Eyeball update

That photo of my eye from yesterday really doesn't do my affliction justice. That was taken early in the day, and by evening, I (mostly) looked and (sort of) felt like I had been held down and had a mixture of gasoline, sand, and pepper spray poured into each eye. The drops that Lola had been prescribed last weekend apparently didn't do the trick for me. We finally went to urgent care (what a farce - nothing urgent about it...just one other patient, yet slow as molasses, I had to tell 3 different folks that I wasn't allergic to any meds and that this had been going on since this morning, and out of a total of almost exactly one hour, I spent about 90 seconds with the doctor. Why can they just listen to my description of symptoms in Lola and call in the prescription, but they make a grown man go through that song and dance? Don't they believe me? Are they afraid of the black market and rampant abuse of antibiotic eye drops? But I digress...) and got some drops that seem to be doing the trick. Still rather red of eyeball, and felt like Homer last night:

but the searing, punishing discomfort has all but abated, and I'm not wiping pus from my eyes every 30 minutes today, so that seems like a good sign. Hurray!

Lola is probably going to go see horses and goats today with Amy, if she wraps up her nap in time. We had a nice lunch of mostly edamame and a bit of smashed banana. Morgan should be home from work soon. Laundry's in progress. Looking ahead to how we'll spend our healthy tax refund (e-filed yesterday, should be in the bank in about 10 days). We're thinking new carpet in the bedrooms and hall, some work on the VW camper, save a little, pay off some bills, and a new laptop.

So that's that...another day, another prescription filled. Hope this finds everyone well and fine.

Sick in the head

Actually the eyes to be specific. Lola's aforementioned pinkeye apparently made the leap to me at some point, but it didn't manifest until today. Woke up this morning with the crusty goo coating on my eyes, and it's been red, painful, itchy city all day. Eye pus sucks.



Another photo worth presenting, this from the nice little gift exchange get-together we hosted recently. This was the gift Morgan ended up with, by her choice...a lovely framed shot of our good buddy Ryan. Truly worth 1000 words.


And, finally, just a few new Lola photos in the gallery and a video on her page. Just because.

News of the day

Just, as typical, an odd lot of stuff to bring to my blog-reading masses...

Went with Paige and DayDay to see NOFX last night at the New Oasis. Wow. Sold out show (~1000 people), never seen that before. Taps ran dry, bartenders couldn't come close to keeping up, steam poured from open doors into the cold night, the sheer size of the crowd was incredible. They were really good and fun to see. I'll admit I've seen better shows, but they just command such a big energetic crowd, have good songs, and enjoy themselves. Sorta-celeb sighting: a couple of the guys from 7 Seconds in the crowd (steve and troy if you're curious). Now that's punk.

Couple of interesting reference questions at work today:
How much does US currency weigh, and how many bills would be in a pound of them? See the seventh fun fact for the answer. Address for ABC? How tall is the Empire State Building? I love my job when I get to answer these kinds of questions.

In Lola news...a bit of sickness going on again. Lots of coughing, a brief sighting of thick green snot this morning. She generally acts well, but symptoms are there. Invest in cold medicine. This on the heels of a minor bout with pink eye which it appears the antibiotic drops have put a quick end to.

One fun link for you, and I'll end with a plug for the book I'm reading. Really enjoyable book - a collection of columns from the RGJ, historical Reno stuff. It will make you look at our city in a whole new light, and have fond memories if you've lived here forever. If you're interested, let me know, I'll have a loaner copy available.

Ruminations

First, we've got a couple new ultrasound images to view, taken earlier today:28542857The pen outlines are from Dr. Chun, OB/GYN.

A new school of thought around the Tiar household: maybe we shouldn't add on to this house. For about the same cost each month, we can probably just move into a house that has the size and arrangement we need. We're not committed to living on Novelly Dr. forever, so we're thinking maybe about 18 months out, rolling some of the equity here into a downpayment on something different. Hopefully still a good market then, hopefully in a nice old neighborhood.

Lola is quite the maniac these days. Her sentences are getting longer and consistent, although she does babble like a talking chimp as well. Lots of energy, but great night's sleeps. For all of us. And she's eating quite a bit more. When I pick her up, she's heavier and just...bigger in general. Not a baby anymore, by any stretch of the imagination.

Brief movie review: Children of Men was really good. Bleak, depressing view of the future, but with brief beautiful moments of levity amid the chaos. I like Clive Owen quite a bit. He plays the "ordinary man caught in extraordinary circumstances" role triumphantly here.

Well, that's about it for tonight I suppose.

New content

Just because I had to connect the camera to get a picture to sell this DVD, I figured I'd unload some other photos.

So there are a handful of new Lola photos in the gallery and a couple great videos on her page.

Enjoy!

Taking the lead

It is official. I am ahead in the Rock-Paper-Scissors tournament. The score as of today is 15-14. I'd like to think that my skills have only improved and Marc has no chance, but that theory is highly unlikely. Hey, I was down by six!

For other fans, it was thrilling to see Jack Bauer again last night. The new season of 24 had begun. Poor Amy started watching a rerun on another channel and missed the first 15 minutes. She thought for sure she was done for the season. A bit conflicting to rerun an old episode as you are premiering a new season. Wonder how many people watched the wrong channel thinking they were duped into watching a rerun?

Marc and I have been giving some thought to adding on to our house. Anyone know of a good draftsman? Contractor? Any suggestions?

Lola has been signed up by Nevada Casting. We went in thinking it was open call, and it had been canceled for that week. The woman in there asked Lola a few questions and to smile. She signed her up right then. She loves to have her picture taken. We'll see how it pans out. I'll keep you updated.

Watch The Inconvenient Truth. It is a way to start. We have some serious issues facing our planet. As a parent, do it for our children.

Addendum

Couple of things I meant to record for posterity but that slipped my mind...

• As Morgan mentioned recently, the new season of 24 is coming soon.  It's one of the few "can't miss" shows on TV.  Should be extra special this year thanks to DVR.


• Some of you may know that we incurred a pretty big spill of bright yellow latex paint on our basement carpet some months back.  I've finally relaunched my mission to clean it up and found the chemical to do the job.  Goof Off is doing it, slowly but effectively.  Only problem is the fumes.  Might have to wait until spring.


• Some long term ideas/retirement plans/what I hope will make me rich someday: open a store that sells beer, beermaking supplies, and provides a place where people can brew AND for coffee, green beans, self-serve roaster, misc gear.  Beer and coffee, two of my favorite things in life, both require brewing.  Coincidence?  I think not.  I also think I have a book in me, just not sure what about or when it will come out.

We now return you to our regular program.

Goings on around here

Just a random assortment of miscellany on a Friday morning...

• This past Wednesday, Lola went to see this casting agency to see about using her 7th-degree black belt in cuteness to become rich and famous.  No riches or fame yet, but they signed her up.


• Dang cold around here again.  Still no snow worth mentioning, but it's 12 degrees outside this morning.


• I'm currently reading this book of columns about historic Reno; just acquired another book about Burning Man, but oddly not as jazzed about that one, probably just because we're not going.


• Planning a trip to San Diego just before Easter, Sea World, the zoo, the beach, etc.  Any other suggestions?


• Perhaps equalling my recent passion for soymilk, I now have a rekindled love for those little sweet, seedless, easily peeled clementines.  They're fabulous.


• One last thing, then I'm off to work: cross your fingers and send good thoughts my way to win this contest.  Or you could just enter yourself, but that would lower my odds of winning!

Happy Friday everyone, stay warm out there!

2007

As the year has progresses (slowly - but it has only been 9 days), I am realizing that it is indeed a happy one. I am very grateful and lucky. I have a loving family, wonderful friends, and all the necessities that one could need or want.

Things that I am looking forward to in 2007: the arrival of a new baby; new season of 24, and the start up from hiatus of Grey's Anatomy; vacations (we are still trying to nail some ideas down);hitting 30; possibly adding on to the house. Things that I will miss in 2007: Burning Man since I don't picture myself out in the desert with a breast pump.

I am catching up on Rock-Paper-Scissors. 11(me)-14 as of today.

Postscript

Forgot to blog this previously, but now we've taken advantage of the deal and wanted to make sure others know about it...

If you have a kid in diapers, it's hard to beat Amazon's current Huggies special: $30 off any Huggies order of $99 or more, and free shipping too!

Thoughts

So, time to write again.  Lots of junk rattling around my skull to share.  And I just added some new Lola photos, so be sure to peep those too.

First, let's talk computers.  Our laptop that we use most of the time is starting to show its age, with weird LCD display issues that can't be fixed with a driver update or new software.  Likewise, the desktop in the basement that we rarely use is Slow (note capital S) and it's cold down there and antisocial to use for very long, although it's where photos and printing get done.  Turi brought up possibly migrating to a Mac.  The conversation turned to maybe trying Linux.  The learning curve would be equally steep, but it would be cheaper, fun, and interesting.  Go open-source.  So that's been on my mind.  Logistically, I need to figure out how to have a computer to tinker with and one that's still up and running.  This might require replacing the laptop sooner than planned.

The other thing firing my neurons today is the house.  Improving it.  Making it bigger.  With Morgan's income, I'm not as worried about monthly bills and how low the balance is by the next payday.  A home equity loan payment is not a wild-eyed dream.  As baby #2 comes closer to reality, room in bedrooms and closets is more of a stressor.  So besides this year's planned bathroom remodel and backyard improvement, next year may see an extra 300 or so square feet on the east side.  And if any of you thought I had stress now....I welcome any thoughts on how best, easiest, most professionally, and with the least amount of anxiety, one goes about adding on significantly to ones home.

And as long as I'm soliciting advice...we've got a few pieces of old jewelry to rid ourselves of.  Some still nice and wearable, and one piece of junk (but the gold probably worth a bit).  Better to take to a pawn shop or to a jeweler as scrap?  What if we wanted to save the stones from one thing and make it into something new (but not using the other pieces)?  If you've done this kind of thing, let us know what you learned.

Couple other notes that occur to me: Nathan and Sarah's new boy has a name.  Demar Augustus (Gus) Tobey, and he weighed in at an impressive 9 lbs, 11 oz.  A couple photos on Turi's page that day.   And for those who just read this for the news, can I remark how lame our winter has been thus far?  No significant snow, just little storms that make the roads completely awful, and cold enough...brass monkey.

And finally, just to round things out, I haven't been reading any books lately, the last fabulous movie we saw was Little Miss Sunshine,  and I still haven't done anything about our will(s).

Until next time.

Rain, rain

I always feel that I don't have great wisdom or news to share when blogging, but after reading others, I always have an itch to post one.

First, confessions. I am on myspace. There I said it. I think I love the fact of looking into peoples lives without them knowing. Apparently, there are ways to see who has been viewing your profile, but that is still unconfirmed by my sources. Plus, I think I keep in better touch with some friends through the website than I would any other way. Hey, they are just as bad as me, right? Second, I indulged in Krispy Kreme yesterday. Not just indulged, but over did it. Lola loved them, but who doesn't like that warm, soft, sweet taste? My best advice to the Krispy Kreme lover, go inside and get the free sample. A free doughnut - heck yeah! There were two left in the box that I insisted Maggie take with her. Marc took the empty box out to the trash this morning after eating on last night and one this morning without guilt. We had our fair share yesterday, right? Yummy. I think that is all the guilt this (non-practicing) catholic can handle right now.

I love the rain. It seems that it is so far and in between here in Reno. I am a little disgruntled at the fact that it should probably be snowing. Global warming? Nah! But it is the smell, the sound and the ambiance it creates that I just love! Basically, it means a good laundry day.

I know Marc has mentioned our attempts and success with 'Ferberizing' Lola. I'd just like to thank Dr. Ferber for the four complete nights of sleep that Marc and I have had!! Plus, I think Lola is really benefiting from it as well.

Oh one oh one oh seven

Well here we are, beginning another new year. New Year's Eve/Day was nice - Morgan worked yesterday and Lola and I had a good day, just doing "stuff" and picked up Maggie from the airport. For last night's festivities, we ventured out early to John's party at Arlington Towers, noshed a bit, took in the amazing view, then came home to enjoy a quite evening among friends here. We were joined by Paige, David, and Ryan, and we played a game, had a few drinks, and stepped outside to catch glimpses of fireworks downtown. We launched 2007 right with a small brunch, done well by Morgan with quiche, hash brown casserole, fruit salad, and more. A walk to the park on a very mild day, a nearly new baby swing courtesy of freecycle, a bit of TV, and I can only say, I hope the rest of 2007 is as agreeable as today. The only flaw was a spilled latte.

Word has it that Nathan and Sarah welcomed baby #3 into the world today. A big boy ready to take on the world. I don't think I know of any other January 1 babies. Welcome, baby Tobey!

I also want to go on record: I don't usually bother with resolutions, and pondering the concept this afternoon, my "resolutions" read more like a to-do list than anything (get the van all fixed, get a new tattoo, replace the laptop, remodel the bathroom). But, there's something I've been trying to do for the last few weeks, and meaning to get to for months. Write our will(s). Life can take unexpected twists and turns without warning, and with two young ones, I want to be sure everything goes the way we would want if the worst should occur. A living will too. So that's the one thing I want to be sure to do this year. This month even. You should too, you just never know.

So that's that. Sorry to end on a somber note. Another page on the calendar, time to get used to writing a "7" instead of a "6". May 2007 bring you happiness and prosperity.