Enjoy these!

I'm sitting on a 767-200 at 9am on a Sunday morning. The dogs got dropped off at day camp bright (well, not really, it was before sunrise was off and running) and early, and the realtors should be at the house for what I hope to be a productive open house. The kids didn't sleep well in a new place, as expected, and neither did I in the house by myself. However, I did manage to finally get my archived email uploaded to my Google Apps mail account (yay anywhere archives) and I managed to get all my email accounts, including work, funneled into The One Mailbox. Yay for piped searches and flexibility! Bye bye memory hoggin' Outlook 2007, hello anywhere-mail access!

On another note I stopped by Best Buy and noticed that The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is out on DVD now...wonder if it's a decent film...
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Another two years, another user conference over and done-with. I'm glad to be home. It was pretty strange, being away from the kids at this age. Steph told me they were acting differently, and things were certainly different when I walked in the door yesterday evening. I'm usually greeted with loud yelling and frantic requests for "Up! Up!"

Yesterday, however, found the kids somewhat less enthusiastic about my return. I suspect there was probably some leftover resentment about my absence. I came up the stairs quietly, and planned to surprise them. Vicki and Steph were talking in the kitchen, while the kids were watching Sesame Street and running around. I popped my head around the corner during a segment about dogs and cats, so the kids were momentarily captivated. When I said, "Hi, look at the doggie," the kids didn't even respond. After a second greeting, Devin finally took some interest and was piqued at the fact that here stands Daddy. He ran over, as I initially expected, and wanted to do climbing. Maya remaind stoic and detached and eyed me with slight annoyance, either at interrupting Sesame Street or not being present for the last 3 days. Dinner was served and the aura of disdain was painfully present while Maya ate. Devin, merrily content with food and Daddy, was a happy boy.

After dinner it was bath time, and by this time, things with Maya seem to have normalized. I gave her extra bubbles in her bath and some extra Elmo toothpaste/lube - both of which appeared to restore the father/daughter bond.

This morning, things were back to normal and everyone seems to be content with the fact that I'm home... for a few days, at least. Oh well, such is the way of work.

A shot looking up at the Book Depository building. There is a X in the street, perpendicular to where those people are standing, which marks the spot where the final shot killed JFK

The "sniper's nest" is the upper right dark window.

If you weren't already aware, Devin is fascinated with light switches. Until recently, we would have to hold him up to the light switch, and he would crane his neck around until he could watch the lights going on and off as he manipulated the switch. Now, he's figured out he can move (we're still lucky in that respect) stand on a chair and flip the switch all by himself.

*sigh* This is a hairline crack in the top of the radiator. I got by all winter with it (obviously) but today, the ol' Camry didn't really appreciate the warm weather.

Maya and Devin decide to get into the Sunday paper. This was entertaining until I remembered that I had yet to read it.

Hey gang,

I'm in the process of uploading some new videos to my YouTube channel. You can view the channel by clicking here. You can subscribe to my channel if you want to keep tabs on my videos - but of course I'll post here whenever one of interest comes up!

So this morning I got up, around 8:30 and went and laid down in Devin's room. He was the first one up and tossed all his crib accouterments, so I reset his crib and he went down for another half-hour. Around 9:00am Devin decided he was up for the day, so I changed him and got his milk going. Maya was up by this time, so we all settled in for a breakfast of Cookie Monster Organic Mini Waffles (blueberry), Giant Strawberries, Blackberries, and a Veggie-Soy "breakfast pattie". Yeah, I know it sounds weird but it's actually pretty tasty, for soy.

After the kids finished, Steph was up so I decided that we were going biking. Steph almost opted to stay home and get some homework done, but I guilted her into going. We packed up some lunch for the kids and went down to the Silver Comet Depot. Here we met a likable feller named Ozzy and he got us set up with bikes. Now, Steph and I actually have our own cycles, however they are both in storage. And, mine is equipped for off-roading, so it wouldn't be a great ride on the Comet. Steph's has practically deteriorated, so she'll probably need a new one. Anyway, I got some sorta Raleigh, I think, with a Shimano 21 speed ring shifter and linear brakes - nothing special, but it works. Steph got a Specialized Crossroads, and she was quite happy with it. The kids got a Burley two-seater trailer with universal join linkage. You can see below what they thought of it:

Not exactly what you'd call an auspicious start for our trek. I like the Burley trailer. It appears to be sturdy and capable, and has enough storage space for the kids' lunch and some extra stuff. The tires are nice and big, and round (bonus!). The trailer also has a 3-piece cover which includes snap-down flaps for covering the opening. The flaps are "screen", "clear" and "tinted". We used the screen as it wasn't that cold, and the trailer tends to retain heat very well. My little thermal engine toddlers pumped out plenty of BTUs to keep the interior warm.

After the first 15 minutes, Devin was out like a light. We gave them some juice and a mini-box of raisins to keep them busy. Towing the trailer was easier than I thought. Steph remarked that I seemed to be performing a significant amount of gear-changing, but that's what a transmission is for - adequate distribution of power to the drivetrain with least amount of stress to the engine. Or something to that effect. At any rate, it was quite fun.

We rode for about 4 miles out from the Depot to Powder Springs. Steph was getting thirsty, and like doofuses we only packed stuff for the kids and not ourselves (duh!) So we stopped, gave the kids a fruit strip (pomegranate!) and turned round towards the Depot. Another four miles, and we're back at the depot and the kids are, shall we say, less than clean. We get our gear turned in and load up for the ride back home (it's a long one - about 5 minutes). We decide to let the kids eat their lunch because it's pushing 1pm and they'll be ready for naps. So we give them the sack lunch and they eat while we ride home. That was a mistake. PB&J, dates, a cheese slice and pretzel all make for great makeup/hair products. A bath is required before anyone touches anything in the house.

So, we plopped both kids in our garden tub and had bath/funtime for a half hour before putting the kids down for a nap. They really enjoyed the bath, and they are actually getting more fun out of those foam numbers and letters - they can recite some bits and pieces of the alphabet and can count a few numbers.








So, all in all, we decided we would definitely do this again as a regular activity. We will probably purchase our own trailer, and we'll have to get Steph a decent bike at some point (mine is fine, but just needs road tires). The Depot seems to have reasonable prices, plus they do free brake/adjustment service. And, if you purchase a bike from them, any rentals within 30 days prior to the purchase are deducted from the price! Sounds like a nice deal, which is good because the kids really enjoyed themselves, and getting outside is always good.

I finally got my old blog merged in, so everything is under one blog. Neato! Thanks to Paul Cooley and his blog2blog tool. If you ever need to backup/merge/convert blog posts from one blog service to another, this is the tool to use. Supports Blogger, MSN Spaces, LiveJournal and Wordpress. Check it out here.

Birthday Party - March 2008

Pictures from our trip up to Charlotte this weekend