One more cherry blossom

From this morning. Karen also had quite a scare this evening. While driving home I get a call from Karen that Faith had locked herself in the bathroom. Well Karen couldn't open the lock from the outside. At first Faith thought it was funny, but that didn't last long. Luckily I don't work thjat far from home so went I got home 15 minutes later, I was able to get the door open and rescue Faith. Found her standing in the bathtub soaked with tears. She was fun and laughing in no time. 

George Mason... Never heard of him

I must admit, not being a Virginia native I didn't know exactly who he was until a few years ago. I finally got fed up seeing all these places bearing his name and looked it up. Anyway, now the whole country is asking the same question. Courtesy of that bastion of US History, South Florida, the Sun Sentinel writes the following: Who's Mason? By George, they haven't got it

Few have a clue on namesake about Virginia school.

Future Remodel Plans???

Karen and I have started to think about what do in the next few years about our house. With the 3 kids getting really active, our current house is starting to feel a bit small. It's not really a problem, but it would be nice to have another bedroom and an extra family room. Anyway the decision choices are: buy a new home, remodel our existing home, or do nothing. I have put together some blueprints of our existing floor plans (lower and upper floors) and also took my best shot at a possible floor plan of a remodeled house. For you budding architects out there let me know your thoughts. Original Lower Level Proposed Remodeled Lower Level Original Upper Level Proposed Remodeled Upper Level

Cherry Blossoms in Annandale

Well my ornamental cherry tree is nearing its peak bloom. It typically coincides with the Japanese cherry blossom's in DC and those are supposedly peaking now as well. The blooming this year seems much more gradual than in year's past. As I remember, most of the buds would open within a day of each other. This year it has been much more prolonged and is not giving the same impact, though it still is very pretty. It's been an interesting March weather-wise; cold and no rain, preceded by a very warm February and January. I'm sure the weather pattern was a predominant factor. Below is the front of my house, which certainly features the cherry tree, making this week of the season always one of the prettiest.  

Recovered From Draft

Well 4 hours of sleep did wonders. For those interested, the results of the auction are posted at ExERAers 2006 I'm pretty happy with my team, I have mostly quality players and no one that will outright kill me. I am concerned a bit about getting 1000 innings and will have to pick up some inning eaters in the reserve draft. Those nominations are due Friday COB.

Fantasy Draft

Minutes ago we concluded our Fantasy Baseball Draft. Quite unusual draft this year. Went about 2 hours longer than usual. Strange run on catchers to start off the draft. Anyway I'm about to pass out.

What A Game

OK, I'm officially on the band wagon. Go George Mason!!! Does it make it legit if I took a couple classes there and used the library a few times and that the George Mason University campus is about 5 miles from our house. Anyway, today's game was awesome with the Patriots pulling out a win in OT against the best team in NCAA. Who knows what can happen in Indianapolis next week. The above picture was from Friday's win over Wichita State.

Uncle Steven and Aunt Tracy Visit DC

Tracy had a weekend conference here in DC. A thrill a minute conference on ultrasound diagnostics in the practice of medicine. When Tracy wasn't engrossed by the dynamic briefers she was over our house trying to describe the inner workings of ultrasound to Reuben and Faith. Reuben was not impressed.

Steven, meanwhile, decided to ride the gravy train of Tracy's conference and also came down, his lap was an immediate hit. Today we visited the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. The lead in picture was taken by the elephant in the rotunda. Besides the dinosaurs which are always a hit, we finally made it to the insect zoo. We were surprised to find some museum faculty showing live insects and letting the kids touch and hold them. Jacob loved it; Reuben was a bit more hesitant. Here they are holding grasshoppers. Later Jacob also held an ugly catepillar and giant cockroach. The most disturbing thing in these pictures is not the grasshopper, but the size of my bald spot ;-)

New Vacation Movie

Here is the Valencia Isles Movie loosely based on our recent vacation to Boyton Beach ;-) Remember all my movies can be viewed by selecting the link on right.

A Case of the Sillies

Hogging for camera time...

If only all business travel was like this...

My business trip to Rome was in support of another company that treated business development $$$ like free money. My counterparts traveled business class; I traveled coach. We ate well and they treated me for dinner one night; yes that will come out of my per diem :-(, but it was still nice. And we stayed at the Westin Excelsior Hotel, a five star hotel, in the fancy part of Rome (not that there is a bad part). My room is pictured above. Definitely the nicest place I've ever stayed. The company I was supported justified the hotel because it was close to their Italian office. Somehow the turn down service, chocolates, and in room plasma TV's probably was also a factor ;-) Anyway, I doubt I will have many of these trips, so best to enjoy them. Oh yeah, did I mention the plush bathrobes and slippers... I'm sure my next trip will be back to a Hampton Inn where I'll be happy to get some hot water for instant oatmeal. 

Visit to Rome

Last week I had a business trip to Rome, Italy. It was a quickie; arrived Sunday afternoon, departed Wednesday morning. Fortunately, there were only short meetings on Tuesday and I got the rest of the day to sightsee. You already saw my picture of the coliseum on a previous post; I have several more that I'll post later. For now, here are some photos taken as I wandered from landmark to landmark. Here I am at the Spanish Steps And at the Pantheon And standing in the forum And then standing in one of the many beautiful churches; this one is from around 1575 AD. Here is a shot looking at the painted ceiling of this same church.

Sugar Sand Park - Boca Raton

A few more postings of our vacation then I'll get to more of Rome. There is a great public park in Boca that the kids loved. They have a water area (movie to come), a giant maze and climbing apparatus, and a carousel.

South Beach

Thanks to my parents, Karen and I got 2 days in South Beach during our vacation and spent a night at the Avalon Majestic hotel on Ocean Avenue. We had a great time on the beach and at the restaurants both on Ocean Avenue and on Lincoln Road. We had some fantastic views from our room. When I opened the blinds in the room, I even had to wear sunglasses. View to the left: View to the right: View below:

I'm back from Rome!!! I have tons of pictures still to post from our vacation and now my Rome photos, but I'm tired. So above is my preview of what is to come. This is a panoramic shot I took during my tour of the coliseum. I must say it came out better than I thought it would. 

First Vacation Movie - Day at the Beach

I really like this movie because playing at the beach is timeless. It really highlights that the more things the change, the more things really stay the same.

Kids and Their Trains, Grandpa Included ;-)

This morning Grandpa and the boys playing with their trains on the patio; its a cool 70 degrees.

Family Get Togethers

With my folks spending the winters in Florida and Karen's Mom, sister (and family), and brother living there as well, our Florida visit becomes mini-Family reunions. My folks, Karen's mom and Fred My Mom's cousins sitting around the table More of my Mom's family... cousins and my Aunt and Uncle Karen's sister's house and her family. Karen and her mom, brother and sister Karen's sister's son and his cousins (who you know well if you read this blog).

VIsit to the Firehouse with Uncle Marc

The family troupe visiting the Bonita Springs Firehouse. Marc was the fan favorite in letting the kids sit in the fire trucks and look all around the fire station.

Kickin' Back Florida Style

Very easy to get into the Florida lifestyle. Our cousins Kurt and Myrna bought these great chairs for the kids. They were a real hit. In fact another cousin of ours bought them the next day for her grandkid and then the next day at the beach we were asked again about them. Even though Faith doesn't look that happy in this picture, she really loved the water. The boys also loved it to tthe point they were physically shivering before we could get them out of the water. And yes, this is the atlantic, even though looks calm enough to be a small lake. It was a beautiful day.