Family

Morgan’s 7th Birthday Party

by

Today I went out to my sisters for Morgan’s 7th birthday party. To be there for a 1pm party I had to get up early for me for a Sunday. I took NJ transit out and my parents and Zack got me from the station.

I can’t believe Morgan is 7. She had a bowling party. Everyone had a ton of fun. After the party we went back to my sisters place with the family (aka 7 kids under 7 and 9 adults) to open presents and have dinner.

My parents gave me a ride home. We didn’t stay too late since my dad and I had work the next day. Day trips to my sister are lots of travel but seeing the kids was worth it!

Back From NJ

by

I am back from baby sitting in NJ. I left around lunch time and got a ride to the train from Michael. I totally forgot that there was no 7 train this weekend. I ended up being lazy and grabbing a cab home from Penn Station. I didn’t want to deal with the shuttle bus and the out of the way trip I needed to take to get home, especially since I felt a migraine brewing and I hadn’t taken anything for it.

Thankfully I got home in time to lie down and take something for my head. I relaxed the rest of the afternoon. I was not happy I didn’t get to spend more time with the kids but I was glad to be home and relaxing.

Babysitting

by

Today I got to spend the day with the kids and experience life with 3 little people. I don’t know how my sister does it full time. They are a lot of work, but loads of fun. I went with Michael and Zachary to Taekwondo. Zack was very cute doing his little routine. We then went to get Morgan from Gymnastics. From there we took both of them to lunch at their favorite restaurant. 5 star it was not, but I have been there before and they make a good greasy burger!

Then it was back to the house to hang out for the afternoon.

Babysitting wasn’t too bad. Carrie put Alexis down to sleep and she didn’t wake up too often that required her to be held! Morgan read to me for a bit before going to bed. I find it really funny that she now reads to me instead of the other way around. Zach was the most difficult since right after Carrie and Michael left he ran out of his room saying he wanted his mommy and daddy. He tried to scam me into a getting a few things, he is good like that. I barely won the battle of wits and he went off to bed without any other issues.

Other than that it was a low key night of browsing the web and catching up on some reading that I hadn’t gotten to over the week.

Unexpected Meetup With Friends

by

Today as I was planning to get to my sisters after work I ended up meeting up with Luke to discuss some work stuff. That actually turned into meeting up with a whole group of friends I hadn’t seen in a few weeks. I didn’t get to spend too much time with everyone since I had to leave at 7PM to go catch a train. it was nice having two drinks and seeing everyone.

After meeting up with everyone I headed over to Penn Station to catch a NJ transit train to my sisters. I didn’t get to see the kids since it was after 9 by the time I got to the house but coming to get me from the train after they went to bed was the best idea logistically. Tomorrow I get to spend the entire day with them so I am looking forward to being exhausted but happy!

Nothing major to note at work. It was a typical work from home day.

Day With The Parents

by

I spent the afternoon with my parents at their place. They wanted to see me before they went away on vacation and since they were at my sister this weekend today was the only day that worked for all of us.

I took the 7 to Main St. and my dad picked me up. I hung out at their place for a while. I tried to figure out why their computer was blue screening. I am not sure why but i updated them to Vista SP2 and ran some updates. I also uninstalled all the crap my dad installed on it. Hopefully that worked. If not I may just give them my iMac since this weekend my dad actually said he may be ready to look at a mac. Hearing him say that I would be happy to give him my iMac if he would switch.

Had a close call when a metal folding chair fell on my mom’s head. Long weird story but yes that happened. My dad thinks she will be fine but her head hurt, but no concussion.

We went to dinner at Jackson Hole, and then I got a ride home. It was nice seeing them. I think I wont get to see them again for a few weeks.

Now I am catching up on my blog writing and getting ready for the work week. It is a 4 day week, but I have to work Saturday. Hoping that goes well, but that is an entirely different post.

Thanksgiving With The Family

by

For the holiday I took off Wednesday and Friday so I could have a long weekend. I ended up getting a cold over the weekend so ended up taking Monday as a sick day also. That meant I was in the office for Tuesday only. Wed. morning I was off with my parents to my sisters for Thanksgiving. We left early enough in the morning (10:30 is early for me) we didn’t hit much traffic. We brought in Pizza for dinner Wed. night. It was a good day. I got to play a bit with Zach and Alexis. Morgan was out with friends most of the afternoon but saw her for dinner.

Thursday was fun. I think I had more fun playing around with Morgan and Zach before breakfast than I did all year. Zach can always put a smile on my face, and Morgan scares me with how smart she is! Dinner was fun, but I am never a fan of holiday meals. Not a huge fan of Turkey. We ate with Carrie’s fine china on several card tables in their family room. They don’t have a dinning room table and the dinning room has been converted into a downstairs play / sleep room for Alexis. For a small kid she has tons of stuff. Speaking of Alexis I did get to have nice bonding time with her Wednesday and Thursday. She generally didn’t cry and she didn’t spit up on me so we are bonding really well.

After dinner (well during desert actually) Michaels dad and I took off for the train to be back in the city at a reasonable hour. My dad gave us a ride to NJ transit. Door to door it only took us about 2 hours. For a trip to my sisters that is really good. In order to make the train I had to eat my piece of Pecan Pie fast, and I didn’t have time for seconds, or to take home left overs.

All in all except for a short period of time Thursday afternoon when I thought I was getting a headache the two days with the family was great.

Saturday Travel

by

I am on NJ Transit on my way to my sisters for the weekend. My parents are visiting every weekend this month since my brother in law is away at some training every weekend this month. I had a work event planned last weekeend so couldn’t make it. Turns out that got canceled at the last minute but that is a different story. I am on my way over there via train and then will get a ride back with my folks Sunday night.

It has been a few weeks since i have seen the kids so I am excited to spend some time with them.

A New Netbook

by

When my parents signed up for Fios they were eligible for a new Netbook. I didn’t realize this but my dad called and told me what he was getting. I told him thanks for my new toy. He wanted to know why he couldn’t use it. I told him get it, open it up and see if he likes it. I said this knowing what my parents can and can’t do electronically. I also think by now I know what they like and don’t like getting. He got his netbook and called me like 20 minutes after asking when I would come and take it. He didn’t know what he could do with it. I told him and his only comment was could he watch movies on it. I said sure and explained his options and he was like to heck with that. He wanted a nice easy DVD movie player like he has.

The netbook is a great idea, but it is defiantly not for everyone. I will probably sell this one or my existing HP Mini 1000 but I am not sure what one is better. i am going to see if my sister has any need for this thing either, but I am thinking she will have the same thoughts about it like my dad did.

A Birthday Dinner With The Folks

by

Yesterday was my mom’s birthday. My parents were at my sisters last night, so we ended up going out to dinner tonight after they came back into the city since I am on the way home. Well I can be on their way home if they go through Manhattan instead of taking the GWB. We went to the Waterfront Crab Shack. I love that place. Well I love good sea food. I had some crab cakes. It was a nice night with my parents.

I gave my mom her gift. I gave her my Amazon Kindle. She had interest in one when my sister was given one so I decided to upgrade and give her mine since it was in perfect condition. Actually when she got home and opened it up she called all mad at me since she thought I spent a ton of money giving her a brand new one since i put it back in the original packaging. I assured her it wasn’t. She wont use it until she travels so I hope she remembers how to use it.

My Parents Are Becoming So Tech Savy It Scares Me Sometimes

by

We live in a very technical world now a days so I don’t know why it surprises me that my parents are slowly embracing modern tools. I am less surprised by my dad than my mom but it sometimes still takes getting used to.

My dad at least has a long history of having useful gadgets. He was the first person I remember to have a PDA. It was an old Sharp Wizard that I eventually inherited. I get my love of gadgets from him, but I think I take it to a whole new level. Of course there is alot cooler stuff out now.

My mom on the other hand is not tech savvy at all. I still get calls from my mom for help doing basic stuff on my dad’s GPS. Of course my sister who once programed for a living also calls me just as frequently about similar issues so I shouldn’t judge.

What is funny recently is that my dad had been dead against a smart phone for ages. At one point I got him a Treo 300 that he used for a year or so, but didn’t like the small keyboard. He ended up going back to a regular phone and an old style Palm handheld. He has had a palm handheld (minus the time with the Treo when it was Handspring) since they first came out in 1996. Recently, well actually over the past few years he has been asking about an all in one phone/PDA. The problem is he doesn’t like the little keyboards. Because of that he hasn’t switched his setup, but has really wanted to ditch his phone, PDA, and pager (yeah he still has one) for one device. His work was going to give him a Blackberry a while ago but he turned it down because again he didn’t want a keyboard. I showed him the iphone when I got it and we decided it wasn’t for him since he would have a problem with the lack of feedback on the virtual keyboard. Recently he has been wanting a new phone again, so he went to the Verizon Store (his carrier). I was surpassed when he came back and said he wanted a Blackberry Storm. He liked the feedback of the virtual keyboard, and the phone did everything else he needed. He even wanted to get the data plan to get work email. He spent about an hour with sales guy and ended up buying one. I now need to go over and migrate his palm data to the Blackberry. In some ways I am not surprised he got that phone and in others I am a bit surprised he has a phone as advanced (arguably) as the one I have!

My mom also surprised me with technology when she started asking me about the Amazon Kindle. Apparently Operah had a special about it and she was interested. My sisters mother in law gave my sister a Kindle and my sister lent it to my mom for a cruise she went on a few months ago. She really liked it since she didn’t have to pack a bunch of books. She took a while to get over some issues with it but apparently got the hang of it. For a while I was pondering upgrading to the Kindle 2 and she asked if she could have my old one if I did. At first I wasn’t going to upgrade. For me the price of the Kindle 2 was too much to be worth the upgrade from the first version. My mom’s birthday is coming up and I couldn’t figure out what to get her (and I still owe her a mothers day gift) so I asked if she wanted my Kindle for her birthday gift? She said yes, so I ordered a Kindle 2 for myself. The new one would be a waste for her, so I don’t feel so bad giving her the generation 1 version. I am excited for the new Kindle and hopeful my mom doesn’t run into any problems using the Kindle the next time she uses it.

In a later post I might write about part two of this post, about my progress at weaning both my mom and dad off AOL. They still use it for email. I setup a mail domain on Google Apps and created accounts for both of them. I just need to show them how to use the Gmail web interface and get them to tell people the new addresses.