B Archives - Page 4 of 9

Have a Zombie Halloween

October 31, 2011 TechyDad B, Holidays, JSL, NHL, Photos

I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that B, NHL, JSL and I have been turned into zombies. The good news is that I’m going to use this opportunity to correct up a few zombie stereotypes.

First of all, zombies aren’t always calm, shuffling, hungry for brains folks. Sometimes we can be quite angry.

Especially if we don’t get the brains.

Secondly, zombies can also be quite thoughtful.

Mostly, we’re thinking about how to catch more people with tasty, tasty brains.

Finally, you might think that zombies don’t have any heart. While ours might not be beating, we still feel love. Zombie love.

After this photo was taken, we dined on the photographer’s tasty brains….. It was very romantic.

Well, I hope that’s cleared a few things up. I’ve got to shuffle off now. Here’s hoping you have a wonderful Halloween.

P.S. Remember to click on the photos for up close and personal zombie photos. We promise not to jump out of your screen at you… Maybe.

P.P.S. Zombification is thanks to Google Plus’s new photo editing tools (powered by Picnik).

The Other Woman In Our Bed

October 18, 2011 TechyDad B, Reading, Technology

There’s another woman in our lives and her name is Kimberly. We met Kimberly just eleven short days ago and she’s already turned our routine upside down. Before Kimberly, B used to knit or browse on her computer at night until she fell asleep. Lately, when it comes time for bed, B snuggles under the covers with Kimberly until she (B, that is) falls asleep. I will find them there laying side by side and I will need to move Kimberly out of the way before I can get into bed. I get a bit of time with Kimberly also, but mostly B has claimed her for herself.

In many ways, I just can’t compete with Kimberly. She’s much thinner than I am. Than I’ll ever be. And the stories she tells! I have about ten stories I can tell. Ask me to tell more and I begin to repeat myself. Kimberly, last time I counted, had over fifty. She’s pretty decent at games too.

So who is this invader of our home and our bed? What does she look like? Here’s a photo:

This, ladies and gentlemen, is Kimberly Kindle.

See how thin she is? We’ve already loaded her up with 50 eBooks and a few games like Jigsaw Words.

But why name an electronic device? B started it by saying she wanted to come up with a name for our video camera. I agreed that it needed a female’s name. I had my reasoning. (Let’s just say that I argued that the cheap, Flip-style camera we also had needed a male name.)

Meanwhile, I had won a Kindle Keyboard and we both took to it. Except B seemed to claim it as her own. With the video camera getting a name, it seemed only natural to give the Kindle one as well. And as I’m a fan of alliteration, Kimberly seemed to fit perfectly.

And that’s how Kimberly Kindle invaded our lives. Maybe tonight, I’ll change things up by laying down on the couch with Kimberly and having some fun… reading Peter and Wendy, that is!

Do you have a Kimberly Kindle (or perhaps her cousin Nancy Nook) in your life?

Happy Anniversary-Of-When-We-Met To My Angel

September 12, 2011 TechyDad Anniversary, B, Internet

Today marks a very special occasion. (Well, by the time most people read this, it’ll be yesterday, but I’m going to publish this just before midnight so it’ll technically be correct on the day.) Twelve years ago, on September 12th, I had just come home from Rosh Hashana services. After being offline for two days, I was ready to spend some time on the computer. I signed on, figuring I’d waste a couple of hours and then go to sleep.

Little did I realize that, at the same time, B was on her computer. She had forgotten that she even had a chat window open. When she noticed it, she glanced at the people in the chat room. My name must have caught her eye as did the “Nice Jewish guy looking for a nice Jewish girl” tagline that I had added a couple of weeks prior. She sent me a message.

As we conversed, I knew right away that there was something different about her. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I knew that something special that made her stand out from other ladies I had met. Not only did we like many of the same things, but I didn’t feel nervous around her at all. That was very odd. I usually would get so nervous that I’d say or do something wrong that I’d freeze up and do nothing. With B, however, I didn’t worry or freeze up. Talking to her (and later being around her) just felt natural and right.

Long, late night chats became long, late night phone calls. This turned into a face-to-face meeting that we couldn’t bear to end. (We drove my parents, who had accompanied me to the outlet mall but then made themselves scarce, crazy by continuously delaying leaving by “just 5 more minutes.”) Those all-too-infrequent meetings turned into a marriage proposal (aka squashing bugs) which B accepted.

All because of a forgotten open chat window and an entry into a chat room “just to kill some time.” Happy Day-We-Met-Online Anniversary, B!

Aloha Friday: Away From Kid-Time

September 2, 2011 TechyDad Aloha Friday, Anniversary, B, Disney, Marriage, Parenting, Vacation

As you read this, B and I will be enjoying time in Disney World to celebrate our 10th anniversary. (This post has been scheduled, however. Therefore, as I write this, our trip hasn’t begun yet.) Meanwhile, my boys will be (hopefully) enjoying time with my parents. Yes, we will be spending 5 days without our kids. This will be the longest that we’ll both be away from them. (The second longest was BlogHer last year.) Part of us will surely be missing them being sweet, cute, and/or excited, but this time will be spent relaxing and enjoying each other’s company.

The above words were written as we planned for a wonderful 10th anniversary trip in Disney without the kids. Instead, Hurricane Irene hit. Our original plan was to drive to my parents’ house on Sunday, stay until Tuesday and then fly out leaving my parents in charge of the kids.

Let me repeat part of that. The original plan was to drive to my parents’ house on Sunday. My parents’ house on Long Island. My parents’ house on Long Island that Irene was bearing down on. Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen.

Then, we decided to wait for Monday to see whether we should cancel or go. However, attempting to plan for two very different scenarios (stuck at home for a week or away from home for a week) was too stressful. Plus, if we lost power, we might not be *able* to cancel in time. We finally decided to cancel and focus on staying safe until Irene passed.

Thankfully, both Disney and Southwest Airlines were great about refunding our money (Disney) and giving us credit for another plane trip (Southwest). Hopefully, we’ll get a chance to take a sans kid romantic vacation sometime soon.

My Aloha Friday question was going to be: What is the longest that you’ve been away from your kids?

Considering that our vacation was cancelled, though, I’ll ask: Have you ever had to change your vacation plans due to weather?

Actually, why not answer both?

Don’t forget to enter my Hot Wheels Nitro Speeders giveaway!

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #103

A Guilty Getaway For Two

July 18, 2011 TechyDad Anniversary, B, Disney, Guilt, JSL, NHL, Parenting, Vacation

I’ve written before about feeling guilty, whether it is leaving for work, having a night out to myself or even just dedicating some time to me instead of putting everyone else in my family first. Right now, I’m feeling a different sort of guilt.

You see, last month B and I celebrated our 10th anniversary. For the past 8 years, though, we’ve only had one trip away from the kids: BlogHer 2010. (Having the kids sleep at their grandparents for one night while we sleep at home less than a mile away and then get them first thing in the morning doesn’t count.) Of course, BlogHer was fun, but it was very rushed and often B and I were going in different directions. Not the kind of trip you go on to help rekindle those romantic sparks.

So we began to look into trips to take together. Ten years seems like an appropriate length of time to have a Honeymoon Part 2 and we loved Honeymoon Part 1 so why not go to the same place: Disney World.

Now, I should note here that our plans are still very much up in the air. We might wind up going to Disney. We might wind up doing something else. We might even scrap the whole “take a trip with just the two of us” idea entirely. Still, the planning means that I’ve been thinking a lot about going to Disney World and leaving the kids behind (possibly in the care of my parents).

Here’s the guilty part. Our kids love Disney World. No, that doesn’t sound strong enough. They ***LLLLOOOOVVVVEEEE*** Disney World. JSL, on a nearly daily basis, asks when we’re going back there. I can just imagine the screams of horror that will erupt when they find out that we’re headed to the home of Mickey Mouse without bringing them along. There will be crying and screaming and guilt trips galore.

Part of me keeps saying “Why not bring the kids along? They’ll love it!” But, then I realize that we love Disney World too. Why should their desire to see Disney World again trump our desire to have one “just the two of us” trip every ten years or so? We’ve gone to Disney World every year for the past 3 years (once on a family trip and twice for Disney Social Media Moms). The boys have gotten hooked, but we were hooked first.

There are things we’d love to do at Disney World that you just can’t do with little kids. I’d love to go on the African Safari trek and some of the backstage tours. I’d want to spend time lazily walking through the countries in Epcot while holding B’s hand without screams of “I’ve got to go potty” ringing in my ears. I’d like to try some of the more upscale/romantic, less kid friendly restaurants. I don’t want to spend every meal wondering whether JSL will eat anything other than Mac & Cheese or pizza today. It will be wonderful to navigate through crowds without lugging a stroller and changes of kid clothes.

In short, as much as it is fun doing this:

I want to have a bit of time to do this:

Just please don’t tell NHL and JSL yet. I’m still steeling myself for their response.

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