I'm cooking a pot roast. The fact that 1) it's cold and gray outside and 2) my mother-in-law is no longer here to cook for the family, means that it's up to me (somewhat) and my severely lacking kitchen skills to provide dinner for us.
I was inspired by A Year of Slow Cooking and so I'm trying this "old fashioned pot roast".
I just wanted the internet to know.
If all goes well, we should have dinner on the table by 6ish. If all does not go well, we'll decide to fast....or get burgers.
Wish me luck!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Sunday, January 09, 2011
Holiday fun, Rama-style
There are times in life that I think God enjoys letting us venture out on our own, only so that He can be somewhat amused at what we get ourselves into.
For us Ramas, that time came over the Christmas break. Specifically, in taking an infant to a rather mountainous state and attempting to sleep for any longer than 60 minutes in a row. Did I mention that it was mountainous? Oh, and at the base of the mountain it was 10,000 feet elevation? And the room we stayed in was on the second floor, so that adds what, 12 feet? It was definitely those last 12 feet that the infant objected to so vehemently.
On the other hand, it was beautiful, so that was a good little bonus over the Christmas break.
All that to say that we enjoyed our holiday break and here are some pictures to prove it:
For us Ramas, that time came over the Christmas break. Specifically, in taking an infant to a rather mountainous state and attempting to sleep for any longer than 60 minutes in a row. Did I mention that it was mountainous? Oh, and at the base of the mountain it was 10,000 feet elevation? And the room we stayed in was on the second floor, so that adds what, 12 feet? It was definitely those last 12 feet that the infant objected to so vehemently.
On the other hand, it was beautiful, so that was a good little bonus over the Christmas break.
All that to say that we enjoyed our holiday break and here are some pictures to prove it:
Monday, January 03, 2011
...anyone still there?
I know that I've been REALLY lazy about updating this here blog lately. If you're still with me, then THANK YOU! If you've given up on me, then, well you won't be reading this so I don't really care all that much ;)
Seriously though, things have been busy and "updating the ol' blog" hasn't really made it into the top 5 on the priority list. Hopefully, I'll be better about it in 2011, but who knows.
For my inaugural post of 2011, I thought I'd start with something light: what we've been up to in the wild and wonderful world of the Ramas.
Amar's parents have been with us since late August, and it's been amazing. Sure, the small house has become even more cozy, but it's a small price to pay to have such quality time with them and to watch them interact with Anjali. She loves them to pieces!
We took a "vacation" to Colorado...and I use the word "vacation" very lightly. It was more like a trip. An adventure. The baby did great on the plane, but didn't love the altitude (10,000 feet!) too much. Yes, it was a beautiful winter wonderland in the mountains, but I think our next family vacation will be much closer to home, in a much warmer climate and at a much more sane elevation. Mountains: 1, Ramas: 0
And it's official, we have a big baby on our hands. But she's proportionate, so it's ok. At her 6 month check-up, she was in the 90% for height and weight. Her head, however, is normal-sized (50%), so who knows. We've started doing some sleep training, with great results so far. Here's to a restful 2011!
On the pet-front, we got the Scotties officially groomed for the first time ever, and they actually look like Scotties. They didn't quite know what to think of their new 'do at first, but they were super cute and we loved it. They even smelled like perfume for the first week or so (I kept holding them and smelling them!), so they probably thought I was weird - what's new? Now, due to their new look, when they get running really fast, they look like flying carpets. Good stuff!
Over the holiday break, we saw our fair share of movies as well:
The Fighter
Overall, a great movie, though not as much about boxing as one might suspect. Any Marky Mark lovers out there will enjoy it. Yay! Note: you have to brace yourself for the very profuse and artistic use of the 'f' word....you've been warned.
The King's Speech
To be honest, I wanted to see this one because I really like a certain Mr. Colin Firth*. It was a good movie though, and I'd recommend it. It's a bit slow at times, but come on, what do you expect in a movie about British royalty? And note: there is also a bit of profanity in this one (not nearly as much as The Fighter), but it's done 1) with a British accent and 2) in such a way that you are cracking up...so I didn't mind it too much.
*How can you NOT love Mr. Darcy?!?
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Any Team Narnia folks will enjoy this one (I just made that up, by the way...good stuff, eh?). Reepicheep is great, and Eustace is believably obnoxious, in a good way. Overall, a fun holiday movie. Anyone know if any of the other books are being made into movies?
There has been much, much more going on, but you'll have to come back for more installments. Happy new year!
Seriously though, things have been busy and "updating the ol' blog" hasn't really made it into the top 5 on the priority list. Hopefully, I'll be better about it in 2011, but who knows.
For my inaugural post of 2011, I thought I'd start with something light: what we've been up to in the wild and wonderful world of the Ramas.
Amar's parents have been with us since late August, and it's been amazing. Sure, the small house has become even more cozy, but it's a small price to pay to have such quality time with them and to watch them interact with Anjali. She loves them to pieces!
We took a "vacation" to Colorado...and I use the word "vacation" very lightly. It was more like a trip. An adventure. The baby did great on the plane, but didn't love the altitude (10,000 feet!) too much. Yes, it was a beautiful winter wonderland in the mountains, but I think our next family vacation will be much closer to home, in a much warmer climate and at a much more sane elevation. Mountains: 1, Ramas: 0
And it's official, we have a big baby on our hands. But she's proportionate, so it's ok. At her 6 month check-up, she was in the 90% for height and weight. Her head, however, is normal-sized (50%), so who knows. We've started doing some sleep training, with great results so far. Here's to a restful 2011!
On the pet-front, we got the Scotties officially groomed for the first time ever, and they actually look like Scotties. They didn't quite know what to think of their new 'do at first, but they were super cute and we loved it. They even smelled like perfume for the first week or so (I kept holding them and smelling them!), so they probably thought I was weird - what's new? Now, due to their new look, when they get running really fast, they look like flying carpets. Good stuff!
Over the holiday break, we saw our fair share of movies as well:
The Fighter
Overall, a great movie, though not as much about boxing as one might suspect. Any Marky Mark lovers out there will enjoy it. Yay! Note: you have to brace yourself for the very profuse and artistic use of the 'f' word....you've been warned.
The King's Speech
To be honest, I wanted to see this one because I really like a certain Mr. Colin Firth*. It was a good movie though, and I'd recommend it. It's a bit slow at times, but come on, what do you expect in a movie about British royalty? And note: there is also a bit of profanity in this one (not nearly as much as The Fighter), but it's done 1) with a British accent and 2) in such a way that you are cracking up...so I didn't mind it too much.
*How can you NOT love Mr. Darcy?!?
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Any Team Narnia folks will enjoy this one (I just made that up, by the way...good stuff, eh?). Reepicheep is great, and Eustace is believably obnoxious, in a good way. Overall, a fun holiday movie. Anyone know if any of the other books are being made into movies?
There has been much, much more going on, but you'll have to come back for more installments. Happy new year!
Monday, November 01, 2010
Quick rhetorical question:
Why is water that comes out of the ice machine not cold?!
Just a quick thought from my lunch break. Oy.
Just a quick thought from my lunch break. Oy.
Monday, October 11, 2010
A weekend of firsts
In retrospect, it seems that we had a great weekend a la Casa de Rama. We had a few 'firsts' that were enjoyable:
I thought I had some more 'firsts' but now I can't think of them...anyhow, hope you had a good weekend too!
- Usage of the TxTag
Since I'm now working out of an office in Round Rock several days each week, we decided that it was worth it to buy a TxTag. So we put it to use for the first time this weekend as we made our way to a friend's house in Pflugerville. Good times, though I'm still not too pleased with toll roads in general... - New kitchen sink
Our 'old' kitchen sink died, and I installed a new one. ('old' being somewhat of a misnomer, since we've only had it for about 4 years!) This was a 'first' because I haven't ever installed a kitchen sink before. Bathroom sinks, yes. Kitchen sinks, no. I take it as a good sign that it's still in working order after the weekend... - Laughing Baby
Our dear friend Tiffany got Anjali to laugh - and it was awesome! Yes, it's always cute when babies laugh, but when it's your kid, it's really fantastic. The only downside? We haven't been able to recreate it...but that's not for lack of trying! - Apple products
Amar surprised me yesterday by taking me to the Apple store and buying an iPad for the family. I was staunchly opposed to owning one, since I didn't really think we needed one, but I actually like it. It's a first real gadget (aside from an iPod Nano) from Apple...and it seemed post-worthy.
I thought I had some more 'firsts' but now I can't think of them...anyhow, hope you had a good weekend too!
Friday, October 01, 2010
Sunday, August 08, 2010
Too much tv
Not only is it a pillow.
Nor is it merely a pet.
In fact, it's a Pillow Pet.
Is anyone else plagued by this completely nonsensical informercial sweeping the nation? Yowzah!
Nor is it merely a pet.
In fact, it's a Pillow Pet.
Is anyone else plagued by this completely nonsensical informercial sweeping the nation? Yowzah!
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Month in review: Parental Essentials
I'm thinking I should trademark that accidental rhyme in the title. Eh?
And now onto bigger and better things: the content of this post
Praise the Good Lord that we've survived 5+ weeks of keeping Anjali alive. Seriously. Now, before I get too far into today's edition, I want to say that this will NOT become a mommy blog. Not to slam the mommy blogs, but just to specify that this is not one of them.
However, there will occasionally be some random child-rearing thoughts that I will share with you from time to time.
I just wanted to make that clear....
Moving on.
I wanted to give a shout-out to some key essentials that have helped us survive these last 5+ weeks. You may or may not be a parent, but I'm hoping that in either case, this will be somewhat interesting/useful to you...there have been 2 things that we really couldn't live without, and an additional item that seems to get almost as many comments as the baby itself. Allow me to enlighten you:
Item 1: The pacifier
Now let me say this, I'm all for kiddos coming equipped with a 'mute' button. However, our Creator did not necessarily design us that way, thus enter the pacifier. Whoever invented this device has simply got to be a gazillionaire at this point. I will admit that we've gotten a lot of mileage out of the pacifier. Not that this is a revolutionary thought by any means...I just don't think I really valued it much before having a baby. Now if they just made them for adults....
Item 2: The Moses basket
We live in a small house. This means that we have about 2 closets in the entire abode, and I am not about to clutter them up with baby gear. If you want to buy the latest gadgets for your kid, go for it. Around our house, however, we are trying to take a minimalistic approach. Thus, when considering purchasing a bassinet, I decided to pass.
However, some friends of ours mentioned that for their 4 kids, they used a Moses basket and definitely got their money's worth out of it. And since their kids are now all well past the infant stage, they loaned the basket to us.
HALLELUJAH!
I think Anjali has slept at least 6-8 hours a day in this thing, if not more (granted, those precious hours aren't in a row yet...). She loves it. We love it. This thing plus the pacifier have allowed me to sleep, eat, shower, brush my teeth and occasionally watch TV. It's been nice to be able to cart a sleeping baby around the house as needed without disturbing her.
Item 3: The stroller
Now, we haven't used this thing too much thus far, but when we have, we get a lot of comments. At church on Sundays, people will actually spend more time asking us about the stroller than about the baby. It's pretty funny, actually.
Anyhow, it's really easy to use and again, Anjali seems to like it. But it still cracks me up how a lot of people are super curious about it. I think next Sunday we'll have to give demonstrations in the church lobby just to fend off the crowds.
Well, that's my take on early parenting. We have lots to learn, and believe you me, I could do an entire month's worth of posts on the usefulness of the burp cloth. I will spare you the details...
You parents out there - was there anything you couldn't live without during the early infant stage? Let me know...
And now onto bigger and better things: the content of this post
Praise the Good Lord that we've survived 5+ weeks of keeping Anjali alive. Seriously. Now, before I get too far into today's edition, I want to say that this will NOT become a mommy blog. Not to slam the mommy blogs, but just to specify that this is not one of them.
However, there will occasionally be some random child-rearing thoughts that I will share with you from time to time.
I just wanted to make that clear....
Moving on.
I wanted to give a shout-out to some key essentials that have helped us survive these last 5+ weeks. You may or may not be a parent, but I'm hoping that in either case, this will be somewhat interesting/useful to you...there have been 2 things that we really couldn't live without, and an additional item that seems to get almost as many comments as the baby itself. Allow me to enlighten you:
Item 1: The pacifier
Now let me say this, I'm all for kiddos coming equipped with a 'mute' button. However, our Creator did not necessarily design us that way, thus enter the pacifier. Whoever invented this device has simply got to be a gazillionaire at this point. I will admit that we've gotten a lot of mileage out of the pacifier. Not that this is a revolutionary thought by any means...I just don't think I really valued it much before having a baby. Now if they just made them for adults....
Item 2: The Moses basket
We live in a small house. This means that we have about 2 closets in the entire abode, and I am not about to clutter them up with baby gear. If you want to buy the latest gadgets for your kid, go for it. Around our house, however, we are trying to take a minimalistic approach. Thus, when considering purchasing a bassinet, I decided to pass.
However, some friends of ours mentioned that for their 4 kids, they used a Moses basket and definitely got their money's worth out of it. And since their kids are now all well past the infant stage, they loaned the basket to us.
HALLELUJAH!
I think Anjali has slept at least 6-8 hours a day in this thing, if not more (granted, those precious hours aren't in a row yet...). She loves it. We love it. This thing plus the pacifier have allowed me to sleep, eat, shower, brush my teeth and occasionally watch TV. It's been nice to be able to cart a sleeping baby around the house as needed without disturbing her.
Item 3: The stroller
Now, we haven't used this thing too much thus far, but when we have, we get a lot of comments. At church on Sundays, people will actually spend more time asking us about the stroller than about the baby. It's pretty funny, actually.
Anyhow, it's really easy to use and again, Anjali seems to like it. But it still cracks me up how a lot of people are super curious about it. I think next Sunday we'll have to give demonstrations in the church lobby just to fend off the crowds.
Well, that's my take on early parenting. We have lots to learn, and believe you me, I could do an entire month's worth of posts on the usefulness of the burp cloth. I will spare you the details...
You parents out there - was there anything you couldn't live without during the early infant stage? Let me know...
Monday, August 02, 2010
In praise of the Kindle
It's no secret that we have a lot of books in our household. In fact, there are several bookshelves where I've had to double-stack books (two rows deep on various shelves) just to fit them all in.
So when Amar decided that he wanted to purchase a Kindle, I was very much open to the expense, because it meant that there would eventually be less book clutter in our house. Little did I know that I would soon become a Kindle fan.
Since welcoming Anjali to our household, I've gotten a TON of use out of the Kindle. I think I probably spent about 3-4 hours reading now, mainly because there's not much else I can do when I'm feeding her. And since feeding her means that I have one hand free, the Kindle is perfect. Basically, I can feed Anjali, holding her with one hand, and read a book in the other hand. I can turn pages one-handed (a simple click of a button). It's super easy to use, and I can switch between books without getting up. Good stuff!
Thus far, I've read the following books on the Kindle in the last 5 weeks:
- Percy Jackson: The Titan's Curse
- Percy Jackson: The Battle of the Labyrinth
- Percy Jackson: The Last Olympian
- The Bible: Psalms 20-73 (I'm reading through Psalms and Provers this summer with our church via The Voyage)
- Moneyball: The Art of Winning and Unfair Game
- Liar's Poker
Also, books are cheaper on the Kindle. Books that would cost $10-$30 to purchase soft/hard copies of are only $4-$10 on the Kindle. All in all, the Rama household highly recommends the Kindle if you're considering purchasing one. Yay!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Adventures with wildlife
Yesterday was not a banner day for me and wildlife. There were three separate incidents that led to this post. Had they not occurred on the same day, I wouldn't have really thought anything of it. However, nature seemed to be conspiring against me yesterday, thus this post was hatched:
Incident 1: The bird at HEB
After loading up Anjali in the car and dropping Amar's lunch off at his office, I decided that I had time to do a quick grocery store run. Upon arriving at HEB, I parked the car, loaded the baby into the cart and headed toward the store. I noticed that there were some HEB employees milling around the parking lot, but didn't really think anything of it.
I was about 20 feet from the store when I felt something on my the back of my head. I quickly moved to brush it off, and then saw a bird fly precariously close to my face. Then I heard someone behind me yell, "Yep - that was a bird. I'm working on it!" I turned around to see that it was one of the employees talking, and then surmised that I had just been dive-bombed by said bird. I felt my head again, to make sure that the bird didn't leave anything behind after it said hello to me. All clear. Luckily, the bird targeted me and not the baby.
Incident 2: The squirrel
After a successful trip through the grocery store, I loaded everything (and everyone) back into the car and headed home. About 3 blocks from the grocery store, I apparently murdered a squirrel. I say "apparently" because I didn't even see him. I heard him. More specifically, I heard a "thump thump" as I ran over him, and not until I checked the rear-view mirror did I realize what I had done.
Incident 3: The bug in the kitchen
Now, you may know that I have a strict no-tolerance policy towards all members of the bug, insect and/or arachnid categories. No-tolerance. I will either kill it, or distance myself so far from it as to render its scary qualities mostly ineffective. And all of them have scary qualities.
Last night, as I was heading to bed, I turned the kitchen light on. I noticed some dust particles coming from one of the lights, and called Amar's attention to it. We both examined the light for a few seconds, and then Amar said "WOAH!" I then saw the reason: a huge, black bug started to poke its head down from the light and into the kitchen. Amar quickly handed me the baby and I darted into the bedroom, slamming the door behind me.
Now, after Amar dispatched the offending bug, he and I started to realize that Bella, the not-so-bright member of the Scottish Terrier branch of the Rama family, tried to alert us to the insect earlier in the week. She spent the better part of one evening staring intently at part of the ceiling of the kitchen. Amar and I both inspected that part of the kitchen several times that evening, but found nothing. Bella remained intent (she's nothing if not dedicated, especially when it looks like she might get some sort of food out of the operation...and I can only imagine that this bug looked like dessert to her). So it now looks like we have a good watchdog in our family. Apologies, Bella, for underestimating your intelligence in the past!
All that to say that yesterday was not my day with the local wildlife. Hopefully today will be much less dramatic!
Incident 1: The bird at HEB
After loading up Anjali in the car and dropping Amar's lunch off at his office, I decided that I had time to do a quick grocery store run. Upon arriving at HEB, I parked the car, loaded the baby into the cart and headed toward the store. I noticed that there were some HEB employees milling around the parking lot, but didn't really think anything of it.
I was about 20 feet from the store when I felt something on my the back of my head. I quickly moved to brush it off, and then saw a bird fly precariously close to my face. Then I heard someone behind me yell, "Yep - that was a bird. I'm working on it!" I turned around to see that it was one of the employees talking, and then surmised that I had just been dive-bombed by said bird. I felt my head again, to make sure that the bird didn't leave anything behind after it said hello to me. All clear. Luckily, the bird targeted me and not the baby.
Incident 2: The squirrel
After a successful trip through the grocery store, I loaded everything (and everyone) back into the car and headed home. About 3 blocks from the grocery store, I apparently murdered a squirrel. I say "apparently" because I didn't even see him. I heard him. More specifically, I heard a "thump thump" as I ran over him, and not until I checked the rear-view mirror did I realize what I had done.
Incident 3: The bug in the kitchen
Now, you may know that I have a strict no-tolerance policy towards all members of the bug, insect and/or arachnid categories. No-tolerance. I will either kill it, or distance myself so far from it as to render its scary qualities mostly ineffective. And all of them have scary qualities.
Last night, as I was heading to bed, I turned the kitchen light on. I noticed some dust particles coming from one of the lights, and called Amar's attention to it. We both examined the light for a few seconds, and then Amar said "WOAH!" I then saw the reason: a huge, black bug started to poke its head down from the light and into the kitchen. Amar quickly handed me the baby and I darted into the bedroom, slamming the door behind me.
Now, after Amar dispatched the offending bug, he and I started to realize that Bella, the not-so-bright member of the Scottish Terrier branch of the Rama family, tried to alert us to the insect earlier in the week. She spent the better part of one evening staring intently at part of the ceiling of the kitchen. Amar and I both inspected that part of the kitchen several times that evening, but found nothing. Bella remained intent (she's nothing if not dedicated, especially when it looks like she might get some sort of food out of the operation...and I can only imagine that this bug looked like dessert to her). So it now looks like we have a good watchdog in our family. Apologies, Bella, for underestimating your intelligence in the past!
All that to say that yesterday was not my day with the local wildlife. Hopefully today will be much less dramatic!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Chaos abounds...
We had a bit of a chaotic moment last night at the Rama household. Looking back, it was pretty entertaining, so I thought I'd share.
In general, Anjali has been a great baby. She is relatively easy to calm, and very rarely gets REALLY upset. However, she is just a baby and thus, she will occasionally have moments where she is upset even though nothing is obviously causing her pain or discomfort.
Last night was one of those moments.
I fed her around 6PM, and Amar got home around 6:30. Almost immediately after he got home, she got fussy. And not just "give me a pacifier" fussy - all out wailing and flailing.
Amar and I took turns trying to calm her over the next hour. And just to underscore how easy a baby she's been so far, she's never cried for more than 5 minutes at a time; we're usually able to calm her pretty quickly.
Last night, however, she would have none of that. We rocked her. We swaddled her. We unswaddled her. We put her on her back. We put her on her stomach. We bounced. We danced. We took her outside. We changed her diaper....you get the picture.
After about an hour, I decided to try to feed her a bit more. Amar and I headed to the nursery, and right as we were turning the corner in the hallway, we somehow knocked the carbon monoxide detector loose and it fell to the ground. As soon as it hit the floor, it started emitting the most horrible, shrill, loud and obnoxious sound known to man. I think essentially the entire block thought that our house was about to self-destruct.
So I'm trying to feed a screaming child. Amar is running around the house with a small white box that is making a horrific noise and is not able to turn it off (apparently when it fell, some part got lodged inside that prevented it from being shut off). He starts threatening to smash it with a hammer. I start laughing.
Then, somehow, the house alarm starts going off. Screaming baby. Screaming carbon monoxide alarm. Screaming house alarm.
It was pretty awesome to say the least.
Eventually, Amar got the house alarm off. Then he found a hammer and started to work on the carbon monoxide detector. The baby had stopped screaming so that she could eat a second meal. And after about 90 minutes of non-stop noise at our house, we were able to rest peacefully and have a conversation at a normal volume.
Good stuff indeed!
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Update: Day 10
So our little one is now 10 days old. It's been a long, but good, 10 days :) Kudos to all the parents out there - we now understand how hard but rewarding this adventure is.
We had the 2 week pediatrician visit yesterday and for those of you into the stats, here's what we found out:
All in all, she's doing really well.
Here are some more pictures that our friend Krista took:
We had the 2 week pediatrician visit yesterday and for those of you into the stats, here's what we found out:
- Her head grew by 1 cm, bringing her into the 50th percentile for head size
- She is back up to her birth weight, weighing in a 7 lb. 10 oz., putting her into the 40th percentile for weight
- She is 20.5 inches long, putting her into the 50th percentile for length
All in all, she's doing really well.
Here are some more pictures that our friend Krista took:
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
The newest Rama
Well folks, she arrived!
Anjali Katherine was born on Saturday, June 26 at 4:55 PM. She weighed in at 7 lb 10 oz and was 20 inches long.
All was well at the first doctor's appointment yesterday. Amar and I are mainly trying to keep her alive at this point, while also trying to get as much sleep as we can. Here are a few pictures from Anjali's first few days with us:
Note: eventually we'll post some pictures of her NOT bundled up, but for now, that's her favorite thing in the world, so we keep her wrapped pretty tight most of the time.
Anjali Katherine was born on Saturday, June 26 at 4:55 PM. She weighed in at 7 lb 10 oz and was 20 inches long.
All was well at the first doctor's appointment yesterday. Amar and I are mainly trying to keep her alive at this point, while also trying to get as much sleep as we can. Here are a few pictures from Anjali's first few days with us:
Note: eventually we'll post some pictures of her NOT bundled up, but for now, that's her favorite thing in the world, so we keep her wrapped pretty tight most of the time.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Some last minute updates...
Well, things are about to change a bit around here, so I thought I'd provide a few last minute updates before we head to the hospital to meet our daughter this weekend.
Nursery Pictures
After the repair work was complete in the baby's room, I set things back in their proper order and snapped a few pictures:
40+ Weeks
Here's my last pregnancy status picture. The due date was 6/20, and it's 6/25, so I'm almost at 41 weeks in this picture...and apparently I make weird facial expressions during these photo shoots. Whatever.
Cuteness...
Now I have no freakin' idea what a layette is, nor did I really put one together for Anjali. Additionally, I intentionally didn't have a 'theme' for her room...I did, however, wind up with some personalized Scottie gear, courtesy of my dear friend Danielle. Check out the goods:
I then went on to make a Scottie-mobile, during one of the days this week that I was trying to pass the time.
Wish us luck this weekend!
Nursery Pictures
After the repair work was complete in the baby's room, I set things back in their proper order and snapped a few pictures:
40+ Weeks
Here's my last pregnancy status picture. The due date was 6/20, and it's 6/25, so I'm almost at 41 weeks in this picture...and apparently I make weird facial expressions during these photo shoots. Whatever.
Cuteness...
Now I have no freakin' idea what a layette is, nor did I really put one together for Anjali. Additionally, I intentionally didn't have a 'theme' for her room...I did, however, wind up with some personalized Scottie gear, courtesy of my dear friend Danielle. Check out the goods:
I then went on to make a Scottie-mobile, during one of the days this week that I was trying to pass the time.
Wish us luck this weekend!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Is that a gun in your pocket, or...
I know we're all about Keeping Austin Weird and everything, but this is NOT the way to do that. Essentially, a young man looking to score cash for drugs takes a transgender prostitute to a convenience store and robs the owner using a caulk gun.
Among the things NOT to do are:
Just to name a few....
People: there are other ways to keep this city unique.
Among the things NOT to do are:
- Pick up a transgender prostitute
- Rob a Speedy Stop
- Use a caulk gun as a weapon
Just to name a few....
People: there are other ways to keep this city unique.
Amar will be thankful for this site:
Called YourNextRead. He'll be thankful for it because I think I probably ask him to pick out another book for me about every 2 weeks or so.
He and I don't exactly have what you'd call 'similar' taste in reading, though there are a few exceptions. However, this site may make things a bit easier on him and help me start using our local library (all of 1 block away) a bit more.
Do you have any suggestions for what I should read next? Looking for something light that I can read in small increments (i.e. something that fits well into the somewhat ridiculous schedule I'm about to take on...).
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
The sky is no longer falling: a job well done
It's been about a week and a half since we got a new AC installed in our aging house. The AC is working great - I just need to figure out how to program it.
During that time, we've had a lot of people through the house to remove, install, repair and inspect the work. As you saw with my previous post, the work was not without its own drama. However, I didn't want to leave you thinking that we got the short end of the stick with the AC folks.
When we first started the process, we decided to go with the Strand Brothers, a local outfit here in town.
Being a homegrown Austinite, I was familiar with their cutesy radio commercials, and was generally understood their quality of work to be high. When we got a personal recommendation from a friend of ours, encouraging us to go with the brothers Strand, we decided to go for it. That, along with the fact that they do all the rebate (city, state, federal) stuff for you, and we were sold.
Midway through the installation process, some of the employees wound up accidentally making a small crack in the ceiling of the baby's room. The workers were super apologetic about it, and they scheduled repairs for a week later. Over the next week, the crack widened just a bit. Then, on the night before the repair was supposed to take place, the ceiling collapsed.
Amar called their offices immediately, and by 8:30AM the next day, there was a crew at our house. They came on Friday, Saturday and Monday to complete the cleanup, the repair, and the final inspection.
Faithful readers: know that the folks at Strand Brothers have handled this situation in a professional manner, with courtesy and humility. Every person that came through our house was respectful and competent. When they said they'd arrive between 8:30 and 9, for instance, they showed up at 8:30. When they said that they'd be done in an hour, they were done in an hour. When insulation filled our baby's room, they had a cleaning crew in the next day and hauled the dirtier items off to the dry cleaners.
The house is now well-air conditioned, the ceiling completely repaired and the house completely cleaned.
I have to agree with their slogan: they are indeed really nice boys!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Technology
I can't even begin to imagine what this search would have looked like in an email-less world. Even just ~10 years ago, combing through 34 million pages of documents would have been painstaking.
However, in this day and age, very little of what you actually communicate is private. Keep that in mind, as this article points out, if you plan do to anything remotely suspicious or even slightly illegal ;)
Too bad for the folks at Lehman Bros. Really, I feel for them....oh wait, no. That must have been someone else I was feeling bad for. Oh yeah, the rest of the country.
Anyhow, I love the mental picture the Bloomberg article paints of a bunch of lawyers sitting in a conference room trying to compile a list of search terms that people might use if they were involved in a massive cover-up. Almost makes me wish I were a lawyer.
However, in this day and age, very little of what you actually communicate is private. Keep that in mind, as this article points out, if you plan do to anything remotely suspicious or even slightly illegal ;)
Too bad for the folks at Lehman Bros. Really, I feel for them....oh wait, no. That must have been someone else I was feeling bad for. Oh yeah, the rest of the country.
Anyhow, I love the mental picture the Bloomberg article paints of a bunch of lawyers sitting in a conference room trying to compile a list of search terms that people might use if they were involved in a massive cover-up. Almost makes me wish I were a lawyer.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
I'm sorry, but what?
Has anyone else seen the commercials for the new "limited edition" Huggies Jean Diaper?
Is there really a need in the market for diapers that look like jeans?
Is there really a need in the market for diapers that look like jeans?
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