Confused packaging

I bought some socks, a package of six. The bag advertised that it was resealable. It was basically a big ziplock type bag. But why? Aren't I gonna take the socks out of the bag, put them in my sock drawer, and then throw away the bag? Why would I need to reseal my socks? Do they keep fresher?

I bought a big bag of pizza rolls. Serving size 6 and 90 in the bag so I'll be opening and closing it a lot. Is it resealable? Of course not. :/

Serving size 6 rolls... and the cooking instructions call for 15 rolls. So someone only gets half a serving?

After a really rough night, had a great recharge day. Also, I finally saw one our neighborhood bears. So cute! So scary!

Something happened to me today that has never happened to me before. A neighbor came by to introduce herself and she brought us a cake that she baked herself. Apparently she baked it twice. She was waiting to see both my and my wife's cars in the driveway so she could meet us both. And apparently that took so long that the first cake didn't make it.

So anyway, here I sit eating homemade banana cake (made by a friendly neighbor), topped with blueberries (we bought today at a local farmer's market), and also topped with whipped cream (from a can). Can you tell I'm loving livin' in the country?

elfquest

So a few months (years?) ago I was browsing the manga section of my local mega-bookstore and I saw they had re-released Elfquest in manga format. I thought that was awesome. Comics don't display in a library well and oversized graphic novels often don't fit at all, but manga display great - all those identically sized books with big numbers on the spine all lined up nice and neat. I found the idea of owning it again, especially in this format, very appealing. But alas, some stupid-head made the decision to print it in black and white. I knew this was originally published in color and I just couldn't see downgrading like this. Still, I sat and read the first volume and was immediately reminded of why I had loved this story so much.

Fast forward to about a month ago. I'm in the used/out-of-print book section of a particularly large mega-bookstore and find yet another re-release. This time the whole first story arc in one hardcover volume AND IN FULL COLOR! Not cheesy cheap comic color either (where the color patches don't always line up with the drawing, y'know?) but very respectable color. HERE was an edition very much worth it. And it was at a great price because apparently it had been released a few years ago and there was a stack here that obviously wasn't selling at full price so they marked it down substantially.

I haven't bought it yet but I know I will. It's just a matter of finding the money. Then I can go back and visit Cutter and Skywise and Leetah and everyone... hopefully without regresing back to a pretentious high-schooler. :D

L points to the cat and says "itty" pretty consistently.

Also she's taking things out and then putting them back in. Personally, I'm very excited about the "putting back in" part as that's close to "putting things away".

L fed herself with a spoon today. I mean, J put food in the spoon and handed it to her and she put the food in her mouth then handed the spoon back. Very cool.

Also I visited the house today and even though it was sweltering outside and even though the air conditioning hadn't been running, just the attic fan... the house was a very comfortable 71deg. Awesome. Of course the basement was even cooler.

J and I were having a little fight when L toddles over, waves at me (causing me to wave back which causes L to giggle) waves at J (causing her to wave back causing L to giggle again) and then toddles off. It totally broke the angry mood and J and I made up.

Thanks, baby. Your cuteness has now reached devastating proportions.


Oh, and earlier this evening L was being gawked at by three ladies in the mall. L pointed to one and waved and got a wave back, then did that with the second, then the third. It's like "I will wave at YOU now and you will wave back." So ridiculously cute.

another baby update

She's graduated from her infant car seat to a convertable car seat 'cause she's getting so big. Also, she's dancing to music which is a hoot to watch.

baby update

Haven't updated in a while. She's eating pretty much whatever we give her off our plates. She went to play at Appleseeds for the first time last week. I think she really enjoyed watching other kids and babies play. She played on the swings at the playground for the first time yesterday. Also did a lot of kid-watching there. (Maybe she wants a sibling.) What else? Oh yeah... walking! (With a walker, but still it's cool.)

sniffle

L has her first cold. :(

On the bright side, it's her first one in nearly 11 months of life so that's not bad.

Still, a cold's a cold.

hPDA wallet idea

A few months ago my brother-in-law gave me a very thin wallet. It's made of kite material (rip-stop nylon it says on the website) so it's light, thin, and tough. So today I was browsing the company's website and saw their traveler model. It basically takes out the stitching from one side turning two credit card pockets into one larger pocket, and then enlarges the whole thing a little bit, with the idea that you could stick your passport in there. Hence the "traveler". Anyway, it looks to me like that pocket would fit some 3x5 cards just perfectly. So then you'd have a thin, minimalist wallet that also holds your Hipster.

Currently I'm trying out simply keeping my pierced hPDA sandwiched inside the wallet since that's what I've got. But I thought the greater hPDA community at large might find that "traveler" wallet an interesting option.

baby news

Quick update:

Noticed she crawled much better on the bed then on the floor (don't worry, I make sure she doesn't go off the edge) so I took some foam I had in the craft closet, wrapped one of our many baby blankets around it and pinned it in place, and put that down in her play area. Now she crawls well there too. Maybe something about the harder floor or the scratchy carpet was putting her off? In any case, her crawling is developing well.

Also she now will pick up something and hand it to you. Then you can hand it back to her. That makes for a fun game and teaches her some good interpersonal stuff.

long time no type

Finished reading "Lord of the Rings"... finally. What a drag. I had tried reading it back when I was, like, 13 or so and always reading something but I didn't finish. Back then I prided myself on always finishing whatever I started reading. But after starting RotK, getting about 1/3 through it, and then not feeling like picking it up for long enough to forget who everyone was, I gave up. For years I told myself it was due to there being too many characters with similar names. So now years later, having watched the movies a bunch of times, I felt ready to read the trilogy right through.

Ugh. It wasn't the confusing names, although that didn't help anything. It's just that these books are poorly written. He spends no time on dialog or action or developing characters and instead will go on for paragraphs about scenery. I got through it all but it was just torture.

And of course now I see that what I thought was only 1/3 of the way through was more likely almost to the end since a good portion of RotK is appendices. Bitter irony.


In other news, I've been thinking/reading a lot about GTD lately and after re-evaluating my current processes I'm fairly happy with it. My reference system needs improving, though, not least of all because the filing cabinet is wedged behind the play-pen so its hard to get to.


My sister is currently in Columbia adopting three children. Wild.


I keep looking at that previous post and it's putting me in the mood for coffee. I will go try to make some before the baby wakes up.

the pinnacle reached

I just had a perfect cup of coffee.
Lavazza ground espresso
made in a single serving Bialetti moka pot
served in a Bodum double walled espresso glass
accompanied by a piece of Lindt Excellence 85%
smelled wonderful
tasted wonderful
not even a hint bitterness; no sugar or milk was necessary
I even swirled it around in my mouth looking for various notes of flavor

Perfect. Ahhhhhh.

smipo

I hereby coin the term "smipo" which means a typo'd smiley. So for example, if I accidentally type a wink ;) instead of a smile :) that would be a smipo. It is pronounced with a long 'i' as in smile and long 'o' as in typo.

Petco

If you find yourself in the Petco in Parsippany on Rt. 46...

There is a working changing table.