Yes, I'm a geek

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are proud to present This Week's "The Big Bang Theory" Moment From Carl's Real, Actual, Non-edited or Embellished Life.

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INT. CHILD'S BEDROOM -- NIGHT

A father, CARL, and son, CONNOR, sit on a glider. CONNOR is in CARL's lap, and CARL is reading from the children's board book "STAR WARS SPACESHIPS".

CARLPointing to a picture of the DEATH STAR surrounded by other ships, straight from the final battle scene in RETURN OF THE JEDI.

            Death Star... this ship has a Dangerous Laser.

CARL closes the book, revealing another picture of the DEATH STAR on the back cover. This second image is just the DEATH STAR, there are no other ships.

             The End.

CONNORPointing at the DEATH STAR on the back of the book.

            Moon?

CARLSmiles.
      (BEAT)

            That's no moon. It's a space station.


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This has been This Week's "The Big Bang Theory" Moment From Carl's Real, Actual, Non-edited or Embellished Life. Please join us next week for another exciting installment.

Portion Control Fail

Ok, so the Portion Control portion of my "get healthy" routine was an abject failure.

(No, this is not one of our pugs)

I guess in a way it was doomed from the start. It's really something that I should have saved until later this year or at least a few more steps down the road. So for now, I've drawn a red line through it on my spreadsheet, which means I need to revisit it at a future date. For anyone who's interested, both weight and waist are hovering around the same place they've been for a while, for obvious reasons.

All is not completely lost however, as I did begin taking a multi-vitamin and a separate Vitamin D pill over the past 3 weeks and that's now a daily routine.

So, for those keeping track, I started with "No Soda", which is still going strong, and "Sit Ups & Push Ups", which is not quite as strong, but I'm still doing them when I remember. They'll be easier to work into a full exercise routine.

And lucky me, I've arrived at my predetermined week to start walking on the treadmill 3 times a week for at least 20 minutes. Don't laugh, but I'd be afraid what 30 minutes would do to me and I really don't want to end up unable to get out of bed one morning because I tried to do too much too fast. I'd have started with 15, but I'd be laughing at myself at that point. So, we're working up to 30 minutes, ok?, and then eventually 5x a week and then for longer periods until I'm on the thing for some yet-to-be-determined number of minutes, hours or miles every day.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

The trouble is that the treadmill is buried under Christmas in the basement. When all was said and done in January, there was literally no room in our basement storage closet for most of the Christmas decorations because it's already been filled ...
with the ever increasing piles of Connor's toys ...
and clothes ...
and much larger piles of my own toys ...
and random things in file boxes ...
that need to be cleaned out ...
but haven't yet ...
but I swear I'll get to them one day soon ...
so don't get on my case about my 47 file boxes ...
that I've brought from San Diego ...
to Chicago ...
back to San Diego ...
and now out to North Carolina ...
and hid away in the basement ...
hoping I wouldn't have to deal with them...

...where was I? Anyway, I'm taking a day off next week to work around the house and priority 1 for me is excavating the treadmill and getting it into working order so I can start walking next week. I'll keep you posted.

Should be fun.

"Where's Elvis?"

A few weeks back we were out at a Chili's for lunch and to keep Connor occupied we were having him point out things in the ubiquitous photos that cover their walls. "Where's the doggie?", "Where's the airplane?", etc.

Then, just for fun, while looking at one of the photos of a couple in Elvis wigs & glasses wearing Elvis T-Shirts, I asked Connor, "Where's Elvis?"

And, *BAM*, his hand shoots right to the picture of Elvis on the T-Shirt.

Shocked expressions followed by raucous laughter. Thinking this might be a fluke, I asked him to point out a few other things and then came back to the Elvis question and *BAM* right back to Elvis.

Now Misha and I have never taught him "Elvis". To our knowledge he's never seen Elvis and has no idea who Elvis is. He has a "Ten Little Elvi" book that was a gift, but since it's not a board book we haven't given it to him yet, so that can't be it.

So this begs the question...

Did someone teach our son Elvis without our knowledge... or is Elvis just something we're all born with.

Sounds like a great "In Search Of" episode to me.

Connor's First Sentence

Connor's been putting "more" and "please" together for a while now and we have him say "all done" at the table when he's done with his meal, but those have been specifically prompted, so they don't really count.

Yesterday morning, we were getting ready and he heard the trash truck outside moving from house to house and was fixated, saying "car" repeatedly as he got dressed. On the way down the stairs, the truck drove past our front door to pick up our trash and he saw it and spontaneously said "bye bye car". Yup, beaming. Misha told me he also said "bye bubbles" as the tub drained (she had given him a bubble bath).

Next stop: Quantum differential equations

Just googling around...

Not sure if I should feel happy or depressed that a Google Image search on "Carl Gomberg" doesn't turn up a single picture of me. Plenty of pics of friends from Facebook though. And my Twitter avatar:

Yahoo Image Search just turns up a pic of my son and the pugs dressed for Christmas/Hanukkah 2007.

Only Bing pulls up an image of me. My old Facebook profile pic.

Go figure that Microsoft would actually get it right in this instance.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Yeah, it's been a while.

And that fact, frankly, has been keeping me away.

Because there's a ton of stuff I'd love to tell you about that's happened since February.

Like Connor's now walking and talking.

And ... well that's been pretty consuming in itself.

So instead of taking the time to type up all the juicy details of the past 3 months, I'm just going to start anew.

Yup. Anew.

Snow Day

So we're stuck at home again today due to the snow but this time we were prepared with the proper clothes. So Connor and I took a trip outside to check out the snow. He wasn't too happy about the wind and we didn't stay out long, but it was pretty cool to see him try to figure out what all that white stuff was on the ground.


Oh, and he's standing on his own now for extended periods. And walking short distances. But that's another story for another blog post.

... But Will We?

Connor's daycare was closed today due to the local schools being closed.

The local schools were all closed due to a few inches of snow on the ground.

Yes, you read that correctly.

People here in Charlotte go bonkers when the weatherman says "Snow". It's like the proverbial yelling of "Fire" in a crowded theater. You can't find Milk or Bread anywhere, nobody wants to go out on the roads, the people who are driving are either out of control or driving one tenth the posted limit, and everything closes down for the day.

Except, of course, our offices. So since my company's telecommuting policies are a bit more lax than Misha's, I stayed home to work and babysit and take a half-day hit on my PTO bank so that Misha wouldn't have to take a full 8 hours on hers.

While Connor was asleep for his midday nap, I took in some of the inauguration. It was interesting that all of the former presidents were announced by their full name, but Obama's middle name was just given as "H". Not sure why they chose to do that during the introductions but then used his full middle name (Hussein) during the oath. Rick Warren's prayer was an interesting moment, full of passionate calls for "freedom for all people". Except Gay people who want to marry, I suppose. There was a cute moment when, during John Williams' musical arrangement, Michelle Obama reached forward and squeezed Barak Obama's shoulder as the clock ticked past noon, the official time of transition, regardless of when the oath is taken. And Obama's speech was very good. Very inspiring.

Obama's campaign slogan was "Yes We Can" and while I fully believe that any individual or group "can", it's an entirely different thing when it comes down to whether they "will". I'd like to believe that we can all work together toward restoring our economy and our global reputation, but when I hear someone like Warren gush about "freedom" after being so outspoken against gay marriage, it just feels like more of the same. Because in the end, my freedom isn't necessarily your freedom and everyone's freedom somehow tramples on someone else's in some small way. But you'll never hear anyone say "we're all entitled to freedom ... except you."

So the next year will tell most of the story I believe. There will be the rallying issues and the divisive issues, the victories and the losses, the rewards and the sacrifices and I hope in the end we're all better for it in some way that matters to each of us. I just hope that those who "can" rally "will", those who "can" contribute to victory "will" and those who "can" afford to make sacrifices "will". Even those who voted for McCain. Because I think that's the only way that we'll be able to survive the next 4 years without imploding.

Overheard

Misha: "Why is there a baby spoon on the stairs?"

Carl: "Oh, Connor dropped that there when he picked up the Crazy Glue."

Nicknames we've given to Connor

Sweetheart
Sweetie
Pumpkin
Boy
The Boy
Buddy
Guy
Fruitcake
Munchkin
Monkey
Buckaroo
Stinker
(Any of the above preceded by "Little" )
Monkeyboy
Buddy Boy
Rug Rat
Snickers (he used to laugh softly in his sleep)
Trotter (you should see him crawl!)

I just hope he remembers that his name is Connor...

Reflections on 2008

Once again, in no particular order:

- It's possible to own a house for a year and still not be moved in

- Charlotte is roughly the same latitude as Santa Barbara

- I don't miss San Diego half as much as I thought I would

- Landscaping is expensive... Hardscaping more so... Day Care, don't ask...

- "Recession" is a four-letter-word

- Your child's smile erases the day's hardships in a nanosecond

- Pugs will pretty much eat anything

- Amazingly, fried pickles are really good (though I understand it depends greatly on where you order them)

- Facebook is both the coolest and most annoying thing on the internet

- Once again, I need to lose weight

- My life is rich with memories, but I'm also buried in crap

- I blog, therefore I wonder who reads

- It is possible to know too much about UPC standards

- 80s arcade games are hard to find

- I think there were 2 weeks this year when Connor wasn't sick with something or other

- A grown man in a full pirate costume will get more stares at the neighborhood Halloween Party than the guy in the Spongebob costume (I was the pirate)

- A grown man in a full pirate costume will be largely ignored during Pirate Weekend at the local Renaissance Festival (I was not the pirate)

- All the crazy drivers come out during the holidays

- I can't believe it's already been another year...

Pics from Connor's first year

It's mind boggling to think it's already been one year! Well, mind boggling to us, Connor seems a little unimpressed by the fact that he's a year old.

A few of our little guy's current accomplishments:

• He now has 8 teeth: 4 top front and 4 bottom front
  
• He's crawling lightning fast
  
• He is standing for short periods of time (8 seconds is the record)
  
• He loves to dance and...
  
• He can't get enough of his stuffed ravioli dinners.
  

We can only imagine what this next year has in store for us! Enjoy the next set!

Connor's 12th Month and A Look Back At Year One

Previous installments (just in case you missed any):

11 Months

10 Months

9 months

8 months

7 months

6 months

5 months

4 months

Beginning of 4th month

3 months

Connor turns 1

My son turns one today and in a few hours we'll be celebrating with some local friends and family. Pictures as soon as we can get them online.

Connor's Fat Lip

On the way home from work today, as we're pulling into the daycare parking lot, my wife says to me "Oh, by the way, Connor got a fat lip at daycare today."

Turns out it wasn't as bad as I'd envisioned it. I've been gifted with a fat lip once in my life as a result of a Karate punch that wasn't pulled as well as it should have been by the guy I was practicing with in class and it wasn't pretty. I was really not looking forward to seeing any infant with a fat lip, let alone my son. However when we arrived at his room, he was sitting in a teacher's arms, looking a little unhappy and only a little swollen with a tooth-width scab on his upper lip.

Apparently the little guy was exercising his will in class and when he was moved from a place on the floor that he apparently wanted very much to return to, he scrambled off faster than his little arms and legs could take him and face-planted into the linoleum, biting his lip in the process.

Fortuitous - and I guess you could say somewhat serendipitous - that I picked out a red shirt when I dressed him this morning. Though as a Star Trek fan I should have known better...

So now we're home and he's doing well. I figure the scab will be gone in a few days since babies heal quickly. I just hope he heals better than I did... I can still feel where my lip met my tooth over 8 years ago.

Renaissance Babies

Today, we took Connor to the Charlotte Renaissance Festival. It's 20 acres of shops, food and characters with 6 stages offering constant entertainment. It's only the second Ren Fest I've ever been to. The first was in Laguna many years ago and we didn't stay there long, so I really can't say how they compare against one another.

Along for the ride were our friends Mary and Eric and their daughter Lila who was born 3 months ago. My sister's family was also there. The original idea was for us to all meet up and hang out together, but Francine got there before us (we were late) and between juggling babies, lunch and too much noise to hear your cellphone most of the time, we only bumped into Francine, Rob and Sam a few times.

Everyone had a lot of fun. We started the day by feasting on turkey legs and "Steak on a stake" for lunch. Eric and I shot crossbows and tried our hand at the thing where you use a huge mallet to try to knock a slider up a rail to ring the bell... whatever that's called... the only sign on the thing was "Play at your own risk". Misha and Mary took Connor though a maze and found a "gold" coin which was really plastic and a gimmick to get kids to run through the maze since you got to keep all the coins you could find. Connor wasn't too thrilled with the slide you had to go down to reach the exit though. Then, there was the Fudge vendor (yum) and the mead from ye olde pub (yum) and we wrapped the day with the Petting Zoo (stinky and oddly overrun with spiders). We all returned to the car tired and ready to go home.

I think I still smell a bit like dirt and Turkey Leg.

Some pics from the day:

Connor and Lila arriving at the Festival


Eric and Lila. She got lots of compliments about the cute hat.


Misha and Connor. I was taking this sideways and couldn't see the LCD so the composition's off, but I still like the shot.


Connor and Sam ... um... hanging out... (sorry, had to)


The petting zoo was a hit until we got swarmed through the fence by sheep.


"Oyez! Oyez! King Connor and Queen Lila decree that the day is over!"

Happy Howl-oween

Another Tooth!

Just yesterday we were talking to my sister and commenting on how long it had been since Connor's first 2 teeth came in. We were thinking he's been teething again from the way he's been fussing recently and his upper gums look "ready", but still nothing.

Then tonight, I'm putting some Orajel on him and there it is, a new tooth just barely poking through the gums. So Connor's top front left tooth is on its way in now and I expect the right side isn't far behind, just like with the bottom teeth.

That's all, just wanted to share.

Connor's now 9 months old

Here's the 9-Month picture set:

Kodak Gallery

You know, when I think back over the past 9 months and compare them to the nine months Connor was in the womb during which we sold and bought a house, moved across country and changed jobs... I'm not sure which was the easier 9 month span.

All I know is I wouldn't trade the memories of either for anything.

Another milestone not going in Connor's baby book

I gave my son his first wet willy today.

I was riding next to him in the car and couldn't resist. He didn't even flinch. But then I didn't really get my finger that wet and it's not like I can even stick my pinkie in his ear canal at this age.

I proudly announced this milestone event to my wife in the driver's seat. She was less than amused.

I guess it's a guy thing.

Connor's New Trick

Connor surprised us both with a new trick this evening:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klfVSZJpHJI

Yup, he's crawling.

And yup, that's me saying "we're in trouble".

And yup, that's the TiVo remote. Chip off the old couch potato.