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Cheers from Dell, Sarah, Nora and Otto!

Friday, March 30, 2007

Thanks Teachers!



It's Teacher Appreciation Day at Children's Village (the preschool/daycare Nora attends). A huge thank you to all of the staff that have been so wonderful to our daughter over the years (since Nora was 18 months old!). We feel very blessed to know she is in such a loving, engaging, and fun environment during her days.

Special thanks to Molly Skuse who has brought major positive changes to the school during her time as Director. And a "ginormous shout out" to the teachers in the preschool: Dana, Patricia, Rachael, Regina, Cuc, Sandra, George and Kamisha (hope I got them all, and apologies for any misspellings!).



Monday, March 26, 2007

Willow Don't Cry


So, we get to the venue super early, about one hour before showtime. There are like five people in the bar at the Hemlock Tavern. Teresa, Nir, Lotus and I walk around and get some food. When we get back, it is totally packed - a line circling the bar. So we get in line, and of course, don't make it in. Waaaah!!!

Since we are already out and about, we play a little 2x2 pool. Our friend Lotus leaves. We play some cut-throat pool, then, WHOA - we see there is no line and we get right in (without having to pay even)! We got to hear three songs, including "Shazam I'm Glamorous", which Leslie has never performed live before. Leslie & The LY's ROCK!

If you want to see my favorite Leslie Hall video, check out the Space150 Holiday 2005 Gem Card. The part where she busts out of the holiday package floors me every time!


Saturday, March 17, 2007

Don't Touch My Moustache!

Oh Wow! We can't believe it - we got our FIRST CHOICE for Nora for her San Francisco Public School Kindergarten! Nora will be starting at Rosa Parks Japanese Bilingual in the fall. And talk about serendipity... Lisa Finnemore just went to Japan, and she brought back this amazing kimono for Nora. She gave it to her today - the day we find out that Nora is going to a Japanese bilingual kindergarten!
Thanks Lisa!

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Public School Assignments!

Nora's Kindergarten placement letter should be here Sat 3/17 or Mon 3/19! Wish us luck on getting her into one of the seven schools we put on the list (out of about 71 public schools in SF)... it doesn't always happen that you get assigned to a school you put on your list.

Notification letters for Round One Assignment will be mailed on Friday, March 16, 2007. Parents/Guardians must register their children at schools from March 19 to March 29, 2007 to accept Round One offers.
Here are our school choices again - hope we get one!
1. Rosa Parks Japanese Bilingual
2. Alvarado General
3. McKinley
4. Rosa Parks General
5. Starr King Mandarin Immersion
6. Harvey Milk
7. Rooftop

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

March Madness


I am in a Yahoo Group playing against my coworkers for the NCAA Men's basketball "March Madness." Here is the bracket showing my picks (PDF). I have UCLA winning the whole thing... but these are pretty much just wild guesses!

Monday, March 12, 2007

Melissa Hearts Nick Swisher

Nick Swisher

Our spring training trip in Scottsdale, AZ was a total blast! We went to a fund raiser at Gordon Biersch where some of the A's and Giants were going head to head on video games for charity... Melissa got a photo with her crush Nick Swisher, outfielder on the Oakland Athletics! WOW... what a hot couple!

View all the photos on Flickr.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

My Little Pony Tea Party



Nora & Dell went to the My Little Pony Tea Party stage show while I was in Scottsdale watching spring training. View all the photos on Flickr.

Monday, March 5, 2007

To Boldy Go...


Nora and Daddy Dell watching Star Trek (the original series). Nora says, "This reminds me of when Daddy was a little boy." Dell refers to his compendium book and says things like, "William Shatner's daughters are in this episode." Wow. Amazing.
But honestly, it is absolutely awesome to see Nora sharing the experience with Dell. She actually asks to watch Star Trek with him. And she gets it - the plot, the characters, everything (well, maybe not the "cheesecake" aspect - hopefully!). View more photos on Flickr.

Sunday, March 4, 2007

Nora Hits the Ice Rink


Here are some pictures and videos from Nora's second ice skating adventure (her first wasn't documented). You won't believe what a natural she is on the ice... or maybe you will. She is so darn coordinated for a 4.5 year old. She even wanted to go around the rink a few times all on her own. No daddy skating beside her for moral support. Just her. I just love this little gal and her big personality!

Video 1: Nora & Dell Skating. (opens new browser window to YouTube)

Video 2: Nora's Solo Skate. (opens new browser window to YouTube)

View the Flickr still photos. Kinda boring after you have watched her in action!

Saturday, March 3, 2007

NO TIME OUTS FOR 4 DAYS!

We gave Nora a challenge of not getting into time out for 4 days straight. She wanted the game Cranium's Balloon Lagoon. We said she could have it if she didn't get into time out for 4 days straight. She's 4 years old, she can do 4 days of no fits. Keep in mind, this is a kid who normally gets into time out multiple times a day.

You aren't going to believe it. SHE DID IT THE FIRST TIME! I have to say, I was extremely shocked. But I am so freakin' proud of Nora.

The classic part was the night before the deal was clinched (T minus 10 hours and counting), Nora announced that after it was over, she was going to "go back to her old self." That she liked the "real me" better. She was going to go back to being naughty, throwing fits, crying, etc. (Note: 3 days later, she actually hasn't been as bad as pre-challenge).

Unfortunately, when we got to Target, there was only one Balloon Lagoon, and it had been opened. We couldn't tell if it had been pilfered or if it was intact, so we decided on another game. How apropos... the game we bought was TROUBLE!

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Plant Trees + Stop Junk Mail = Green Dimes

I just found this web site to deal with my huge junk mail problem: GreenDimes. For a dime a day they get your name off direct mailing lists and keep it off, and plant a tree for you every month. So if you want to stop your mailbox from overflowing, and save some trees, take a look at GreenDimes. Note: I have noticed a HUGE reduction in the amount of junk mail I have been getting!

Help the Planet!

Our Volkswagen Golf has gone "carbon neutral" with a purchase of a TerraPass carbon offset. You too can balance your impact by funding clean energy projects with TerraPass, a low-cost, guaranteed way to offset the global warming impact of your driving, flying, and home energy use.