It’s been a couple of weeks now but there was great excitement among the little girls in our house because we bought a nice set of bunk beds at a garage sale and set them up in Laura’s room. Laura is now the proud owner of a “big bed” - a real twin-sized bed with real sheets and pillow. We’ve set up the upper bunk as well (the pictures were taken before it got set up) and while we don’t have any immediate plans to move Addie in with Laura, I imagine it’ll happen eventually.

So it’s time for some before-and-after pictures, well, of a sort. Back in November 2005 when Laura was 16 months old and we knew that Addie was on the way, we set up a new crib for Laura and she wanted to help assemble it. This was the scene:

Fast-forward to May 2008 and Daddy now has two little helpers.

And the finished result:

I’ve been in Montreal since Monday night, and it’s my first trip here, and for that matter, my first trip out of the country. I don’t have any profound essays to write but a bunch of little observations that work most easily as bullet points. So here goes.

• It’s the little things that mess with you. Ordered a Whopper at Burger King the other night (I was craving the fries) and was asked if I wanted “the trio”. What in the world is “the trio”? Ends up that’s what I know better as a combo. [lightbulb goes on]
• The roads are bad. They aren’t marked very well, the lanes are narrow, and the traffic is horrible.
• The other weird traffic thing: rapidly-flashing green lights. As far as I can tell, a rapid green is equivalent to a green left arrow in the US; it’s letting you know that it’s safe to turn left, because the folks opposite you still have a red. Rather non-intuitive, but it works once you get the hang of it.
• Sewing machine stores in shopping malls. Apparently people in Canada really like to sew or something.
• A big report came out today in Montreal that is the result of a year-long commission holding hearings and taking suggestions on how to deal with all the ethnic and cultural issues they have in Quebec. It’s interesting listening to talk radio this afternoon to hear what people have to say about it. The commission’s conclusion is that the worst of the division is more stirred up by the media than by the ethnic groups involved. Figures.
• Of course French is the predominant language here in Montreal, but pretty much everyone I’ve run into switches pretty much effortlessly into English. Still, it frustrates me a bit that they have to; it feels like I’m making them do me a favor rather than being able to just interact with them on their terms.
• Tim Horton’s (a donut/breakfast chain - think a Canadian Dunkin’ Donuts) has tasty food, but no trash cans. Weird. It feels like a fast food, there are lots of tables to sit and eat… but apparently they expect you to just leave your trash on the table. Very strange.

Well, enough of that. Still, it’s been an interesting place to visit. Tomorrow I fly home.

So today was the day I finally ventured outside the good ‘ol US of A; traveling to Montreal, Quebec for the next round of SC-213 meetings. No big details, pictures, or etc so far, but it was nice to actually have decent travel this time around. The flights were more or less on time, the lines were short, the rental car big enough (the PT Cruiser has an amazing amount of leg and head room!) and the hotel comfortable.

Now it’s just after midnight and I’m sitting up too late working on an andrewosenga.net redesign. I finally got the layout working more or less how I want it… now it’s time to make it pretty. Well… that can wait until tomorrow.

Apparently this is something that goes by generations, too. I’ve done Kermit (among others) for a long time… (including on YouTube… twice) and now the girls are up to it, too.

Today I decided to wear my Beaker t-shirt. No sooner did I come home this morning (Becky’s not feeling well) than they both pointed at the shirt and asked, “Who’s that guy?” So here they are, doing their best Beaker impressions.

For reference, the t-shirt:

Laura:

Addie:

I have a couple other posts floating around in my head, but need to gather some thoughts (and pictures) before writing them. So… a little this’n'that, aka bullet points for a Tuesday morning.

• Softball last night was fantastic. Beautiful weather, good competitive game. Oh, and we won.
• Not my favorite: opposing pitchers who whine about us taking walks when they are unable to throw a strike.
• Definitely my favorite: Becky, who struck out (looking!) said whiny pitcher to start the seventh inning.
• My list of projects is getting long. I’ve accomplished some, but others are going to slide right into June without me even touching them.
• Next week: headed to Montreal. Looking forward to it.
• Also next week: Becky’s folks come to visit. This will be two years in a row that they’ve come to visit the week that I’ve been on travel. Hmmm… wonder what I should infer from that?
• These Fractal Drawers might be one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen… at least this week. (Saw them on Boing Boing, then Daniel shared them, too… thanks Dan!)

Some weeks ago Becky and I were enjoying a date night with a stop at our local Coldstone ice cream shop when we overheard some college students discussing a plan - a plan we liked so much we decided to turn it into a tradition of our own. It’s really quite simple: the first day in the spring and summer that the high temperature for the day surpasses the next 10-degree mark, we go for ice cream.

It just so happened that our date night weeks ago was on the first 70-degree day of the year. And it just so happened that yesterday was the first 80-degree day of the year. So after getting a bunch of outside work done, we packed the girls up in the van and headed for Coldstone. I figure we have at least two ten-degree trips still coming this season, and if, God forbid, we hit the third (110°F), we’ll at least be happy for the relief!

So here are a few pictures from the night. Oh, and our ice cream flavors:

Addie: Chocolate with sprinkles
Laura: Cotton Candy with white chocolate chips
Becky: Chocolate & Coffee with cookie dough
me: Cake Batter Chocolate with cookie dough

First up, I’m having to work on my terminology. Don’t call it an “album” - apparently the cool term for a new multi-song recording is a “record”. Kinda takes you back to the days of the LP, doesn’t it? But that’s not really the point of this post.

Here’s the point: Ben Shive is putting out a record next month. Who is Ben Shive, you ask? Well, he’s the guy that I look up to the most of any pianist/musician of my acquaintance. Ben has extensively toured with and written for Andrew Peterson, which is how I first got to know Ben. He’s an unassuming guy, so much so that it’s darn near impossible to get him to perform any of his own stuff. He’s been hinting about a record for a couple of years now, and when I drove him around a couple of months ago (before an AP concert here in Cedar Rapids) I asked about it, and was excited to hear that he was planning on it coming out this year.

So now the announcement is finally here. Ben Shive’s The Ill-Tempered Klavier (a brilliant musical joke/reference, surely P.D.Q. Bach must have used that somewhere?) is available from rabbitroom.com for pre-order today. It’ll be a digital download for now, though Andrew noted that he might be printing some real disks later in the year. Ben, I’d love to have a real disk, so print some, eh?

My list of must-buy records for this year has grown by one… and then immediately shortened, I guess, since I went and pre-ordered it this morning. I can’t wait.

• It was an amazingly beautiful weekend. Fortunately the beautiful weather is sticking around for today so we can play softball.
• Oh, and I’m going to ump the second game of the night. I don’t remember if I’ve said it before, but I enjoy umping games almost more than I enjoy playing them.
• Got a bunch of projects completed on the house this weekend.
• New carpet put down in basement: complete.
• Nasty mold scrubbed from laundry room wall: complete.
• Pegboard hung in laundry room to organize tools: complete.
• Tools organized: not so complete.
• Crock Pot cord repaired: complete.
• Music leading both Saturday night and Sunday morning: yep.
• Double-edged sword: if I had the Versus channel I could’ve watched the Dallas Stars play last night. On the other hand, had I stayed up to watch, I would’ve had to watch until the fourth OT to see them win.
• Go Stars! Bring on those Red Wings.
• If the Stars win the Stanley Cup this year I’m gonna buy that Mike Modano jersey I’ve always wanted.
• Enough with the bullets already.