Updates

Geez, as life gets busier, so my postings here get further apart.

We're in full-steam-ahead house prep mode around here, I've discovered how challenging both cement work/bricklaying and carpet laying are to the average do-it-yourselfer (me). A bit more paint touching up, a basement shower, and a lot of general tidying and we'll be ready to put this place up for sale. Even got a storage unit today...nothing in it yet, but it's a step. Might have done it but it had to go and rain and snow today!

Lola's a sick little puppy today, just the usual runny nose and sneezing and coughing cold business, but she really becomes a pill. Not that she's particularly crabby, just needy, prone to crying, and especially inclined to doing and touching everything she's told not to.

Since I last wrote, we've had a couple wildfires already, gone to a booksale, and both been trounced out of the basketball pool at work. So it goes. Finally saw The Departed this week, great movie.

Coming up, we've got our trip to San Diego in a mere eight days, and it looks like we're going to Portland for a visit with Maggie and cadavers in June. Seems psychotic to juggle all that, selling and buying a house, all while impending baby brother looms on the horizon, but...I guess we're just crazy like that. Oh yeah, and I think we're going to see Bruka's production of Reefer Madness this weekend.

I feel like I had more to say but that's probably just due to chronic brain overflow these days. I'll wrap up with a head count of sorts: Maggie comes to visit this weekend, Pop's in Paris, Mom comes in about two weeks, and everyone else is right where they're supposed to be. That's all for now, I'll try to update a few pictures soon.

Couple of things to click upon

Just a couple things worth a click:

• Guess the Google game - it shows you images from a Google image search, you guess what the search term was.


• $205 million seized in Mexico, plus some Euros - If you've never seen that much cash in a pile, now's your chance.  Holy Moses that's a lot of dinero.

More forgotten

Dang...just found another couple pictures I meant to share...these courtesy of Kate, snapped on her little organizer machine a while back when we decided to take out and open a can of "Civil Defense Carbohydrate Supplement" that we found in the fallout shelter under the library.  Circa 1966, public buildings had fallout shelters stocked with beds, water, first aid, and hard candy to keep survivors going for a while after the reds deployed a nuke.  It's still down there, 40 years later, rotting away.  Curiosity got the best of us and we had to see and taste what 40-year old government issue candy was like.  Utterly disgusting.  Lots of good stuff about shelters and their supplies at this site devoted to them.  I wish these pictures did the candy container justice.

MLP Tea Party

Almost forgot. You read about the My Little Pony Tea Party. Witness the splendor:

Library events and more

Let's start with the "more"...seems like ages since I've written.  Life's been busy.  Attempts to find a new house have been going full steam, we've visited about 15 now, and found at least three that we wouldn't object to living in.  But now, we've retreated - the cold hard truth is that we can't do anything in terms of buying until we're selling.  Can't do it without the big equity cashout.  So, the plan is to spruce up around here and try to get it listed at the beginning of April.  Wanna buy a house?  This whole process is already a bit overwhelming and the stress of trying to put our house in order to sell, juggle the process of showing, selling, searching, buying, packing, moving, all while pregnant (oh yeah, we found our our OB is moving away so we had to pick a new one...) and carrying on our usual whirlwind life....I thought I vowed never to move again.  I would have been perfectly content to grow old and die on Novelly Drive.  Oh yeah, kids.  Oh well.

Also, if you need a realtor, Jack is a good friend and good guy who won't do you wrong.  We're also on good terms with our loan officer.  Let me know if you need his name.

Besides my lack of blogging lately, I was also prompted to post by new photos, taken this morning.  Our dear little princess is just too adorable wrapped in a towel after her bath, and it was too hard to pick just one, so I posted the whole series in the gallery.  Enjoy!  Just a couple others besides that, a lipstick shot and a one from our recent park day on her bike (yet another fabulous garage sale find by Morgan - five bucks!).

So, back to the aforementioned library events.  Just two, but worthy of mention...our annual NCAA basketball tournament pool is underway so get in touch asap if you're in, and possibly of a bit broader appeal, there's a library booksale coming up soon, so if you're here in Reno and need books, get ready.

In other news, we got a few minor repairs done to the Vanagon.  I'll take a moment to plug that shop too - a good, honest mechanic is a pretty good thing to have, so if you need any VW work, J's Vans is worth recommendation.  Took a quick dip into the Linux pool last week with Turi...kinda scary, kinda exciting.  He went full bore, formatted his drive and went for full install of Ubuntu.  I just took a few versions for a test drive and quietly backed away.  Maybe later.

Getting late so I'll leave you laughing...a couple jokes I had lingering in my email that I enjoyed.  One risque and funny, one just funny.  OK, now I'm done.

organization

I dream that I can be an organized person. I feel overwhelmed by all the little projects to be accomplished. I've always been all over the place and probably work better that way, but it doesn't keep me from dreaming. I have tons of baby clothes to go through, a house to declutter, a yard to clean, and that is just the beginning. I'd love to have all my recipes organized instead of the dozens of magazines tossed into the back of the pantry. And speaking of pantry, wouldn't it be great to know what was in there without having to dig through it everytime I cook? These are things to be accomplished. Maybe I can do it before I turn 30.

Lola is keeping us all busy these days. I sometimes wonder what we would do if we did not have company every once in a while. With Maggie here this past weekend, it was such a big help. Lola loves to know who is coming over everyday. She has a new 'new big girl bed.' This will be the first stop for everyone once again. She is very smart, asks a lot of questions - especially 'why?' these days, and has learned to 'fake' cry when she does not get things that she wants immediatley. But, I love every moment of it. It may drive me to the funny farm or an early grave, but I can't resist to smile at her mumbling and big tantrums over little things. Potty training is in progress. She seems to do very well naked and her bare butt can be seen for hours on end around the Tiar house.

We have started to look at houses. It seems like the perfect solution - but causes a lot of stress. There is a lot to be done. There is a lot to look at. There are some real time wasters out there as well. There is a lot of compromise that has to be made between what we want and where we want to be. The most important thing is what is in the house - all of us together.

A few more things......

66. I prefer to clean a floor by hand rather than using a mop.

67. I love wearing sandals.

68. I lived in Hawaii for a brief time. Okay, very brief. Try three months.

69. I have never flown first class.

70. I love zesty dill pickles. I have eaten a jar the past 5 days. That would be the big jar, too.

71. I can't seem to keep my car clean. It has only gotten worse with a child.

72. I cheated in typing class in high school. I even sat in front. Mary Tunander had her hands covered when the teacher caught her looking. I never got caught.

73. I don't ever remember having detention. I did have to pick up garbage once.

74. My mom used to have my sister and I get perms when we were little. In fact, the whole fam had perms - even my dad.

75. Speaking of hair - one of the worst haircuts was the asymetrical that my mom convinced me was cool. I was in the sixth grade. It was not cool.

Just a little blurb

Just read a post on one of the RGJ blogs, so shocking I have to share. Dog meets porcupine. Speaking of blogs, for you readers who are just dying to start their own and are wondering where to do it, I've been hearing many great things about Vox. Blogging, photo sharing, videos, the whole nine yards. I'd do it if I didn't already have this site.

Starting a new book, Alternadad, and enjoying it so far. Reviews have been mixed, but it sounds so straight down my alley, I feel like I'm predisposed to like it.

Maggie comes for a visit tonight, Andrew's birthday, new carpet comes on Monday, we're rethinking the timing of moving to a new house (sooner rather than later?), Costco tires for the Vue are ordered, and we're officially half-way through pregnancy. Life continues careening along at a rapid pace.

Tea Party

As Marc has written, we are having a boy. I feel a lot of relief knowing. It was nice to share the moment - just Marc and I. I think it was a better surprise then waiting the nine months. When I asked Lola, she said it was going to be a boy. She now understands that she is going to have a brother in July and the 'brother/sister' has gone by the wayside. I hope the actual arrival goes as smoothly.

Today is Ramona's 4th birthday. In celebration, Lola, Ramona and I are going to see the My Little Pony World's Largest Tea Party. There is a lot of excitement in the air!! I think they will both enjoy a bunch of large purple/pink singing and dancing ponies. At least, I hope so! Marc even left some cash for souvenirs or treats. I wonder if he really wishes that he could go?

We did go and see Rent. I thought it was fabulous! Maggie and I saw Jesus Christ Superstar last month. I am feeling like a regular at the theater. I guess I can add another name with the pony show!

Big news, snow, and updates

I started to post this about FIVE HOURS ago with the best of intentions. That never works out. A couple big announcements turned into new pictures and videos, other stuff came up, and now I'm down to 5 minutes before we can start watching tonight's DVR-delayed episode of 24, so I'll be brief.

First off, we found out this morning....WE'RE HAVING A BOY!  Yep, Lola's going to have a little brother.  Revised due date is now July 23.  Baby Boy Tiar now has his own album in the gallery, including today's ultrasounds and all previous.

Almost as exciting (relax, I did say almost), on my way home, I saw that Pho 777 is rising from the ashes of the Mizpah fire in a new location. Still on 2nd St., in the former Kim Son space, a block west and across the street. Still under construction, but stay tuned.

The only other thing I was going to report was the weather - from what was until recently a miserable excuse for a winter, we now have something to shout about.  Snow falling like crazy today, all day.  Nothing that will shut down the city, but one of the biggest accumulations this season. Very nice.

So that was going to be all I had to post, then decided I would add some pictures, then videos, etc.  So check out Lola's page for a few new videos, a few new photos in Lola's photo album, and this one just as a nice inclusion here showing my impressive facial hair (and this was two weeks ago):

What's up around here

Nothing too exciting, just a few tidbits to share...on a cold snowy (!) morning here at Maison Tiar.

Had a grown-ups night out on Friday, dinner at Beaujolais Bistro followed by RENT at the Pioneer. Dinner was a bit disappointing: mediocre menu, mediocre service, in a crowded, loud atmosphere. One can do better at several places in town. RENT was fun, a good "rock musical" taste of Broadway here in our little burg.

Potty training is progressing...maybe...a little. A few successes, but little consistency. Popsicles aren't the most productive reward, stickers are better, but still not a smashing success story. Sigh. Morgan's taking her to the My Little Pony show on Wednesday, maybe that will generate some interest in being a big girl. Or something.

In new baby news, we're scheduled for "the" ultrasound that can tell us the sex. The aforementioned rock-paper-scissors tournament has faded, Morgan has seen the light, and unless she reads this and changes her mind just to be ornery, we'll know what we're having by this time tomorrow. Stay tuned.

And finally, in the "new stuff" department, we're totally loving both the new laptop and the new bed. Just one night spent on the new bed, but it's so cushy, as I put it last night as I snuggled under the covers "I feel like a rich person" when I lie on it. And I've gotta say, a refurbished Dell is a good thing for me.

That's all for now, we've got Costco, Babel, and the Academy Awards on the agenda for the rest of the day.