Nice to be back

It's nice to be back home. All-in-all it wasn't a bad trip. The days were so packed, that they went by quickly. Starting with breakfast at 7:30 in the morning, to finally getting back at 11:00 at night after dinner - it was non-stop. Saturday was a little laid back. I went to Wurzburg to do a little shopping. It was a cloudy and rainy day, but not too bad. One of the most ridiculous things I saw was shopping at a store equivalent of a Target, and seeing the prices of toddler shoes. The lowest price was €48, about $60. How ridiculous is that? The irony of the whole thing was that people who can drop that kind of money on kids shoes don't usually shop in stores with shoes laid out in racks. Unless the Europeans are a complete breed apart. Well... take a look at this picture. One can't even kill oneself without being reminded of it...

I'm happy for the long weekend coming up. Time to kick back and maybe start a new season of 24.

Guten Tag from Germany

Even though I should be in bed, I wanted to make at least one post while I was here. The trip is going pretty good. My jet lag wasn't bad at all. In fact, I think this was the best adjustment ever. The key was a reminder Tish gave me - take some ear plugs. Those were a life-saver on the airplane. I haven't slept that good while coming over.

My presentation went very well this morning. Lots of kudos. It was also nice to catch with people I haven't seen in a few years. Of course, I can't wait to get back home.

Ok. Now for some quick pictures.

Downtown Lohr. It has all the charm of a small town in Europe.

Tish and I stood on this exact spot three years ago.

Hiking through the Black Forest to get to dinner.

Dinner on Tuesday night.

A typical European hotel room - small and sparse.

Hmm... Why does an Aldi in Germany look exactly like the one in US?

Aaargh... more presentations to pay attention to...

A week separation

Priya's sitting here on my lap as I write this. She got a little bit early today which didn't help me too much. But at least we got to wish Tish a happy Mummy's Day before she left for work. I won't be seeing her again till I come back from my trip to Germany. I will be gone for a week. In the meantime, the girls are going to Michigan. This will be a tough week for me. I have never been away from Priya this long. And now that she's on the verge of walking, the Harry Chapin song comes to mind - she "learned to walk while I was away."

I'm not sure if my hotel has high-speed or not. If not, then I will be gone for a week. If it does, then I may post something during the week.

Birthday party number 3

One year old, and Priya had her third birthday party today. I don't think we can keep this pace every year. It was a nice and small gathering of friends. Here are some pictures from the day.

A Reprise

Priya got to visit her grandparents twice in three weeks - this time without a fever. She had a great time with them, and is feeling at home there. The reason for the visit wasn't so happy though. Tish's grandma finally passed away, so were there for the funeral.

The first video (sorry about the dark lighting) is for David - can we send her to you for lessons? She seems to have the basics down. :-)

Now a few pictures.

At Donnie and Shannon's wedding.

It's always fun to stop at rest stops.

Priya loves looking out of windows.

Grandma Reay

Grandpa Reay

The carseat is now turned around.

Baby is growing up

I just came back last night from one of the worst startups I ever had. The machine is a month late already, and they wanted three weeks worth of work done in three days. When I almost got my hand caught in the machine, I knew it was time to come back for the week, and take a little breather.

The one thing that brightened up my week were these one-year old pictures of Priya. Our little baby is growing up. She isn't really walking yet, but can stand, as she is in one of the pictures. Doesn't she look so adorable! Such a little girl.

Birthday parties and viruses - taken in stride

Priya started the week of her birthday with an ear infection, progressed to a cold and cough, and graduated with a classic case of Roseola. That was Tish's diagnosis the day before the rashes broke out. Who needs to go to the hospital when you have a 24-hour nurse on standby! For those interested, here's Priya, probably looking her worst. The good part is that the rash doesn't itch. Poor baby.

This past weekend we were in Michigan where Priya got to enjoy two birthday parties. Like Addy, Priya liked the cake, but didn't go all crazy with it. It may be that she was running a 102 fever, or probably more so that she is a fairly clean eater. I had to finally take her hand and smoosh it in the cake.




Yesterday we had the opportunity of another family day. I had some work downtown, so at the last minute we all decided to pile in the van and head out. The girls did some window shopping while I got done. Then we headed out to the Millenium Park, where I had my first look at the finished Bean. Looks pretty cool. We had a minor 'famous person' run-in when we saw Linda Yu from ABC 7.

Happy Birthday Priya!!

It is amazing how one year has flown by. I can remember just yesterday Tish calling me at work to let me know that we had to go to the hospital that evening. The similarities between that day and today are also remarkable. Priya’s 0’th birthday started out with her having trouble breathing. Her 1’st birthday is marked by her having a cold and fever for the last few days – and trouble breathing. That’s it. This stops here. No more. Here’s to healthy birthdays!

She is an amazing little girl. Though she isn’t feeling well, she has maintained a great attitude, and continues to be a little rascal. That is something I pray stays with her for the rest of her life. We love her so much.

Day in the park

Tish and Priya spent a day at the park with Sherry and her girls. It turns out that she didn't much care for swings. I suspect that will change.

Unbelievable!!

I simply can't believe this. When I had first made this post, I had thought it was a foregone conclusion that Jill Carroll would not survive her kidnapping. Tish called me this morning with the news that, wonder of wonders, Jill Carroll had been set free. Amazing. I am so happy and relieved for her. It also seems like that she came through this fairly unscathed.

Right now I am sitting at the bus terminal at O'Hare airport. Without a car, I am relegated to finding creative ways of getting around. I missed the bus by five minutes, so now I have to wait around for an hour before the next one gets here. Thanks to my iPod and wirless access, I can at least while the time away. The really sucky part is that I won't get to see Priya till tomorrow evening now. Aaargh. The torture.

I pulled up this interesting statistic on my Google videos. Take a look at the picture:

See that? The most popular videos that I host are the short clips from Buenos Aires. I should dig up more stuff from Argentina!

Almost there

Greetings from Minneapolis. I've been here for a few days already. The trip is going well, but not too exciting. So far I've eaten at a Red Lobster and a local steak house. Fun stuff.

This whole video thing with Google needs some rethinking in my part. It's incredibly easy for people to see the videos once they are online - all you need is a Flash player. But it takes so doggone long for Google to verify and approve the videos. There are some other sites out there that will host videos, and I might investigate them sometime. In the meantime, Google it is.

The first video is of Priya coming to a standing position by herself. It's the first time she did it, and we were lucky to get it on video. She can stand in place now for sometime, but steps are still a challenge.

The next video is of her waking up in the morning. She has taken to sleeping in this strange position with her butt up in the air. Doesn't look too comfortable, but seems like she likes it. I wish I was this chirpy when I wake up in the morning.