Thursday, February 28, 2008

The Road Ahead

The Road AheadSo I've been interviewing for a new job and I just got word today that I got it. Have no fear. I'm still working for the mouse. Actually, I'll still be at the same desk. Instead of site producer, though, I'll be transitioning to a business analyst position. Which means I'll be doing a lot more writing. And, more importantly, I'll be able to give up the on-call phone...no more 2am calls. WHOOPIE!

Monday, February 25, 2008

One of the Few

Yes, the Trillos were one of the few people who watched last night's Oscar telecast, which, surprisingly only ran 15 minutes overtime...go figure! Of course we love any opportunity to head over to Acton Cinema 1 (the big screen at Thommy & Geoffrey's) and snack on pizza and wings.

I loved Jon Stewart as host (but then I am a Daily Show junkie) so I just thought I'd share a few of my favorite quips:

  • ''There are three pregnant ladies with us tonight. Jessica Alba. Cate Blanchett. Nicole Kidman. And the baby goes to.... Angelina Jolie. I'm stunned. Angelina couldn't be with us tonight, it's tough to get 17 babysitters on Oscar night.''
  • ''Diablo Cody used to be an exotic dancer and now she's an Oscar nominated screenwriter. I hope you're enjoying the paycut.''
  • ''Even Norbit got a nomination, which I think is great. Too often, the academy ignores movies that aren't good.''
  • ''Democrats do have an historic race going. Hillary Clinton vs Barack Obama. Normally, when you see a black man or a woman president an asteroid is about to hit the Statue of Liberty. How will we know it's the future? Silver unitards, that can't be all?''

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Total Flosser

Total FlossersTotal FlossersTotal FlossersTotal Flossers
Blame the moon but we last night found Parker in the bathroom with yards of floss all over the place so we decided to make the best of it and floss our teeth. Parker does his best to be like daddy. But the floss was all over the place, even in his hair. But eventually, he got the hang of it. Now if we can convince him he doesn't need yards of it at a time.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Total Eclipse

EclipsedIn case you missed it...

Actually, we were able to check it out with Parker and, while I don't think he fully got it, he kinda enjoyed it. Well, it'll be two years before another lunar eclipse so it'll be interesting to see the difference in interest.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Pouring the Slab

Pouring the Slab Pouring the Slab Pouring the Slab Pouring the Slab
Pouring the Slab Pouring the Slab Pouring the Slab Pouring the Slab
Just about two years after we poured the foundations for our sheds, the cement trucks are back to pour the slabs that will surround the sheds. Yes, that's cement trucks...plural. If you ask Parker he'll let you know we had ''two 'ment trucks''.

Once again, Frankie was supervising the activity -- making sure everyone was working and, if he felt the cement mixture was lacking, he would add the necessary tennis ball to the mix. (Actually, I think this may have been part of his ''fetch'' ploy.)

Pouring the SlabThis time, Chris hired a professional cement finisher to make sure the end result was perfect. Of course, running out of cement would make the finishing job all that much harder. (Who would ever thought 2 cement trucks would not be enough?!)

Pouring the SlabHave no fear, the calvary is on the way. Yes, that a third cement truck! (Of course if you ask Parker he'll still say there was only ''two 'ment trucks'' since he was napping when the third truck arrived. Also, it's harder to count three trucks when the other two have already left.)

Pouring the SlabWith the last two yards in placed and professionally finished, I must say, the cement slab is really nice looking. It slopes down in the middle, creating a driveway allowing, in the future, Chris to park his tracker under the cover of the (future) sheds. Now we just need to do the actual sheds. Keep your fingers crossed -- I'm hoping to have another entry on this project by the end of this summer (and not in another two years).

Thanks to everyone who helped out today!

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Obama-Mama


So I found this site that shows you where your ''Electorial Compass'' is pointing. All you have to do is take a survey and Viola! It literally shows where you and the candidates stand.

As expected...Obama is my man (so to speak -- don't be jealous Chris...even though I know he's your man, too). Actually, it's interesting to see all the candidates one one page based on their opinions. You can even see their (and your) positions on specific issues.

This election will be pretty interesting. The good thing is, though, the current batch of candidates -- Democratic and Republican -- don't scare me. I think all will do a good job if they became President. (Really, they don't have to do much to do better than our current President.) All of them seem to be able to hold their own in public conversations (not just speeches) -- I'm specifically thinking of McCain's many favorable appearances on the Daily Show and Huckabee on The Colbert Report. Not to mention a sense of humor -- Obama on SNL, Hillary's Sopranos Ad, and McCain willing to be in ''Wedding Crashers''.

If I had to rate them, obviously, Obama is my top dog -- great values, open to working with all parties in order to achieve goals greater (yes, I think we should be talking to our enemies in order to find diplomatic solutions not military solutions to our disagreements), and an overall great representative for the American people. (I guess I also can't ignore the appeal of a multi-racial candidate in office -- can I get a Hapa Whoop! Whoop!)

AO (''After Obama''), I'm kinda of torn between Hillary and McCain. I hate their hawkishness (Sure Hillary is against the war right now but I'm still not sold that she'll actually get us out of there, especially if she feels the need to demonstrate that she strong.) but I feel both will have a more responsible approach regarding the war.

I guess I would have to go with McCain as my current second. While my political leaning is more Democratic than Republican, I appreciate McCain's independence and willingness to work across the aisle -- even with Democrats seen as super-liberal (McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Bill) -- and even go against the party line if necessary (McCain's stance against the Bush Administration and Torture). It's interesting to see him speak to conservative groups. ''Many of you have disagreed strongly with some positions I have taken in recent years. I understand that. I might not agree with it, but I respect it for the principled position it is.'' He wants their support but doesn't outright cater to their whims.

To be honest, I can't anything that Hillary's done recently that doesn't feel more like political posturing. Dare I even say that she doesn't seem genuine to me? (Okay, I guess I just said it.) What I do have to go on is my gut, which tells me she'd do the right thing. But is that enough to trust her over McCain? At this point, no. But the Electorial Compass tells me she's politically a lot closer to me than McCain so maybe my opinion will change in the next couple of months.

So that leaves Huckabee in fourth. I don't believe in everything he stands for but, as dumb as it sounds, he's likable. I actually like him, personality-wise, better than Hillary.

We'll, that's where I stand right now. If I remember, I'll do the test again in a couple of months and see if there's been any change. In the meantime, I encourage you all to see where your compass is pointing.

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Happy Birthday Hailey

Hailey's BirthdayHailey's BirthdayHailey's BirthdayHailey's Birthday
So another classmate birthday party for Parker to attend. This time it's Hailey's birthday. Not sure if you remember but Parker attended her 2nd birthday last year. Now Hailey is one of Parker's favorite gal pals at school. However, he was so shy at the party. It was really hard to get him to interact with everyone...which was just about everyone in his preschool class. Very odd.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Super Tuesday

Non-major elections can be a bit boring for an independent voter...sorry, "Nonpartisan"...like myself. However, this time around I found out that Nonpartisan voters are able to vote in the Democratic Presidential Primary...interesting. So now I have an opportunity to jump into the fray...but who to choose?

Well, to be honest, the decision wasn't hard. Hillary betrayed me long ago with her hawkish war stance -- that she mysteriously lost when she started to run for office...hmmm, interesting again. Call me an Obama-Mama but I love his inspirational message of change.