Kate was the big winner in the "5 Things" contest for a trip to Seven Peaks. I took the day off work today and took her over there. We ended up staying 4 hours. My pass came gratis from Tom, Kate's came from the city library summer reading program. We got there just as the place opened, I took Kate over to the lazy river first, she took a round across the thing walking along holding the side.
A little bit later, Tom saw us and went and got us a double raft. We used the raft in the wave poll, the lazy river a couple of times, and we went down one big slide with it. The slide kind of scared Kate, and she didn't want to do any more slides after that.
Kate enjoyed the kiddie pool because she could wade around and slide down the slides, and still had the option of standing up out of the water. She also liked the wave pool when they finally decided to start the waves for the day. Her favorite ended up being the lazy river. She wasn't too sure at first, but at the end, we ended up going around a few more times before it was time to go.
We lost our raft at 2pm when we went to take a bathroom break. We came back and someone had fingered the thing. Having not actually paid for it, we went on our merry way... Kate ended up a little bit sunburned on her knees and face. I ended up a lot sunburned on the tops of my feet and a little up my legs.
If one of the younger girls go, I think I will pick up one of the park's free life preservers, and forgo a raft.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Memory "tag"
Here are the memory tag rules:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.Thanks!
My trail of destruction so far:
MommaPayne
Yames
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.Thanks!
My trail of destruction so far:
MommaPayne
Yames
Easily motivated, sometimes.
Kate is on target to finish out her 150 goal for the "5 things" contest, barring rain, we will head over to Seven Peaks in a couple of days. The other girls are far enough behind that I don't think Kate will let them catch up if they tried.
Tonight Emma was out of her room at 9:45. I asked her why she was out of bed, she didn't have a good excuse. Tara was at a meeting, I told Emma I would give her 10 sets of 5 if she was completely asleep by the time Tara got home. Emma thought about it for a second, then ran to her bed. When I went in to check on her a little bit later, she was out cold...
Tonight Emma was out of her room at 9:45. I asked her why she was out of bed, she didn't have a good excuse. Tara was at a meeting, I told Emma I would give her 10 sets of 5 if she was completely asleep by the time Tara got home. Emma thought about it for a second, then ran to her bed. When I went in to check on her a little bit later, she was out cold...
Dinner is my favorite meal of the day
Tonight we had Drew, Kaylyn, and crew over for dinner. Steve was also here. In the middle of Priesthood meeting this morning, a number of servers turned up down, by the time I got home, the number was up around 100...
I looked at the problem for a while, until it was clear that I had nothing else of value to add to the discussion with the network engineers, and had to wait for them to figure out what was going on. The only thing I could do was disable the notification in the monitoring that sends me text messages about servers.
Having a full head of steam and no where to relieve the pressure, I took a short nap. When I woke up from the nap, I decided that I wanted ravioli for dinner. I have no idea where that came from. Maybe I was dreaming about that restaurant Rob took Jess and I to.
I ended up making a pasta that was about a third whole wheat flour, and a pretty good meat filing for the ravioli. I guess I should have either done a little less wheat flour, or added some other flavor to the pasta, because the wheat taste overpowered the filling taste quite a bit. I had plenty of sauce, so I don't think it matter all that much, but next time maybe I will try some other flavor. Maybe "chicken wing ravioli".
I say next time as if it will be any time soon. Home made pasta takes a long time to make, at least compared to just pulling it out of the package already to go. I don't know how people that do it all the time find enough time in the day.
Anyway, I thought it was alright, especially when you take into consideration that it was labeled "Johnny's first ravioli." I discovered today that the past couple of trips to Costco failed to include the purchase of mass quantities of vegetables. I had to call Drew to get them to bring a couple of cans of green beans.
Drew also brought a fruit filled cake thing. It was good, but I worry about the sweetness factor, I had a small piece and had to leave it at that.
I looked at the problem for a while, until it was clear that I had nothing else of value to add to the discussion with the network engineers, and had to wait for them to figure out what was going on. The only thing I could do was disable the notification in the monitoring that sends me text messages about servers.
Having a full head of steam and no where to relieve the pressure, I took a short nap. When I woke up from the nap, I decided that I wanted ravioli for dinner. I have no idea where that came from. Maybe I was dreaming about that restaurant Rob took Jess and I to.
I ended up making a pasta that was about a third whole wheat flour, and a pretty good meat filing for the ravioli. I guess I should have either done a little less wheat flour, or added some other flavor to the pasta, because the wheat taste overpowered the filling taste quite a bit. I had plenty of sauce, so I don't think it matter all that much, but next time maybe I will try some other flavor. Maybe "chicken wing ravioli".
I say next time as if it will be any time soon. Home made pasta takes a long time to make, at least compared to just pulling it out of the package already to go. I don't know how people that do it all the time find enough time in the day.
Anyway, I thought it was alright, especially when you take into consideration that it was labeled "Johnny's first ravioli." I discovered today that the past couple of trips to Costco failed to include the purchase of mass quantities of vegetables. I had to call Drew to get them to bring a couple of cans of green beans.
Drew also brought a fruit filled cake thing. It was good, but I worry about the sweetness factor, I had a small piece and had to leave it at that.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
It was a Dark and Stormy night...
We had a fairly aggressive storm blow through tonight, we were up at Tara's parents house, the neighborhood up there was planning to light off mass quantities of fireworks. The storm blew in and drenched everything.
Well into the storm, one of the squatters from our backyard (AKA Missy) called to say a tree blew down in the back yard from the storm. She said it was raining so hard that she didn't know what kind of damage there was. Since we weren't going to have any fireworks popping off up there, we went home to check out the damage.
It looked pretty impressive, at least at first glance. Steve and I took the thing down and cut it up. At least from the sight of things in the dark of the night, it looks like the only real damage was to the gutter. We were pretty fortunate. I could have easily tore up the roof, tore siding off the house, or knocked down a power line. It looks like none of that happened, but I did step in a little something special from Missy's dog, the one thing I didn't want to happen with the dog visiting back there...
Well into the storm, one of the squatters from our backyard (AKA Missy) called to say a tree blew down in the back yard from the storm. She said it was raining so hard that she didn't know what kind of damage there was. Since we weren't going to have any fireworks popping off up there, we went home to check out the damage.
It looked pretty impressive, at least at first glance. Steve and I took the thing down and cut it up. At least from the sight of things in the dark of the night, it looks like the only real damage was to the gutter. We were pretty fortunate. I could have easily tore up the roof, tore siding off the house, or knocked down a power line. It looks like none of that happened, but I did step in a little something special from Missy's dog, the one thing I didn't want to happen with the dog visiting back there...
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Independent kids
Our kids are fairly independent. They like to make their own breakfast. I drew the line the other day when Emma was teaching Ruth to make toast on her own. I got in there before we ended up with a knife in the toaster or anything like that.
It can be pretty bad. Ruth wants to use the microwave on her own. Emma already uses the microwave on her own. Ruth is teaching herself to potty train. (This part isn't so bad, really.)
Hard to say how far this could go. We just kind of have to keep on eye on these kids.
They are good kids, at least...
It can be pretty bad. Ruth wants to use the microwave on her own. Emma already uses the microwave on her own. Ruth is teaching herself to potty train. (This part isn't so bad, really.)
Hard to say how far this could go. We just kind of have to keep on eye on these kids.
They are good kids, at least...
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
5 Things - The Seven Peaks contest
Tom donated 2 passes to Seven Peaks recently, I have just instituted a contest for the girls. For the next couple of days, they will be picking up 5 things at a time vieing for an opportunity to head over to Seven Peaks. The person who picks up the most in the next couple of days, and gets at least 150 sets of things picked up, will get to go over there on Tuesday.
They have all day tomorrow to clean, I will be home all day to supervise. When they start to slow down, I will throw in one of Tara's free personal pizza coupons she won the other day.
When they run out of things to pick up, I will suggest other things, like vacuuming, cleaning walls, dusting, that sort of thing. We will see how it goes.
They have all day tomorrow to clean, I will be home all day to supervise. When they start to slow down, I will throw in one of Tara's free personal pizza coupons she won the other day.
When they run out of things to pick up, I will suggest other things, like vacuuming, cleaning walls, dusting, that sort of thing. We will see how it goes.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Geek level
I had someone tell me last night that I was the least geeky tech guy he knew. This is a compliment, I guess, but I wonder how many tech guys he knows. (I almost said "I wonder if his sample size is too small", but I figured that would raise the geek level a little...)
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Baby blanket
We got a blanket in the mail for Adam from Coreen a few weeks ago. It is dinosaur themed. That is all I can think of to say about it at midnight...
Saturday, July 19, 2008
A purse for Lily
I finally got around to finishing Lily's purse. It seems to be just the right size for her.
Random picture of Adam
I heard some complaints that we hadn't posted any pictures of Adam lately, so here you go.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Sometimes you get the good genes, sometimes you get the bad...
Lily got stung by a wasp this morning on her finger, her finger swelled past the point of bending, her hand got all red, and she got hives on her hand and forearm.
It was the first time she had been stung, the doctor's office had us give her some Benedryl, and watch her. The medicine seems to have helped. I assume the next sting will be much worse, and will need a faster response. Looks like I passed something bad on.
It was the first time she had been stung, the doctor's office had us give her some Benedryl, and watch her. The medicine seems to have helped. I assume the next sting will be much worse, and will need a faster response. Looks like I passed something bad on.
Book Review
Big Brown: The Untold Story of UPS
Greg Niemann
Tara's brother used to work for UPS part-time, and they gave him benefits while he was working there. I thought this was a little odd at the time. One of the Bishops in the Stake is a driver for UPS, I talked to him about his job a couple of months ago for about a half hour. I had heard they had a new thing where the drivers were directed by their little GPS thing to never take left turns. (He still makes left turns where it makes more sense.)
UPS is a giant company, I didn't know they were started so early in the 20th century. The book talks about how the founder, Jim Casey got his start, and how they started expanding their business, one city at a time until they covered the entire country. It turns out that most of their management is promoted from within. It sounds like they take pretty good care of their employees.
This book has tons of information about the history of UPS that I had never heard before. They have a corporate culture of customer service that goes from top to bottom. They spend tons of money every year trying to innovate, like trying to reduce fuel costs, trying to speed delivery, that sort of thing. I also like how the author didn't try to sugar coat everything. It sounds like one of the problems UPS has had involves the stability of their retirement programs. They also had problems integrating their corporate culture as they branched out internationally.
It makes me wish the package coming tomorrow was UPS, but it's coming FedEx...
Greg Niemann
Tara's brother used to work for UPS part-time, and they gave him benefits while he was working there. I thought this was a little odd at the time. One of the Bishops in the Stake is a driver for UPS, I talked to him about his job a couple of months ago for about a half hour. I had heard they had a new thing where the drivers were directed by their little GPS thing to never take left turns. (He still makes left turns where it makes more sense.)
UPS is a giant company, I didn't know they were started so early in the 20th century. The book talks about how the founder, Jim Casey got his start, and how they started expanding their business, one city at a time until they covered the entire country. It turns out that most of their management is promoted from within. It sounds like they take pretty good care of their employees.
This book has tons of information about the history of UPS that I had never heard before. They have a corporate culture of customer service that goes from top to bottom. They spend tons of money every year trying to innovate, like trying to reduce fuel costs, trying to speed delivery, that sort of thing. I also like how the author didn't try to sugar coat everything. It sounds like one of the problems UPS has had involves the stability of their retirement programs. They also had problems integrating their corporate culture as they branched out internationally.
It makes me wish the package coming tomorrow was UPS, but it's coming FedEx...
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Now it can use all it's strength growing larger...
We sent the girls out back to play this morning, they were running through the house making noise, the cable installer guy was trying to get the TV service reassociated again, and Tara had a head ache. After the cable guy left, I looked out the window, and Lily had a couple of apricots in her hands. It turned out that she stripped the tree bare. (There were only 5 apricots on the tree, but it was a sure sign of progress for that little tree.) She had taken bites out of 3 of them, and all 5 of them were in a little dirt hole by the edge of the wall. Ruth told me there were building a nest, I guess she thought they looked like eggs. Hopefully in a couple of year the tree will be nice and tall, and we won't lose all the fruit to varmints...
Luggage scale
I always thought some sort of gadget that you could hook to your luggage and pick it up to weigh what you have got in there would have been a good invention. Like all good inventions, someone else thought off it also. You can pick it from from ThinkGeek at: http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/travelpower/aa38/
I'll file it away with my idea for the solar powered flashlight...
I'll file it away with my idea for the solar powered flashlight...
Friday, July 11, 2008
Washing machine
For the last couple of months, our washing machine will usually run through the wash cycle and then stop without draining, like it does when the lid is left open. Sometimes this is fixed by opening and closing the lid. When that doesn't work, I try opening and dropping the lid. Sometimes that doesn't even work. Sticking a pencil in the little slot to simulate the closed lid doesn't always lock. This evening was one of those times when dropping the lid several times didn't help any, I eventually put the lid down, and pressed down gently on the lid near the spot where the slot is. The washer started right up. I've done this 3 times tonight, I am 3 for 3 so far.
Sometimes it is the simplest of answers. It is probably a good thing, since we can't really afford one of those high capacity HE washer and dryer sets they have out now, although with the amount of laundry we do around here, it might pay for itself in a year's time...
Sometimes it is the simplest of answers. It is probably a good thing, since we can't really afford one of those high capacity HE washer and dryer sets they have out now, although with the amount of laundry we do around here, it might pay for itself in a year's time...
Patching is painful
We make ourselves patch our Unix and Linux servers twice a year. Otherwise it just wouldn't happen. It seems to take a long time to get ready to for patching, gathering what needs to be applied, downloading the patches, testing things, doing the patching. Last night I patched the stage servers. Every time we patch and reboot, we seem to find some server that has a problem booting up. Last night, with about 16 stage servers, I had one that developed a fan problem and keeps shutting down, one that took over an hour to boot up because of memory errors, and one that simply would not boot at all.
I was on the phone with HP for quite a while last night, the offline diagnostics were not conclusive about the reason for crashing, they decided to send down a field engineer. This usually takes at least 2 hours for them to get down there, so I went in to try to get the server running. I eventually isolated the problem, and got the server booted up. I sent the online diagnostics to HP, about an hour later they figured out that the system needed a backplane replacement. This is a really big machine, a backplane replacement is a 2 hour minimum task. (It's currently scheduled for Sunday morning since I got the box running.)
None of that would have happened had I not patched. Hopefully all the problems for this patch cycle are taken care of now, and we won't have any problems when we go to patch production on the 21th...
I was on the phone with HP for quite a while last night, the offline diagnostics were not conclusive about the reason for crashing, they decided to send down a field engineer. This usually takes at least 2 hours for them to get down there, so I went in to try to get the server running. I eventually isolated the problem, and got the server booted up. I sent the online diagnostics to HP, about an hour later they figured out that the system needed a backplane replacement. This is a really big machine, a backplane replacement is a 2 hour minimum task. (It's currently scheduled for Sunday morning since I got the box running.)
None of that would have happened had I not patched. Hopefully all the problems for this patch cycle are taken care of now, and we won't have any problems when we go to patch production on the 21th...
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Restaurant Review
Tonight Tara wanted to go to dinner and some thing at the library. I was really hungry, and agreed to go, although I wasn't too sure about the library thing, I figured at worst, I could bring a book and read it.
We went to La Carreta, which is a local Peruvian restaurant here in town. They used to be in this little hole in the wall, a couple of years ago they built a new bigger place closer to the mall. We hadn't been since they built the new place. The new place is really nice.
The food there is still good, wee both had the plate that's a thin steak, rice, fries, a fried egg, and a fried plantain. I gave my banana to Tara, she gave me her fries. I think she regretted giving me the fries just as I was finishing them up, she got a taste and liked it. I have to say that my food (Item #22 on the menu) was quite good, and after missing lunch, the dinner filled me up.
We went to the library, walked in a few minutes late, and were the only people that had showed up. The 4 librarians that had prepared some book reviews looked excited to have us there and barreled into their presentations. 2 other people showed up about 10 minutes later. I have to say, I don't think I will be reading any of the books they recommended. I took the time during their presentations to act attentive while feeding Adam. I have to say, I think I pulled the act off.
The library had planned to give away book to select attendees, but since there were only 4 of us, we were all selected. There was maybe one book I might consider reading, but not necessarily, so I let Tara pick two books.
Go check out La Carreta. The food was good, the employees were friendly.
We went to La Carreta, which is a local Peruvian restaurant here in town. They used to be in this little hole in the wall, a couple of years ago they built a new bigger place closer to the mall. We hadn't been since they built the new place. The new place is really nice.
The food there is still good, wee both had the plate that's a thin steak, rice, fries, a fried egg, and a fried plantain. I gave my banana to Tara, she gave me her fries. I think she regretted giving me the fries just as I was finishing them up, she got a taste and liked it. I have to say that my food (Item #22 on the menu) was quite good, and after missing lunch, the dinner filled me up.
We went to the library, walked in a few minutes late, and were the only people that had showed up. The 4 librarians that had prepared some book reviews looked excited to have us there and barreled into their presentations. 2 other people showed up about 10 minutes later. I have to say, I don't think I will be reading any of the books they recommended. I took the time during their presentations to act attentive while feeding Adam. I have to say, I think I pulled the act off.
The library had planned to give away book to select attendees, but since there were only 4 of us, we were all selected. There was maybe one book I might consider reading, but not necessarily, so I let Tara pick two books.
Go check out La Carreta. The food was good, the employees were friendly.
Wii Decathalon
Tonight I took back the 3 of the 4 first place entries I was missing in the decathlon by setting world record times in the single sculls, 110m hurdles, and javelin throw. This gives me a nearly a perfect score. I just have the 4x100 meter race to work on. Tara believes I should be disqualified in the competition, that I somehow have an artificial advantage over my competitors.
We'll see what happens when the drug tests come back. I need to start recruiting people to come over and play again, we only have about 5 or 6 weeks left in the competition, still plenty of time to play.
We'll see what happens when the drug tests come back. I need to start recruiting people to come over and play again, we only have about 5 or 6 weeks left in the competition, still plenty of time to play.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Puzzles
Ruth wouldn't go to bed this evening, Tara brought her out to do some puzzles on the hope that Emma would go to sleep. (This didn't work, by the way...) After a few puzzles, I got out a 500 piece puzzle we hadn't done yet thinking maybe Ruth would get bored.
Ruth helped for a little while, then went back to her puzzles. Kate showed up, and helped out until she got tired. After 4 or 5 hours, I finally finished, and found I was missing a piece. I think one of the helpers walked off with one. That's not so bad, but on a puzzle like this, the last hour is a colorblind sieve of Eratosthenes, while I try to figure out where all the blue pieces are supposed to go. It wasn't as bad on this puzzle as it is on some of the ones I have done.
Ruth helped for a little while, then went back to her puzzles. Kate showed up, and helped out until she got tired. After 4 or 5 hours, I finally finished, and found I was missing a piece. I think one of the helpers walked off with one. That's not so bad, but on a puzzle like this, the last hour is a colorblind sieve of Eratosthenes, while I try to figure out where all the blue pieces are supposed to go. It wasn't as bad on this puzzle as it is on some of the ones I have done.
Lilly
When Lily was born, Tara asked that we plant some lillies. We got them this year and planted them in the front of the house. A couple of weeks ago, I nicked one of them with the weed whip. I stuck it in a vase of water, and it finally bloomed today.
We have a bunch of them in front of the house, they should be out in full force fairly sonn. Tara thinks they will eventually take over the entire front area.
We have a bunch of them in front of the house, they should be out in full force fairly sonn. Tara thinks they will eventually take over the entire front area.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Friday, July 04, 2008
July 4th Festivities
I woke up at 6 this morning to get up to go see the balloon festival with the girls, but the load of clothes I had in the dryer was not quite done, so I restarted the dryer and went back to bed. When I woke up at 8am, it was time to get ready to go to the parade.
It's been a few years since we went to the parade, it is always hot out for the parade, and the thing gets really crowded. Tara was tired, I ended up taking Ruth, Emma, Mary, and Kate over there, the Stake President had saved us a space.
We were going to drive over, but I was thwarted by the footrace that always blocks off our side of town. (I used to try to get doughnuts from the store on July 4th, but always got stuck because of the race.) We ended up turning around and walking to the parade. (It was only a mile.)
The girls liked the parade ok, Mary had a princess float she really liked, Emma really liked the horses, and Ruth went nuts when the giant Curious George balloon went by.
We could have gone to the little festival they have downtown, but everyone was tired. We will have to see if the balloons and festival makes it in our plans for tomorrow.
In the afternoon, I drove the truck over to my office. My office has a large parking lot that is an "anytime" lot, and has a portion with an unrestricted view of the stadium where the fireworks are at. (We usually go to the church up from us, but thought we would try this on for a change.) I parked the truck in the best spot of the lot, there was a spot right next to it that had a tree in the way of it's view. I parked poorly in the hopes that no one would park there and we would be able to drive right up to the truck at night.
When we got there tonight, the spot next to the truck was empty. I just had to straighten the truck out to get the van into the spot. The girls sat in the back of the truck to watch the fireworks. It turned out to be a fantastic view of the fireworks. We were a quarter mile or less away from where they were lighting them off, and they looked huge. Tara figures they are the same size as always, we are just lots closer to them there. We've been that close before, but it was an obstructed view over at the TGI Fridays, you can't see all the fireworks. From where we were, you could see them all. I wanted to take a picture, but forgot the camera, the camera on my cell phone really didn't do it justice. The girls seemed to enjoy themselves. As expected, Ruth thought they were too loud, I put her in the cab of the truck, and she had a good old time.
When they finish our new building, the fantastic view of the fireworks might turn into a spectacular view. We will have to see.
Afterwards, Tara got stuck in traffic coming home. Really stuck. It may not have been worth it to her.
It's been a few years since we went to the parade, it is always hot out for the parade, and the thing gets really crowded. Tara was tired, I ended up taking Ruth, Emma, Mary, and Kate over there, the Stake President had saved us a space.
We were going to drive over, but I was thwarted by the footrace that always blocks off our side of town. (I used to try to get doughnuts from the store on July 4th, but always got stuck because of the race.) We ended up turning around and walking to the parade. (It was only a mile.)
The girls liked the parade ok, Mary had a princess float she really liked, Emma really liked the horses, and Ruth went nuts when the giant Curious George balloon went by.
We could have gone to the little festival they have downtown, but everyone was tired. We will have to see if the balloons and festival makes it in our plans for tomorrow.
In the afternoon, I drove the truck over to my office. My office has a large parking lot that is an "anytime" lot, and has a portion with an unrestricted view of the stadium where the fireworks are at. (We usually go to the church up from us, but thought we would try this on for a change.) I parked the truck in the best spot of the lot, there was a spot right next to it that had a tree in the way of it's view. I parked poorly in the hopes that no one would park there and we would be able to drive right up to the truck at night.
When we got there tonight, the spot next to the truck was empty. I just had to straighten the truck out to get the van into the spot. The girls sat in the back of the truck to watch the fireworks. It turned out to be a fantastic view of the fireworks. We were a quarter mile or less away from where they were lighting them off, and they looked huge. Tara figures they are the same size as always, we are just lots closer to them there. We've been that close before, but it was an obstructed view over at the TGI Fridays, you can't see all the fireworks. From where we were, you could see them all. I wanted to take a picture, but forgot the camera, the camera on my cell phone really didn't do it justice. The girls seemed to enjoy themselves. As expected, Ruth thought they were too loud, I put her in the cab of the truck, and she had a good old time.
When they finish our new building, the fantastic view of the fireworks might turn into a spectacular view. We will have to see.
Afterwards, Tara got stuck in traffic coming home. Really stuck. It may not have been worth it to her.
Wet shoes
My sneakers are soaking wet right now, this afternoon Lily was pouring milk from her bottle into each of the shoes. I washed them in the washing machine, but we didn't think it was such a good idea to dry them in the dryer, so they are currently air drying. I'm not sure what Lily was thinking...
Garden Swing
A couple of days ago, we ordered this garden swing from Sears. It was nearly $200 off. It came in today, I put it up. (Thanks to Tom, who showed up at just the right time to help me carry the box to the back yard.
The swing is over where the old stump used to be on the West side of the yard. It's nice. I know the grass needs water, I am getting around to it...
The swing is over where the old stump used to be on the West side of the yard. It's nice. I know the grass needs water, I am getting around to it...
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Restaurant Review
Last night, Tara and I went to a ballgame with Kirk and Midge, before the game we went to McGrath's Fish House for dinner. Tara got the sampler plate, I got fish tacos.
I thought the fish in the tacos would come out crispy, but it turned out that they baked it in a ton of butter. On top of the fish, they had coleslaw with something else in it. (It may just have been fancy pants coleslaw.) The taco ended up being very buttery and a little bit hard to eat. I don't recommend them. Tara's favorite on the sampler platter was the crab cakes.
I've been to this restaurant before, I have had several different fishes, they were good, but just wasn't impressed with the fish tacos. Back in the day, I used to enjoy the Marionberry pie there, but I couldn't talk Tara into it last night...
I thought the fish in the tacos would come out crispy, but it turned out that they baked it in a ton of butter. On top of the fish, they had coleslaw with something else in it. (It may just have been fancy pants coleslaw.) The taco ended up being very buttery and a little bit hard to eat. I don't recommend them. Tara's favorite on the sampler platter was the crab cakes.
I've been to this restaurant before, I have had several different fishes, they were good, but just wasn't impressed with the fish tacos. Back in the day, I used to enjoy the Marionberry pie there, but I couldn't talk Tara into it last night...
Fireworks
Fireworks are banned in our neighborhood, we are too close to the mountains and it makes the city nervous. We really haven't had a big fire on the mountains near us since the city has banned fireworks over here, so maybe it is working out ok...
Anyway, tonight the kids that live behind us were shooting off fireworks, and one or two of them shot into our yard. I was out there when one came over, the girls back there were saying "Where did it go? Where did it go?", at least until I picked the cartridge up and tossed it back over the fence. It got quiet after that for a few minutes.
After they started firing things off again, I turned the sprinklers on, and turned it up so just a little bit of water would go over the fence. This seems to have gotten the desired response, after a minute or two, a girl poked her head over the fence, saw me standing there, and ducked back down. We didn't hear any more fireworks after that...
Anyway, tonight the kids that live behind us were shooting off fireworks, and one or two of them shot into our yard. I was out there when one came over, the girls back there were saying "Where did it go? Where did it go?", at least until I picked the cartridge up and tossed it back over the fence. It got quiet after that for a few minutes.
After they started firing things off again, I turned the sprinklers on, and turned it up so just a little bit of water would go over the fence. This seems to have gotten the desired response, after a minute or two, a girl poked her head over the fence, saw me standing there, and ducked back down. We didn't hear any more fireworks after that...
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Practicing her alphabet
It looks like Emma ran out of paper this evening. Tara found that she had practiced her letters on her leg, then autographed the work. I think this is especially good work when you consider that it goes quite far up her leg, and she was clearly writing sideways for at least part of the job.
(We waited for her to be asleep, like always, before taking the picture to avoid encouraging her...)
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