We Are No Ordinary Family

Back in September, I posted about what my family's superpowers would be, like in the ABC series No Ordinary Family.  I have always wanted the ability to be in more than one place at a time, and chose flying for Adam and invisibility for Dova.  For Doug, I thought he could really use the ability to stop time so that "everything would be quiet. He could catch his breath, relax and relish the moment of silence."

As part of the TV series campaign, we had the opportunity to have a graphic artist create a family portrait with our superpowers.  I heard nothing back about this program until we received the actual portrait in the mail in December.  And wow, there we are as No Ordinary Family.  A for Adam, D for Dova, Doug resting with time stopped, and me cooking and cleaning(?!?) at the same time.  Dova's likeness is awesome, as well as my butt (I wish!).

If you haven't seen No Ordinary Family, check it out.  You can't go wrong when one of the main characters went to MIT, my alter ego do-it-all supermom .

Photography Honors

Last year, my company of over 50,000 employees sponsored an international photography contest. They asked people to submit up to three photographs in a variety of categories. I thought about entering, but felt too cheap to order 16"x20" prints for something that I wasn't too likely to win. But my family and co-workers encouraged me to enter. Although I enjoy photography immensely, I am strictly an amateur capturing memories for friends, family and this silly blog.


Adam in the Sky

Imagine my surprise and excitement when I got a letter saying that I received Honorable Mention in the People category for this photograph of Adam.  Lying in the wood chips taking crazy shots against the sky is actually good for something!  One day I'll fly out to the company headquarters in the Midwest to see the photograph hung in the halls.

After the corporate contest, my division of about 150 people sponsored a local photography contest.  Since many of us had our photos returned from the corporate contest, it didn't even cost money for printing this time.  I put my favorite photograph of Newport, Rhode Island into the ring.


Golden Sun over Easton Beach

The thing about this photograph is that on any given day, Easton beach doesn't look anything like this. Most of the time, it looks like this:


(OK, this is particularly overcast, misty day from 2005.  Either that or my photography used to really stink.)

We've been back to Newport a couple times since, and I always look back in amazement at how the planets aligned for the photograph.  The sun magically came through the low layers of clouds to spill golden light on just the houses and waves. We happened to be walking back up Memorial Drive at the right time.  I had brought my telephoto lens on this walk (normally way too heavy as a walk-around lens). And most importantly, I kept my wits about me while taking the shot.  Never before and never since have I seen Easton Beach look so beautiful.



And surprise again!  I won first place for this photograph.  It now hangs in the main hallway at work.



With a plaque with the title and my name. How official looking!  Still, I'm not about to quit my day job. 

Girlfriends at Seven

After the sleepover

There are definitely differences between the way boys and girls play and show their affection for their friends. Adam does the typical ball playing, video games and wrestling. Dova has fallen in to the typical girl chat, and playing with dolls, stuffed animals and playing house. Despite any efforts to promote gender neutral play, it always ends up along the stereotypical boy/girl lines. Which is fine. No need to fight it.


Hanging out over onion rings at the Museum of Science

But the one thing that I love with Dova is that when I ask to take a picture of her with her friends, they have no problems getting really close together for the shot.  Adam feels uncomfortable getting too close to friends unless he’s wrestling them.


Brunettes

I love capturing these shots of Dova with her friends!  I used to think that age four was the epitome of little kid cuteness, but age seven rules for big kids!

Laptop Stand - Geektastic Computing in Bed

For years, I have been looking for the perfect laptop stand to use while lying down in bed.  Before, I would  prop up my notebook on my ribs (ouch!) and struggled to use the touchpad. It was never long before I wanted to chuck the laptop.  I looked for stands on eBay and Amazon and almost bought a complicated heavy aluminum stand with a zigzag leg configuration.

Finally, I found this lightweight plastic laptop stand on Amazon and it is perfect.  Do you see how the laptop is not digging into my ribs and my hands are at the perfect height for typing?  And I don't need to prop my head up to see the screen.  I'm using the stand right now of course.  My neck and shoulders are relaxed, so much so that the biggest problem with the stand is that I sometimes fall asleep under it.

But seriously, if you're in the market for totally geeking out in bed, check out this stand.  I use it with my standard 15" laptop or netbook and it could handle a slightly larger laptop.  At this angle, it does get a bit tippy, so it's not for the soft-headed.  And the legs are shown at the maximum height, so if you're much bigger than I am, it would dig into your ribs.  Since it is small and lightweight, it's really easy for me to move around (especially when half asleep).  I even caught Adam using it as a music stand once, it is so versatile!

Ultra Light Weight Portable Laptop Table

Note: I purchased this ultimate geek stand with a whopping $30 of my own money and blogged about it because it's simply geektastic.

Love with Chocolate Leaves

For Valentine's Day this year, I was inspired by Piera's beautiful chocolate leaves from her premier post on Aiming Low. She even got her hubby to demonstrate how to make them on video!  I'm no food blogger (especially since my last food post here was about ramen noodles), so don't look here for directions. I can only offer advice as a totally non-crafty kinda baker.

First thing I had to do was to find some fake leaves.  I have no plant-like decorations in my house, other than the wild real plants that live here, and have never understood the huge section of plastic flora at craft stores.  I found this nice fake plastic branch for $1.99.



I yanked off the smaller leaves and washed them. Dova thought they looked like little feet. I left the leaves attached to each other "just in case" I wanted to use the branch again.



I didn't manage to take any photos during the process of making the chocolate leaves, so go back and visit Piera's awesome cheesecake post on Aiming Low. Chocolate covered hands simply don't go with cameras in my book. But I can certainly take photos of the finished product.



And with our Valentine heart cookies.  Dova went a bit overboard with the colored sugar...



To add a bit of color and hopes for springtime, we made a batch of flower cookies as well. Again overboard with sprinkling...



Dova, not so much!



During the cookie making process, Dova uttered the ultimate mommy bliss words, "Mom, I LOVE baking with you." Awww, I think I'll keep her.



Her cookies make for a beautiful presentation with the chocolate leaves. And afterward, I put the leaves back on the branch and put them in the corner of my kitchen. I can decorate with fake plastic plants after all!



Well sort of. Is my coffee maker growing a plant or just happy to see me?

If Your Car Were a Person…

Shortly after I bought my car last year (a BMW 135i convertible), I received a lengthy ten page customer satisfaction survey from Maritz Research. Since I love everything about my car and love just thinking about my car, I happily filled it out. Not every question got stunning marks, especially when it came to back seat room and gas mileage. Then again, these are not major considerations for this type of car. If I wanted a car with a spacious backseat and good gas mileage, it wouldn't be the sporty 300 HP rocket that it is.



Many know that I have a soft spot for BMWs, as this is my third, and fourth for our family.  And this baby is so much more than I imagined.  I would’ve been happy with the smaller engine, but now that I have the 3.0L turbo, there’s no turning back.  And the color?  Simply head turning.  For those of you wondering about the Motorsport emblems, this is the 135i with the M Sports Package, not a 1M.



Here’s a funny story, a relative got a ride in my car and upon exiting, looked at this door sill and asked, “What’s with all the W’s?”  Doug and I love all the Motorsport insignia and often instant message each other with the M with stripes, “///M”.  OK, not necessarily with the colors.  But it sounds like “Mmm M”…



This car hasn’t been without faults during its first year.  It's had a firmware issue that affected starting, an irreproducible roof leak, a broken headliner clip which meant replacing the entire headliner, an LED taillight that went out (again a full assembly replacement), a cracked center brake light cover, and we still have an outstanding recall for the high pressure fuel pump.  Quite the princess I might say.  I’ve been to the dealer more times for this car than I’ve ever gone for my 2001 325xiT.  Then again, Doug keeps that car in tip top shape.  And it’s so cool that I can use my BMW Parking Only sign in my garage for two cars.



Shortly after turning in my first Maritz survey, I received a second Maritz Research survey for a Vehicle Comparison Study, comparing my car to similar models.  Now this survey was far more subjective.  First, there were the questions about “image”, with the usual adjectives to describe cars.  Like these:

• Dependable/reliable
• Affordable
• Environmentally-friendly
• Stylish
• Sophisticated
• Rugged/tough
• Conservative
• Prestigious
• Powerful
• Well-engineered
• Simple
• Luxurious
• Sporty
• Comfortable
• Economical
• Good value
• Fun to drive
• Innovative
• Youthful
• Family-oriented
• Distinctive
• Safe
• Responsive
• Elegant
• Sleek
• Functional
• Classic

The cars that I was supposed to compare my car to were the Acura TSX, Lexus IS, Audi A4/S4/RS4, and Volvo C70.  The size of my car is most comparable to the Acura TSX, but that car does not come in a convertible.  The latter three models do come in convertibles, but are all larger and would normally be compared to the 3-series BMWs.  There is simply no comparison in my book.  But I digress.



The survey got ridiculous when it asked the question, “If the BMW 135i was a person, which of the following traits would describe it (check all that apply)”:

• Environmentally-friendly
• Passionate
• Peaceful
• Tough
• Outdoorsy
• Charming
• Upper class
• Successful
• Intelligent
• Reliable
• Up-to-date
• Imaginative
• Spirited
• Daring
• Cheerful
• Wholesome
• Honest
• Down-to-earth

OK, I love my car, but I can’t really prescribe human characteristics to it.  Especially some of these.  Here’s my attempt at responses:

• Environmentally-friendly - nope, no Chevy Volt here
• Passionate – yes, the car loves to drive, or would that be the driver?
• Peaceful – don’t hear it singing “Give peace a chance” , it is more zoom zoom zoom!
• Tough – as long as those rear wheel drive low-profile tires don’t see snow or ice
• Outdoorsy – no dirt allowed, but lots of air with the top down
• Charming – completely
• Upper class – of course
• Successful – why thank you, oh wait, you’re talking about my car
• Intelligent – considering that the firmware issue flooded my engine and made it rough starting, not so smart.  Then again, I wasn’t the software engineer on that project.
• Reliable - nope, see list of things gone wrong
• Up-to-date – it doesn’t have my new obsession, a heated steering wheel or LED lights in the door handles.  But I love the iPod interface!
• Imaginative – I want my cars to do exactly what I want, not to be imaginative!
• Spirited – yes, when I want it to be, not like a wild stallion
• Daring – it better not dare do anything outside my bidding
• Cheerful – it certainly makes me cheerful
• Wholesome – as wholesome as a diamond necklace
• Honest – it better be honest when telling me my speed!
• Down-to-earth – nope, completely impractical

My car has been safely tucked away for the winter, and I am missing it! I can't wait for spring to come and take this baby back out on the road.