You might need to turn the sound WAAAAY up, but it's there!
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Naked Baby Pic!
We finally bought a new camera to replace the one that was stolen, so we can take pictures again! Here's the first.
Somebody told me it wouldn't snow in Vancouver. They lied. We've had nearly 20 cm since last night. It's been fun!
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Friday, November 10, 2006
Jerks
We had to get the windshield replaced in the car. See, BC won't let you insure an out-of-province car without an inspection, and a broken windshield is an automatic fail, and our windshield was broken. Bummer.
So Holly called a local Kia dealer, since our car is a Kia, and was quoted around $600 for the replacement (WHAT???). The rep suggested that she try getting other prices, however, so that's what she did. Next place, $700!!! After that, $300. Hoooooold on, that's, like, half! Ohhh, this person says that the other quotes were probably ICBC rates -- the rate you pay if insurance is covering it. Holls called one more person, and got a quote for just over $200!!! And this guy came and replaced the windshield IN OUR DRIVEWAY!
I just don't get it. If my windshield can be replaced for under $300, where do those other companies get off ripping us off? Because that's what they're doing. Just because insurance pays for it, they think they can get away with robbery? Jerks.
So Holly called a local Kia dealer, since our car is a Kia, and was quoted around $600 for the replacement (WHAT???). The rep suggested that she try getting other prices, however, so that's what she did. Next place, $700!!! After that, $300. Hoooooold on, that's, like, half! Ohhh, this person says that the other quotes were probably ICBC rates -- the rate you pay if insurance is covering it. Holls called one more person, and got a quote for just over $200!!! And this guy came and replaced the windshield IN OUR DRIVEWAY!
I just don't get it. If my windshield can be replaced for under $300, where do those other companies get off ripping us off? Because that's what they're doing. Just because insurance pays for it, they think they can get away with robbery? Jerks.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Welcome to Vancouver, Suckers!
Un-freaking-believable!
Our house was broken into last Friday. Thankfully (for the thief), we weren't home, but they got away with both of our flat screen monitors, our CD collection, our digital camera (with O's first Halloween pictures!!!), and some other odds and ends. We haven't even lived here long enough to feel like somebody broke into "our" home!
Other than that, things are great out here. A bit wet, but we're not made of sugar, and I don't have to shovel it! I'm getting used to riding to work and to pick up O after at daycare, and am settling in a bit more at work. The people I've met are all great, and the work is really interesting.
O is a walking machine, and he's taken an interest in having stories read to him. Once we start that little activity, we can be at it for quite a while, and we usually read 4 or 5 books in a sitting (or read 1 book 4 times in a row... what fun!). He's really starting to develop his own personality... somewhere between shit-disturber and cutie-pie. And sometimes both. He enjoys rough-housing, loves bath-time, and is pretty happy as long as he gets his way!
Our house was broken into last Friday. Thankfully (for the thief), we weren't home, but they got away with both of our flat screen monitors, our CD collection, our digital camera (with O's first Halloween pictures!!!), and some other odds and ends. We haven't even lived here long enough to feel like somebody broke into "our" home!
Other than that, things are great out here. A bit wet, but we're not made of sugar, and I don't have to shovel it! I'm getting used to riding to work and to pick up O after at daycare, and am settling in a bit more at work. The people I've met are all great, and the work is really interesting.
O is a walking machine, and he's taken an interest in having stories read to him. Once we start that little activity, we can be at it for quite a while, and we usually read 4 or 5 books in a sitting (or read 1 book 4 times in a row... what fun!). He's really starting to develop his own personality... somewhere between shit-disturber and cutie-pie. And sometimes both. He enjoys rough-housing, loves bath-time, and is pretty happy as long as he gets his way!
Monday, October 23, 2006
Help with Video
If you're having trouble watching the videos, you might need to get the latest version of Shockwave. You can get it from the Adobe website at this link.
From the YouTube help:
All of the videos on YouTube are streamed through a Flash player, so you need to have the latest version of Macromedia Flash installed on your computer. To download it, please visit Adobe.
From the YouTube help:
All of the videos on YouTube are streamed through a Flash player, so you need to have the latest version of Macromedia Flash installed on your computer. To download it, please visit Adobe.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
What a difference!
We went for a drive up to Simon Fraser and Burnaby "Mountain" today. O decided that it would be a great place to try his walking skills! I got some video on my phone, but can't figure out how to get it off, so I can't share that. Luckily, O was still in a walking mood when we got home, so I got this video! (Once again, there is no sound. My camera doesn't record sound. Once he starts talking, I'll have to get a decent video camera, I guess.)
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
1 Week (almost) in Vancouver
And what a week it's been! First some background.
After getting the position at EA, Holls and I came out to Van to find a place to live. We lucked out and found a place about 5 minutes from the (incredible) office, near a shopping centre, library, and Skytrain station, and not to close to any hookers! That set the stage for us to move out here, so we got everything coordinated and sent our stuff on its merry way. We drove to Burnaby via Calgary (2 nights) and Kewlona (2 more nights) so that O wouldn't spend too much time in the car all at once, and that seemed to work out OK.
The movers came Friday before Thanksgiving to pack, and Saturday they showed up to load us up. After they were done, I locked up our house in Edmonton for the last time and hit the road to meet up with Holls, O, and my family in Calgary for Thanksgiving. Long story short, we had a great mini-vacation on our way out here.
When we got to the Vancouver area, we stayed at a hotel in Surrey (big mistake, but not because of the gunfire... just the commute), and I drove the 15 minute drive (it took over an hour) the next morning to meet the movers at the house. They were unloaded and out of our hair in a mere 3 hours, which seems pretty quick. Thus began our life in Vancouver.
The next couple days were spent convincing ourselves that we'd made the right decision when we left everyone behind in Edmonton to give it a go out here. Granville Island helped us come to terms with that, and as the days pass we get more and more comfortable here. The fact the there's no snow, and that I wore shorts last night, doesn't hurt...
Since we left, O has started to turn into a little boy! He's started to take some cautious steps, and walking can't be far behind. He also had a bout of pink-eye, which he kindly passed on to Holy after a couple of days. I thought I'd dodged the bullet until this morning, when I woke up unable to open my eyes. Sitting in front of a computer all day with sore eyes really sucks.
On that note, I started work yesterday, and am looking forward to working on lots of things that I'm not allowed to talk about, but are interesting nonetheless. EA seems to be a pretty decent company, and time will tell how much I enjoy it, but for now I'm pretty excited!
Holly found a day home for O fairly close to home and on the way to work for her. Since that was the last real hurdle to getting settled for the time being, we should be able to enjoy the city without worrying for a while.
After getting the position at EA, Holls and I came out to Van to find a place to live. We lucked out and found a place about 5 minutes from the (incredible) office, near a shopping centre, library, and Skytrain station, and not to close to any hookers! That set the stage for us to move out here, so we got everything coordinated and sent our stuff on its merry way. We drove to Burnaby via Calgary (2 nights) and Kewlona (2 more nights) so that O wouldn't spend too much time in the car all at once, and that seemed to work out OK.
The movers came Friday before Thanksgiving to pack, and Saturday they showed up to load us up. After they were done, I locked up our house in Edmonton for the last time and hit the road to meet up with Holls, O, and my family in Calgary for Thanksgiving. Long story short, we had a great mini-vacation on our way out here.
When we got to the Vancouver area, we stayed at a hotel in Surrey (big mistake, but not because of the gunfire... just the commute), and I drove the 15 minute drive (it took over an hour) the next morning to meet the movers at the house. They were unloaded and out of our hair in a mere 3 hours, which seems pretty quick. Thus began our life in Vancouver.
The next couple days were spent convincing ourselves that we'd made the right decision when we left everyone behind in Edmonton to give it a go out here. Granville Island helped us come to terms with that, and as the days pass we get more and more comfortable here. The fact the there's no snow, and that I wore shorts last night, doesn't hurt...
Since we left, O has started to turn into a little boy! He's started to take some cautious steps, and walking can't be far behind. He also had a bout of pink-eye, which he kindly passed on to Holy after a couple of days. I thought I'd dodged the bullet until this morning, when I woke up unable to open my eyes. Sitting in front of a computer all day with sore eyes really sucks.
On that note, I started work yesterday, and am looking forward to working on lots of things that I'm not allowed to talk about, but are interesting nonetheless. EA seems to be a pretty decent company, and time will tell how much I enjoy it, but for now I'm pretty excited!
Holly found a day home for O fairly close to home and on the way to work for her. Since that was the last real hurdle to getting settled for the time being, we should be able to enjoy the city without worrying for a while.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
I'm in the Game!
Big News!
For anyone who just wants to know how Oliver's doing, skip the next few paragraphs! ;)
I've accepted a development position with Electronic Arts in Burnaby, BC! It's been in the works for a while, so I apologize to all my friends who were in the dark about this. I've been trying to keep it fairly low-key in case it didn't pan out.
We're moving right after (Canadian) Thanksgiving, and I start around the middle of October. So the house is up for sale (after living in it for what, three months?), I've quit ONPA (more on that below), and we're gearing up for some major changes (as though the last year was pretty mellow)!
I gave notice at ONPA on Tuesday, and it was one of the more difficult days I've had in a long time. They have been incredibly good to me over the years, and I'm going to miss them a lot. But the fact of the matter is that this is an opportunity that is too good to pass up, so the decision to leave, although difficult to come to terms with, was almost inevitable.
Oliver is excited about the move (if you skipped the stuff above, you might want to read it now). At least he would be, if he knew what was going on! But the past week hasn't been all that great, as far as he's concerned. He started daycare last Monday, and inevitably caught some sort of bug. He was in a foul mood for a few days, then he got downright grouchy, and then he turned into the tired, sad, cuddly baby that nobody knows him to be. So, off to the doctor, where we learned that he had an ear infection and a touch of pneumonia (spell check is a wonderful thing). A couple of days of antibiotics seem to have got things on track again, so he's back in day care and ready to catch something new!
He's pretty close to walking. In fact, although I didn't witness it, he apparently took a couple of tentative steps this evening.
I'm sure there's more, but the EA and Burnaby have pretty much grabbed all of my thought cycles lately, so that's it for now.
For anyone who just wants to know how Oliver's doing, skip the next few paragraphs! ;)
I've accepted a development position with Electronic Arts in Burnaby, BC! It's been in the works for a while, so I apologize to all my friends who were in the dark about this. I've been trying to keep it fairly low-key in case it didn't pan out.
We're moving right after (Canadian) Thanksgiving, and I start around the middle of October. So the house is up for sale (after living in it for what, three months?), I've quit ONPA (more on that below), and we're gearing up for some major changes (as though the last year was pretty mellow)!
I gave notice at ONPA on Tuesday, and it was one of the more difficult days I've had in a long time. They have been incredibly good to me over the years, and I'm going to miss them a lot. But the fact of the matter is that this is an opportunity that is too good to pass up, so the decision to leave, although difficult to come to terms with, was almost inevitable.
Oliver is excited about the move (if you skipped the stuff above, you might want to read it now). At least he would be, if he knew what was going on! But the past week hasn't been all that great, as far as he's concerned. He started daycare last Monday, and inevitably caught some sort of bug. He was in a foul mood for a few days, then he got downright grouchy, and then he turned into the tired, sad, cuddly baby that nobody knows him to be. So, off to the doctor, where we learned that he had an ear infection and a touch of pneumonia (spell check is a wonderful thing). A couple of days of antibiotics seem to have got things on track again, so he's back in day care and ready to catch something new!
He's pretty close to walking. In fact, although I didn't witness it, he apparently took a couple of tentative steps this evening.
I'm sure there's more, but the EA and Burnaby have pretty much grabbed all of my thought cycles lately, so that's it for now.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Update for August
I've had a few people question my last post, so here's the scoop. It's a spam message that I received a while back, and it made no sense to me. But on some level (perhaps a level that only I exist on), it seemed a bit poetic. So I thought I'd share it.
The past few weeks have been interesting. O is nearly walking (still), and really growing. His last checkup had him about the same size as a one-year-old, and we've now got him in a front-facing car seat (with his doctor's OK). He is drinking from a cup, a cup with a straw, and a sippy-cup with no problem, which has made going to restaraunts a bit easier. He's also eating pretty much whatever we give him, including bits and pieces of "big-person" food. He LOVES olives so much that I'd say they're his favorite food. The only problem with his eating habits is he tends to push baby food away if we let him have real food first.
Holls starts her practicum next week, which means that she's almost completely done school. It also means that O starts daycare, so we're a bit nervous about that. He'll probably do just fine, but will need some time to adjust to a new routine. We'll need some time to adjust, too -- coordination in the morning is going to be a pain, but that's parenting!
The past few weeks have been interesting. O is nearly walking (still), and really growing. His last checkup had him about the same size as a one-year-old, and we've now got him in a front-facing car seat (with his doctor's OK). He is drinking from a cup, a cup with a straw, and a sippy-cup with no problem, which has made going to restaraunts a bit easier. He's also eating pretty much whatever we give him, including bits and pieces of "big-person" food. He LOVES olives so much that I'd say they're his favorite food. The only problem with his eating habits is he tends to push baby food away if we let him have real food first.
Holls starts her practicum next week, which means that she's almost completely done school. It also means that O starts daycare, so we're a bit nervous about that. He'll probably do just fine, but will need some time to adjust to a new routine. We'll need some time to adjust, too -- coordination in the morning is going to be a pain, but that's parenting!
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Poetry or spam?
Sociology
Overview
Hugs At Office Yourself Fireworks Lake
wonderful free ecards for
ended .or beta
Reserved. provided
IS Samsung Panasonic Lumix DMCFZ
SOCIETY HOME
model
Solutions Cell Phones Bluetooth
peace unity.
ongoing ego fame longer incentive factors numbers language universe
Goal
Better Adobereg connected Sprint
Deutsch Flash
poor
household life.
Control gaining
Sanskrit
Thursday
general chalked authors:
size RFID chips clonable
theater
Urresti :: quotYann ltgtSent:
growing
Overview
Hugs At Office Yourself Fireworks Lake
wonderful free ecards for
ended .or beta
Reserved. provided
IS Samsung Panasonic Lumix DMCFZ
SOCIETY HOME
model
Solutions Cell Phones Bluetooth
peace unity.
ongoing ego fame longer incentive factors numbers language universe
Goal
Better Adobereg connected Sprint
Deutsch Flash
poor
household life.
Control gaining
Sanskrit
Thursday
general chalked authors:
size RFID chips clonable
theater
Urresti :: quotYann ltgtSent:
growing
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Pstt, hey buddy
Quite a night. We went and watched open mike at a coffee shop, because a couple of friends were playing. The music was fantastic, and (happily) Oliver made it through the evening without melting down! He loves watching people play guitar, so that's not completely suprising.
On the way home after, I had the most interesting question asked of me: "Hey, man, you wanna buy a pair of bib carharts that'l fit you for 20 bucks?"
I said no thanks.
By the way, there're some new photos on flickr. Click an image on the left.
On the way home after, I had the most interesting question asked of me: "Hey, man, you wanna buy a pair of bib carharts that'l fit you for 20 bucks?"
I said no thanks.
By the way, there're some new photos on flickr. Click an image on the left.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Settling Down
After a rather rushed start to the summer, things are starting to settle down. We spent the first two weeks of June in Red Deer while Holly finished her courses, which gave me the opportunity to play Mr. Mom. I gained a whole new appreciation for being a parent. O started crawling half way through the vacation, which changed things drastically - baby gates and cupboard locks are high on the to-do list right now.
Coming home was fantastic, since we are finally mostly settled into our new house. I'm enjoying having a yard to keep me occupied, and believe me: I'll be occupied for years to come on this one. We're learning about some of the joys of an old house, like sloped floors and densely packed soil. But other than some minor issues, the house is great, and we've already grown comfortably into the extra space.
ttfn
Coming home was fantastic, since we are finally mostly settled into our new house. I'm enjoying having a yard to keep me occupied, and believe me: I'll be occupied for years to come on this one. We're learning about some of the joys of an old house, like sloped floors and densely packed soil. But other than some minor issues, the house is great, and we've already grown comfortably into the extra space.
ttfn
Thursday, June 01, 2006
We slipped and...
fell off the face of the earth!
The past 2+ months have been incredible.
We've painted and moved into our new home (coming up on 2 weeks now), and couldn't be happier. The neighbourhood, which we were a little skeptical about before the move, has turned out to be fantastic (if you ignore the hookers a couple of blocks away - we're just off 118 ave.). We've met all of our neighbours, and they seem warm and freindly enough. There are a number of kids around, so hopefully O will have some playmates when he's old enough to care about that.
Oliver is growing REALLY fast! He's just minutes away from crawling (has been for a couple weeks), and is pretty stable on his feet, when there's something to hold on to. He's very aware of what's going on around him, and knows his name - very cool!
We're off to Red Deer for a couple of weeks so that Holls can finish her lab work for school, so O and I get a mini-vacation. Should be fun, and I'm looking forward to taking him on some bike trips during the day, and not thinking about work for a bit.
ciao!
The past 2+ months have been incredible.
We've painted and moved into our new home (coming up on 2 weeks now), and couldn't be happier. The neighbourhood, which we were a little skeptical about before the move, has turned out to be fantastic (if you ignore the hookers a couple of blocks away - we're just off 118 ave.). We've met all of our neighbours, and they seem warm and freindly enough. There are a number of kids around, so hopefully O will have some playmates when he's old enough to care about that.
Oliver is growing REALLY fast! He's just minutes away from crawling (has been for a couple weeks), and is pretty stable on his feet, when there's something to hold on to. He's very aware of what's going on around him, and knows his name - very cool!
We're off to Red Deer for a couple of weeks so that Holls can finish her lab work for school, so O and I get a mini-vacation. Should be fun, and I'm looking forward to taking him on some bike trips during the day, and not thinking about work for a bit.
ciao!
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
A New House
IT'S OVER!!!
We finally found a new home! It took some doing, and a bit of patience, but we found a home that we LOVE. It's a 1920's two storey that's had a bunch of work done. There are a few more photos here.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Future bookworm?
I gave O a book to play with today. To be honest, he spent more time trying to get it in his mouth than looking at it, but I managed to get this shot.
Yummmmm
We started O on rice cereal today. I think he likes it! I'll be much happier when he gets more in him than on him.
Friday, February 24, 2006
Update for February
Oi.
Sometimes the responsibility of keeping a blog updated isn't so easy to meet... The last month has flown by, and (as unforgivable as this is) I haven't had much time to tell everyone what's been going on in our lives. Or even just in Oliver's life, which is all everyone cares about now, really. No pictures, sorry. I've been having trouble getting them to post lately. (If anyone knows of a good solution -- ahem, DAN -- please let me know where to look.)
O is doing great. He'll be 4 months (wow) in a couple of days. We went to get his immunizations on Wednesday, and he is 13 pounds and a bit, and 2' long. He's landing right in the same percentiles as he has been since birth, so his growth has been pretty normal... at least in that sense.
As many will know, he's been standing with some assistance since he was about 3 weeks old. Over the past couple of weeks, he's learned to stand on his own against his excer-saucer or a stool (with mom or dad waiting for the inevitable tip-over -- imagine balancing a baseball bat on the palm of your hand and you'll have a pretty good idea of his stability). About 2 weeks ago, I managed to help him actually walk down the hall, but then he promptly decided he didn't want to do that any more -- until this week. Yesterday I was helping him stand and play on the floor. All of a sudden, he swung his head around and saw a toy on the chair a few feet away. His feet started motoring, and he half-waddled his way to the chair. Once he got there, I was so impressed that I moved him back to the starting line and let him do it again... and again... and again. I can't imagine how frustrating it is to go through all that effort only to have to start over. Or can I...
We're thinking about starting him on solid food next week. He has a doctor's appointment coming up, so if everything is A-OK, then we can break into the rice cereal. "We" have already let him taste a few things, like jello and fruit juice, and he's been interested in what we're eating lately, so it's probably time.
In other news, we've started looking for a house. There's nothing much to say yet, except that the Edmonton real estate market is nutty. We've seen a 900 SF (yes, nine hundred square feet) bungalow for $180K (very nice place, but are they insane???? probably not, unfortunately). There's a lot out there, but anything in our price range that isn't a crack-house, between two other crack-houses, a front for a brothel, condemned, or about to burn down (yes, we looked at a house that burned down a couple of days later) will probably have multiple bidders. Fun fun fun!
Sometimes the responsibility of keeping a blog updated isn't so easy to meet... The last month has flown by, and (as unforgivable as this is) I haven't had much time to tell everyone what's been going on in our lives. Or even just in Oliver's life, which is all everyone cares about now, really. No pictures, sorry. I've been having trouble getting them to post lately. (If anyone knows of a good solution -- ahem, DAN -- please let me know where to look.)
O is doing great. He'll be 4 months (wow) in a couple of days. We went to get his immunizations on Wednesday, and he is 13 pounds and a bit, and 2' long. He's landing right in the same percentiles as he has been since birth, so his growth has been pretty normal... at least in that sense.
As many will know, he's been standing with some assistance since he was about 3 weeks old. Over the past couple of weeks, he's learned to stand on his own against his excer-saucer or a stool (with mom or dad waiting for the inevitable tip-over -- imagine balancing a baseball bat on the palm of your hand and you'll have a pretty good idea of his stability). About 2 weeks ago, I managed to help him actually walk down the hall, but then he promptly decided he didn't want to do that any more -- until this week. Yesterday I was helping him stand and play on the floor. All of a sudden, he swung his head around and saw a toy on the chair a few feet away. His feet started motoring, and he half-waddled his way to the chair. Once he got there, I was so impressed that I moved him back to the starting line and let him do it again... and again... and again. I can't imagine how frustrating it is to go through all that effort only to have to start over. Or can I...
We're thinking about starting him on solid food next week. He has a doctor's appointment coming up, so if everything is A-OK, then we can break into the rice cereal. "We" have already let him taste a few things, like jello and fruit juice, and he's been interested in what we're eating lately, so it's probably time.
In other news, we've started looking for a house. There's nothing much to say yet, except that the Edmonton real estate market is nutty. We've seen a 900 SF (yes, nine hundred square feet) bungalow for $180K (very nice place, but are they insane???? probably not, unfortunately). There's a lot out there, but anything in our price range that isn't a crack-house, between two other crack-houses, a front for a brothel, condemned, or about to burn down (yes, we looked at a house that burned down a couple of days later) will probably have multiple bidders. Fun fun fun!
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Oliver and Jake
Oliver turns 3 months old this week. He's been standing with assistance for a while, but now he's strong enough to stand with only the couch holding him up. He's still pretty unstable, but he has enough sense of balance stay up for a few moments!
Friday, January 06, 2006
Jasper in January
We just returned from a 2-night trip to Jasper. This picture is from the first bridge at Maligne Canyon. We were hoping to do the floor walk, but the river wasn't frozen over, so no such luck. Instead, we slipped around the first two bridges before deciding it wasn't safe for me to carry O all the way down and back, and then took off.
We went to Sunwapta Falls next, and, leave it to the mountains, drove through a blizzard, some rain, and a bit of sun to get there. Since fewer people go to Sunwapta in the winter, and there was lots of fresh snow, it was a bit easier to carry Oliver around for a bit, and we ate lunch there. Then back to the hotel for a rest... and then out for supper at a family-friendly sports bar to watch Canada kick some Russian ass!
This morning we just bummed around town for a bit, picked up some candy, and headed home.
Oliver did pretty good for his first mini-vacation! We can't wait for some summer camping, though.
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