Thanks for having such a nice family-friendly idea as starting this blog, Peter. As most of you know, Liv, Joel and I are in London this week. It's been very gloomy and rainy every day, but we are getting about and wearing out our feet. Yesterday we went to Hampton Court Palace, which was very interesting even though we were pretty cold and soggy by the end of the day. We got free audio guides with our admission and they were from Antenna Audio, the same company Norris works for at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts! Although I am usually too cheap to pay for such guides, they really added a lot to the experience as they not only explained what you were looking at but gave you an idea of the living conditions of the time, etc. Today we went to the Tower and had a live Beefeater guide who was entertaining.

All these major tourist spots seem to be very poorly set-up in that they have tiny giftshops, cafes, etc., that don't encourage people to stay and spend money. The help is not always the friendliest or most efficient. They could take some lessons from DIsney!

rescuing the clerks?

The other day in London, as we walked to the cybercafe, we came on three young women standing outside of a shop, around 10 AM, and looking around - "could you open our door," they asked me. They were all too short to reach their lock on the glass door.

"Do you have this problem every day?" I asked.

"Yes".


??

Joel

Picture of the day: The Windmill Cafe, a small diner next to my house in Savage, MN. I took it on the way to work this morning. Have a great New Years!

oh, and about thumper. Maybe you could just take buddy instead!

Tom

I continue to work with my friend on our forthcoming hip hop album. I wrote a rap song in 5/8 time just tonight, and am hopefully going to revolutionize rap music forever. My rapping friends resist the time signature however, as they are not accustomed to "flowing" to such a funny feeling beat. Once you let it get in you though, five can really move your soul (and your feet!).

I also continue having a crush on this girl. hmmm. we'll see what happens- New Years Eve maybe I'll make a move. Or maybe I'll make a rap song about her. "girl you are so cool, and I am no fool, I went to school, but when I see you I drool" - something to that effect. okay, peace.

Tom

Maria's uncle Bob passed away around noon today. Her family has had a tough couple of months. She just had another uncle pass away a couple of months ago, and her cousin has cancer as well. If you could all keep her family in your prayers, I would appreciate it. They really need God's comfort right now.

Today's picture of the day is of Grandma and Grandpa at the train station. I just love this picture and have it sitting on my desk at work.

Maria and I went shopping today, and while we were at Burnsville Center, we stopped at a pet shop. While we were there we just fell in love with a tiny Tibetan Spaniel that was in a litter of 3. We played with him for a while, and began considering purchasing him. Maria has been wanting a small dog for a while now, and this dog was just so friendly and cuddly! We started calling him Thumper because he was just hopping around all over the place. Here is a picture of a similar dog that we found online:



So what does everyone think, should we get him?

Here is the picture of the day. I took this at a beautiful garden near where Maria and I got married. We were supposed to have our wedding pictures taken there, but it rained so that plan was a wash. These are some of the pretty flowers in that garden:

Maria and I went to the Lord of the Rings - Two Towers today. It was a pretty good movie, Maria thought it was better than the first one. I am not sure if it was or not, but I really enjoyed it. I can't wait for the next one to come out, but we have to wait a whole year! I'm just glad I already know how it ends..
We also went out to dinner at Perkins. Our waitress was a nice woman, but she was a bit slow. We were sitting there for like 10 minutes before she even acknowledged us, and then throughout our meal, she kept ignoring us. I asked for a drink refill at one point. She took my glass, and disappeared for like 10-15 minutes. We had to finally ask another server for my refill.. ugh.. she got a smaller than normal tip, needless to say.

Maria and I were talking about where we want to go for our next big trip. One place we've talked about is Italy. We both would love to go to Europe, and we've both wanted to go to Italy for some time. We'll see, maybe this will be where we go... Off to bed!

I got a $50 Gift Certificate to Galyan's from Maria's grandparents. (Thanks so much guys!) I went to Galyan's on my lunch break and bought this pack:

The North Face Wombat

I bought it to use with my Nikon 775 Digital Camera and the wide angle and telephoto lenses I just bought on Ebay. I can pack them in this daypack, along with any other stuff I need, and go for a day long hike.. Woohoo!

I just found the daypack online for about $11 less than at Galyan's. I called and asked if they will pricematch an online price, such as at Altrec.com, and they will! They have a 110% price guarantee. So instead of $58, i'll pay closer to $40 (after i go and have the difference refunded).. Feels good to get a bargain!

This is my first Photograph of the day. I took this photo on the campus of St. John's University in Collegeville, MN. There's an old abandonded church on the opposite side of a small lake on campus, and this flower was in the tall grass next to that church. I did some modifications in Photoshop (as you can tell), and was quite happy with the outcome. Let me know what you think!

This is my first entry on the Anderson Family Web Log! I've been fascinated with this web logging phenomenon ever since I discovered it a few months ago. I decided it was time that I create my own log for my extended family and start talking about some of the things that are going on in our lives. It is my hope that it can become a chronicle of what it means to be an Anderson, and a tribute to the importance of family. I'll be talking about a bunch of things on here including family, posting my favorite picture of the day/week (photography is my newest obsession), talking about my life with my wife Maria, Politics and any number of other assorted things.

So, to start out, I thought I'd give you some links to some of my favorite websites:

My Ebay Auctions: I've become obsessed with Ebay in the past few months, I love it for selling and buying things. I'm making enough to pay for my car every month!

Fatwallet.com: A great site for finding deals on everything you need. My most recent find was my HP 7350 photosmart printer. It is normally $199.99 at most stores, I got it for $129.99 at Office Max, with a $40 Gift Certificate. And it prints like a dream!

Real Clear Poliitics dot Com: A great site for finding out what all the political pundits are saying.

The Mirror Project: A really fun and addicting website where you can upload pictures you have taken of yourself in reflecting objects.

That's enough for now. Thanks for reading my log, and I can't wait to tell you more! Time to work !