A few new pics

Finally got around to clearing off the camera, added the cream of the crop to the Lola album, the Sid album, and a new album!  Since I was having a hard time trying to figure out in which album to put pics where both kids figure prominently, I created a new album called "Both our kids" for those kinds of shots.  I'm not going back through old ones to move previously-filed-under-one-kid-or-the-other-when-it-had-both-kids-in-it pics into the new album, but still.

And, in an effort to do this more often, I'm giving up on my lame captions.  Pictures are worth 1000 words already, you don't need my dumb commentary.

Ran out of time today, but I've got a bunch of videos to post as well, hopefully tomorrow.  Also in an effort to streamline things, for starters, to get caught up, I'm just going to mash them all together in one big stream of consciousness kidfest.  It's been so long since I've done this routinely, I can't even remember all the steps and processes I used to go through, so I'll probably be looking for more effortless ways to post video as well.  We'll see what happens.

Videos!

It's obvious I can't keep up with the Sid and Lola pages on this site.  So for now, some embedded Flash video for your viewing enjoyment.  Please, take a stroll through the last YEAR of inactivity in the video department with this brief sampling of fun...

Lola sings Jingle Bells, December 2008
[flv:http://cheztiar.com/MVI_3121.FLV 480 368]

Sidney gets fit on the Wii, January 2009
[flv:http://cheztiar.com/MVI_3129.FLV 480 368]

Sid dances, January 2009
[flv:http://cheztiar.com/MVI_3180.FLV 480 368]

Road trip with Paigey and Grandpa, not sure where we were going...March 2009
[flv:http://cheztiar.com/MVI_3382.FLV 480 368]

Ring around the rosie, August 2009
[flv:http://cheztiar.com/MVI_4097.FLV 480 368]

Lola sings "sticky", August 2009
[flv:http://cheztiar.com/MVI_4102.FLV 480 368]

Sid rolls in on his Spiderman scooter, August 2009
[flv:http://cheztiar.com/MVI_4107.FLV 480 368]

Sid bonds with Tasty, October 2009
[flv:http://cheztiar.com/MVI_4356.FLV 480 368]
And the masterpiece, the grand finale, Lola presents a classic of our time, Don't Stop Believin', October 2009
[flv:http://cheztiar.com/Journey.flv 480 368]

Ugh

Feeling just a bit overwhelmed right now...I tend to in general anyway, just trying to keep straight all the "stuff" in our lives: work and various obligations and deadlines there, the store and the various demands it places on us, kids and their various needs, and all the peripheral stuff like bills to pay, chores and yardwork around the house, etc.   But right now, something very specific is making me panic.

I got this harebrained idea that for EcoReno's first anniversary/grand opening party, I would do a workshop on building your own solar oven.  I've always wanted to, didn't seem too hard, and seemed like a good little "event" to have at the shop.  And now, after weeks of trying to secure the perfect sized boxes, accumulating other required items, and scrutinizing various plans, I've reached the conclusion that I'm totally screwed.  It's way too complicated, I don't have the right size pieces of cardboard, and I'm in over my head.  I really don't want to be a quitter on this, but I just don't see how I can do it.  I have no idea if anyone will even show up, if it'll be just one person or a dozen, or what.  Failure.

As long as I'm here, a brief update on the assorted other stuff in our lives.  Sid is recuperating well from his little surgery recently.  Details a bit too personal to go into here, but all seems well in his recovery.  Lola's down to two days per week at Noah's Ark, and her time at EcoReno with Morgan seems to be good for all involved.  I was lucky enough to have pizza lunch with her at school yesterday!  And then dinner at the Santa Fe for Paige's birthday.  Overall, everyone is doing OK, a bit of a common cold making the rounds at our house, Nana coming to visit next week, and, as always, lots of being busy all the time.

Someday, I will get some new pictures loaded here.  Really.

Zombies, vans, and photographs

I think I know what it feels like to be a zombie.  Or at least feel like zombies look in the movies.  Sid seems to be having a pretty severe bout of insomnia the last couple nights, keeping us up off and on for hours.  Or more accurately, up, then back to sleep for an hour, then up again, then back to sleep for 20 minutes, and on and on.  Last night is a blur of getting up, picking him up, rocking with him, putting him back in his crib, bringing him to our bed, being kicked by him in our bed, Morgan getting up multiple times.  Getting up this morning was harder than the worst hangover morning.  This has to stop.   He's apparently constipated too - I wonder which condition causes the other?  Or maybe molars are coming in?  I should also mention that our dear babysitter Michelle is now our former babysitter Michelle, off to nursing school she went, so Sid is now with Alicia 3 days a week.  So maybe the change of scenery has disrupted him...but he seems happy with the switch.  Otherwise, Sid's shaping up to be quite the little man - using lots of words now, and charming the pants off of anyone he meets.

Lola still attending Noah's Ark happily, doing well there, and being her usual beautiful Lola self.

In other news, yeah, I know, the rate of updates around here would make you think we've left the country.  Still here, crazy busy, living our lives.

EcoReno moved a few weeks ago, to our new location.  Much more visible on the main drag, double the floor space, great vibrant neighborhood, and it seems like we're getting busier.  To help make the move happen, with all the financial fallout that entails, we sold our Eurovan to a nice family from Mt. Shasta, went without a 2nd vehicle for about 10 days, and as of last night, are now the proud owners of a 2002, very low mileage, Toyota Sienna.  Sigh, a minivan.  It's come to that.  I wanted a Forester or an Outback, but the practicalities of two kids in car seats, frequent cargo-hauling needs, seating for more than just the four of us, and the minivan became the obvious choice.  Should last us a nice long time.

My goal for this fall, since goals like homebrewing and writing a will (yeah, OK, I know my goals are weird and disparate) never seem to materialize, is to get some more photos posted on this site.  I'm sure there are a ton on the camera, several of which I could have posted and linked to from this writing to illustrate various things.  Time is such a fleeting resource.  But since Project Runway and Biggest Loser will kidnap my wife two nights a week, I think I might be able to get these online photo albums updated soon.

Speaking of time, I've got to wrap this up and go get ready for work.  Where I also don't have enough time to get everything done.  When do I get to slow down?  Oh yeah, every night after kids go to bed, enjoying a good beer, and watching TV for a few minutes before bed.

Big photo update!

Finally got to clear off the memory card and upload some pictures.

• New Lola pictures!


• New Sidney pictures!


• Assorted other shots


• Sacramento zoo pictures!

After plowing through so many, it seems like I posted so few.  I probably only put about 10% on here, the rest just aren't cream of the crop enough to post publicly.  But I've got a hard drive full of memories if you ever want to kill some time...

My next big goal here is movie clips - time to load some new ones.  Not sure when, but stay tuned...

Holiday update

Memorial Day, a day off work, so I think I can squeeze out an update.  Finally.  We're supposed to be in mid-BBQ by now, but had a few cancellations so Morgan, kids, and Maggie are out back and I'm computing.  Photo update later, for now just the words.  On the plus side, the house is nice and tidy.

I feel like I've been productive in what little free time I have - we splurged on a new laptop with our tax refund, so I sold our old one on ebay, as well as our old digital camera with the half-wonky screen; made and hung a swing on the tree out front last weekend, made a raised-bed garden out back which is showing initial signs of success with tomatoes and an assortment of other sprouts coming up.  My hops are coming back this year, let's hope for success on them.

I've got a keg of hefeweizen sitting in the closet, waiting a few more weeks for Brian and Sonya's wedding, plus 3 bottles of Mirror Mirror in the garage fridge to enjoy sometime in the distant future.  As Brian put it yesterday, we're living in times of some of the best beer availability.  It's an obsession, tracking new special releases, what might be available in Reno or not, tasting sessions with friends, stowing ultra precious bottles away to age or wait for the right occasion.  I love it.

My other favorite thing besides beer (coffee) also has developments to report - Grandpa Dave sent us a big drip coffee and espresso machine recently that we just put into service.  It'll take a few pots to figure out just the right grind, amount, and setting for the perfect cup, but the iced espresso I had earlier put me into this weird "tired from antihistamines but feeling heart palpitations from the caffeine" state that I didn't like very much.  I'm reaching equilibrium now, both substances wearing off a bit.

On other fronts, we seem to be battling sickness on a regular basis.  We thought Lola's ear infection had passed, but more recently she had such a bad cough that it kept us all up most of the night, so we took her in.  She was diagnosed with asthma and put on a daily steroid mist treatment that's not much fun.  And her ear was still infected, plus a hold in her eardrum.  She seems well enough, but we're to see an ear-nose-throat specialist next week and get this all figured out.  Sid's mostly well, except for some mystery diarrhea the last couple days that we have no clue about.  Me, just allergies kicking my butt with everything in bloom this time of year, thus the aforementioned antihistamines.

EcoReno continues to keep us busy, although we could certainly use more business.  We've more or less decided our biggest impediment to raging success right now (besides the generally poor climate for business everywhere) is location.  We get virtually no drop-in serendipitous walk-in traffic, so we might be looking at moving at some point.  We'll see.  The people who do shop with us really do love our store and our merchandise, we just need more of them.  No big news otherwise, we just keep chugging along, looking for ways to grow and succeed.

My work continues to plod forward in a dismal situation - the library's budget cut 36% means doing more work with a lot less.  No layoffs for now, but lots of vacancies that means everyone's working harder.  Our hours are being cut at the end of next month, and my schedule will change, so the child care situation will need to change as well.  And then again in a few months when Sid's sitter goes to nursing school.

Well, I guess I've been a computer hermit long enough.  Time to open a cold one and relax on the deck I hosed off earlier today.  Days off are good.

Publicity

Life has been so busy.  That is probably very obvious by how little we get to blog. But when funny, irritating, or weird stuff happens, I feel it necessary to update you all.

EcoReno is awesome. I love doing it and I love making a difference. I have also become very receptive to free publicity. You want a news story on green cleaners? You got it!  Anything to get the word out.

I got a call from KOLO a few weeks ago wanting to do a story on green cleaning products.  A very nice reporter called and asked if she could shoot footage and then come back to shoot live for their morning show. Yep, the morning show that airs from 5am to 7am. What time should I be here Monday? 4:15am. Again, free publicity.

We shot the some footage on Friday morning - a reasonable time of 10am. We confirmed for Monday morning at 4:15. (Let me remind you that even though there is a Starbucks across the lot, they don't even open that early!) She said the only thing that would keep them is breaking news. I think she said something about WWIII.

I had been having problems with the cell phone, but never gave it a second thought. I drug my butt out of bed at 3:45 after a restless night. I kept thinking that I would over sleep. I got dressed, made myself presentable, and took off into the dark morning. There weren't many people out, a few early morning people heading to work and passed a few guys probably heading home from a bar. Oh, and I got a full moon. Who does that? Okay, besides Kelly Ricciardi?  Seriously, a big, white ugly butt thrown in my face. Ewwwwww!  Got into the store, locking myself in quickly, and disabled the alarm.

BEEP.  BEEP. Ah, a message on the phone. BREAKING NEWS!!  Not WWIII, but a body found near Caughlin Ranch. No live shoot for me. There had a been a message left on my cell phone and she hoped that I had gotten it before I left the house. NOPE, because my cell phone is acting up and I didn't do anything to try and fix it. It was a simple fix too - turn off and back on. I headed back home to bed. When I got into the bedroom, Marc asked if I had even left, that is how little time had passed.

The story did air. They used the previously shot footage and I am also happy to say that it aired again during the evening news. I heard it while cooking dinner. So, worth it, but I can tell you that I will be sure that cell phone is working before I head out for a 4:15am shoot!

Other updates: Dad was just here and we had a great visit including the Sacramento Zoo.  The kids are great - both getting so big! Sid's sitter, Michelle, is telling us that he is very interested in the potty. Trained before his second birthday? You never know.

Sick

I'm so sick of dealing with sick. My own mild cold symptoms have endured for what seems like weeks. I had a brief visit with actual sickness - sore throat, coughing that kept me up at night - but now it just feels like my ears are plugged a lot of the time, mildly annoying is about all.

Kids, on the other hand...Lola's had a cold the last week or so as well.  Nightly filling of humidifers I can handle, but the pinnacle of sick was a few nights ago (between holidays and general daze of sick, inauguration, busy life, etc. I can't keep track of when anything actually occurred) when Lola was coughing her head off, up and down throughout the 2am-5am period, finally coming to bed with us at 5-something.  She seems to be getting better, in that slow, long-tail kind of way where you get close the gap between sick and well by half each day but never actually get there.

Sid joined the movement tonight, sort of.  He's had a little runny nose for a few days, nothing major.  A bit of a cough set in, but still pretty mild, thankfully.  He also has a molar coming in, so he's been a bit cranky.  The real treat was after putting him to bed, he cried a bit longer than normal so we "rescued" him like we do, giving him a few more minutes of awake time before putting him back in his crib.  Only this time, Morgan gave him a squirt of Tylenol to help him sleep with teething pain, followed by a sip of water.  Apparently the Tylenol/water combo triggered his gag reflex and, well, let's just say we found out exactly how much mac and cheese he ate and that he doesn't chew his food.  Cleanup on aisle 12.  

Please, let us get well and stay that way for a while...I can't decide whether sleepless nights or cleaning up "pew-hawk" (Lola's expression for Sid's eruptus) is less desirable in the annals of parental duties.

Finally! An update!

Sheesh, the lack of action around here is embarrassing.  Life is pretty darn busy.  I would write more but I need to go to bed.  I just uploaded a bunch of stuff for your viewing pleasure:

• New Lola pictures in her album


• New Sid pictures in his album


• Three new Sid videos on his page


• One new Lola video on her page


• A whole album of pictures from our little outing to the Black Rock Desert.

Whew!  That ought to keep you for a little while.  Enjoy!

One year ago today...

Sidney was born!  Happy birthday, son!  For your birthday, you get a doctor's visit complete with shots, and a jack-in-the-box!  Party to follow.

Love, Dada

just a little something

Well, Nana has come and gone. We had a wonderful time besides her getting sick.  We shopped, played, napped, and ate.  It was relaxing and fun.

Tasty is fitting right in. She and Cina have become fast friends. Okay, Cina is a bit annoyed.  Tasty wants to play all the time and loves to crawl, claw and bite Cina.  She is most intrigued by her wagging tail.  It is great that they are getting along so well and that Tasty has fit in like a perfect piece of our perfect family puzzle.

Sid is battling the stomach flu again.  It is so hard to watch someone so little be sick and not be able to tell you what is hurting.  His little personality still shines through at moments and gives us hope that he is on the mend.

Congratulations to our VERY good friends, Tina and Bart, on the arrival of their daughter, Matilda Adriana.  she weighed in at 7lbs 10oz and 21.5" long.  We can't wait to meet her.  We have had to hold off due to illness around here.  Here is a picture of the new family!!



Another quick...kinda gross story, but one for all parents.  We were in Kohl's shopping with Nana last weekend.  Lola had just trotted off with Marc to the bathroom, as she loves to check out all public bathrooms and they have a family bathroom with a toilet just her size.  I was wandering around with Sid in the backpack looking for great deals when I suddenly was taken aback by a horrible smell.  Yep, Sid.  Ugh.  I caught Marc as he came out of the bathroom and asked him to take Sid out to the van and change him.  We took him out of the backpack and noticed that he had leaked just a bit.  As Marc turned him over to see for himself, two large pieces of fecal matter....okay, shit, fell out. They plopped onto Marc's shoe before rolling off and finally halting on the carpet of Kohl's.  For a split second, I wanted to walk away and pretend that nothing had happened.  Instead, I went to the bathroom, grabbed some paper towels, and picked it up as if Sid was my pet in the park.  Gross.  It was an awful feeling.  Marc left with Sid, we grabbed Nana and left. Lola was kind enough to let Nana know that we had to leave because there was poop on the floor. The horror that Nana's face took on was priceless as well as the comment, "Well, I hope not."  Yep, there had been poop on the floor and we needed to leave.  The lesson that I hope Marc learned was to trust my words, treat this type of situation more delicately, and accept the assignment as directed.  For me, the lesson is that, truly, you can see anything as a parent.  There is no way to be prepared.

Happy Father's Day to all of you fathers out there.  Especially Grandpa Dave, Marc, and Pop.  A special shout out to the new daddy, Bart.  I can't wait to see how the father-daughter relationship will change your life!!

Why do they grow so fast?

Sid is standing.  When Lola started to pull herself up, it was cute. This is cute, but why does he have to get so big so fast?  He talks a lot too.  I bet he gets that from me.

Lola had her first dental appointment yesterday. She was a perfect patient and her teeth are in great shape.

It just all seems to be happening so fast.  Pretty soon Lola will be driving or off to college.  Yikes!!

just a little update

Sid is starting to pull himself up into standing position!  He is very proud of himself.  He is crawling at such a fast rate too.  If he knows you are coming after him, he hits high gear.  He is also getting some top teeth which really interrupted his schedule last week.  He seems so much better now.  He is waving hello and good-bye.  I like this age.  He keeps us on our toes.

Lola is continuing to go to school and loving it. She is dressed and ready on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  We can't get out the door fast enough for her.  It is a great school and we really like the staff.  We are going to register her for summer and fall.

I rode Marc's Vespa to work yesterday.  It was so fun.  A little scary on the busier streets, but I held my own. I think I need a pink one of my very own.  Wonder if the kids would ride in a side car?  Kidding.  Not the safest thing for them.  We did pick up a bike trailer at a garage sale this week.  Needed a little mending that Marc easily eventually completed.  I had been wanting one that Costco is selling, and this one was a steal!  It can be used as a stroller as well.  We picked up a helmet for Sid and can't wait to get out and use it!!  I did take them out for a walk and used it as a stroller.  I put the handle on thinking that it 'clicked' into place and as I pushed them out onto the steep driveway, I was left standing there with the handle in my hand and the stroller speeding into the street!!  I caught it half way into the street.  THANK GOODNESS there was no traffic!  There are pins that hold the handle in. It must have been a sight. I think Lola really liked going that fast as she did not know they were unattended by me.  I am still embarrassed to walk outside thinking that my neighbors are still laughing at me or cursing me for being such an irresponsible parent.

I have an escapee...... I better run.

Genes

When people look at Lola they always say she looks like Marc.... and me. The big eyes and eyelashes come from Marc and the color may be from me (or Nana). Sid looks like Lola, but has his differences. Then my mom brought me this photo. I can't believe how much he looks like I did.

Happy Earth Day

Just a few minutes to catch up before heading to work, seems like lots to talk about here.

First, off it's sort of spring birthday season around here.  Happy birthday to Lola's Nana today, and last Friday to Morgan.  Had a nice little gathering Friday night here, followed by dinner out at Lulou's on Saturday night.  Quite delicious, quite expensive.  I celebrated Morgan's birthday by paying a visit to Reno's first microbrewery, then picked up ingredients for a honey wheat beer I'm planning to brew and rhizomes to plant some hops out back.

Also speaking of birthdays, I just heard from an old friend (Bret for you out there who might remember him), announcing the birth of his daughter Evalina on Saturday night.  Congrats to Bret and his wife, welcome to Evalina.

In a recent spate of eco-activity around here, partially Earth Day inspired, partially coincidental, we've been purging some plastics around here to avoid bisphenol-A, and I've been ballparking solar systems.  Sort of dismayed to realize that just to offset about half of our electric consumption with solar, we're looking at probably close to $20,000 up front, even after generous rebates.  So I dunno if that's going to happen.  Might start with solar water heating.

Two final brief blurbs and then I'm out:

Sidney has two new teeth coming in.  Yay for teeth, but boo on the accompanying crankiness and how bad it makes him feel.  :-(

Recent movies seen: No Country for Old Men - excellent, violent, tense, really enjoyed.  Juno - Excellent in all respects, story, characters, music, dialogue.  Totally loved it.

Updates and such

I'm posting this pre-upgrade to the Wordpress software that runs this site, just in case I break everything horribly. If you can read this tomorrow, I've probably been successful. That, or I ran out of time.

Mostly just decided that it's been a shamefully long time since I added any photos, so we now have Easter photos, a few photos from Utopias night, a new Sid video on his page, a new Lola video on her page, and new photos in Sid and Lola's albums, respectively. Whew. Lots of uploading today.

It's been sick time around here lately, first Lola's cold, then Morgan's cold and stomach issues, now Sid's cold and my stomach issues. Nobody bad enough for professional care, just enough to feel crummy. Still, it's getting easier to feel better as the weather gradually turns more spring-like. Another sign of spring: the nest out on our back deck that has been here since we moved in has been re-habitated, they're adding on with more detritus, and looks like we might have eggs and baby birds before long.

Aside from that, I just have a few random tidbits to scatter to you, o faithful readers.....

• New brewery coming to town. Excellent. In other beer news, still expensive.


• Latest online game obsession pairs well with my sweepstakes obsession. Register for the sweepstakes, then Clear the Skies. Also found this fun little game today, perfect for me. I hate overly complicated games that take forever to finish. In case it's not clear, you have to burn the rope.


• And lastly, I've been thinking about emergency preparation lately, partially due to hearing a speaker from the County department that plans for such things, partially due to recent earthquakes and murmurs over the possible impending big one. So one of my goals for the future is being ready for disaster.

That's all for now. Upgrade time. Fingers crossing....NOW.

Just a quickie

• Sid is starting to crawl. Mostly in reverse, but he is on his way. Other new moves are clapping and shaking his head from side to side - as in "no, no."


• Just received a new bag from www.trixerdesigns.com. Fun bags. They are made well and look great! Thsnks, Chrisite! (and Maggie, for being related to Christie!)


• I love the weather. It was great to see it get in the high 60's. If we get a vote, I'd like to avoid any further snow.


• Looking forward to a trip to Michigan in May.


• Garage sale season has officially started for me. Lola, Deej and I went last weekend. They are few and far between, but they are there!


• I love Sam Adam's Cherry Wheat. It makes me want to drink too much beer. Good thing it is a bit pricier than Marc wants to spend.


• I'm ready for an addition to the family. I mean a dog!! Are you kidding? Lola and Sid are going to be the only offspring from Marc and I. We love them, they are perfect, and they are just enough. The only addition should be a dog. Cina's lonely.

blah, blah, blah

Sometimes I feel that I just go on and on about mindless crap that no one cares about. Then again, I think that I avoid blogging about stuff that is great because I don't have enough to say. Anywho, here are some random thoughts that I have had lately:

- We went and saw Hair last Friday. It is being put on by TMCC theater group. It was FABULOUS!!! I love a great musical. Still waiting to see my favorite: West Side Story. Even better would be if I could sing and audition. I wonder if one voice lesson would help? My mom used to cover my mouth in church.

-Just watched La Vie en Rose. Great movie. Love Edith Piaf. Saw her grave at Pere-Lachaise in 2002. I checked out some footage of Edith Piaf on You Tube. Marion Cotillard did an excellent job! She portrayed her so wonderfully!

-Found another Cooks Illustrated cookbook at work (to buy)! I love these cookbooks. They simplify and get the perfect recipe!

-Spring is coming. Yea! Nicer weather and longer days. Don't forget to set your clocks on Sunday.

- Christian won Project Runway!! If I could only sew! I can already hear my name being said by Tim Gunn and Michael Kors. Fabulous reality TV. I also watch The Biggest Loser. So great to see people take control of their lives. I am not a big Brittany fan since Bernie had to go home this week.

-Hilary? Does she have a chance? Big win in Texas. I am still in favor of Obama.

-Kelly Ricciardi cut Lola's hair. Lola got her first "official" hair cut.







-Sid is getting so big!



and he is starting to sleep through the night:)

-and Lola.....



-and both of them.......

Food and stuff

Meant to write this yesterday, ran out of time.

I was recently feeling all boo-hoo for us, that there seem to be a spate of interesting, delicious, new restaurants (and actually, some not new at all, that I continually drive past thinking "We have to try that place some time" but never think about when we ponder where we should go for dinner) that we hear great things about but don't go to, either feeling handicapped by kids, disposable income, or whatever reason. Finally, we got to try the lunch spot that everyone seems to love, Süp. Very delicious, as expected. A bit chaotic, felt a little pretentious, but in the end, the food was great and that's what matters.

Also on our list of places we simply must try sometime: Zagol, El Pescador, and La Fuente.

I also failed to mention here, our little beer tasting get-together here last weekend. Turi did a fine job of describing and documenting, so I'll defer to his already-posted review. He didn't mention the fabulous edibles that Morgan (and with a tiny bit of help from me) came up with to complement the beer - Arrogant Bastard chili (amazingly delicious), Sam Adams Brown Ale bread, Old Rasputin bread, and Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout mocha freezes for dessert.

Speaking of eating, we had dinner at Jack's last night. Good time visiting with their little one who's a week younger than Sid. In doing so, I remembered some photos I've been meaning to post, a series of sorts:









Happy weekend, everyone.

James Taylor

Lola picked out a DVD (okay, I did) at the library. Sing Yourself Silly is so much fun. First, we stumbled across Ladybug Picnic. My mom sings this to the kids, finally found it on You Tube and Lola wouldn't stop asking to see it. Even Sid starts to yell when it comes on. I think it is also how Lola started using the mouse pad on the laptop. I came home from work one day to find Lola sitting on the side of the rocking chair, saying,"watch this Momma," and then Ladybug Picnic blasting so loud that I wasn't surprised when she loudly said, "What!?!?" when I asked what she was doing and why it was so loud. By the way, Gigi is sitting right there in the rocking chair. Apparently this had been going on a while. Marc said it was on when he came home at 1 and I don't get home until after 4:30pm. Yikes.

Back to the DVD. There is a wonderful song Jelly Man Kelly done by James Taylor. I love it. It is catchy, cute and there are all these kids that sing a long with him. He wrote it off of a poem that his daughter wrote in school. And he is hot in a 70's rock star kind of way. So one morning, Lola and I are enjoying a little James when I notice that he has these pretty long yucky nails. "Really?" I think to myself. So I rewind and have Marc look. I was kinda put off. They are pretty long and thick. I am not one that should judge fingernails, as I have been a biter since second grade when I observed Erin Wheelock doing this very thing. I have never been able to quit despite my mother's numerous attempts with hot sauce, rubber-bands, and continuous swatting. But long nails on men are just gross. I like them clipped and short. Heck, I wouldn't even frown upon some bitten down nails. But not James Taylor. This guy has long nails.

So this morning I decided to do a little research to see if anyone else had noticed. I found this quote by James himself: "My style of playing is evolved around hymns ... mostly I think hymns and Woody Guthrie. A few Christmas carols. But it's the thumb. I use the thumb (emphasizes the word 'thumb') (L) and the hands that are attached to my arms ... the thumb and these three fingers. For a while there I was breaking fingernails regularly and I had these artificial nails put on. But some of you may do that I don't know. Do any of you use those nails? Well, they're interesting. It's hard to get them to believe you. You say what you want just play the guitar (L). But there's something inherently evil about them. It is epoxying something to your fingertips. You have power." Transcript of James Taylor Workshop At A&R Studios - circa 1976 or 1977

Huh. I never would have thought. Then again, I have never played a guitar. This explains it all. Love him - long nails and all!!