TMI Tuesday: Oh, Pickle Juice!

Over the last several months our son’s obsession with Mickey Mouse has slowly intensified. It has gotten to the point that we have to be careful when walking around stores so that items featuring the Disney icon are not in his direct line of sight. While he doesn’t always reach for the red and black rodent, there have been times when all of his intense attention is focused on this particular character. That being said, Pluto also elicits a similar response on the rare occasions when he sees something with that character on it.

In addition to the small collection of books that we have amassed over the past year (and we have read many of those small books over and over and over and over again), we have also adorned his bedroom with wall decals of all the Mickey Mouse clubhouse cast of characters and they were a bit of a distraction during the first few nights they were up, we have taught him that they go to sleep when we put him down. This usually results in our son waving to each of them as we carry him across the room first to get his nightly story ready to him and then to his bed to go to sleep. He has gotten used to seeing them and he no longer tries to engage them in conversation. But…

A few weeks ago we made the mistake of putting his Mickey Mouse stuffed animal in the crib with him when we put him down for the night. While it seemed like he was having a great time, the problem was that he didn’t go to sleep until hours after we put him down. He may have been happy at the time but he was absolutely miserable in the morning and grumpy the entire day… sounds like daddy when he doesn’t get enough quality sleep. Obviously, that was the first and last time that we let him bunk down with Mickey.

However, since then he has become quite chatty in the middle of the night no matter what fluffy friend he has sleeping with him. In fact, there have been countless occasions since then when we have heard him talking with Bear Frog in the middle of the night. Seems as though he may have had to talk through a dream he just had. And then there are the other times when the cuddly creatures seemed to have said something out of turn and end up being punched in the face and/or thrown across the crib.

Of course, sometimes this happens more out of frustration as lately the crib has become a lot smaller given his recent growth spurts. We can’t do much about it as this is just one of the phases that will come and go over time. Like the many different situation prior, this one is both amusing and frustrating depending on the night. In the end, it will definitely be interesting to see how his fascination with Mickey Mouse evolves over time and whether he will continue to hold court in the middle of the night. Like many things, only time will tell.

This Is Not A Disney Movie

Well, there's your problem.

Trying to get to work on Monday was an absolute mess. What is normally a direct route that takes me forty five minutes to get to the office took me two and a half hours and numerous back roads. That annoying B, Siri, was actually very helpful yesterday and I was able to get to the office by ten. Today was more of the same as I tried to get to a meeting in Malvern which took me double the travel time than it should have.  

The cause of my delays was something that is becoming more and more common as the roads and highways around the city become more congested… accidents. These are the moments of mixed emotions. On one hand I am absolutely pissed at the mess that someone has caused and the delays that they have incurred upon all of us behind them while at the same time I am thankful that I wasn’t the one involved in such a serious incident that would shut down a multi-lane roadway.

What probably doesn’t help my mood during these situations is the fact that I am a regular talk radio listener and some of the things coming out of Washington are both appalling and enraging as the changed that was promised to so many people is becoming a reality. Unfortunately, it has come with lies and deceit that make the previous administration look almost passive in their initiatives. Trying to shove an unwanted program down our throats is one thing but outright lying to do so is a whole other level of wrong. Someone needs to let Obamapoppins that a spoon full of BS does not make the government sponsored medicine go down.

The latest radio tirades, usually when taking a breather from the healthcare fiasco, have been swirling around the falsified jobs figures leading up to the 2012 election. This is something that from one perspective seems to be the false persuasion of voters but, frankly, if you really believed that the job market has been improving and unemployment numbers have been correct then you have had your head up a certain orifice all along and false figures really had no bearing on your opinion anyway. It is interesting to hear how many ways the same topic can be rehashed though and I do give some of the personalities credit for some original takes on the subject.

I guess it could be worse. It may not seem like it when sitting behind a 1988 Nissan that hasn’t had an inspection since Clinton was in office but the fact of the matter is that we are alive to gripe about these things and we have enough of a mind, granted not much, to have an opinion. I have a job I love, I have a wife I love, I have my family, I have my brothers and Rotarians, and I have this blog to rant about such things. Things are actually pretty good right now. Some things could be better but there is not much to complain about at the moment. On top of that, at least I don’t live in New Jersey anymore. See, things seem to have gotten much better already.

Easy There Gus Gus!

My post for the day is a simple dedication to my wife. While there are countless ways I could embarrass her with the words I chose to write below I am not going to do that. Contrary to the content of many of my previous blogs I am going to be very simple with my words and just write what I am feeling without blathering on and on and on like I just did. So here we go…

My wife, who better be reading this the day it gets posted, is having another birthday today. Seems like there are one of these days every year… we could get old really fast if we keep up this pace. So far we are sticking to the plan of growing older together and that is just fine with me.

I know that I can frequently be a major PITA but, for some reason, she sticks with me year after year. Maybe that just makes me interesting or eccentric. I doubt it. But there are times when I am completely serious, a time such as this when I say with all my heart, I love you!

While the last couple of birthdays have not been very good I am glad that I am able to make this year a little better. Not quite where I would like it to be but there is definitely progress being made. I hope that all subsequent birthdays continue to be sweeter or at least until we hit that tipping point when neither one of us knows how old we are or who we are for that matter.

I am incredibly proud of my wife who has pushed through many obstacles, beyond the ones that I have previously discussed, and has been determined to pursue the career that makes her happy (think of it as staying on the yellow brick road). The job that she looks forward to going to every day and that she is darn good at. I am immensely happy that has become a reality.

I am glad that we have spent the time together this year creating memories and seeing the world around up is a different way. There have been many changes this year but ones that needed to happen to bring us to this day and to bring us closer together. Our life seems to finally be getting back on track and that, I think, is the best gift that I could possibly give my wife on her birthday (I still tried using a coupon for it but it didn’t work).  

 

Happy Birthday Samantha! I love you!

Photo On The Go

As I was scrolling through the photos on my phone this past weekend to find the pictures of Harvest Book Outlet, I noticed a wide variety of snap shots that I had taken over the years that have never been posted or even uploaded to my computer. I don’t know why they have just been languishing in my phone taking up space but there they were. I started thinking about what I could do with them which has led me to this post. I thought I would take this opportunity to share some of these photos with you along with a little blurb about each one. I will start with animals, then go to plants, and conclude with places.

I will start by running though a few captured animals. Animals have always been a little harder for me to capture with my phone as the movement blurs the image quite easily and, most of the time, I can’t get very close so I am forced to severely pixilated the photo by zooming in. But it hasn’t stopped me from taking the pictures.

Shortly after returning from Israel we went over to my sister and brother-in-law’s house in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. While we were outside the dog decided to get a little rambunctious and jump into the back of the pickup truck where she barked and waited for someone to pay attention to her. I couldn’t waste the opportunity and I took this shot while I had the chance.

While we were looking for an apartment in the fall of 2011 we lived with my parents for a few months. This was not an easy time as my wife is allergic to cats and the only pet my parents have left is a little feline. Fortunately, the cat doesn’t like to move too much and we were able to keep her away from the two of us. This shot pretty much sums up her demeanor.

Rarely do I have the opportunity to catch a bird but, sometimes, when they have a big enough pair I am able to get a couple of frames. This was the case when I saw a bird walking along the fence line behind our apartment building. I was able to slowly pull my phone out from my top pocket and get a few shots before it realized what was happening and flew away.

This past June I made my way up to Newtown, Pennsylvania for a job interview and, having arrived about twenty minutes early took a walk around the building. Also out on a walk that morning was a family of geese who didn’t seem to mind sharing the parking lot with me nor did they care that they were holding people up trying to get to work. I managed to get a picture of the second group that walked by.

Here is a perfect example of the pixilation I mentioned earlier. No matter how slowly I moved the butterfly would flutter away and come back to the same spot. Finally, I had to just stand my ground and zoom in resulting in this colorful little blur.

Plants are a much easier item to take a photo of with the camera as you can usually get right next to them before taking the picture. Lighting can sometimes be an issue but overall it works out fairly well. The only real issue is in the lack of detail and the inability to crop while maintaining clarity. You have to crop the shot before taking the picture. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t. These weren’t too bad.

In October 2010, we headed down to Longwood Gardens with my mother-in-law to celebrate my wife’s birthday. I am not a big flower person but it was a special occasion and it was a little time away to relax, enjoy the scenery, and go for a long walk. It was also a time to experiment and see how close I could get my phone to the flowers in order to take a close up shot. This was one of the resulting photos.

The neighbors next to our apartment building are a little eccentric. Nice people but they can sometimes be a little out there when trying to have a short conversation. One of the things I noticed earlier this summer was the bountiful harvest that sprung up on the other side of the fence. I don’t know how urban corn tastes but it made for an interesting photo.

Working at night I have to find something to pass the time and occupy my mind. Most of my nights consist of constant writing and researching the family tree but every once in a while I have to take a quick break from the routine and change things up a bit. One night I decided to take some pictures and one of the resulting photos was of the plant in front of the building.

I have found that when it comes to much broader photos of cityscapes, landscapes, large rooms, or big scenes you can actually get some pretty good shots. All of the recent photos that would fit into this category have been with my digital SLR but I have only started getting back into photography recently so the vast majority of the pictures prior to a few months ago were taken with my phone. Here are a few examples of the varying quality that can be achieved.

A week before making Aliyah we were in Chicago for a wedding. As part of the wedding we were being shuttled around the city taking photos in different locations. Every once in a while I would have a few minutes to fill and so I would pull out my phone and see if there were any interesting vantage points. During one of those breaks I was very happy to get this shot. I don’t know if having a better camera would have really made a difference.  

And here we are back at Longwood Gardens. More than a year after our previous visit we were there with my siblings and their families to take some pictures as a gift for my parent’s 40^th wedding anniversary. While the photographer was taking some pictures of the younger kids I turned around and saw the reflection in the pool. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try and get the picture. I was really happy when it worked and I captured exactly what I was seeing.

Disney World in July; Yes, it was hot. This was a big trip as my parents took all of us down to Florida to celebrate their 40^th. During the course of the week we spent a lot of nights just walking around the park and enjoying the lights in the dark. This night in particular was a welcomed cool respite after a sweltering day punctuated by icy rain. It was a nice end to a weird day.

I had the idea in mind for this post I tried to figure out what would be a good way to end it. Then it hit me. What better way than to take a picture of the previous night’s sunset and end with a splash of color? With or without details, the colors make the photo worth capturing… color transcends pixels.  

I’m A Nudist And I Don’t Like It!

A couple months ago I made a drastic decision and shaved my beard. It was the first time that my face had seen daylight in nearly a decade and the first time my wife had ever seen me without one. While it may seem odd, not a day goes by that I don’t miss it. I guess you could say that my beard was my blanky.

It is also a source of memory for me as it has been a part of “my look” for so long. When my wife and I got engaged, my beard was neatly groomed for the pictures.

Engagement Beard (January 2007)

By the time our wedding came around I had gained a considerable amount of weight but still kept the beard looking good for our big day.

Wedding Fat Beard (June 2009)

Between our wedding and my wife’s birthday the following year I had lost a significant amount of weight and gain a number of inches on the beard.

Back to Nature Beard (October 2010)

Israel saw probably the best beard to date as I had lost some more weight and had everything trimmed with just the right amount of length.

Israeli Beard (July 2011)

Last summer we took a family vacation to Disney World where things got a little scraggly because, hey, we were on vacation.

Tired Disney Beard (July 2012)

And here I am recently at Crystal Cave, naked and fluffy.

Naked Spelunking (July 2013)

So, I am frequently asked, why did I do it? The reason is simple; beards are not seen as professional. I don’t agree with it but there is the reality of the situation. I had put it off as long as possible but I could no longer risk losing potential employment opportunities because of the way I look.

However, I think I look better with a beard and I know I feel, for some reason, more comfortable with one. Contrary to popular perception, my wife misses my beard as well and asks almost daily when I am going to grow it back. This leaves me to pose the following question every morning: to shave or not to shave?

The only thing I can say for certain is that it will be back. I don’t know when but it will most certainly be back. I miss my blanky.