Sunday, July 05, 2009
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Friday, July 03, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Vastly outperformed
Hello dear family and friends,
Blogger has been vastly outperformed by Posterous, the microblogging service that Mike and I have been using for the past several months. Hopefully you've already found those links over there on the sidebar of this blog! I (Liz) am pleased to say that I've just set up a connection so that when I post something to the microblog that relates to family, it should appear here automatically. Hopefully this will be nice, and not frustrating because Mike has not (yet) hooked up his microblog to this blog so you'll still be going a couple places for the latest hap's of the McBacon family.
We've been rocketing along a family these past few months as the seasons progress. Christmas storms gave way to late winter drizzles and then a lovely spring finally arrived in April. May is the most beautiful month in Portland, as the greenery explodes into color. Seemingly every tree is coated in blossoms. The Crystal Springs rhododendron garden was a revelation, and now I realize how much of our neighborhood is filled with its spectacular blooms in magenta, orange, pink, white and red.
Evelyn astonishes us daily with her humor and curiosity. The day after Easter, she started asking "Why?" and she's rattled off at least ten "Why?"s in a row by now. "Because the universe started with a bang..." was one answer given this morning by a laughing dad. I didn't suppose we'd feel compelled to respond in that fashion until she was at least four! But then again, I didn't suppose a lot of things about being a parent.
Some of Evelyn's favorite things these days are:
Be well! More soon, I hope. :)
Blogger has been vastly outperformed by Posterous, the microblogging service that Mike and I have been using for the past several months. Hopefully you've already found those links over there on the sidebar of this blog! I (Liz) am pleased to say that I've just set up a connection so that when I post something to the microblog that relates to family, it should appear here automatically. Hopefully this will be nice, and not frustrating because Mike has not (yet) hooked up his microblog to this blog so you'll still be going a couple places for the latest hap's of the McBacon family.
We've been rocketing along a family these past few months as the seasons progress. Christmas storms gave way to late winter drizzles and then a lovely spring finally arrived in April. May is the most beautiful month in Portland, as the greenery explodes into color. Seemingly every tree is coated in blossoms. The Crystal Springs rhododendron garden was a revelation, and now I realize how much of our neighborhood is filled with its spectacular blooms in magenta, orange, pink, white and red.
Evelyn astonishes us daily with her humor and curiosity. The day after Easter, she started asking "Why?" and she's rattled off at least ten "Why?"s in a row by now. "Because the universe started with a bang..." was one answer given this morning by a laughing dad. I didn't suppose we'd feel compelled to respond in that fashion until she was at least four! But then again, I didn't suppose a lot of things about being a parent.
Some of Evelyn's favorite things these days are:
- Elvis
- Laurie Berkner, Dan Zanes & Justin Roberts music
- Singing O Susanna while jamming on kitty keyboard
- hearing Mama say "sheesh!"
- cleaning the deck with a wet broom
- giving Dad a "haircut" using spray bottle and brush
- trips to Elephant Park
- vacuum tubes at OMSI
- counting to 20
- divers!
- riding the big train (aka MAX)
- eating in restaurants
- Bada
- Big Kitty
- chew toys (her last molars are coming in)
- pretending to eat "crund" for laughs
- playing with friends
- treats (ice cream, sno cones, lollipops & popsicles)
Be well! More soon, I hope. :)
Friday, February 20, 2009
Xmas in July...well, February
Good golly. We've been super-busy but more than anything we've been super-sick. Since Xmas Liz has been sick twice (once requiring antibiotics), Evelyn has been sick twice, and I've been sick thrice (including the stomach bug from gosh-darn-heck).
But that's no excuse; the blog must go on! We hope you've been following us on posterous and twitter and facebook; if not see the previous post for super-secret oblique instructions.
Meanwhile, let's get those Xmas memories down before they're trampled on by the Easter Bunny's clumsy feet...
So, snow. Snow and plenty of it. I gather there's been a lot of it about nationwide so probably no sympathy from far-flung quarters but still. We had a genuine blizzard here in Portland and unlike points east and north we're not really equipped for such exigencies. As in, the roads go unplowed for a week and the mail doesn't get delivered. ("Neither Rain, Sleet, Snow...just kidding. See ya after Xmas!)
But I'm getting ahead of myself. At first it was merely picturesque:
But then we got buried:
But it wasn't all bad. Grandpa Doug was in town (and indeed, getting in proved to be significantly easier than getting out).
And Evelyn got to build her first "Frosty" (a.k.a. snowman).
The storm was serious business. A lot of folks were without power for several days. We threw a chain on Rita and had to leave her by the roadside. Funny story: the woman who lives in the house you see there came out and asked us if we needed to borrow a phone when we first got stuck, but then when I went back later to get dad's suitcase she'd gone all cabin-fever psycho and was claiming she'd called the sheriff to have the car towed. If you look very closely at her window you can see a sheet she's hung up along the bottom to *block the view of our car stuck in the snow as she sits in her favorite easy chair dreaming of the triumphant return of Hitler.* Or whatever the hell it is you dream of fondly when you've gone completely psycho and can't understand that 12 inches of snow on unplowed roads may cause a slight disruption of the usual routine. I'm not a revenge-minded person but if I were I'd say she's edged ahead of Cellphone-Guy-Who-Cuts-Me-Off.
Things were so desperate, we put the Old Man to work. No gruel for you until that car is dug out, Jack!
Of course, I'm a Californian at heart and I don't let nothing harsh my mellow:
In the end, dad got back home and we had a white Xmas, just like the ones I used to know.
Then, it was off to Wheaton for Xmas 2.0! And more sketchy weather. It was clear when we got up but by the time we reached the airport it was pelting down silver-dollar-sized snowflakes. We chewed our nails and waited to board the plane then were informed that they were up in the cockpit "doing a lot of calculations to determine if we're safe to take off." At that point I didn't know whether to hope for a yay or a nay. But they burned some fuel off and unloaded some cargo and away we went, for an uneventful (and un-napful) flight.
We had a great time, as we always do. Evelyn was pretty well-behaved. She enjoyed the lion at Grandma Barbara's apartment:
And had a lot of fun with the bathtub versions of Thomas And Friends (which we also used to introduce the game of Hotter And Colder).
At the Xmas party Evelyn looked lovely in the white dress she'd picked out for herself at Naartje (see previous post re: counting mannequins).
We even made it downtown to check out Chicago's famous Bean and visit the Museum. Evelyn particularly enjoyed the chance to build her own Cornell Box (Mom helped with the heavy lifting).
It was a whirlwind. Alas I got *no* pictures of darling niece Smiley (a.k.a. Charlotte). Pre-ambulatory at the time but already up and about in the interim. I was thoroughly charmed and hope I'll have a chance to spend time with her again before she's old enough to see through my charlatanry.
One last hug for the satyr and then it's back on the plane where the iphone (and Ms. Pac-Man) kept the heebie-jeebies to a dull roar until we were back on Terra Firma...
...at which point it was time for More Partying! Brian and Melissa graced us with their presence again and rallied us out and about for a festive New Year's dinner.
B & M are big-time cat fanciers, so Sassy wasn't left out of the festivities.
And then came the Big Poker Game. Things see-sawed back and forth throughout the night until the last hand, when Liz was going to fold in the big blind instead of just calling. I mocked her (soundly I might add) so she stayed in...and wound up felting me with four (count em!) nines. Read 'em and weep, Mikey boy.
All kinds of crazy stuff is afoot here, but it will have to wait for another post. We hope you're holding up in the Worst Economy Ever Since Ever and let's all try to stay optimistic and give our new President the benefit of the doubt for a few months at least.
-- Mike
But that's no excuse; the blog must go on! We hope you've been following us on posterous and twitter and facebook; if not see the previous post for super-secret oblique instructions.
Meanwhile, let's get those Xmas memories down before they're trampled on by the Easter Bunny's clumsy feet...
So, snow. Snow and plenty of it. I gather there's been a lot of it about nationwide so probably no sympathy from far-flung quarters but still. We had a genuine blizzard here in Portland and unlike points east and north we're not really equipped for such exigencies. As in, the roads go unplowed for a week and the mail doesn't get delivered. ("Neither Rain, Sleet, Snow...just kidding. See ya after Xmas!)
But I'm getting ahead of myself. At first it was merely picturesque:
But then we got buried:
But it wasn't all bad. Grandpa Doug was in town (and indeed, getting in proved to be significantly easier than getting out).
And Evelyn got to build her first "Frosty" (a.k.a. snowman).
The storm was serious business. A lot of folks were without power for several days. We threw a chain on Rita and had to leave her by the roadside. Funny story: the woman who lives in the house you see there came out and asked us if we needed to borrow a phone when we first got stuck, but then when I went back later to get dad's suitcase she'd gone all cabin-fever psycho and was claiming she'd called the sheriff to have the car towed. If you look very closely at her window you can see a sheet she's hung up along the bottom to *block the view of our car stuck in the snow as she sits in her favorite easy chair dreaming of the triumphant return of Hitler.* Or whatever the hell it is you dream of fondly when you've gone completely psycho and can't understand that 12 inches of snow on unplowed roads may cause a slight disruption of the usual routine. I'm not a revenge-minded person but if I were I'd say she's edged ahead of Cellphone-Guy-Who-Cuts-Me-Off.
Things were so desperate, we put the Old Man to work. No gruel for you until that car is dug out, Jack!
Of course, I'm a Californian at heart and I don't let nothing harsh my mellow:
In the end, dad got back home and we had a white Xmas, just like the ones I used to know.
Then, it was off to Wheaton for Xmas 2.0! And more sketchy weather. It was clear when we got up but by the time we reached the airport it was pelting down silver-dollar-sized snowflakes. We chewed our nails and waited to board the plane then were informed that they were up in the cockpit "doing a lot of calculations to determine if we're safe to take off." At that point I didn't know whether to hope for a yay or a nay. But they burned some fuel off and unloaded some cargo and away we went, for an uneventful (and un-napful) flight.
We had a great time, as we always do. Evelyn was pretty well-behaved. She enjoyed the lion at Grandma Barbara's apartment:
And had a lot of fun with the bathtub versions of Thomas And Friends (which we also used to introduce the game of Hotter And Colder).
At the Xmas party Evelyn looked lovely in the white dress she'd picked out for herself at Naartje (see previous post re: counting mannequins).
We even made it downtown to check out Chicago's famous Bean and visit the Museum. Evelyn particularly enjoyed the chance to build her own Cornell Box (Mom helped with the heavy lifting).
It was a whirlwind. Alas I got *no* pictures of darling niece Smiley (a.k.a. Charlotte). Pre-ambulatory at the time but already up and about in the interim. I was thoroughly charmed and hope I'll have a chance to spend time with her again before she's old enough to see through my charlatanry.
One last hug for the satyr and then it's back on the plane where the iphone (and Ms. Pac-Man) kept the heebie-jeebies to a dull roar until we were back on Terra Firma...
...at which point it was time for More Partying! Brian and Melissa graced us with their presence again and rallied us out and about for a festive New Year's dinner.
B & M are big-time cat fanciers, so Sassy wasn't left out of the festivities.
And then came the Big Poker Game. Things see-sawed back and forth throughout the night until the last hand, when Liz was going to fold in the big blind instead of just calling. I mocked her (soundly I might add) so she stayed in...and wound up felting me with four (count em!) nines. Read 'em and weep, Mikey boy.
All kinds of crazy stuff is afoot here, but it will have to wait for another post. We hope you're holding up in the Worst Economy Ever Since Ever and let's all try to stay optimistic and give our new President the benefit of the doubt for a few months at least.
-- Mike
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Changes
With the mass migration underway to Facebook and Twitter we're making some changes for 2009 in terms of how we'll be keeping in touch with friends and fam in cyberville.
First of all, if you're reading this and you're not already on FaceBook we encourage you to sign up and join the party. Find us and friend us and you'll get a much more up-to-the minute set of updates on our comings and goings.
We're also both now using posterous (www.posterous.com) for micro-blogging, specifically of photos we take on our phones. I've been experimenting with mini-posts here a bit but posterous is set up to handle that sort of thing much more gracefully than blogger is. You can follow me here and Liz here. Posterous supports RSS so plop us in your reader of choice and never miss another Evelyn pic (if you don't have an RSS reader may I suggest Google Reader, which is free and works very well with any web browser. It's here).
I'm pretty sure we'll continue to update this blog, but probably less frequently than before and only when we have something weighty to say or feel a need to summarize significant events.
Cheers!
--Mike
First of all, if you're reading this and you're not already on FaceBook we encourage you to sign up and join the party. Find us and friend us and you'll get a much more up-to-the minute set of updates on our comings and goings.
We're also both now using posterous (www.posterous.com) for micro-blogging, specifically of photos we take on our phones. I've been experimenting with mini-posts here a bit but posterous is set up to handle that sort of thing much more gracefully than blogger is. You can follow me here and Liz here. Posterous supports RSS so plop us in your reader of choice and never miss another Evelyn pic (if you don't have an RSS reader may I suggest Google Reader, which is free and works very well with any web browser. It's here).
I'm pretty sure we'll continue to update this blog, but probably less frequently than before and only when we have something weighty to say or feel a need to summarize significant events.
Cheers!
--Mike
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