Personal

A New Media Center Unit

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Today I put together furniture for the media center.  When we found out we were haivng a baby we knew that part of baby proofing would require us to replace my old media center.  What I had was open and had glass shelves.  We bought a new unit with drawers.  I was able to put the power strips and everything inside the unit so only a few wires go out of it into the outlets.  We can also get baby proofing stuff to lock the doors on the front of it.

We hoped to have this built sooner but when we got it the base piece was broken.  Crate and Barrel was really cool and sent us the replacement part with little hassle.  We spent most of Teagan’s nap assembling it.  MC then played with Teagan as I moved all our electronic gear to the new enclosure.  I am very pleased with the results!

Now all I need to do is finally order my new TV so I can get it mounted on the wall above this unit.

Sushi Tasting Menu

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Tonight MC and I finally used a Travelzoo discount MC got me for Fathers Day.  It was something like 75% off a 6 course tasting menu at a very well reviewed sushi restaurant.  I didn’t know until last night it was in the Katano Hotel were Joe & Karen got married.  We scheduled for our baby sitter to stay late with Teagan and we went out to dinner.

The location in relation to our offices wasn’t optimal since there was no direct subway so we ended up walking in 90+ degree heat to the place.  The exercise was great but the heat was brutal.

I didn’t realize it was a tasting menu when we I got the present.  Generally I am wary of them because i am picky.  This time it was generally good.  There was something for me to eat in every course.  I was even a bit adventurous and tried some new stuff.  I am not a fan of eggplant.  The food was very good.  I was just still hungry after the meal before desert.  I ended up ordering 3 pieces of ale cart sushi.  I even splurged on a $13 piece of fatty tuna.  It was well worth it.  Very tasty.  The entire meal was very tasty.  I am not sure if we would do it again especially since the full price meal would have been a huge bill, but we were both glad we did it.

Out of Town Guests

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Friday MC’s sister in law Cathy came to visit.  She hasn’t seen Teagan since before she was 6 months.  She lives far enough away that trips are difficult.  We meet her in Bryant park and then took the subway home.  MC and Cathy went to dinner and I put Teagan to bed.  After they got back from dinner we hung out and talked a bit.

This morning we were all tired because Teagan was up for over an hour at around 1AM or so crying.  She is typically a great sleeper and a great baby but we think she was teething.  She kept us all up.  Once we were up we all went for breakfast.  The french cafe place we wanted to goto was busy so we ended up at an irish place that does breakfast/brunch.  MC and I have walked past it before but never tried it.  I had an omelette.  It was good.  We all shared scones.  They were ok, but the ones at the farmers market i typically get on Sunday’s are much better.  Teagan was great at breakfast and sat in her stroller almost the hole time.  After breakfast we walked Cathy to the subway and said our goodbyes.  I grabbed a Cappuccino at Starbucks (one ding against the breakfast place was they only did regular coffee).  From there we ran one or two errands and then went home and feed Teagan lunch.

In the afternoon we ran out again to goto the grocery store.  MC wanted to look for fresh food to use to prepare meals for Teagan.  We ended up opting not to get anything and will use Fresh direct since it looks like they had better stuff.  On the way home I ran over to the Liquor store and got some Pimms.  I wanted to get some for a while since I really liked the taste when I had some in the UK last year.  Thankfully the store by our apartment had some and we just bought the rest of the ingredients and the grocery store.  I made one to have at dinner and it was very tasty.

We made fish and potatoes for dinner.  I tried tuna instead of the usual sword fish i like.  I was not as big of a fan with the tuna.  I will go back to sword fish next time.

 

Hung Out at Home

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We took our last day of the 4 day weekend and decided to relax a bit.  We went out to the farmers market near austin street and got breakfast.  We sat and ate in the shade in the park.  It was nice, even if it was super hot.

We decided to spend most of the day at home and try to unwind before the work week started.  Teagan however didn’t get the memo.  She was crawling everywhere.  This weekend she figured out she can use her new crawling skills to get all over the apartment.  We do not have any baby gates up yet so we have to follow her around the apartment when she goes off on any adventures.  Until this weekend she has been great so far and only stayed in her play area.  After running around MC and I decided to finally order the baby gates and some additional safety gear.  We were held up because we have an opening by her play area that is over 80″ in length.  We didn’t want to drill holes into molding but no friction mount system will work on a space that large.  We (MC) figured out a compromise that will get us to drill holes in the walls avoiding the molding.

In the late afternoon MC took Teagan to the pool but couldn’t get in since it was so hot and the pool was at capacity.  She ended up in the park using the sprinkler.  They both had fun even if they couldn’t goto the pool.  It was a nice end to a great activity filled weekend.

Brunch With Family

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We went to MC’s cousin Brian’s to see her Aunt, Uncle, and several cousins especially two from out of town and their toddler!  We don’t get into Manhattan that often with Teagan so it was nice to get out.  MC’s cousin’s apartment was really nice and they had a great spread from Fresh Direct for brunch.  It was good to see her family.  Some we just saw at our place for brunch but others we haven’t seen in over a year.  it was great to catch up.  It was nice to get Teagan to meet her little cousin.

After brunch we headed right home since there was a chance of rain and Teagan needed to eat and nap.  Thankfully she napped a bit on the way home.

Drinks With Rich at The Station House

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Even though I was feeling sick earlier in the week I was hoping I was up for making it out for dinner/drinks with Rich.  His wife told me he would be solo this weekend since she was going away with the kids.  It was a perfect time for him and I to meet up.  Once I realized I was still up for meeting up we settled on a new place in the neighborhood to try out.  The Station House menu looked good so out of the several new places we looked at we decided to check it out.

We haven’t hung out in months so it was good to get together and just have a drink and grab some food.  I stuck with my typical Jack and coke.  Even though their menu was very interesting I opted for a burger.  I have been dieting so a good bacon cheeseburger was a nice splurge.  I also tried the fried snickers desert.  It was not as good as I thought it would be but the burger was very good.

Odd Bug The Las Few Days

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I have had an odd bug the last few days.  I would be fine most of the day but then get really sick feeling towards the end of the day.  It started about Wednesday, and got worse on Thursday but today wasn’t as bad.  I dont know what it is.  I haven’t felt sick enough to take a sick day but I came close.  I am hoping I feel better tomorrow so I can go hang out with Rich.

MC’s Parents Visit and Brunxh

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MC’s parents came to visit this weekend.  They came Saturday morning and stayed over night.  We had lunch at our house and they hung out and got to play with Teagan.  For dinner we went to Agora since MC loves it.  We wanted to take her dad out for a belated birthday and early fathers day.  We had a really good dinner even if MC had to take Teagan away from the table for a bit to feed her since she was being fussy.

Sunday some of MC’s cousins (and a cousin’s girlfriend) came over and we all had brunch.  MC made a french toast casserole.  It was really good.  She used the Paula Dean recipe she used when her brothers family came to visit on new years.  We had a good brunch.  It was good to see MC’s cousin’s.  We hadn’t seen either of them for a year.  We also had cake for MC’s dad’s birthday.

MC’s parents left to go home in the mid afternoon after her cousins left.  It was a short visit but a good one since they hadn’t been over since before the new year.

My Dad’s 70th Birthday

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Today was my dad’s 70th birthday.  My sister and her family and MC, Teagan and I were supposed to meet up with my parents for dinner near my parents house.  As I was going to catch the train and meet up with MC she called that Teagan apparently had a fever.  I knew she spit up earlier but didn’t think anything of it.  Turned out she did it 2 more times.  MC had to go home and I went to dinner by myself.

The dinner was good.  We went to an italian place near my parents that my dad likes.  it was good to see Carrie, Michael and the kids as well.  My dad liked his present.  My sister and I got him an autographed football that had the autographs of 3 Giants players on it.  He is hard to shop for so I am glad we found something he liked.

After dinner I got a ride home from Michael.  By the time i got home Teagan was sleeping, but she got up briefly later on and we gave her more meds.  Hoping she feels better tomorrow.

My UP is Broken

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Today when I went to sync my Jawbone UP I discovered the end that you plug into your phone was recessed a bit.  It made it difficult to plug into my iphone.  In the end i was able to sync it but it was obvious the device was broken.  I contacted Jawbone support and they are going to send me a replacement unit since this one is under warrantee.  I have to just keep this one working until I get my replacement unit.  It may take a week to 10 days to get.