Business Trips

For almost the last 4 years, I've been involved with a project at work to implement a performance management system. There have been a variety of delays for a variety of reasons but finally it looks like we are going to go live with the system this month. So in preparation for the implementation, I got to go to San Francisco for 2 different weeks in October for training.

I had never been to San Francisco and technically I was staying in Redwood City/Redwood Shores (the names seemed to be interchangeable but I'm not sure if that's true). Anyway, Redwood is about 20 minutes south of San Fran and home to many major computer-related companies. I really liked the area and the city...much more than LA (sorry Matt!). Since I went out the first week by myself, 2 of the other people in the training class took me under their wing and drove me around to see some sights. This was especially nice since I didn't have a rental car!

On Monday, 10/9, we went down to Fisherman's Wharf . Either my camera doesn't take very good pictures at night or I didn't have it on the right setting...so, the pictures came out pretty grainy.






Here's Alcatraz from the docks















We walked down to Pier 39 to see the Sea Lions laying out...although in this shot, you can really only see the Sea Gulls














Here are some really blurry Sea Lions









On 10/11 we went into San Mateo for lunch. It had a nice couple of blocks of shops and places to eat. I found that most of the different towns had similar areas and that was pretty cool. I also couldn't get over how clean the streets were, even in downtown San Fran. Anyway, as we walked around, we came upon a guy outside a restaurant with 2 parrots. Now, they weren't just any parrots though...they were cowboys!


















Both of the parrots were wearing cowboy hats and the kids walking by were loving it...I guess I was too! I overheard the man say that these parrots are famous and have been featured on the Discover Channel. So I guess I did meet some celebrities on my trip!






That night, some of us went out to a brewery in Half Moon Bay for dinner. It's right on the water and I got this picture of the sun setting.







On my last day of the 1st trip, I got to go on a tour of Alcatraz with some other people in my class. I kind of felt bad because Joe really wants to go there and I didn't have much interest in it. I took pictures for him though and figure I'll do the tour again when we get a chance to go out there together.







San Francisco skyline from the boat to Alcatraz















The Rock - in my head I hear this spoken with Sean Connery's accent













The "Welcome" Sign
















Broadway cell block
















The rumored cell of Al Capone



















The San Francisco skyline on the boat ride back...blurry but pretty







I took the red eye home that night so I could spend time with Ben and Joe. Being away wasn't as hard as I expected it to be but I certainly missed them and I know Joe was glad to have another set of hands to help keep up with Ben! Surprisingly Ben didn't seem to hold it against me that I was a away for almost a week...he's such a trooper!

Funny Baby

Ben has become quite a ham. Whenever he sees my camera, he gets the silliest grin on his face and it's just so funny! I'm pretty sure he knows exactly what he's doing too because if he doesn't see that orange light just before the flash, he totally turns off the smile. It cracks me up!




























This one is my favorite!






Later that afternoon, I guess Ben was completely worn out after so many pictures (I know, I think I may have an obsession). I made one of his favorites for lunch, grilled cheese, and just as he was finishing up, he just fell asleep right there in his high chair. So, of course, I had to get a few more pictures of him!


















He actually ended up sleeping in the high chair for about an hour. He's got this thing now with having at least one hand either on his face or behind his head whenever he sleeps. He looks like he's very deep in thought!

Hard Day

One night in late September I had to work late...well, let's be honest, I work late a lot...but on this particular night I arrived home to the following scene:








Joe tried to keep Ben awake so we could see each other but after he went upstairs to check on dinner and came back, he found that Benjamin had just passed out asleep on the floor. Apparently, we both had a hard day.

Ooohhh...Stairs

Since about the end of the summer Ben has been walking while holding onto furniture and become obsessed with climbing the stairs. As time's gone by, he's become pretty fast at crawling over there and making a break for it whenever he gets the chance. We held out putting up a gate as long as we could but now it's probably one of the best things we could have ever bought...for his safety and our sanity! Here are some pics that I took during his beginning fascination with the steps.








At first we could just yell no and that was enough to deter him...and make him cry sometimes. (8/26)

















Then he would stand at the bottom and taunt us with the possibility that he would get all the way up...a few minutes later he did and I got it on video but I can't put it on here. (9/2)











When we first put up the gate we had trouble figuring out the best way keep it up...hence there was a big gap and Ben thought it was a pretty cool challenge to try to fit his head under it. (9/9)














Eventually we figured out the gate but we also realized we needed to give in sometimes and let him go for it...he loves that and he's super fast! (9/13)

Go Eagles!!!

So back on 9/10, I dressed Ben up in his Donovan McNabb jersey and we watched the Eagles stomp the Texans. I've been an Eagles fan all my life so it's just natural that we raise our boy as a fan too. So here are some pics of Ben hamming it up in his jersey...too cute!!!






Ben gearing up for the game with the Eagles football his Grandpa gave him while he was still in utero














Ben checking out the game up close

















Ben taking a break from the game to play with Daddy's shoelaces














Having lost interest in the game, Ben decided to play his own game












And finally, Ben was out like a light from all the excitement!

Ben - 36 Weeks to 40 Weeks Old

36 Weeks Old

37 Weeks Old

38 Weeks Old

39 Weeks Old

40 Weeks Old

The Spider That Just Won't Quit

For the last few months, there's been a spider living in front of our house. He's a big nasty fellow that just won't accept that he's not wanted. For the longest time, he was building webs between the railing in our front yard and Joe's van that was in the driveway. Most mornings I forgot about it and walked through the web...gross. Then I guess he got annoyed with having to keep rebuilding the web after I would walk through it because he started building it on the other side of the van and attaching it to a bush in our side yard. Of course, that got knocked down whenever we took the trash out or mowed the lawn. So now the spider has started building his webs between our house and the trash cans. For the most part, it's out of the way and we're not walking through them as much but it's still annoying. I guess we could try to kill it but, to be honest, the spider is pretty big and fast and I really don't want to have to deal with it. It's going to get cold here eventually so that should take care of him, I hope. This is a pic of one of his webs...it is pretty cool looking, but check out the size of him!!!

Our House - The After Pictures

Well, I know it's been almost 6 months since we moved into our new house but here are the after pictures finally. I kept waiting until I got the house completely clean before taking them, but I've finally realized that day is still a long time coming. So you'll have to excuse some of the mess in the pictures but anyone that knows me knows that I'm not exactly the cleanest person in the world, and neither is my house! If you want to see what the house looked like originally, go back to the April 2006 postings.






Kitchen, view 1














Kitchen, view 2














Living room, view 1










Living room, view 2














Dining room













Family room, view 1














Family room, view 2












Steps to go upstairs



















Bathroom, view 1

















Bathroom, view 2

















Ben's room, view 1














Ben's room, view 2













Master bedroom

Slugger

The week after Matthew was born, we went down to MD to watch his big brother Devin play in his first baseball game. Devin seemed to have fun and it gave us a chance to spend some time with Joe's family and the new baby.





Here's Devin in left field wondering why no one's hitting it his way.
















Sydney showing Ben how to hold the ball with one hand.











Baby Matthew with his daddy's mom Debbie.

















Devin playing catcher for the first time...he seemed a little nervous, but can you blame him?















Proud Uncle Joe and Matthew











Ben and cousin Devin looking tough in his uniform.













Mom-Mom and her 4th great-grandchild, Matthew



















Devin at bat...waiting for that perfect pitch. In this league, they pitch to the kids until they hit the ball...we were waiting for a while but Devin didn't give up and finally got a hit.














Mom-Mom and Ben having some laughs.