Sheep Guarding Llama

Again I was up way ahead of everyone else this morning. I am stuck on my work schedule but they are used to sleeping in all morning. For the girls this works out as they see me in the evenings more. But for Dominica it doesn’t work as we miss our weekend mornings together and it is tough to go to bed at the same time because she is never tired when I go to bed.

We went out shopping as a family around two this afternoon. We decided that we just had to do something about seating in the basement so the first trip was to Big Lots in the hopes of finding some bean bag chairs. We actually did great and found all kinds of stuff. It was a good haul. Lots of kitchen supplies like cups and, the big find, a cheap toaster oven! Now we can actually heat food up with some convenience. We did find the bean bag chairs too, we got a pink one and an orange one. We needed those today because Dominica found that the Fiftieth Anniversary Episode of Doctor Who was released to Amazon Instant Video today so we have to watch it this evening. But we have nowhere to sit and the only device on which to watch it is the computer in the basement (thank goodness for a 27” monitor at least!) so we are in tough shape.

We also hit Best Buy because I needed to pick up a low cost USB joystick for the computer too. That was very quick.

We stopped at the New City Diner and had our lunch and/or early dinner there. We were one of only about four tables there having dinner so early in the day. Works very well when you have restless little girls to keep happy. New City Diner has an aquarium with three itty bitty turtles in it that they love to watch too. Such cute turtles!

We got home and it was almost straight to Doctor Who. We’ve been waiting a long time for this one. We set up the bean bags and the computer monitor in the middle of the basement. Dominica and I took the bean bags. Liesl took the office chair and sat right between us. Luciana went for daddy’s lap and snuggled. And we all watched the seventy five minute fiftieth anniversary Doctor Who special. It was awesome.

After Doctor Who we watched the cheesy new Disney made for TV movie “Teen Beach Movie” which is a modern Disney Channel attempt at an homage to the 1960s beach movies that Dominica and I once watched in excess, surprisingly, back when we lived in this house in Peekskill. How odd that of all times we decide to watch this throwback. It wasn’t very good, but it wasn’t horrible and Liesl enjoyed it. She danced all over the basement while it was on. We had seen posters for this movie while we were in Walt Disney World which is the only reason that we knew about it at all.

After that, the girls were off to bed. I read to Luciana and then put Liesl to bed. It occurred to me that because I would be off to work in the morning before the girls woke up and because they are heading out to dad’s in the morning for Thanksgiving that as I kissed Liesl goodnight tonight – this is the last time that I will see four year old Liesl. I am joining the family in Frankfort on Wednesday night in a rush from the office in the hopes of seeing Liesl on her birthday. So this is it. The last time that my baby will be four for me.

It seems like only yesterday that Liesl was crying and crying about how she was scared to turn four because she had loved being three and I had to console her that being four would be fun too. For weeks before turning four she dreaded her birthday and the thought of growing up. Now, turning five doesn’t even phase her. I’m not sure that she is really certain that her birthday is even this week. Last time it was such a huge deal and this time it is mostly like a non-event. But having to go without seeing her the last days of her being four makes me sad. Four year old Liesl was so much fun. She is growing up so fast. Turning four was just like an older three. But five makes her school aged. Even though she is home schooling, this makes her a school kid. Things are different.

After the kids were asleep and Dominica was all packed for tomorrow we went back to the basement and watched three episodes of Sleeping Hollow and then were off to bed ourselves.

I was up around seven. No one else was awake for hours. So I descended into the basement and worked on the computer down there for nearly three hours before Liesl woke up. She came down to tell me that she was awake. So I sent her back upstairs to find clothes and once she was dressed she and I went out on a special trip to pick up breakfast for everyone. Just a daddy and Liesl trip. She loves those.

We went to Daily Bagel in Yorktown out on 35/202. Same place that I stopped on Friday morning to try out their bagels. Liesl was pretty excited when she saw the huge bakery selection. She picked up two butterfly cookies, a pink one for herself and a yellow one for Luciana. We got black and whites for Dominica, too. I got breakfast sandwiches for Dominica and I. And I got a dozen bagels. It was a successful trip.

When we got back home Dominica had been up a little bit and Luciana was up soon thereafter. Dominica went to toast some bagels for us and we realized that we really had no way to deal with that whatsoever. So that is a high priority. We have no toaster, no microwave. She was stuck using the full oven for that. So we have decided that we are just going to get a toaster oven when we find a good deal on one. For the kind of stuff that we do a toaster oven is probably ideal. Way better use of counter space than a traditional toaster and the price difference is not very big.

I spent a lot of the day down in the basement on the computer. Dominica went out and did some shopping this evening. While she was out I made a fire and Liesl noticed that some snow was coming down. A lot of snow in fact. Big, fluffy flakes. She was very excited. She showed Luciana and the two of them spent a lot of time just watching the snow come down in the woods.

I went to happy hour at the office but returned to my desk and drank my wine there. I left the office at five thirty and on the way home stopped in at the liquor store in Pound Ridge, New York to see if they had some whiskey as Dominica had a hard time finding anything when she had looked in Peekskill. It’s a small town feeling place. I met Tony and David who run the place and they are whiskey guys and had a decent collection for such a tiny place. I got four bottles including Templeton Rye and Johnny Walker Platinum. It is perfect since I go right by them on my way home so it is super easy to just stop in and grab what I need. Much easier than going somewhere from the house. This literally can only take five or ten minutes since they sit by a stop sign on a little village street where the car pretty much has to come to a stop anyway. I just pull over and walk in.

Spent a little time with the girls and got them off to bed. Liesl and I talked about going to the bagel store in the morning to get breakfast for the family, just the two of us. She expressed concern that she didn’t know if she would be able to wake up in time or not. She is so adorable.

We did pretty much nothing tonight. It was a short night, even with me getting home half an hour early.  Dominica went out shopping tonight and got a ton of supplies including Liesl’s big birthday present, a Nintendo 2DS (it is basically a 3DS that is designed for younger kids – no 3D display and no hinge to break so it is sturdier and easier on young eyes.)  We got her Mario Kart 7 which she has wanted to play.  We think that she will really like it.  Dominica got all of the birthday shopping done tonight and a huge bulk of the Christmas shopping.

I was feeling really exhausted and needed to get bed myself. Dominica was not tired when I had gotten the girls to bed, but she sleeps in roughly three hours longer than I do not getting up until the girls wake up. So of course she is feeling very well rested. It is not like there is anything around the house for her to be doing anyway. It is still completely empty. So I was right off to bed after Liesl went to bed. Dominica stayed up late and fell asleep on the couch.

Woke up at six and was out the door my earliest yet. Today I missed the school buses and made very good time getting out east. There was some emergency, though, and while in South Salem they closed 35 east bound and I had to turn around and take the 121 route instead of taking 123 like I always do. This actually worked out well as I only lost six minutes and I’ve spent the last two nights learning this route in the opposite direction so I was able to do it. Seeing the route in the light gave me a completely different impression of where I was. I had no idea that there were so many houses along this path. You cannot see them in the dark of night.

The drive was quite picturesque. The early morning light filtering through the trees. And oh were there trees. It is deep in the forest, winding along the reservoir. Huge mansions on knolls overlooking the water or a stream or just hidden in the woods. I had no idea that this was all here.

Driving into Connecticut this way, into New Canaan on 124, you see a stunning transformation as old New York “deep in the woods” mentality instantly gives way to the human modified, tree-cleared New England style mansions with their expansive lawns. It is very clear that there is a cultural difference between the two places, only minutes apart from each other. The instant that you cross the border the trees thin and houses are more orderly having shaped their environments to them rather than having been built to organically fit into the existing landscape.

This path, the 121 path as I call it, appears to shave about four or five minutes from the drive. Very hard to tell. And leaving just a little earlier, I was about ten minutes earlier than normal today, helps as well. Even with the closed road and turnaround, I did very well this morning. I’ve studied the map a bit more and believe that I have an even more complicated, but shorter and faster route to try tonight. Every minute counts when so much time is spent commuting.

It is a bright, sunny day but cold. It was 25 degrees on my commute in. My windscreen was covered in frost and took a while to thaw before I could drive. I’m wishing that I had a remote starter these days. That tiny little 1.2 litre engine takes a very long time to produce heat for the car. I’m also thinking that a winter coat might be in order here soon, especially as I always wear my fleece all day long while in the office.

I did a crazy amount of catching up on SGL today.  I got probably five posts written during the day filling in all of the gaps in the recent news (the last ten days or so.)  Now I just need to get back to filling in the Disney Vacation days so that I can get all of the stuff that I have already written finally published.

Today was a good day at work.  Feeling good about things. Feeling productive.

I left work at 6:19 PM and tried the new, very complicated, way home through the backwoods of Westchester County.  There wasn’t bad traffic and I made it home in 61 minutes, pulling in at 7:20.  That was great.  It’s only three minutes off of my record but that adds up and the route was more interesting.

The girls were camped out on the new couch when I got in the door and Dominica was down in the basement working on her computer.  Dominica pretty much headed straight out to go shopping.  She had been waiting for me to get home.

I did a bunch more posting of SGL tonight.  Very good progress at getting the Disney days documented.  Once the vacation days are written up, I will be all caught up.

Today is the big day, our couch for the living room is set to be delivered. We’ve been going crazy for a week without anywhere to sit. Bob’s Discount Furniture called me just before I got to work this morning to tell me that they were running early and that they should be at our house around ten this morning.

I got to have lunch today at The Lime in downtown Norwalk. It is a little place on Main Street that caters to the organic, vegetarian “crunchy” crowd “like me” and the food was very good. Too bad that it is so far away because Dominica would really like it. We need that in Peekskill.

It was pretty late when I got home tonight. I decided to try out the new route from work to home, going more into the woods It worked much better tonight. I am starting to learn the area a little bit.

I got home and got to see the new couch. It was a great choice. It is huge, seats easily six or seven people on white leather – a bold choice for a family with two rambunctious little girls. But it is the size and look and functionality that we need. It fills the living room and makes a comfortable living space around the fireplace and the triple glass back door. The couch is perfect and Liesl discovered that it is full of secret storage spaces and being such a large couch that is really important. The huge ottoman that it came with (well, we paid a lot to get it too) also is full of storage space. We had no idea.

The backs of the couch are actually just right for Liesl and Luciana to sit on and use their iPads. There is a broad space on top that they just fit on. They love it. And there is a broad edge on the door side where Dominica can put a laptop while she is working on it. And the other side is a Chaise lounge. It looks great but now we have to do a lot more decorating to make it all make sense. We need matching lamps and end tables. This couch would have been perfect in style for the house in Texas. So completely Dutch Modern. But so much higher end than the cheap colorful couches that we have in Texas.

We have our basement couch coming still. That doesn’t come until the second week in December. But we can wait for that. There is little reason to need to have seating like that in the basement until we have a television down there.

This evening Liesl and Luciana took out their “soccer balls” and played “soccer” with me in the wide open basement for a long time.