A Winter of Green

We’ve got a boatload of ‘firsts’ ahead of us so before reality sets in; we’re taking a few days to escape the normal rush of things. It’s winter. Let’s head for the mountains!

This winter has thrown me for a loop. December came and went. January has arrived and we’re yet to get any material amount of snow. Doesn’t Ol’ Man Winter know that my electric boots were made for walkin’?! And that’s just not what they’re going to do unless temperatures dip below chilly here in the DC Metro Area. Get it together, Winter. Get it together.

Fortunately for me, Wintergreen Ski Resort has enough snow making potential to cover a football field with 37’ of snow in 24 hours. We visited from Thurs-Sunday and spent most of our time enjoying Jake and each other’s company. The weather was all over the place. It was clear on Friday, nasty on Saturday, and rainy on Sunday.

I skied on Saturday, which was the perfect way to test my new GoPro. The GoPro is a lot of fun. I need to keep in mind, however, that it captures all of my moments: good and bad. …like the moment at the end of the video when I get lost on the mountain. Left? Right? Map. Right? Left? Map. Oh forget it…

The surface was good but the story of the day was the visibility (or lack there of).

We had a lot of fun. It was tough at times for Ali to get around but she managed real well. We’re happy to be home in our own bed and ready to take on the year ahead of us.

Operation: Rolling Pitter-Pat

Having just discovered the gender of our baby, the Doc wrote the secret onto a piece of paper and sealed it in an envelope. There it would keep until the Baker converted the news into confectionery intel. Like concentric circles, here's how our closest peeps learned of our (forthcoming) baby boy!

Taking the envelope from the Doc's office to the Bakery was torturous. We had to force each other to leave the envelope unopened. After a few days, the cake was finally ready. I went and picked it up alone. Of course, the Baker-lady who brought me the cake knew the secret. She laughed and joked knowingly while I quietly freaked out a little bit. Ali and I had our own little private reveal party on Oct 28th. We cut into the cake and...BLUE!

I "disclosed" mom on a Sunday early in November. We had to force the issue a bit. Grammy-to-be was having the kitchen remodeled but the construction schedule had been totally blown. This created a big dilemma since my idea was to put a balloon in a gift cleverly disguised as a house/remodel warming gift. As the construction schedule got longer (and longer), it started to encroach on the whole-family Thanksgiving announcement. Eventually, it couldn't delay any longer so I forced the issue. She cried when she opened the gift and sooo...success!

We told our immediate family on Thanksgiving via t-shirt message. Ali and I wore t-shirts made with a status bar and read, "Baby Loading. Please wait..." Once we took off our jackets, boom! The secret was out. Ali was showing at this point and there was no hiding our secret any longer. Oddly enough, I can't find a picture of us in our t-shirts. Sorry, world. You'll just have to use your imagination.

Got a few extra hours? Search for 'gender reveal ideas' and...there goes your afternoon. Don't forget to finish my post though... There are so many creative ideas out there. It's impossible not to get caught-up in the excitement; instantly wanting to do some ridiculous number of them (and do something totally unique - which is way more difficult than it sounds)

The Day Ali's Been Waiting For

San Francisco has it's pluses and minuses. Pluses, for example, include the year-round weather, it's the center of the Tech universe and boasts convenient proximity to destinations like Tahoe, Sonoma and Carmel.

It has it's downside too, though. The hipster population density, homeless situation and cost of living are all frightful. Aghh! The later means that apartments are modest in size by American standards. In total, our Nob Hill apartment had 1 bedroom and was less than 550 square feet. It was also the most expensive apartment we've ever rented. It meant that we needed to be a bit creative and always put things away.

Truthfully, we loved that apartment. Not as much as Back Bay but close. We both walked to and from our offices (uphill both ways - seriously). The Victorian architecture and Cable Cars reminded us daily that we were living a special adventure. We had convenient access to everything we could ever need. There was hardly a reason to own a car.

In Maryland, things are different. When Ali & I were looking at apartments, we were amazed at the amount of space (and cost) of what we needed. I never thought I'd say this but...wifey, go buy more stuff! We have more space than we know what to do with!!

Anniversary Getaway

It was 4 years ago Thursday (past) that wifey and I took the plunge into matrimony. What better reason than an anniversary to get acquainted with the Virginia wine scene!?

We called The Inn at Meander Plantation ‘home’ for the weekend and really enjoyed it. Part of the fun was trying to keep Jake out of trouble. The young lad wanted nothing more than to go investigate ALL of the other animals on the plantation. We were on constant watch while walking around the grounds – if it wasn’t the horses that kept us on our toes, then it was the skunk, fox, rabbit, groundhog, or other dogs.

We stayed in one of the little shed/hut things that weren’t attached to the main house. The horse pasture was directly behind us. You can see the fence in the background of this picture. This is where the horses (Lightfoot and Gizmoe) would say, “hello” to us each morning.

 
We visited two fine establishments while in Virginia wine country. The first was the Belmont Farm Distillery (my choice). This was really cool in an ol’ moonshiners-sort-of-way. In fact, this place is just a little bit famous for being in the show, appropriately titled, Moonshiners.

 
This place was cool. Whether deliberate or not, it feels like they’re doing something not entirely legal. They are, however, quick to point out all of the various ways that they’re complying with VA ABC rules and regulations. We brought home a bottle of Kopper Kettle Whiskey, Virginia Lightning Cherry Whiskey, and a mug. Who doesn’t need one more mug??

Of the wines that we tasted while in VA, we liked the Cab Franc from Old House Vineyards the most. We stopped by that vineyard on our way out of town. There will be no pictures of the Old House Vineyards posted today – they’re earned a place on the ‘jerk’ side of the room. …we still bought their wine though.

Jake's New Digs

It's hard to say who's adjusting best to our new home best. Truthfully, we're all feeling a little bit nostalgic and thinking, wow...this is a whole lot of suburb. Jake and I were walking around the neighborhood last week. We came to an intersection, I looked up and remarked that we were at the intersection of Pleasant Drive, Pleasant Circle and Pleasant Way. Jake confirmed. We looked at each other knowing that we should move along before the universe lurched and swallowed us into the permanent void.

There's a small dog park near our Apt but, in defiant fashion, we prefer the people parks! Our 'go-to park' is Needwood. The streams are enough for Jake to wade around and cool down. We had storms recently so the water levels are higher than usual.

We've taken note of many 'Dog Must Remain On Leash' signs. Surely, they aren't serious about that? Don't they know that Jake's in town? This one's taken at Black Hills. It's really weird that I grew up frequenting these places...only to return in my 30's.

Needwood is a squirrel rich environment. Jake approves. When he's not chasing the tennis ball, he's chasing a squirrel. Sometimes he does both simultaneously.

And, of course, the Deleware beaches. A big "Thanks!" to my Aunt and Uncle for letting us stay for a weekend in their DE house.

I hope Jake's enjoying the new home. I bet he's missing his SF pack a bit but we're trying our best to find him a new one!

It's Me or the Beanbag...Don't Answer That

We have this ridiculous (there, I said it) convertible beanbag thing leftover from our move. You might even recognize it. We used it to make the biggest softest bed imaginable for Jake. By all accounts, it did that!

Full disclosure: It also barfed foamy bits all over the car and house. It was also too high for Jake to jump up onto so now my back hurts. It also made it real tough to see out the back window. And now, it occupies a space in our new place.

On the other hand... Jake loves it. And, well, look at him!

The funny story behind this poof of furniture is that we TRIPLE stuffed it. Accidentally. When you order this thing, they offer to send you a second batch of stuffing should you want the marshmallow to be more firm. We accepted their offer. A couple days later, we get a delivery notification but no package. The following day we officially declared the package stolen and called the Company. They were very kind and resent the stuffing. Which arrived safely a couple days later.  Guess what arrived a few days after that!? Yep, the 2nd batch of stuffing.

Feeling like my masculinity was in doubt, I stuffed all 3 batches into the liner and then the case. See how that zipper looks like it's going to bust in that 2nd pic? Yeah. Masculinity restored.

3 Tips for DIY-ers

I love a good DIY project. For a guy that spends more time doing email than virtually anything else, some manual labor (especially if it's a creative outlet) is a welcome project. Here are 3 oft overlooked tips for folks who enjoy the occasional project and the stuff that comes with it.

Time it. Juuuust right. 

DIY projects are like homemade cinnamon buns: you've gotta let 'em bake before unveiling the goodness. OK, ok...horrible analogy. I agree. The literal explanation is even worse.

What I mean is: don't just jump right into the project! You've gotta let the buns bake for a few. It's about managing expectations. Be forewarned: should you make short work of the first project, you're only accelerating the second project (and third and ...) and increasing future complexity.

So how long should you wait before kicking-off the project? Here's my tried and true methodology. First, conservatively estimate the number of hours required to complete the project. Better to over estimate. Second, delay for that many weeks. Third, ta-daah.

Get it in Writing

David's first law of DIY states, "as project commencement nears, the value of verbal commitments to assist decline towards absolute zero." I'll even go one step further and identify a "verbal" for what it is: a bargaining tactic. These are high-pressure negotiation tactics used to pressure you into doing the project.

Verbals are like a 4-legged stool. Each leg of the stool represents a good reason to accept the project. When one of the legs is removed, the stool will still stand. Be prepared to identify and react to these (and other) dirty negotiation tactics.

Keep 'em Coming

DIY projects are an important part of one's identity. And it's important to do a project each quarter so that folks identify you as a DIY-er. This is a key to workshop bliss! Why? Because there are opportunities throughout the year when someone might be inclined to give you a gift. It's at these times that you should refer them to your wishlist of awesome-but-less-than-essential tools. Laser level? Electric sander? Portable jump-starter? Yes, YEs and YES!

I refinished a shelf over the weekend. The piece looks great and I had a good time doing it. Onto the next one! ...but not until Q3, of course.