Just realized that I'm on daddy duty for the upcoming entire long weekend. Tracy's working the weekend and the holiday. So that should be interesting. Brought Lucy over to Grandma Daycare early this morning since I had to get back for my early work meeting. Weather seems pretty weird. Cool, at least for the 10-15 minutes I'm outside a day. Odd considering the earlier heat this summer and it's now almost July. Go figure. NBA Free Agency started, and it's kind of crazy because LeBron is available. Crazy. I would have hoped Chicago would go after Bosh hard, because they should have like 2 years ago. Then once they have Bosh in hand, try and work it to get Lebron or Wade. But Bosh first. We'll see if that's what they do. Seems like the smart move. Otherwise, I'd love to see a couple different superteams form. Also would like to see a bunch of 1 year super deals. Guns for hire. And players opting for shorter contracts, instead of longer guaranteed monies. Creates that hype every 2-3 years. Makes things interesting. Makes teams wary, keeps them on their toes.

For a new project at work I'm playing with Google Visualizations, and loving the Annotated Time Line. It's the same visual chart used for Google Finance, except you get to use your own data. Seriously pretty cool. Very very polished. Tempted to start using it for everything. Also looking at flot, if it turns out that I can't use the Google stuff. Wait and see. Tracy worked the evening shift today so she brought Lucy over this morning. I got to pick her up and take care of her for the evening. Starting to think Lucy can only go to bed when Tracy's around. I spent about an hour trying to get Lucy to go down, and after Tracy got off work, showed up, held Lucy for a little, tried to feed her a little, and then she went right to bed. No troubles at all. Lucy's nowhere near an overnight schedule, at least it seems she isn't. A couple nights ago she slept from like 10pm to 5am. But last night and maybe 2 nights before, she was up at 2:30am for a feeding. Used my lunch break today to run a couple errands. It's still pretty cool being able to run an errand like that on my lunch break. Also, birds seem to hang out on the skylight on the doghouse on the deck. Kind of crazy. First time we heard scratching, sounded like animals inside the house, turns out they're just hanging out on the little stairway doghouse. Odd.

Went for a run after dropping Lucy off early today. I only went up to Irving Park, but it was really hard and my body is really sore. Crazy. But it actually makes me feel pretty good. I'm hoping i can keep it up, maybe twice a week at least? That'd be good for a start. Lucy pretty much let us know she wanted to go to bed at 9pm tonight. I was getting her swalled, and had put her dowin the crib, and she quieted right down. And we had been playing soft lullaby music on repeat, and we could see on the baby monitor that she was still up, so eventually we turned off the music, and then she stopped tossing and turning and started snoozing, Thata's crazy. Loving the Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit. It really is much nicer viewing images in hand rather than on a computer screen. Only wish I could do ratings within the photos app. Sure would be nice. Also would be nice to be able to create and edit albums on the iPad. Maybe someday. Trying to plow through the leftovers in the fridge. Got all the meat from the last BBQ.

Friday night met up with a bunch of the boys for dinner since Raz was in town. Always good to see everyone, but still a little strange. Seems like for most of them it gets to be longer and longer between hang outs as get further and further removed from anything ultimate related. It'll be really weird in 2014 when i'll have been away from ultimate longer than I had been playing. And i'm sure that date will come up sooner than I think. Tried to take some photos, but only 4 came out ok, and 2 were of Bjorn. Saturday was our first family trio down to Green City Market. Drove down because we wanted to use the Bob, and i don't feel comfortable taking it on the bus yet (I think it's too big). Got a parking spot right in front of the Old Town location of delightful pastries. Ended up back there for lunch after he market, which was super convenient. Looking forward to when Lucy's old enough to enjoy the market. Tracy finally got to make dinner Saturday night, and got some lamb to satisfy her craving. Sunday was another lazy day, peeked t the Pride parade through the back balcony door while enjoying the air conditioning. Made a couple strawberry rhubarb pies. They're ok. Went to dinner at my parents, they brought food in for my mom's birthday which was on Saturday, but she threw a party for someone else that day.

Got my Apple Wireless Keyboard today. Signed for by someone I don't recognize. But still, they don't bother to ring the doorbell for all the units they're delivering items to? So that means I'm typing this out on my iPad via the keyboard. It's pretty freaking' sweet. Seriously, I'll probably never get another laptop ever again. Just more iPads. Would be nicer if the keyboard was a bit smaller, so that it matched the size of the iPad in landscape. But still, super convenient. My Wish for Apple? To create a Mac mini with an iPad dock that magically turns into a touch screen for the computer. Then you could still sync it up with iTunes and stuff. Got to do the early morning feeding for Lucy last night, and she wouldn't go to bed right away. Eventually just put her in the crib and she feel asleep eventually, not even needing the pacifier. Hopefully we're doing the whole sleep thing properly. Seem to be, except it certainly seems like we're spending less time with her awake than ever. Also, not sure if she's starting to want to hang out with us, so she doesn't want to sleep. She's started to have a fussy hour before bedtime. Need to standardize our soothing methods. Don't want to have to keep using Tracy's milk makers. Made yet another Jewel run after dropping Lucy off this morning, and they still don't have the bread we want. Made myself a ham, egg and cheese english muffin for breakfast though. Pretty sweet. Mom made dinner for us again, which was nice, and we ate there, so we didn't even have to clean up. Which is good because I just finally figured out how to put the plug for the kitchen sink in properly such that you can remove it without pliers. NBA Draft was tonight, and didn't seem too interesting. Lots of trading action, but didn't seem like any action for lottery picks. No real drama at the top.

Yet Another Wednesday. Brought Lucy early this morning because of a meeting i thought i had, which ended up being cancelled. And then another meeting of mine ended up getting pushed back repeatedly until it finally made it to tomorrow. We heard some shouting and yelling and loud thumbs from the downstairs neighbors, then I realized they were watching US in the World Cup. I also turned it on in the background, really only catching the exciting parts after we heard the reaction downstairs. That was pretty cool. Continuing with leftovers for all the meals. I did put a fried egg on the bleu cheese burger though. That was good. Also made myself an iced coffee, which was also good. Drobo rebuild completed. Started the next one, with an estimated time of 51 hours. And then of course there was the storm and tornado warnings, which made me think if the oower went out during the rebuild that I'd loose all my data, which is currently around 3 TB of media mostly. Kind of crazy to think about. I wonder how long until i'll have to upgrade again, and maybe at that point hard drives will be up to 3 or 4 TB. Wait and see. Also have enough drives I could get a backup Drobo. Hmmmm.

Yet another Tuesday. That's all. Accidentally turned off the baby monitor at 5 am this morning without then getting up to check on the baby. Ended up hearing her cries 15 minutes later without it, but definitely strange for me to have just reached over to turn it off. I'll blame it on the sleep deprivation. Still plowing through the leftovers for all the meals, but still went to the grocery store on the way back from dropping Lucy off this morning. Ordered up an iPad for my mom's birthday, but zero chance she'll have it for her actual birthday this Saturday. My mom also made us dinner, so we stayed for that when we went to pick Lucy up this evening. It's a bit warm out, that's for sure. Drobo rebuild down to about 13 hours. Still haven't figured out folder organization under iOS 4 on my iPhone. I don't actually have that many apps, so not sure if I need to use folders at all.

iOS 4 released today. Updated Tracy and my iPhone 3GSs with no problems. Very slick. I do wonder what, if any functionality, Tracy will actually use on it. Best thing for me? Updated iBooks with iPad and iPhone syncing. So now, if I do leave the house with only an iPhone, I can pickup where I left off in reading on the iPad. It's the little things. Can't wait for theiPad to catch up. Also, my Drobo rebuild last night was estimated at 79 hours, but now down to about 40. And then I have to do it again. Awesome. As for baby news, Lucy had a poop at Grandma's daycare; this is news because it's been a couple days. Started to get a little worried, but not too worried, be use she wasn't being too fussy about it. And she was peeing all the time, nice and clear. But it's normal. The developmental changes are gonna be hard to get used to, with things being different day to day, week to week, when I like consistency so much. Lots of leftovers from the party, so got plenty to eat for a while.

I missed updating last Thursday and Friday. Been awhile since I've done that. Thursday night I can blame it on taking care of Lucy since Tracy worked that night. Friday I can also blame on taking care of Lucy, even though Tracy was home on her day off, Lucy was still around all day. Anyway, I think I've convinced my mom to get an iPad. She tried it out a little when I picked up Lucy on Thursday. Figur it'd be perfect for her needs. Doesn't need a full fledged computer, just a bigger emailing and photo browsing device. Maybe we can sneak it in there for her birthday somehow. So since Tracy didn't work Friday, she worked Saturday, which meant i was on duty. Theee's been some questions on Tracy's milk production, and since she was working, we decided to try feeding Lucy formula. She took it, which is good, and no vomit or diarrhea, so doesn't look like any adverse reactions to this stuff at a least. But Tracy's managed to produce enough for feedings after that, so the next time she gets formula is possibly sometime tonight, since Tracy has the early shift tomorrow. We're also trying to implement some tips and plans and suggestions from they healthy sleep, healthy baby book. So that's interesting. Hoping it's working. On my first Father's Day had family over for a BBQ. Also figured out an Automator workflow to backup iTunes purchases, so after that finished started the drobo expansion. Hoping it goes well. Tomorrow is iOS 4 release day. Kind of excited. After using my iPad for a couple weeks, the iPhone kind of feels like a toy, with the size and weight differences and the plastic back.

Third day of Grandma day care, and it's going well. Apparently Lucy sleeps a lot while she's over there. I dropped her off extra early this morning since I had a meeting, then went with Tracy to pick her up after work. That was nice. Also got more diapers and a couple more hard drives for the Drobo today. Still really odd that things get delivered but they don't bother to ring our door. I know it's probably the neighbors, but still, kind of annoying. Possible news on the old home front, my mom has someone interested in buying 601. Crazy. Would mean I don't have that spare residence anymore, and that I'd actually have to file a change of address. I still get tons of catalogs and stuff at that address. Continuing to love the Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit. Took a photo on the iPhone, transferred it to the iPad, uploaded it to Flickr with FlickrStackr, then pulled off the iPad when it got synced to the Mac mini. So roundabout. But it works. I also need to start carrying the camera with me again. Not that I'm missing anything spectacular, but it's kind of a waste if it doesn't get used. Also, I'm suggesting an iPad 3G to my mom for use in computing in the city. She's using her iPhone currently, but if she can do the same stuff on a bigger screen, instead of getting a new laptop or something, she'll be better off. I'll bring by mine tomorrow so she can try it out. I didn't want to do the hand me down of this Macbook to her and then I'd get a new one. I don't think I want anyone else to use this laptop. Too old, fan spins up too easily, probably a slow HD, and only 2GB of RAM, and only a Core Duo.

Nice getting the baby back. Not so nice when she's fussy though. Up late last night, or really early this morning, doing the feeding and trying to get her back to sleep. Did mean I was up early enough to see the new Mac mini released. Very fancy looking. Not sure why it'd be tempting, but maybe for photo management, and just have it attached to the back of the TV. Would be nice. A complete luxury though. Got the Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit today, and it's awesome. Much nicer checking which photos to keep or delete on the iPad vs. trying to view them through iPhoto through Remote Desktop. Only issue, still have to sync to Mac mini to upload to Flickr, since I'm unhappy with the Flickr.app for the iPhone. They don't even have an iPad version. Almost tempted to create a Flickr uploader app that works with RAW imports on the iPad. Would be nice. Maybe someone else will make it. Have I mentioned that I've been trying to do crosswords on the iPad? Trying to stimulate the old noggin'. Work computing got more interesting. Outsourced Exchange means I just set up Mail.app to connect. Almost means I don't have to use Outlook anymore. Pretty sweet. Also using Synergy+ to use the Macbook trackpad and keyboard to control the work computer. Works pretty well with the work computer local and the Macbook VPN'd. Very useful. Also using Dropbox to keep working files in sync. Of course that also doesn't work through the VPN currently.

Walked Lucy over to Abando Condo II for Gramma Day Care this morning. Definitely looked around many times while working today wondering where the baby was, or that it was really quiet, and wondered where the noise was. But really started missing her when I was uploading photos. But thanks to my mom for providing free day care. But I'm sure we're going to start to feel like we're missing out on all sorts of stuff. Wait and see. Saturday went out to the 'burbs to get the car checked for Freon leaks, which they didn't find. Did some shopping too. Lucy's getting a little bit more fussy so it isn't super easy to take her shopping. She's a bit more aware of her surroundings. Ended up getting Panda Express for dinner. Sunday went to Mydel's graduation party, showed off Lucy some more, then dropped by the Russells to see Sarah and Gavin and Marla. Nice hanging out for an afternoon. And got some Steak n' Shake for dinner. So not the best diet this weekend.

Worked really late last night, kind of shifted my hours yesterday. So paid for it today. Yesterday April came and visited, so all the girls went out for the day, to lunch, gelato and some shopping. They were nice and brought me back a hamburger from Nookies Tree. April was also nice enough to run out and get some milk and bread for us. Thanks! Lucy also got her social security number yesterday so now she'll get to start paying taxes and worrying about getting her identity stolen. I actually went and got a haircut this morning, since my stylist will be splitting time between the Boystown and Wicker Park locations. Finally decided to try Wyse PocketCloud RDP for iPad, and it works like a charm. Means I can just use the iPad when I'm out and about and need to monitor the data load for week when I'm on for the week. Very very nice. Decided to just pull the trigger because Jaadu Remote Desktop still isn't iPad friendly. But when it does become iPad friends, I'll switch to it in a heartbeat because of how much I love iTeleport. So almost have no need for the Macbook anymore, except I'm typing this up on it right now. But if I get a bluetooth keyboard to connect to the iPad, well, then, no need for the laptop at all. Headed back out to the burbs tomorrow to see if they can find the freon leak in the car. Also get to do a little shopping. Sunday got a graduation party to go to in E-Town. Oh, got a baby monitor from my Sony Points today, which means Lucy's sleeping in her crib tonight.

Brought Lucy in with us when Tracy went in for her post birth checkup. So, she took her first bus ride. Yay. Brought my iPad with, and could have signed up for a 3G data plan, but decided against it. Not really needed, yet. Speaking of 3G service, I downgraded Tracy and my iPhones to the Data Plus plan. I hover around 180-190MB/month, while Tracy has a paltry 50MB/month. No need to keep paying an extra $30 a month for both of us for data we aren't using, and probably won't use any more of since I work from home. Tried watching Game 6 of the Stanley Cup, but couldn't finish it. Too exciting. Really fast. And the momentum changes were staggering. But I managed to flip back shortly after the Blackhawks won. That was cool. And I know it isn't the home team, but getting booed for winning the championship? Gotta be a bit of a buzzkill. It'd be like getting booed at the birth of Lucy. Related and annoying? The helicopters in Wrigleyville and the whooping on the street. Got our first Amazon Prime order in, roughly a day after it was ordered. That's impressive. And addictive. I could totally get used to this.

Wet and rainy day. Not that I would know, since I was indoors. Didn't leave, didn't step foot out on the deck, didn't taste fresh air once today. Whoops. Know how I switched to using Windows 7 for work because I thought it had a more stable VPN? It does, but it still managed to go down a couple times today. Which makes me think it's my network. Of course, right now, it's a house of cards. Work computer to 802.11b/g access point connected as a wireless client to another 802.11b/g access point which is connected via ethernet to a 802.11n access point extending the network from another 802.11n access point which is plugged into the cable modem. So lots of possible failure points there. Found out my hair stylist will be splitting her hours with the new Robert Jeffrey Wicker Park location, which means I won't be getting my hair cut on Saturdays anymore. Weekdays it is. First time trying out Amazon Prime ordering up some diapers and k-cups for the Keurig. Picked the wrong coffee, possibly, because I went for variety instead of cost. We'll see how it turns out.

Got my Apple iPad Case today, a couple days before estimated delivery by FedEx. Always nice. And they actually ran the doorbell, because they needed a signature. Odd. I have gotten pretty used to the naked iPad, so the case only goes on when the iPad goes out. Saturday went out shopping at Knupper's and Home Depot. Much more difficult heading out with a baby. Worried about overheating, worried about feedings. Not so easy. Ended up ordering food from Adesso for dinner, and leftovers on Sunday night. After the outing on Saturday, just stayed in on Sunday and napped on the couch. WWDC 2010 opened this morning, and Apple announced the iPhone 4. Impressive. Wonder when other devices like laptops and iPads get the retina display. Wonder if the gyroscope means a fancy new Apple TV remote. Really like that FaceTime will get pushed as a standard, for other manufacturers to use. Wonder when you'll have FaceTime with an Android user. Happy that iOS 4 is getting pushed out for free. Wonder when the iPad version will get pushed out. Also happy with iBooks eventually making over to the iPhone. Actually, should be in just a couple weeks. Crazy.

Had a cryer today. Lucy was just really really fussy. Not sure why. She had a little bit of a rash on the back of her neck. Hopefully that'll go away after the bath tonight. But fed, changed, and wouldn't burp, and still fussy. Hoping we haven't spoiled her already. It's odd though, because she doesn't like sleeping on her back during the day, but then has no problems usually overnight. And she's been sleeping around 5 hours at the longest overnight. Which is nice. Also, the SnuggleMe is like magic. Oh, we ordered diapers from Amazon the other day, and they offered free 2 day shipping, which was nice, because I wanted to try out Amazon Prime, pretty much for baby supplies. And what happens? They decide to give me 3 free months of Amazon Prime to get me addicted to it. Think we should start using it for dry goods, as well as baby supplies. Gotta hit up Knupper's this weekend, need more plants to replace the ones that died on the front balcony. Oh, for work, I'm tempted to upgrade the work computer to Windows 7, because the Windows XP VPN keeps dropping, while the Windows 7 Parallels machine connects and stays connected just fine. Also need to figure out how to keep all my SQL scripts and documents in sync though. I think I'll be working from the laptop for a while.

Totally just lost an entry because the iPad couldn't keep the webpage open in the background because of the memory limitations. Kind of annoying. Anyway, had Greg from Comfortable Heating come out and take a look at the Air Conditioner. No problems, only had to clean out the condenser coils. Ends up it was the company that installed the HVAC for the building. Felt good to get some service done on the house. Like it was smart thing to do. And now that we have a HVAC guy, I'm looking at the ecobee again, and maybe an automatic humidifier. Not so necessary that we're both working from home. Wait and see I guess. Tracy took Lucy on a walk this afternoon to the lake. She also logged on to her work machine to check in her schedule, since she goes back to work in a little over a week. Otherwise, just working. Ordered up a baby monitor with my Sony Points. Something I should have done a long time ago. Whoops.

I don't know how single parents do it. I had to take care of Lucy today by myself while Tracy had a doctor's appointment. Probably more difficult than it would be in the future, because of the limited supply of breast milk, but still, childcare isn't easy. Did some work late last night/early this morning, adjusted for the doctor's appointment yesterday and babysitting today. I'm playing movies in the background while working, and hard trying to find the talking movies, the ones you don't have to see the action, but can get away with just listening. Kind of on a musical kick though, Singin' in the Rain today and maybe West Side Story tomorrow. Think there's a problem with our air conditioning. So calling someone tomorrow to get it checked out hopefully. Sounds like it's trying to start up, but doesn't have enough umph to keep running.

Lucy had her 4 week checkup today. Still growing. Everything's good. So that's nice. Totally forgot that we had an appointment to get the Volvo serviced Saturday morning, so we spent the day out in the 'burbs at the in-laws, borrowed a car to drop off the car at the dealer (the A/C was acting pretty weak). Ended up the Freon was low, so they replaced it, and added a dye, so when we go back in a couple weeks they can try and track down the leak. So we contributed to the hole in the ozone layer. Sunday my parents came in, babysat while Tracy and I had brunch at Minibar and shopped a little at Gap and picked up some Paciugo Gelato and took naps. Monday was pretty lazy, we might have tried to go somewhere if the weather had cooperated, but no luck. Instead, I redid the wireless networking. Don't think I could extend extend an Apple Wireless network. So put the cable modem/main Airport Extreme base station back in the nursery (it's high up on top of a bookshelf), and extended the network to the living room and the master bedroom. Which means I should have much better coverage on the roof. Which means I could work on the roof. We finally caught up on Glee. And plowed though some more DVR, so we don't have much left anymore. I've been going on a slight ecomic book buying spree. It's just so cool to read them on the iPad. Still loving that thing. Haven't had to activate 3G service yet though. Wondering when the first time will be.