3 posts from July 2008

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Being an uncle

Jul 17, 2008
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The best days of being an uncle are now. Of course I can always spoil my niece, but it's something to spoil your niece in person. I'm not sure if Gen remembers me from a few months ago, but it didn't take long for my wonderful charm to work on her. It's interesting that for some people, I'll shave to be respectful - i.e. some weddings. For Gen though, I thought she might like my goatee.

It's all about hanging out with Gen. 1st thing in the morning, I peeked into her room to see her - head buried in her bed, butt sticking straight out. Gen has this cute shy little smile. She's so tiny. Almost 2 years old but 18 month clothes are still a little big for her. She's got this quiet little voice - kind of like Jocie. Instead of just running in circles - which is much easier for me since I got longer legs, I decided to slow things down. We played around with Photobooth. Then, instead of just the books, I decided to do image searches on google for various animals - duck, dog, cat, cow. I even included a part of showing Gen was steak and brisket were.

So far I've taught Gen fingers and toes - she moves her fingers or wiggles her toes. I've been trying to teach her words like "awesome" and "obey." Kids are so cute at this age. She loves chatting it up on the phone with her gibberish. I'm sure that in a few days I'll be sick and tired of the Winnie the Pooh song from her little toy car, but until then, it's just part of the wonder and amazement of seeing Gen smile, dance, and laugh. It's the simple things that make me treasure life.

*Special props to Rachel and her good clothing finds. My niece saw the new clothes that I (more like Rachel) got her. She immediately reached for the dress and tried to put it on. She pointed at the Keds and immediately went, "Shoes!" It was like seeing Christmas morning. Kids are amazing.

A mystery meal

Jul 10, 2008
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So I got a call to be a mystery guest at Cheesecake Factory the other day. So Pete and I met there for lunch. He got the Cajun Jambalaya Pasta and I got the Hungarian Beef Goulash. Both pretty good dishes. I thought our server was pretty good - Melissa. She had a good cordial humor along with professionalism. I couldn't put my finger on her accent - NY/New Jersey like. Being Mr. Productivity, I thought they were pretty efficient. Everything was pretty good until the end . . .

There was only one downside. So I had to go to the bakery and ask a question to test their knowledge. So I asked how fresh the cheesecakes were. I was thinking something like a day or two. So the guy tells me that they're all made in California and then sent to all these locations frozen. When they arrive, they are 2-4 weeks old, but frozen, they can last for 6-8 months. I was shocked. I'm not sure I can get another cheesecake there. I am so much more drawn to the smaller mom and pop bakeries now . . .

I am a monster

Jul 2, 2008
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Why am I a monster? I simply had not eaten all day. It was a crazy day - constant work. But even more, it was emotionally draining to hear that 600 SBUX stores were closing - some potentially in my region. I'm 99% sure that I'm safe. So I'm driving home after too long of a day. I decide to redeem my free Papa John's pizza. - free medium 1 topping.

You only hear about this in sit coms of pissed off girlfriends/wives eating an entire carton of ice cream or something. Me - I ate the entire pizza. I just started going at it while I was watching TV. Before I knew it, I was asking Matt if he wanted the last piece before I devoured it all. My stomach is like the pit of despair.