Rowan is 3

Playing with party toys

We had a very busy week last week with Rowan turning 3 on Thursday and Brooke and I celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary on Friday. To be honest, it's been a pretty busy summer with everything going on around the Stables and our preparation for Lincoln's arrival at the end of September. Haven't been keeping up with the blog much, that's for sure!

The party on Sunday was a great time. The weather was nice, but a bit windy. We had a great Toy Story cupcake cake that everyone loved and the hot dogs and snacks idea worked out well. Rowan loved it.

Here's a collection of items I've gathered over the last few weeks.

Check out the new Martin Luther King Jr. memorial on the Tidal Basin in Washington DC. A very impressive monument. The official unveiling was to be Sunday, the 48th anniversary of MLK's I Have a Dream speech at the Lincoln Memorial. Hurricane Irene has thrown a wrench in those plans and it's been postponed indefinitely. [Washington Post & NOAA]

The Redskins are one of a handful of teams installing renewable energy sources at their stadiums. Seems like a pretty good idea to me. [Washington Post]

Yoda shirt from Disney

I guess it has been a while since the last update! I saved this article from when the heat wave was stuck over central US most of the summer. It was a very hot July, the hottest in recorded history here in Fort Wayne and the 5th driest month ever. The grass suffered.

When the LA freeway was closed a few weeks back, a small group of people wanted to mark the occasion with a dinner...on the highway. [LA Times]

Cities are taking back old rail line areas and making them into urban parks and walking trails. One in particular is High Line park on Manhattan. [NY Times]

Hiking the Appalachian Trail in record time. [Atlanta Journal Constitution]

A cure for cancer? This gene therapy has worked to destroy leukemia cells...that's a good start. [Fox News]

Earthquake warnings from the animals at the National Zoo. They had a bit of a head start on this week's temblor. [Washington Post]

Have a great weekend!

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How's your Summer going? - Friday July 16th

It's been a while since my last update. There's lots of things going on at the new house which has been keeping us busy. I should have a picture update this weekend with the finished barn and stalls. Brooke and her dad are working on that project right now. Brooke's cousins Sydney and Mike are up from Florida to spend the weekend on the farm. Plenty to do!

That's Rowan in her new pool and swimming suit on the front lawn last weekend. She really likes pouring water over her head in the pool. Water Day at daycare is quite an adventure with this little girl! The video at the bottom is Rowan biking around the driveway on her tricycle. She's getting pretty good at it!

Lots of linkage for this post, since it's been so long...

This week's News Quiz...is back! [Chicago Tribune]

It's been a few weeks ago, but the 30th anniversary of the Blues Brothers was this year. [Chicago Tribune]

This is a long one, so make sure you bookmark to finish, but there's a super computer that plays Jeopardy! And it's pretty good at it. Of course, it's an IBM. [NY Times]

I posted on this a while back, but the post office near Wrigley will be named after Steve Goodman. He's the singer/songwriter that wrote the "Go, Cubs, Go" song they sing after wins (which have been few and far between this year). [Chicago Tribune]

Crazy stuff about sunscreens lately. The FDA does not regulate them, so the SPF numbers above 50 are not really that accurate. Now this report about cancer and sunscreens. Whatever you do, be careful in the sun! [AOL]

Hopefully this cup recycle program for Starbucks will go nationwide. So far, it's in Seattle and Chicago. [Chicago Tribune]

Uncle Depune is looking out for us! Sent me this Indiana speed trap link a few weeks back. If you got hit recently, I should have posted this earlier! [SpeedTrap.org]

IU Cancer Center has some tips on grilling and marinading better. [IU News Room]

Tesselation...Subway's got it down! [Chicago Tribune]

Amazing story of a ship's hull they found in the World Trade Center construction zone. [Washington Post]

Interview with Snopes.com creator. Here's a link for the Snopes site in case you haven't been there before. [NY Times]

Stay cool this weekend! I'll be out mowing the front 4 acres. Enjoy Rowan on her bike...

Back after a Break - Friday June 11th

Back to the blog after a bit of a break. Been saving up some good links to post in a bit, so make sure you check them out.

Been living at Chateau de Mom and Dad over the past almost three weeks. Their hospitality has been great and Rowan loves seeing poppa and grandma every morning and evening. But it's time to get the party started at the new place. Found out this afternoon that we are set to close! The papers will be signed on Monday afternoon and we'll be officially moving to the farm. Hopefully we'll have more exciting news on Brooke's horse business to follow, including a boarder...

Went to see Get Him to the Greek last Friday and we really enjoyed it. Laughed out loud several times. The last third of the movie was a little different than the first 2/3's, but I'd recommend it. Definitely worthy of a DVD viewing at home. A few weeks ago, Brooke had a ladies' night out with the girls from Sex and the City 2. It's getting blasted in the reviews, but she and her friends enjoyed it. I think fans of the show would like it. [IMDb.com & Rotten Tomatoes]

The A-Team opens today. Brooke and I were big fans of that show on TV, so we may be checking it out. Doesn't seem to be getting too many positive reviews, but it's not horrible. Brooke informed me last night that the new Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz flick, Knight and Day, is a must see for her. I sure hope it's good! [IMDb.com & Rotten Tomatoes]

World Cup 2010 starts today in South Africa. USA vs. England tomorrow at 2:30. With the lousy weather forecast, I think I'll be around a TV for this. I've been talking smack with my buddy Simon in London since the pairings came out in February. Here's a good link for following the schedule of games and teams for the next month. [official FIFA site & Marca.com]

On to the links!

This week's News Quiz. [Chicago Tribune]

Customer loyalty cards via cell phone. [NY Times]

Upgrading the GPS System. [Chicago Tribune]

A BP public relations spoof is getting more hits on Twitter than the real BP account. [NY Times]

Raising kids in the new tech world. I'm guilty of this with my iPhone. By the way, new iPhone 4 coming this month! [NY Times & Apple]

Animal odd couples link from Depune. [NY Daily News]

Video of Rowan taking Butsu for a walk the other evening. She did a pretty good job!

Pool's Open - Friday March 5th

It's March. Spring can't be far behind. Rowan's ready to try out this backyard. We're learning the many different uses of brush...you  know, tooth or hair.

This month also brings out the March Madness. The Square Pool was opened this week and is filling up quickly. On Selection Sunday the brackets will be released for the Bracket Pool. Hoosier fans can still be a part of the Dance! [SpydeysWebb & College Hoops Net]

Academy Awards are Sunday. Haven't seen many, but we'll be watching the show. I think it'll come down to Avatar and The Hurt Locker for the big ones. Already saw Avatar and watching The Hurt Locker before the show (maybe Inglorious Basterds if we're ambitious) this weekend. The Hurt Locker has some serious war movies to follow if they take Best Picture. [Oscar.com & IMDb.com & SpydeysWebb & LA Times]

If you want to compete in this year's Oscar winners guessing game, then print off the ballot on Popdose's page and play along! [Popdose]

US cleaned up at the XXI Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. Most medals ever. Here's a rundown of those who got them. [Vancouver Game & Chicago Tribune]

News Quiz and more after the jump...

Friday November 20th

Rowan's fifteen months old this week. She's becoming quite the busy body around the house as well. Butsu turned 5 years old this week too. Another family birthday this week: Happy Birthday Aunt Sharon in Texas!

Bucket Game this weekend in Bloomington. Brook and I will be in our seats one last time this season. Hope they can salvage the end of it cause it's been a tough stretch for the last two months. Both teams are playing for pride as well as the Old Oaken Bucket. Each team was eliminated from bowl consideration last week. [Bleacher Report]

Indiana basketball got off to an impressive start last Friday with Brooke and I in attendance (that's Brooke on the floor below with The Banners in the background). Nice margin of victory vs. the over matched Howard Bison. A much closer game was had on Monday vs. South Carolina - Upstate...then last night they were pretty much dominated by Ole Miss in Puerto Rico. Let's hope the next two games there fare a bit better...and more competitive.

New movie opening last night...Twilight: New Moon, you might have heard about it? So are you for Edward or Jacob? Or do you really care? Brooke read the four books and I think she's in the Edward camp...[LA Times]

This week's News Quiz and Pop Culture Quiz. [Chicago Tribune]

Network TV's winners and losers so far this season. We haven't been keeping up well lately, our DVR is about to bust. [LA Times]

Haven't seen this scene at Wrigley in a long time! Not as long as lack of championship, but a long time nonetheless. [Bleed Cubbie Blue & Pantagraph]

Ranking the tallest buildings in the world changed this week, altering the top 10. [Chicago Tribune Cityscapes]

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is under attack. [Dunes Park Website & Chicago Tribune]

The new data center at Indiana University is a pretty impressive building. [IU News Room]

Have a good weekend...60 degrees in Bloomington!

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Friday October 23rd

Well last weekend didn't go exactly to plan. Friday night I hit Hoosier Hysteria with Uncle Dave and we had a great time. Saturday morning, Rowan woke up with what we found out was The Croup. Weekend plan changes! Back home on Saturday night, which was bad and Sunday wasn't much better. She got a few scrips to help out and is back toddling around like normal. [Wikipedia]

Being at home all week gave her the opportunity to practice her walking and she's pretty good now. Time to start working on her basketball skills!

IU basketball team looks bigger, faster, and stronger for this upcoming season. The new freshman coming in are going to help both in practice and game time. Can't wait. [IUHoosiers.com & ESPN]

This week's News Quiz and Pop Culture Quiz. Got lucky on my guesses for the pop quiz this week...how'd you do? [Chicago Tribune]

IU at the forefront of a new super computer network. [IU News Room]

Have you seen the new Apple mouse, Magic Mouse? Wow, that is pretty cool! [NY Times & Apple.com]

Website of the week: The Good Guide. Helps to find what's good for you in food and other products. Linked is their "What's In Your Kid's Food" quiz. It's a pretty easy quiz, so when you're done browse the site for a bit. There's some really great info on there.

New video of Rowan taking a stroll in the back yard...



Have a great weekend!
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Friday September 25

The Sheridan Invitational is done for another year. We had some amazing weather for the golf and the party. If you haven't seen the photos, they're on my Picasa site. Can't believe I've been doing this for 11 years...amazing. That's Rowan up there with Paul on Sunday afternoon...we watched some football together. Not a bad pairing, as I got first for the week and Paul took second. We'll need to do that again soon! [SpydeysWebb.com & Picasa]

We may actually get out to see a movie next week! It is time for a new review on the main page. Have to check the listings to see what's out there to watch...Cool report from the set of Iron Man 2. Gotta wait until May for this one though...[GeekTyrant.com]

The Redskins are in Detroit this weekend. I'd l ike to head up and see them kick some Lion tail, but I'm not sure what team will show up, not to mention the 7 hour round trip to Ford Field and back. Even though Detroit could use some of my cash money, I think I'll enjoy the NFL Ticket and the Red Zone Channel in my basement. Sounds like a plan! Prior to that, the Hoosiers invade The Big House in Ann Arbor on Saturday afternoon. I'm just hoping it's not a blowout! [Time]

Collected lots of articles for the post this week, so let's get to it.

This week's News Quiz and Pop Culture Quiz. I did pretty well on both this week...good luck to you. Try this H1N1 Swine Flu quiz, it might be just a bit tougher than you think. [Chicago Tribune & Time]

Sydney, Australia got hit with a massive dust storm this week that you could see from space. Photos from the ground make the city look more like Mars than Earth! [Wired]

Brooke and I love ourselves some Pittsburgh, PA. I think the foreign dignitaries at this week's G-20 Summit will as well. [Washington Post]

Who's more green: a New Yorker or a Green Mountain Vermonter? The answer may surprise you (but it makes sense). [Time]

A new Segway from Honda, it's a little different to say the least. [Japan Times]

Meet the new head of the Army's Drill Sergeant School: Sergeant Major Teresa L. King. [NY Times]

Some guy found a lot of gold and silver buried in England. They're calling it the Staffordshire Hoard (another link here). If you've ever been to the British Museum in London, you could compare this find with the one on display from Sutton Hoo. Brooke and I perused this on our trip there in '07. [Guardian & Wikipedia]

Website of the Week: now this is how you get your car decked out for the tailgate: SkinIt Tailgate Packs!

My Sheridan foursome: Depune, Shlater, Paul and I.

Have a good weekend...autumn is here, feels like we need to bundle up already!

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