It's Autumn!

Grandma Joan is here this week visiting from California! We had a great day today together as we got to hang out alot while mama went to some appts.
Check out the cool hat that Grandma Joan got me! I am ready for autumn's arrival.
I am getting very good at tummy time and did 20+ baby pushups. I love to smile at people.
More later....I need milk. NOW.

What a great news week!

First the meth Christian lady and now Tom Delay's indictment? What's next? GWB caught on tape, Kate Moss style, snorting a line of coke off of Dick Cheney's man boobs? God that would be the best EVER!

The Lord will provide....meth?

Holy crap this is funny.

So do you remember the woman in Atlanta a few months back who was taken hostage by the guy who shot up the courthouse down there? She convinced him to release her and turn himself in by giving him the Lord's word in the form of megaevangilist Rick Warren's book, The Purpose Driven Life.

Well, it turns out that the Lord wasn't the only thing driving her life; so was crystal meth. And, in fact, she gave the fugitive, Brian Nichols, some of her own stash to convince him to let her go. I wonder if that will make tonight's 700 Club?

This is funny because of all the religious wackos and preachers who went on and on and on about how Jesus worked through this book to save her and blah blah blah. Apparently Jesus was working his mysterious ways through some Methamphetamine hydrochloride. Well, the Jesus I know isn't a drug pusher, lady.

Got the "get a new singer" blues

Well, my band, My Life on Hold (MyLOH), hasn't played any gigs yet, and we've already got to get a new singer. Beat that, Spinal Tap! While we didn't get the high drama of a band member choking to death on someone else's vomit ("you can't really dust for vomit."), it's still a drag to have to go through auditions and all the crap that goes along with it.

Our singer had another band and a job that was taking up most of his time, so we decided (us and him, mutually) that it would be best for MyLOH to move on. I put an ad up on Craigslist and got several responses, so wish us luck.

BTW, if you want to hear two demos of our songs, go to www.myspace.com/mylifeonhold. Let me know what you think!

Rockin' birthday massage

Last night I got a most-good birthday massage as a present from Jenny for my birthday. God I love getting massages. No matter how long they are, I am SO bummed when the alloted time expires and I have to drag my sorry ass off that comfy table.

I decided last night that when I become rich, my first staff members will be two massage therapists who will work in shifts. Ah yes.

Who needs collagen!?

Who needs collagen!?
Originally uploaded by Xose.

It's me Jen, who's been uploading photos lately, even though it says Xose...
Sylvie's been quite a drool machine lately...check out those lips!
No need for collagen here :O)

enuf already

enuf already
Originally uploaded by Xose.

this is the post-bath oh-so-serious look that Sylvia is showing you.
mama is going to bed now; more blogging later.

How I spent my Tuesday

spatime
Originally uploaded by Xose.

I got to ride in the car today and go to Target.
We first stopped and got mama a coffee so she would not get a caffeine headache. I slept thru almost the whole trip and we bought my soon-to-be new cousin stuff for his baby shower!

I slept in the car coming home. The car is warm and cozy!
Then we came home and we discovered that the dryer died! Oy vey. So we called dad and we decided to get both a new washer AND dryer. So Wednesday mama and I are going appliance shopping. But, we also had to call the plumber as it seemed that the drain pipe for the washer backed up a bit here and there. So this Wedneday morning we had the plumber come here and snake the drain and he got rid of all the fuzz in the drain. yahoo! he was nice to me and his name was Fred.

But I digress, so yesterday I spent the afternoon with mama in the house and I did two great sessions of tummy time, talked to myself, then dada came home and we hung out and then after dada weeded the scary big weeds out of the garden, dada gave me a bath! See my photo. I love baths. I use nummy smelling soap that mama's friend Nadine gave her that is made from goat's milk.

I slept quite well.

Ok, gotta jump!

Time to take some chill time in my swing.

besos,

sylvia

Mamacita

qtpie
Originally uploaded by Xose.

I am holding down the fort tonight as Joe's sick. He has a nasty cold that literally has had him down for the past 24 hours. He's been holed away in our guest room b/c he's scared to get Sylvia sick. Poor thing. I leave him food, tea, water and meds at the door and he takes it into the room. He won't let me get exposed either. Sylvia has been very good today and that helps me alot.
Here's a photo of us that I took just before her bedtime:

What I did over Labor Day weekend

1. Went to WV to see grandma and grandpa

2. Drooled on grandpa

3. Slept on grandma

4. Daddy showed me everything green (trees, river, etc.)

5. Mommy drank Boone's Farm

6. Wore fabulous shades (see my photo above)

7. Met my cousins Emily and Lindsey

8. Drank lots and lots of milk and formula

9. Saw my doggie


10. Pooped.

--by Sylvia

Happy birthday to me

Well, it's my 35th birthday today. All in all, I'd say it's been 35 pretty damn good years.

Over the course of my lifetime, I've managed--through luck, good fortune, and the benelovence of countless friends and my amazing family--to do many things that I can look back on with fondness, from moving to Spain to work and live to meeting the love of my life on a beach in San Francisco.

Of course, the best thing to happen so far is currently hanging out with her mommy and patiently waiting for me to get home....

Still, it's the people you meet in your life's journey that make it all special and worthwhile. It's been said to the point of becoming cliché, but by god, it's true.

So here's to all of you, friends, family, my beautiful, wonderful wife and baby. You've made the last 35 years fantastic. I love you all. Every man should be so lucky.

Now if the U.S. could beat Mexico tomorrow, my birthday would be REALLY special.... :-)

Mr. Fastfinger's Zen Guitar Teachings

Okay, this simply rules.

This Flash animation takes you to a faraway tropical island to study rock guitar with none other than the Zen guitar master himself, Mr. Fastfinger. The animations are hilarious, and the guitar lessons are right on! I can't wait to get home to practice some of this heavy metal madness! Whoever played this stuff is fricking amazing, and whoever coded it is brilliant.

In the "Jam" section, you use the A-Z keys (each riff is assigned to a key) to do battle, Crossroads guitar-dual style, with an evil, accordian-weilding demon who is entrancing the native pygmy population (this is hilarious, folks!). The riffs blend seamlessly with the background track and really gives you the feeling of "jamming" along. Try it!

If I can learn even a couple of these riffs, my bandmates are going to crap their pants at Thursday's practice! Rock ON!

Luxe life

Check out my fabulous slippers -- they are cush.

Summer's counting down

Jenny and I were talking last night about how the summer is almost over but it doesn't really feel like it's even begun. This is due in no large part to the fact that Sylvie is too young for pool time, sun exposure, parties with other kids, etc. (Not that hanging with the baby isn't totally cool, 'cause it is!)

Plus Jenny is dying to go to the beach, but we haven't been able to find one we like yet (Rehoboth is too cheese-mo-dee for us nowadays). We're planning a post-Labor Day beach jaunt this September, so the next step is finding a beach we want to go to!

Help me, Obi-Net, you're my only hope!

Redskins/Steelers; Man Room stage 1

Wow does it ever feel like Monday today. It's muggy and kind of gray out there, and I can't seem to get motivated (or woken up).

Still, this was a fun-filled weekend. On Friday, I went to the Redskins vs. Steelers preseason game at FedEx field. The tickets were fantastic -- right on the 35 yard line and only seven rows back from the field! Plus, they were free! One of the owners of a printer I work with for a lot hooked me up with four tix, a parking pass, and a free program coupon! Very nice, and much appreciated by yours truly, my boss, and my neighbors Kim and Bill who all attended the game with me. Jenny babysat...thanks honey!

As many of you may know, the Steelers are my AFC team and the Redskins my NFC team, so I was in a no-lose or no-win situation, depending on how you look at it. For what it's worth, the Skins won.

Saturday was pretty lazy. Jenny, Sylvie, and I took a walk and mostly hung out. I did make it up to Sears to pick up my early birthday gifts from my folks: a Craftsman 10" table saw and Craftsman compound miter saw! Woo hoo! My shop is almost ready for world domination!

On Sunday I decided to use the inspiration of my new tool acquisitions to get my butt in gear and finally put up the partition in the basement to create our fourth bedroom. I did some math (no mean feat) and trudged up to Home Depot to get the 2 X 4s I would need to frame up the wall. I'll get started sawing and nailing tonight. I promise to post step-by-step photos to keep everyone updated on my progress.

A Real Meal

We actually sat down this week to a real meal. I was so excited by this concept that I took a picture of it. Here is what the meal is made up of:
- pork chops (boneless) w. a curry rub
- steamed asparagus
- a yukon gold potato and turnip mash (w. sauteed onions)

17 years is not long enough

Sorry to be a bummer with this post, but a news story just came out that makes me, as the father of a new baby, incredibly enraged.

Those of you who don't live in the D.C. area are probably not familiar with the terrible news story last year of a tiny baby tortured and, ultimately, killed by her mother's crack dealer.

Well, the crack dealer got 17 years in prison today. Her sentence is a joke. Caroline Deforest, the killer, is 34 years old. That means she'll be out of prison when she's merely 51 years old. And that's assuming that she serves her full sentence. Not likely, as we all know.

Caroline Deforest tortured and killed a defenseless infant. According to the washingtonpost.com article, the timeline went roughly like this:

"Soon, neighbors and friends began seeing bruises and scratches on Selena's face and arms, according to prosecutors. Deforest started isolating the infant, minimizing her contact with other people. One person saw a bite mark on Selena's arm, an apparent lighter burn on her hand and bruises on her face.

Trying to conceal the injuries from others, Deforest stopped allowing others to feed, change or dress the baby. Eventually, she draped Selena's playpen with blankets to keep others from seeing her at all.

In the early days of January, the sounds from behind the blankets started to fade.

By Jan. 12, 2004, they had stopped altogether."

Seventeen years? Wow.

Say it isn't so!

Sylvia: So Beck, did you hear about the carrot who got hit by a car and had to go to the hospital?

Beck: No, what happened?

Sylvia: He was a vegetable for the rest of his life.

8 Tricks and facts about the girl

1. She makes very funny sounds when she sleeps. What could she be dreaming about? Perhaps she has nightmares about the mosquito net that we make her use on her carseat...does it make her claustrophobic?
2. She was 10 lbs, 4 ozs at her one-month check up. WOW. I bet she's ~11lbs now. It feels like it.
3. She likes to flip me the bird when eating at restaurant jenny. Or maybe she's just showing me that she knows what the state of West Virginia is shaped like.
4. She can hold her own bottle. SCARY.
5. When doing "tummy time" she can scoot across the mat if she has something to push off from. She's also easily distracted by said mat and tries to eat the lobsters, fish and crab that are part of the design. MMM...microfleece lobster tastes GOOOOOD.
   
6. She can smile and it's not just gas.
7. She has two boyfriends who are fighting for her attention, Beck and James. Beck is 2 mos. old and James is 3 mos. old. This fact stresses Joe out.
8. She likes the song, "Tiny Bubbles."

It's like sleepwalking, but with your mouth

So, I turned 34 on Saturday. Don't feel any change vs. being 33. By the time my birthday party ended (1130p!), Joe and I were zonked.

Around 130a (still up on baby monitoring 2005), I hear "Sylvia's on a search." I say, "huh?" He says, "She's on a search for 500 actuaries!" I say, "What the heck are you talking about," not realizing that he's fallen asleep on the couch behind me; I was on the computer.

He then wakes up and I tell him what had happened and I say to him, "It's like sleepwalking, but with your mouth."