In which I save the real purpose of this post until the end.

Oh those horse and buggy days, how much simpler and slower things were back then. The control of information and news followed a social norm and the lack of our modern contrivances allowed for a more measured release of life's happenings and response to people's interest. Those days are gone.

Once upon a time, when people wished to inform friends and family of life changing events in their lives it would be a matter of writing letters or waiting till their next visit. Over time, telephones became the norm for the transfer of news among friends. The internet and the advent of always connected social groups and brings a whole new level of protocol that I'm not quite sure has been hammered out in a satisfactory manner. It is difficult to handle how and to whom news trickles out, and how to correctly navigate the flood of feedback.

When heralding big news I've decided the hierarchy of information release should go something like this:
(People you have physical contact with)
Immediate family
Extended family
Close friends
Co-workers
(Everyone else in your inter-web community)
All your email buddies
All your AIM buddies
Social network friends
Your blogs

Of course, this is an ad hoc list with no real backing other than my personal feelings about how information of great importance should be handled.

All of this is to say that I've had a difficult time deciding on the course of action to take regarding a very big piece of news family news. As of this writing, most of the extended family is aware, and a few close physical friends are also informed. Our church family knows what is happening. Really, all that is left is to let those my family has connected with over the internet know the big news...
(I certainly hope no one has peeked without reading the whole post, and thereby steeling my fun.)
My wife (@love2cookpie) and I are expecting our third child.
...blink...
...blink...
...blink...
Your prayers, donations of a larger house and piles of money are greatly appreciated.

My Goals: They Haz a Flavour

So what does a non traditional college student do on his first day of summer break? That's right, he sets goals to make sure he does something worthwhile during his "recovery" period. I tried to schedule classes for this summer, but couldn't get everything to work out properly. Not to mention the whole recovering from surgery thing got in the way. I know, excuses, excuses. In no particular order, here's the big six things I plan on getting done before the fall semester begins.

1. Fix my scooter.
Since the losers I bought the bike from have no intention of honoring their warranty, the task falls to me. Fortunately, it's cheaper and easier than I originally thought. I should be on the road again in a couple weeks, tops.
(The people at Motorxtremes are incompetent and never follow through, even their owner is too important to take care of customers. Maybe I'll post about that one day. Don't buy from them, they suck.)
Edit: Accomplished May 9th!!!

2. Catch up on reading.
Extra curricular reading takes a back seat during classes, but that does not keep me from amassing a backlog of books to dive in to. Among the pile are the complete Sherlock Holmes stories, a book of letters from Van Gogh to his brother Theo, The World Is Flat by Friedman, and a huge pile of other books I'm halfway through. It's a terrible habit of mine, to start multiple books, but I never lose track of the story... rather strange of me.

3. Catch up on video games.
Just like books, these take a back seat, no; these take the trunk when other things need done. Nevertheless, I have a bunch of fun games on the DS to finish up in my spare time.

4. Visit the beach.
This one will be a big help in accomplishing the reading portion of my goals. Not to mention the small beach we head up to near Muskegon is very pretty and very quiet.

5. Spend lots of time at Frederik Meijer Gardens.
Season pass, FTW! Super cool sculptures and plants abound this year. I plan on getting lots of pictures and video.

6. Get a head start on learning German.
As part of my Bachelors in Information Security and Intelligence, I must take a foreign language. I've tried to teach myself German before, but with little to no success. This fall I'll have my first formal class. In preparation, I will be spending time listening to the language CD's I have. Perhaps something will sink in and when classes begin, I won't fail so miserably.

That's the short of it. We'll see how well I do in the fall. I'm sure you'll all be at the edge of your seats waiting to see what I accomplish. Please don't. Go do something!