Moments (and Art) to Remember

I’m not sure what it’s been lately, but I’ve felt a bit out of balance… like something was missing. My life in general right now is about as rich, fulfilling and as busy as it’s ever been, but after really taking a few weekends to look at things, I’ve realized something is missing. I’m not painting.

It’s been about two years since I’ve sat at my art station with a clear piece of plexiglass, vibrant tubes of paint and my creative spirit singing. At first, I didn’t miss it. In fact, the absence didn’t seem to matter to me at all until about a month ago. And then it came crashing in.

So this weekend, I will paint again.

And I can already tell it’s going to be glorious!

Did you love the Topeka version of the Google logo that graced Google’s website on April Fool’s Day? With just a few clicks, you can enjoy Google’s Topeka logo everyday! Simply follow these steps if you’ve using a FireFox or Google Chrome as your browser:

For FireFox:
1.       Download Firefox (if you don’t already use if for serious browsing sessions): http://www.firefox.com
2.       Install Greasemonkey for Firefox here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/748
3.       Install Google Doodle GM script from within Firefox on this page: http://code.google.com/p/gmsearchscripts/
4.       Select Topeka as your favorite Google Doodle here: http://www.google.com/logos

For Google Chrome:
1.       Download Google Chrome (if you don’t already use it for casual browsing)… http://www.google.com/chrome
2.       Install the Favorite Doodle Extension here: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/nedjejdfkkjgebciefdfofjhmeogiaga
3.       Select Topeka as your favorite Google Doodle here: http://www.google.com/logos

Thanks Brendan Jensen for figuring this out and sharing it!

Google has changed their home page logo to Topeka for April Fool’s Day! I assume this was inspired by our (Topeka, Kansas’s) temporary re-naming last month to Google, Kansas and Think Big Topeka‘s #1G4Topeka effort.

If you’ve been following the whole Google, Kansas thing, then you probably know that Topeka is pretty serious about bringing the Fiber Experiment to our community. Sure, we re-named the city for a month, but that was just one of many grassroots initiatives to show Google how much Topeka wants Fiber! Our efforts include more than 16,500 Facebook Group members, almost 900 photos, a whole slew of TV appearances/Radio interviews/blogs/articles and 31 videos, like this one by Gizmo Pictures:

We also had the first Google-related Flash MOB, a Google St. Patrick’s Day parade and a final rally at the Google RoadRunners game where the community spelled out GOOGLE on the ice after the game.

I’ve always been a fan of Google’s April Fool’s Day pranks, but this is one I’ll never forget!

Thanks Google, you guys really do Think Big!

It’s been a rough week.

On Tuesday morning Leo woke up sounding like he was starting to get a cold. No runny nose or sneezing, just congested breathing and a rough cough. At 3 a.m. on Wednesday morning we ended up in the emergency room concerned with his breathing and the barking that he was doing. The doctor gave him a steroids shot and then sent us on our way.

On Friday afternoon, Leo’s conditions returned, he was breathing faster than normal and really having to work hard to breathe in. I picked him up early from the babysitter’s house and took him straight to the quick-care clinic near our house. The doctor on call recommended that we get him to the ER and then admit him in to the hospital overnight. So we headed over to the ER again where they started an IV, did some blood work, gave him several rounds of steroids and breathing treatments and took X-rays of his throat and chest. With the tests they were able to determine that Leo’s epiglottis was swollen, causing his breathing to be strained even more than just the croup conditions.

Leo was admitted into the hospital to stay Friday night so the nurses could continue to monitor him and administer treatments. Luckily Leo really responded well to the breathing treatment and additional steroids that they gave him in his room, and he was dismissed Saturday at noon.

Here’s some photos of Leo’s ER and hospital visit: