Finally playing with my new MacBook Pro!

I spoiled myself with a new early Christmas present: a new MacBook Pro. I decided it was time to upgrade since my old laptop is about 3 or 4 years old and is having a hard time keeping up. I want to do more with the videos I have been recording of BabyBoy, and want to learn iMovie. And now that I have an Intel Mac, I can also use VMWare Fusion and run Windows. I got it on Friday (yes on Black Friday...doing my part for the economy!) but I am just now this evening playing with it and getting things set up and installed the way I like it.

On the road to Grandparents' house

We coincided nap time with travel time on purpose.

The Third Eye

This is part of a mural near my work. The third eye is freaky, but I like it.

Banana Bread

The last few days have been plenty busy here. And we are just starting to gear up for the Thanksgiving holidays. I got the cooking bug this weekend, and one of the things I tried out was this banana bread recipe. I had bought a bunch of bananas a week ago, and then got a stomach bug (daycare is good at providing me with various germs), so I couldn't eat them all. They were getting very ripe, so I had to do something to salvage them. This recipe was so simple that I simply cannot ever waste bananas again! Maybe next time I will add nuts or orange juice like one of the commenters suggested. Sorry I don't have any photos of it. We've already eaten some of it, so I didn't think to take a picture.

Book Review: E is for Evidence

Okay, I'm definitely behind in my book reviews here. I think I finished E is for Evidence when I was on vacation. It was, like, eh, compared to the others, especially since I read it after "G" and "H", which I loved. This is a story where Kinsey is being framed for being in on an industrial arson case's insurance claim. Her second ex-husband shows up in this book to add more to the drama. Kinsey is her typical wise-cracking self, but I felt the resolution of the story was rather bland. Usually, Kinsey is the one to figure it all out. But in the end of this book, Kinsey is told by the villain how it was all laid out, which disappointed me. I rate this book a 7 out of 10. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't my favorite of the series.

Introducing the BabyBoy Fall collection

It finally got cool enough here in Austin to dress BabyBoy in long sleeves and sweaterwear.

The Saxidentals on MySpace (will you be our friend?)

It's nothing too fancy yet, but I started a MySpace page for The Saxidentals. I uploaded some recordings from our November 2 gig at the Congregational Church of Austin. (Thanks Andy for recording us!) Hope you like them. And if you are a member of MySpace, send an add request and we can be friends!

Book review: H is for Homicide

The next Kinsey Millhone book I read on vacation was "H" is for Homicide. I know I said before that "G" was my favorite. Well, now "H" is my favorite. In this installment Kinsey does some undercover work in a L.A. gang to help break up an auto insurance fraud ring. For much of the book, Kinsey is actually held captive by the gang leader. We also meet a friend from Kinsey's school days who has since become a crooked cop. This was a real page turner for me. I rate this book 9 out of 10.

New Orleans 2008

On our way home from Mississippi, we took a quick detour to the French Quarter in New Orleans. I just had to have beignets and cafe au lait from Cafe Du Monde, and D indulged my whim. (BabyBoy had a much healthier snack of spaghetti with meat sauce.)

Mississippi 2008

Book Review: "G" is for Gumshoe

This is book number 7 in the Kinsey Millhone series by Sue Grafton. So far, having read A - D, and F, I liked "G" is for Gumshoe best. (I just got "E" in the mail, so that is now in the queue, after I finish "H" is for Homicide.) This story was a bit different in that, even though Kinsey has a missing persons case to work on, she is also the target of a hit man. So, she has to hire her own P.I./bodyguard. There is a lot of hide and seek, with a little bit of romance thrown in. It is not until about two-thirds of the way into the book that I thought, hooray, we are finally going to the library to do research! Sue Grafton keeps the novel exciting, and keeps Kinsey as wise cracking an investigator as always. I give this book an 8.5 out of 10.

BabyBoy taking a snooze

Before The Saxidentals' rehearsal on 10/25, BabyBoy decided to take a snooze on J.

Cafe du Monde, New Orleans

Beignets and cafe au lait in the French Quarter on the way home to Austin.

I love my iPod shuffle

Recently, at work, the development team received iPod shuffles for delivering our latest major release. I have been listening to mine a lot now, and I love it. I let iTunes autofill the iPod shuffle, and then I can rediscover old music in my library.

Saxidentals dress rehearsal

The Saxidentals did our dress rehearsal on Saturday (1 November 2008) at Jaime's church. Since it was a new place for BabyBoy to listen to us, we decided to ask our friend to babysit while we rehearsed. It actually didn't go well for him. He had a total meltdown. And then he took a nap.

Halloween pumpkin 2008

D's annual pumpkin carving.

Halloween/pajama party at daycare

At BabyBoy's daycare, they had a pajama party instead of a costume party. Of course lots of people dressed in costume anyways. And yes, BabyBoy started the day at school with his pajamas, but must have had a messy lunch, and was changed into his second set of clothes by the time I came to pick him up.

Mr. Woodrum - The Truck Man

Guest blog by D:



We met Mr. Woodrum at the Sun Harvest Market when we stopped there on our way home to pick up something for dinner. We had never met him before and suddenly he was in front of us caught by BabyBoy's gaze. He took off his engineers hat and showed BabyBoy his lack of hair. He said he was 83 years old and his birthday is January 28 (or 20? I am pretty sure he said 28th). He is a great-grandfather. Right off the bat he asked if BabyBoy was a "Truck Man". BabyBoy was totally in awe. He just stared and stared, not quite knowing what to make of all of the to-do over him. I told him that BabyBoy was 9 months old and had not really discovered cars and trucks yet. But, this was about to change. Mr. Woodrum said that he made wooden toy trucks for kids. He said that he could not remember what it was he came to the store looking for, but that he had a truck in the car for BabyBoy - it was blue and he would be right back. While we filled our cart with baby food jars. In just a minute or two he came back bearing an awesome, hand made wooden dump truck with a hinged bucket and real rolling wheels - painted blue. He gave it to BabyBoy and he did not want to let go of it. Just as Mr. Woodrum had predicted. What a kind hearted man. He would only accept our thanks and then he headed off with a big grin as BabyBoy started to cry when we tried to get him to let go of it.

Downtown Austin Segway Tour

Downtown Austin, on Congress, at lunch today. Those Segways look like fun.

We are okay!

I took a pause from blogging as both BabyBoy and I have been recovering from various respiratory ailments. But I have a lot of blog postings forthcoming this week. We will actually be on vacation, but through the magic of Blogger, there will be posts during the week. And if I can, I'll mobile blog from the road. Have a great week!