Merry Christmas all (burp). This was finished at about 11:30PM Xmas eve. It's a puppet theatre / store front for the kids.



It was supposed to be red and yellow but apparently I brought home a quart of decade old paint - thank you HD supply chain - your stock velocity is underwhelming. Good thing our local Wally's world was one of those open for 24 hours for your holiday convenience. Bad thing, they only had this brand that, instead of drying in 30-60 minutes, was rated to dry in 3-5 hours which translated into the degrees Kelvin we use to (not) heat our house, takes a good day and a half.

And of course, the thing I had the most difficulty with, was the store bought curtains and curtain rod.

I think next year, they're getting a playstation 7 or whatever they're up to / taking pre-orders for at that point.

The elves

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Originally uploaded by Lao Er.

This would have been the Xmas card if it wasn't for the cutlery in the background and the evidence of child safety issues. (I was going to ID that for you, but let's play "spot the hazard".)

Canon PS next

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Originally uploaded by Lao Er.

A few reasons why I need the next model up from my Canon S2 IS ...

- relatively low ISO capability (tops out at 400)
- silly 1GB file limit/2GB SD card limit - which is a real problem because I tend to use this as my camcorder
- my mom has the S3 IS

Xmas concert

Copy of IMG_7987
Originally uploaded by Lao Er.

From the evening show of the girl's school concert. This was the big Vegas finish - that's her on the bottom right (in green circle). Hard to tell, but she spent most of her time on stage looking for us in the crowd.

Mine!

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Originally uploaded by Lao Er.

This is now designated as the girl's yak-bucket. No one else gets to use it or play with it; it's been marked.

FWIW - The boy has learned how to run to the bathroom if he thinks he has to chow.

This past Saturday, we took the kids to my workplace's kids Xmas party - Santa vs. The Snowman - in 3D IMAX! Kids, this is not your older sibling's 3D effects with the cardboard glasses that gave you paper cuts over your years and resulted in an inability to engage in strenuous activities, drive or otherwise direct large vehicles.

This was almost as good as the T3 3D show at Universal Studio's (the last 3D show I saw). Good enough to make the boy recoil and pull his glasses off every time something shot out of the screen at him. 2 for flinching, boy!

Anyways, I'm a convert - we'll see if the boy likes the Polar Express in 3D.

BTW - Kids Party Santa? DENIED!

sweet

12-05-06 Set 4 Carry 2x
Originally uploaded by Lao Er.

Carry!?!? You punk-*ss, meglomania'd, whistle-toting, no talent, tri-focal wearing ...

Pretty fly for my little guy ...

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Originally uploaded by Lao Er.

Cross my keyboard, but the boy made progress this weekend in the potty training arena ... wasn't that the name of the old engineering building on campus?

Saturday was ... messy. But he did great on Sunday and only had one mishap early this morning. Made it through daycare and all the way to bed time!

To think, all it took was Thomas Train gitch ... so what if they cost $30 a piece?

YARISTOCBIB*

These shirts have the biggest freaking collars I've ever seen!


(* yet another reason I should try on clothes before I buy)

This has been bugging me all day long ...

So, I get this "workforce crisis" issue; I've heard about the trend towards specialization; I've read about the next "era" of modern society being based on knowledge and that labour is the thing of the past.

Coincidingly, I know that I am moving to the outer edge, if not already beyond the window, of target demographic for consumerism. I'm aware that CRM systems have probably tagged my buying pattern as a non-profitable, possibly even undesireable customer/consumer. I know companies would rather market to my kids than to me. I know that I now shop by aisle, rather than by floor or section.

I get all that. But I can't help but find myself wondering ...

Is it too much to ask for someone working in the clothing department to know how to fold a freaking shirt!

For the record, I am neither impressed by the number of folds you can introduce into my shirt, nor by the how tightly you can pack my shirts into the smallest of bags; nor even by the variety of balloon-animal-shirt arrangements you can make before my very eyes. ("Balloon" modifies "animal" - I don't know what a "balloon-shirt" is/would be.)

Just to make sure I've covered all the angles - I am not Harry Houdini, I am not Doug Henning; I am not David Copperfield; I am neither bound by employment, nor do I dabble in hobbies that, require anything resembling strait-jacket test-worthiness of my apparel.

Damn, buddy.

Oooohhhh-trivin. Every once in a while, someone tries to tell me I have an Otrivin addiction. (I use it seasonally, so I don't think that counts. It just happens to be convenient for me to have some at home, work and in the car.)

But, I think I saw a commercial today for something called Nasanex. Not sure if this product is universal and/or the advertising rules are, but any ads for medicine now have to include disclaimers on the side effects. I swore I thought I heard that, in addition to the the standard side effects of drowziness, dizziness and dry skin, apparently this stuff can give you a viral infection!

I don't wanna hear any more noise about Otrivin.

Love that extra hour when we "fall back". But just so we don't get cocky, mo' natural is gonna throw half a foot of snow at us today.

That preceding blurb was all preface for this ... remember that episode of Happy Days where Fonzie and Pinky break-up? The line I can't get outta my head this morning is "She treated me like an em-plo-YEE."

BOO

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Originally uploaded by Lao Er.

... at the Zoo/2006.

Shotgun

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Originally uploaded by Lao Er.

After Calloway park - I don't think the travelling grocery store parking lot Fair really cuts it anymore. (I know I said this was at the zoo, but I recognized the carney's "responsible" for the rides from their stop at the local Safeway.)

Maybe the thinking is, this is more exhilerating when you throw in the threat of frostbite.

To answer your question ...

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Originally uploaded by Lao Er.

With the boy, it's all about the trains. So if he had his choice, he'd probably opt to go as Thomas or Sir Topham Hat.

When I was just ...

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Originally uploaded by Lao Er.

... a little boy, I asked my mother, why can't I be what I want to be for Halloween?

So, should it be this ...

... or this.

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Originally uploaded by Lao Er.

Or does it not matter because we're going to make him wear a parka and moon boots so no one will see any parts of the costume anyways?

Like the guests who won't leave ...

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Originally uploaded by Lao Er.

I don't know what they spray in these balloons - for what they charge I'm assuming it's some class of balloon-grade plutonium - but these suckers are like a bad smell.

In hindsight, we should have gotten christmas colours.

Fall supper

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Originally uploaded by Lao Er.

Happy Turkey day ... or vegetarian facsimilie if that's your "taste".

A crisp weekend, but nice enough to get out a few times. Everyone's in the same boat - looking back thinking of the nice summer and how little they took advantage.

But it's look fwd time ... the girl's trying new things: karate and soccer and sticking with the swimming that she's been doing pretty well at since the start of the summer.

The boy is in gymkids but is having some problems grasping the concept of group activities. On the other hand, he's learned to sulk at a very advanced level - the co-ordinated triple threat: grossly exaggerated arm-crossing; a decisive "hmmphh"; followed by stomping to some corner of the room. Too bad the comic effect overshadows any of the intentioned reactions.

Brrrr ....

happy is ...

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Originally uploaded by Lao Er.

A girl and five (minus one) of her best friends dressed as their favourite princesses with free run of the house, some games, a lil brother to boss around ... and dishes of candy cupcake decorations and no rules ...

Happy birthday sweetie.