Sheep Guarding Llama

Today is a bank holiday so I am home today.  Unfortunately not all of the markets are closed so I don’t exactly have the day off but it is a very light day.  It’s emergency support only, no project work today.  So I am still tied to the computer and checking in on a regular basis but it is not very much work.

I took Jenn to the airport this morning so that she could fly back up to Philadelphia.  She is flying Delta through Minneapolis so the weather than is hitting both cities is likely to be a problem for her.  It is going to be a long day of fighting through snow for her while we enjoy the warm, sunny days of Texas.

I spend most of the day working, there is still a lot to be done.  I’m very happy to be home for a three day weekend, though.  Lots of time spent with Liesl who is growing up so quickly.  I can’t believe how big she is getting and how much more mature.  Her sentences are getting more and more complex and she is an active part in just about every conversation that goes on in the house.

I was up and had time to have coffee with Jenn this morning before she went out on her morning run.  Today is not such a busy day for me as it is the middle of a three day weekend so I actually to relax, just a little, today.  There is still tons of things that need to be done so I don’t really get to relax but it isn’t exactly a crazy day.

Today was another day of the girls relaxing and cooking most of the day and I spent most of the day working from the back room.

One thing that we are really loving about this house is the cool “U” shape that we have with the open atrium.  We open up the atrium windows and with me working in that back office the people in the kitchen are still “right there” and we can talk to each other and see each other but have this open air between us.  It is pretty cool.

Liesl went out and started playing in the atrium a bit today.  She thinks that it is very cool to go from the kitchen and be able to go up to the window where I am working just inches away.  She has a bunch of toys out there now and likes being able to be outside without needing someone to really be looking over her shoulder.  Since she is enclosed and only a few feet away from either me in the office or the girls in the kitchen she is really safe and someone is able to see her at all times too.

We really can’t wait until we can get the atrium fixed up.  What a difference that is going to make.  We can see already how much we love using it and it is horrible currently.  Once we get nice flooring, more space and decent furniture and lighting out there it is going to be great.

The weather has been awesome this weekend.  Now I can see why people love living in Texas.  This is how February should be.  Cool enough to have the windows open and wear a fleece but warm enough that you can sit outside and enjoy it.

Jenn got up and went running long before any of the Millers were awake this morning.  I got up just as she was returning from her run.

Our plan today was pretty much to take it easy and to relax at home.  I had a lot of work that needed my attention today so I spent much of the day in my office (the nursery as the real office is nowhere close to being done yet) working while the girls hung out.  It worked out well as it gave them a lot of time to visit with each other.  They are lucky if they get to see each other once a year.

The girls all went out shopping this evening which worked out well as I ended up on a conference call for about three and a half hours.  Too much work to do, too little time.

Off to bed at a good time tonight, at least.

I worked quite late last night but it was one of those nights where I managed to do so much work that it actually made it so that I didn’t have to work this morning.  Yay!  I still got up at seven, though, not realizing that I would be okay this morning and having had a conference call scheduled I had to be ready.  So I got up and got right to work first thing this morning.

I got into the office on the early side since my day is likely to consist of a lot of logistics.  Dominica picked me up from the office on the late side for lunch so that we could run to the airport together to pick up Jenn who arrived a little after lunch time.  Liesl was very excited to get time to see me in the car.  She was very happy when I got into the Acadia.

We picked up Jenn from DFW and then we ran back to the office to drop me off.  We decided that, due to effort of scheduling a big dinner on a weekend day, that we would all go to the club tonight for dinner since Friday nights are pretty much a waste anyway with my work schedule.

The girls hung out all afternoon.  After work I drove over to La Cima as it is a total waste to drive all of the way back to Carrollton just to turn around and drive back to Irving again.  We did dinner on the early side but I had very little spare time as I had forgotten that I had a conference call this evening.  So I skipped dessert and rushed back home before we were done with dinner so that I could spend a few hours on the phone.

Jenn went to bed a bit before the Millers did.  We stayed up and watched some Netflix in our room before heading to bed.

For some bizarre reason, this photograph of mine on Flickr of Polar Bears at the Buffalo Zoo has become incredibly popular.  If you look at the photo you will notice that it is not, in any way, a great photo.  It’s not even a good photo.  Mediocre “for its time” is about the best that you can say.  And that’s a stretch.  Mediocre “for its time” considering it was taken by a kid is a better take on it.  And yet, for a relatively few number of views it has an astounding number of people adding it as a favourite.  I don’t understand this at all.  If you count the number of views versus the number of favourites you see that something like one in twelve people who have seen the photo consider it a favourite.  That makes no sense whatsoever.  No picture should have that percentage of people mark it as a favourite.  At best, one in one hundred people, perhaps.  I bet only about one percent of all people even use the favourite system let alone use it regularly.  And why this photo?

Again, not much to report today.  I was in the office for work.  I had to come home from work at lunch today to do a conference call to prepared for my webinar that I am presenting next week, one week from today.

There has been a tiny, but only a tiny, bit of progress made on the house this week.  The garage is a little closer but still not there at all.  At the current rate it could be a month yet, believe it or not, before the work is completed.  Why no one is interested in getting this project over and done with I have no idea.  It seems, to me, that getting it all over and done with would be best for everyone.  At this point the room is basically completed structurally.  We’ve picked out the paint and we hope to see the garage painted soon.

Tomorrow, Jenn is coming to visit us for the long holiday weekend.