Most likely my last 2011 post. Christmas was good. Christmas Eve at Mike and Amy's with the in-laws, then Christmas Day at home with Lucy while Tracy worked before heading out to the Argaos for Christmas Day. Spent the night out there. Lucy ended up in our bed, of course. Monday did some shopping in Naperville, as the Aurora shops were just crazy busy. We just drove by, which worked out in our favor as Lucy got her nap in during the drive. Dinner at Weber Grill with a food allergy issue for Tracy, a little craziness from Lucy due to the late dinner. Tuesday I had to go back to work but all the cousins got to go to Children's Museum at Navy Pier and the Winter Wonderland. They spent like 6 hours there, no naps. And then they came over for pizza, and I took a too long way home and picked up more cupcakes from More and Sprinkles. So that ended up being the 4th straight late night for Lucy, 2 hours later than her usual bedtime. Last night picked up a couple cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery, so now I think there might be only a couple more to check out, but More is still the best of the bunch so far. I've got to stay late at work Friday and come in on Saturday due to building power issues. Tracy's headed back out to her parents for the night tonight. She brought Lucy out there yesterday for a couple days. My parents are back, safe and sound, and recuperating. We'll see them on New Year's Day. Ok, maybe another post later recapping the year.

Seriously? Christmas?  Like 4 days away?  Crazy. Weather doesn't feel like December. Oh well. Trying to finish up some projects at work. The usual year end fire drill. Finished up watching season 2 of Blue Mountain State. Didn't realize the 3rd season was what was actually on TV earlier this year. Netflix's library is fairly extensive, and may be big enough to look into the option of cancelling cable. Used up my remaining Sony Rewards points and got a white Sony Wi-Fi Reader PRS-T1. Tracy might take it, but I think for now it's a spare. I might try using it when I start The Mortal Instruments series, which Tracy is reading. eReaders sure have advanced in the four or five years since my PRS-505. 

Less than a week before Christmas, and finally got around to ordering some presents for Lucy. Yay for Amazon Prime. Watered the tree for the first time since I can remember. Kind of surprising, because I got some ornament water meter device that's supposed to flash red when the level gets past a certain level. I thought for sure it was dry, but there's still water in there. Crazy. Not going to be fun trying to clean that up in a couple weeks. Do they make special tree trash bags? Lost one of my Seirus Xtreme All Weather Gloves Sunday morning when I took Lucy down to More and Pierrot Gourmet for cupcakes and macaroons respectively. Must have fell out of my pocket when I took Lucy's hat out when getting off the bus. A usual Saturday, Green City Market, Nature Museum. Busy because of the Jingle Bell run, but we got lucky with some parking relatively close by. Took some photos of Lucy in the snow. Got our knives sharpened for the first time since we got them. Brought them with in a makeshift cardboard sleeve container. But now they're so sharp they actually get stuck in the cutting board. Got a haircut, picked up some Mark's Chop Suey for dinner. Wandered down Broadway on Sunday after Tracy got off work, checked out the Goorin Bros. Hat Shop and Gap had a big sale, but I didn't find anything I needed. Finally watched Bridesmaids, and I think it had a little too much heart, and not enough comedy. And no actual Vegas activity? Crazy. Heard back from my parents, and they and their relatives are all ok, unaffected directly by the typhoon that hit Mindanao.

As in, I'm actually on the Purple Line headed home. Had a craving for Papa John's last night, and since I've seen a couple locations actually in Chicago and the closest one isn't in Evanston, I placed an order for delivery. Yes, it's as good as I remember it. I even like the crust dipped in Garlic sauce. Yum. Lucy's been doing well. Blabbering a lot. Eating well too. Mostly. Had a little setback yesterday when she didn't take a nap. At her usual time, and instead I let her continue after she fell asleep on the way home in the stroller. Cranky when you wake her before she's ready, as is anyone. Still plodding through the Illuminatus books, but feels more like work than pleasure. But I'm compelled to finish it. So it'll be a while before I get to something new. Enjoying trailers for some movies coming out, knowing full well I won't be seeing them in theaters. The next one I will see is The Hunger Games next March. 9 days 'till Christmas. Crazy.

Trying to keep up with sleeping more. But it's hard when my wife has the next day off, and wants to keep watching TV. I guess I could just learn to say no, or to just skip a show. That letting go part, of not participating, well, that I have trouble with. Anyway, started trying out Zite, which is like Flipboard, but more subject oriented, rather than source oriented. It, even more than Flipboard, feels like a personal magazine. Of course I went ahead and selected all sections, because it really is like browsing a newspaper, trying to get a more well rounded view of the world. Ha, instead of a flat picture, and it's not turtles all the way down. I digress. Started hitting up the Ogilvie food court for lunch again. Got a craving for a red velvet moon pie from Corner Bakery, so had to schedule an earlier lunch today, so I could get one later. Not been reading on the commute. Partly because the book (The Illuminatus! Trilogy) is just a wee bit absurd, and not very action oriented. And maybe because I'm a little burned out on reading. I have been reading Dollhouse (comics) and G.I. Joe (comics) though. There's some good fluffy stuff.

I thought I was doing so much better with my more often updates, but then, bam, a week goes by. Ugh. Haven't even been updating the Memex Current events either. I may just retire that. Oh well. Found season 2 of The League is available from Netflix Watch Instantly. Been plowing through that. Funny stuff. Lucy's I think been doing well with Mydel. No crying when I left last Friday, and only a little whimpering when I dropped her off this morning. Skipped out on the, what I thought was an impromptu holiday part at work Friday night. Drank a little too much in the office pre-party, so wanted to just go home and nap. I think I'm getting better at heading to bed sooner. At least getting ready for bed sooner. Green City Market and the Nature Museum on Saturday, hit up Fox & Obel before heading over to Mike and Amy's to hang out with Caden. Shopping on Sunday at Northbrook Court. I really like that mall. Got kind of grumpy, because I think I was over tired, much like Lucy. Also, Tracy's in much better shape than me, so I got wiped out by the walking/carrying in the mall. Christmas is totally sneaking up on me again. I'm still horrible at shopping for presents.

Went shopping before Caden's birthday party. Looking for holiday outfits for the family. Kind of fun, if a little harried. Go figure, trying to find a non primary color, non pink nice outfit for a little girl, is actually pretty difficult. Kind of annoying. Also in big news, I think I found a hat, like a real, honest to goodness hat, that I can wear that looks ok on me, and doesn't make my ears look gigantic. I'm impressed. And it was cheap. Checked out the new Walmart Express that opened up nearby. Seems ok. Smallish. Low ceilings alters my perception of its size. First time in the butterfly haven at the Nature Museum. That's pretty cool. Also trying to get better with my Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 45mm f1.8. Finally tweaking ISO while shooting, using assisted manual focus. Found out that new volumes of Skins is available from Netflix. Annoyed that I couldn't watch them during primetime Saturday night. And continuing to not log my food intake. No schedule on the weekends doesn't make it easy. Made dinner Saturday night, apple cider pork chops. Went really well with the Pasta Puttana white wine pasta. Actually timed it well, getting dinner out on time, but of course a little difficult getting the little one fed at the same time.

So Lucy did well on Tuesday too, but yesterday spent the day with Tracy on her day off, so hopefully Lucy won't have forgotten who Mydel is again. Hoping. Ended up getting different, simple, remote control outlets for the Christmas lights. Nice and easy. KISS. It's also December. Feels like December, too, weather wise anyway. Been having a craving for cupcakes, so finally got one from Crumbs yesterday afternoon, and then when I get home Tracy had gotten me one from Dinkel's, so that was 2 in one day, and now I don't have to have any for a while. Still haven't had my McRib for the week, so maybe grab that today. Been trying to log food via Eatwit (iPhone app), but never seem to capture/post dinners. I do slightly better on breakfast and lunch during work days, but when I'm at home, forget all about it. Really need to start thinking of Christmas presents. Definitely want to get Lucy some Legos. Probably more so I can play with them.