New Design

I know I have a lot of followers who check in through their Google Reader.

Actually I don't know that at all.  I just tell myself that's the reason why I don't get a ton of pageviews or comments.  It's a way to protect my fragile psyche.

Anyways I redesigned my blog with the help of my wonderful wife, and all you Google Reader folks that never come to my actual page should stop in and give it a gander.

As you can tell if you're already on the homepage, I'm really embracing the fact that I'm a Giants fan with this new color scheme.  Erin was the inspiration behind that when she scoffed at me even thinking about including pink.  I think her shaming me into doing something different worked out for the best.

I also added my 30 by 30 list to the left column.  I'll be tracking my progress on the homepage now, and I'll cross them off as I complete them (if I complete them).  For those of you reading this on an iPhone (which is like 25% of my readers), you'll still be treated to my mobile format and won't see all the extraneous stuff.

As far as the new header, that was 100% her because I don't have the style or design talent that she does.  I could have never done anything as good as she churned out in less than 30 minutes.

Take a second and look it over.  I'm no king of web design, so I don't expect to be lauded for it.  In my wife's words "It doesn't look professional or anything.  It looks like you."  Ummm, thanks?

Daddy Daughter Days

I came to the realization the other day that I never sleep in.  Even on my days off I'm still up early with the girls.  This is where my wife says "That's because you sleep through them waking up at night."  I don't disagree with that.  It's a blessing and a curse being a heavy sleeper.  A blessing for me and a curse for her.

So I was up early on Thursday with Grace.  She is still sick with a runny nose and cough.  She never has slept late, and she definitely doesn't when she is under the weather.  In spite of this she remains in good spirits.  Usually this translates to her playing in our room every morning with stuffed animals.  She especially loves carrying around the stuffed cow that I got for her mom.  His name is Ding.  Although she shows her love for him in a strange way.

You see the cow has a little button in it that makes a mooing noise.  Grace loves the moo, but she doesn't really know what causes it.  She was so excited about it last night that she slammed it on the tile near our fireplace thus killing the moo.  It's okay though because she makes the mooing noise in its place.

Erin often gives me a hard time for the outfits I put the girls in.  Either they look too much like boys.  Or the pants don't go with the shirt.  Or they wear a certain outfit too much.  Or they have cuter clothes than that.  It gets a little annoying because my motivation is to make sure they are dressed appropriately for the weather and situation.  I think in spite of stripes and polka dots clashing that I did a good job on this outfit.

Grace loves hats.  She loves to play with them.  She loves to try and put them on.  She loves to take them off of me.  In fact Ana joined in on the taking the hat off dad fun today.  But the moment Ana took it off my head, Grace was putting it on hers.  There just isn't anything cuter than a kid in clothes or hats that are too big for them.  Although you can judge for yourself.

The girls still are climbing onto the fireplace like it's the most fun thing in the world.  I just have to resign myself to not getting it.

Here Ana has found a nice quiet place to read.  They both speak in this random language when they're looking at books.  It's almost as if they're interpreting the story and saying what they see.

I had about 40 minutes of a break right around lunch time when the girls are napping.  I call it my Justified time because that's when I watch the Justified episode I taped on Tuesday.  As an aside you really should be watching that show.  For all the guys, it's witty, funny and is a well-done crime show.  For all the ladies, it's witty, funny and Timothy Olyphant.

What I was starting to say is that I don't really have much rest on Thursdays because nap time is clean the house time.  I cleaned the kitchen and did the dishes.  I picked up the assorted messes they had made throughout the morning.  I tried to straighten out the house where I could.  The naps were short-lived since the girls both sprung back into action after a little over an hour and a half.

Post nap was all about a trip to the store.  Gotta stay busy, right?  I picked up some essentials and stuff for dinner.  Erin's plan was to make Chow Fun which is freaking delicious, so I picked up all the ingredients.  I sent her a picture of a noodle and asked if it would work, but there was a delay in her response.  This caused me to meander to this section:

And not pictured is what I purchased: Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Black IPA.  Damn that is a tasty beer, and I only bought it because Erin was too slow to respond.  Otherwise I would have been ready to check out with no beer.  Your own fault Erin.  But sipping on a Stone IPA to close out my day was a great way to unwind after being on my feet or rolling on the floor with them all day, so it worked out for the best.

As always it was another great day with my girls.

I'm not done with my traveling, so let's run

Tonight one of the big items on my 30 by 30 list started in earnest.  I've started training for my next marathon.

It started innocently enough.  My brother-in-law sent an email this morning that he was considering a half-marathon at the beginning of April.  And since we'd probably already be in the area for Easter, he invited Erin, my sister-in-law and me to join him for the run.

It was the motivation I needed to start my training.

The thing is I don't run unless I have something to run for, and I'll gladly put off training for anything until I absolutely have to start.  That's pretty obvious when you consider marathon training was one of my goals before I turn 30, and I haven't run at all since I wrote that out.  So besides a bear chasing after me, figuring out races to train for is the only thing that will get me running again.

Now I'll do my best to knock out 3 miles tonight and get back into race shape over these next 10 weeks.  Except now I'll make sure to keep a race in my schedule for the next few months while I prepare my body for a big boy marathon.

The last half-marathon I did was the San Jose Rock and Roll on October 3, 2010.  Since I have a moral obligation to mention it at least twice per week, this was the day the Giants clinched the division and started their run for the World Series.  You could say they motivated me to run my hardest, or I motivated them.  When I ran that race, I finished in 2 hours and 10 minutes which was about 25-30 minutes faster than my first half-marathon from a few years earlier.

My goal this time around is the break the 2 hour mark.  That would be just over 9 minute miles.  I think I can do it, and I'll bust my ass over the next 10 weeks to make sure I do.  The added side effect is dropping some extra weight and knocking out another item on my 30 by 30 list.  Win-win.

In case anyone is wondering, the title of this post is a line from a Ben Kweller song entitled "Run" which I love.  You can listen to it below.  It's my motivation for this race.

Twitter Machine Tuesday

For anyone who is a new reader to my blog, the one post that I do every week without fail is my Twitter Machine.  I'm not really all that invested into the internet like so many other bloggers.  I know that I could gain more readers if I opened up a Twitter Machine account.  The thing is: I just don't care.

So instead I put all my 140-character missives here.  Once per week I post them all to my blog.  They aren't always timely because I write them throughout the week, and I'm far too lazy to do any sort of editing.  They also can be offensive because I don't care.

They are rarely about my girls because I have a lot random shit that flows through my brain that has nothing to do with them.  I am more than just a dad after all.

More often than not they are pop culture inspired because that is the only context where me and culture would ever appear in the same sentence.  Well that and bacteria cultures.  And maybe Culture Club if I'm in an especially 80s mood.

So as I do every Tuesday, I present the Twitter Machine:

-That little 10-year-old hardcore singer from Australia kicks ass. Now we just need an 8-year-old Gangsta Rapper.
-Joe Paterno's cause of death: Shame...and maybe old age
-Heidi Klum & Seal getting a divorce. Lame asses and morning zoo hosts prepare your "Now I have a chance with her" lines.
-This may not be scientific, but Newt and Mitt just don't sound like presidential names.
-They do however sound like snacks that little English children would ask for.
-I bet you're imagining a little British kid saying: I'd like a newt with my spot'a tea, mum. Or maybe a mitt, guvna.
-Etta James died...at last #toosoon
-There is a video game based on The Room. Everyone that loves terrible movies is so excited right now.
-Go play it. It contains actual movie dialouge. And if you haven't seen the movie: #YOU'RETEARINGMEAPARTLISA!
-I have no opinion on the Oscar nominations. May have something to do with not seeing any movies this past year.
-I'm rooting for Brad Pitt in every category #justcuz
-The way the Niners lost is just crushing. Kyle Williams be damned!
-Then the whole "There are 52 players on the team. One guy can't lose it" arguments start up. Like they know so much more.
-You can't play up how important turnovers are in a close match-up and then downplay Williams' mistakes
-In happier news, Tim Lincecum is locked in for a set dollar amount. Of course the years were already determined. #sfgiants
-Less than two months away from The Hunger Games hits the big screen #bringiton
-I can't believe how much snot these kids can produce. It's like a self-renewing substance. If we could only harness it.
-Since I won't be watching the Super Bowl, this might be a good day to take snowboard lessons and knock out one of my #30by30
-My wife is doing 30 blogs before she turns 30 and wrote about Game 2 of the 2010 World Series. You should read it. #sfgiants
-Erin didn't know that Frank's Red Hot is what comes on chicken wings. Now that she does, she is obsessed.
-I cannot wait for Casa de Mi Padre. Will Ferrell in a telenovela movie. Who comes up with this?
-Ana was dragging around Erin's bear the other morning. It was adorable. Also she was giving off an Other vibe #LOST.

I'll leave you with the picture of Ana and the bear.  Happy Tuesday everyone!

The Kids Without Fear (or Daredevil Babies)

I mentioned in my Daddy Daughter Day post last week that the girls have recently been climbing onto the fireplace.

I don't know what kind of pleasure can be derived from climbing onto a fireplace, but the girls seem to get a kick out of it.  I tried it and felt no joy or pleasure.  Also I was taking up all their new space, so I was left with crying babies that couldn't get where they wanted.

At first I thought it was the accomplishment of getting from the ground to a raised platform that brought a smile to their faces, but I'm starting to think it's something else entirely that elicits such joy.  A more insidious reason why they smile after their climb.

Sitting on the fireplace isn't enough for Ana.  She now stands up every time she climbs onto it and the smile shortly follows.  This usually leads to her dancing on the fireplace because just standing there isn't dangerous enough.

The thing is she always looks in my direction before standing up, and she doesn't start bouncing until she knows I'm looking.  I may be reading too much into it, but I think she is happy because she is pushing her boundaries and has an audience.  She wants to frustrate her dad and part of her knows she is doing something she isn't supposed to do.  The smile is just too Cheshire cat (with a little "Eff you dad" mixed in) for me to ignore.

In related news, Grace has started grabbing things from the floor while on the fireplace.  She isn't the most coordinated (she's 15 months old, give her a break), so she inevitably finds herself back on the floor instead of picking up what she was reaching for.  This morning she actually did a little rolling somersault onto her back.  I was expecting her to scream as she's want to do in situations where she does something totally unexpected, but she just lay there and laughed at the ceiling fan.  Now I'm worried she'll keep trying to do it because it was so much fun.

They've also taken to climbing into the master bathtub.  At least they've tried to climb in.  I've managed to stop them before they tumble in.

I want them to be adventurous and courageous.  I just don't want them to break their necks while doing so.  The duality of dad.