Sucking Wind

Colleen and I joined 24 Hour Fitness in Tualatin, near work. I went this morning for a 5:30 organized workout class. 30 minutes on a resistance bike with a dozen other people (and a leader), then 30 minutes doing some aerobic weight lifting with the same group. I can't believe how bad I was on the bike. My endurance is for shit. My strength is good though. Carting around Grady and Liam has helped me keep that going.

I've never been a gym person, but I'm really excited about it. I definitely need it. My metabolism has slowed and if I want to keep eating the way that makes me happy, I need to increase my excercise. And, my body has always responded really well to weight training, so I'm looking forward to seeing results within a couple of months.

The facility is really nice -- the clientele is young, the instructors are quality, the equipment is new, and the classes are included in the low monthly fee (and are offered frequently throughout the day, from 5:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.). The amenities, as listed on their web site:

Basketball Court, Group Cycling, Group X, Kids' Club, Pool, Pro Shop, Sauna, Steam Room, Tanning, Whirlpool.

The Kids' Club is awesome. Huge padded room with climbing structures, kid-height basketball hoops, video games and tons of kid-friendly toys. Grady and Liam are going to be pushing us to go to the gym often just so they can be in the Kids' Club. Any motivation to get me there is good.

Besides the great facility, their membership options were very flexible. There is no lock-in membership, just month-to-month (unless you want to pre-pay and save some money), and we got our monthly dues down to $22/each because we selected a plan that limits us to using the gym on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Perfect for our schedule.

Test Your Trivia

The New York Times has a particularly good quiz about the events in 2004. Good mix of levity and seriousness. 27 questions. I got 17 right. I was confident about 20 of them. Bummer.

Take it, and let me know how you did.

Despair & Relief

I've purposefully not written about the earthquake/tsunami because, frankly, I didn't know what to say. But, yesterday I learned a friend of mine here at work has not heard from his best friends (who are Godparents to one of his children) who were vacationing in Thailand. It had been 3 days yesterday. And, we watched the Charles Gibson special last night and it finally hit me like a ton of bricks.

We got into work today and our president had sent an e-mail out with some inspirational words and links to charitable organizations. She and the co-founder will donate their entire profit share checks to these relief efforts, and will match every employee's donation $ for $. Colleen and I sprung into action, and to UNICEF we made a very substantial donation. Let's just say it probably eclipsed what we spent as a family for Christmas. And, knowing it would be doubled by our wonderful bosses made it that much sweeter.

The power of the Web really hits home when you realize families are being reunited through blogs, missing persons identified through online bulletin boards, and the fact that it's so easy to donate to charities via their respective web sites. Amazon.com is doing a great thing in putting a direct, one-click donation button on their front page for the American Red Cross.

And, remember, all donations are tax deductible. So, save your confirmation e-mails and factor it into your itemized deductions for 2004.

The organizations to which our president and co-founder are matching our donations. I encourage you to check them all out and decide what strikes you as most worthy.

Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontiéres)

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

Mercy Corps

Sarvodaya

Save the Children

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

United Nations World Food Program

Tivo!

I have been lobbying to get Tivo in our house for the better part of a year, but Colleen has steadfastly been against it, claiming we'd watch more T.V. than we already do. I enlisted the help of friends, Erika, Colleen, Jon and Kristen to let her know that, no, you actually watch LESS television. Anyway, I had given up hope because she never believed our friends, but, come Christmas morning, there was a brand new Tivo under the tree! Yee-ha.

I've been having lots of fun with it, and today went to get a wireless USB adapter so Tivo would be hooked in to my Linksys wireless network. The guy at CircuitCity told me the Netgear USB wireless adapter, which was $20 cheaper than the Linksys model, would work with Tivo and my Linksys wireless router. Of course, he was wrong. So, I returned it for the Linksys brand adapter, and it worked like a charm. I love when technology is so smart that it requires no manual tweaks to get it working. Now when I tell Tivo to record a program via the Web, it instantaneously sends it to the DVR. No waiting until midnight every other night to make a slow analog call into the network.

I have Jon to thank for letting me know how simple hooking Tivo into my network was.

So far I have season passes to David Letterman and Nick & Jessica's Newlywed show. Doesn't say much about my taste in T.V., does it? I also selected some extra good episodes of Seinfeld to record, as well as few days worth of Sesame Street for the boys.

Do you have a Tivo? If so, what is your favorite feature?

Crack

We got a note from our water company last week that our dial was running mid-day when no one was home. Leak city, baby! Yesterday, I got the online bill and we had used triple the amount of water we normally do. This was serious. I found some sopping ground next to the water main, and called our trusted plumber, Steve Ackerman. He sent his best guy out and he spent 7.5 hours fixing a cracked PVC pipe that connected from the main to the house. He had to dig about 4 feet down to the foundation in heavy, wet clay to find the broken section. Of course, a bunch of mud got sucked into the pipes, so the next 4 hours was spent clearing pebbles, dirt and clay from all pipes leading to faucets, toilets, shower valves and the washing machine.



Meanwhile, Grady and Liam enjoyed their new computer, playing Dora's Animal Adventures. Amazingly, there were no fights. Liam just looked on with delight as Grady impressively navigated through the whole game with no help.

Engaged!

My sister, Katy, got engaged tonight! Woooo-hoooo! Erik is a great guy who I'm proud to eventually call my bro-in=law. We called minutes after he asked her, and we got the news, then quickly got off the phone so they could continue their moment. I can't wait to hear the details of how he did it, what the ring is like, and when/where they plan to tie the knot. I'm so, so happy. It's the best Christmas present EVER!

Katy:

Merry Christmas Eve

We're here feeling great about our lives, and I hope you are too. Our fridge is stocked with Honey Baked Ham, egg nog, fresh apples for an apple pie, and on the counter is warm bread, juicy oranges and fresh-baked cookies.

Everyone is napping right now, getting ready to visit with Santa and get those last minute wishes in, then onto church. Tomorrow, we'll wake up early and open gifts, then head over to the Walkers for an early dinner.

We wrapped all of the kids' gifts last night, so we had a preview of what our family got them. I think the winning gift right now is Katy and Erik's nerf bowling set for Grady. It's going to be perfect both in the play room and downstairs on the hardwood floors. And, Katy and Erik got Liam an Elmo t-shirt that he is going to go crazy for. Well done, Katy and Erik!

My parents are in Barbados for Christmas, so I hope I get to speak with them. I don't think their cell phone works down there, so maybe they'll wrack up some charges on their hotel phone. :(

For the past six weeks or so, Grady has been consistent in what he's said he hopes Santa will bring him. Buzz and Woody dolls. It's nice that he hasn't changed his tune, because we got them for him long ago and he'll still be excited to receive them tomorrow.

Liam's just going to go with the flow, but we got him Buzz & Woody dolls too, so there wouldn't be any arguing. We've learned that lesson the hard way.

And, don't miss out the latest PlanetDan posting. It's hilarious.

Perspective

If you're stressing out about last minute shopping or something at work, just spend a couple of minutes watching this video. Initially there's shock value, but it wears off to become empathy and sadness for what this family and little girl are going through.

Here's the lead in to the story:

When most parents have a baby, they spend months dreaming about what their bundle of joy will look like. Will she look like mom? Will he have dad's eyes?

But for one local Navy family, the birth of their daughter didn't give them the answers to those questions. Their daughter was born without a face.

Desert Island List

Talking about The Desert Island List

My friend, BillZ has one of the best blogs out there -- hard to believe he's new at it. His December 6th post inspired me to create my own to 10 list.

Top 10 (or so) Favorite Books (in no particular order)
1. Cider House Rules -- John Irving
2. Five Smooth Stones -- Ann Fairbairn
3. The Crimson Petal and the White -- Michel Faber
4. The Corrections -- Jonathan Franzen
5. And the Sea Will Tell -- Vincent Bugliosi
6. A Prayer for Owen Meany -- John Irving
7. Undaunted Courage -- Stephen Ambrose
8. Me Talk Pretty One Day -- David Sedaris
9. Travels With Charley -- John Steinbeck
10. Beach Music -- Pat Conroy
11. Pillars of the Earth -- Ken Follett

Top 10 (or so) Favorite Movies (in no particular order)
1. Life Is Beautiful
2. The Pianist
3. Band of Brothers series
4. Saving Private Ryan (can you see a theme here? WWII)
5. Monsoon Wedding
6. Moulin Rouge
7. True Romance
8. Requiem For A Dream
9. American History X
10. The Breakfast Club
11. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Top 10 Favorite Albums (in no particular order)
1. Legend -- Bob Marley
2. American Idiot -- Green Day
3. The Joshua Tree -- U2
4. San Francisco Days -- Chris Isaak
5. Unchained -- Johnny Cash
6. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot -- Wilco
7. No One's Really Beautiful -- Jude
8. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots -- The Flaming Lips
9. G. Love & Special Sauce -- G. Love & Special Sauce
10. Singles 45's and Under -- Squeeze

Top 10 (or so) Favorite Songs (in no particular order)
1. One Love/People Get Ready -- Bob Marley
2. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1 -- The Flaming Lips
3. Bewtiched, Bothered and Bewildered -- Ella Fitzgerald
4. Clocks -- Coldplay
5. Look Good in Leather -- Cody Chesnutt
6. Stand By My Woman -- Lenny Kravitz
7. Float On -- Modest Mouse
8. Walk Like a Man -- Bruce Springsteen
9. Wonderful -- Everclear
10. This Ain't Living -- G. Love and Special Sauce
11. Holiday -- Green Day

Just Liam

My wife and oldest son are in Massachusetts, so it's just Liam and me until Sunday night. It'll be fun to halve the population in our house for a bit of time. It's a mini vacation. Five years ago, I would have thought being alone with a 2 year old for a week would be impossible, but now that I have two sons, being left alone with just one of them is a piece of cake!

It's funny how people think dads aren't interested or capable of taking solo care of their kids. While getting mail at our community mailbox last night, I talked to some neighbors and mentioned that Colleen was taking Grady back to visit relatives. Sharon, the neighbor, immediately said that she was available to help look after Liam if it became too much for me and I just needed to get away for a few hours.

She was well intentioned, but it was a sexist comment/stereotyping.

Ugh!

I just spent the last half hour providing a weekend update about my parent's visit, our party on Sunday night, the kid's pageant on Saturday, our superb dinner at Mama Mia Trattoria, and me shot gunning a beer on a Tuesday afternoon because I was alone in the house for the first time in years (no wife, no kids, no dog). I hit "publish" and Blogger crashed, losing all my prose. Ugh. I'm not going to recreate it. But, I will link you to this picture of a clever tattoo. (Credit goes to my dad for finding this.)

That New Car Smell

Carpet cleaners are in the house right now giving our wall to wall beige carpets a well needed cleaning. The solution they're using smells like a new car, but a little bit sweeter. Perhaps some lemon scent thrown in.

They're also treating the carpets with stain protection, so with no dog around to muddy up the place, we may keep these carpets looking brand new for a good six months.

I guess this means we won't replace these plain, uninspired carpets for a while. They're in great shape, but just so darn boring.

That's my exciting life today. Oh, and Colleen got ticketed this morning for tailgating a cop in local stop and go traffic. Bullshit ticket. And, to boot, he was aggressive with Colleen, shouting at her while Grady and Liam were in the back seat. $230. Outrageously subjective charge, so his demeanor was even harder to take. Perhaps they got wind of her husband's escape from a heavy traffic fine and decided to even things up.

Oh, and my parents arrive tomorrow from Virginia for a week-long visit! Wooo-hooo! I'm excited to try a new Portland italian restaurant, Mama Mia Trattoria, with them on Saturday night.

Grady put up a bunch of "Christmas decorations" around the house in preparation for his grandparents' arrival. These decorations are small sheets of paper that he colored on and then taped around the house on doors, cabinets and walls. We're leaving them up because he's SO proud of them.

The Touch Down

Coltrane successfully made his cross country trip today. I drove him at 4:45 this morning to the Alaska Cargo office at PDX and drove off around 5:30 with some tears in my eyes. I tracked oth bhis flights all day, and he was lucky. They both were running at least 15 minutes early, so he spent 30 minutes less than planned in the air.

Katy picked him up without incident at DCA, and he seemed to remember her, whining when he saw her, licking her face and nuzzling into her legs when she kneeled down. Katy's chocolate lab, Webber, greeted him nicely, and Coltrane so far seems to enjoy the canine company. Seems like he's going to be a bit competitive with her. When Katy said, "Let's go inside," Webber started toward the door, but Coltrane raced ahead of her and slammed his head into the closed sliding door. That'll teach him who's boss there. And, he wolfed down his food like never before, probably fearing Webber would eat it.

I am so grateful Katy and Erik welcomed Coltrane into their home. The alternatives for Coltrane all painfully paled in comparison.

For the first few hours of the day, I kept thinking Coltrane had snuck away to eat some tissues or sack out in his crate. It's going to take a while to get used to not having a dog in the house.

Grady and Liam are taking it all in stride. It's been nice. I know to attribute Liam's acceptance of the change to his young age, but I'm not sure what is keeping Grady on an even keel. Whether it's that he was the one bitten, or he's too young, or he just has a mature outlook on it. I prefer to think it's the latter.

We'll see how long it lasts.

The Countdown

Just two more nights with our wonderful Weimaraner, Coltrane. I ship him to my sister, Katy, early Friday morning. We've been letting him sleep on our bed for the past few nights to eek out every last minute with him. We've shipped his pillow, his medicine, his collars & leashes, his shampoo, his nail clippers, his blankets and all other essentials, and I think the absence of his everyday things has given him a clue to his pending move.

Good ol' Coltrane, the spider hunter. Be sure to click "next" when you get to his picture to see his prey. Unfortunately, Grady became his prey a few weeks ago when he tried to ride him like a horse. In retrospect, I should have stopped this right from the start.

Also counting down to when my parents come to town on 12/8 for a pre-holiday visit. It will be very fun, and we're getting the decorations up early so there will be that Christmas cheer in the air.