Random Access

31 March 2013 – Sunday
Today is Easter.

I hope that everyone has had a safe and enjoyable holiday.

This morning, Sara!, Team DiVa and I got up, dressed – which was a minor event, thanks to Team DiVa not wanting to put on their dresses – and headed to Mass. (Which started out as something of an event, too, when Vanessa decided that church was not where she wanted to be.)

Fortunately, she’s not one of the primary decision-makers in the family, so we stayed.

Fortunately (for her), she also discovered the “Better Mood” setting and chose to employ it…

…of course, this doesn’t mean that she and Diana didn’t climb on and play with as much as possible during Mass, but we were able to attend. I even remember at least half of the homily. I consider those both to be in the “Win” category.

On the way home, we stopped to say “Hello” and “Happy Easter” to Bonne and Steve.

Back at home, we managed to get a few pictures of the girls…

Vanessa (l) and Diana

We like books!

…before changing them for naps and lunchtime.

We also let them pick through the Easter basket:

Hey! These eggs have stuff in them!!!

Sara!, in her infinite wisdom, made some good suggestions with respect to this year’s basket:

1. We should get a basket that could be repurposed as a centerpiece setting or some other decorative piece after Easter.
2. We should consider a “family” basket, rather than two (or four) baskets.
3. The girls, who have more than “enough” of them, don’t really need any more stuffed animals/toys.

So, I followed Suggestions 1 and 2. As far as Suggestion 3 went, I was of the mind that they should still have some eggs – and something in them for Easter.  Since the girls are fond of playing with some of my old HeroClix figures, it made it easy to decide what to put in the eggs. (Yeah, avoided the candy option for another year. Win!)

After their naps, we decided to try and have a mini-Easter Egg Hunt. We hid six eggs around the living room and told the girls to go look for them. Instead, they went into the dining room — that was where they left the Easter basket and the eggs from this morning. Once we pointed them in the right direction, they were on the hunt. They each found three eggs. (Funny how that worked out.)

And that’s been pretty much how our Easter has been.

Tuesday – 26 March 2013
It’s amazing how quickly these Tuesdays just seem to keep lining up.

Here’s a quick dose of the little ladies of Team DiVa for your day:

Diana

Vanessa

And there you have it.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 19 March 2013
I’ve been elbow-up in trying to get some things configured, but I wanted to make sure that I got a post up before the day got completely away from me. And so, here it is:

Diana (l) and Vanessa

Diana, demonstrating why the alphabet magnets have been disappearing…

Vanessa, test-driving Daddy’s 50th Anniversary Disneyland Mickey Mouse Ears…

And, before it’s all through, we even have… video!

Diana helping Vanessa twirl around in Grandmommy’s chair.

Namaste.

Sunday – 17 March 2013
Happy (what’s left of) Green Lantern Day!

…or, as some people refer to it: St. Patrick’s Day.

This post actually started on Friday, but between bouts of laziness, keeping up with Team DiVa, going to the opera, and life (in a nutshell), I haven’t been able to get back to it until now. Better late than never.

Friday morning, Sara! flew down to Las Vegas to attend the wedding of a friend. This meant that Friday night, it was just Team DiVa and me. Suffice it to say that we all survived the experience. Saturday was a mostly stay-at-home day. Team DiVa and I did venture out around 4:30 for a bit; we stopped in at SteamHead Cafe to visit Melissa… who had left shortly before we arrived. Oh, well. The Toddler Titans had fun running around and exploring.

Saturday evening, Bonne came over to watch the girls while I went to the airport to pick up Sara and head to the opera. We attended opening night of The Magic Flute:

Outfits for a night at the opera…

The stage

I’d never seen The Magic Flute before, nor was I familiar with the story. I wasn’t expecting there to be asides in English, but there were. After the shock of that wore off, I sat back and enjoyed the show. It was fun. The leads were quite well-suited to their roles. The costumes were also good. If you have an opportunity to see it, I highly suggest it.

Today, Sara!, Team DiVa and I headed to Millcreek Cafe and Eggworks for breakfast. A little later, I headed to Home Depot with Dave, to pick up the last of the drywall needed to complete the train room closet. Later, it was off to the in-laws’ for St. Patrick’s Day dinner:

• Corned beef
• Cabbage (with carrots)
• Potatoes

…and some RubySnap Noelles for dessert.

And then, it was home for Team DiVa’s bedtime, a little clean-up and tonight’s episode of The Walking Dead.

Stray Toasters

• “Beware the Ides of March!”
  As I mentioned above, this post started out on Friday, known as “The Ides of March.” I had a really geeky moment at one point in which I realized that I want to create an RPG character named “Ides” and have him or her come from a land called “March.” Go figure.
• DC’s Women Know How to Spend Ladies’ Night
• Speaking of DC Comics and animation: I’m also watching the last episodes of Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Young Justice.
• 
• The last time I checked, the Ravens were down a net of six players. I have faith in management’s decisions, but I’m definitely curious to see how this shakes out in the long run.
• Sinestropotamus and The Green Lamprey. Ha. Thank you, DC Nation Shorts. Nice way to end things.

Yeah, that’s good enough for now.

Namaste.

Thursday – 14 March 2014
It’s another fine NBN Thursday in the valley.

The following was culled from the “It Happened in Chat” file:

(12:35:03 PM) ***Steve crash lands.
(12:39:54 PM) Rob: Airplane or Airplane II style?
(12:40:02 PM) ***Beth goes ‘heh heh heh.’
(12:40:40 PM) Steve: Airplane II with Shatner guiding me in. ’cause that means we have a moon base and won’t die out as quick when the asteroid hits the earth.
(12:40:58 PM) Rob: Moon base.
(12:41:18 PM) Steve: I don’t worry about gun control. I worry about extinction level events.
(12:41:21 PM) R0b: You’re forgetting/overlooking two potential obstacles, though.
(12:42:59 PM) Steve: obstacles?
(12:43:03 PM) R0b: Yeah.
(12:43:28 PM) R0b: 1. The giant metal baboon-looking robot that Michael Bay chronicled as living on the moon.
(12:43:32 PM) R0b: 2. Nazis.
(12:43:35 PM) Steve: shatter is involved. we don’t believe in the no-win scenario.
(12:43:41 PM) Steve: shatner.
(12:43:42 PM) Mike: william shatter.
(12:43:57 PM) Steve: how could i ever turn off autocorrect? it is so lovable.
(12:44:59 PM) Steve: oh shit. nazi transformers on the moon. *calls michael bay*

Just like that.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 13 March 2013
Not only is today New Comics Day…

…nor is it just Movie Date Night…

…it’s apparently my version of Groundhog Day, as well.

This morning, I left the house three (3) times before finally completing my journey to work:

1. After getting up, dressed, and out the door, I stopped to get a couple of doughnuts for breakfast. It was only then that I noticed that what I thought was a black-based ensemble was, in fact, black-and-blue. *grblsnrkx*  Fortunately, I was just across the street from the house when I discovered the error. So, I went home, changed pants and headed out the door. Again.
2. I got off our street, onto the nearby main thoroughfare and on the on-ramp to the freeway when I had an epiphany: I left my wallet in the pants I had just taken off. Just as I was finishing that thought, my phone rang. It was Sara!; she wanted to let me know that I had (also) left my work badge on the bed.  ::: braincramp ::: I told her that I was on the way back home because my wallet was still there, too. I got off the freeway at the next exit and completed the loop to home. Sara! was in the kitchen when I opened the door, with my badge, wallet and a fresh travel mug of coffee in hand, securing her spot as today’s Human of the Day. With that, I was off yet again.
3. Apparently, the third departure was the charmed one. I made it to the freeway without incident. The commute was uneventful. I arrived at work in one piece. There was a minor moment of concern when, on exiting the car, I couldn’t find my wallet. I checked both seats, the spaces between them and even the back seat. No go, Flight. Turns out that it was in my pocket the whole time. *sigh*

And that’s how my NBN Thursday Eve started.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 12 March 2013
It’s Tuesday, which means it’s time for a new Team DiVa post.

Team DiVa (Diana, l; Vanessa, r) after putting money in their banks

Diana, sitting at the big kids’ table

Vanessa, sitting at the big kids’ table

Monday – 11 March 2013
It’s been a while.

Yesterday, we “sprang forward” into Daylight Saving Time. “Saving.” Not “Savings.” The night/morning, already made short by the leap forward in time, was made even more short by the fact that I had to go into work – at 5:30 AM – for a maintenance window. Yee. Hah.

After getting back home, Sara!, Team DiVa and I had a few friends over for brunch. It was additionally nice, as we hadn’t seen a few people in some time. Sara fixed her famous – at least it’s famous around our house – coffee cake, along with muffins and egg casserole. There was fruit. And bacon. And juice. And coffee. And merriment. And frolicking. (Hey, there were kids. They frolicked. Go figure.)

Today was a pretty decent day. Even though I had a good night’s sleep last night, I was pretty beat this morning. Fortunately, there was coffee to offset the possibility of shambling through the day.

Tonight, Sara! and I outlined and redefined plans for the front and back yards. Nothing too major, but a few nice changes. After that, we started building the frame for the ceiling in the train room closet. We took a break to watch Castle, but it wasn’t on. So, we caught up on Later… with Jools Holland. The first episode we watched was… lacking. We fast forwarded through most of it. Fortunately, the second episode made up for it.

Stray Toasters

• Chasing NS’ Norfolk & Western heritage unit across home rails
• Salami Suicide: Processed Meats Linked to Heart Disease and Cancer
• I find it amusing that the subject for this post, “M-11,” can mean either a character in the Marvel Universe or “Monday, the 11th.”  At least it can in my mind. Double-score win.
• With Positions to Fill, Employers Wait for Perfection
• 8 Things Star Wars Episode VII Can Learn from Episodes I-III
• Queen Fights for Gay Rights: Monarch makes historic pledge on discrimination
• 
• Nerdy Dancing, Where Pasty Meets Pastie
• US Ambassador Politely Asks UN Colleagues to Stop Showing Up Drunk to Meetings
• Boy Writes Letter to LEGO After Losing Minifigure, Gets Awesome Response
• Dad Hacks Donkey Kong to Make Pauline the Hero
• The Rack
• Wanna Play? Gamers Help Push Frontiers of Brain Research
• Ancient Greece Was Built Brick by Brick

That’s good for now.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 05 March 2013
It’s Tuesday, so it must be time for Team DiVa pics!

Diana

Vanessa

Pictures courtesy of Sara!

And there you have it.

Namaste.