Our little sleepwalker

At night, Adrienne and I typically watch TV downstairs, so can easily hear if either of the kids get up and stomp around. It's not frequent, and typically a dash to the toilet. However, last night we heard Ezra get up and trod off into the kitchen. We then heard him trod back, but it didn't sound like he went into his room, and we didn't hear a toilet flush. After a brief discussion, I went up to investigate. I found Ezra in our bed, under the covers, but eyes open. I asked him if he was ok, and he just stared back. I then asked if he wanted to go to his bed, he said yes and walked into his room. I helped him get under the covers and asked if he was okay, and he said yes.

As he woke up this morning, he found that the Tooth Fairy had left him a whole dollar for the two teeth he had left out!

When Adrienne inquired about last night,

Adrienne: Do you remember getting up in the night?
Ezra: Yes.
Adrienne: Did you need to go to the bathroom?
Ezra: Yes.
Adrienne: Why did you go all the way to the kitchen?
Ezra: ... I don't know.
Adrienne: Did you go to the bathroom?
Ezra: No.
Adrienne: Do you remember being in mommy and daddy's room?
Ezra: Yes. And then the Tooth Fairy took me back to my room.
Adrienne: So why did you go to the kitchen?
Ezra: The Tooth Fairy brought me there. Snap! We're in the kitchen. And then, Snap! We're in the living room. And then, Snap! We're in your bedroom.
Adrienne: The Tooth Fairy?
Ezra: Yeah. Or maybe a burgler. Or vampire. Or mummy... (etc.) Maybe it was just all a mystery!
Adrienne: So you don't remember seeing daddy?
Ezra: No, it was the Tooth Fairy.
Adrienne: Are you sure it wasn't daddy?
Ezra: No, it was the Tooth Fairy.
Adrienne: So you didn't see daddy last night?
Ezra: No.

So then tonight, when we heard him get up and stomp around, I went back up to investigate.... He was just pooping; nothing spectacular.

Financial crisis hits close to home

We've been customers of Wachovia for almost ten years. Recently we'd heard rumors that they'd follow the likes of WaMu and fold, but nothing substantial. This morning I heard more substantial reports but from non-reputable sources. As a safety measure, I visited our main branch in Rockville, cleared out our safety deposit box and cashed Adrienne's recent paycheck to create a cash emergency fund. The only information I saw on Wachovia's website this morning was a note from the CEO (from Friday) with a lot of rhetoric to bolster their stability. I visited their website again this afternoon and saw a press release of their sale to Citigroup.

Bleh.

I expect the biggest pain to be around the online access - I've grown so accustomed to Wachovia's online accounts and bill pay. Citi touts their "award winning" online banking, but I expect there will be some pain with transferring the bills and automatic payments.

Lucky Number Seven

Today is Ezra's seventh birthday! We had a big party last weekend with family, so today was sort of low key: a few additional presents from mom & dad and a day of Ezra-centric activities (well, mostly). After a quick trip to the Rockville farmer's market, we had lunch at McDonald's and then spent the afternoon hanging out at home and watching a little football. The weather wasn't great, so we couldn't spend much time outside, but did venture out in the afternoon to the nearest Coldstone Creamery. Back home for a viewing of Curious George, and then off to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner, including a happy birthday chant from the staff (thanks to Sophia for informing the waiter) and a build-your-own sundae for dessert. At the end of it all, Ezra exclaimed, "this was a great day." Mission accomplished.

Glasses

As promised, here's a pic of the kids with their new glasses. (We've already returned to the optician once for a quick repair on Ezra's....)



(Click the thumbnail to see it full size.)

USA Pastry Team Fundraiser

Friday night Adrienne and I attended a fundraiser event at L'Academie de Cuisine to support the USA team for the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie (Pastry World Cup). It was a fantastic evening of good wine, good food, and both silent and live auctions with all proceeds to benefit the team travel to Lyon, France, in January 2009 for the competition. Adrienne did a little bit of networking, most notably talking with David Ramirez for a while. We bid on a few of the silent auction items and ended up winning a Valrhona gift box ("widely regarded as the top manufacturer of premier chocolate in the world!") and a bottle of Champagne Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin in a Special Edition Jacket from Francois Dionot’s personal cellar. The latter supposedly retails for $150, so we'll definitely save that for a VERY special occasion.

There was one item in the live auction that we bid on as well:

Twilight Sail & Dinner for 6 on the Chesapeake with Francois Dionot and Mark Ramsdell
Welcome to a magical, gastronomic evening in Solomons basin and the Chesapeake Bay! Six guests will be welcomed aboard Friandise, Chef Mark’s 39-foot Jeanneau Sloop, berthed at the Solomons Yachting Center.

The boat will depart in the afternoon, beginning with an hors d’oeuvres and champagne sail. A three course dinner with wine pairings follows, prepared and served by chefs Francois Dionot and Mark Ramsdell.

After dinner, the boat will return to Solomons for a dock party – which may last until the next day, if you don’t want the party to end! And in case you were worried, the boat will be sailed by (USCG) Captains Andy and Lisa Batchelor, who are ASA certified instructors and own Sail Solomons. This will be one evening you will never forget!

In addition, Chef Roland Mesnier would also be on board, and other chefs from the USA team offered other things. During the bidding, one of the LAC staff even offered babysitting services!

I won't get into the specifics of how high we bid, but we'd had some wine, were very passionate about it, and I'd just gotten a bonus and raise. It was down to us and another couple at the end - while this was my first auction I liken it to poker. You have to read the other bidder and we didn't do a good job of showing a poker face. After the fact I wished I'd kept going, but was probably way out of my league and would have continually been one-upped by the other bidder. So while we're very disappointed we don't get the opportunity for this wonderful event, it's probably a good thing from a financial standpoint. :)

Yesterday we looked into the feasibility of traveling to Lyon for the event in January. It would entail a 7-8 hour flight direct from Washington Dulles to Paris, a two hour train ride to Lyon and then hotel, attendance fees, food, etc. So the cost of everything combined plus the length of time required didn't quite seem worth it. But maybe another time....

To Our Leaders: Free Us.

$427 million. That’s what the oil and coal industries spent during the first half of 2008 on lobbying and advertising. They’re protecting their interests – and hurting ours.

This ad is running on TV right now, but we need millions more to see it. The special interests will outspend us, but we can compete head-to-head with them when we find ways to share these messages for free.

To Our Leaders: Free Us.

Your go-do's:

1. Watch the video.
2. Forward the video to your friends and family.
3. Join WE.

(BTW, one of the many reasons that I'm proud to be a Microsoft employee is the corporate mindset around environmentalism. It's not just propaganda!)

Endor Holocaust

"What happens when you detonate a spherical metal honeycomb over five hundred miles wide just above the atmosphere of a habitable world? Regardless of specifics, the world won't remain habitable for long."

Read the full, original theory from Star Wars Technical Commentaries on TheForce.net.

Read a shorter version of the above Imperial propaganda at Wookieepedia.

Tip o' the blast helmet to Wired Magazine for the reference.

First day of school 2008

This is technically Sophia's second day of school, since Ezra didn't start until Tuesday. Sophia is now in the Nitzanim (4s) class with many of the same kids as last year. Her teacher is Claudia, a fun lady from Brazil into graphic design and a big environmentalist. Ezra is in Miss Ruhlen's first grade class at Mill Creek Towne Elementary.

Glasses all around

This morning we spent over $600 on two pairs of glasses, one for Ezra and one for Sophia. We spent about three hours at a pediatric ophthalmologist on Wednesday, and now know quite a bit about our children's current occular health. Let's just say that with my myopia, I have the most normal eyes in the family.

Both of Sophia's eyes are slightly astigmatic, so she has a very slight prescription. She can probably see okay right now, but the glasses should help her maintain a better quality of vision.

We've known that Ezra has a lazy right eye - he had visited an eye doctor years ago in Baltimore, and had worn an eye patch in hopes to correct it. Adrienne still notices it from time to time (I've never seen it), and when mentioned to the doctor he quickly picked it up. The official term is amblyopia. The doctor is participating in a research study to see the effects of glasses on this condition, but (un?)fortunately Ezra doesn't qualify because his case is not severe enough. His other eye is astigmatic so the vision is actually worse in comparison to the amblyopic eye. The doctor also noted an abnormality with the tissue around the optic nerve (?) in his amblyopic eye - abnormal is not the right word, but I can't remember how he described it. In short, he wasn't worried about it, just something of interest.

The glasses should be done later this week; I'll be sure to take and post photos.

P.s. Based upon my earlier comment, you may be wondering what's so peculiar about Adrienne's eyes that make mine the most normal. Adrienne takes the cake for weird eyes - eye doctors go gaga with her right eye. It's missing a layer of tissue and she has a cleft iris. She had bifocals at age 15; her lens have always been custom made.

A 'Toy Story' Alternative

I'll never watch it the same again...

Volkswagen 'Toy Story' - See Films Differently