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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

• Congratulations to Felix Baumgartner and the Red Bull Stratos Team.
• If you’ve never watched The BBC’s Luther, you should.
• Google’s ‘Little Nemo’ Doodle
  (Hint: Click on the drop-down bookmarks on the right.)
• What happened to DC Nation on Cartoon Network?!
• Incredible LEGO Batcave Built Out of 20,000 Pieces
• Ottoman Was Geeky

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:

• Taliban Gun Down Girl Who Spoke Up for Rights
• My ‘Small Video Star’ Fights for Her Life 

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:

• Chocolate Mousse,
• Dulce de Leche,
• Pumpkin, and
• Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cake 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.

Monday – 01 October 2012
October is upon us and, as it is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the blog has “Gone Pink for October.”

In an odd twist, it’s Monday night and there’s football… but, I really don’t care about tonight’s game. Of course, maybe that’s because the Ravens played last Thursday but – and won – and neither the Panthers nor the Dolphins could find their way to a “W.”

In other entertainment news: I finally got to watch “The Angels Take Manhattan.”

Well played, Steven Moffat. I think that I might be a Doctor Who fan. Again. For the first time in over 20 years. (Although, I’ve been told that I should check out the Eccleston and Tennant Doctors, as well.) And, I am thinking of picking up “The Angels Kiss” e-book tie-in, too. Just because.

Stray Toasters

• Baltimore is in the playoffs. As my friend, Liz, posted:
  Congrats to the O’s on making it to the 2012 MLB Playoffs!
• Fait accompli. I could be wrong, but I think that I am finished with the taping/mudding of the train room. As of this evening, I actually think that the room is ready for primer and paint… after a little sweeping and mopping, that is.
• The GQ Guide to Suits
• What in the Hell is happening in this Bears-Cowboy game!? Three Four Five INTs?!
• Birchbox Men.  ‘Nuff said.
• The VW Passat commercial with Rush’s Fly By Night in it makes me chuckle. Every. Time.

That’s good for now.

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.

Checking to make sure that this plugin is active again.

Test 1, 2, 3…

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.

Tuesday – 11 September 2012
Today marks the eleventh anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York, NY and Washington, D.C.

My friend, Joe – a former New York native  – posted a picture of the World Trade Center, the last one that he took before moving away from New York.

My two… favorite, I guess… pictures/memories of the towers are these, from 1999:

…and…

The first picture is me, atop 2 WTC, the South Tower (1 WTC, North Tower behind me).  I remember looking down from the roof, across to Liberty Island and thinking how tiny the Statue of Liberty seemed from that vantage point. I also recall looking out across Manhattan and thinking about the failed attempt to collapse the towers across Midtown in 1993.

The second picture is my friend, Peggy – who we led into the plaza between the towers with her eyes covered – as she took in just how tall the towers were. Her first words as her eyes lifted towards the rooftops: “Holy… shit…”  Priceless.

For my thoughts on the attacks and the aftermath, I again refer to these posts.

And, as I said in last year’s post:

Remeber the past.
Cherish the present
Look with hope to the future.

Namaste.