97 degrees in October, we must be at Disneyworld

I attended PMI global this year. What better opportunity (it was in Orlando) to go to Disney World? Ruby, Jamey and Grandma and Papa joined us. For once, the timeshare pays off. The Wyndham was very nice and located near the parks. The big surprise to me was that Ruby actually wanted to meet the characters and didn't mind standing in line to do it. If I ever find the person who made the indoor greeting for the princesses, I will get down on my knees and thank them. I can't imagine going in Summer when the temperature is the same and the crowd is about 30 times bigger. How will I get my Its a Small World after all boat break? Ruby enjoyed everything we did (with the exception of some fireworks at Epcot). Jamey, Grandma and I got to partake of the Epcot wine festival woo hoo! By far, the biggest advice I have for those going anytime soon is to download the iPhone app for the park maps. Very helpful and they helped Jamey with having a valid excuse to look at his iPhone to feed his addiction. I also made a picture book of the experience using Picaboo. Turned out great. I guess I have to quit insisting every picture have someone we know in it. Jamey's shots of the Animal Kingdom rides made great backgrounds.

A toddler is never too young to learn an old dogs tricks

Loki gets food just for wearing a napkin on his head? I'm in!

Trick or Treat!

Ruby had an awesome Halloween. Despite a long commitment to a Spider Witch costume Grandma got her, she switched to a Cinderella nightgown right before we headed out. This year, Ruby had every idea of the mission and despite cold weather insisted going out twice to get more candy! I think Jamey still has nightmares of her in that bib.

Jamey and Evan dressed up the courtyard and we had a pretty rockin party for ourselves and the very few neighbors that actually trick or treated at our house. (Maybe it was the scary adults in not so scary costumes that made people move on to the next house)

A day that will live in infamy

Ruby has had lots of advancements this month. She learned to tell Daddy that his bottom is big, that mommy needs a big swimsuit and that she prefers "chasing the law" to "following the law". However, no advancement has been as big as toilet training. Ruby moved up to a new class a daycare and it became apparent that she was not that into the entire spend half your day on the potty and you will figure it out method. A coworker told me about a book, Toilet Training in Less than a Day, that she had great success with. I read the book and it seemed reasonable, so I took a Friday off and we settled in to see how it would go. The basic premise is that you work in several training methods at one time. First, you have the child teach a doll how to use the potty. Then, you explain how much their "heroes" do not like wet pants when they have an accident. Then you practice practice practice by loading them up with salty foods and lots to drink. The doll training went pretty well. However, when Ruby had her first accident, I was supposed to list 10 people who don't like wet pants. After person number two (Barney) she was so upset that I didn't have the heart to finish out the list. By the end of the day we were both exhausted and I had decided that I must have done something wrong. However, the next morning, Ruby woke up wanting dry pants and went to the potty on her own all day. A week out from that she is still doing well and I suppose we can call her potty trained for all intents and purposes. There are still accidents occasionally but overall it was worth it for both of us! I shudder to think of the poor mom's who are trying to do this in a carpeted house.

I like. Therefore, I am

Ruby serenaded me with a list of things she likes as she went to bed tonight. I will relay the conversation as close to as it actually happened as my memory will allow. My responses to her will be in italics.

I like rainclouds
Me too. Rainclouds are nice.
I like raincloud.
Mmmmm hmmm...
I like Picasso
I like Loki
I like Loki's medicine
Mommy's eyes are brown?
No, they are green. Daddy's are brown (hint hint you can say you like mommy and daddy)
Jordan's eyes brown?
Yes
Alyssa's eyes brown?
Yes
I like babies.
I really like babies.
I like daddies.
Evan's eyes brown?
Yes
I like Evan's house.
I like Chrissy.
I like cats.
I like cats.
I like cats.
I like cats.
I like Chrissy.
I like stars.
I like Papa and Grandma's house.

That was the end. I noticed one immediate family member missing. However, it was an interesting snapshot into how Ruby rounded up her thoughts for the day.

What happens if your birthdays peak at 2?

Ruby had the best day today on her second birthday. Grandma and Papa were her to great her in the morning and give her a Mrs. Potato Head doll. Apparently, the potato head body is no longer sufficient for storage of all potato head's wordly possessions. Therefore, she comes with a carrying case for her overzealous wardrobe. After that, we headed to our traditional Sunday morning hangouts, a bakery and the zoo with some friends! Ruby has developed a fascination for butterflies so we decided to theme the day around them.






Mommy and Daddy actually got in a picture together!


Then a thunderstorm drove us home to a conveniently themed rain present from Grandma.


Papa thinks it is never to early to teach girls about tools and fixing trucks.



After all that, who wouldn't want to lie on the floor and watch the rain fall with her grandma?


After all those presents, it was time to go over to a friend's house and do some home improvement. Ruby enjoyed her imitation of Jacob Marley using chains and electrical cable as much as her other presents.


A butterfly cake courtesy of her cooking mama and cooking grandma was delicious. Its jaunty pirate eye is a result of Ruby's over enthusiasm to eat the gumdrop eyes.



One of the presents I was excited about was a stuffed turtle that projects stars on the ceiling of her room. I'll see if I can get a good picture of it sometime. Ruby, Jamey and I took a nice lie down in her room as she went to sleep and watched her starry ceiling.

HGTV Taylor Style

Sorry for the two month lag, but its time for some home improvement pictures! I wish I had before shots of the kitchen but let me set the stage since I do not. Our kitchen had nice double ovens and a stove top when we moved in but overall I would give it a low grade. The tile on the floor was also used for the back splash was also used for the counter top. The tile was a pedestrian light beige color and the cabinets white. Everything smeared together with no real contrast or style. Plus grout was horrible to clean for the counter tops.

Observe our changes!

We picked a granite that is predominately black with iridescent blue highlights.



Back splash is tumbled marble in a brick pattern with glazed ceramic tile highlights that pick up the stainless steel in the over really well.

Voila!

Allison becomes a real human

Loyal fans, I beg you to forgive the long interruption. I was foiled by a burst pipe in our living room that turned into three weeks out of our home. There's lots of excitement on the home front and I wish I had the "all done" pictures to show you but the truth is that nothing is completely finished yet and we are still living upstairs in our house instead of on the main level. However, as soon as things actually start to get done I will post before and after pics. Right now, we are living in the joys of keeping two dogs off the floors for 30 days. Still, during this finishing up time, let me catch you up on old events...

Somewhere around Ruby turning 10 months old, Jamey looked at her and said "It's like she's a real human now." While arguably human before that, I can kind of see his point as Allison hit her one year birthday. She now acts like a toddler and not a baby.

She and Grandma interact...

She and Ruby interact...


She and Picasso Interact...


Welcome to Homo Sapiens Allison! Happy Birthday!

Who you gonna call?

As Ruby starts to speak, she's tossing around a ton of new words. While getting ready for work earlier this week, Ruby started talking earnestly into my phone. When I asked who she was talking to, she looked at me seriously and said "Satan." I asked again and got the same answer. I would love to know what she was actually trying to say, but I settled for "Well, don't promise him anything."

Thanks Mom!

One good blog deserves another. I've started a blog for the PMI Alabama Symposium which is a two day training event for project managers here in Birmingham. I accidentally posted this to my personal blog. I decided to keep it since it is family related after all. Plus, some of you are into project management as part of your jobs. Check out the full Alabama Symposium blog.


I’m sure most mothers and daughters talk about shopping, grandchildren and food. My mom and I like to add one more thing to that traditional topic list. We talk about managing projects. We talk about managing BIG projects. Coming from a family of rocket scientists is a chore. They always have that snappy comeback of “Why, yes. I am a rocket scientist.” Plus it’s weird when your parent has their own Wikipedia entry. However, as an adult, I shamelessly tap my mother for help when I am facing a project difficulty. Her experience with NASA projects from Apollo to Constellation provide some awesome insight into overcoming challenges. She has this great Risk Management chart that I’ve used on several projects with success once I saw it in one of her proposals. Not only that, I’ve taken things she has learned and successfully applied it to much smaller, less critical projects. Read the synopsis below and I know you will find her one of the most useful speakers you’ve heard. Register today to hear her speak on March 10th at PMI (Project Management Institute's) Alabama Symposium!


Synopsis: A brief history of the NASA program to go to the moon the first time with their challenges and lessons. Evolution through the development of the Space Shuttle and International Space Station; How the NASA culture and ways of doing PM have changed since Apollo. The development of a standard PM approach and process, including Risk Management. The Challenger and Columbia accidents and PM related root causes. The Constellation Program and human's return to the moon and beyond. What makes projects successful and what PMs leave behind as their legacy.

Send in the Dogs

Allison, Ruby, David and I got to experience our first circus Sunday. I enjoyed it although I was a bit surprised there was no tightrope walker. I thought there was some kind of circus rule that would force you to have a tightrope walker in order to be a certified circus. Ruby and Allison did not feel anything was missing. They have very different personalities. Ruby retreated into some kind of toddler trance and watched everything with her mouth hanging open and no sound. Allison on the other hand, jumped up and down screaming with glee over the dogs doing tricks. Other people in our section started watching Allison because it was like hearing a teenager meet one of the Beatles in the 1960s. Perhaps she is a "Woo" girl. Towards the end Ruby was clapping along and making hand signs for "more". I guarantee she did not want more clowns. No one wanted more clowns.

Inaugeraltinis

On the kind of epic day we had in history yesterday, Karen and I felt inspired to create an inauguraltini (also may double as our new 4th July Tini and Bastilledaytini etc)

Red and White sugar rim, blueberry vodka and champagne (you can splash blueberry juice in too) drop in some blueberries....presto patriotism!

I also made some Mulligatawny stew. Nothing like good old fashioned British imperialism food to usher in a new president!

1 large onion chopped
1 tablespoon fresh ginger chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
(saute together)
add 3 tablespoon curry (Sweet Curry from Penzey's recommended)
1/2 tsp black pepper
(saute a bit)
add 2 15 oz can diced tomatoes
2 large peeled apples chopped
1 large sweet potato 1 inch chunks
4 large carrots chopped
2 celery sticks chopped
6-8 cans chicken broth
4 sliced chicken breasts
(simmer till yummy anywhere from 15 min to 1 hour)

Note on inauguration ceremony: Jamey pointed out that the classical music selection reminded him of walking the fields in Oblivion. I had to agree. Also, I don't recommend taking a drink every time Obama says "we".

Hockey vs. Hawks

I get this e-mail at work from Jamey (who is working at home)

Lucky for the fish...
1) I was home today
2) Hawks are really loud when they hunt
3) Predators are scared of Canadian hockey players

Viva Las Vegas Via Lakehouse

My mom through the best New Year's to date this year. She hired a company that brought casino tables and dealers. It was great to learn Craps without the pressure of losing money. Plus, all the kids at the party loved the slot machine. It's never too early to learn to gamble.