The Good, The Bad and the Cuddly

Upon opening my email last week I came across a request for another blog.  My first written request. On one hand I felt bad having not done a post in a while.  On the other, it was nice to see that people (or at least persons) had missed my work.  I wanted to make a least one post a month on this blog; hopefully more, but at least one. Looking back my last post was at the end of April. It boils down to me missing one month.  All in all that's not too bad...  literally and figuratively I guess.

Seeing as how so many people told me to have a great day today, and since I've nothing pressing on my table at this moment (more on this later), I've decided to sit down at the computer and fill this blank space with something.  Not completely sure how much or exactly what yet.  I've got the rest of the day to find out.  Therefore, in celebration of adding yet another 365, in my astounding run of over 14,600 consecutive days existing, I'm going to spend the next few hours talking to myself...  I'll try to communicate the highlights of happenings since my last posting.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Aprils Fool

Well, my goal of keeping the blog up to date this year didn't last too long. I'll spare everyone my usual long explanation and apology. Suffice to say plenty has happened over the past two months report. I've just not set aside the time to complete the task. So here's a quick break down.

Hitting the Slopes (literally)  

In March, resulting from extreme amounts of generosity, I was able to make a trip out west for some skiing. My Brother, his Wife and I traveled to Utah for a week of snow filled, gravity affirming, tree dodging, mountain conquering goodness. We flew into Salt Lake City, acquired transportation and headed north to Snowbasin ski resort.

Snowbasin served as venue for the alpine events of the 2002 Winter Olympics. The place was unique from other resorts I've experienced. The facilities were amazing. Newly constructed, just as nice as you'd expect  from an Olympic venue. All set in a secluded "local" resort feel. Snowbasin lacks the lodging that you expect to find at most Rocky Mountian resorts. I consider this to be a positive. Keeps the crowds at a minimum... Anyone that knows me knows how important that is. After a couple of days skiing Snowbasin, we decided to try Powder Mountain for a couple, then one day at Solitude, before a final day at Snowbasin.

Random Thoughts...

"Daddy's Time"

It wasn't too long ago that Daddy Time was a part of life that was under my control. I'd simply pick Taylor up, plop down in a chair, situate her to where we were both comfortable, and she would lay there and go to sleep. Then time passed. Shortly after that Daddy Time could be Taylor sitting on my lap watching a football game. She really liked football, and basketball, even golf, and was perfectly content to sit in my lap. Enthralled with the suspense of what those people running around on the magic window would do next. Or it could be sitting in the middle of the floor with Taylor building with Leggo's or stacking blocks. Then time passed. Mobility showed up on our doorstep looking for a place to "crash". My grasp on Daddy Time became a bit more tenuous. Daddy Time became a closer cousin to Cat Time. Anyone that owns a cat understands what Cat Time is. Cats are very independent and non social until they decide they would like some attention, then they are all over you like static cling on a polyester shirt. Anyway, lap time slowly decreased as exploration time rapidly increased. More and more Daddy Time consisted of following Taylor around the house making sure both she and the contents both survived the day. Another version of Daddy Time is playing taxi-cab, the only rules of this game are: Don't put Taylor down; and Follow the pointing finger. The penalty for breaking these simple rules are breaking a little girls heart and replacing it with a teary eyed noise generator. Sometimes Mommy and Daddy are allowed to share taxi-cab duties, more of a tag team game. Other times only Mommy or Daddy are allowed to play. Sure there are still times where Daddy Time includes Taylor sitting on my lap, or sitting on the living room floor doing a puzzle or building with Leggo's, but these times are shorter and now regulated via Taylor's schedule.

Short Attention Span Theater

As expected, Christmas this year was a completely different experience than last year. Looking back at the pictures and, by comparison, very amateurish videos from last Christmas makes the change even more glaring than I remembered. Last year I wondered if Taylor was aware of her surroundings, this year I knew she was, the challenge was keeping her focused on the task at hand. Of course for her that is presents!

I touched on the subject of Taylor's play kitchen briefly during the "Twas the Night Before Christmas" post. Being as how it was assembled and sitting in plain view, it obviously was the first item she saw upon being toted into the living room. It would play a vital role in the recurring theme throughout the day. That being to keep Taylor focused and interested in the presents being opened instead of channeling Julia Child. Of course this incarnation of Ms. Child serves every dish in a cup, usually 4 cups and sometimes a handful of flatware. But I digress, let me stick to a somewhat chronological description of the day...

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

Being a proud disciple of Captain Obvious, I should first point out the irony of reading a "Twas the Night Before Christmas" post when it's currently 3 days after Christmas. This only seems odd to those who are either visiting my blog for the first time, or those who haven't been paying attention over the past year. As always I have an excuse. I'll pause a moment to allow the shock to subside... Please, stop snickering, it breaks my concentration... Fine, I'll continue. I received some new video editing software for Christmas. While it is much more powerful than Windows Movie Maker that I've been using the past year, and it should allow me to try new things and make better videos, it also has been very temperamental. Causing me much frustration since it's installation. Between random crashes, corrupted files and lost work, I almost gave up. Finally I was able to keep the program running long enough to complete the movie included in this post.