Lost Recap: The Beginning of the End

1. Oceanic 6!!!!! NO WAY!!!!!!!!
2. Only have three bullets, but must mention watching in HD on David's beautiful TV.
3. H ... O ... You win. Mythology is back.

Cutest. Picture. Ever.

What do you get when you combine two tired, cuddly toddlers and an Oliver?

My New Chair

When we went to Uncle Matt & Aunt Honor's house after Christmas I found this really neat chair that belongs to my cousins. I loved to climb in it and lounge, and sometimes I would even sit in it for a few minutes. Mommy says it was amazing that I would be still for more than 30 seconds. I don't know what she means, but whatever. Here's a picture of me having fun in the chair:


Since I had such a good time with that chair, Mommy started looking around for a little chair for me to have at home. Our friend Julie told her that IKEA sells chairs for kids like me. So when Bruce and Julie went to IKEA last weekend, Mommy asked them to pick one up for me. They brought it over and my friend Bruce was really, really nice and put it together for me right away. I love it! I climbed in it and Daddy took this picture:


When I woke up the next morning the very first thing I did was go and sit in my chair. I took one of the blankets from the couch and cuddled up with it:


Then I played "Where's Clara?" with Mommy & Daddy for awhile:


It's so great to have a chair that fits me and no one else, so I don't have to get mad when someone else sits in it. I do that sometimes. Mommy will have to tell you about how mad I got on Sunday at church when someone tried to sit in my chair in the foyer.

We love IKEA!

A Good Quote

Must preface this quote with the promise that I really do hate politics. I came across the following in an e-mail that is sent out daily by our PR department. The e-mail contains all the mentions of my company's properties in the press. The following made me laugh.

As John Dickerson of Slate puts it -- "The GOP primary is starting to look like a Pee Wee soccer tournament: Everyone gets a trophy!"

Just Like The Movies

Last night we had a late launch (meaning new code launched on our site, had to stay up late testing) so I slept in this morning. Kristin told me to take the car to work, shortening my commute from an hour to thirty minutes. I love my wife.

Something required that I move my car at the end of the day, about an hour before heading home. While moving my car, the following happened:

I pulled into a metered parking spot, got out of the car, and closed the car door. A bus was coming down the street; I didn't think much of it. After I closed the car door and as I turned to walk to the meter the bus passed, hitting a puddle of water and soaking me with slushy, salt, snowy road water. It was disgusting. I stood there in disbelief - What! Am I in a movie? - and quickly got out of the street, thereby avoiding a similar shower of road water from a passing car. Keys, coat, shirt, pants, badge: soaked. I went upstairs, walked in to my boss' office, told her about my experience, stood there good-naturedly as she laughed, and the announced that I was leaving for the day.

Backposts on Communiting

Backposts, all related to commuting:

• Christmas Eve Commute Home on the Bus
• Overheard on the Bus
• LaRouche

Back From The Allergist

Clara's appointment with the allergist today brought us some good news, some expected news, and some not-so-good news. They did a skin scratch test to a few foods to figure out what might be her prognosis and some options for us in the here and now.

The Good: Clara didn't react to soy, so we can start giving her soy milk and weaning her off Neocate. Yay! Soy milk is the nearest to cows milk in terms of nutritional content, so that's a big positive.

The Expected: Yes, she is in fact still allergic to milk proteins. Duh. But the doctor was very encouraged by the fact that her reactions to milk and casein were fairly mild. He's reasonably sure she'll outgrow this one in the next few years. Let's hope.

The Not-So-Good: He decided to test peanuts, since they are a great source of protein. But...she reacted. The degree of reaction was about the same as the milk, so hopefully that indicates it won't be too serious, and she may even outgrow it, although it's less likely than the milk allergy. But at this point there really is no way to tell how badly she'll react if she were to eat peanut products. As such, the doctor gave us a prescription for an epi-pen on the very unlikely chance that she may have a severe reaction.

She'll be retested in a year for both peanuts and milk, and we're hopeful that this will be short-lived. In the meantime, we'll pass on the peanut butter and I'm collecting dairy-free recipes. Anyone have some good ones?

Deathly Hallows To Be Two Movies

The Mail is reporting that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be split into two movies. Rumors of Steven Spielberg as director are also mentioned.

Comment #1: Two movies is a great idea. There are too many excellent things in the book to skip.

Comment #2: Spielberg. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Wasn't his ruining of A.I. enough? ... ... thinking ... ... But if he does Deathly Hallows I HIGHLY doubt they'll let him monkey with the script. This may be okay. ... ... Naw. I don't want Spielberg.

Greatest. Brownie. Pan. Ever.

So, this Christmas Kristin won.

While opening presents she handed me two boxes with the instruction, "Open the top on first." I opened a box of brownie mix and looked at her in puzzlement. "Brownies?" "Yes, brownies." "Okay ... I like them. Why as a gift?" "Open the next one." "But we take turns: me one, you one." "Open the box." "Yes, ma'am."

I then opened the single greatest gift given in the history of our family: the Baker's Edge Edge Brownie Pan. (Detailed info here.) Ingeniously designed, the Edge Brownie pan produces six corner pieces, four pieces with edges on either side, and two pieces with THREE EDGES. That's right, three edges! Genius, I tell you. Pure genius.

I freaked out then and there. You see, I love the edges of brownies. I could take or leave the middle, but nothing tops the chewy outside of a pan of good brownies. I have fond memories of the Duncan Hines brownies my mom used to make and the way the corners would cook a little too much and have a chewy, crunchy consistency. Now I have a pan that guarantees at least two edges per piece. Le sigh.

So, tonight I was complaining that I needed a sweet treat. Kristin reminded me of my Christmas gift. I jumped out of my seat, scurried to the pantry, paraded the pan around the main floor while making fanfare noises, and started making brownies. Here is the pan after I administered the layer of non-stick cooking spray:
The only brownie mix worthy of such a vessel is the Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Brownie Mix. I combined the ingredients, stirred the prescribed forty times, and spooned into the edge pan. After a little manual redistribution, and spatula licking ("I liked their spatulas so much, I bought the company."), the brownies were ready for the 325º oven.
One of the great joys of the Baker's Edge Edge Brownie Pan is, due to the increased surface area, courtesy of the ingenious design, the brownies cooked in 35 minutes. (The recipe said 40-45 minutes.) I pulled the pan from the oven and fought myself as I waited fifteen minutes for them to set and cool.
There the pan sat, tempting me. I looked at the clock again and again. 9:11. 9:12. 9:13. 9:14. When will 9:15 arrive. Finally, 9:15. "Lovey, it's time!" Kristin didn't stir, so I pulled out the spatula that came with the pan (perfectly sized) and cut us each a brownie. I had one of the three-edge pieces; Kristin had a two. And to say these brownies were exquisite would be an understatement.

The brownies were perfectly cooked. No part was over or undercooked. Each bite was brownie perfection. I kid you not. One. Two. Three. I couldn't stop myself. Finally an aching stomach told me I'd had enough. Gone was the travails of overly gooey centers and slightly charred edges. Gone was the fight "Oh! save me an edge." 100% brownie goodness is now mine. For the rest of my life.

Hold the presses! Upon reviewing this post Kristin told me that Clara gave me the brownie pan. I hereby strip Kristin of her title and proclaim that Clara is winning. What a good girl she is.

Art Installation

I think yesterday was a long day for Mommy and Daddy. We've switched to afternoon church, so I don't get my afternoon nap. This means that by bedtime I was a total cranky pants. Odd how that happens when I wear dresses to church.

Before church, Daddy and I played the piano together. Daddy plays pretty well, but I think it always sounds better when I help him out. For some reason he didn't want me to include his face in this picture. Something about wondering who in the world could love such a face.
We had spaghetti for dinner tonight, which means I have to have a bath RIGHT AFTER DINNER because I'm a little messy. After bathtime, Daddy put me in my pajamas and we played in my room for a little while. Daddy turned to Mommy and said, "Why don't we hang the fabric?" Mommy said, "If you want to," so Daddy went and got the ball-peen hammer while Mommy got a pile of ten picture frames containing pieces of fabric from the guest room.

Daddy readied himself with the hammer and asked for the first nail. He hung the ten frames, agonizing over the spacing, orientation, and order of each. Mommy just played with me in the rocking chair and rolled her eyes. Once they were all up I turned to Mommy, grunted, and pointed at the wall. I hope she understood that I like them.

Daddy says the real question is: "Does any other baby you know have installation art hanging in their bedroom?" I think Daddy's a little insane.

Backposting

Day 6 in Portland from Thanksgiving.

It's A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

A 70 degree day in January? Unheard of in these parts, you say? Well, that's just the kind of weather we enjoyed today. Warm, blue skies, nice and breezy...I tell you, if there was a place with weather like this year-round, I'd move there in a heartbeat. Bonnie and I decided to take advantage of the day by taking the kids out to explore the neighborhood and see if we could find any little playgrounds.

Our first attempt was met with failure. Yes, the play area was there but the gate was chained and locked. Neither of us felt like climbing the fence with a child in tow, so we moved on. Success on our second try! Clara and Michael both enjoyed the slide, and Clara enjoyed the dirt a little too much for my liking. Once the slide lost its allure, we let them walk around a little gazebo next to the play area while we chatted. And, of course, took pictures. The following shots are a few of my favorites.

The slide is awesome!



Michael gets a little fresh...but Clara doesn't seem to mind.


Michael on the run.


Just playing with the new camera.

Got Milk? Nope.

I know we have many, many posts to catch up on, but I'm wasted tired tonight so this is just a quick update. A few weeks ago we started reintroducing dairy into Clara's diet to see if she had outgrown her milk allergy yet. For a couple of weeks she seemed to be doing fine, but she's now breaking out in hives every time she eats any dairy products. So we're back to milk-free foods and we have an appointment with an allergist next week. Joy.

I promise we'll get our acts together and post some Christmas photos and we'll get some video of our little walker. I just need some sleep first.

LaRouche

"Sir, the U.S. dollar is falling."

Said to me by a man handing out pamphlets outside the Metro station. I assumed him to be some political crazy and walked on.

A few steps later I passed one of his pamphlets someone had dropped on the ground and saw "www.LaRouche...". Assume no more, my good Oliver. Now we know the man wasn't just a political crazy, but a good old-fashioned crazy crazy. Come on, who else would support Lyndon LaRouche?

Ahh, the joys of a presidential election and third-party candidates. Folks, when are you going to learn that third parties don't matter? Heck, my vote in Virginia doesn't matter. Has always been, probably will always be a red state.

Oh, that my vote counted.

Overheard on the Bus

Older woman sits reading a book on the bus. Middle-aged heavy set woman gets on bus, recognizes Woman #1, and sits down in seat behind her.

Woman #2: So glad it's friday. The longest **** short week ... (voice trails off)

Woman #1: I was getting off the escalator and this guy stops in front of me -

Woman #2: (interrupting) Sure you don't want to kick him in the ****?

Woman #1: I said, "Excuse me," and then said, "Thank you."

Woman #2: **** head (then something unintelligible)

Woman #1: I've never had that happen before.

I see the most random things on my commute.

Blogging New Year's Day

Should this be Part 7?

Slumber parties are not meant to include sleep, and this one delivered. A 1:48am bedtime (we had to show off Paper Mario) and Clara waking up and coming into bed with us and not being able to fall back asleep (read flailing around, crying out every two minutes), resulted in very little sleep for Mom and Dad. At 3:20am, after an hour and a half of Clara's fitfullness, I got up, dressed, and walked Kristin and Clara to the car, with the charge to sleep what they could and return in the morning.

Return they did, sleep little did we all. Bruce made some amazing molasses ginger waffles, a Rachel Ray recipe, which we served with fruit, sausage, and bacon. Bonnie suggested that we cooked the bacon in the oven. This took me back to my days working at Fuddrucker's, where we would cook the day's bacon in the oven each morning. The bacon that was closely attended to cooked perfectly. The bacon that I ignored on the lower rack charred and set off the smoke alarm. Bonnie handed David a towel, which he waved in front of the smoke alarm, which silenced the alarm. Great trick to remember.

The pictures of the waffles don't do them justice, so I'll close with a Bruce self portrait. Anyone ready for a nap?