Family — Degutis Insights

Daniel Say – December 25, 2009

Posted on the December 25th, 2009 under Daniel by Al

Whoever has the most presents, wins God’s birthday.

~ Daniel

Sledding 2009

Posted on the December 21st, 2009 under Family,Funny,Holiday by Al

Birthday Snowman Fun 2009

Posted on the April 6th, 2009 under Family,Funny by Al

Our digital scrapbook

Posted on the January 30th, 2009 under Family by Al

“What’s the deal with taking all the pics of food on plates?” asked my sister-in-law Sue via a Facebook message.

I teased her, keying in on the word “plate” and responded “You’d rather see food on the table or floor, rather than on plates? Do you just use plate to eat off when company comes over? You do, don’t you. You eat right out of the pots and pans, don’t you?”

I’m am writing this post to answer the question “why am I posting all those food pictures online.” The answer is simple: Judy did it, not me. Well, she posted the two pictures that caused Sue to ask the question.

The deeper answer is that it’s part of our digital scrapbook.

We’ve used Degutis.com over the last 10 years to share things with family and friends. Usually it was too much work to update via the old publishing method. About three or four years ago, maybe longer, I added a Wiki to our website. That made it a little easier to make quick updates to the website. Today the main purpose of the Wiki is the gift wish list pages where family and friends can get gift ideas for holiday grab bags, birthdays, etc. (If you are reading this you must be a friend so take a moment and check out my gift list.)

About a year ago I changed Degutis.com to be a WordPress-based blog, making it extremely simple to post new updates. Now the website gets updated more frequently than ever, even if we don’t post anything for two or three months at a time. When time permits and I have something I want to ramble about I’ll throw together a quick blog post. Sometimes it’s just a quick photo, video, product commentary, or mabye even something from my youth. The left sidebar includes recent pictures (and a link to) our Flickr photos. The right sidebar has my Twitter feed.

In essence, all of this is our digital scrapbook.

Sue, that’s why we post “all the pics of food on plates” online.

Posted by Al Degutis

Hello Mr. Barack Obama from Christopher

Posted on the January 19th, 2009 under Christopher,Family by Al

Four year old Christopher welcomes our 44th President with this special video.

National Day of Service 2008 – Help Home of the Sparrow

Posted on the January 19th, 2009 under Family,Personal,Volunteering by Al

Today we remember Martin Luther King. This day is also being observed as the National Day of Service. How are you doing your part? Seth Godin lists a number of great ideas on how you can be of service today or any day.

I’d like to add one more option: volunteering.

Judy has been a volunteer at the Sparrow’s Nest Thrift Store for over six months. Proceeds from The Sparrow’s Nest Thrift Stores help support the Home of the Sparrow McHenry County Interfaith Shelter Program.

Home of the Sparrow provides transitional housing and supportive services to homeless women and children in northern Illinois. Home of the Sparrow’s mission is to empower individuals and families to eliminate homelessness, joblessness and hunger by teaching self-reliance, independence and self-discipline. The program goals and objectives of HOS specifically focus on individuals and families who were homeless and now participate in our program. Every facet of HOS’ program is designed to foster independence and teach life skills to help break the cycle that perpetuates homelessness.

Make a difference in someone’s life today by helping out this great organization, whether through a donation or volunteering your time.

Volunteer opportunities

Donate to Home of the Sparrow

~ Posted by Al Degutis

Judy’s Birthday Card 2009

Posted on the January 4th, 2009 under Family by Al

January 3rd is Judy’s birthday. Typically I buy a card for her, but this year I wanted to make a special one. I wanted it to be fun, something she’d enjoy. It was fun to put together and she claims she liked it. So here it is for all the family (and friends) to see. Click on each page to see it in full size.