's success, partly because I have had offers at the management levels he has attained (all be it in a different industry), and partly because of the area they live in and the opportunities are there. However - I still wish them the best!

On Sunday we had a nice relaxing lunch with Mary Beth and Jim (Leah's aunt and uncle) and we did a little teaching for Facebook updating for MB. Going back to Christmas 2 years ago Leah's dad got us a nice Nikon camera with 2 lenses - problem is the camera doesn't accept lenses! So we tried MB's but her doesn't either! Oh well!

So today I am catching up on some things at work... not too terribly rough. Tomorrow Dave and I plan to continue our clean out process of 6-8 trailers (really only 2-3 are full of junk) and get the trash out and ready to scrap the trailers. The plan is then to keep the cash available to pick up 2 or 3 new(er) trailers as needed. Granted - these aren't new trailers, but '96s are much better than '72s!

Look for pictures in a few days, or as soon as I remember my camera!

Friday!

So I missed a few days in the middle of the week this time. My apologies for any faithful readers (har har). Tuesday was another day where I didn't go into work - but Leah's mom made it up for a bit and is going to be around both Wednesday and Thursday.

My only problem is, on normal working days I am in the office by 7AM. However - the feeding requirements of sometimes makes that an improbability. So Leah and I had our first argument about time and work and whatnot - but we got through it and and made a couple of deals.

I spent Wednesday catching up on the massive mountain of unopened mail on my desk, paying bills, and catching up on some local news issues I have been following. We also walked around to a bunch of trailers, cut some trees down, and did some general cleaning of Norlin and fixing of leaks at AMES.

I have been making some inroads at some local companies regarding our recycling program opportunity, and it seems to be going well. On top of that a made a huge connection with a local manufacturing firm that may be the beginning of a LOT more business. Renting 2 trailers to someone may not seem like a lot - cash flow wise - but the start of a business relationship is the main issue.

Previously I had been unable to get into the door. But this could lead to storage space (which was already brought up by them) and possibly cardboard (which would double our levels of recyclable materials).

Thursday I spent finding some documents for our solar project - which is now awaiting a presentation to the council for approval. Finding a land survey and using documents from '67 just wasn't helpful. I was able to get one of them scanned (an '88 land division plan) but now I need to find the actual recorded documents at the courthouse. No wonder deed work is so expensive, 1 copy is $1.00!!!. However the digital system goes back to 92, and the plan book keeps referring to plan book 1 - which is one of the oldest on file! Great.

The twins have been amazing. Last night they slept 4 hours at a clip... between feedings. So about 5 hour cycles which is just about perfect for Leah - since she pees that much anyway! They are growing rapidly, and pooping a lot! Caleb is having his issues, but I think it is more the fact that we can't go outside as much for as long which is giving him an overabundance of energy. He literally HOPS to bed, or skips, but his entertainment levels need to be upped because he just isn't tiring himself out anymore!

My sister comes this weekend, and of course her husband Mike and their son Ethan. I miss them dearly, as if we lived close I feel that we would be best of friends (we are even though we are 2.5 hours apart). My sister and I are close, and Mike and Leah click, and when we are together (unless we are playing board games!) we have a great time... so excited! More pictures to come at a later date!

Back to Work!

Oh no! The dreaded day of going back to work has come ... all be it only for 3 hours to check the mail, respond to a few things, and make sure the place didn't burn down! I did have a gentleman from the UK contact us about doing some receiving and repackaging services - which would basically be a part time guy (4 hours a day) of revenue... not bad, but still need to find more business!


So on Saturday's post I mentioned we went to the pumpkin patch @ Bilger's up the road. This was more about Caleb - and here he and I are picking out one of our bigger pumpkins! We had a good time, and although he was anti-camera it was still fun!

They literally have thousands of pumpkins of all shapes and sizes to choose from - and lots of time work on the honor system. Isn't small town America great?!



The kids are still sleeping great. It has been pretty amazing how they have taken to our schedule and we are working around theirs. They are eating 2oz at a clip and sleeping 4 or so in between. So - feed @ 9:30, sleep til 2AM, feed then til 6 or so. Not too shabby!

Hopefully something interesting happens somewhere soon!!! Like Leah went to Wal-Mart about an hour ago, and now it is POURING outside, and I hope they are ok! Also - Caleb loves this video and Steve made a mini-pipe for him... it was all wrong according to Caleb! He said "Steve this isn't right have to go get Scott (me)." While I hate it when he calls me that, it's his 'professional' tone for me I guess. So now I have to go to Lowes and find something to make a "Drumbone!"

Oh - picture gravy!

Nap Time!

Today was a nice day so far. And the nights have been pretty decent as well. Both twins are sleeping 4 hours or so at a clip between 2oz bottles. Which means we are sleeping at 3 hour clips, after getting up, doing a diaper, feeding, burping, resting, and getting back to sleep!

I skipped playing basketball today, instead I did 2 loads of laundry, made a few beds, did some dishes, and spent some time with Leah and Caleb while the twins were sleeping. Jeff, Heather, and Fletcher came by around 1 for a few hours, which was a nice relaxing visit, and my parents are coming by tonight for dinner and fun times.

HOPEFULLY this night will go as well as the past few have. Although Leah and I feel like all we do is tell Caleb no repeatedly, I think we will get the hang of it here soon enough. I wish we could spend all our time with him, and the twins... clone please!

Pumpkin Patch

So no picture today - but I will upload one at some point.

Today we decided to go to the pumpkin patch @ Bilger's about 3 miles up the road. We all loaded up and grabbed Steve & Sue Feathers (our neighbors who have been amazing these past 4 years in McVeytown) to go pick out pumpkins for everyone.

We got 2 big ones, and a bunch of "teeny tiny" ones, and Caleb got to pet some kittens. We took some pictures but he wasn't really interested in posing - probably going to be a normal occurrence over the next few years I'd guess.

Caleb and I went for a bike ride up to the library playground and spend some time away from the house so he doesn't go stir crazy. Which during, by the way, he climbed everything there with no help (safety net me, but no help). This is a playground for up to 6 years old, and some of the things are pretty complex as far as climbing is concerned. Proud pap am I!

Then later in the evening we broke out our new stroller - the Joovy Caboose... this thing is obscene. Two car seats and another seat for an older child in the back. We did about 3 blocks and Leah thinks that was too much for her missus!

Tomorrow bodes busy - Da & Eena (Jeff & Heather, Leah's dad and stepmom) are coming by in the early afternoon, then Pap Pap & Noona (Scott & Ellen, my parents) are coming by in the evening we think. It's crazy - when you have babies people actually want / make time to see you!

Food!

Today we went out to eat for the first time with the twins and Caleb. We asked him where he wanted to go and he says "Maybe OIP?" So we did. After the twins' positive checkup this AM at the doctors (everything is A-OK) we made a mad dash for OIP.

Caleb was getting restless, but the twins were starving. So we ordered and made some formula and well, it went swimmingly! Now back home for the afternoon, Caleb will nap soon, Leah and I will clean / nap, and the twins are snuggling together in the pack and play.

What fun will the weekend hold? I think a trip to the pumpkin patch!

Twins!!

So - they are finally here!

Our twins - born October 5th, 2010.

Dylan Cole Noerr - born at 7:58 PM, weighing in at 6lbs, 9oz and 20.5 inches!
Chelsea Colleen Noerr - born at 8:14 PM, weighing in at 5lbs, 7oz and 18.5 inches!

We are all home now, and Caleb is taking to them quite nicely. We plan on taking the next few days to get things under control ourselves and then will be accepting visitors in droves!

We went in Tuesday at 7AM, and by 8:30 Leah was on Pitocin to increase the intensity and amount of contractions. By 11:00 she was 4cm, by 1:30 she was on Nubane for the pain and by 6:00 she wanted a spinal because the Nubane stopped being effective. She had to wait 30 min for the anesthesiologist to come in, and by that time the midwife and doctor told her - well, you are now (@7:15) 9.5cm and can probably just start pushing.

So she did. 20 minutes of real pushing later we had Dylan, and then about a 10 minute break and 6 more minutes of pushing and we had Chelsea! So all in all a long Tuesday, but Leah is well and the babies are beautiful and healthy (and QUIET... knock on wood.)

More to come later.
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While this is a joyous time for our family, please keep a close friend of our college group in your hearts and minds over the upcoming months. Linda has lost her mother unexpectedly and we wish her the best of support as we will be unable to visit her this weekend.

INDUCTION!

UPDATE: Inducing Tuesday AM @ 7!!!

So, it is Monday morning and our household is sick. Caleb is full of snot and now I am as well. My brain hurts my eyes.... yes I just wrote that. What excellent timing we have with the twins coming tomorrow. So, that in itself is a crappy situation - and now we have some issues at work.

7 leaks at AMES and 3-4 leaks at our warehouse make for a crappy Thursday - Friday afternoon. The fact that it is raining today and I still can't fix the leaks makes it even more frustrating. Good enough though - they are slow dripping leaks and not overflowing in buckets! Add on top of that the fact that our WBE application (Woman Owned Business Enterprise - required to get some government contract priority and nearly ANY business at Penn State for us) is most likely getting denied.

Why? Because our owner, JoAnn M. Noerr, my grandmother who has raised 2 successful boys, was the woman behind the man for a nationwide trucking company, and secured the buyout of 60% of a company with minimal help from others, has nearly no experience and is not getting a salary. However, she is being paid dividends because it is tax smart. I am apparently going to have to appeal this and have them talk to her at the appeal - which may be more damnable than not.

HOWEVER. I have 2 new opportunities on the books today. A firm potentially interested in all 50,000 sq ft of our facility, which would basically eliminate the need for the recycling process or the WBE certification and be ... beautiful. Second - a gentlemen with a firm in England does import / export (checked him out, it's legit) has simple boxes coming in and needs them repacked and prepared for shipping. Easy work and the amount, in conjunction with the cardboard opportunity, would be enough to justify my coming back full time.

So, the ups and downs of work and home life are already enough this week. Blessed be - Leah's mom comes into town tonight and will be staying for about a week to help with the delivery and run interference with Caleb's needs during this transition period. I just need something to go right for good at the business!

It's Friday!

So 3 days in a row, a record for my blogs! But here we go - what have I been thinking these past few days?

My life is about to get all kinds of crazy. In the next 4 days I will be outnumbered by little people at home. 3 kids, 2 adults. That is some kind of crazy. In truth - if we get to Christmas alive the rest of it will come along.

Clearly, the next 20 years of our life are going to be filled with new adventures, extreme highs as well as being lower than I have been ever before (and as some of you know... that is pretty low). However - it will all be worth it - I can guarantee it.

I've been doing a lot of thinking at night, and way to little sleeping. With Leah taking up the bed and moving around constantly, not to mention getting up to pee, I've had a lot of waking moments - some of which are surprisingly lucid for 2AM.

Life seems to be all about little moments - and taking advantage of them. Jumping at opportunities is rash - but sometimes without that willingness to take a chance you risk stagnation in a rut.

To that end - with the absolute full gusto of a man on a mission, I am going after this recycling project hardcore. With the securing of a contracted price for corrugated cardboard and other materials from the borough (which is to be determined) we would break even on our venture (including "hiring" me back). Then - taking into account the verbal commitments for (A) free cardboard sources and (B) buying to bale sources we will be able to turn a pretty decent profit, and only use about 1/5 of our warehouse space.

I am - today - aggressively courting the final information on (A) delivery and sorting of materials, (B) required payment schedules, and the (C) logistics of the storage and baling of them. After securing them I am going after the big boys locally - some of which we would have to pay for, others we would get for free.

This. Is. Going. To. Be. Huge. Mark my words - but the end of 2011 Norlin will be a fully functional green business - and well on its way to a solar institution as well. Let the courting begin.