A new life; same as the old life?

Photo 365 v2

2012-01-13T21:07:00.005-06:00

Yes I have started another day by day photo 365 project; and I am already behind! The winter hasn't helped me so far, and the weather generally has been blah. Click on the links over to the right and you can see the album and the rejects as I go through the year. Please feel free to leave feedback.

Santa Tracking

2011-12-23T10:44:00.000-06:00

Christmas is a coming and hi tech is the latest thing! Someone told me about this website and I thought it was too cool not to share, so if you think it's lame..bite me!

I don't know how much of it is true, partially true or complete BS, but it is an interesting story. Apparently it all started in the 50s, when some store printed an error in their "Call Santa" hotline number, which took kids through to what was then CONAD, later NORAD.

According to their website, they have been doing it ever since. Now I definitely don't believe all the stuff about using jets, satellites, etc, but there is no reason why some computer simulation isn't doing it. So I am going to call the number on Christmas Eve and see if anyone answers, right now it is just a machine.

Winter Is Coming...

2011-11-06T19:53:00.009-06:00

...and apparently it is going to be one of the worst in forever. The weather has been decent this fall or autumn, depending on which country you are from. October has been another busy month, which ended up with waving the family off to the UK for an extended 5 week plus trip. As I write this, it is already 11 days and they have flown by!

I have been busy working, and took a couple of weekend trips out to take pictures. Also, as is always the case when the family goes away, I have a boat load of DIY jobs to try to get done. I have already hung two new doors, ripped the trim off the upstairs hall, and put up a new light in the office. The rest of the list is way too long to go through, but it ranges from cutting a new doorway in Cooper's room to simple stuff like touching up cracks, paint dings, etc.

I decided to check out the Naperville River Walk and it was excellent. We have talked about it many times, and drove through the city a couple of weeks ago to check it out when we were at the Morton Arboretum. The walk goes quite a long way, right beside the river in a few places, and across several covered bridges. It is not overly taxing, so it you are looking for a scenic walk, I can thoroughly recommend it. Even the little snakes enjoy it (check out the pics) NOT very stroller friendly however. Click here for a some pictures.

Whilst I was down in the area, I took the opportunity to make another trip to the arboretum, hoping that the colours would still be around despite the high winds we have had recently. There were still some great colours, but all the trees that had changed in early October were already leafless. Click here for some more pictures, including the ones from the beginning of the month.

Just this weekend, I went to Russell Military "Museum". I have driven by there so many times and thought it looked cool. At $10 it wasn't bad value. Most of the exhibits are trainers (it says on the side for those of you wondering), and have clearly been stripped for parts before coming to the museum, but still they are pretty cool.

It does look more like a military dumping ground than a museum, but at the price, it is still worth a looksee. Click here for some pictures.

More DIY this week, then I have friends coming into town for the weekend, so I expect there will be more pictures.

Montreal, QC

2011-10-10T19:05:00.009-05:00

I took my fourth trip to Montreal this past week. On the previous three trips, I had not had much opportunity to go out and shoot photographs. Two trips were with Steve and so we spent most of the time out eating and drinking, the third trip it rained pretty much the entire week, and I thought this was going to be the same this week. For the first two days it rained pretty solidly, although I managed to sneak a few hours one evening.

I had been checking out many of the fountains on previous trips, and so I decided that would be good subject matter. Click on the picture above for shots from that evening.

On the last night I decided to check out what is supposedly one of the best attractions in Montreal, the Bio Dome in the old Olympic stadium. I have to say that whilst I thought it was kinda fun, and the exhibits were good, I really didn't think it was all that!

The one thing I did do when I was there that impressed the heck out of me. I went up to the botanic garden, planning to shoot some flowers and maybe some night landscapes, but what I discovered was the 19th annual Chinese lantern festival. This wonderful event detailed below was the most incredible sight. Click on the picture to see all that I shot that night.

Every year, the botanical garden presents the Magic Of Lanterns on a different theme. This process takes almost a year, each year!

Through Fall & Winter, a theme is decided for the following year, technical drawings are made in Montreal. Precise drawings are made for each lantern, including dimensions, colours and even how it is assembled.

In the Springtime, artisans in the Shanghai region make each lantern by hand, following the technical specifications made in Montreal. In June the lanterns are shipped by boat to Montreal.

In July/August, the lanterns are painstaking assembled by team of electricians, carpenters, plumbers, welders, and assorted other helpers.It takes over a month to build the stands, lay the cables and set up the lanterns.

The lanterns are then displayed from early September through the end of October; lighting up the Chinese garden. This year's theme, the 19th year of the Magic Lanterns, marks the 20th anniversary of the Chinese garden, and is built around the theme of "The First Emperor's Procession". On display are over 700 traditional lanterns and an additional 200+ themed.

My Name Is Gordy...

2011-10-06T22:40:00.016-05:00

and I am a blogger, it has been over a month since my last post! Seriously, where does the time go? September has been a super busy month, with the end of summer and everyone trying to squeeze in their events before the weather starts to turn.

WARNING; monster post, lots of pix, grab a coffee/G&T!

Every year, the rules are that everything opens up for summer on Memorial Day and closes on Labor Day (this year Sept 5th). With this in mind, I took a day off work in the middle of the week to do some stuff with the family, including a day trip to Six Flags Great America. Well I guess Labor Day came early in Gurnee, because the Wednesday that we went to Six Flags, August 31st, they were closed! WTF! Fortunately they were still open weekends and holidays, so we used our season passes to spend a couple of hours there on the Monday night of Labor Day. We even managed to get Addison onto one of the water rides, twice! Only a few pictures of the fun and games as it was a short evening.

Waukegan Air Show was our second event of the month. There are many air shows in this area every year, but this one promised something the others never did. The ability to get up close and personal with the aircraft, close enough to touch, though in most cases they asked you not to. The event itself could have been better organised; with the start time of 10am, but nothing in the air until 12, (NOT mentioned on their web site) we missed out on the air part of the show due to a prior commitment for Steve's daughter's 1st birthday. We will just have to go back next year. Needless to say there were plenty of pictures from the day!

Next on the calendar was the Highland Park "Touch A Truck" event. I had missed this last year, I think maybe because I had been here in Montreal (where I am as I write). Lots of big trucks for the kids to climb on, play with, honk horns, etc. The highlight for me was the two story cherry picker, where they you took you up for rides; although I was disappointed to get grease over my shorts and brand new shirt! It was a beautiful day, the views were spectacular, and even Addison who was scared on the way up did not want to come back down. Again lots of pictures of the whole day.

As the month rolled on, and we weren't even near the end yet, we headed to the Fall Festival at Heller Nature Center. We had done this event before and missed out on the hay ride, so the first thing we did when we showed up as early as we could was to ask when the hay ride finished. "Don't worry you have plenty of time". Imagine our disappointment when, once again, the hay rides seemed to finish super early with some BS about not being able to see in the twilight, despite the tractor having lights! Not withstanding that continued frustration, we had a great time, pumpkin patch exploration, painting with feathers, watching the bonfire, and Cooper had a blast playing in the cave/tunnel/den. Obviously some pictures were taken!

The penultimate event of the month was Addison's 4th Birthday shindig. We had planned a trip over her actual birthday (see below) and so we held the party a day earlier than the actual day. There was a pretty decent showing for a Wednesday afternoon. Lorraine had baked her trademark apple cake, food was procured mostly from Trader Joes, and a select group were invited. Addison got a good haul of gifts including her first ever princess dress, accompanied by a Rapunzel/Tangled doll with super long hair! Click here for the pictures.

Finally for the month we planned a short trip to Traverse City, MI, hoping to catch an early view of the Autumn colours. We were going Thursday thru Sunday, until I realised that I had committed to a business trip, flying early on the Sunday. Undeterred, we cut the trip by a day and headed off early on Thursday morning, IN THE RAIN, AGAIN. The last road trip we took to NYC, it rained the entire first two days, guess what, it rained the entire first two days, despite the forecast of "showers". However, we made the best of it and had a fun time exploring the local area around Traverse. We didn't actually spend any time in Traverse City, beyond sleeping, but we visited Sleeping Bear Dunes, Glen Haven, Glen Arbor, Deadman's Hill, and too many others to name. It did clear up for the last day, as we drove home :-). Click here to view the "small" selection of pictures.

In between all the high jinks, I also managed to find some time to visit the Chicago Botanic Gardens two or three times, took a bunch of pictures of the kids and finished my Photo Project 365, including rejects! Click the pics or links below to view any of the pictures you like the look of :-)

Did you make it this far? Well done!

Check out the photobook I made from my project 365.

British Institution

2011-09-05T15:06:00.005-05:00

Growing up these VW campers were all the rage. If you had one you were definitely cool. They were better than caravans, more spacious than cars, almost like the original mini van. Well now you can buy a piece of this nostalgia in the shape of a four man tent.

How Many Left?

2011-09-03T19:49:00.005-05:00

Watching the new season of Top Gear on BBC America, and they just announced this really cool web site. It is designed to tell you how many of a particular make and model of vehicle are left on UK roads. I have no idea if there is a US equivelant, but how cool is that.

So think of your favourite car you ever drove and look it up.

The End Of Summer

2011-08-27T14:07:00.004-05:00

I cannot believe it is the end of August already and officially the end of summer here in the US next weekend. It has been a strange summer, lots of storms, oppressive heat and mosquitoes! As is always the case at this time of year everything is being squeezed into the last few weekends.

Last weekend I went to the only golf outing truly worth it's salt. The Timothy O'Tooles 14th annual outing. It was our first time, but the pictures of previous outings convinced us. They promised an all in experience with all the food and liquor you could drink, free samples on every hole, etc. Well they came up a little short of every hole, but probably at least 14 or so out of the 18 had free liquor and some nice sights too. Click here for a few shots from the day.

This weekend we have already seen Tony Bennett, last night, at Ravinia Festival. Always a good time, the picnic, the lawn, camping out on the station platform waiting for the train. This afternoon, we are off to an "open day" at the local ice arena and then tomorrow is the Taste of Highland Park; more tomorrow.

Botanic Garden Kite Festival

2011-08-13T22:04:00.003-05:00

We went to the botanic gardens again today, this time for their 7th annual kite festival. We watched the skilled flyers take their kites in very little wind and do amazing stunts. Unfortunately it was VERY hot and we were sitting in full sun, so we were not able to stay very long.

It was like watching an air show though, these folks could fly their kites in perfect formations, just like the jets and bi planes due in the air and water show. Click here for some shots from the little time we stayed there.

Click here for full event details if you want to see more about the event. We are hoping that this one is a little cooler in September!

Busy Travelling - Not Nearly!

2011-08-10T20:08:00.000-05:00

I am sitting in the hotel bar in Montreal for the second time in three weeks, wondering if my friend and colleague Steve still believes business travel to be something he was missing out on. Don't get me wrong, you cannot beat a good steak or a nice glass of wine, especially when someone else is paying, but the "shine or glamour" of business travel wore off for me a long time ago.

On the plane on the way up here, I was browsing the inflight magazine as I am wont to do on occasion, and there was a story of a guy (Tom Stuker) who had just reached 10m miles with United; a landmark they believe for any airline. Now obviously the perks of being a 10m miles guy are pretty cool, including things like getting your name on the side of 747, and I do love to fly, so the thought of flying the miles doesn't bother me as much as the though of all those destinations for work, for make no mistake, most of it was for work, and it has all been done since 1982!!

Next time I think I am travelling a lot, I will think of Tom Stuker and thank my lucky stars, because I would much rather be spending time with my family at the Kohl's Children's Museum!

See Tom's story here

Click here for the pix from the Children's Museum last weekend.

Auto Historica X1 & Updates

2011-07-26T21:09:00.000-05:00

Last weekend there was a classic car show in our local town, one day only. I was looking at it as not only an opportunity to indulge my passion for photography, but also for old cars, and I even saw a couple of MGs! A very rare MG PA Airline coupe was one of the stars of the show. The blurb on the event said..

Auto Historica XI, is the most elite exhibition of rare and unusual automobiles and other motorized vehicles in the Midwest. This invitation-only event is considered to be one of the finest automotive exhibitions in the United States, thus the nickname “Little Pebble Beach”. Auto Historica XI invites a select group of collectors to participate with vehicles that are specially chosen each year to create a themed exhibition.

This year’s theme is Woodies, classic American wood-bodied station wagons from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, as well as unique European wooden skiff-bodied touring cars. Approximately 50 cars will be on display, including such rarities as a supercharged Duesenberg, an Allard J2, and a Bugatti Atlantic Coupé.

The big problem with photgraphing these events and cars is that they are always packed in side by side, distracting backgrounds, people walking all around, lots of reflections in the shiny paint and chrome, so I ultimately ended up with a lot of close up shots of features of the cars. Click here for the album.

Also last weekend, the next town over was having it's summer festival, Highwood Days. Not sure what they were trying to achieve, but really all they had was a traveling fair. Addison went on a couple of the rides, including going through a fun house by herself. She and I also went on one of those undulating slides which was kinda fun.

Cooper has a cool new flat cap. Isn't it amazing how fashions cycle. Flat caps, as they were called in the coal mining days, were the hat of choice for the working class, where bowlers or top hats were for the upper class. Now everyone, including me is getting back into flat caps. Here is the boy in his!

On sunday I flew off to Montreal on a business trip, from where I send this missive. Four days of beautiful weather in an average city. I keep hearing all of these people tell me how wonderful this place is, but I gotta tell you, this is my second trip and I am not impressed. The food is good, I will give them that, lots of yummy French cheeses and Creme Brulee, but other than that... We did go to the local casino on Monday night, but with $25 min blackjack and $10-$15 minimum craps, we didn't last long.

Whilst I have been away I missed out on Addison's first solo, big girl, bike ride. I fitted the the stabilisers, or training wheels for the Americans, before I left. Lorraine shot her going down the drive and sent it to me, seems she quite liked it. The video is side oriented, sorry about that and I don't have the tools with me to correct it, but I will do so when I get back, and post it then.

Heat Wave...

2011-07-20T12:46:00.003-05:00

...and when they say heat wave here they REALLY mean it. We are running into our 4th day of temperatures in the 90s with a heat index in triple digits, and the forecast is for more of the same until the weekend. Today is the hottest of the week with a current Highland Park temp of 98F and a heat index of 107F, although the heat index in other areas is expected to reach 120F.

Fortunately, the folks that lost power last week have all been restored. The final count was 868,000, a record number of households affected. There were crews from several different states here to help, and not just Wisconsin/Indiana, but from as far afield as Georgia and Florida! In all the comed repair bill was in excess of $80m.

We have had a quiet week, mostly hiding from the oppresive heat, although we did hang out with our friends Amy & Kevin last weekend, where we played a new game call Kubb. First time I played I was pretty good, but it went down hill quick. I might have to build a set of my own to practice.

We did spend a little time in the garden last night, as it was a little cooler. As most of you know I am a keen, if slightly rubbish, golfer. Well Addison has her own mini set of clubs, driver, iron and putter, and we have one of those little plastic sets too, with a tee and balls and stuff.

Lorraine was teaching both Addison and Cooper how to do it, proper grip, stance, the works, and Addison was doing a decent job getting it. We had her do it herself, and as you can see from this little animated gif, she actually did very well doing it on her own. Check out my future LPGA star!

Click here for the animated gif version

700,000 Without Power

2011-07-11T11:43:00.005-05:00

After an excellent weekend of family time (although Lorraine still says I spend too much time "playing" on my phone) we find ourselves in the grasp of another serious storms system, but I am getting ahead of myself.

One of the things we enjoy about the summer here in the US is the predictability of the weather (snort). Whilst it is true that the weather is generally more predictable and lends itself to planning outdoor activity, this summer in particular has made a mockery of that.

Firstly it was super late in getting started this year; with the rainiest April on record and May not being much better, whilst all the family were here; culminating in having to move Lorraine's birthday party indoors due to a last minute rainy day!

June started to improve to more normal temperatures, before it got crazy hot for a couple of days right after the family left. The last few days here have been in the 90s, typical July weather, and then the big storm today.

We have had a couple of pretty big storms this season, including a couple of tornado warnings, one that got pretty close, and a couple of severe thunderstorm warnings that have often left people without power, with flooding, etc; but we have always been lucky, barring a few tree branches and some flickering lights.

This morning however, we had a storm system blow through in a matter of about 15-30 minutes with winds in excess of 70mph. It got really dark, and extremely windy, the result of which was/is a lot of damage to trees and power lines. We are one of the original 700,000 without power and as of almost noon, are one of 576,000 still without power. The comed website is down, presumably overrun, or maybe they have no power :-) and we have no idea when it might be restored. It is all good right now, but it will be a tough night if we can't get any AC or fans to run, as they are predicting the temperatures to remain high.

Click here to read the news story, and I will try to go around the neighbourhoods later and get some pictures.

As for the weekend, we went to a couple of local town festivals and events. Based on my earlier statements about the weather predictability, there are always a ton of things to do every weekend during the summer. This weekend was the 1st Annual (I guess that statement is based on intent :-) Summerfest in Wilmette, and the Taste Of Lincolnshire.

Wilmette Summerfest was generally excellent. It was their first time and they clearly had not thought about parking, park 'n' ride or anything like that so it was a pain to find somewhere, but other than that they did a nice job. They had good things for the kids, some free, some not (but no expensive), they had a little bit of an art show, they executed it on the same day that the weekly "French" Farmers market runs, and they also had a sidewalk sale going on. We had a great time.

The Taste Of Lincolnshire is one of my favourite "Taste" events. All of the local towns around here do them annually. For those unfamiliar it is the concept of local restaurants bringing out sample sizes of their dishes to try to entice you to eat there in future. Given the concept, I would have thought they would approach it as a marketing excersise and offer good portions at a reduced price. In reality they bring out small portions and then just pro-rate the price, for example $4 for two pot stickers or $8 for a Mai Tai, etc.

Add to that, that you have to buy tickets and not just use cash, then you always end up with a few left over, which you have to ditch, I find the overall concept to be flawed from a consumer perspective.

That said, the Taste Of Lincolnshire has long been one of my favourites. NOT this year :-( the choice of vendors was poor, they were poorly prepared, running out of stuff at lunch time Sunday when they were due to operate through the early evening, and the quality of the food was average at best.

Considering this is supposed to be a showcase event I was left disappointed.

I have a bunch of pictures that I shot and even some video of Cooper dancing to the tune in his head, which I will post later.

In the meantime, here are the pictures of the kids from this weekend and the rest of this month.

Don't forget to check out my Photo 365 project link over on the right and also the ones that didn't quite make the cut in the reject pile.

Happy Birthday USA

2011-07-02T08:34:00.000-05:00

As a Brit, I probably should not be celebrating Independence Day this weekend. However as Scot, I can sympathise with the desire for Independence, and as a visitor to the country, I continue to try to adapt to fit local customs and pastimes. I will be posting later to fill you in on what we actually did over the 4th July, including some great pictures.

Through the later half of the 18th century, the relations between the Brits and the Americans became increasingly strained, and the phrase "No Taxation Without Representation" was born. A network of groups called the Sons Of Liberty formed to resist the various taxes that the British were placing on the colonies, starting with the Stamp Act. Although through subsequent years the Quartering Act, the Declaratory Act and the Townshend Act all increased the sense of frustration at laws being passed by a remote legislature for the benefit of a remote country (sound familiar my Scottish friends?).

Following the Boston Tea Party, in 1773, more laws came both as punishment, with the Coercive Act in 1774 and also in an attempt to bring the unruly Americans to order generally, by extending the Quartering Act. Later they tried to strengthen their hold on New England with the New England Restraining Act in 1775. Through 1775 the Americans drew up their plans for war, including appointing George Washington as CIC, making peace treaties with the Indians, commissioning ships and raising money. Never one to miss a trick, the French were happy to assist the Americans in their fund raising efforts.

Thomas Jefferson was chosen to write the Declaration Of Independence. On 2nd July Congress voted in favour of independence and on 4th July it was approved. Copies of the declaration were distributed to be read publicly in all colonies. Never being one to give up too easily, the Brits were having none of it and having retreated from Boston formed up in New York and actually drove Washington back for a while through New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Congress themselves retreated to Baltimore.

December 26th Washington surprised the Brits in New Jersey and with only 5 American deaths won the Battle of Trenton. Reacting to the defeat General Howe sent a load of troops to Trenton and Washington caught him on the hop in the Battle Of Princeton, winning again and clearing most of the Brits out of New Jersey, greatly raising US morale. The Brits rallied and attacked Philadelphia driving the Americans back again into Valley Forge for a tough winter.

On October 7th in Saratoga a battle with General Horatio Gates ended in British surrender, and started a movement to have General Washington replaced as CIC by Gates, which ultimately was thrown out. In the background the Americans continued to work with the French, eventually forming an alliance in 1778 which would result in the British trying, and failing) to make peace by repealing the earlier Tea and coercive Acts.

War continued on many fronts 79/80 with Spain joining the battles against Britain as we would not give up Gibraltar. Surviving a mutiny in Conneticut and the treasonous acts of Benedict Arnold Congress continued down the independence road, forming a Department Of Finance to sort out the ailing coffers and finally ratified the Articles of Confederation, 4 years after the discussion started!

French and American forces joined together in Yorktown, ultimately signaling the end of the war with their defeat on General Cornwallis and the surrender of almost 8000 soldiers. Peace talks started in 1782 and ratified in 1783, the Brits started to evacuate New York. There is a bunch of other stuff that happened in the succeeding years to settle everything down, but ultimately the British involvement was done when the Articles of Peace were ratified on April 15th.

The full story is available here and there is a bunch more interesting documents here on this site. I found it fascinating to understand so much more about this part of our joint histories.

Where's Waldo (Gordy)

2011-06-29T21:56:00.000-05:00

I know I have been missing from this blog for a while, and largely because life really is just the "same as it ever was" to quote Talking Heads. I don't know that I even have any readers any more that care, or if the 30 or so people that drop by every week are finding me on some random google search.

I have been continuing to work on my photography and maybe when I am done with the Photo 365 project, I will move back over to here and post the photography work over here. In the meantime here is a quick update of what I have been doing.

Family : all well and getting ready for summer

Phrase of the week (Addison) : "I totally can't do this!"

Cooper's favourite word : Car!

Cubs : suck

Golf : mediocre, with some flashes of brilliance

Kitchen : done, looks awesome

Weather : getting hot

Photography : having fun with it

Work : busy as heck

This weekend is 4th July weekend, and I reposted an item I did from way back in 2005. Addison's school have a group in our local town parade so that will be fun, to actually be in it.

Mostly though, I am just looking forward to the three day weekend, and I am astounded that it is July already! Back next week, I promise, with an update of the weekend's activities.

Jolly Boys Outing

2011-05-04T20:42:00.002-05:00

Just got back from the annual Jolly Boys Outing to Vegas. BTW anyone who wants to come any of these years is more than welcome. Obviously the details are sketchy because after all what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but here are a couple of the highlights.

The most beautiful golf course we have ever played on; Wolf Creek Resort in Mesquite. 90 minutes from the city, but worth every minute of the drive out there. True desert golf, sand and rocks all around, advisories not to seek lost balls for fear of snakes!

Johnny Bravo (Steve) and Rusty Bedsprings (Gordy) winning $200 a piece on the same penny slot machine one after the other. I shouldn't have stood up!

The fabulous fountains of the Bellagio. I didn't know until recently that Steve Wynn actually built this property for Mirage until the sold out to MGM. If you have never seen these live, then you need to, they are incredible!

Only in Vegas! A fully detailed Statue Of Liberty, made from Jelly Beans!

Click here if you would like to see the full album. Lots of shots of the golf course for Charlie to get jealous!

Montreal Business Trip

2011-04-18T13:00:00.000-05:00

Earlier this month I went on a business trip to Montreal. I have been to Toronto a number times, but this was my first trip to Montreal. I have to tell you that I was not impressed. It was the end of winter and so there was a lot of slush and melting snow revealing winter trash and dirt, but equally there was a lot of litter generally and tons of graffiti on the many churches in the area.

Don't get me wrong we had some fun nights out, late night drinking and apparently the women there are rated as the 5th most beautiful in the world, so that was was interesting. I am sure that the timing wasn't the best, and in summer I am sure it is a much nice place to visit, but overall, it is not on my list of places that I will hurry back to.

Here are some photographs from the trip.

Long Time...

2011-04-14T11:07:00.012-05:00

no post; I know Charlie, very disappointed, but really there is not much going on. Also, I only have about 18 visits per week and about three comments a year, so I am not sure anybody even cares! Winter was long and pretty hard with some fabulous snow falls. The snow blower got a great work out and even earned me a few bottles of wine from the neighbours.

The kitchen is done from a contractor perspective, although touch ups, painting and backsplash tiling needs to be completed. I have started the clean up, with the family room back to "normal" I started the backsplash tiling as well, with the back semi-hidden area, to make sure I could do a good enough job, without professional help. It looks good and photographs will follow as I near completion.

The whole house still needs to be cleaned. Mot of the upstairs is done, we (Lorraine mostly) have been washing all of the carpeting, walls, etc as everything was just covered in dust. We are up against the wall as my sister, her baby and my mother will be joining Lorraine's sister and mother to visit us at the end of May for Lorraine's 40th birthday.

The other thing we have been doing a little more regularly now that the weather is better, is going out with the kids on bike rides. We have the trailer which they can both fit in to, and we have the back seat for my bike for Addison too, which she really likes as she can see much more from the higher position.

I have been spending a lot of my time with my camera which is one of the reasons this blog has been neglected, besides the fact that really life is just life right now. I am heading to Vegas at the end of the month to party, drink, play some golf; not necessarily in that order!

Speaking of golf, this weekend I will swing my clubs for the first time this year, and my league starts next week. I can't wait! That's all for now, but have a look at some of my recent photograph albums below. (in no particular order)

General city shots from the last month or two, from a few different walks around after I got done working.

A selection of pictures of the kids from the month of April. Cooper dressing up with my hat scarves and gloves, and Addison playing with bubbles that I bought for her. She loves bubbles!

The spring coming along leads to the gardens blooming, grass growing, etc. Recently I took Addison down to the Botanic Garden to see what was coming through.

I have been exploring the local area recently and one of the cool areas I found is the once army base of Fort Sheridan, which is steadily being sold off and converted to public lands.

Last album for this post is from our trip in March to Lincoln Park Zoo. I know many people don't like zoos and in some ways there are certainly components that I don't like, but I also think they serve a need. This particular place is a very old zoo, with some fabulous old buildings.

I joined a local camera club recently and the first field trip I took with them was to the Chicago Flower Show. The theme was the sport of gardening.

A few shots from the family bike rides we have been taking. Mostly of the actual scenery as the family are camera shy; well Addison is!

Of course, you should also hop on over to my photo blog and check out the Photo 365 daily shots and rejects. Click on the rotating album links on the right pane to see more of those.

Busy Weekend!!

2011-03-13T19:02:00.009-05:00

I have so much work to do on the house, tidying up after the builders have finished. The kitchen needs the backsplash, the laundry room needs a little more paint, the ceilings and walls need refinishing where drywall has been done, and the place needs cleaning. However this weekend it has been all fun, all the way!

I went on my first outing with the camera club yesterday to the Chicago Flower Show. I have to say that it wasn't nearly as grand as I thought it would be, and I am sure not a patch on the Chelsea Show. It was kinda cool though, as we were able to get access to the show 2 hours before the general public, and therefore able to shoot lots of pictures without being jostled or worrying about the tripods, etc. I am not much of a floral person in terms of knowing the names, but I think this is a lily variety, maybe even an Arum Lily. Here are some more pictures of the day trip. The theme of the event was "The Sport Of Gardening"

The folks I was driving wanted to leave early, so on the way home, I went to investigate some of the local sights for both family bike rides and photography opportunities. Fort Sheridan, is an old army fort which has since sold a lot of land to private developers and the city, whilst down sizing the fort to a much smaller reserve station. In the process, they also gave some land to the forest preserve for parkland. This shot is of a restored gun post on the way down to the beach.

Today we went to Lincoln Park Zoo. It is a free zoo in the city, unsurprisingly in Lincoln Park! I have been there before for the Christmas lights, but today we went to see the animals. It is a very old zoo, with some incredible old buildings donated/funded by some old Chicagoans. A lot of the animals were indoors of course, as it is still pretty cold here, but we had a great day, both inside and out. As usual, I took a bunch of pictures, which I will have to sort through before posting, but here is one for now.

Technical Support - The Dark Ages

2011-03-07T21:50:00.001-06:00

For all my friends in Technical Support. Someone sent me this video this morning and I could not resist reposting it!

Spring Is Springing

2011-03-02T22:14:00.000-06:00

I don’t suppose it has been any longer or harder of a winter than normal, but for some reason this one has really taken its toll on me. Funny thing is, I am not really sure how or why. I have not been fed up with the snow, in fact at times, I have been disappointed there wasn’t more snow, despite February being the snowiest on record and having the third biggest blizzard of all time. It has been a cold winter, but again not for extended periods or to the point where it got old. We did do the rebuild of the kitchen and whilst there were times it was tedious not having any facilities and dust being everywhere (now it’s only half the house that’s dusty), it still never really annoyed me.

My BIL died from the swine flu this winter and my great friend Marcus also died around this time of year a couple of years ago. I got very sick for a week, probably as sick as I have ever been; I think probably the flu, although I am always reticent to say that I had the flu. I turned 43 a few weeks ago and I think maybe I am just starting to feel my age a little heavier. I do know that I have been jealous of my friends all going skiing, and have missed, probably more than ever the times when I used to head down to Soll every year; although at the same time I have had a lot of fun playing with my camera, learning how to use it properly and taking photographs.

Maybe it is Christmas time? It is my favourite time of the year, and I don’t recall if this feeling was present before then, maybe it is just since Christmas was over and the post season if you will was where I got a little down. Long and short of it is that I am really looking forward to the spring, hopeful that it will bring a lighter mood, more opportunities to get out with the family; get the bikes out, go for rides around the neighbourhood; sit on the deck with a glass of wine in front of the fire. Baseball is coming soon, and golf courses will start to open in the next 3-4 weeks I think.

Kitchen Update

2011-01-18T09:47:00.001-06:00

The kitchen and associated remodeling is coming along nicely. Kitchen tile is down and partially grouted, dry wall is hung and finished but still to be primed. The cabinets went up last week and most of the trim is completed. Counter tops were measured and arrived this morning. They are being installed as I speak; appliances are in and working. I reckon we are about 2-3 weeks from 100% completion and finishing touches, but we should be able to host Burns Supper on the 25th! This picture is the stone installed on the bar in the family room.

Work is well advanced in the powder room floor and we can already use it. Those trips up and down the stairs were becoming tedious! As you would expect, there have been some hiccups and a lot of on the spot decisions to be made along the way. The two major gotchas have been the duct work that we knew was a mess, but just not quite how much of a mess, and the electrical supply service which we found out is aluminum (or aluminium for my UK readers), instead of copper and is not compliant with code requirements. Those two items alone caused change orders in the total amount a tad over $4k.

We had been able to make some changes along the way, tweaks here and there and the contractor, Ruben Stef (Stef General Construction) has been FIRST CLASS, I can strongly recommend him and his team/sub contractors. Their work quality is exceptional and Ruben's attention to detail is outstanding. Check him out here on the BBB as an A+ rating

Click here for pictures, newest is showing first.

Bald Eagle Migration

2011-01-11T17:05:00.002-06:00

Can there be anything more American than the Bald Eagle? Even though not technically bald by today's definition, historically (colonial times) bald also meant to have white hair, hence their name. They appear on coins, flags, standards, logos, pretty much anything you could think of.

Every year Bald Eagles come down from the north on their way to warmer climes and to be able to eat. They stop over in the Midwest in Illinois and Iowa amongst other places, for a few weeks, using the locks and dams where the water doesn't freeze to fish. Years ago the eagles were on the endangered list and were struggling to have any success breeding due to DDT weakening the egg shells causing them to break when the females nested. DDT was banned and populations immediately increased, but are again under threat, though they are no longer on the endangered list.

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a Photo Safari with Chicago Photo Safaris to view and photograph these magnificent birds. My photography skills let me down a little, preventing me from capturing the best images, but the experience was incredible and I have some half way decent photographs.

Click here to read more about the eagles and their history, migrations, etc, and here for a lot more pictures!

Christmas Crackers

2010-12-25T20:51:00.006-06:00

Many of my American friends have never heard of, far less pulled a Christmas cracker, and those who have, have usually experienced the non snap version sold in the US, because although guns are OK, heaven forbid we put a little gun powder in a cracker! For those who are interested, and for the UK folks who may or may not know this (I just learned it today from a Christmas cracker!!), here is the history of the cracker. If you would like to see a few pictures from Christmas Day, click here.

Tom Smith, a baker of wedding from Clerkenwell, London, invented the Christmas cracker in 1847. The events that led to these wonderful creations were quite a story. In 1940, Smith went to Paris and came across 'Bon bon', an almond sweet wrapped in paper that was twisted. He liked the taste so much that he began selling the 'new' sweets in London and they became very popular. Tom, who was always on a lookout for new promotion opportunities, noticed that his sweet had become popular gifts for loved ones and sweethearts of young men. Chinese fortune cookies inspired him to introduce small slips of paper inside the wrapping that had love mottos on them.

By 1846, he had become a successful businessman. One day, while he was enjoying the warmth of his fireplace, the crackle of a log gave him a new idea. He started experimenting to try to reproduce it in his sweets. In his pursuit, there were many failures and on certain occasions even his furniture and hands were burnt. Finally, he got it right. He took two strips of thin card and pasted small strips of salt petre on them. When these cards were pulled away, they produced a crack and a spark. Within a year, Tom's latest inventions had become a fashion. The sweets were first called 'Cosaques' after the cracking of the Cossack's whips. It was only after a decade that they came to be known as Christmas crackers.

Christmas crackers became so popular that many competitors sprung up in the market. The designer and colorful wrappers were used as promotional techniques and they were sold by half-a-dozen and one dozen packs in matching boxes. Thus, Tom Smith was virtually forced to get his designs patented and his company came to be known as the Tom Smith Crackers. By 1880s, Smith's company had already produced over hundred cracker designs. By 1900, Smith had sold more than 13 million crackers that were not only used at Christmas but also at other festivities, fairs and coronations. Tom later added small toys to his crackers. In 1933, printed foil wrappers were introduced and then as the designs evolved glass pendants, brooches, bracelets and other jewellery were included in the collections.

Caution - Falling Ice

2010-12-13T20:01:00.000-06:00

Check out this article on the subject, but all over Chicago we see these signs. They vary in message and I think this particular one is one of the best/worst. The general intent is to avoid being sued, oops sorry I mean to avoid people being hit and injured by falling ice from buildings.

Instead of simply warning you to stay away from the edge of the building, apparently 5 feet is about the best distance, this sign advises you to "watch". When I see that, to me, it implies that I should look up to see if ice is falling, upon which of course, I may get an icicle in the eye. The article is worth a look though because it talks about the general thinking around the topic.

Kitchen Remodel Update

2010-12-06T20:54:00.005-06:00

So we are into the second week and things are progressing. Last week was of course all demolition, and this week starts off that way, but moving quickly to actual construction as you can see with some new walls getting framed in.

There have been no major surprises yet, although some small issues like the bad header on the old door, poor plumbing work and extremely bad duct work. By the end of the week we are hoping for rough inspections, they new pocket door installed and the basic plumbing work done.

The best thing here is that the contractor really seems to know what he is doing, unlike previous ones that have worked on this house, that much is obvious! We should be ready for tile in about 3 weeks, cabinets the week after. Check out the pictures to see the choices so far, door fronts, handles, dishwasher, oven, fridge, cooktop hood, under cabinet lights and floor tiles.

Oh and don't forget to check out my photo 365 efforts by clicking on the links over to the right with the rotating photos.

Highland Park Holiday Festival

2010-11-20T20:55:00.005-06:00

All of the really cool winter things are just starting to kick in, Christmas lights, winter wonderlands, train sets and holiday festivals. Today was the Highland Park holiday festival, where they switched on the holiday lights, without an actual Christmas tree of course.

There was ice sculpting first thing, some cider, chestnuts, and then Father Christmas arrived on a fire truck to switch on the lights. I took a bunch of really cool pictures of the ice carving, check em out.

Kitchen Remodel Plans

2010-11-04T19:21:00.000-05:00

As regular readers will know, we bought our house, the one we have been living in for almost 3 years, in December of last year. Of course, besides the normal maintenance and cosmetic items that I have been doing for a while now, since we own it, there are bigger more fundamental issues to deal with like the windows we installed in December, the completely unbalanced heating/cooling installation and the tiny crappy kitchen.

I started planning the new space, with some walls to be knocked through, bathroom shrinking to a powder room (toilet for my British readers), smaller laundry room, etc. Reasonably complex but nothing horrendous, no supporting walls, etc. However, as these things always do, (especially if there is a wife involved :-) the project potentially had become significantly more complex, possibly tearing out most of an original supporting brick exterior wall, the one that now forms the wall between the dining/kitchen area and the family room.

Whilst I saw the logic of the choice, it ultimately came down to cost and time. If we chose to take out the wall, it would have really opened up the space between the three rooms, but we would have needed a steel beam to support the removal. It's times like these when you really see the benefit of wood construction, both from a cost and complexity perspective. If it was just wood, I could easily have supported the ceiling with some temporary bracing, thrown up some new king and jack studs, slide in a double or triple LVL beam and "Bob's Your Uncle"

I spent most of this year, albeit not very expeditiously, talking to various contractors and trades to give me some idea on their thoughts for cost. I had originally thought I would do a lot of the work myself, but ultimately settled on doing just the cabinets, tile and floors myself, and having the rest done by a general contractor. More expensive sure, but better for my marriage and sanity, from a time perspective.

It was interesting to see the amount of variety between quotes and thinking, and what people spend on remodelling here in the US. As I am want to do, I have been watching a lot of DIY TV, focusing on kitchen shows for obvious reasons, but watching others too. I recently watched a show where they were refurbing a bathroom, and some of the choices they made were bizarre. For example they spent about $3k on a new free standing steam and multi jet two person shower. It looked fabulous and a great investment I thought. In the same bathroom though, they bought a "vanity unit" (for the British readers, a sink cabinet and sink), nice looking, with a vessel sink, solid surface counter and a nice faucet, but it cost almost as much as the shower at $2700!!!

I know the quality varies, but we have been quoted from as high as $17k for cabinetry, versus the Ikea price of about $4k. So there is a potential saving of $13k right there. Now before anyone gets all high and mighty, I have done my research, and everything I hear and read about Ikea is that they are excellent quality kitchens and very durable. Another area which seems overly expensive here in the US compared to the UK is appliances. Dishwashers costing $1000, fridges at over $2000, ovens at $1500, all seem very expensive. I am hoping that I have a friendly contact at a local store that will be able to secure me significant discounts.

All that to say, that I could, I am sure, easily spend $50k -$60k on this kitchen, but I am hoping to eek out $30k for the same result. We shall see.

Below are a couple of drawings of what it will hopefully end up. The first is the architect plan showing the space, and the other is the Ikea kitchen software rendering for the space with the new cabinets and appliances. There are a couple of gaps due to bugs in the software, but now that I have a full actual plan I should be good to go to redraw more accurately.

We are looking at a white bead board style cabinet door, with galaxy black granite counter tops and of course, stainless/brushed steel appliances.

A Soldier's Silent Night

2010-11-03T18:12:00.001-05:00

Update - As we approach the upcoming holiday season, and I excitedly wait for the "Holiday Lite" to come on, I actually got a comment from his other daughter, who's name unfortunately I do not know. She corrected a couple of my errors in writing this post, which I have done below. She also told me sadly that her father had died of cancer, three months after recording this, and as a result was unable to see it's success or receive the award he so richly deserved. Here's what she said:

"Thank you for posting this :) ! Actually, my dad, Father Ted Berndt, lost his battle with cancer three months after recording this reading. My sister, Ellen Stout, was a radio personality at WLTQ at the time of the recording. She produced this and accepted the ARI award in Dad's behalf. To be correct, Ellen and Dad recorded this for ALL service people and their families around the world. As always, "Merry Christmas to all, and may God bless you this night" :) "

Original post edited

There is a song that is played a lot on the radio over here in Chicagoland. I don't really want to say too much about the song or the story, because I won't do it justice, so here is the official story, lyrics and a recording of the song, enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Written by former Marine Corporal James M. Schmidt, in 1987 when stationed in Washington D.C., it was pounded out on a typewriter while awaiting the commanding officer's Christmas holiday decoration inspection. It was originally title "Merry Christmas, My Friend", and was an instant success that reportedly brought tears to the eyes of the barracks Commander who ordered it distributed to everyone he knew. It appeared in the barracks publication Pass in Review in December 1987 and Leatherneck Magazine in December 1991.

The poem was recorded as a tribute to all members of the armed forces and their families globally, by Father Ted Berndt, a former Marine and Purple Heart recipient during World War II, living at the time Dousman, Wisconsin for his daughter Ellen Stout, a WLTQ radio personality.

Here are the words to the song...

Twas the night before Christmas, he lived all alone.
In a one bedroom house made of plaster and stone.

I had come down the chimney with presents to give,
And to see just who in this home did live.

I looked all about, a strange sight I did see,
No tinsel, no presents, not even a tree.

No stocking by mantle, just boots filled with sand.
On the wall hung pictures of far distant lands.

With medals and badges, awards of all kinds,
A sober thought came through my mind.

For this house was different, it was dark and dreary,
I found the home of a soldier, once I could see clearly.

The soldier lay sleeping, silent, alone,
Curled up on the floor in this one bedroom home.

The face was so gentle, the room in such disorder,
Not how I pictured a United States solider.

Was this the hero of whom I'd just read?
Curled up on a poncho, the floor for a bed?

I realized the families that I saw that night,
Owed their lives to these soldiers who were willing to fight.

Soon 'round the world, the children would play,
And grownups would celebrate a bright Christmas Day.

They all enjoyed freedom each month of the year,
Because of the soldiers, like the one lying here.

I couldn't help wonder how many lay alone,
On a cold Christmas Eve in a land far from home.

The very thought brought a tear to my eye,
I dropped to my knees and started to cry;

The soldier awakened and I heard a rough voice,
"Santa, don't cry, this life is my choice;

I fight for freedom, I don't ask for more,
My life is my God, my country, my corps."

The soldier rolled over and drifted to sleep,
I couldn't control it, I continued to weep.

I kept watch for hours, so silent and still,
And we both shivered from the cold night's chill.

I didn't want to leave on that cold, dark, night,
This guardian of honor so willing to fight.

Then the soldier rolled over, with a voice soft and pure,
Whispered "Carry on Santa, it's Christmas Day, all is secure."

One look at my watch, and I knew he was right.
"Merry Christmas, my friend, and to all a good night."

Click here to listen to the song. Here's a bit more of the story here.

Cleaning This Gun (Come On In Boy)

2010-10-21T10:13:00.002-05:00

Not sure this is working so well with firefox, but seems to be fine with Internet Explorer. If you cannot view it, search on youtube for Rodney Atkins - Cleaning This Gun.

Brake Job!

2010-10-16T20:29:00.006-05:00

The brakes on my truck have been squealing for the past several weeks, and I have been meaning to get around to fixing them. However, I remember how tricky they were on my MGB; so I was kinda procrastinating. I enlisted the help of a friend and we were off; and it was actually very simple.

I wanted to get the discs(rotors) reground as well, but they turned out to be too far gone for that, so I bought new ones, at a mere $40 a piece, a snip I thought. I got two sets of middle range pads, and two front discs for $160 all in. Plus, the pads are lifetime, so if they EVER wear down whilst I own the truck, they will replace them. 2.5 hours later, including the trip to the store to buy the parts, no more squeaking, yay!

Mile After Magnificent Mile

2010-10-11T17:58:00.001-05:00

This it the tourist slogan for Illinois, a play on the name of the main shopping street in Chicago. IE there are more miles worth seeing in Illinois than just the Magnificent Mile; or at least that's how I interpret it.

So this weekend, we decided to see if it was true. As you may have noticed, I have been doing a lot more photography wise, and one of those guys I have been working with runs his own business doing "Photo Safaris". Well on Sunday Gary was running an aerial safari from Rockford "International" Airport. Gary actually runs some really cool safaris, both locally and around the world. Click here or on the logo for more info.

I could have gone myself for the two hour flight in a Cessna, over Rockford, Galena and the Mississippi river, but we decided it was a good way to start to prove/disprove the Illinois tourist board, and take the whole family; with a view of seeing what we came across on the journey worth doing.

We left home around 10:30 on Saturday, knowing that it wasn't too long of a journey and so if we ran late it would not be a big deal. The scenery was pretty, the weather gorgeous (85) and the kids, for the most part were relatively quiet. Around lunchtime, we saw a sign for a Wild West Town, and decided to check it out for lunch. Donely's Wild West Town, cheesy as it sounds, was actually a lot of fun.

Not cheap at $15 per adult, you actually do get pretty decent value for money. There is a train, a small roller coaster, pony rides, canoe rides, panning for gold, shooting range, wild west show, etc; and it is all included in the price. All the folks are dressed in character and even talk in character, older words, accents and vocal styles, all designed to take you back. Lots of good wholesome fun for the family. Click here for a few more pictures including some of all of us, Addison included, trying our hands at lasso.

We arrived in Rockford, around 16:30 and found our hotel. Only problem is that I had made, and paid for, the hotels.com reservation for the previous night! The guy was going to honour the room for me, but they were fully booked, and so I ended up having to pay for another room elsewhere.

Settled in for the night, with an early start, the kids, who had not slept much during the day were tired and cranky and didn't really go to sleep until late; fighting it all the way. Eventually settled around 10, but with regular interruptions, it wasn't a great night of sleep for Lorraine. Click here for a few more pictures of the sleeping bag and general October fun.

I got up and left early next day, arriving at the airport at 07:20, another beautiful day beckoned. I had expected to be flying with one other person, Gary our Safari guide and the pilot. Well it turns out that Gary is the pilot! Flying since 1980, he has his own plane and he is running the show. I had to sit up front as I am a fat git and he wanted to distribute the weight appropriately. Unfortunately that meant that I only got to see one side and couldn't move back and forth. Fortunately it also meant that I had a set of controls right in front of me, and I was afforded the opportunity to take then and fly for a bit as well, now that was fun!

We flew out over Galena and all the way to the Mississippi. Lots of excellent fall colours and a unique perspective from the air, made it an excellent trip. Click here for a gazillion more pictures.

When I got back to the hotel, we hit Denny's for brunch then headed out for the day to a local Museum Village for a scarecrow festival that Lorraine had found on-line. Isn't the internet wonderful? We came prepared with old clothes galore, intent on making an entire scarecrow family; but what we didn't realise was that there would be other cool things to see and do.

The village itself is a collection of older buildings from around Illinois, relocated here to form the museum; and at only $6 per adult, and all attractions free once inside, it is great value. We started out at the Gazette, and Addison printed her name on her very own bookmark using the 100 year old press, next to the bank to get a money certificate, on to some rope making, before watching the blacksmith work in his shop.

We checked out the corn kernel removing device and the grinder used to make meal, before we headed to the scarecrow bit. We made four scarecrows, some turning out better than others; watched the old fashioned harvester run by a John Deere and a bunch of pulleys and belts, before having a quick bite to eat and checking out the fire station.

On the way in, I had seen this old mill, and wanted to make sure to get a picture or six of it, before leaving. There were too many cars and people in the background to make it a truly memorable shot, but if I was anywhere near in the winter, I am sure it would look fantastic with a covering of snow. Click here for more pictures of the scarecrows, the village and the mill.

General Photo Update

2010-10-09T10:53:00.002-05:00

As you no doubt saw below, Addison went of to school this month. That's about as much excitement as we have had, although we did finish the plans for the kitchen upgrade (more on that in a separate post)

We just got back from the UK, and I have been working to upload all the photos we took there and since we returned..here they are. Browse at your leisure, but here are a couple of my recent favourites.

Random pictures of the kids from September 2010
A weekend trip to Center Parcs
A day out at Longleat Safari Park
Fall festival at the local nature center
A day out with some colleagues down in Chicago
Fright Fest 2010 - Six Flags Great America

First Day Of (Pre) School

2010-10-06T18:34:00.001-05:00

Addison's first day of (pre) school was on Tuesday, about a month late due to our travels, but we pay by the month, and only for those that she attends, so it was all good.

It's strange, it wasn't as poignant as I thought it would be. In my head, I had this whole image of tearful mother, tearful child wistfully looking back at mum as she went into school; returning hours later to regale us in great detail, with tales of the exciting new things she did whilst there.

I don't know what it was or wasn't.

- It is only pre-school, so it is more playing than actual learning
- She wore similar clothes to those which she wears on a daily basis
- The whole morning was rushed as we ended up being late
- We both went into the classroom with her, and settled her in
- When I left it was pretty much, "see ya!"
- Lorraine stayed for about 40 minutes and actually ended up participating

All in all, I guess I feel cheated. It bodes well for later schooling that she was able to detach so easily and happily, that she was instantly integrated to the class and playing with the other kids; but at the same time, it would have been nice if there had been at least a small, bravely fought, tear!

Photo 365 Blog

2010-10-04T22:18:00.003-05:00

Photo 365 projects are becoming very popular with amateur photographers trying to hone their craft. As some of you may know, I have been working on my skills for the last year or so, including joining a camera club, taking a few on-line lessons in the technical skills and even been on a few photo safari’s under instruction by a local guy.

So I decided to try it. Basically you have to take a picture every day and post it to your photo 365 blog. Obviously, the intent is to look for different subjects, use different techniques, and force yourself to look for original and unusual ideas. I am not sure how much time I will have for this, or even if I am inventive enough, so I guess we will see, but I fully intend to see it through, even if some days are a little late.

My first four efforts are below. Please, please, please let me know what you think, as I would love the feedback of what you thought went well or did not. For my part I will try really hard not just take pictures of my kids every day, although two of the first four are the same subject!

Click here to check out the blog.

The Front Fell Off

2010-09-30T10:51:00.003-05:00

Someone sent me this, it is a genuine interview, although for those of you who are familiar, it could just as easily be a Monty Python sketch.

A Fascinating Spy Story

2010-09-28T18:18:00.001-05:00

A WW2 female British Spy dies unknown to all around her in Torquay earlier this month. Moments away from a paupers grave, police looked through her possessions, including a Croix de Guerre medal awarded to her by the French government after the war, the obscurity Ms. Nearne had cultivated for decades began to slip away.

It reminds me of a story I heard years ago whilst visiting Bletchley Park pertaining to the work undertaken in breaking WW2 codes for the German U Boats. The story goes, that the site, the work undertaken, and the workers themselves were so secret and so discreet, that years later when older couples were sitting home watching a documentary on the place, they were both heard to say. "Hey I used to work there during the war. Really? So did I!" These people, married to each other, both set off for work each day for years, made their way to the same location, by different routes, methods of transport, etc and worked in different huts and NEVER spoke about it, cos it was the war, and "lose lips sink ships".

You can read more of her story here.

I Turned This...

2010-08-26T19:16:00.008-05:00

into this,then this,this,and finally this,This is what the side of the hot tub looked like before,

Spirit Of Chicago - Awful!

2010-08-14T15:21:00.003-05:00

We went on this trip as an alternative to standing on a baking hot beach to watch the air and water show. I was hoping to get some great pictures, as i hadn't been to the show for years and was excited by their claim on the web site "will give you one of the best seats for the Annual Chicago Air & Water Show." After getting over the sticker shock, the $49.90 base price actually comes out at $65 including taxes and "fees" and the additional $49 to guarantee a window table, we were excited.

We arrived and got on board easy enough, only to notice that it was pretty empty and we would have had a window table anyway, and secondly, even the non window tables were pretty friggin close! Ripoff number 1!

The food was limited and average at best. We were amongst the first to board and it was already mostly cold. A selection of chicken something, beef something and some sides, and that was about it. Brunch at the Hancock is about $50 without the rip "fees" and is 100 times better. Ripoff number 2!

We were offered drinks, water, tea, coffee or iced tea, but no soda. You could get a refillable Pepsi product for the bargain basement price of $3.50. Ripoff number 3!

Still, it all would be worth it for the air and water show right, ....right????? NO, WRONG! We were a LONG, LONG way out, one of their sister ships was at least 1/2 mile closer, but we could barely see the specks on the horizon, unless they happened to fly over us. We were at the "site" to watch the show for maybe 45 minutes and didn't see much, not their fault as such as they don't run the show, but certainly they were way too far away to see anything water show wise, and like I mentioned the air show was mostly specks on the horizon of the city. I actually had to go ask the captain to move closer, which he did, marginally, on the way back to the pier. Ripoff number 4!

The boat itself was OK, though we had paper table cloths and both the high chair and booster seat given to us were filthy, and had to be cleaned, lord knows when was the last time they were even wiped down. The salt shaker was so wet inside it was almost solid. Little things I know, but they all speak to the general care and attention to detail of this company. There was no baby changing facilities in the bathrooms.

Last, but by no means least, there was the entertainment. Provided by the "singing servers", which might explain their lack of attention to their actual patrons. They all seemed to studying music or arts and were all invited to sing, or in most cases, shout, for the audience. They truly were terrible, and the audience would have been better served with some pub karaoke!

It's A Dad Life

2010-07-30T09:16:00.001-05:00

This video was sent to me from a buddy. It is done by a group called Church On The Move, but this particular video is not religious. Check it out, all of you dads will think it is excellent I am sure.

DAD LIFE VIDEO

Charlie; This Is For You

2010-06-14T01:58:00.001-05:00

When I lived in the UK, many's a day Charlie and I would find ourselves rumminating over a DIY problem, often with a beer in hand and some Tiger Woods golf on the Playstation or Xbox in obeyance until we were done. Everything from building summer houses for my then MIL, to erecting fences in his garden to simple painting and decorating, although we tended to do the simple stuff in our separate ways.

As I have been working on this house, I have often wished for his assistance or support, if nothing else, a fresh pair of eyes. I miss the spare hand, the common sense approach but most of all I miss the camaraderie.

So when I was working on these new doors, replacing the horrible old, brown stained, flat, hollow cores, with some nice 6 panel, foam core versions, with brushed nickel hardware, I thought of Charlie. Particularly when I left the door standing in the opening for a minute to get a tool, and it fell through into the room, landing on Addison's new fan, and her toy chest, although fortunately there was no permananent damage to anything.

I took this picture here to show how badly square the house is. Again I thought of Charlie with his older house, as I am sure he has come up against this challenge many times. Believe it or not, the door is plumb, level and square, but look at the top left corner compared to top right and/or to bottom left, to see just how badly out of whack the opening is. I really hope the trim work will hide it!

May Was Quiet

2010-06-13T00:47:00.002-05:00

May was a pretty quiet month for us generally, the weather was unseasonably cold, I went to a few Cubs games, and generally we did homely stuff.

We did go to Sarbina & Bob's twins first birthday and had a garage sale at the end of the month, where we made some decent cash. Also we went to that iconic American insituttion, the drive in movie, but that's a post for a different day.

For anyone interested, here are some general pictures of the kids from May.

The Drive In

2010-06-11T23:54:00.000-05:00

I remember as a child living in South Africa, going to the drive in movies with our parents in an old beat up Volkswagen Beetle. They would lay down the back seat and we would curl up under a blanket "asleep" to be able to into 18/R rated movies, so they could see them without having to hire a babysitter. I guess I must have been around 9 or 10 because the movies I remember came out in the late 70s.

We saw a terrible B movie, The Car and what I thought at the time as hilarious, although now who knows, The Last Remake Of Beau Geste, but I remember it as a very cool experience. Care all around, windows rolled down a bit, speaker on a cable, hung on the side window. At the time, of course, I didn't know it was really an American institution.

It was much later through the magic of television and my exposure to American TV shows, that I learned just how much of an icon the drive in was. Of course with the advent of modern cinema, surround sound, air conditioning, etc, they have all but faded away. We did' however, have an opportunity with some friends of ours to visit one of the few remaining, a couple of weeks ago.

Up in Kenosha, just over the WI border, they still have one, and it seems to be pretty popular. People drive up there with a car load of people, some lawn chairs, some beers, some picnic food, and in our case an inflatable mattress for the kids in the back of the pick up, and can watch a double feature of recent movies for under $10 per adult.

We saw Shrek 4 and Iron Man 2. Now; would I have enjoyed those movies in a modern theater with all mod cons? Absolutely! but for us the experience, hanging with our friends, and taking in a piece of history was infinitely more fun, and we will definitely do it again.

Nature vs Nurture

2010-06-09T06:33:00.000-05:00

The debate will never be resolved of course, but it is an interesting thought process. Theoretically we have done nothing different with Cooper than we did with Addison, yet the differences in his behaviour are marked from Addison's. I say theoretically because, of course things are different. Our values have not changed, but likely our approach has. He is child number two, so of course lessons have been learned, attitudes are different, and Addison is here being very involved in everything going on.

He is way more grizzly than Addison ever was, doesn't sleep as well, and seems to need to burp every minute of EVERY DAY. Appearancewise, he could be her twin at that age. There are often time when I look at pictures, on the computer or the digital frame, with some hand me down outfit from Addison, and I cannot tell for sure which one of them it is. All of this to say that he has been a nightmare to feed, to the point where I don't even try any more and Lorraine spends hours wrangling him to get a bottle of milk into him. We would have tried "solid" food earlier, to see if that would help, but he has/had some eczema, and the doctor recommended we wait until he was a minimum of six months so as not to bring on any more allergies or reactions.

So last night was his 6 month birthday, and we broke out the baby cereal ASAP. He seemed to enjoy it for the most part and also drank the following bottle much more easily too, so here's hoping! He slept much better last night, and awoke later. I know it is only one day, but if this is a step forward then Lorraine will be turning cartwheels. Anyways, here are some pictures of the little guy and his first solid food experience, along with some general pictures of the kids from June.

Convenience?

2010-05-23T10:40:00.005-05:00

In this ever increasing world of convenience, things in my mind have gone too far. I guess it started out in the service industry all these years ago, when instead of fixing you own car, doing your own plumbing, etc, you hired someone.

Now that same mind set is applied to pretty much everything across the board, especially here in the US. A friend of mine who shall remain nameless, for fear he might feel I am picking on him, grated cheese by hand for the FIRST TIME EVER at the ripe old age of 36. His response was that "why wouldn't you just buy pre-grated cheese?"

It set me thinking. I would never even have thought to buy pre-grated cheese, the price not withstanding at 3-4 times the price of a brick, it just seems alien; but like I mentioned earlier, it is everywhere, pre-sliced burger buns, gogurt, ready meals, although I have purchased those. I guess as we go through life, this trend will continue, but I will certainly try my best to remain as inconvenient as I can.

Come On In

2010-05-09T15:29:00.004-05:00

the water is lovely

Camera Club

2010-04-02T06:07:00.000-05:00

So I have been working on improving my photography, reading the manual, taking on line courses, checking out local photo safaris that I might want to try and thinking about joining a camera club.

I went to one before I left for the UK, which was pretty local, just the next town over. When I arrived, at the old people's home, sorry assisted care living facility, (I didn't know before I left home) I walked into the big man's waiting room! Now I have no problem with old, I will be one myself one of these days, and certainly in the MG club we had our share, but I was the youngest in the entire room by about 20-25 years.

When I thought of joining a club, it was with the hope of meeting some people, reasonably close to me in age and interest, to attend meetings, maybe some excursions and have fun. So with the age of this group, it really wasn't for me.

Last night I tried the only other local group that I could find, still 30 minutes away, but relatively local. This club seemed more vibrant online, with a pretty full schedule of up to five different events each month, their own yahoo group, a good website, etc. When I walked in the door of this place, straight into two Hewitt Associates, I immediately felt more welcome. Apparently there are two others that I know as well, so that will be fun.

At the paltry sum of $35 per year to join I think I will do it. I went to a competition night, last night, and whilst good quality, it wasn't so high that I was totally intimidated, just a little scared, and one of my buddies won one of the competition classes, so that was cool too.

Click here to see some of the images that I am most proud of and give me your thoughts, are any of them good enough for competition?

Managing Junk!

2010-04-01T06:32:00.000-05:00

Like many of you I suffer from junk mail. Everything from "pre-approved" credit cards to catalogs and magazine offers.

Whilst I am sure some of this is my fault for not ticking the right boxes on forms or websites, or inviting one company to mail me, who then sell it to others, they sure don't make it easy. Hiding the text in small print, or intentially badly wording opt out questions to catch you unawares. Of course we all know the dangers of simply throwing this stuff away, so we end up opening it, shredding parts, recycling others, etc.

The good thing is that there are some ways, unfortunately some of them tedious, but we shall see if any of them are effective as I just used a bunch of them. Have a go if this is a problem for you. These links are for the US only, although I am sure similar sites exist in the UK too.

Telemarketers - www.donotcall.gov or call 888-382-1222
"Preapproved" - www.optoutprescreen.com or call 888-567-8688 (you will need SSN)
Catalogs, brochures, magazines - www.dmachoice.org this one can be tedious
Phone books - www.yellowpagesgoesgreen.org
Email - www.ims-dm.com

Good luck!

Blighty, Cor Blimey!

2010-03-26T14:46:00.006-05:00

We just got back from good old blighty. Lorraine had been there for 3 weeks before I got there, and I joined her for the last 10 days; but let me go back a little, because I can't believe it is March already.

Jan (Lorraine's mum) came over in December, with the plan of arriving a couple of days before the new arrival. She was to stay two months, then travel to the UK with Lorraine, and then five weeks later I would bring them back. As it turned out, Lorraine went into labour the day of Jan's arrival and so the wonderful and talented Amy stepped up, picked her up from the airport and whisked her directly to the hospital, do not pass go, do not collect $200!

The two months flew by, and Jan was very helpful around the house, baby wrangling, etc In fact Lorraine had to tell her off several times for making Cooper too comfortable and not being able to wake him for feeding time. From my perspective, I discovered clothing that I had forgotten, and my wardrobes and drawers became so full they wouldn't close as Jan conquered the washing and ironing backlogs. We work on the principle that at least 30% of your clothing is in the "laundry cycle" at any given time and so when it isn't, it catches you by surprise.

When they left for the UK, Cooper was already two months old, and I can tell you, the house got very quiet, very quickly! I used the time to catch up on repair jobs and DIY, replacing the dark trim work around some of the windows with new white trim, touching up walls and trim where the window installers had dinged them, and any general wear and tear in the other finished rooms. I also painted/stained the bar that I had built last year, to match the rest of the wood work in the lounge.

Fast forward to my UK trip, I unfortunately got stuck in economy, on a full flight, which made for an uncomfortable journey, but it was worth it. I caught up with many great friends, my sister drove 450 miles to come to visit us (well the kids mostly), lots of dinners, lots of golf on wonderfully crisp spring days, and lots of good traditional UK grub, fish 'n' chips, Chinese and Indian food, and of course not forgetting the sweets and chocolate.

One great disappointment however, was the golf course at Chiddingfold. Like many establishments it has fallen on tough times. It was one of our favourite courses over the years, beautiful scenery and views, and with many holes and hazards receiving their own names, like the Tim Jones Memorial Lake on the 13th, or the Chasm of Doom on the 14th. They sold the clubhouse as a private home and built a new little clubhouse to try to raise funds, but I have no idea what they did with them, because clearly none of it has gone towards maintaining the course.

The fairways had not seen a lawn mower probably all winter, the greens had been treated for weeds, but no seed had been sown, plus almost every green had at least 3 or 4 rabbit holes that had not been repaired. When we argued with the owner over payment for such a poorly maintained course, he tried to say that he had forewarned us, which was of course a lie. It really is a shame, but I certainly won't be back there.

Dodgy Back

2010-01-09T20:48:00.004-06:00

I cannot remember the last time when I had a seriously bad lower back. My upper back and shoulders are always bad and I get regular massage and chiropractory to keep them loose and mobile. However this past Friday, and I still have no idea how, I threw out my lower back to the point where I could not walk, sit or stand.

I went to the local massage place and after 90 minutes of therapy I still had to crawl out of the room. They put on something call Kinesio tape which enabled me to at least get upright again, long enough to walk (ish) to the truck.

I have spent most of the last 48 hours in bed and I can just about walk again, but not without pain. According to the massage lady something inocuous, which I cannot remember caused my muscles to go into protective mode and lock up in the general area of my lower left back/butt.

I really hope this is a temporary thing as I have a lot planned this spring. Installing a kitchen, knee surgery the week after next and of course most importantly Cubs Convention next weekend. Wish me luck for a speedy recovery!

Now That Was Exciting

2009-12-29T07:21:00.001-06:00

As most of you all know, baseball is my sport, but I have a friend who works for the Bears who is, on occasion, able to get me some good tickets. He and some other friends are trying to convince me how good American Football is, without, I add, much success.

My MIL and SIL are in town right now, and we had the opportunity to go, all four of us, to the game last night. I went to my third of the season, expecting to see the Bears get their butts kicked by Favre and Vikings who had won 12 out of 14 games this season. However, much to my surprise, and I am sure the Vikings and their fans, the Bears won the game in overtime!

They started out the first half with a 16-zip lead which we all knew couldn't last. Cutler was playing well and no interceptions (yet!), and the DEEFENSE (as our American brothers call it) wasn't leaking like a sieve and letting the Vikings run all over them....that is until the third quarter. Having given up a touch down but charged down the extra point, which would prove crucial in the end, they gave up 17 points unanswered, to tie the game at 23 with only 5 minutes or so left in the final quarter.

The Bears came right back and actually would have run it back for a score had Manning not tripped over his own feet twenty yards out. They went on to score taking the score to 30-23, but the Vikings weren't done yet with Favre proving why he is a Hall Of Fame Quarterback, tying it up in the dying seconds of the game, to force overtime.

The bears could have won it pretty soon after, but Robbie missed a field goal by inches, before they eventually scored a touchdown from the hands of Cutler to Aromashodu. It seems like the team the fans had been looking for all season suddenly decided to show up, despite losing three key players in the second half, in Manning, Knox and Tillman.

I took some pix that I will post later, when I see how they turned out.

Growing Up Fast & Christmas

2009-12-17T16:21:00.000-06:00

I tell you, Addy is growing up faster than you would ever think possible. She is smart as they come. She is toilet training and talking 10 to the dozen! Some of the stuff she comes out with, makes you wonder..today she says "I'm going to call Cooper James Coops!"

This month of course, Cooper was born, see below for more links to pictures, Lorraine's mother came into town for a couple of months, and we got the Christmas tree, put it up with the decorations, etc. Just a busy month! Addison loves to help with everything, she helped to bring the tree back, helped Lorraine with some baking for pies with the Thanksgiving leftovers, and even helped decide exactly where all of the ornaments would go on the tree.

Click here for pictures of the tree cutting, decorating, etc.
Click here for pictures of Coops in the hospital & his first few days home

Cooper James Show Yourself

2009-12-09T08:34:00.005-06:00

Well here he is folks..in all his glory!

Baby Cooper...

2009-12-08T20:02:00.000-06:00

is here, weighing in at 9lb 12oz, and 22in long, a big lad!

Born at 6:46pm today December 8th by C-section..more to follow

Sold!

2009-12-03T20:45:00.001-06:00

We are now homeowners in the US! Yay!

Progress Report

2009-11-24T21:58:00.000-06:00

My postings seem to be getting less and less regular as life itself takes over! The holiday season is fast approaching with Thanksgiving tomorrow, and the sales, although again this year, despite the economy, I am not overly impressed with the deals. The weather has been exceptionally mild here with temps still in the 50s and last weekend I was out putting up the Christmas lights in a t-shirt, and in the same breath I was preparing my snow blower for the inevitable.

Jan and Mads are coming for Christmas, with Jan actually coming for two months. We figured with the two kids now, it is going to be difficult for Lorraine to travel on her own. The plan is that Jan comes here, baby arrives, we wait until the two month check up, then she and Lorraine fly with both kids, and then I join them for a bit and fly back with Lorraine. So Charlie, I will be bringing my clubs and looking for some spring time golf!

Speaking of the baby, Cooper James will be coming along very soon....December 10th is the due date, although Lorraine is ready to kick him out now! The hospital won't allow anyone under 21 in, due to swine flu precautions, so we are really hoping he will stay put until December 8th when Jan arrives, and she can take care of AJ; but the bags are packed, the route planned (to the end of our street :-) and it's all systems go.

One of the reasons I have been so busy is that we have been moving rooms around in the house. Preparing the spare room for Addison to move into, swapping her with the guest room. Of course it was the only bedroom not already repainted, so that had to be done before she could move. So the last several weeks have been spent, painting, cleaning carpets, replacing trim, etc and we moved her in this week. The guest room, now the smallest, is a bit tight, but it works. CJ will get the other big bedroom so I think everyone will be happy!

As you know I was also working on a new dry bar in the family/living room, when I cut up my fingers on the table saw. I am healing nicely and should get the pins out of my finger on Monday I hope. The bar is finished for now. I still have to stain it and find a nice piece of stone for the counter tops, but that can wait until next year, when Lorraine is out of town (the stain really stinks). Click on the link to see a few more pictures of the bar along with the general house pix.

Most of you may not realise, given all of the work I have done on the house, that we don't actually own it. We rented originally for two years, which runs out in May, but decided that we would actually like to buy it. So we have placed our offer, been accepted and are working through the machinations of the process to complete the deal. With luck and a following wind, we will be homeowners in early December before CJ is born. Growing up poor in Scotland, I never would have dreamed that I would one day own three homes (technically Lorraine owns one of them). Wish us luck in the completion of this arduous process. The good news is that we qualify for the $8000 tax credit as first time buyers..yay! New kitchen in February I hope!

The first order of business though, if we do complete the sale, will be replace the old single pane windows (I know most people in the UK will be flabbergasted that house were still built here relatively recently with single pane windows!!). The government has an eco tax credit of $1500 for windows and other products that meet certain criteria, so we should get that back in February too.

That's about all the news for now, here are a couple of links to recent photo albums I posted if you wanna see some of what we have been up to.

Addison November - Leaf blowing and Fancy Nancy outfit!!
My Second Bears Game - They Lost Big Time!

The Unknown Soldier

2009-11-11T07:00:00.000-06:00

Q. How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the tomb of the Unknowns and why?

A. 21 steps. It alludes to the twenty-one gun salute, which is the highest honor given any military or foreign dignitary.

Q. How long does he hesitate after his about face to begin his return walk and why?

A. 21 seconds for the same reason as answer number 1.

Q. Why are his gloves wet?

A. His gloves are moistened to prevent his losing his grip on the rifle.

Q. Does he carry his rifle on the same shoulder all the time; and if not, why not?

A. He carries the rifle on the shoulder away from the tomb. After his march across the path, he executes an about face and moves the rifle to the outside shoulder.

Q. How often are the guards changed?

A. Guards are changed every thirty minutes, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.

Q. What are the physical traits of the guard limited to?

A. For a person to apply for guard duty at the tomb, he must be between 5' 10" and 6' 2" tall and his waist size cannot exceed 30." Other requirements of the Guard: They must commit 2 years of life to guard the tomb, live in a barracks under the tomb, and cannot drink any alcohol on or off duty for the rest of their lives. They cannot swear in public for the rest of their lives and cannot disgrace the uniform {fighting} or the tomb in any way. After two years, the guard is given a wreath pin that is worn on their lapel signifying they served as guard of the tomb. There are only 400 presently worn. The guard must obey these rules for the rest of their lives or give up the wreath pin.

The shoes are specially made with very thick soles to keep the heat and cold from their feet. There are metal heel plates that extend to the top of the shoe in order to make the loud click as they come to a halt. There are no wrinkles, folds or lint on the uniform. Guards dress for duty in front of a full-length mirror.

The first six months of duty a guard cannot talk to anyone, nor watch TV. All off duty time is spent studying the 175 notable people laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. A guard must memorize who they are and where they are interred. Among the notables are: President Taft, Joe E. Lewis {the boxer} and Medal of Honor winner Audie Murphy, {the most decorated soldier of WWII} of Hollywood fame.

Every guard spends five hours a day getting his uniforms ready for guard duty.

In 2003 as Hurricane Isabelle was approaching Washington, DC, the US Senate/House took 2 days off with anticipation of the storm. On the ABC evening news, it was reported that because of the dangers from the hurricane, the military members assigned the duty of guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were given permission to suspend the assignment.

They respectfully declined the offer, "No way, Sir!" Soaked to the skin, marching in the pelting rain of a tropical storm, they said that guarding the Tomb was not just an assignment, it was the highest honor that can be afforded to a serviceperson. The tomb has been patrolled continuously, 24/7, since 1930.

We should be very proud of all young men and women in the service no matter where they serve.

God bless and keep them!

Hong Kong At Dusk

2009-11-09T22:07:00.001-06:00

Don't usually post many of these things, but this one was cool..isn't technology fabulous?

Click on this link and follow the instructions below

Place your cursor at the top of the photo, you will notice it is 6:10 PM. Slide the mouse down the screen, slowly over the photo without pressing any of the mouse buttons. Do not click right or left.

Night time appears, the lights come on, and at 7:40 PM, it's dark! Very, very cool.

Lots Of Pictures

2009-11-02T20:56:00.011-06:00

So I have been busy as you probably surmised from my lack of writing. Lorraine and Cooper continue to progress well, and we are on track for an early December delivery. MIL and SIL (the giver of the new rain coat on the left) will be coming over, for varying times, MIL for two whole months, how will I cope. Just kidding Jan, you know you are always welcome.

The idea is that Jan stays until Cooper is cleared to travel, then they all go back to the UK for a few weeks. I will join them towards the end and fly back with Lorraine and the kids, so basically she has travel assistance both directions. We will have to do it like that for a while until both kids are more independent I guess.

We have been busy cramming in all sorts of activities, including Halloween, a trip to Six Flags, Brookfield Zoo and for me, my first ever Bears game. Of course I sliced up my fingers, Addy had a birthday and there was all manner of other things going on.

Addy had a few friends around for her birthday and spent some time the day before baking cookies for them. Click here to see pictures of her from September generally, some you may have already seen, but some new ones of her making the cookies, eating the dough, licking the spoon and the party.

We went to Brookfield Zoo last year for "Boo At The Zoo", which they repeated this year. We had a commitment in the evening and so were unable to stay all day, meaning that we only saw a fraction of the place, but we did see the Dinosaur exhibit, which is leaving soon, so it was worth it for that. Click here for some pictures of the fun.

The very next weekend we went to Fright Fest at Six Flags Great America theme park. We had decided to join this year as the prices were so low at only $65 per adult and AJ is still free. She loves the guy on the commercial, and wanted to go to the "More Flags, More Fun" place (that's there slogan right now. So off we went with Godfather Mike. Addy loved the rides that she was allowed on and poor Lorraine couldn't even go on the kiddy ones! Click here for lots of pictures of that trip. It was our inaugural trip with the wagon and she completely crashed out asleep in it towards the end of the outing.

Friday night this weekend, we were invited to a neighbour's house for a Halloween bash, costumes optional, but most wore them. I went as the Hapless Handyman (see below), Addy wore her costume and Lorraine went as a pregnant lady, very convincing she was.

Saturday of course was Halloween, and Addison took part in her first official "Trick or Treat". She was dressed as a butterfly and said Trick or Treat at almost every house. Was much complimented and always said thank you, unlike some of our visitors! Click here for a few pictures of her costume. I accompanied her as the hapless handy man, complete with authentic bandages!

To round of the weekend, I went to my very first Bears game. As anyone who knows me will know, NOT a huge fan of the American Football, but a friend of mine has an in to get tickets and so I thought if I wasn't paying the exorbitant prices that Tim and Darell paid before i could give it a shot. So I went with a couple of friends, and thanks to said friend above who shall remain nameless, as I must protect my sources, we ha fabulous seats, very close tot he field and a perfect day for an outing. The Bears even won, which, this season, I believe is a bit of a miracle! As usual click here for some pictures from the day.

I went today to have the dressing removed after the surgery on my fingers. There's still a long way to go and if you want to see the pictures from today, checkout my Facebook account. Suffice to say that we are on the mend despite the blood and pins holding it together. Watch soon for pictures of the bar and the work I was doing when I had the mishap!

Anyways, off to watch some TV now..enjoy the pictures, and leave some love in the comments!

Real Men....

2009-10-12T22:53:00.000-05:00

There is a fabulous commercial for Pepsi Max, which has the tag line, "real men can take anything except the taste of diet cola." Well this weekend, I found out just how true that can be, although I prefer Coke Zero to Pepsi products :-)

Attached are several pictures of my finger, post table saw mash up. I was building my bar for the family room, and whilst ripping a piece of stud lumber to width, the wood kicked, fingers slipped, and the rest as they say is history. Click here for more pictures.

One Smart Kid

2009-09-27T18:23:00.009-05:00

As Addison grows up, I am continually amazed by her intellectual abilities. She is small for her size, in the 25th percentile last time we checked, but her mental abilities are off the charts. I am sure most parents think this about their kids, and who knows, maybe I am no different. However, when you read the articles, guidance, etc, and it says that typical 4-5 year olds can say a couple hundred words and can form sentences with 5-6 words, and she is already doing that....well you can see where I am going with this!

She already knows pretty much all of the colours, can count to twelve, and knows about 8-10 letters and words associated with them. She can recite in total "Fe Fi Fo Fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman, be he alive or be he dead, I'll grind his bones to make my bread", and almost all the words and actions to Insy Winsy Spider!

Of course along with such cognisance (I blame/credit Lorraine depending on if she is being annoying or cute :-) comes the annoying phrases and behaviours. Two of her current favourite phrases are "What's that from?" and "I don't want to", both recited several hundred times a day! I suspect, like the sudden desire to put down her fork and spoon that she has been using for a year or so, these are developments towards the "Terrible Twos". It's her second birthday on Tuesday!

A couple of weeks ago she had a fabulous day out whilst daddy was at the Cubs game. Lorraine took her to the local park for "Touch A Truck" day. She had a great time climbing on all of the trucks, tractors, etc, and bouncing around on the many bouncy castles, as you can see from these pictures.

Main Street, USA

2009-09-10T17:59:00.000-05:00

Those amongst you who are Disney aficionados will recognize the post title. We recently returned from a long weekend in the Disney capital of the world, Orlando FL. My sister Kimberley has been a huge fan of Disney forever, but had never had the opportunity to visit, and so she decided to save her pennies and pounds, and hundreds and splash on a two week vacation in "The place where dreams come true"

She emailed and mentioned this and we agreed to meet for a few days to catch up as it is only a short flight from Chicago, and we already had some accommodation that we needed to use (long story). So it was set, or so we thought! Closer to the date she emailed and they, she and her boyfriend at the time Scott, had decided that they would get married whilst they were in Orlando, as you do! The trip quickly turned into a wedding, with flower girl (Addison), witnesses (Lorraine & I), etc.

We hung out for a few days together over the weekend, went to Animal Kingdom (met my brother, the handsome fella on the right) and Magic Kingdom, did some shopping, etc. It was great to see them, as it had been over a year since we last did. They took us quite literally when I asked for them to bring as much Galaxy chocolate and Jaffa Cakes that they could fit into their case. I don't have the count handy, but it came to $120, and filled an entire cabin sized trolley bag.

The night before the wedding we went to downtown Disney for a bit and to the Irish bar Raglan road for some good ole UK fayre. Whilst there, there was an Irish band playing. Typical folk music, with a few of their own thrown in and some Irish dancers. What we didn't know until later, was that they were all one family, with the oldest (2nd from the left) being only 17! That's right 17!!! They were very talented and a delight to listen to.

The wedding itself was very low key. A nice chapel on International Drive, just us, the photographer and the minister. Kimberley look fabulous in her cream dress and pink wrap, hair and make-up done to the nines. After the ceremony, lots of pictures of course, and then we went to a few different locations and I took more pictures. Click here for the full album of the trip and the wedding.

All too soon of course it was time to come home, and back to the grindstone :-)

Save Johnnie Walker!

2009-08-13T23:58:00.004-05:00

Everyone in the world knows Johnnie Walker Whisky, I am sure. However, even the worldly wise, like my boss, may not know that it is actually a brand born and bred in my home town Kilmarnock and continues there to this day, although possibly not for much longer.

History Of The Brand (Purloined from other resources linked below)

Originally known as Walker's Kilmarnock Whisky, the brand is a legacy left by John 'Johnnie' Walker after he started to sell whisky in his grocer's shop in Ayrshire, Scotland. The brand became popular, but it was his son Alexander Walker and grandson Alexander Walker II who were largely responsible for establishing the whisky as a widely popular brand. Walker died in 1857, but his legacy was assured as the Walker family developed the business and grew the Johnnie Walker brand to become world famous.

Alexander Walker first introduced the iconic square bottle in 1870. The other identifying characteristic of the bottle is the label, which is applied at an angle of 24 degrees.

In 1908, when James Stevenson was the Managing Director, there was a rebranding of sorts. The whisky was renamed from Walker's Kilmarnock Whiskies to Johnnie Walker Whisky. In addition, the slogan, "Born 1820 - Still going Strong!" was created, along with the Striding Man, a figure used in their advertisements for around fifty years. Commercial artist Tom Browne created an image of a man wearing a red coat with tails, a top hat, quizzing glass (or monocle) and Hessian boots, and carrying a cane. It was created in the likeness of company founder John Walker.

More History here if you are interested.

Save Johnnie's Home
It seems that on 1st July, Diageo (boo, hiss) who now own the brand, decided to announce that the historic Kilmarnock plant would close in 2011 with the loss of 900 jobs and the work would be consolidated to other Scottish locations.

This news has obviously made a lot of people mad, and everyone from politicians to celebrities are trying to make Diageo change it's mind. A web site has been established to garner support and over 20,000 people (the equivalent of almost half the towns population of 44,000!) marched on Kilmarnock to protest the Diageo proposal, and local football fans made a banner to take on the road to try raise the profile on TV.

Click here to go sign the petition, I already did it!

Baby & Toddler

2009-08-06T21:30:00.002-05:00

I am sure you are all getting sick of seeing pictures of Addison by now, but I don't care..she is just so damned photogenic. So there are more here, and here.

She has her own incredible personality, which is mostly good, although of course there are a few things that don't jive well, like throwing a fit when she doesn't get her way. The naughty spot is getting some usage at the moment. One of the things she has started to do, for the last couple of months, and I think she learned this one from me, is what she calls her "special kiss". She takes your face in her hands and plants one on you!

Baby CJ is progressing well, we have another scan next week, so I will post the pics of that. Addison seems to be OK with the idea so far. She knows his name and where he is. Lorraine has been talking about singing to him and so now Addison pulls up Lorraine's shirt to let him hear. After a few minutes she pulls it back down as he is "getting cold"

Lorraine is very excited, as despite the baby growing, she doesn't seem to be putting on any weight. I think she is hoping the baby is eating her arse (her words not mine).

Addison and Lorraine have been spending a lot of time at the local pool, right at the end of the road. It has slides for all ages, different pool areas for the age groups and activities, and also a sand play area and "water park" with fountains and the like. Last night was a special late night, $6 for two, until 8pm, so we all went along for some family time. There is a slide that is toddler size and AJ loves it, but hadn't been comfortable getting up there by herself, meaning that when it was just the two of them, she couldn't really use it. Last night we worked up to it and now she will climb the stairs and get on the slide herself..a giant leap for toddlerkind.

Party In The Park

2009-08-05T22:44:00.003-05:00

Similarly to my recent post about city trips, we haven't taken advantage recently of the host of local free events. Most of the local towns and cities have a lot going on in the summer, I guess because the weather is not condusive (read frickin' cold) in the winter! From concerts, to "Taste Of" events, to Arts & Crafts festivals.

A couple of weeks ago, we went back to the old village where we lived for two years to enjoy their free Friday lunchtime concerts, although the term concert is rather loose, as often it is really more of a DJ spinning some tunes. Nevertheless it is an opportunity to get outside on a beautiful sunny day and enjoy the weather; and whaddayaknow, this time actually was a band, and a pretty decent one at that!

They also had the obligitary fire engine for the kids to climb on. As usual more pictures are available here.

We ate some sandwiches, hung out with the other friends and their families for a brief time until it was time to go back to normal life, work, errands, etc. Never mind, the weekend came around pretty quick soon be the weekend!

Teaching Old Dogs...

2009-07-27T17:54:00.002-05:00

I am fast realising that I am an old dog..I know many of you have likely thought that for years! Spending most of the weekend laid up with a dodgy knee, and not remembering what I did to cause it, doesn't help! Well, this old dog has been taking snapshots with expensive cameras for years now and has decided that it's about time to learn some new tricks.

Of course being Scottish, I am trying to do it for free. I do like the look and structure of the courses these guys offer, but I don't know yet if I am committed enough, or honestly have the time to warrant the fees. They do have some excellent tutorials/articles though that are worth a look, like this one about airshows for example.

I did find this website, which seems to have a bunch of free training in photography and many other topics. It has assignments and quizzes and a message board in case you need questions or support, so I am giving it a go.

Grand Day Out

2009-07-19T19:37:00.015-05:00

We hadn't really been in the city for a long time as a family. So we decided that this past weekend, with 60-70f weather, that it would be the perfect weekend for a lakefront bike ride. Plus with another baby on the way, it wouldn't be long before it becomes too tiring for Lorraine to go on long days out. So we packed up the bikes on the back of the truck, including the baby trailer, and off we went.

We parked at the Hancock Center. We had planned to park in Lakepoint Towers by Navy Pier, but they are now more expensive the John Hancock, WTF! We did find out though, for future reference, that if we get into the city before 10:30, the early bird rate is as low as $12 on the weekend, an absolute steal compared to the $29 for arrival at 10:45!

How and ever, after getting everyone set up, belted in, etc, what a rigmarole, we headed off Southwards first to North Avenue Beach. We know that area pretty well, as that is where they hold the air and water show. It was lunchtime by now, so we stopped at the beach there, had a quick dip, which Addison seemed to dislike a lot. Odd considering how much she enjoys the pool! We had a quick bite, Fish & Chips no less, at the beach cafe there.

We then turned around and headed Northwards back towards Millennium Park. I had to stop just as we turned though for this great view of the city. Here's a useless fact for you all..did you know that this week the Sears Tower, Chicago's tallest building, and in fact the tallest in the Western Hemisphere (not shown here) is now renamed the Willis Tower for the majority tenant, and UK insurance company Willis.

We biked all the way down to Millennium Park, to enjoy some paddling in the Crown Fountain. I stopped on the way to take a couple of pictures of the fountain in the Art Institute gardens to play with the settings on my new camera(picture at the end of the post)

Addison had a great time paddling around until she, inevitably, fell! So it was off for ice cream to recuperate, where I was asked if I was her father or grandfather!!!! Suitably deflated for the remainder of the day, it was no great surprise when I returned to the truck to find that my rear tire had come out in sympathy for me.

I was able to get some air into it, enough to get to the exit gate with my little battery pump, and the kind attendant lady had an electric one to inflate it enough to get home and to Sams Club, where they very generously fixed it for free, SCORE!

All in all an excellent day, despite my declining years!

Which picture do you prefer BTW..the super fast frozen in time shot, or the super slow, water in motion shot? As usual, more pictures can be found here.

Meet Cooper James Kenmuir

2009-07-17T07:01:00.002-05:00

Those of you who know us well, will know that first time around, we had the boy names all picked out, but just could not agree on the girl names. We did end up eventually with a great name, and I didn't even come up with the Cubs connection, Lorraine did that all on her own!

Well this time around it will be much easier, because thanks to the wonders of the modern science and the amniocentesis, we know we are having a boy and that he is due in early December. We have always liked the concept of last names as first names, and both liked the thought of using Lorraine's maiden name, Cooper, as his forename (I know Clark would have been cool too, but I would not have gotten away with that - Wrigley sits at the corner of Clark/Addison for the uninitiated). Lorraine only has a sister and therefore the family name would have ended without it.

James was my maternal grandfather's name. A very influential figure and guiding light in my life; much more so than my father ever was or will be, unless I wanted to learn to be an aggressive, mean drunk of course. He taught me about gardening, DIY, home repair & maintenance, got me involved in cycling and generally taught me how to look out for myself in the world.

Wandering off the subject a little; I recently read and then watched the movie of the Flying Scotsman. The story of Graham Obree who battled his childhood demons and became one of the heroes of Scottish Cycling. The reason I mention it, was that he was in my cycling club, was heavily encouraged and support by my grandfather, and I knew him to talk to. It's well worth a look and a read, because of course, these things always change a lot between the book and the movie (the book is better, darker, and more in depth).

Anyway, I will try to be better this time around about posting more regularly about the pregnancy and the journey. Maybe 2nd time around I will see it differently. Stay tuned, scan pictures to follow....

The Cubs, Oh The Cubs!

2009-06-25T18:22:00.001-05:00

Any Cubs fans who have been paying attention this year are probably thinking the same thing. The first three months have been rough, injuries, suspensions, and generally poor play across the board. The amazing thing is, we are still very much in the hunt, a mere 2.5 games back!

I have been to a few games already this year and have several more planned, but I could not let this particular game go by without note. A couple of weeks ago, Steve was able to secure tickets in the front row by the opposition bullpen. It was a gorgeous day, Cubs won 7-zip and the picture opportunities were awesome.

To top it all off, one of the guys with us, was a winner in a random draw to get our pictures taken on the field. Click here to check them out on the Captain Morgan website.

The other pictures are here, if you run the slideshow fast enough on the pitcher pictures, you can almost see the motion like one of those flicker books.

Vote For The Cutest Baby

2009-05-29T16:18:00.002-05:00

If you think my little girl is just the cutest thing your ever saw, then please vote for her. I recently entered her in a local radio station contest, and we only have about a week to vote to get her through this round, then I would guess some other voting in following rounds.

Click here to go to the site and vote, as many times as you can/want, although I think you have to register before you vote, so I understand some people will not want to do that.

Vote early, vote often!

Bite The Big Apple

2009-05-19T17:50:00.011-05:00

Some friends of ours decided to take a trip to the Big Apple, and asked us if we would like to coordinate a trip to meet up. We spent weeks going back and forth and eventually settled on a date around the April/May timeframe. Flights, hotels, vacation days, etc were booked. I have to say that I didn't remember NYC being so expensive, but then I always was coming from the UK. I was surprised though, that in this tough economy, hotels in Manhattan were still charging a minimum of $200 per night, plus $50 per day parking, and would not budge on the prices. So we started to look around and found a Super 8 just over the river in NJ, through the Lincoln tunnel. We got three nights for the price of one in Manhattan, and whilst not as convenient, or upscale, when you are only sleeping there, who cares?? But I am getting ahead of myself, let's start at the beginning.

We decided, mostly because flights are inconvenient with a baby, and certainly you still have to have cabs, rent cars, take baby seats, etc, that we would drive. This also afforded us the opportunity to take a bit of a road trip and see some of the country, although seeing it at 70mph doesn't really count! We decided to go via Niagara on the way there and take the direct shot via Cleveland on the way back. Lorraine had never been to Niagara before and I had only been once before, so we were excited.

Looking at the weather in advance, it didn't look good, with rain promised, pretty much for the entire week, and sure enough....We left at 6:15am on Thursday and drove to Niagara, arriving sometime around 6pm with several stops along the way. It LITERALLY and PHYSICALLY did not stop raining the ENTIRE journey. We didn't see much countryside along the way, but the journey generally went well. We had a quick dinner, wander along the riverside in the rain, and then went to bed.

Next day the rain actually had stopped and we spent the day doing the usual tourist stuff you do at Niagara Falls, GETTING WET from the spray. It is a fascinating place to visit, although the towns on either side of the border are very run down and generally not very nice. We started out by going into the Journey Behind The Falls. Tunnels which started in the early 1800s, have been expanded upon over the years, take you to two points, actually behind the horseshoe falls. You can see and feel the rush of the water as it pounds relentlessly over the precipice. The picture here does not really do it justice, but it was very cool.

Next we took a trip on the Maid Of The Mist, which sails you right into the horseshoe falls, getting completely soaked in the process. AJ hated it of course, with her new found loathing of showers, so I shielded her from the worst of it whilst Lorraine enjoyed the full magnificent force.

For the rest of the day we generally hung out in the area, went over to the US side and checked out the park there. Both sides are definitely worth the trip. You absolutely get the best views of both the American/Bridal Falls and the Horseshoe Falls from the Canadian side, but the you can get closest to the river and the actual falls on the American side.

Niagara Facts & Figures

The flow rate over the Horshoe Falls is 600,000 US gallons per second, in the off season it is half that amount
At night as in the off season, they half the flow rate by pumping water to the various power stations
Until 1905, the erosion rate was almost 4ft per year, since then it has been reduced to approx 1ft in 10 years.
It did actually pretty much completely stop running once in 1848, due to an upriver ice dam
The park has been self funded since the 1800s, requiring no government money despite being a state park

Next day (Saturday) we set off for the city, and it RAINED, sporadically throughout the day, approximately 12 hour trip with stops. The journey was uneventful, but the scenery in upstate New York was beautiful when it wasn't raining. We arrived pretty late to NYC that night and retired early ready for a busy few days.

The next day (Sunday) we met our friends in the city, at their hotel, with a planned tour around some of the sights, being once again marred by the weather, but we went anyway!! We started by taking the Staten Island Ferry over to the island and back. For those who don't know, it's free, and a great way to see the skyline on Manhattan Island and the Statue Of Liberty. It was amazing to see that skyline without the Twin Towers, as I had not been back since before 9/11.

We went to South Street Sea Port, Empire State Building, and the Memorial for 9/11 set up right by the site. I have to admit that I was surprised by the "lack" of progress on the new building. Please understand that I don't mean this disrespectfully, understanding that it took several years to even clear the site, I guess I just had thought, some 8+ years later that we would have had some level of building showing above the fences by now, naive I suppose. We checked out the memorial right by the site, a very sombre experience. All sorts of pieces from the "wreckage" of the buildings, including personal effects, and a bunch of pictures of folks who were missing. It really was quite heart wrenching.

On Monday we had planned to go to Yankee stadium in the evening to take in a ball game, against the local rival Boston Red Sox. Our seats were up in the gods, which ended up being a good thing as it was once again, you guessed it, RAINING! We ended up being delayed for over two hours, and only being able to see the first two innings as we had to get back for our train. However it is a beautiful stadium with all mods cons, including a huge price tag for most refreshments. Hot Dogs $8, 12oz beer $9, compared to Wrigley at $4.50 and $6.50 (for a 16oz beer), scurrilous; but I guess they have to pay for the stadium, oh wait, NYC did that!!!!

We left home the next day and headed back to Illinois, tired, wet, bedraggled, but having had a good time. Click on any of the pictures above, or this link this link to see the rest of the album.

Hungry Rocks? No Starved!

2009-04-06T19:01:00.007-05:00

We realised that we didn't really do much last year in terms of going out, having fun, exploring our local environment, getting into the city, etc; and so we resolved to get back to that this year. Our first trip was to Starved Rock State Park, a couple of hours South and West of us in Olgesby, near Utica, along the Illinois river. It was recommended by a good friend of ours who had been there over twenty years ago.

The weather was gorgeous, in the 50s, and we got ourselves all set up with cameras, back pack baby carrier, hiking boots, etc. We had actually wanted to go about a month ago when all the snow was melting as we thought the waterfalls would be more impressive, but the weather didn't play ball that weekend. There was still some water in the falls, although I think later in the year, they all but dry up.

The park has 18 canyons and over 13 miles of trails, although we probably only walked about 5 or 6 miles of them, and it was more of a wander than a hike, as we took over 5 hours just wandering, stopping, photographing, exploring and teaching AJ about the various things we saw.

The canyons were formed by glacial meltwater and stream erosion, creating some outstanding rock formations primarily from sandstone from 425 million years ago. We saw at least three different very distinct colours, although of course there were several strata as you can see from the pictures.

Click here to read more about the history of the place if you are interested.

Unfortunately, despite the propensity of Bald Eagles in the park, in the winter, we were likely too late to see them, certainly in the abundance that apparently can occur. Due to the dam on the river, Bald Eagles migrate down from Wisconsin and other Northern states to be able to fish on the river, where it doesn't freeze. We did see one significantly large bird of prey, but I cannot guarantee if it was an Eagle or not, it was however very cool. We will likely try to go back next year earlier in the year and see if we can see more. In the meantime, here are the pictures we took.

I did learn something very cool. Bald Eagles once an endangered species and on the Federally protected list, are now no longer endangered. This is largely due to the Federal scheme and the removal of DDT from the environment. A great success story (I didn't take this picture BTW :-)

Native American Indians (credit for the picture above) is child friendly site about American and Canadian Indians. 1400+ legends, 400+ agreements and treaties, 10,000+ pictures, free clipart, Pueblo pottery, American Indian jewelry, Native American Flutes and more.

Spring, Sprung? Kinda, Sorta

2009-03-27T12:40:00.004-05:00

It is hard to believe it is almost April already, as they say where I grew up, "It'll soon be Christmas!!!!!" Work has been a bear since last summer, working through a major project which went live in the New Year. We have spent the last couple months under the gun, and whilst we are not 100% done, we are certainly feeling more comfortable now, and the pressure has eased considerably.

Home life wise, it's been a pretty quiet few months, as we get through the end of Winter and look forward to Spring, with the golf & baseball seasons starting again. The weather is changeable as Spring always is, with one day in the 70s and the next in the 40s. We had a good amount of snow this winter, although not as much as previous years, certainly not as much as last year. It is gone now though and the golf course have re-opened, I still suck Charlie (107 last weekend).

I did manage to squeeze in a whistlestop trip to Vegas for a buddy's 40th birthday and for the entire 4 day trip, spent less than $500 including flights and accommodation, thanks to a rather fortunate time or two at the craps tables. It's always nice to beat Vegas, even if it is just a little.

I don't know how people who have blogs manage to find something interesting to talk about every day or week, maybe I am just dull and boring (no confirmation necessary thanks!) But now that we are fully acclimatised to life here in the US, it really is very much a "New Life; Same As The Old Life".

So far we have been lucky job wise..ie I still have one, and we are able to maintain a decent lifestyle. I have, however, been consciously controlling the "fun" spending a little more, keeping the credit cards under control and ensuring that if the worst does happen we should be OK for several months at least. We have been thinking about another baby, especially as just about every other person we know is having one, or in some cases two, right about now. Of course this prompted thoughts about getting a bigger car, a new toy, but having reviewed the deals around, we decided to wait until we actually have another baby on the way at least!

We are still going to have fun this year of course, and in fact we have a number of trips planned or on the table. New York in May to meet Tim & Sara, Lorraine is going to the UK thru May & June, Jan is coming over here in July and sometime in the mix of all of that we have to fit in a trip to Florida too. So it should be a busy summer, especially when you factor in golf, and Cubs games too.

AJ is changing daily although the changes are less physical and more mental right now, or at least that's my opinion. She is 18 months now, and whilst small according to the "charts" she is running around like a crazy person and chatting away to anyone who will listen. Obviously spending all day with Lorraine is rubbing off on her!! Her vocabulary is huge and, I believe, (for what do I know really) very advanced for her age. She will of course repeat anything you say, but also is very good at using words and even phrases in context. She loves her books and drives us crazy reading the same ones over and over again.

This weekend, assuming the storms are not too bad, we are going to hook up the little bike trailer thingy we have for AJ and take some time to cycle down into town and along the lake front. If the weather is decent I might even take some pictures. In the meantime here are some that Lorraine took with Addy running around in the garden during a recent warmer spell.

First Haircut

2009-02-24T19:26:00.000-06:00

Addison got her 1st official haircut last weekend. We went to a special place called Kids Cutz where they have cool kiddy cars to sit in, with a huge selection of DVDs to watch and very child friendly hair dressers.

As you can see in the picture here, they also had bubbles which AJ seemed to love. All in all it was a trim, so it didn't take long, and she was pretty relaxed for the most part.

She even got a little certificate of completion for her first cut. I uploaded one of the videos, but there are more here too, and more pictures here, here and some pictures from the Christmas trip to the UK here, including some of her driving Godfather Mike's car!

Happy New Year

2009-01-09T19:21:00.000-06:00

As regular readers know we headed off back to the UK for our first Christmas there in 4 years. We set off on the 17th December the day after a huge snow storm in Chicagoland, which dropped approximately 6 inches of snow, causing many flights t be cancelled. As a result, for the first time we were forced to have Addison on our laps (mostly Lorraine's) for 8 solid hours, that was a tough trip

Arriving morning of the 18th in the UK, we were all pretty beat. It was cold for the UK and over the ensuing weeks got colder and even snowed

I played some golf, we both caught up with numerous friends, and generally had a jolly old time. I will write more in the next few days, and I also have some video of crazy Morris Men, a UK tradition, that I am sure my American readers will have some difficulty comprehending!

Catching Up

2008-12-14T10:01:00.024-06:00

I haven't written in my blog for a while. Not because nothing is happening, but because I have been up to my ears in work and preparing to go home for the holidays (insert Carpenters medley here!)

So let's see, what has been going on?

Soon after I wrote last time Highland Park had their Halloween celebrations. The city had some special events going on, wagon rides, donkey rides, etc. We waited in line for 30 minutes only to find that AJ decided she didn't like donkeys! She and Lorraine went on a hayride instead and I minded the the stroller.The first picture above is AJ's skeleton Osk Kosh shirt, with the donkeys in back. The neighbourhood really seemed to get into Halloween, with lots of houses decorated, and lots of kids running around.

The week before Thanksgiving, Highland Park lit up their holiday lights. They had a high school band, Santa came in to town and there were sleigh rides. AJ really loved the drummers, especially when they got their trashcans out and started drumming on them!

Things were fairly quiet on the home front for most of November and the month seemed to fly by as we continued to prepare at work for the huge transition of my team. Thanksgiving came around quickly and we ended up with some good friends Amy & Kevin and their family (16 in total) eating, drinking and watching James Bond movies!

That weekend, I followed the annual tradition of putting up the Christmas lights. To say I was alone in that this year would be an understatement. I got lots of strange looks as people drove by, and to this day, only about 4 houses in the immediate vicinity have any form of decoration/lighting. For me this is great, as it means my paltry decorations stand out well.

We went to the sales on Thanksgiving Friday, apparently the busiest shopping day ever in the States each year. The bargains (because of the economy) were supposed to be fabulous, but quite honestly I don't think they were as good as last year.

Every year we get a real Christmas tree, cos I love the smell and the look. This year we had planned our usual trip to Home Depot (B&Q) to get ours. They actually have surprisingly good trees. Amy & Kevin told us about a place they usually get their tree; a tree farm in Wisconsin, and so seeing an opportunity to experience something new, we set off to cut down our own Christmas tree. It was all very Clark W Giswald (National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, for those not in the know). Unfortunately there was no snow and so the experience wasn't quite so cool, but the tree farm was fun.

We put the tree up that week and AJ helped. She had a lot of fun running around with the decorations and helping us. We had her pose in her pretty little Christmas dress for the Christmas picture this year, a very American tradition.

The first week in December was time to celebrate Lorraine's Christmas gift. I would have done it later, but Dirty Dancing stage show was only on for a limited time. We went down to the city, hung out at the Art Institute for the afternoon, and then went to The Signature Room for dinner. Lots of wine, cocktails and had a truly excellent dinner! We went on to the show, not something that I was super excited about, but I thought Lorraine would enjoy it and she did. We had front row seats, which on reflection were a little too close, but the show was actually pretty decent, and I know Lorraine loved it, so it's all good!

And so we find ourselves in Mid December almost ready to go back to the UK. We will be there for three weeks, and Reggie will be hanging out with Uncle (Godfather) Mike. I will update with anything interesting that happens whilst we are away.

Out & About

2008-10-28T17:46:00.003-05:00

My inlaws just left (almost 3 weeks ago now, where does the time go??) There was, of course, the usual round of shopping and drinking, eating, etc. One of the things we did do was to go to a local pottery store, where you can choose items to paint and draw on, which are then fired for you. Mads mad some cat bowls, and Jan made a wall tile, which you can check out in the other pictures.

Lorraine and I made this tissue box cover. There are a couple of other pictures in the collection, but as you can see, we put her name on there, and also go prints of both hands and feet. The feet were relatively easy to do, but she kept closing her hands, making it really difficult to get a good print, but it turned out OK.

The weekend after they left, we went out with Godfather Mike to celebrate AJ's birthday with him. Did some shopping, got some of the cheapest gas in the country in Wisconsin and spent some time down at the lakeshore, walking around and actually in the lake paddling in just her nappy (diaper for my American readers), and she had a great time as you can see in this picture.

We have been trying to maximise the remaining few weeks of cool, but not cold weather, as all too soon the winter will be here in full force and the snow will be falling (in fact we had a few flurries last night!). We took AJ to the local park last weekend, and tried her on the slide for the first time, again she seemed to have a great time. She is such a happy baby and we are so very lucky in that regard. She is just as content bumming around, going to restaurants, friends houses, or going to the park.

This past weekend we went to the zoo. I have never been a huge fan of zoos, as I have often felt that they have their animals in such small areas, and this one was no exception. AJ didn't seem overly excited to see the various animals, although she didn't sleep all day until she collapsed in the car, so I guess she was having fun, but I was unhappy with the conditions for the animals.

The one plus side for me was that I did get to see my favourite animal in the whole wide world, and he seemed to be having fun. Hudson the Polar Bear was born in the zoo, and I guess has only ever seen ice/snow at the end of the year like the rest of us, but he seemed to be having a blast playing with his pumpkin in the pool as you can see. I have a whole sequence of him tossing the thing around in the rest of the pictures

I hear tell that Milwaukee Public Zoo is better for space, so maybe we will try that in future. Obviously we will try to get AJ to see as many of these animals as possible in their more natural environments, like safari or maybe/hopefully someday a trip to Alaska

That's it for now, all up to date. Don't forget to click the various picture links if you want to see more, but for now I will leave you with the view of the play cage! She is a very lucky girl following her recent birthday and as you can see, has soooo many toys and a great area in which to play

And just because I can, cos it is my blog, one last picture of Daddy's Little Angel. Don't forget to click on each of the pictures themselves for more pictures from the same month, event or trip.

1st Birthday Videos

2008-10-02T15:08:00.007-05:00

Please scroll down for pictures and write up of the three day birthday extravaganza. I have only posted a couple of videos here, the rest are on the photobucket page. This one is of us all singing Happy Birthday. No idea what happened to the focus, but it comes good at the end.

This one is one the favourite toys she received. It vexed her, because she has a similar toy in which you push the balls in to do things, but this one kept blowing them out, watch her reactions.

There are a ton more videos here

1st Birthday Celebrations

2008-09-30T09:14:00.006-05:00

AJ's first birthday has come and gone, and like a celebrity she has had 3 days of celebrations. We started on Saturday with a combined birthday and housewarming party, the "public" celebration if you will. Several friends and relatives came to visit, laden with gifts and food. We opened some gifts on the day and partied until the wee small hours. She mostly had a good time, although with the whole stranger anxiety thing still going on even with Jan and Mads, there were some traumatic moments.

We had a big cake made by our local supermarket and she had some fun rubbing it mum's face. Mads was seriously delayed getting in, over 6 hours late, but Mikey V, the trooper, assisted by going to the airport to pick her up. Once AJ was in bed, the adults continued the party playing a fun drinking game called What The F&*K.

Day 2 of the celebrations were supposed to started by waving off some friends on a Jaguar motor tour of Route 66, but talk about a pissup in a brewery, we could have used our MG Owners Club organisation skills to bail them out. 66 Jags were shipped from the UK all the way to Chicago, a feat in and of itself, but there was no plans for a send off, pictures, press, etc, it was just a bunch of people leaving from the hotel parking lot, so we didn't bother. We did continue with our day's plan though, to go to the John Hancock Signature Room Brunch. Always a great treat, this being the 2nd visit, it was excellent and of the views, of course, were fabulous. Addison agreed wholeheartedly as you can see.

They made her a special little cake for the occasion (check the pictures). She was wearing a very cute little dress, with lacy underskirt and everything, a gift from my family on our recent trip to the UK. We ended up doing a little shopping tour of a few shops including Crate & Barrel so that Mads could get her fix. We didn't get home until after 8, so all in all it was a good day out.

Day three, her actual birthday, we opened up the remaining gifts, had a lazy day as it was throwing it down with rain, and went to Wildfire in the evening. Another special cake was made for her!! She loved all of the gifts, when we could get her attention away from the packaging and envelopes. Thanks to all who came to the party and brought gifts, over the next year she will love them all I am sure.

Tons more pictures here and some videos to be edited and uploaded later!

Fall 2008 & Cubs WIN!!!

2008-09-22T08:46:00.005-05:00

Today is officially the first day of Fall (Autumn for the Brits) in 2008, it is also two days since the Chicago Cubbies clinched their 2nd Division title in as many years, a feat unmatched since 1908, and we all know what happened that year.

I was at the game on Saturday, and the timing could not have been better. I was really worried that the team would clinch on Thursday or Friday, as they could have, however they held on until Saturday and the town was buzzing.

AJ's birthday is one week from today. Hard to believe that she is one year old already! We are of course having a party, combined with a housewarming on Saturday. Work is progressing well on the house, and I really must take some pictures again. I have all but finished painting downstairs, and only a couple rooms left upstairs. The main yard work will be completed this week, and I still hope to get the hot tub going by next weekend for the party.

My MIL is in town for two weeks from today, and my SIL arrives next weekend, both flying in for the shindig, and Maddy told me I HAVE to have the hot tub ready!

So Go Cubs Go! for the playoffs and hopefully we will be celebrating some more big wins throughout October!

4 WAS The Magic Number

2008-09-17T07:19:00.005-05:00

For those of you with the slightest interest in the game, this week is very exciting. What game? I hear my British readers yell. Baseball of course. Unfortunately Hurricane Ike, in addition to flooding my garden (I know I got off light compared to Texas, so no letters to the editor please) completely screwed up my playoff chances in the Fantasy Baseball League. I ended up losing by a mere 13 points, including two cancelled games. Some bad lineup decisions compounded the issue with almost 150 points sitting on the bench. C'est La Vie, there's always next year, third time's a charm right?

The good news there is that my friend Nigel, also a Brit is in the final and he is winning so far. The Brits lead the way in the game they "Invented"

For me though, the real excitement (sorry Nige) is that the Cubs "Magic Number". The Cubs magic number is 4, so basically the Cubs need to win 4 the Brewers need to lose 4 or we win two, they lose two, etc. When the magic number reaches zero, they will clinch the division title for the 2nd year in a row. I was kinda hoping they would hold out until Saturday when I am there to see them, but I will be quite happy if they do it in advance!

Hopefully this year we will do a better job of the NLDS, get through the NLCS and then win the World Series, so that I can have some kick ass parties and win that bet I have on the Cubbies!

Go Cubs Go!

Click here to play the cool Cubbies song,

and here for the lyrics that you can use to sing along.

It's Raining, It's Pouring

2008-09-14T11:45:00.005-05:00

I don't think it has stopped raining since Friday night and it is now Sunday lunchtime. We have had a big front move through and now it's all about the after effects of Ike. The Cubs have already had games cancelled due to the storm in Houston and it looks like the lack of games will cost me the playoffs!

It appears that the bottom of our garden is a bit of a collector area!

And now for something completely different! I really must get a cover for the new grill, yes Steve that's five, count em, five burners, 60,000BTUs.

Baseball's UK Heritage

2008-09-11T22:42:00.003-05:00

I know this is going to upset a bunch of my American readers and friends, but a discovery has been made in an old diary that America's Pastime was actually first played in the UK in 1755, more than 20 years before Independence was won.

Apparently Major League Baseball has been informed of the discovery, but has so far not commented. The full article is here, but the crux of it, is that a diary chronicling part of William Bray's life, a well know historian and diarist, recently discovered in a garden shed last year details him playing baseball in 1755! Wiki Answers seems to back up this theory that the game was in fact invented in the UK

You can click here to hear the news item on BBC's Radio 4. Sorry guys, but at least you still play it and have the "World Series"

Playoff Baseball

2008-09-09T21:20:00.000-05:00

Not the Cubs, although hopefully they will be there too, but no; me! I made the fantasy baseball playoffs for the 2nd year in a row and hope to not get my ass kicked in the first round this year. I won my division and have two rounds of play offs before I can win the title.

This week I go up against the Epsom Braves, my friend Nigel from the UK. Quite the funny thing, two Brits showing our American friends what it takes to get in the playoffs. So wish me luck in beating my fellow Brit and taking my A game to the "World Series". That is the scores on Tuesday night.

Radio Flyer

2008-09-03T11:10:00.005-05:00

The Radio Flyer wagon is an American institution. It comes in many sizes, designs, different materials, different wheels, etc. I guess it is supposed to be a kid's toy, that they use to haul stuff around in or maybe more likely an adult toy, they use to haul the kids around in, but it does have other uses.

Lot's of parents (and some not parents) buy them to take to events such as the Ravinia Festival, or even down into town to take the kids shopping. We recently went to see Tony Bennett at Ravinia and borrowed Hazel's wagon to haul the cooler, tables, chairs, etc, whilst Addy had a comfy ride in the pushchair (stroller for the Americans), it worked great.

So now we are hoping to join the American institution, with the purchase of such a wagon for AJ's first birthday/Christmas. The one above is the All Terrain Wagon, with removable sides, so it should be great for multi purpose use, and will hopefully last many years to come for when AJ grows up and wants to actually play with it herself!

Summer Is Ending....

2008-08-27T07:13:00.001-05:00

Wow, I can't believe summer is coming to an end. The official end of summer here is Monday 1st September this year. Local attractions either close completely or significantly reduce their operation. We have a local water park in our new town, three golf courses, a beach, and a very nice town center, few of which we have taken advantage!

We did do our first garage sale earlier this year, and raised $400 ourselves and with friends over $1000! As you can see we had a lot of crap to sell, but people bought it, with some folks coming back several times over the two days! Click here for a few more pictures.

This past weekend it was the Taste Of Highland Park, where local restaurants bring out sample sizes of their product and over charge you for their promotional advertising. It was however an excellent day out, lots of good food and a nice walk to town. On the same day, they had the Port Clinton Square Art Festival, celebrating it's 25th Anniversary.

We ended up continuing our walk down to the Central Park Beach area, overlooking the lake and the bluff. It was a gorgeous day, and we stopped to have a little play on the see saw before heading back for some ice cream from Dairy Queen. Click on the picture to see some more pictures from August, including some of AJ in the smallest paddling pool ever!

Lately it seems like every free minute I have had has been consumed by yard work, decorating and organising; especially now as the MIL and SIL are coming out at the end of the month to help us celebrate AJ's 1st Birthday, I know, 1 year old already, where did it go?? We are also already planning our trip to the UK for Christmas and hopefully some skiing too, it's been 4 years since I strapped the planks on.

I have managed to keep playing golf every couple of weeks, and been to a few Cubs games. Lorraine has been tearing up the golf course the last few weeks in her golf league. She has turned in a score in the 40s, 4 times, at the nine hole par three they use.

Here are some older pictures from July too, that I recently added to if you want, click the picture to see the slide show.

One final sobering thought..... I purchased a snow blower this week.....

The Professional Touch

2008-08-12T06:22:00.001-05:00

As you all know, I love my camera, despite not being very good with it! I am hoping to take a class this winter though, with the New York Institue Of Photography. It's a correspondence course, and they give you assignments, tutuor support, etc. It sounds pretty good for the price. If anyone is interested in taking it themselves, let me know, cos they are always sending me discount vouchers. Check out all of the courses here.

However, when last in the UK, Lorraine and the Cooper girls went to get proper professional pictures taken. I have all of them on various formats, but I uploaded a bunch of them here. Click to check em out.

Lights Camera Action

2008-08-05T19:54:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was an interesting day. We started the morning darker at 6am than it is on some winter mornings, due to a heavy storm rolling in, and finished it the same way with the Cubs game stopped short for tornadoes and lightning, and a superb light show to our south, as you can see on these videos. Check em out! Between the flashes, you can see some excellent fork lightning too.

Apparently about 1/2m homes were without power after the storm and there were a record 88,000 lightning strikes.

Margaritaville

2008-08-04T20:20:00.000-05:00

I recently had my first Jimmy Buffett experience. Jimmy Buffett is a huge deal here in the US and specifically in Illinois. It is a big party time every time he comes to town, people dress up in Hawaiian shirts, and head north to Alpine Valley in Wisconsin and behave like it is Spring Break combined with Mardi Gras, combined with Girls Gone Wild!

It's kinda like Vegas, in the sense that what happens at Buffett stays at Buffett, and my camera actually helped that cause by screwing up on the picture download, losing most of the pictures I had of half naked women and girls making out with girls. Here are a few samples.

Pure Entertainment

2008-08-01T22:20:00.003-05:00

I have a bunch of pictures and videos of the young 'un that I have been meaning to get around to posting for a while, including some of the "The Pox", some recent, some crawling video, crazy fake laughter, and some older pictures that Lorraine has had on her camera for a while. Lastly, Lorraine had a professional session done whilst in the UK, so there are some of those pictures too. So in no particular order..here goes, click the picture to take you to the linked albums.

From UK trip (May), inc swimming, horse riding & Scottish rellies.

From June, inc "The Pox" The Godfather & weird sleeping positions.

Miscellaneous July Pictures

Miscellaneous Videos, inc first feeding, crawling, standing & rugby league!
Click here for more videos.

What's Goin' On?

2008-07-18T18:59:00.001-05:00

Wow, almost a month since I last posted. The Cubs and White Sox continue to be in 1st place in their respective divisions and leagues. The records continue to be broken, and everyone is starting to predict a Cubs/Sox World Series; something that hasn't happened since the early 1900s.

I have a bunch of pictures to edit and upload, Addison, The Pox, 4th July, the house, and the garden, soon, I promise.

Lorraine has been unpacking, cleaning and organising. We only have the stairs to clean with the whizzy carpet cleaner we borrowed. If you ever need to buy one, the Bissell we borrowed is excellent; I can recommend it. We haven't done any decorating since we moved in, as we have been concentrating on the outside.

Lorraine has started playing golf again in her weekly league, and of course Addison is keeping her busy as a full time job. Lorraine is making all Addison's baby food from scratch with organic meats and vegetables, she eats better than I do :-)

Addison is growing at an alarming rate of knots. She is crawling already, and starting to pull herself up on all sorts of things, her crib, tables, people, etc. It seems like she suddenly grew up. She is on a real daddy kick right now, although she still won't take milk from me. She is however reaching for me at every opportunity and is to the point of crying if I am in the room, and she is with someone else, even Lorraine sometimes!

I have been working flat out at work, trying to get a major project phase put to bed. Then going home and working flat out on getting the outside of the house in shape. I have been cleaning gutters, painting the deck and patio furniture, cleaning siding and paths, weeding the beds, planting new shrubs, mowing the lawns (seems like a daily task!), putting down weed block fabric, wood chips and new pebbles. This past week the back door step collapsed too, so that is the latest job at the top of the "honey do" list!

The final bit of gardening that needs to be done is to weed the rear border alongside the fence and behind the shed. Some of the weeds are huge, but it is mostly plants in there, so it shouldn't be too bad. Before the winter, the shed needs a quick blast of paint too.

There has been time for fun stuff too. I have been to another Cubs game since the Cross Town Classic, got very drunk (surprise). Cubs beat the Giants, in a nailbiting comeback from the Giants from a 5 run deficit. We got the pool table up and levelled, and Lorraine has been kicking my ass!

The hot tub is about half way done. We have the electrics in place and tested. We have checked out the major workings. A couple of the pipes are loose, and one of the pumps may be jammed. The heater needs replacing, but we already knew that, so it's all good (especially for $400). Hopefully I will get that all squared away in the next few weeks after the back step is rebuilt.

I played golf at a course called Bob 'O Links. It is a very exclusive course in highland Park, that apparently costs around $80,000pa to be a member and has some of the local famous folks like Mike Ditka as a member. The course was fabulous, and quite challenging. Hopefully I will be able to play there a couple times this year.

That's about it for now. The inlaws are coming over in the fall for AJ's birthday, and we are trying to figure out if we can get back to the UK for Christmas, maybe even Austria for some skiing. Fingers crossed!!

New Broom Sweeps Clean

2008-06-23T22:38:00.001-05:00

This weekend, the battle of the Central division leaders went the way of the Cubs with a three game sweep of the Chicago White Sox. The Cubs continue to set standards that have not been met by a Cubs team in several years. They are 20 games over 500, they have won 14 straight home games (a first in 72 years).

Ryan Dempster is 9-0 at home this year, something no Cub has done since 2001. Aramis Ramirez, hit 4 home runs this weekend, giving him more home runs against the White Sox this year than any other hitter in the major leagues, yet the Cubs have only played the Sox three times, against some other teams having played them more than twice that.

Of course none of this matters, unless the Cubs keep it up through the end of the season and find a way to stop beating themselves every time they get close. So keep supporting them, keep cheering them and let's take it all the way this year.

AJ Has The Pox

2008-06-22T10:35:00.000-05:00

Poor little thing, she is all sick with the pox. We have no idea where it came from, although with a two week incubation and being an airborne disease, it is probably from the plane ride home.

She is in remarkably good spirits, considering, and apart from the abundance of spots, you would never know she was even sick. Hopefully she will get well soon, and be back to her old photgenic self!

Tornado Touches Down

2008-06-09T22:05:00.001-05:00

Writing this I am sure will freak out both inlaws and parents, as this is probably the closest we have come to an actual disaster. At the weekend, I was sitting watching the game, and Lorraine was putting AJ to bed, when the EAS kicked into life.

Apparently the weather had taken a turn for the worse and a tornado moving at approximately 36mph (I am told this is slow) was headed our way, and when I say our way, I really mean our way, between 10 and 15 miles away!

The EAS recommended hiding in a basement or internal room with no windows. So we rounded up Reggie, AJ, a couple glasses of wine, baby milk, some water & my blackberry to keep in touch and headed into our downstairs bathroom, between the office and the laundry room, only one external wall and no windows.

It did touch down 15 miles away in Mundelein but there was little/no damage. It was a very destructive tornado, just not anywhere near us. I know it shouldn't be exciting to experience these events, and I probably should be scared or something, but I simply look at it as one of life's experiences. Although I will probably be getting myself a proper EAS storm radio, in case the next one hits during the night.

One For Olly

2008-06-02T21:57:00.002-05:00

I know Olly's views on personalised plates, but with it being so cheap and easy (my very favourite type...) I just couldn't resist. The process is all on line, you can have pretty much anything you want so long as it is not vulgar and no-one else has it. Imagine my surprise however, when not only could I have Gordy, but I could have it on an Organ Donor plate, one of my favourite things, although I hope they wait until I die, unlike the "Meaning Of Life"

Oh and one of the front of the truck, cos I just love the look of it!

Wanderer Returns - Pt2

2008-05-28T20:51:00.001-05:00

We last left our intrepid global traveller in the South of England, following a triumphant trip to the motherland.

The timing of this entire trip had been dictated by the one and only date for my in laws 40th birthday gift. The Aston Martin Experience was in Oxfordshire, which meant another several hours in the car, and on one of the few days where it rained for the whole trip. We had left AJ home with Grandma, and intended to make a whole day of it.

Arriving in the middle of nowhere, around 10:30am, very little signage or directions, we stumbled upon a tiny sign to get to the farm, and on up to the circuit purpose built for such events. As you can see from these pictures, they had a plethora of exotic cars. The rain was still coming down hard, but nothing could dampen our spirits as the cars roared around the circuit.

We had a couple of quick sighting laps in the rally cars with the instructor, showing the lines, where to turn in, etc. We then took our turns in the Aston, 6 laps of heart pounding, gut wrenching, fun in $200,000 of Aston Martin V8 Vantage Supercar. Despite the weather, the car had an amazing amount of grip and never felt twitchy at all. I didn't get a chance to look at the speedo, but on the wet 0.7m circuit we probably barely got above 100mph

I can only imagine what it would have been like to drive the Aston in the dry!

The rest of the trip was pretty much the same as the Scotland half of the trip, with lots of friends, family and some golf. We did get some time to go visiting to my godson Max, and were able to watch him in one of his footie tournaments. Unfortunately, his team was drawn in a group with all higher rated teams, and they were unable to eek out a win in the group stage.

It is good to be back home, although I had forgotten how much work needed doing at the new house and so this past weekend was a constant round of unpacking, DIY and errands. The place does seem empty with the rest of the family still in the UK, roll on next Wednesday!

Click here for lots more pictures of the cutest baby in Chicagoland (sorry friends :-)

Wanderer Returns - Pt1

2008-05-25T09:03:00.012-05:00

It's been a long and tiring two weeks, and now I have to go back to work. Regular readers will know that I spent the last two weeks at home in the UK visiting friends & family. It was a packed schedule, planned with military precision to maximise socialising and golfing opportunities.

We landed at 5:30am and jumped straight into a rental car, headed for Scotland via the Lake District. We spent that first night with some friends at their farm/stables/guest house catching up on all the old skiing gossip from Soll. We even got AJ on a horse for her first assisted "ride". There are a few more pictures here of AJ on the horse. We left the farm mid morning and wended our way further northwards to visit my family who had never met the baby.

We had checked into another guest house in Ayr, call By The Sea which we can thoroughly recommend. It has recently reopened with new ownership and a significant refit. The location is great, one block from the beach, and close to the town, and the style/decor and most of all the welcome is second to none.

We spent the next 4 days back and forth to Kilmarnock, familiarising ourselves with the new average speed camera or SPECS sections of the A77. The family were delighted to meet her, and mum, sisters, aunties, partners of most of the above, all came to visit almost every day for the duration. Click here to check out the pics with my family. I managed a couple of rounds with some old friends, guys who I went to school with over 25 years ago!

One afternoon we went off to Loch Lomond, as Lorraine had not seen much of the country on any of our trips, something I will have to rectify in future. The weather was fabulous all week long in Scotland; they do say that the sun shines on the righteous!

It was great to catch up with everyone, and it was all over too soon before we had to head back south to England for my Aston Martin day, the gift from my in laws for my 40th. More of that in the next post, but I couldn't resist posting this one picture for now (If you look closely you can see it is me driving). On the way however we did stop in Wakefield to meet another old friend, an old boss in fact from my days in the UK.

He is now managing a property, the house, grounds, tourism, etc for the National Trust. Nostell Priory is gorgeous, and quite the departure from managing an IT department for an international company. He tells me, however, that the daily issues and challenges are not really that different. Tight budgets, cost control, people issues, etc.

One last random picture from Loch Lomond. Whilst Lorraine was shopping for gifts, AJ and I had the privilege to see one of the UK's finest instituations. The Royal Navy Rescue Helicopter.

Long Time No Post

2008-04-30T07:52:00.004-05:00

Been a busy few weeks what with the move and the upcoming trip and work kickin' my ass! However everything progresses.

We moved in last weekend, in record time. The 24' truck was packed to the gunwales (or gunnels as we say in Scotland). We had a merry band of helpers, and I am eternally grateful to them for their efforts. We got the whole truck packed up by 11:30am, having only started around 9am, and we were at the new house and completely unpacked by 2pm. The unpacking will take several more weeks/months!

On the weight side, as you can see above, progress continues in the right direction. I am now under 250lbs fully clothed, more than 30lbs down!

The trip to the homeland is coming up soon. I will be back in the UK from the 8th in Scotland and the 15th in Epsom.

Weight Loss Update - 24lbs

2008-04-03T09:13:00.006-05:00

My progress continues! The last few weeks have been difficult, I guess because I lost focus, however this last week, I have regained that focus and coupled with working at the new house, painting, decorating, etc, I have put myself back on track.

I really want to get as low as I can before I go to the UK in May, because for sure there will be lots of bad food, alcohol and poor general habits!

1st Solids & Other Pictures

2008-03-24T19:20:00.001-05:00

Yep, this weekend, AJ tried her first solid food, well "thicker than milk" food. I am not sure it really qualifies as solid if you could suck it through a straw! As you can see from the picture on the right, it was the messy affair you would expect, although the video shows that she did actually open her mouth voluntarily a few times

This has been a funny month, not much going on one minute, then all hell breaking loose the next. Easter coming so early threw a lot of folks, and work seemed to be really quiet compared to previous Easters. We have secured the house, as i said earlier and will actually get the keys this Friday 28th. We don't move for another month, but this will give us time to clean, paint, etc before we actually have to move in, which is really excellent.

And of course many other pictures, taken this month, of our impossibly cute girl!