14 posts tagged “violet”

Although this wasn't my first Father's Day weekend, it quite possibly might have been the best one yet.

Saturday was just an easy-going sort of day - I worked out at the gym, did some shopping with Violet, puttered around the house, and cooked some excellent chicken and vegetables on the grill for dinner (although all the hard work marinating/seasoning everything was done by my wife, so I can't take all the credit).  After we got the kids asleep, Dee and I watched No Country for Old Men, which lived up to every bit of hype that I've heard about the movie.  Definitely a must see.  By itself, Saturday would have made the weekend, but in this case, it was superseded in specialness by the Father's Day Sunday I had the next day:

• My alarm went off at 8AM, and before I had time to even galumph my way over to it to hit snooze, the bedroom door opened and a torrent of unbridled energy in the form of my toddler came rushing in and crawled all over me and the bed, excited to give me my Father's Day cards.  I snuggled with her for a little bit while I opened the two greeting cards she and my wife had bought/signed for me, and cheered when I saw that one of them also included a gift certificate to a nearby bookstore - as my wife put it, I'd be able to get in some guilt-free book shopping that day.
• I spent the next couple hours hanging out with and taking care of the girls while Dee went to her Weight Watchers' meeting and out to the grocery store.  The highlight of that time came when I was throwing around a nerf ball with Violet and she told me out of the blue, "Daddy, I love playing football with you."
• 

  My new books
  When Dee got back, she let me duck out of the house for a couple hours to hit up the bookstore and use up my gift certificate.  I spent a little time just browsing through some of the bookshelves, but ended up with 5 books that I'm really looking forward to reading.
  
• I spent the rest of the afternoon doing some yardwork and home improvement projects, with Violet tagging along and "helping" whenever possible.  Although I didn't get as much done as I would have liked, I did make a dent in my ever-growing to-do list, which always feels good.
  
• After I managed a quick shower and shave, we dropped the kids off with my mother-in-law, who was nice enough to watch them while Dee and I went out to eat at the local Thai restaurant.  A couple hours, some beers, and some excellent (and very spicy) food later, we stopped by Jack in the Box for a couple Oreo milkshakes on our way back to get the kids.  Ended up VERY stuffed, but also equally happy with how the day had progressed. 
  
• When we got home, I had a little more bonding time with Violet in the form of bedtime story time, and then the kidlets were in bed and very soon after, so was I.  The alarm on Monday morning was a rude awakening (literally), but still couldn't detract from the happiness I felt from the wonderful weekend I had.

Just heard about the new feature for Flickr Pro members - the ability to upload video to your account and tag/organize it just as if it was a picture.  Decided to test it out for myself to check out its capabilities, drawbacks, etc.

Pros:

• The video quality is much better than YouTube, and by default is bigger than the default YouTube size.  Also includes a full-screen option without any hacks!
• You can organize/tag the videos just like you do your photos, including adding it to a set/collection.
• You can embed the clip in a blog or webpage very easily through the "embed" option, which allows you to set parameters such as size of the clip.
• Has the same public/private sharing options as your photos, so if you already have these set up for family members, they'll be able to access the videos the same way they do your photos.
• Videos are uploaded the same way you upload photos, and can actually be uploaded in a batch along with photos.
• No limit on number of videos you can store in your Pro Account.

Cons

• Video size/duration is limited to 150 MB or 90 seconds (whichever is less).  Not a big deal for little clips, but it would be nice if this got bumped up a bit for longer videos.
• Video uploading is limited to Flickr Pro members.  Free members can view publicly-shared videos, but cannot upload them to their accounts.
• No Vox integration yet, so no tagging, linking, etc on Vox.  You'll have to use the "embed" code to insert a video into a page, for now.

 

Even if Yahoo/Flickr isn't touting this as a YouTube killer, it's still a very nice application and one that I'll definitely be using in the future. 

And a comparison test, for you to see for yourself:

 

 

This weekend, we took a page from the Nanny 911 playbook and engineered a special visit for Violet from the Pacifier Fairy.

For those of you unfamiliar with this figure, the Pacifier Fairy is a (pretty ingenious) way to get your kid to give up their pacifiers [cold turkey] while still letting the kid believe it's THEIR idea to give them up.  Believe me, this totally beats having them resent you for taking away and withholding their precious pacifier from them!

On Saturday, Dee told Violet that we were going to have her give her pacifiers to the Pacifier Fairy, who was going to take them and give them to little babies who needed them.  And for being such a big girl, the Pacifier Fairy was going to bring Violet a special present.  Violet is a pretty skeptical and stubborn child, and we really didn't think she was going to go for this, but she seemed to latch on to the idea that she could help some babies by giving them her pacifiers. 

Dee helped Violet put all of her pacifiers into a manila envelope, and they sealed the envelope and addressed it to the Pacifier Fairy.  Then they walked out to the mailbox and put the envelope in the mailbox for the Pacifier Fairy to come pick up (Dee had to explain to the mailman what they were doing while she was out there).  We snuck out later to get the envelope without Violet knowing, of course, and waited until that evening to tell her that the Pacifier Fairy had come and left her a present.

Violet's present(s) were two stuffed animals from the Disney Store, a Mickey and a Goofy.  She absolutely adores the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cartoon, and her reaction to getting these was sooo cute.  She just stood there with this huge grin on her face, giggling and turning the animals over and over, pointing out their tails, their ears, their teeth, their eyes, etc.

Violet did ask for her "paci" a couple times that day, but every time we reminded her that she gave them to the Pacifier Fairy to give to little babies, she seemed pretty content to let it go.  We did have a rough spot when she woke up in the middle of the night and cried pretty inconsolably, but Dee stayed strong and just sat by her bed and comforted her for about the 15 minutes it took her to cry it out and go back to sleep.  Sunday, she asked for a paci again a couple of times, but again was dissuaded when we reminded her of the Pacifier Fairy.

Ideally, you shouldn't even have had to get to the point where you need to implement the Pacifier Fairy, but if you're like my wife and I, and it sometimes seemed like the pacifier was the only thing helping us to keep our sanity, you might find yourself with an almost-three-year-old who is using it as a crutch way too often.  We're already promising ourselves we'll do better with Rosalie, but for now, thank goodness for the Pacifier Fairy!!!!

Thanks for all the people that did this today that reminded me that today's Tuesday!  This is my first one of these, and while I don't plan on doing it every week, I hope to do it often enough to remind myself of some of the stuff I take for granted, and learn not to sweat the small stuff.

Things I Loathe

1. Getting up early.  Seriously have a problem with that.  Could be related to thing I love #1 below.
2. Getting stuck in traffic.  Slightly ameliorated now that I can amuse myself with my GPS and see exactly how long I've been sitting there stuck in traffic.  But not enough to make me like it.
3. Feeling like a slug.  I NEED to start exercising again.  NEED NEED NEED.  I like how I think and feel a lot better when I do.
4. People who aren't open-minded and accepting of others.  I don't need to get into details on this one right now.
   

Things I LOVE

1. Going to bed late.  I'm a late-night person.  It just feels like I should be doing stuff then, even if what I'm doing is just reading a book or playing on the interwebs. Got to stop doing this if I want to get up early.
   
2. A good hot cup of coffee.
3. My Vox neighbors.  You all manage to cheer me up, entertain me, and teach me things on a regular basis.
4. Dave for providing me the link to a year's worth of Stereogum music downloads.  I now have 3.2 Gigs of free music sitting on my drive waiting to be listened to and rated.  So far, I'm finding I'm liking/keeping about 1 out of 3 tracks, which is pretty damn good, in my opinion.
5. The fact that we've finally been able to get Rosalie to sleep in the swing.  It's not the crib, but it's a huge improvement over only getting her to sleep on us.  The crib is coming, I promise.  But Dee is finally able to get some stuff done during the day and we're both getting some sleep at night, so I'll gladly take what we're being given.
6. Playing with Violet when I get home.  Last night I tied a headband around her head and we pretended we were rock stars, complete with times where we did guitar solos, lead-singer headbanging, drum solos, and pretended to be backup singers/dancers.  Sooo much fun.
   

<Rant>

I came home a couple days ago to find my daughter playing with her new happy meal toy:  a small figurine from The Spiderwick Chronicles that has a little button on the back that makes a small light in the birdhouse? the character is holding light up.  I tried shining it on the wall to see if it made a dot, but it didn't seem to do much.  Then I found the instructions:

So basically, you look through a little viewfinder which is backlit by the figurine's light, and you see an image, either a crow or a goblin.  I'm sure this is in line with the premise of the movie somehow. I've got a little problem, though, with this toy (and McDonald's, by association) advocating that my child shine (bright) lights into her eyes from 12" away. 

Sure, I can (and do) tell/teach her not to do this, but she's young enough still that she doesn't understand the consequences of staring at a bright light or at the sun, etc, even if I were to explain them to her.  So I would appreciate if McDonald's wouldn't compound the issue by making it seem like it is OK to do this by way of a toy.

</Rant>

Well, we survived our first week with 2 children, and things are on the up-and-up.  Rosalie's gained back to her birth weight as of the doctor's appointment this morning, which means she's a week ahead of schedule.

Speaking of schedules, I'm still getting used to the fact that my daily schedule is now subject to the involuntary whims of an infant who's still mixed up as to when it is day and when it is night.  Which is why I'm up at a quarter to one in the morning, instead of sleeping through "Santa's" stopover at our house to bring Violet some presents.  But it's okay - I'm getting around 4-6 hours sleep each night, so at least I'm not hallucinating...yet.

Anyway, I doubt most people will be getting online on Christmas day, but I want to wish everyone who celebrates the holiday a Merry Christmas, and everyone a Happy New Year.  Seeing as it's taken me a week to get just this post up, I doubt I'll be posting very often in the near future until I can get back to having some time to myself.  But I'll still be checking in and will try to get the occasional post up here and there when I can.

"There never was a child so lovely but his mother wasn't glad to get him asleep."
    -Ralph Waldo Emerson

This weekend was a blast....I wish I had a month of weekends.

Friday I left work in the afternoon and got home to find Dee and Violet outside enjoying the beautiful weather.  I kicked a soccer ball around with Violet and took in some sun and cool air (finally!)  Since it was a race weekend (NASCAR), there were crowds of people already converging on the town, as evidenced by the skywriter who decided to write everyone a message:

That last one was flipped so you could see a little easier what the skywriter was writing.  The final message ended up saying "Welcome Race Fans", although the wind was so strong that by the time the next word was written, the previous word had all but blown away into insubstantial wisps of cloud.  Still, it was pretty neat to see it in action, and Violet really enjoyed it.

Friday night I went to Shabbat services at the synagogue that I just joined - it was a little bit of a weird experience because I have NEVER been to a Shabbat service somewhere where I didn't know at least someone.  I was sitting alone in a strange sanctuary with strangers, singing songs with strange melodies.  However, there was enough continuity in the prayers and some of the songs that I was comforted and felt welcome, if not yet at-home.  The people I met seem nice, and I am looking forward to going back to more services and really feeling like I'm part of the congregation.

The next morning, I got up early (!) to get ready to take my daughter to "Tot Shabbat" - this is a Shabbat service the synagogue holds once a month for kids under 5 - it's a 15 minute Shabbat morning service filled with songs and stories, followed by a craft activity and snacks.  Violet loved it and really got into the singing and coloring her tzedakah (charity) container craft.  Unfortunately, I wimped out when it came to talking to other adults and only ended up introducing myself to 1 other parent.  I hope to do better next time - even if I don't meet up with these parents, it'll be nice to introduce myself and not act like a loner.

Dee took Violet to my mother-in-law's for lunch, leaving me home alone.  I took advantage of the time to go for a run and get rid of some excess energy.  It felt good to get my running shoes on again and just go out there, unencumbered and free to let my mind wander where it wanted to go.  I REALLY need to get back into running regularly, I feel so much healthier (both physically AND mentally) when I do.

Saturday night was a girls'-night-out event for Dee as they celebrated my niece's birthday at an italian restaurant.  I spent the evening doing the two-step with Violet (at least, she thinks it's real dancing) and playing house with her and her little people toys.  Oh, and after the tater tot went to bed, I had a manhattan or two and watched Hostel.  Creepy and gory and engaging.  Definitely recommended to anyone who is a fan of the genre.  Definitely not recommended to anyone who is not.

Sunday, I was a complete lazy bum - I watched some football and helped out around the house and played with my daughter, but I'm not sure if I even went outside at all (oh wait, I brought in the groceries from the car, that counts, doesn't it?)  Idyllic, if not very healthy.

Anyway, I really enjoyed my weekend, and am totally ready for another.  In fact, I'm ready for a whole month of weekends.  Anyone know where I can find some?

I was going to skip this contest because of the lack of time I have this weekend to put together some quality photos, but then I thought about those poor monkeys and all the hard work they put into coming up with quality topics.  So I rushed this morning to put together my entry, and hope that the monkeys know that it's the thought that counts, when it comes to the Yod Hunt.  So here's my entry, with no warranties, no guarantees, and all sales are final...

1. Show us a candle that has clearly seen better days.

Somehow these three candles ended up in our sun room as the de facto toys for my daughter and her cousin.  They've used them as rolling pins, blocks, swords, and some sort of imaginary food item.  I'm pretty sure we'll never be using these for decorative purposes again, so I let them just have at them.  It's better than them pulling off all the books off the bookshelves, which is their OTHER favorite past-time in that room!

2. Show us the food item you would eat right now if you were told the world was going to end in five minutes.

I'm sorry - I was going to take a picture of the cereal itself, but when I heard the phrase "the world is going to end in five minutes", I finished off the rest of the box.  I don't regret my cereal binge, though...now if I just had a giant bottle of Tums.

3. Take a picture of one of those funny music playing devices that existed before iPods.

As you can see by the dust on this thing, it doesn't get a whole lot of use in my household anymore.  I paired it with the "Essential Jazz" CD collection, which comes in oh-so-deceitful packaging intended to look like a vinyl sleeve, homage to one of those funny music playing devices that existed before portable CD players.

4. Purchase and show us a very cheap generic or knockoff product.

You know when you say, "You get what you pay for"?  (Well, at least, I say this sometimes, not sure about you.)  It is all too true when it comes to envelopes.  See exhibit A below:

Eckerd brand security envelopes: Not secure (you can see through them even with the extra layer), the sticky stuff doesn't stick when you lick 'em, and I tend to tear them whenever I put stuff in them.

CVS brand plain white envelopes: Surprisingly fragile.  Not only does the sticky stuff not stick when you lick it, but the rest of the envelope's seams come unstuck when you try to use it, too.  Plus, the sticky stuff tastes like carpet lint (or what I imagine carpet lint would taste like, if I so inclined to lick one).

Mead brand white envelopes:  FINALLY, a quality envelope!  For the extra $0.50 these cost over the other two boxes, I got an envelope that sticks when you lick/shut it, AND stays together.  Definitely worth the extra four bits for the box, trust me.

5. Show us something you've received as a birthday present.

I couldn't limit myself to just one present here, so this is a random sampling of gifts I've received from various folks over the last 5 years.  People say I'm hard to shop for...but I think they did a fine job...how about you?

(From left to right): Brown coach wallet, folding pocket knife, electric razor, a copy of "Wedding Ring" by Peter Lipman-Wulf, part of a set of giant ceramic coffee mugs w/ asparagus and tomatoes, respectively, all atop a "Legendary" pro boogie board.