Tuesday – 23 October 2012
Team DiVa: Relaxing…
Diana: Just a little light reading…
Vanessa, playing with LEGO
Team DiVa LEGO Tag-Team Action
Namaste.
Friday – 19 October 2012
“Leg godt” is Danish for “play well.” It is also the root for the LEGO brand name.
For the past few weeks, I’ve been letting Team DiVa play with LEGO magnets that we have on our front door. Always with supervision and, thankfully, when someone decides to investigate how a LEGO brick tastes, I just have to tell them “Not for eating…” or “Put it back on the door,” and they will put it back. I don’t think that the ladies are quite ready for unsupervised LEGO play, but I think they’re pretty close to being ready for LEGO Duplo. Just saying.
Meanwhile, on another facet…
City of Heroes is shutting down at the end of next month. I’ve been trying to sort out how I feel about this for a while. Long-time readers know that I was a CoH fiend when I first started playing. So much so that my characters even had little sections of the blog dedicated to them. Yeah. It was like that.
After playing Everquest, I had worked the fantasy MMO bug out of my system. (Yes, I’ve played Diablo III, but I’ve never played – nor really had an interest in – WoW.) But, City of Heroes… that was something different. It was a game that was right up my alley: You get to create a hero – or villain, once City of Villains came out – and set out to save (or take over) the world. Brilliant!
I created my first character, Indigo Bolt…
…and hit the ground running. Literally. Because you didn’t get “travel powers” until Level 6. That made getting across zones a bit of a pain, especially when it was big zone and full of NPCs that were many levels above you. When I hit Level 6, I got “Hover,” the flying equivalent of crawling. But, it got me out of harm’s way more than once… despite me calling it “the second-most stupid superpower ever.” Needless to say, when Level 14 came and I could select “Flight,” I did it with the quickness. And kept flying all the way up to Level 50, the game’s cap.
And through it all, I had a blast playing.
Then I started other characters. And I had fun playing them, too.
Over time…
…and as I started playing HALO and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 more…
…and as other games – like LEGO Universe and DC Universe Online came out for the PC…
…and as we had kids…
…I started playing City less. But it retained a warm, fuzzy spot in my gaming heart. Still does.
Hearing the news that it was shutting down was a little bit of a blow. Not as much as it was to some people, but it was still there: The sense that all too soon, Paragon City and The Rogue Isles were being removed from the map. Permanently.
Since the announcement, I have logged in a few times and played for nostalgia’s sake. And it’s been fun. And a little funny, as the controls for flying are reversed. So… just maybe… I’ve flown full-speed into the ground once or twice. Maybe. But, it made me laugh.
I’ll be sad to see to the sun set over Peregrine Island for the last time, but I’ve enjoyed my time in the game.
Thanks to NCSoft and Paragon Studios for many hours of fun.
And, on yet another facet…
My train room has not been used as a train room for a little over six months at this point. The lack of ability to run my railroad has begun to wear on me. Last night, I gave in and put together a little oval of the Marklin set that I got from Monica and Alessandro. And it was good. It started out as a “I should see if this runs,” as they weren’t 100% sure when they gave it to me, and turned into “I should stop. Now. So I’m not down here all night setting up a layout that has to be torn down when I paint.” And I did.
But then, I wound up looking at Marklin stuff on eBay. Go figure. Far longer – and later – than I should have.
But, I ran a train. Yes, it was a short train. But it was a train, nonetheless.
Namaste.
Thursday – 18 October 2012
Here’s some Team DiVa cuteness to start your day:
Vanessa, sporting my House of Blues cap
Diana, in my Ravens cap
Last night was Movie Date Night with Sara!. We started out watching a Danish film called The Substitute, that I’d ordered from Netflix. It was… slow. And, while it wasn’t a necessarily “bad” movie, neither of us thought that it was a “good” movie, either. At least, not in the 20 or so minutes of the movie that we made it through. And I can’t figure out “why” I chose that movie… unless it was recommended, based on something else I’d seen.
So, I called an audible.
We watched 28 Weeks Later. (And, yes, we made it all the way through that.)
I also had a crossover revelation during the film: If someone had borrowed the “Stay in the house, Carl” line from The Walking Dead TV series and told it to Andy in 28WL, there would have been two big points:
Q.E.D.
All-in-all, it was a good flick for a date night.
And it was a good day.
Stray Toasters
Namaste.
Monday – 14 October 2012
It was a good weekend…
…but let’s go back a few days. I mentioned on Thursday:
I was also informed that there’s also some good news from one of the East Coast contingents of the family. Good news is always welcome.
Well, the good news was: I’m an uncle again. My sister, Kristen, had a little girl on Thursday:
Kennadi Noelle
She was 5 lbs., 18.5 inches. Wee thing. Kennadi and Kristen are doing well and both should be going home from the hospital tomorrow (Monday).
Saturday, Sara and I took Team DiVa to the Junior League of Salt Lake City’s Touch-a-Truck event. The girls got to see – and touch and climb into – a number of trucks and buses:
Vanessa (l) and Diana, on a school bus
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Later, Sara! and I attended the opening performance of Utah Opera‘s 2012-2013 season, Il Trovatore:
And, aside from being a great date night, it was also a great opportunity to wear my tuxedo:
The performance was quite good. If you live in the greater Salt Lake City metropolitan area, I’d recommend seeing this opera.
Sunday was a mostly quiet day around the house, but we did manage a trip downtown to the Urban Flea Market. Later, Sara!’s parents came over for dinner. Sara! made a french onion soup, which was delicious. We weren’t sure how Team DiVa would respond to it. We shouldn’t have worried: They loved it.
Instant Replay: Football
Today, the Ravens hosted the Dallas Cowboys.
| Dallas Cowboys at Baltimore Ravens | |
| 29 – 31 | |
 |
 |
| Tony Romo led the 2-2 Cowboys into M&T Bank Stadium… and the Ravens sent ‘em back to the Lone Star State with a loss.
Joe Flacco and the offense started out strongly, but ended their first drive with a field goal. Dallas marched down the field and scored a touchdown. The defense got broken down like fractions by Dallas’ run offense. Fortunately, Defensive Coordinator Dean Pees figured out where the gaps in the defense were and closed them for the most part. Possibly the game’s biggest highlight: In the Third Quarter, WR Jacoby Jones, fielded a kick-off – eight yards deep in the end zone – and ran it 108 yards for a touchdown, tying a NFL record and breaking WR David Reed’s former Raven record of 103 yards. The game came down to a Dallas 51-yard field goal attempt… which went wide to the left. It wasn’t a pretty win, but the Ravens still came away with the “W” and stay atop the AFC North with a 5-1 record. |
|
Stray Toasters
Thursday – 11 October 2012
Today (at least what’s left of it) is 10-11-12 Day.
It has been a good NBN Thursday.
I was also informed that there’s also some good news from one of the East Coast contingents of the family. Good news is always welcome.
Today was also the first International Day of the Girl. Timely, considering that this just happened a couple of days ago:
That, I believe, is all that I have for the moment.
Wait… the NFL just delivered a little more good news: The Titans took down the Steelers in the last few seconds of their Thursday night game.
Namaste.
Tuesday – 09 October 2012
Today, the little ladies of Team DiVa decided to dress up in a Mini-Justice League theme:
Diana went with her namesake:
…based on the “Odyssey” version of the costume…
…while Vanessa opted to dress up as The Flash:
And that, as they say, is that.
Namaste.
Sunday – 07 October 2012
Here’s a little something to add a smile or two to your Sunday:
Diana
Vanessa
Thursday – 04 October 2012
First off, let me wish my Godsister, Tammy, a very happy birthday.
Next, I have to say that Sara! and I had a great third anniversary yesterday. And, we’d like to say “Thank you,” to our well-wishers.
My in-laws came over to watch the girls so that Sara and I could enjoy a day off together. We spent the late morning and early afternoon on the Heber Valley Historic Railroad.
Knowing my love of trains, Sara! thought that I would enjoy a scenic train ride.
She was right.
We rode on the Provo Canyon Limited. The trip is a little over sixteen (16) miles, each way, but takes roughly three hours to complete. The train was even “robbed” at one of the stops. Michael, our tour guide, and Greg, our conductor, also provided historic information about the train and some of the places that we passed through.
And, on the whole: It was a lot of fun. Pictures of the trip can be seen here.
After the train trip, we drove up to The Sundance Resort for lunch at The Foundry Grill. Although I’ve been in Utah for… fourteen years, as of yesterday… it was my first time at Sundance. It was quite nice, especially with the fall foliage. For lunch, I had a steak sandwich with garlic fries; Sara had a Reuben with sweet potato fries. We both thought that our respective meals were good.
After we returned home, we picked up the girls and headed out to The Cheesecake Factory for anniversary dessert. We returned home with four kinds of cheesecake:
After dinner and the girls were put to bed, we fired up Stardust (a movie we both enjoy), opened a bottle of champagne and set to work on the cheesecake. We made it through the movie, but only half of each piece of cheesecake. So rich. But, oh so good, too.
All-in-all, it was a great way to end the day.
Namaste.
Wednesday – 03 October 2012
Happy third anniversary to Sara!, who still rules.
Thank you for another fantastic year.
I can’t wait to see what the next one and all of the ones that follow bring.
Tuesday – 02 October 2012
It’s Tuesday. And I hereby post these pictures of the Team DiVa Twins as is my right as their father.
So is it written, so shall it be done!
Rare picture of Diana wearing a hat (for about 2 seconds….)
Vanessa
Hanging out with Papi
At this rate, I should have a Team DiVa icon. I’ll have to get someone on that.
“And that’s all I have to say about that.”
Namaste.
Sunday – 30 September 2012
It’s been “a while” since I posted. Huh. And with that out of the way, on with the show.
The girls of TeamDiVa are doing well.
Vanessa (l) and Diana
They are walking – with gusto – everywhere. At least, everywhere that we let them go. And, their stair-climbing prowess has increased, as well. We also introduced them to Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back last night. It was a brief introduction, about 5 minutes. Granted, it was the first five minutes of the movie – meaning, it was also possibly the slowest five minutes – but they did okay. I’m not entirely sure that it was enough to engage them fully at this age. We might try again in six or so months.
I’ve also learned that both the #TeamDiva tag and @TeamDiva on Twitter refer to people that aren’t TeamDiVa… especially as Twitter doesn’t differentiate between capital and lower-case letters. With that in mind, Twitter posts referring to the twins will be designated #TeamDiVa2011.
A couple of weeks ago, I Sara!, the girls and I visited the Urban Flea Market:
It was much smaller than most flea markets I’ve been to, fitting into less than half of a business parking lot. At the first stall – The. Very. First. One. – that we passed, I found a few things that I could not leave the market without: A Bachmann Norfolk & Western Class J 4-8-2 engine and tender, a Tyco B&O 4-6-2 Pacific engine and tender, a pair of B&O diesel engines I can’t completely identify (possibly SD-60s, but I’m not sure) and five B&O passenger cars. The only “problem” was that they are all HO Scale, which is “Half-O,” which makes them half the size that I usually collect.
Of course, that didn’t stop me from bringing them home.
Seriously. Would I have these pictures if I didn’t?
BAM.
I’m still giving serious thought to making a two-sided door layout, with these trains on one side and Marklin European trains on the other.
And that reminds me: The train room is days away from completion. The last coat of topping compound was applied on Friday. It’s getting sanded tomorrow. After that, it’s down to sweeping and paint. (And deciding what I want to do for flooring.) But everything else is ready. I’ll post pictures soon. It looks amazing. And I’m pretty excited about being able to set up and run my trains again.
And with that, I’m out.
Namaste.
Sunday – 16 September 2012
Here’s a couple of Team DiVa pictures for your enjoyment!
Diana
Vanessa
And with that, enjoy the rest of your Sunday.
Namaste.
Tuesday – 11 September 2012
It’s Tuesday.
As many businesses offer “Two-For-Tuesday” specials, I figured: Why shouldn’t I? After all, I have two daughters. And it’s just as easy to offer up a few pics of both of them as it is of just one of them. (And this way I don’t look like I’m favoring one over the other.)
And so, here they are:
Vanessa (l) and Diana in birthday dresses from their Aunt Marie
Vanessa, getting ready to take on the world
Diana, wondering why we haven’t left yet…
You wouldn’t have left these here if you didn’t want us to drink them, right…?
And there’s some Tuesday cuteness for you.
We now return you to your regularly-scheduled day.
Namaste.
Sunday – 09 September 2012
It’s Sunday morning, the day after the girls’ first birthday party.
That’s right… The girls of Team DiVa are no longer “Adventure Babies,” they’re “Adventure Tots!”
Vanessa (l) and Diana… with cake!
More pictures – and a couple of videos – from the day can be seen here.
This has been a busy weekend, and I would like to extend a very grateful “Thank you” to everyone who helped make it fun and special for the girls.
My mother and uncle left a little while ago for the airport. It’s the first time I’ve seen Mom (other than a couple of video chats) in just shy of a year and the first time I’ve seen my uncle since last Christmas. I am delighted that they were able to be here for the girls’ birthdays. My father and stepmom weren’t able to make it out, but we did have them on a Skype video call for some of the party festivities. (Hey, it was better to have them virtually present than not having them involved at all. Thank you, Technology!)
Team DiVa: Year One has been good and I look forward to Year Two… and beyond!
Namaste.
Saturday – 08 Septembert 2012
Today is Vanessa’s first birthday:
Like her sister, she’s come a long way since this:
Sleeping through the night. Eating solid foods. Blowing raspberries. Dancing. Understanding a little sign language… and talking. Walking. Taking road trips.
As far as Vanessa’s personality goes, she’s just as fun-loving as her sister. She’s also a little more mischievous. Yeah, mischievous… at one; we are doomed. She loves to dance to songs from The Muppet Show and Sesame Street… as well as the theme from Josie and the Pussycats. (And, she’ll even give a few good wiggles to Harry Belafonte’s Jump in the Line.) And she loves to watch cars go by on the street.
As I said in yesterday’s post: Sara and I have been blessed with a fantastic couple of daughters. It’s been an amazing first year of parenthood and I’m looking forward to all the years of parenthood to come.