Saturday was quite busy. My morning class went well, but I was glad to get out of there. Immediately upon getting home, we raced out to a local golf course with some nice hills which is the local home for sledding. The girls had a lot of fun, Naomi was much more adventurous but Fiona enjoyed herself also. Naomi's only problem on the day was on one of her runs she collided with a boy walking back up the slope. Noboday was hurt but I think she was worried that she had done something wrong. Hopefully this will not deter her from wanting to try this again.
After sledding, it was off to Gary's for a night of poker. We played a NL cash game with 0.25/0.50 blinds. I really had no cards for most of the night, except for one hand where I was able to cash in. My AA held up against someone with a low pocket pair and someone else with top pair A kicker...so that was my win for the evening. After this game broke up, Gary, Kevin and I played a $20 buyin, winner-takes-all tournament. At the end, Kevin and I were still alive, I had him very slightly out-chipped and I got him all in with my KJ against his J9. Unfortunately a 9 hit on the turn which crippled me, and I came in 2nd place. Overall a small ($30) profit for the night but it was a lot of fun, hope we can do it again soon.
Sunday involved some errands and then watching the kids as Mindy went to the movies with a friend in the evening. They were exhausted after a big weekend so fortunately they did not fight bedtime as they will occasionally do.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
Snow Day!
Due to the snowstorm hitting the north east today, I have been allowed to work from home! Always nice not to have to battle traffic, although I will be quite busy. Hopefully I will be able to get out for an hour or so to see the kids' in their gymnastics class this afternoon. The snow is not too bad but bad enough to have made the commute quite tough. It started snowing about 2:00am and is forecast to continue throughout the day, turning to freezing rain just in time for the evening commute home, so it is better to stay in and enjoy the view out the window.
This weekend is shaping up to be busy once again - a work training class on Saturday morning that I really would rather not attend but kind of have to, however, a local poker night on Saturday night will balance out the day nicely I think.
This weekend is shaping up to be busy once again - a work training class on Saturday morning that I really would rather not attend but kind of have to, however, a local poker night on Saturday night will balance out the day nicely I think.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Bowling
Yesterday afternoon, Colgate IT sponsored an afternoon of bowling for all employees. Not that I am an employee...but I went anyway. It was a lot of fun. I played 6 games, getting between 125 and 150 in all of them. Basically, this is what always happens to me. I play about once every 5 years and seem to be able to throw it relatively straight but cannot get it to spin into the pocket, a skill you need if you want to get strikes consistently. One thing was frustrating though, we had someone in our group who was not aware of when his turn came up, EVER. We all can get distracted but is it really that tough to remember the person in front of you and to pay attention to see when they are done? Clearly for some people, it was! Sure beat working for an afternoon, that is for sure.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Loving the Presidents
My current client (Colgate) gives their employees a holiday for Presidents Day so this past weekend was a long weekend for me! Saturday involved a trip to Ikea to get some CD storage. It is always an interesting store to go to and one where you need to set aside enough time for he experience. Lunch in the cafe was quite decent (both in food quality and price) and the kids were entertained watching the two piece band that was playing for entertainment. We knew what we wanted to purchase and picked it up without a difficulty. I debated whether we should remove the need for this by converting our CDs to MP3s and buying a big iPod…but we both like the idea of having the CDs there, reading the booklet etc. Perhaps we are just not modern enough to take this step right now.
That night, some friends came to visit so the evening was busy with beer and Chinese food. Then it was time to watch the cricket. I went to sleep after the first innings and thought we had a chance…but certainly was not confident of defending our total. Upon watching the 2nd innings, I was pleasantly surprised that we were able to win thegame…but also do it by enough to get a bonus point. It is quite clear to all that we need to improve our batting in order to consistently win, but for now, the bowlers are doing enough for us.
Sunday afternoon and we were back to tidying up and assembling the 8 CD racks. This was done with some “help” from the girls of course. Sunday night was spent relaxing and watching the movie “The Story of Us”. We had seen this before (Mindy several times) and despite there being a few contrived scenes, the sentiment of the movie is nice. Mindy was in tears by the end of it (as always) and has now put a family ban on future watchings of this film…at least for a while.
On Monday, the weather was quite mild so it was a chance to open up the windows and freshed up the house. First thing was to attend a cycling class at the YMCA. Normally I go to one first thing and Mindy attends mid-morning…but getting up at 5:45 on a day off was not going to happen, so we attended the same class. For no particular reason (I guess just to be silly) we had planned to act like we did not know each other…but Mindy could not keep up the “charade”, talking to me as she walked in. After getting destroyed by the psycho-fit instructor, we went home to continue cleaning up. Some more rearranging of furniture, putting up some shelves and we are now almost done. I will be glad when we are finally all done and we can put all of this nonsense behind us.
That night, some friends came to visit so the evening was busy with beer and Chinese food. Then it was time to watch the cricket. I went to sleep after the first innings and thought we had a chance…but certainly was not confident of defending our total. Upon watching the 2nd innings, I was pleasantly surprised that we were able to win thegame…but also do it by enough to get a bonus point. It is quite clear to all that we need to improve our batting in order to consistently win, but for now, the bowlers are doing enough for us.
Sunday afternoon and we were back to tidying up and assembling the 8 CD racks. This was done with some “help” from the girls of course. Sunday night was spent relaxing and watching the movie “The Story of Us”. We had seen this before (Mindy several times) and despite there being a few contrived scenes, the sentiment of the movie is nice. Mindy was in tears by the end of it (as always) and has now put a family ban on future watchings of this film…at least for a while.
On Monday, the weather was quite mild so it was a chance to open up the windows and freshed up the house. First thing was to attend a cycling class at the YMCA. Normally I go to one first thing and Mindy attends mid-morning…but getting up at 5:45 on a day off was not going to happen, so we attended the same class. For no particular reason (I guess just to be silly) we had planned to act like we did not know each other…but Mindy could not keep up the “charade”, talking to me as she walked in. After getting destroyed by the psycho-fit instructor, we went home to continue cleaning up. Some more rearranging of furniture, putting up some shelves and we are now almost done. I will be glad when we are finally all done and we can put all of this nonsense behind us.
Friday, February 15, 2008
One Last Glimpse Of Greatness???
Another great knock by Gilly last night. Doing it in his final appearance before his home crowd just added to the magic. From looking at the other scores in the game, clearly his innings was quite amazing. Perhaps this was our last chance to watch him take an attack apart? There are still a few games to go in the season, so he might entertain us again, but you have to think this might have been his last, great innings. Over the past few seasons, his scores like this have occurred much less frequently, a reason for the timing of his retirement being so perfect. Nice for him that he had this (possibly) final chance to show his abilities to us all and let us know what we will be missing. It was nice to see him hitting the ball so hard...then again, he hit the ball pretty hard the other night against India, the umpire just didn't see it!
In the context of the series it was a great win. Symonds' catch was stunning and it was a great bowling effort by the side to restrict Sri Lanka. I like the balance of the team right now and James Hopes is a real unsung talent for us. It is hard to see much of a way back for Shane Watson in the near future, even if he gets over his chronic hamstring troubles.
I am looking forward to the weekend very much - public holiday on Monday! Not really sure what we will be doing. Hopefully get the house straight and I think there are some plans around to see some friends at some point.
In the context of the series it was a great win. Symonds' catch was stunning and it was a great bowling effort by the side to restrict Sri Lanka. I like the balance of the team right now and James Hopes is a real unsung talent for us. It is hard to see much of a way back for Shane Watson in the near future, even if he gets over his chronic hamstring troubles.
I am looking forward to the weekend very much - public holiday on Monday! Not really sure what we will be doing. Hopefully get the house straight and I think there are some plans around to see some friends at some point.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Winter Blast
For much of the winter, the weather has been relatively mild but that all changed on the weekend. The temperatures were bitterly cold early in the week and yesterday we had a snow storm. Nothing too crazy but enough to turn a 30 minute commute into a two hour battle to get home. By this morning it has turned to rain leaving a horrible mess of slush wherever you walk. Can't wait for Spring!
I have also managed to turn the kids into pineapple addicts. I typically throw pineapple in anything - onto a pizza; on sandwiches; in salads; on hamburgers and last night into our home made quesadillas. The kids were also in on the act, eating several rings on the side with their dinner. This morning, Naomi requested some with her breakfast. I am curious to see if they will now try hawaiian pizza, which would be much to the disgust of Mindy!
I have also managed to turn the kids into pineapple addicts. I typically throw pineapple in anything - onto a pizza; on sandwiches; in salads; on hamburgers and last night into our home made quesadillas. The kids were also in on the act, eating several rings on the side with their dinner. This morning, Naomi requested some with her breakfast. I am curious to see if they will now try hawaiian pizza, which would be much to the disgust of Mindy!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Busy Times
The last few days have pretty much been a blur. Saturday began with Naomi's ice skating. She received her class review and was graded from 1-5 (5 being "Strong") in the skills taught in the class. She received a "5" right across the board and so now is able to move up to the next class level.
After this we had lunch with some friends in the area at a local Cuban restaurant. The food was excellent, I chose a BBQ pork dish with rice, beans and a fried plantain. We will certainly be coming back. The kids enjoyed the food OK but especially liked the fruit shakes that were available.
In the afternoon, Mindy went out with her friend Holly and I stayed home with the kids. At about 4:30 she called and asked if I wanted to go to Atlantic City that night with Gary (Holly's husband). I didn't need too much convincing and so plans were made...
We left the house at around 9:00, picked up another friend on the way and arrived at the casinos around 11:00. I played $1/$2 NL right through until 4:30 and despite losing a little, had a lot of fun and figured out a few things about playing in a casino. You only get better with experience and I certainly know what mistakes I made and how I plan to correct them. My biggest winning hand of the night was a KQ that hit nicely with a flop of 9TJ! Other than this, I did not really get too many nice hands but it was certainly a good night.
We arrived home at 6:30 and I grabbed about 4 hours of sleep before getting on with the rest of the day. First item of business was to watch the cricket from the previous night. Unfortunately Australia did rather poorly so it was easy to fast forward through the game and watch the damage. Following this, our organization kick continued - now our basement is relatively uncluttered and we have places in our various storage closets and bins for all of our stuff. A couple more weekends of this and I think we will be able to get everything in line.
On Monday, Mindy's present arrived! I had actually told her what it was over the weekend - the book of the series we had recently watched "It's Not Easy Being Green", shown here on the Sundance channel but produced initally on the BBC. It was the story of a family that purchased a 300 year old farmhouse and renovated it using environmentally sound practices. They also began to largely live off the land, raising their own pigs, chickens and garden. Some of the more interesting projects they tackled were to created an aquaduct driving a wheel providing some of their power needs; their own bio-diesel plant; ducted wood heat throughout their house and a pump to take water from their spring to a tank in their attic. Very entertaing to watch and so I figured the book would be interesting. Mindy was happy with the book, despite the long wait.
Last night we watched the movie "Superbad". It was made by the same people who did "Knocked Up" but not nearly as good. There were some parts that were quite funny but unfortunately some quite poor sections as well. Not superbad but certainly not supergood either.
After this we had lunch with some friends in the area at a local Cuban restaurant. The food was excellent, I chose a BBQ pork dish with rice, beans and a fried plantain. We will certainly be coming back. The kids enjoyed the food OK but especially liked the fruit shakes that were available.
In the afternoon, Mindy went out with her friend Holly and I stayed home with the kids. At about 4:30 she called and asked if I wanted to go to Atlantic City that night with Gary (Holly's husband). I didn't need too much convincing and so plans were made...
We left the house at around 9:00, picked up another friend on the way and arrived at the casinos around 11:00. I played $1/$2 NL right through until 4:30 and despite losing a little, had a lot of fun and figured out a few things about playing in a casino. You only get better with experience and I certainly know what mistakes I made and how I plan to correct them. My biggest winning hand of the night was a KQ that hit nicely with a flop of 9TJ! Other than this, I did not really get too many nice hands but it was certainly a good night.
We arrived home at 6:30 and I grabbed about 4 hours of sleep before getting on with the rest of the day. First item of business was to watch the cricket from the previous night. Unfortunately Australia did rather poorly so it was easy to fast forward through the game and watch the damage. Following this, our organization kick continued - now our basement is relatively uncluttered and we have places in our various storage closets and bins for all of our stuff. A couple more weekends of this and I think we will be able to get everything in line.
On Monday, Mindy's present arrived! I had actually told her what it was over the weekend - the book of the series we had recently watched "It's Not Easy Being Green", shown here on the Sundance channel but produced initally on the BBC. It was the story of a family that purchased a 300 year old farmhouse and renovated it using environmentally sound practices. They also began to largely live off the land, raising their own pigs, chickens and garden. Some of the more interesting projects they tackled were to created an aquaduct driving a wheel providing some of their power needs; their own bio-diesel plant; ducted wood heat throughout their house and a pump to take water from their spring to a tank in their attic. Very entertaing to watch and so I figured the book would be interesting. Mindy was happy with the book, despite the long wait.
Last night we watched the movie "Superbad". It was made by the same people who did "Knocked Up" but not nearly as good. There were some parts that were quite funny but unfortunately some quite poor sections as well. Not superbad but certainly not supergood either.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Recovery
Mindy and Fiona are pretty much over their illnesses now. Fortunatley (so far) Naomi and I have managed to avoid getting sick. Hopefully everyone is feeling well for another weekend of home organization (and cricket watching on Saturday night).
It was nice to see a non-rained-out match last night. Watching the uneven bounce while we batted and also knowing the strength of our bowling, I never had any doubts that our total would be sufficient, however to win by such an overwhelming amount was a surprise.
Mindy's present still has not arrived. Hopefully it will get here soon as her patience with this is fast running out. Every day I am letting her know a little more about the present...she can ask one "yes/no" answer question each day it does not arrive. Quite arbitrary I know, but this allows her to perhaps hit upon what it is. She knows that it is a book from Amazon but has not hit upon the correct topic as yet. Each topic of interest she rules out means more confusion and disappointment and she is now quite convinced that she will not like whatever it is. After this build up, I really hope she is wrong. Too late now I guess...
It was nice to see a non-rained-out match last night. Watching the uneven bounce while we batted and also knowing the strength of our bowling, I never had any doubts that our total would be sufficient, however to win by such an overwhelming amount was a surprise.
Mindy's present still has not arrived. Hopefully it will get here soon as her patience with this is fast running out. Every day I am letting her know a little more about the present...she can ask one "yes/no" answer question each day it does not arrive. Quite arbitrary I know, but this allows her to perhaps hit upon what it is. She knows that it is a book from Amazon but has not hit upon the correct topic as yet. Each topic of interest she rules out means more confusion and disappointment and she is now quite convinced that she will not like whatever it is. After this build up, I really hope she is wrong. Too late now I guess...
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Stomach Flu
Mindy and Fiona are both sick. It started with Fiona on the weekend and now it seems Mindy has caught the same thing. Fiona is not her usual bubbly self, pretty much lying around and sleeping for much of the day and Mindy is doing her best to deal with the kids while feeling pretty miserable. I will be getting out of here a little early today to try to help. Part of her birthday present arrived yesterday...but it was the 2nd half and knowledge of this would ruin the surprise of the rest of it...so I made her wait to open it. Hopefully my idea is OK as she now is expecting it to be a perfect gift, anything less will surely cause disappointment. The rest SHOULD be arriving any day now, perhaps just in time to cheer her up.
I have a present waiting for me at the house. For helping to mentor another consultant from my company, his manager issued me a "Short Term Achievement Award". I had the chance to select something from a list of things like power tools; small electronics; camping equipment; desk clocks; kitchen stuff etc...I chose a reciprocating saw to help with trimming some small tree branches around our yard. I am sure I will find something that needs chopping up over the weekend.
I have a present waiting for me at the house. For helping to mentor another consultant from my company, his manager issued me a "Short Term Achievement Award". I had the chance to select something from a list of things like power tools; small electronics; camping equipment; desk clocks; kitchen stuff etc...I chose a reciprocating saw to help with trimming some small tree branches around our yard. I am sure I will find something that needs chopping up over the weekend.
Monday, February 4, 2008
A Super Weekend
Friday evening began with watching the rest of our demolition of India in the Twenty20 game. Clarke's fielding to get the first runout was quite sensational and from that moment, India never seemed like they were in the game.
Saturday involved Naomi's ice skating with her additional private lesson. She really enjoyed this, so much so that for the rest of the afternoon she was "skating" on our wood floors at home pretending to be her teacher and was giving ice skating advice to the rest of us (her students). On the way home from the rink, an idiotic driver saw fit to cut us off and give us a dirty look. He was greeted with a stereo "flipping off" courtesy of both Mindy and my middle fingers. This guy was really driving like a dangerous jerk. We clearly must have gotten to him because when he exited up ahead, he slowed down on the exit ramp until we caught up to him, for the purpose of flipping us off! Naturally, he was met with another Quirk combination from the two of us. Immature I know...but we had a good laugh about it for the rest of the ride and enjoyed imagining him cursing us out and thinking we got under his skin a little bit.
The rest of the afternoon was devoted to further tidying, rearranging and organizing of the house. Many measurements have been taken to buy shelves; drawers; plastic bins etc to help us make the most of the space we have. We are really making some progress now and I think we can both see the finish line of all of this. It is actually quite a nice feeling to get this done. I guess I am getting older or something! Saturday night involved watching the cricket again, shame the game got rained out but with the pitch playing a few tricks and a revision of the total due to the rain, what should have been an easy win was looking like being a bit of a struggle.
Sunday was a continuation of our quest for organization and also a kids birthday party in the afternoon. Both Naomi and Fiona were invited but Fiona was battling a stomach bug (threw up a few times) and could not go. Naomi had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the games and playing with her friends. And of course, Sunday night was the Super Bowl. Quite an amazing game and a win that was thoroughly deserved by the underdog New York Giants. Mindy always enjoys the Super Bowl, simply because it is the last football game of the year! Fortunately there is plenty of cricket on right now to fill the gap.
Saturday involved Naomi's ice skating with her additional private lesson. She really enjoyed this, so much so that for the rest of the afternoon she was "skating" on our wood floors at home pretending to be her teacher and was giving ice skating advice to the rest of us (her students). On the way home from the rink, an idiotic driver saw fit to cut us off and give us a dirty look. He was greeted with a stereo "flipping off" courtesy of both Mindy and my middle fingers. This guy was really driving like a dangerous jerk. We clearly must have gotten to him because when he exited up ahead, he slowed down on the exit ramp until we caught up to him, for the purpose of flipping us off! Naturally, he was met with another Quirk combination from the two of us. Immature I know...but we had a good laugh about it for the rest of the ride and enjoyed imagining him cursing us out and thinking we got under his skin a little bit.
The rest of the afternoon was devoted to further tidying, rearranging and organizing of the house. Many measurements have been taken to buy shelves; drawers; plastic bins etc to help us make the most of the space we have. We are really making some progress now and I think we can both see the finish line of all of this. It is actually quite a nice feeling to get this done. I guess I am getting older or something! Saturday night involved watching the cricket again, shame the game got rained out but with the pitch playing a few tricks and a revision of the total due to the rain, what should have been an easy win was looking like being a bit of a struggle.
Sunday was a continuation of our quest for organization and also a kids birthday party in the afternoon. Both Naomi and Fiona were invited but Fiona was battling a stomach bug (threw up a few times) and could not go. Naomi had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the games and playing with her friends. And of course, Sunday night was the Super Bowl. Quite an amazing game and a win that was thoroughly deserved by the underdog New York Giants. Mindy always enjoys the Super Bowl, simply because it is the last football game of the year! Fortunately there is plenty of cricket on right now to fill the gap.
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