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We were in Go Home a few nights ago One of our favorite stores. Every time we are in Uptown without kids we spend quite a bit of time there. Last night?s acquisition was a weeble bottle opener. Now we need to have screen porch time this Friday or at least sometime soon.

Uptown lost Campiello recently. That was news to us. Too many cool places have bit the dust since the cloud of what will happen with Calhoun Square. I miss Borders, I miss Beezwax. And I actually miss The Smiling Moose. Even the Gap was the loss despite being a chain.

We went to Barbette on the same night. Done with that place for awhile - atmosphere much better than drinks. We finished the night at Zeno. Either they just added liquor or we missed it before. Great drinks — Adam had a Not So Classic Cosmo — we both loved it. I had the Coast to Coast — it was good but not like Adam?s. The waiter talked us into a drink that wasn?t on the menu. How could you not order it? It was gin, orange juice, pom and sugar. I might be missing something in there but it was amazing. I?m wanting to get back soon to have that one again.

We still contend that if Lucias or the Uptown Bar vacate, we will need to seriously consider our decision to live here. We are not here because of the stellar schools. But with Zeno?s new drinks and Go Home — it?s not a bad place to live.

I?m pretty excited about the InStyle Shopping Site — it makes the lazy way of shopping (internet) even better with by consolidated multiple sites/brands in one engine: http://www.instyle.com/instyle/products/0,,,00.html I just wish the site hate better searching capabilities and a larger display of items. The sideways navigation takes awhile to get used to. But overall, I?m pretty excited about it.

It?s June 21st and I still haven?t planted anything in the yard. May was cold. June started out with a nasty stomach bug and storms. Now I need to just get down to getting this one task done this weekend. Alex has swimming and a birthday party today. We are also getting a roof estimate. Somewhere in all that I need to go to the garden place and see what is left. Beggars cannot be choosers. Meanwhile all Owen wants to do is play in the basement. Eventually we need to be outside. Tomorrow, Craiger and the rents are coming over to help with the monster A/C for the living room. I?m liking no A/C. I hate the fake air. I say that in June. Let?s see what the story is in August.

Owen is on the sit and spin now. That is a classic toy only today?s version has music and lights. Lord forbid that kids play with only one stimulation. Let?s try to develop all senses at the same time. Feeling bad for Autistic kids with today?s toys….

Owen started visiting preschool this week and loves it. He?s in the same class as Alex. And now we found out that Alex has been accepted into half day kindergarten in Edina just to complicate matters. I had no idea that kindergarten could create this much stress. Makes work stress seem minor in comparison.

We?ve been in our house 7 years now. Last night we were looking at old pictures and it?s amazing how much we have done with the house over the years. Probably not a lot compared to most people but considering we have 2 small kids, not bad. Of course, now we have entered the phase of the kids breaking the house. And when I say kids, I really mean Owen. Boys are very, very different than girls.

I feel like I have at most 3 hours a week of downtime (taking out kid time, house time, laundry time, and work). Maybe I should start capturing metrics so I can see where my time is going. Probably pointless but might be telling. Hmmm… must ponder if I can do actually do that. I should also do the same activity with $$$.

After 2 Windows systems have turned on me, I meandered into the Apple store and switched teams, for home anyway. So far pretty darn happy. I?m looking forward to actually doing something with the video that we have in boxes. That?s my goal and now I have the tools to actually deliver.

• 1 — Sometimes you just need a beer (this counts if it is at home — self-contained happy hour)
• 2 — Really good for meaningful conversations
• 3 — really good with a round table, awkward at rectangle table — looks like a firing line
• 4 to 6 — good number, small enough for decent conversation but not easy to break away from conversation if you aren’t interested in the main discussion
• 8 to 12 — difficult to have one conversation and prone to conversation envy based on where you are sitting
• 12 or more — location issues based on seating but more flexibility moving around the group for side conversations if there are people standing

 

Alex quotes books in much the same way that Adam and I quote TV shows.  She has a talent for memorizing the words and working them into her day.  This especially holds true for a book about rules:  “No Biting.  What can you bite?  An Apple.”  Such a great book (No Biting! by Karen Katz) for ilustrating the judgement of behavioral decisions.  So armed with my book, I have a quick fix for Owen’s pinching of my face.  I would read the book of some general rules to the little pincher and he would learn right and wrong much like Alex did.  I read 2 words of the book and he took the book and threw it across the room.  Point taken. 

I’m starting to think that it would be nice to have text messaging on home phones (landlines).  It would be useful for quick messages that don’t need any security (can be read by anyone).  It would also be very beneficial if the person is on the phone and does not have multiple lines.  But, I haven’t looked into this at all – it’s probably not a new concept.