I passed this on Sunday morning...

...and then it blew me away after the toll booth.

http://www.jaguarusa.com/us/en/xk/models_pricing/models/xkr_coupe.htm

Not too shabby. And under $87,000! Who'd have thunk??

Spring Pics, etc.

Cherry Blossoms

Thanks to the weathermen, we went to DC on the day it rained instead of the day is was sunny. Regardless, after navigating the road closures due to a road (running) race, we decided to try a different area of the Cherry Blossoms. It's a nice park, though the area at the very tip was a little sparse on Cherry Trees. We still had lots of fun, though. =)

All-American Family

This was all Mia's doing. We didn't set this up.



Notice the:

- Mom sitting out on the "porch"
- Baby sleeping in the big girl bed
- Big girl playing in the crib
- Dad sitting...well...you can see =)

First Roll + Bath Time!

A new era

For my birthday, Angela got me a "family" gift. Something I've been looking at for a while. It is - a new digital camera. And boy, is it somethin'.

It's a Nikon Digital SLR (semi-pro) - the D40 is the model #. I had hesitated at first on this model, b/c it is "only" 6 megapixels. But for the cost savings, and for the fact that 6 megapixels is significantly more than I'd ever need, we got it.

This is the first shot I took with the camera:



What's nifty about Digital SLR cameras is that you can take the picture in a "RAW" format, which allows you to adjust exposure, color, sharpness, etc. before actually "opening" the picture for editing. I know absolutely nothing about this stuff, but the possibilities are endless. Here's to great picture taking!

Easter Pics

It's entirely too late at night, but I tend to get started on something and can't stop. So, here's a quick montage of some Easter morning pics!



Download-able version here. (Right-click and choose "Save Link As...")

Hold the Onions!

Minced onions force emergency landing....

Link

Random Pics

In looking for pictures of Dido (Mia says, "See Dido"), we ran across these:

HAHAHA!!

What happens when your glass baking dish shatters in the oven. Birthday breakfast. Ooops!

It's the "Eye of the Dido" - they could make a song about that!!

It's a little spooky seeing your name on a headstone. Danny was my Dad's twin brother - he had hydrocephalus, I believe, and lived only about 6 weeks. Mom and Dad named me after Danny, and as Pop aged in years, "Oh Danny Boy" was one of his favorite songs, in remembrance of little Danny.

Just hangin' with Daddy

This is what we do on Saturday mornings when Mommy is out. We get on the computer, blog, and make videos. And watch basketball. And soccer.

Mia keeps saying "See Mia. See Mia." No, she's not self-conscious.

Buzzer Beater II

Oh yeah!

Buzzer Beater I

This may be one of many posts during March Madness. What a game (Overtime, nonetheless).

Sat. Morning with Mia

Mia Singing

The video speaks for itself...

Swanky Schnoz

Link

Apple + Reston = New Apple Store??

I thought I heard a commercial broker mention that an Apple Store might be moving into the Reston Town Center. I can't confirm, but that'd be SuhWEEET!!

How to cut 15 years off your mortgage...

...here's one way (although I can't vouch for their claims). Props to you, Tim.

Here's another way: refi and get a 15 year mortgage! Ah! It's not final, but it will be soon (I hope). We're halfway (kinda) there.

Doh!

They definitely didn't pass the driver's test. Link.

It never hurts to ask

I somehow missed my GapCard statement in the mail. So a late charge of $25 was tacked on. A simple call later - poof! It's off. Imagine all those people that don't call.

You've been Court'd

There's something to be said for having the State Constitution on your side. There's another thing to be said for having the backbone to stand up to: a) the General Assembly; b) the other 8 Northern Virginia jurisdictions; and c) all those who say this is the only way to fund transportation. Kudos to Del. Marshall and the Loudoun Board of Supervisors for believing that the Constitution is still relevant.

Okay, intro is done. The gist? The VA Supreme Court struck down a 2007 state law that gave a non-elected regional body taxing authority over Northern Virginia. In other words, we'd be taxed without having direct representation on the body. The link to the opinion is here (it's short, pretty easy to understand, and worth a read).

The dilemma is what to do now. Some say the General Assembly will work it out this year; others say it will be next year. "We'll do our best," someone said.

But the quote of the day comes from Congressman Jim Moran (D-Va), who really doesn't have a dog in the fight, except that more money for transportation helps his constituents (but this is primarily a local and state issue). Regardless, here's the quote:

"Under the separation of powers, the legislative branch makes the law, and the judiciary decides whether the executive branch is acting consistent with that law. The judiciary doesn't make its own law. Once the legislature acts -- that is the law -- and there was no question when they acted if this was truly constitutional. The Attorney General had reviewed it and recognized it as consistent with the constitution." (Link)

Does he even realize what he's saying??? I wonder what Mr. Moran would say if you asked him about Roe v. Wade.

Imagine*

Here's the video from last night's American Idol.



*According to the all-knowing Wikipedia, even John Lennon stated that "Imagine" was basically the Communist Manifesto in song. So, enjoy the music, don't subscribe to the lyrical philosophy.

Ewwww

Check it out: Link.

(HT: The Heart)

The Oscars

I actually watched the Oscars this year. I missed about half the opening monologue, but I thought Jon Stewart was really funny. The interim, random montages were hysterical.

I hadn't planned on watching the whole thing, but by the time they got to supporting actress/actor, I thought I'd stick around till the end. Daniel-Day Lewis' performance in "There Will Be Blood" was just amazing. In case you haven't seen it, check these clips out. They aren't spoilers, per se, but they do give a bit of info away, in case you plan to see it and don't want to know anything about the movie.

Wow

Did you see the "kid" on Idol tonight? David Archuletta? Man. Singing John Lennon. That was quite the stuff. I'm sure it will be on YouTube within the hour.

It's amazing...

...that women can laugh and cry (I mean BAWL) at the same time. While I'm up in the family room watching the Memphis Tigers lose to Tennessee, I hear Angela downstairs bust out laughing, sniff, and blow her nose at exactly the same time. And laugh again. Seriously. I guess that's what she gets for watching Steel Magnolias. (Not a bad flick, actually, but definitely an emotional roller-coaster.)

The best part was...

Besides the skiing and time with Ang and time away from the child and the beautiful scenery and the wonderful friends....Okay, so maybe not the best part....but one of the more fun parts of the trip was the "friendly" competition between all of the guys on the... Wii!!

One of the guys brought his Wii with three remotes, and although there were five of us, we worked out a pretty good system of competition. Home run hitting, golf target practice, power bowling, and tennis returns were just a few of the numerous games we played. It's amazing how responsible, career-oriented dads can instantly turn into 16-year-olds when a game console is brought into play.

I think I'll credit all that extra "exercise" for helping me not get sore from all the skiing. Yeah, that was it.

The South will rise again!

Okay, so maybe not in that way. But thankfully we were spared 1/2 an inch of ice yesterday when a slight southerly wind: 1) warmed our air just past freezing, and 2) pushed the majority of the precip north. What was forecasted to be a nasty day turned out to be cold and damp. Whew!

And Baby Makes Four

Many of you probably already know, but for those not in our immediate family or living close by, we have another little one on the way, due August 10th. =) That makes me (Ang) 15 weeks along and our little baby about 4 inches long and 2 1/2 ounces. (See apple for comparative size. :-D)



We're really excited, and Amelia is too, though she still isn't completely aware of what's going on. I often remind her that she will soon be a big sister (or already is, in a manner of speaking) and that the baby is growing in mommy's tummy. In response, she usually points to her tummy and says "Mia's tum?" and I say, "No, sweetheart, the baby is in MOMMY's tummy!" I'm afraid there's no explaining "womb" to a 21-month old!

Back home

It was great to all be back home. With a long-weekend looming ahead of us, we planned on a short "adventure" for Saturday morning. Since I had enjoyed climbing up Sugarloaf "Mountain," we all went for a trek.

At first, Amelia balked at walking and had us carry her. Then she wanted to walk over EVERYTHING: leaves, sticks, rocks. We tried to teach her to say "climb rocks."

The view from the top is really amazing - it looks over the Potomac Valley back into Virginia. Although it was a bit chilly, it was a great trip!

The point of the trip

Here are photos from our trip. Regrettably, we left our digital camera, so these are from a disposable via Walgreens. I skied with friends for three days, while Angela just enjoyed a relaxing time without deadlines, a child to watch, or the responsibility of cooking.

How we made it to NM (and back!)

View Larger Map

Zoom in for details. =)

So who has to go uphill??

"The schools are literally not on a level playing field," he said.

Is he trying to say that they need to regrade the fields? Is he trying to say that one team uses gravity to their advantage?

It's funny how we as a society have decided to use "literally" as an emphasis instead of as a description of a literal event. Sigh....

Link (in case you care)

Yeah, it was THAT nice!

Speaking of Skiing

I think I'm getting excited.

I love my genes!

I can't sing. I can't play piano by ear or sight. And I don't have a blessed creative gene in my body. But boy do I have a sense of direction. And memory. And general feel for which way I should be going. As Tim Allen in "Home Improvement" put it, we (as men) have "iron fillings" in our noses that turn us the right way.

Well maybe all men don't, but I sure have my Dad's genes. He, being a pilot (formerly, for the most part), always knew which way to go. Where to turn. And where we were. At all times (at least it seemed).

So yesterday, when I decided to go hike a mountain (see previous post), I just left. No directions, no preparation. I did cheat and glanced briefly at a map, although I was simply confirming what I already knew. Didn't know what road to turn on, but that's where the memory took action.

Probably 4-5 years ago, we went hiking on Sugarloaf Mountain. [It's a large "mountain" formation in the middle of the Potomac River plains (or something like that). We can see it from our neighborhood, almost due north of where we live. It's a neat place for a visit.] I think we may have gone twice, but I remembered the road like I had driven it yesterday. Pretty crazy.

So as I was driving along and marveling at how I made it there without getting lost, I just had to be grateful for my genes that (almost always) keep me going in the right direction. Thanks Dad!!

Danny on a Diet

"If you turned sideways, we couldn't see you."
"If you jump in the air, the wind will blow you away."

These were (are) some of the typical comments I used to get about my....stature. Thin. Don't worry, that part hasn't changed. I'm a balmy 6'1", 160lbs.

But for some reason, my blood pressure is high. Like upper 140s/upper 80s. Sometimes in the 150/90 range. Yeah, not good. And not normal for a young, thin, relatively healthy guy.

So I have to start watching what I eat. Mainly salt/sodium (is that redundant?). No more big ham/turkey/bacon sandwiches and fries. Fewer Cheez-Its. (Big Bummer!) More oatmeal, dried fruit, and blandish chicken. Thankfully, it's going pretty well. I did eat at Bob Evans the other night, which probably consisted of my entire day's worth of salt in three bites of Country Fried Steak (mmmmmm), but I downed tons of water.

What this means is that I check the nutritional value before going places - like Chick-Fil-A or even Dunkin' Donuts.

Oh, and I need to exercise more. So yesterday (again, the fam out of town), I did the following:
-- Went for a run (totally out of shape, sucking wind after 2 minutes, and barely made it 10)
-- Hit a bucket of balls at the driving range (I LOVE my new hybrid)
-- Went to the mall (walking)
-- Hiked up a mountain (sucking wind again)
-- Hiked down
-- Walked along the C&O Canal/Potomac River (tired legs, didn't suck too much wind)
-- Went shopping at the L'Burg Outlets (tired legs)
-- Watched a movie while eating health food and pomegranate juice (not tiring at all!)

This week we go skiing. I have lift tickets for three days. My legs might fall off just thinking about it.

There Will Be Blood

Ang and Mia are out of town, so I took the opportunity to go see a movie I figured Ang wouldn't care to see. I ventured out to the epic "There Will Be Blood."

It was gripping, excruciating, heart-wrenching, insightful. I think I've been trained to appreciate a movie that is so normal: define the good guys and bad guys, have them duke it out, and someone wins (see "Transformers" or even the "Bourne" movies). Those are great in their own right, but that type of "plot" is almost too simplistic.

"There Will Be Blood" has the same rivalries; it has heart-break and humor. There are relationships that get torn apart and brought together. But there's no real end. I've noticed that in more movies these days, the end often leaves you...hanging. Or maybe, we (as shallow, pleasure-seeking Americans) have been led to believe that a "good" movie must have lots of action; things must happen. "There Will Be Blood" definitely brings closure to many storylines, so there is certainly a feeling that the movie has ended. But with the final scene torn from my eyes, I sat there thinking, "Hmmmm...that was it??"

The movie is probably the most popular among critics, FWIW. See: NYTimes and WashPost.

It's relatively clean, just a minor amount of violence, so it's worthy of a watch. It's long (almost 2hrs 40mins), and sometimes I kept wondering when something would actually happen. But there is no question that the cinematography and acting were quite incredible. Watch it each scene at a time; enjoy the amazing work. Just don't expect that climactic fight scene or battle for control of the world - that's what "Lord of the Rings" is for.

Things you learn from Dilbert

Troglodyte (n): A cave dweller.

http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20080131.html

From the girls

I love voicemails during the workday.


[Edit: D'OH! Blogger doesn't take WAV files. I'll post it tonight.]

This looks like fun!

How come...

...none of the elevators in our building have a special trap door out the ceiling? Like in all of the spy/action/thriller movies.

What if I get stuck? What if Speed 4 shoots a scene in our building? What if I get chased by aliens and need to pretend I'm going to the 4th floor but instead hop on top of the elevator, grab a wire, slide down to the 2nd floor, and sneak my way into the file room??

*sigh* I guess I'll just have to be captured by aliens.

Didn't see this coming...

Look at the low and the high - and then look at the chart. Wow.

DJIA for 1/23/08

Unintended Consequences

This is quite funny (I'd thank "Nick" for the link, but I don't even know who he is - I'm sure someone can fill me in).

http://www.partizanlab.com/partizanlab/media/clips/244.mov

"I....U 2 !" -Mia

That is what she says. Really. But...regrettably, she's not equating her musical talents with the famous Irish rock band (that'd be a cool thing to teach her!).

It's much sweeter. Whenever we say "I love you" to her, she responds with an enthusiastic - "I..You..Toooooo!!"

Did you say, "Cold!" ?

Weather for Green Bay, WI

Check out Sunday, Jan 20th. They play at night.

D'oh!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/15/AR2008011502506.html

Fair-weather Policymaker

It's funny that the Republican idea of cutting taxes to spur economic growth is poo-poo'd by Democrats - until it's campaign season.

The byline of the article: "Democrats now say that deficits don't matter." Caution: Major economic language contained in this article. Please prepare your brain appropriately.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120035796472889887.html

Ron Paul's Isolationism

"Pacifism is only plausible under the cover of Leviathan."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120036562308490333.html

Overkill, maybe??

We have 5 computers - four laptops (one is work-owned) and a desktop. Three Macs, two PCs. The ratio is unfortunately getting a little too-close to being "PC-Friendly."

To that end, Apple has now enhanced my incentive to increase the ration to 2-1. Welcome, Macbook Air. We (as in the entire Mac community) have been waiting on this sub-notebook for at least 3-4 years. It's tiny. It's svelte. It's wireless. It's cutting-edge.

Of course, it's a Mac.  http://www.apple.com/macbookair

[ps - should I have included Mia's new little laptop in my count? It only has shapes, numbers, letters, and sounds. Oh, and a very basic LED screen. I guess I should categorize that as a PC - about all they're worth, right??]

Playing in a Snow Globe

That may be how some described the Packers/Seahawks game. This paragraph sums it up perfectly:

"After falling behind 14-0, the Packers scored touchdowns on their next six possessions. Favre was masterful. He converted six consecutive third downs with passes. Backed by a great running game and superior protection, Favre had a blast."

Favre and Donald Driver even exchanged snowballs during the game!

Recap

Low Blow, Take 2

Not quite as record-setting, but for a team ranked #6 to score only 36 points is unheard of. Link

7+2=3

Some things you forget about and then just stumble upon them: like that really good sandwich at an out-of-the-way deli, the perfect gift you forgot to write down and then remembered which made your wife so happy, and....the Georgetown basketball game.

Ok, so maybe not on the same level, but I jumped in the car to watch the Packers game at Mike's house, and on my radio I heard there were 36 seconds left in the GU/UConn game. GU had just come back from 6 down, tied it up, and made UConn miss its shot. GU took it down the court, and with the shot clock expiring and 4 seconds left in the game, Roy Hibbert, Center, 7' 2" tall, drained a perfect 3-pointer. SWEEEET! Starting out perfect in the Big East, and on for another big year.

[Link Added] In case you want to see: ESPN Clip Here

Oh, and about the Packers - OH YEAH!! What a game! I'm thinking I may "live blog" the Super Bowl. We'll see...

Low blow

Ouch:

George Washington holds Saint Louis to D-I low in points scored

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=280100045&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

Analyze...Whom?

It just so happened that the day my brother asks who we, as Republicans, would rather face in November, the WSJ provides some insight. Courtesy of free wsj.com:

"Experience or change? That's the question, and no longer just for voters. It's the riddle of the day for Republican Party leaders, who have no say in the matter but can't help thinking about which Democrat they'd prefer to face in a general election."

More at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120001233501182539.html

Analyze...Tuesday

My brother thinks that my involvement in government (albeit local) qualifies me to comment on elections. Or maybe it was the prestigious institution I attended. Regardless, I'd hate to let him down.

I had a great theory going on the Democrat side, but then realized neither he nor many of the readers of this blog would be voting Democrat, so that may be a pointless effort. Another time.

As for Republicans, I think it's clear to see that Huckabee will show strong where he has a strong base. He had very little presence in New Hampshire - placed a lot of grass-roots effort in Iowa - a place where you can get the midwest folks to show up and support you. As for NH, Huckabee's message really doesn't jive with a Northeast populace. If they want more government, they're probably voting Democrat. If they want a Republican, they don't mind if he's moderate, but they want him to be genuine, experienced, and balanced. McCain offers that, I think. It'd be hard for a Southern Baptist preacher to carry any New England state.

I'm a little curious myself about how proximity to Massachusetts affected the vote for/against Romney. The southeastern portion of NH went for Romney - which is the outer suburbs of Boston. But that proximity didn't translate through the rest of the state (perhaps they saw Romney in action and didn't want any part of it?).

Of note - the good isolationist Ron Paul pulled a whopping 8% - a respectable 5th for the Texan. Fred Thompson shouldn't have wasted his time - oh wait, did he even visit NH ?

What does this mean for Michigan, Nevada, South Carolina? Since the pollsters are wrong anyway, I'll take my shot:

Michigan - McCain, Romney, Huckabee (but will go D in the general election)
Nevada - McCain (proximity to AZ) big - at least 40% - the rest split between Romney, Huck, Thompson, Giuliani and Paul
South Carolina - Huckabee, Thompson, McCain, Romney [As for me, if I lived in SC, I'd vote Colbert!!]

Super Tuesday will definitely live up to its name!

They call this Science ???

[From a magazine we randomly received in the mail]

"Where did the moon come from? The Giant Impact Theory states that Earth, 4.5 billion years ago, was 50 million years old. At that time, Earth was impacted by a planetary body, whose mass was roughly the same as the mass of Mars. That collision caused the colliding body to be destroyed. Meanwhile, the upper layers of Earth's mantle were vaporized. In the process of vaporization, Earth ejected large amounts of debris into its own orbit, from which the moon was formed."

Wa-wa-WHHHAAAATTT??

So, the surface of the earth was vaporized so perfectly that we got the beautiful and miraculously harmonious earth we have today?

And the impact of the "colliding body" just so happened to tilt the earth at the perfect 23 1/2 degrees (can you believe I remembered that factoid!!) and in perfect orbit with the sun and rest of the planets?

And the "bits" of "debris" just happened to form the moon that is in perfect orbit with the earth?

Things just get wackier and wackier.

Videos from Christmas

Links to videos:

Driving down the highway

Playing with the Ball Pit

Opening Gift from Abby

Christmas Pics

For those of you not on Facebook, here's a link to our pictures from Christmas:

Christmas Pics

And another

The first paragraph is the best, but the entire article is pretty good.

"My new year's resolution is to get my two teenage sons back. They've been abducted--by the cult of Nintendo. I'm convinced that video games are Japan's stealth strategy to turn our kids' brains into silly putty as payback for dropping the big one on Hiroshima."

Link

More God, More Government

"But one wonders whether his newfound supporters would really say that if they took a close look at his policies. With increasing frequency, Mr. Huckabee invokes his faith when advocating greater government involvement in just about every aspect of American life. In doing so, Mr. Huckabee has actually answered the prayers of the religious left."

Link

DreamGirl

(YouTube was supposed to auto-post this for me, but they didn't. Bah!)

This is what I find when watching ESPN at 2:30 in the afternoon.

The Facebook Dilemma

Why I post this here and not on Facebook, I dunno. When filling out your profile, it asks for your "Hometown." Does that mean where you grew up? Where you live? Eh?

I guess it's a vestige of Facebook being primarily a college-student networking site - so it makes sense. But for those of us who joined up just because it was the cool thing to do, what to do?

You're welcome for wasting 2 minutes of your time reading this.

Did you live prosperously today?

On Joel Osteen's theology:

"It is, rather, a just-in-time economy's vision of salvation, an eerily collapsible spiritual narcissism that downgrades the divine image into the job description for a lifestyle concierge."

Read more .... http://www.slate.com/id/2180590/pagenum/all/#page_start

PLAYOFFS!!

The 'Skins have made the playoffs. Highly improbable 4 weeks ago. But it happened. Off to Seattle to take on the Seahawks, who managed to lose to the measly Falcons (HAHAHA!). One step at a time.

NFL Network

Tonight's simulcast of the NFL Network could utterly backfire on the NFL. Instead of opening the eyes of the football world and fans nationwide, and compelling them to demand this channel from their cable providers - I see an opposite result. As anyone who has watched a game on the NFL Network will tell you, the play-by-play is horrible. No, horrible is too nice. Think "fingernails-on-chalkboard" painful.

The simulcast will make the broadcast available nationwide - to hundreds of millions of more people than could have seen the game (and associated broadcast deficiencies). Those who have been thinking they'd like this thing called the NFL Network will get a preview - free. And they'll realize they'd probably never watch it again - and most definitely wouldn't pay good money to watch it. With NFL history on display, and a network that will underwhelm even a granny in Iowa, the NFL Network may have just doomed itself to failure.

Everyday Criminal

Long story short - tonight we had Christmas with Angela's Mom's side of the family - around 15-20 grandkids (of which we are included), a few great-grands, and all the aunts/uncles/cousins/etc.

We left early to get Mia to bed and realized we hadn't garnered the appropriate keys to enter Angela's folks' home. So, stuck in the driveway, 30 minutes away from the keys and 60 minutes late from Mia's bedtime, I took on the mindset of "I can't be stuck in this car for another 45 minutes."

Only two doors in their house don't have deadbolts - one leading to the garage, and one leading from the garage into the house. For all you wannabe house enterers out there, the Ann Taylor credit card does not (!) work to open doors. But, the Safeway frequent shopper/discount card works wonderfully. If only car doors opened so easily.

As an aside, Smokey the dog just looked on in quiet, cold confusion as to what I was doing. He won't tell anyone....

Christmas time is here

No, "Peanuts" doesn't mark the beginning of the Christmas season. Only one masterpiece can accomplish that: Handel's Messiah. I have put off listening to it for the last few weeks, and now with one week (plus a day) to go, it was time to break out the violins and harpsichord. Blissful baroque.

Power Lunch

Bowl of chili, cup of tuna salad (protein in a cup!), and a bottle of super-duper antioxidant drink which probably cost me $3.50. It tastes like I'm drinking a peach. Mmmmm.

Mia says: "Mitt! Mitt!"

No, she's not stumping for Romney. She's in love with her kitten mittens. And with her expanding love of the English language (and her amazing ability to vocalize said language), she walks around the house saying, "Mitt, mitt, meow-meow-meow!!"

Dog knows not her time...

This one hits a little closer to home. While I was away at college, my parents obtained a small dog. A poodle, in fact. Not a toy poodle, not a put-my-foot-hair-in-a-bow poodle, or anything like that. Just a sweet, small dog. [I say "obtained" because I don't remember the exact circumstance, but she was a gift from a family and my parents weren't exactly soliciting for a dog at the time.]

This dog, Charlotte, had many quirks. She would "sing" whenever music played. She would "SING" when you sang "Old Macdonald Had a Farm." She would lick your arm up and down until it was sticky and you had to take a bath. Actually, she'd lick you anywhere you had open skin.

Soon, she became my grandmother's companion. Mimi was living alone, and Charlotte provided that friendship, companionship, and sense of responsibility that everyone craves. Charlotte was faithful, always obedient, and for the last few years slept at Mimi's feet.

So this quick and incomplete eulogy is all to say - after the fam (including Charlotte) returned home from visiting us over Thanksgiving, Charlotte sadly passed away. She had developed a cough/choke while at our house, and a check-up at the vet revealed nothing serious. Unfortunately, it was. Whether it could have been prevented, we don't (and will never) know. But we will miss Charlotte, her wacky ways, and her sweet love.

Yo, peeps!!

I'm always learning. It's the "college of life" as my Dad would say.

Example: Pronounce the word - bonhomie. Seriously, right now - say it out loud - bonhomie.

I would have said, "bon-home-y." Yes, laugh out loud at me. Maybe it's just my ghetto self, but I seriously would have pronounced a hard "h" and a long "o" and "e." Instead, it's supposed to be pronounced like, "bahn-uh-mee." Like bigamy (only different).

Anyway, here's the real scoop: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bonhomie

Man knows not his time...

...in a purely selfish perspective, this stinks for the Redskins.

In a purely eternal perspective, let us hope his newfound maturity included a realization of his need for a renewing of the inner man.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/27/AR2007112700538.html?hpid=topnews

God's Perfect Timing

My parents, sister, and grandmother were planning to come visit for Thanksgiving and then called Tuesday to say the trip was off. As can be expected, we were definitely bummed. Then, we got a call on Wednesday, saying the trip was back on, and they'd be driving up on Thursday.

We decided to delay our Thanksgiving dinner until Friday so we could all enjoy it 1) fresh and 2) together.

Needless to say, when the power went out on Thursday at 2:30pm (right in the middle of when we would have been cooking), we were quite grateful that my family's trip was delayed a day and we were only planning on Progresso soup and cheese toast for dinner. The power was restored around 6ish, I believe.

I feel for those in our area who missed out on being able to complete their Thanksgiving meals, and I'm grateful that ours went without a hitch on Friday. Having our family in town was the greatest thing we could have asked for, and words can't describe how happy I was that my grandmother could travel with them and see our home, our neighborhood, and especially our little girl.

Amelia was enthralled with "Aunt Abby" as usual, and she would hear the door open and say "Pa" for Grandpa coming in from outside. At night, when I'm putting her to bed, she usually says "Mama Mama Mama" and I let her know that Mama loves her and says "Goodnight." Now, Amelia would say "Mama," then "Aaaa" (for Abby), "Pa" (for Grandpa), and then start back with "Mama." She wants to make sure that everyone still loves her. Don't worry, we do.

"We didn't start the fire..."

And hopefully it will burn on and on and on.

Our oven died. Yesterday, to be exact. We cooked some salmon on broil, and then I hit "bake" and "350." Timer dings, and rolls are mushy. No fire. Hmmmmm.... Broiler works, oven doesn't.

Quick google search indicates I likely have a bad "igniter." Call to the appliance place, pick up the last one, install it (after a few frustrating minutes, realized I could take the entire burner assembly off), and BOOOM (thanks, John Madden), it's a burnin'.

I had to splice a wire (wire doesn't seem to be the right word) - and only had plastic wire nuts. Hopefully it won't melt!

Just a little bit of fun...

...with "Photo Booth"

Did you know...

...that Godiva chocolates is owned by the Campbell Soup Co. ? I thought my last truffle tasted a bit...tomatoey....

Amelia and I trekked out to the mall one day last week, partly because I had some shopping to do but mostly because it was too cold and rainy to do our routine outdoor activities, and we both needed a change of scenery!

Our first stop? The mall's indoor PLAYGROUND! Because we got there a little early (15 minutes before all the stores opened) we were the first and only ones there, so for a few minutes, Amelia had the place to herself. I took advantage of the opportunity to get some pictures. =D


Amelia LOVES cars! She spent about 15 minutes crawling around, climbing up and down, and playing on this one.



You can't really see them in this picture, but there are three big slides on this "airplane." It's definitely a favorite!

Amelia attempts to climb up one of the airplane slides -- it's no small feat in socks!


~posted by Ang

Just a few laughs

Hopes this doesn't violate any copyright laws....

Our Little Bumblebee

Our church does a "Trunk or Treat" every year on Halloween --a sort of fall festival for families. Though we don't celebrate Halloween, we enjoy participating in the Trunk or Treat and, this year, dressing Amelia up as a little bumblebee. :-) She had such a fun time (mostly because she was outside where she could really spot the airplanes!). This year there were circus swings, which Mia was very excited about! The swing looked a little big for her, but she rode in it like a champ and loved it!

The "10-Second Rule"

I think the 10-second rule should be extended to 15 seconds for a piece of fruit. Surely something in fruit is so healthy as to counteract any dirt on the ground.

And definitely it should be 30 seconds for chocolate. Very few things can keep chocolate from being good for you.

I like...

popcorn and Counting Crows, especially on a rainy day when I'm reviewing lots and lots of documents.

The long 'waited pics

Here they are. Sorry, but some you'll have to rotate on your own. =) Obviously, not all of these are from the beach, but I think you'll enjoy them just the same. And yes, she's getting cuter every day (and very polite - her "Thank you" is almost flawless!).

Daily Pic - 10-23-07

Wanna trade Lunchables??

Today I feel like an 8-year-old. My lunch consisted of: pizza, applesauce, and pop-tarts. The only thing that's changed is I'm drinking coffee....

[and yes, impatient little sister, I will post pictures. Soon....Maybe...]

Shirts vs Skins

JC in KC asked for a report on the (used-to-be) red hot Redskins.

1) This request coming from KC where LJ couldn't spell first down before this week. Nonetheless...

2) I'm impressed with Jason Campbell, and I think he will lead this team for a number of years.

3) Defense seems to have stepped up back to their 2005 form. Solid.

4) Turnovers killed us this week - end score could have been a lot worse (Crosby hit the upright from ~30 yards? Yikes!)

5) Playcalling is still questionable - who's really making the calls? Gibbs (Mr. I'm-stuck-in-1992) ? Or Saunders (Mr. I paired down my playbook from 750 pages to 50 manageble pages - oh, and I'm a genius, too). Local sports radio junkies are wondering why they signal to Campbell from the sidelines instead of using the radio direct from Saunders. Hmmmm....

6) 3-2 isn't bad for a team that was 5-11 last year. But we still have to play the Cowboys twice, and at New England.

I predict the Skins will go 6-5 the rest of the season, for a 9-7 record. Should be enough to get into the playoffs, with a first round victory over Carolina, and a second-round loss to Green Bay (just for Mike's sake, I think Green Bay makes the Super Bowl and gets bowled-over by New England, 38-17).

Big Shout

My car battery died on Tuesday. (sounds of sympathy from the peanut gallery)

No big deal, thought Mr. Self-Sufficient. I'll save a few bucks, buy the battery from Costco, and replace it myself. Besides, my faithful dad had given me clear and helpful instructions to protect me from zapping myself.

Negative wires - off. Yes, half-way there!

Positive wires - twist, turn, yank, pull, douse with WD-40, cover with Dr. Pepper, lather in Baking Soda, twist, pull, hammer, mangle the head of the bolt, mumble curses under my breath, give up.

Not to be deterred from victory, I come back the next night to try again. Another hour later, I'm still in the same spot. Although this time, I was so desperate that I cut the sheathing off the contacts, in hopes that it would help.

Then comes Saturday - we have friends from TN in town, and I ask the guy to help me out. We twist, turn, yank, pull. He has a dislocated shoulder, but that doesn't stop him from putting his might into it. Lo and behold, his dueling channel locks manage to yank the wires and the entire terminal out of the old battery. Meaning: the battery is free, but we still have to get the bolt out of the terminal.

Solution - sheer destruction. Hammer and flat-head screwdriver - chip away at the metal which has melted together and prevents any loosening of the bolt. Humans: 1, Vehicle: 0 !!

In goes new battery, crank 'er up, and better than new. Lesson learned? Let Auto Zone replace your battery for free.

Fast Food

Heard on the radio - when asked if he ever stopped at McDonald's or other fast-food, and what his thoughts were about it, Wolfgang Puck replied: "I'm never that hungry."

Unfortunately, some of us don't have the time (or patience) to be so discriminating in our choice of meals.

In the past month...

...ok, it's been over a month, so here's a rundown:

1) We took our yearly family vacation to Tybee Island (Savannah, GA) with the Davis family. Two years ago, there were no great-grandkids. Last year, there were three. This year: FIVE (thanks to the dynamic duo, Super Stephan and Mighty Marcus). As it happens with little ones around, it was sometimes more stressful than relaxing, but we enjoyed the water, the views, the walks, and the family. Mia traveled well, making the ~12 hour trip in one day, each way. Good for her!

2) We painted our living room, and partly up the stairwell to the third floor. Partly in that it's very tall and we didn't have time to finish. I have no motivation now - that's not good.

3) Work has definitely kicked back into gear, with Board meetings, more tasks, and lots of changes (and it's an election year, so the politicking is undeniable).

4) Mia has grown more and more - 2 inches, in fact, in the last 3 months. She's saying a number of words, signing a LOT of words, giving the sweetest smiles and kisses, and becoming much more independent. She loves the outside and takes Mommy on walks to the playground almost every day.

5) We're on a short vacation to Richmond. I have a conference tomorrow and Tuesday, and the girls decided to join me. We've done some exploring, retracing old steps, and now the little one is napping. We're sitting in a little corner alcove down the hall from our room, and thankfully there's free wireless internet (to keep up with Fantasy Football). Which leads to #...

6) ...the Redskins are 2-0 !!?? People questioned the signing of Jason Campbell when the 'Skins had two "viable" QBs. People questioned his ability, said he hadn't done all that well at Auburn throughout his career (although his last year was amazing) - I always thought he had potential. He's still learning the ropes, but he has poise, strength, and a HUGE arm. If you can overthrow Santana Moss 50 yards down field, you have a strong arm. Quite a change from our 35 year-old Brunell who couldn't hit 25 yards consistently.

So that's life in a nutshell. I'm sure pictures will be forthcoming, but in a few days.

S-C-R-A-B-B-L-E

Scrabble word of the day:



[It was worth 86 points!]

Summer Pics

It is HER car, after all....

It's never a good thing when you receive a call from an unknown area code and it's your wife on the phone saying, "Everything is ok, but...."

[5 minutes earlier]

Ang and Mia were enjoying a nice day on the town, doing some midday shopping. Ang put Mia in the car seat, and Mia had been such a wonderful shopper that when she asked for the "keese," Ang was more than happy to oblige.

[3 days earlier]

Mia was playing in the basement and found Ang's keys in her purse. She picked them up, found the new Pilot key, and started hitting buttons. Imagine her surprise when after a couple of button pushes, the horn honked. And again. And again. She really liked it.

[Back to 5 minutes earlier]

Mia quickly found that same button and excitedly pushed it. Twice. The horn honked (oh boy!). Oh no. It would have been fine, but Mom (Ang) was not in the car with Mia. Nor had Mom left any doors open. She was getting the stroller to put in the trunk (what do you call the back of an SUV?). Surely, it must have been another car. Oh no. It surely was our adorable little genius of a girl.

[Quick meteorological interlude]

After some sweltering days last week, it has cooled off nicely and today was overcast and 75ish. Thankfully.

[Back to "present"]

I jump in the car at work, call AAA, call the Sheriff's Office (AAA suggested it), and head down the road. I'm about 20 minutes away. AAA says it will be an hour (ugh!). Sheriff's Office says they don't carry slim-jims anymore, but in cases of emergency could break the window (hope this isn't an emergency).

Mia, now, is just having a blast. Playing, and happily strapped in her car seat. Ang tries to get her to press "the other button," which she does lightly, but not enough to open the doors.

Then, the fire truck shows up. Drives around, finally finds Ang, who incredulously asks, "Are you here for ME???" (As a matter of fact, yes.) And while they only had a minute or two to try to slim-jim the door open (so maybe they do carry them still), I drove up, clicked the clicker before I even got out of the car, and 30 seconds later the fire truck was gone, ambulance left, and deputy could go back to fighting crime.

And our sweet li'l Mia was just as happy as could be. Who needs OnStar - I am my own OnStar!!!

Barry Bonds

So my sis asked about my thoughts on Barry Bonds. Here's a quick rundown:

1) Did Barry use performance enhancing drugs? Yes
2) Did it help him hit more home runs? Yes
3) Does it negate the amazing feat? No
4) Is Bud Selig a doofball? Yes

Here's my thought. I think Bud realizes that baseball didn't do enough to prevent the use of performance enhancing drugs. Should they have? Maybe, maybe not. Surely the McGwire/Sosa home run race brought baseball back from the dead zone. And there was no condemnation of their efforts, or attempts to curb steroid use after their historic years.

So all in all, I think Bud feels a twinge of guilt. He realizes that he could have stepped up. He could have instituted better drug testing, made earlier attempts to set harsh fines for drug use (as he's done now). But instead, he sat on his laurels (is that the phrase??) and it's now turned into a huge controversy.

Asterisks. Speculation. Air of suspicion.

Thanks, Bud.

Mia's new toy ... er... safety device =)

Morning Time with Mia

The Great 1/2 Sandwich Scheme

I've realized why I like getting 1/2 a sandwich so much - because even
though you only pay for 1/2 a sandwich, you get an entire pickle
spear!! HAH! That's like getting TWICE the pickle for your money.

What a deal - it's like I'm fleecing the restaurateurs. Then again, I
forgot to eat my pickle today....

Waiting...waiting...not quite yet.

So, what random thoughts come to mind when you've been on hold with Delta for 70 minutes and 12 seconds...13...14...15.....??

1) Too bad I was on hold for 45 minutes the FIRST time I called, only to find out that I hadn't accomplished anything.

2) It takes at least two "supervisors" to fix some random problem that I created in their reservation system.

3) It's still worth the $120 I'm saving, plus getting my lovely wife and daughter home for Father's Day (they'll have been gone 2 weeks by then!!)

4) I have a hard time spelling the word privilege. I always want to spell it "privelege" (which is not correct - do not read this and say, "Well, Danny spelled it that way, it must be correct").

5) Sarah thinks I'm brilliant. I'll take it, whether she's just trying to get on my nerves or not. Then again, this is coming from the one who tried (unsuccessfully) to make cupcakes at 4am. I'll get back with you on this one....

6) It's hard to clean toilets without toilet bowl cleaner.

7) We're pushing 90 minutes here - this is almost getting absurd (I'll probably become a case study for issuing tickets).

8) I finally bought vertical blinds for our sliding glass door in our kitchen. But - it's really tall, and the tallest size ended up about 4 inches short - looks like a little boy (me, maybe?) whose slacks were just a bit too short and didn't fall to his shoes.

9) The Wall Street Journal is a great thing to have when you're eating out alone - keeps you from feeling quite so alone.

10) After 90 minutes - I got disconnected. Wow.

Wow.

Wow.


Addendum: After all that, they got the reservation details wrong!! AARRGGGHHH!!!!

Fitting right in

Today, the County Administrator introduced me as "The Rookie" to a new employee. It's fun being the new, young guy on board....

This mainly stems from the fact that now that I am a bureaucrat, I have joined the "BGA: The Other Tour." It's our golfer's group, and the County Administrator is the "Commissioner." I had the distinct privilege of playing my first ever BGA event the first weekend in June. It was a three-day golf adventure, and I learned that I have a lot to learn.

The first day was for fun, where I actually hit probably my best two shots of the weekend, and the next two days were almost pure agony (107 and 109, respectively). Regardless of my lack of good scores, I played relatively (read: relatively) well and had fun. I'm looking forward to working on that score.

Grateful

This is a bit late for Memorial Day, but the sentiment remains.

I've never watched "Deadliest Catch" before, but I flipped it on last night for a few minutes and marveled that someone would choose, much less enjoy, that job. Then I saw and ad for "Oil, Sweat, and Rigs" (or something) where these guys risk their lives working on oil rigs. I immediately thought of how grateful I am that I don't have to risk my life every day at my job.

And then I read through an article in Worldabout soldiers and their families from Ft. Hood, Texas. They've lost hundreds of men in the war and the strain is undeniable. My job is nothing compared to these men and women who risk their lives - not for fast cash like the crabbers in Alaska - but for the sake of our country. That is sacrifice, and these are the jobs we should be showcasing on primetime television.

I did WHAT??

Yesterday I got a laptop for my work computer. This way I can work at home, if needed, or possibly even telework, if it fits into my job description.

I was trying to customize for all of my settings, and decided I'd take it home to add some files from home that I might need. I plugged in my external HD, and as I've had to do before, went into "Disk Management" in order to assign a drive letter to the external drive. At the same time, I was talking on the phone with Ang and slightly distracted.

Slightly....distracted....

After I hit "OK" I had a bad feeling about what I had done. I had not, in fact, actually changed the letter of the external drive. No, I had changed the SYSTEM hard drive letter from C: to E: . Yes, the hard drive which my OS is loaded upon. Immediately the system began to run slowly, and still slightly distracted and a little flustered, I decided a restart would fix things.

Nope. Rebooting actually made it worse. Upon loading up, I could log-in, and then it would immediately log back out. And again. Even in "Safe Mode". Nothing worked.

I had it less than 12 hours and had toasted the operating system. Nice job, Senior Project Manager. Oh well, a quick trip to the IT dept. and it was brand new, once again.

Unbelievable

Hold on to your hats!!