BoomFlag

Zack built a birdhouse for one of his Cub Scout belt loops. Laralee was thrilled to help.

The other day, Laralee decided to head down to Savers (a thrift store) in Boulder. She wanted to find a new pair of jeans on the cheap.

Of course Kyra wanted to come along, because she knows that when Mom goes shopping, there’s a good chance she can sweet-talk her way into something as well. Since she wanted clothes, and since her room usually has a few stacks of clothes tucked in various corners, we made a deal with her. She could only get new clothes if she first got rid of some old ones. Eager for the opportunity, she ran upstairs and came down with a few loads of clothes that she’s willing to trade.

Who says teenage girls are big on clothes?

Today I received the Magic Mouse that I’d ordered a few days ago. It’s for Amber at work, who has switched to a Mac and therefore needs all of the proper Apple accessories.

The Magic Mouse is probably infused with magic dust or something at the magic Apple factory, because it comes in a special display case.

Only Apple would refuse to put it in crummy shrink-wrapped plastic that requires a knife and a pair of pliers to open. I fully expect that when Amber opens the case, a choir of angels will sing and light will descend from heaven.

Yesterday I finished my corporate taxes. Today I worked on my personal taxes. Much unpleasantness resulted.

I just got the most awesome spam email I’ve had in a long time. Check out the retro 1950’s look:

I love the “Use the world wide web” introduction, and of course the 1978-style mainframe terminal, but probably my favorite part is the bonus at the bottom: Even works on dial-up. Sweet!

Tonight we went to another of Kyra’s band concerts. As a flute player, she sometimes feels like her music can’t be heard above the racket of the rest of the band. (And yes, with a group of eighth-graders it’s often a racket.)

She had this to say about it:

It was hilarious. Maybe it was the way she said it– very matter-of-fact, like this was a great pronouncement and a piece of timeless wisdom that should be inscribed in stone somewhere.

At the concert I couldn’t help but admit she’s right. The flute players sit right in front of the trumpets and saxophones, and they played a little Mexican number (lots of brass) and the only way I could tell Kyra was even playing was by watching her fingers move on the flute.

The good news: as band players mature and become more skilled, the brass quiets down a little. Last weekend we were at a statewide honor band concert (Kyra was fourth chair, meaning she’s the fourth-best flutist in Colorado!) and those middle-school kids were really quite impressive. The brass wasn’t as overpowering; it sounded more like a group effort than an attempt by the brass players to drown out everyone else.

I remember the days, early in my business, when a new client or a new project was a cause for celebration. Every little bit of work helped, and I was always eager and excited to pick up something new.

It’s interesting to note that today, I continue to get new projects but in a weird way I wish they would stop coming so I could take a breather. We’re getting one project after another– which of course is a great thing– but we’re badly understaffed and so it just creates more pressure. We simply don’t have the capacity to do all of the work we have now, and these new projects just add to the pile.

I really, really hope I can hire some more developers soon. I can’t keep burning the midnight oil six days a week…

Today was a gorgeous teaser for spring… sunny and 70 degrees. My car’s dashboard has the proof:

Of course that means lunchtime ultimate was on, although the breeze was a little stiff. The good news there is my out-of-practice throws didn’t seem so bad. I could blame the wind.

I was testing some stuff with my camera and kind of liked this macro view of my monitor.

I’m at the airport early today, and I learned two things:

1) If you don’t print your boarding pass ahead of time, you might get lucky and get assigned a better seat. I moved from 26A– second-to-last row in the back– to 5A, which I’m hoping is a “premium” seat with more than twelve inches of leg room. Yay!

2) The TSA is no longer using metal detectors at all, and forcing everyone to go through the millimeter-wave machines. Ugh. Of course I opted out, which meant a pleasant early-morning groping. Good times.