patrickandlydia.com

Big boy rocker

2008-07-22T20:12:00.000-05:00

The coolness that is Adam.

2008-07-22T15:08:00.000-05:00

Found at Encores and More

2008-07-19T12:31:00.000-05:00

There aren't many places in the world where you can get away with calling something a "baby jail" and get away with it. This, however, qualifies.

recent things of minor awesomeness

2008-07-12T05:31:00.004-05:00

Costco's super-giant pack of paper towels no longer has each individual paper towel roll shrinkwrapped for retail sale inside of a giant shrinkwrapper. I wonder what genius figured that one out. Forget the environmental benefit and savings to the manufacturer in materials and incremental shipping cost. Now I don't have to tear into one every time we run out.
More flavors for Fiber One bars. Really, I love these for the taste, not just the fibery goodness (don't tell John McEnroe.)
Nightshot video cameras, X10 wireless video senders, Picture-in-Picture, a PowerBook, and ustream.tv
Scrabulous
The fact that I have 90% of the new iPhone features when I updated my iPod Touch with the new generation of software. That never happens.
GPS provided by Mr. T
Google Alerts
Thanks to twitterbook, cronjob.de, net2ftp.com, and e-rice.net, my "status" is everywhere whenever I update Facebook.
Sleep

(I told you it was minor awesomeness.)

Oh, and if you're a regular AdamTV viewer, please know that he's going on summer hiatus for a little while. We'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming as soon as possible.

Adam's First Fourth

2008-07-06T20:32:00.000-05:00

...and there was much rejoicing

2008-07-02T06:41:00.003-05:00

We gotta have grandparents over ALL THE TIME. Between my parents and Lydia's parents, Adam evidently got all played out!

Grandparents and Swimming!

2008-07-01T05:52:00.002-05:00

Adam Five Months with GPD and GMP and SWIMMING!

This weekend, Grandma Pat and Grandpa Dave came to visit. We had lots of fun... including something I've NEVER done before... we went SWIMMING!

Mom and Dad took me in this big pool thing at the YMCA. It was like a big bath with lots of people in it. It was cold, but I was brave! After I got used to it, it was lots of fun.

up and down, up and down

2008-06-25T06:15:00.007-05:00

Today's my first shot at riding public transportation to work. Lydia's coming downtown twice, and by eliminating my trip, we save about six bucks in gas.

Our fair city has a bus system as its sole form of public transportation. The one notable exception is the Music City Star, our lone rail line from downtown to the east. The bus system appears to be, at least at first glance on my trip, a great government institution: big, old, operational, and inefficient. When I got to the intersection where I boarded, the bus didn't stop at any of the bus stop signs. It stopped in the middle of a parking lot. I had to ask when I got on if I was supposed to get on there.

Also, in the first ten minutes I've been on this "express" bus, we've wound our way through five different back streets when we could have gone straight down Old Hickory Boulevard. Interestingly, on these back streets, we've picked up people along the way at "non bus stop" locations. It makes me think, of course, "well why can't I have a bus come straight down my street instead of making this ten minute walk in the morning??"

37X is a double bus, and when I boarded, I was passenger number two. A little awkward, because I had no idea where to sit. I made my way past the first passenger to the second half of the bus. Now that we're moving, I've figured out that there's more noise back here... it's where the engine is (duh.) So next time, closer to the front.

When I ran my trip on the website, it showed the fare as $1.35 each leg. When I boarded, it shows $1.85. I knew they were going to be raising the rates, but it's a little frustrating (read: "governmenty") that they haven't updated the information to the public. Since I'm on a one-way trip, I'm paying cash today, but in the future, I may go for a multi-ride ticket to make it even cheaper.

So far, the clientele on my ride is all business people... and I'm just inferring by state of dress and age that they're all government people. Since the main bus stop is right in the middle of a bunch of city and state government buildings, that's probably not a stretch. School's out, or we might have some magnet kids with us.

But, the real upside to the whole thing so far, if you haven't figured it out, is that my broadband card is working, and I can GET STUFF DONE on the trip instead of just sitting in my car by my lonesome on I-65. Or I could just blog. Which I am.

ridgecrest pics

2008-06-24T21:17:00.001-05:00

Ridgecrest Music Week 2008

conversation at 2:30 this morning

2008-06-22T22:00:00.001-05:00

P: Are you awake.
L: Yes.
P: Is he awake?
L: No.
P: Great. Now he's trained us to wake up in the middle of the night!

Isn't the parent supposed to train the son??

New Neighbors

2008-06-20T06:41:00.001-05:00

I didn't realize that our neighbors had the joy of new arrivals too! This morning, I found this nest of babies snoozing in the cherry tree in our front yard. I didn't see Mom nearby, but these kids seemed nice and snuggled up.

In about two or three years, someone in our house will be really excited if this happens again.

Adam eighteen weeks

2008-06-19T22:13:00.001-05:00

Adam's First Cereal

2008-06-19T06:01:00.001-05:00

After four and two-thirds months, we decided to see how Adam liked cereal. Bottom line, he does! I think he's watched Mom and Dad eat enough to understand how the process works.

worth reading...

2008-06-10T07:25:00.002-05:00

Decade-long friend, fellow bear and barrister-wordsmith Lyn Robbins is now blogging.

Sleep and Shake

2008-06-10T06:54:00.002-05:00

Dad and I went out for breakfast this morning. I slept.

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guitar heroes

2008-06-05T13:10:00.000-05:00

Patrick and Philip rocked it out on Memorial Day. Sara named their band "The Daddy Band."

six megabit download speed!

2008-06-04T08:27:00.002-05:00

If you're an Internet geek, you're probably not overly impressed that I'm getting this kind of connection speed... until I tell you that I'm sitting in a laundromat outside of Black Mountain, NC!

naming rights

2008-05-31T14:39:00.002-05:00

For the past two weeks at the Maryland Farms Y, the main women's locker room at the Y has been closed while it is being re-tiled. I'm sure it will be wonderful when it is finished, but in the meantime, everyone has to use the "Mommy and Me" family locker room, which is quite small. The first week wasn't so bad, but then school let out, day camp started, and the pool opened and it has been pandemonium ever since. I like to go leave Adam in the nursery, workout, and have a nice, quiet, hot shower, but this week the place has been overrun with kids coming in from the pool and day camp, plus the all the women who would normally be in the "big girl" locker room.

Anyway, the other day a mother was in there with her two children, named Christian and Baylor. I couldn't help thinking, will they name the next one "Waco"? Or, you could continue with the Baptist university theme and name him or her "Belmont." Of course, if it meant free tuition, I would have considered naming Adam "University of Tennessee."

interesting problem

2008-05-31T14:32:00.002-05:00

So, here I am typing away on my laptop (with a broadband wireless card) as Patrick drives us down the interstate, and I have a slight problem - the glare on my laptop screen. I thought of throwing Adam's blanket over my head and the screen. Tinted windows would help. One device causes the need for another device, which is another blog post entirely, having to do with traveling with a baby, but we'll save that for another time.

stuff patrick likes

2008-05-29T15:41:00.002-05:00

If you are in your mid-30s (or even if you're not) and grew up in an evangelical church, you owe it to yourself to check out stuffchristianslike.blogspot.com. I'm addicted.

happy four (month) birthday, Adam!

2008-05-27T20:41:00.003-05:00

Dear Adam,

It's been an exciting month! You've been on your first overnight trip, you've been to your first birthday party, and you've grown to almost double your birth weight.

Every time we take you somewhere, everyone says the same thing... "he's so beautiful" and "he's different every time we see him" and "he's so good all the time." Little do they know, huh?

Actually, you are good all the time. It's just that sometimes when you're hungry or wet or tired, you feel like you need us to know about it. Now. Loudly. I can't say that we're used to it.

The good part of you learning to communicate is still the smiles. And the laughs. We found a new game this month, "patty cake." Granted, I'm doing most of the work when we play, but you're having at least half the fun.

Now that you've found your toes, it'll only be a matter of time before you're rolling... and rolling and rolling. Your Mom and I will cherish these few months when we can count on you staying put.

It was a real blessing to be home this Memorial Day weekend and to let the three of us spend time together and with our friends. Monday, you and I got to play a lot, and today when I went to work, I really missed you.

You still make me prouder and prouder every day to be your Dad.

Love,

Dad

Adam sixteen weeks

2008-05-26T08:53:00.001-05:00

fifteen weeks

2008-05-21T04:26:00.000-05:00

Steve's Naturalization Ceremony

2008-05-17T07:02:00.006-05:00

Our friend Steve became a real, live U.S. American on Friday! Lydia and Adam came and picked me up at lunchtime to go to the Estes Kefauver federal building in Nashville where Steve took the oath of citizenship. He was born in Hong Kong a few years back, so he's had a United Kingdom passport.

It was the first time Lydia or I or Adam (of course) had gotten the opportunity to be a part of one of these ceremonies, and I highly recommend it. There were sixty new U.S. citizens that day, from the middle east, central and south America, Europe, Africa, the far east... I think the only continents we missed were Australia and Antarctica. It's great to see the melting pot in person.

Non-baby book firsts for Adam:

First walk in a crosswalk
First time in a courtroom
First naturalization ceremony
First time through security (but around the metal detector in the stroller)

back on ustream!

2008-05-14T07:12:00.001-05:00

And now part of the main menu! Look to the far right column on this page and you'll find AdamTV