Journeyman

I think I just watched the last episode of Journeyman, which (to borrow a phrase from Katrina) makes me a little bit sad. It’s a wonderful show with depth and conflict and heart and, yes, a tiny bit of science fiction, but NBC didn’t order a full season. I try not to let myself get attached to shows like this, but in this case I couldn’t help it.

I guess I find myself hoping the writers’ strike causes enough strife to force the networks to renew series that might otherwise have been canceled (no pilots means no new scripted shows, so if things go too long, they’ll have to stick with the devils they know). Though tonight’s episode of Journeyman attempted to provide enough to close out the entire storyline, I still want more.

Christmas card, holiday card, and birth announcement

Want a sneak peak at our Christmas card, holiday card (sent to people we know who don’t celebrate Christmas), or birth announcement?

I created all three on Helen’s MacBook Pro using Apple iPhoto, Canon Digital Photo Professional, and Apple Pages.

Who’s God?

Katrina: “Jesus is going to be born.” (She’s always acting out the story.)
Brad: “Who’s Jesus?”
Katrina: “He’s the son of God.”
Brad: “Who’s God?”
Katrina: “I don’t know.” She thinks for a bit. “I think she’s an angel.”

Katrina’s favorite Cook

Helen to Katrina: “Who’s your favorite cook?”
Katrina: “Daniel Cook!”

What I’m watching so far

I was pretty accurate in predicting what I’d be watching, though by scheduling things to record in advance, I stacked the deck in my favor. Updated table follows.

Station	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00	10:30
Monday
Fox	Prison Break
NBC	Chuck		Heroes		Journeyman
Tuesday
CBC	Rick Mercer Report	This Hour Has 22 Minutes
Fox			House
Wednesday
ABC	Pushing Daisies
CBC	Little Mosque on the Prairie
NBC			Bionic Woman		Life
Thursday
CW	Smallville
NBC	My Name Is Earl	30 Rock	The Office	Scrubs
Friday
NBC					Las Vegas
Saturday
	Nothing.
Sunday
ABC			Desperate Housewives
Fox	The Simpsons		Family Guy	American Dad
Not yet scheduled
ABC	Lost
Fox	New Amsterdam
Fox	24

favorite, comedy, drama, comedy-drama, cartoon, fantasy, satire/news

Changes:

• I haven’t been watching Samantha Who?, and I’m somewhat surprised. Too much stuff on Mondays, I guess. I may still start watching, though.
• I really like Chuck and Journeyman, though I can’t help pronouncing it /ˈdʒɜrnimən/ instead of /ˈdʒɜrnimæn/.
• Both Cavemen and Carpoolers were pretty painful to watch. I didn’t make it through an entire episode of either.
• Our friends Brandon (is that how it’s spelled?) and Ami (is that how it’s spelled?) are recommending Reaper on Tuesday nights. I might give it a try.
• I really like Pushing Daisies and Life.
• Bionic Woman is on the bubble. The pilot was problematic for me, both in terms of acting and in exposition. It seems to have gotten better, but it just hasn’t grabbed me.
• No time for Royal Canadian Air Farce, especially considering I don’t live in Canada. I was prepared to give Friday Night Lights a try, but I just haven’t gotten around to it.
• Viva Laughlin bought the farm before we saw a single episode.

Voice mail message from Helen

Allan’s two-month checkup was this morning. Helen left me a voice mail message.

“Here are the stats. Allan weighs 14 … yes, you heard it … 14 pounds, 1 ounce. Katrina was only 11 pounds, 12 ounces at this time. So he’s in the 90 to 95th percentile, which … head size is [15 5/8] inches, the 25 to 50th percentile. And his length is 24 3/8 inches, or 90 to 95th percentile, so he’s a lot longer than Katrina was. So, anyway, I just wanted to let you know. I’ll talk to you later. Bye bye! Elena, can you say bye bye?”

“Bye bye.”

The Very Best Dada, EVER!

Today was the Halloween program at Katrina’s preschool. Therefore, I had to get her dressed 45 minutes before the event. As I was getting Katrina’s accessories in place for her Glinda costume, Katrina said, “Mama, where is my magic wand?”

(Gulp) “Oh, Katrina, I am so so Sorry, but I forgot to bring it!”

Katrina: “Then I will never, never be Glinda!”

I felt horrible. Katrina, I’m sure felt even more horrible. She was angry, sad, and just plain miserable. It was already too late for me to call Brad, since he was already on his way to the school. Reasoning with Katrina simply didn’t help, and neither did the hugs.

When Brad arrived, my look of desperation moved Brad into action. Since talking and hugging Katrina didn’t seem to be helping, he took the aluminum foil that was left over from someone’s treat, and immediately broke a hanger in half. Within a minute, he had constructed a magical ball wand. There just wasn’t enough time to form it into a star like the one at home. So Brad explained that princesses have all sorts of different wands. With a couple minutes of convincing, Katrina finally entered the classroom so that the program could begin.

It was obvious that Katrina was disturbed about her wand, as she hardly participated in the songs and movements at first. Half way through the program, she finally let loose and began singing and participating in the motions.

At home, I once again apologized for my forgetfulness. Then Katrina enthusiastically said (regarding her new wand), “I will NEVER use another wand again!” Dada is our hero!

(Comment from the old site:)

Yay, Brad!!! By the way

Submitted by Ami Peltier (not verified) on Thu, 11/01/2007 - 12:54pm.

Yay, Brad!!!

By the way — poor Allan. I can’t believe you made Allan Annoying one of your tags! LOL

Big Al!

I took Allan to see Dr Kendall for a recheck on his jaundice yesterday. When the medical technician took his weight, I was surprised to learn that Allan had gained 24 oz. since his appointment 14 days prior! The “norm” is gaining about an ounce a day. Apparently like our other children, Allan does not fall into the category of normal when it comes to weight gain. He was up to 8 lbs, 5.3 oz!

Since Allan was still looking about the same hue of yellow, Dr Kendall ordered a stat bilirubin. Luckily the labs showed that he most likely has a case of breastfeeding jaundice; no big deal. We’ll recheck in 2 weeks.

Dr. Randy Pausch: “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”

Dr. Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that has metastasized to his liver and spleen. In August, he was given an estimate of three to six months of healthy living left.

The video of his last lecture, “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”, from September 18 is an hour and 25 minutes long, but it is worth it. I watched it a few days ago and I still haven’t stopped thinking about things he said in the lecture. It’s poignant, informative, and entertaining.

I highly recommend it.

(Comments from old site:)

Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture

Submitted by Sara Gold (not verified) on Mon, 10/29/2007 - 2:10pm.

Some lessons from Randy Pausch’s last lecture that especially moved me:

1. Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things.
2. Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.
3. Never lose the child-like wonder.
4. If we do something which is pioneering, we will get arrows in the back. But at the end of the day, a whole lot of people will have a whole lot of fun.
5. Be good at something; it makes you valuable.
6. If you live your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, and the dreams will come to you.

Check out the tribute quiz on the lecture at www.mystudiyo.com : you can add your own questions at the end of the quiz. http://www.mystudiyo.com/activity.php?act=558

My Beaumont Hospital Brownie

After every delivery, I have enjoyed the savory sensation of eating the Beaumont Hospital Brownie. So, when I became pregnant for a third time, I couldn’t help but look forward to this tasty treat. Unfortunately, they ran out of brownies on Sunday, so I had to wait an ENTIRE DAY for a new batch. I was a little disappointed to find that the recipe had changed a bit, as there was no longer a frosting topping on the brownie. So, I saved it to take home and put a huge glob of chocolate frosting on it when I got home yesterday. Yum!