family

Lindsey and I needed to run some errands on Saturday, while Sadie, our three year-old, was napping. Instead of waiting for her to awake from her slumber, we hired a babysitter for a an hour and opted to take Maddie (our one year-old) with us.

While I enjoyed the one-on-one time with Maddie, Lindsey and I immediately mourned Sadie’s temporary absence. It was the first time I can remember that the both of us voluntarily left one of our children behind — or at least it felt that way.

One parent with one child is one thing, but I don’t like the feeling of knowing that another member of our near-complete family could have been present. Anyone with two or more kids feel the same?

Myself. Normally not wide- or cross-eyed, I swear.

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I cannot tell you how many times I’ve knocked my two and ½ year old down while turning around.

You see, Sadie is a “Close Stander.” She often stands behind me, Gillette razor close, to see what I’m doing without ever touching me. As a result, I rarely sense her presence. She means no harm — just excited to be alive — but the act often causes her temporary pain, and consequently, a brief session of crying. So I do my best to avoid it.

While preparing to put her down for a nap this afternoon, I spun around to find her directly beneath me. With gymnast-like dexterity, I managed to avoid disaster by quickly contorting my body, but at the expense of tweaking me neck. (I did clip her foot, which left her slightly upset, but tearless.)

In any case, “Close Standing” is a comical, sometimes painful, and slightly frustrating side effect of being the parent of an enthusiastic but smallish human being. Can I get a witness?

I’m a younger brother and LOL’d upon seeing this (via Digg).

Randy Pausch, a computer science professor diagnosed with terminal cancer, clearly understands the value of life. His thoughts on carpe diem, achieving your childhood dreams, and materialism are precise, inspired, and honest (no gimmicks here).

At the time of his discourse (Sept. 2007), doctors said Pausch would have “three to six months” to live. As of today, he is still alive. His original full-length lecture at Carnegie Mellon can be found here.

See also: My attempts to be a shoe designer | You have a choice

Lindsey and I will be leaving on our first cruise this Saturday, departing from Miami on Sunday to tour the Caribbean. Any pointers for a cruising noob? Disembark? Don’t disembark? To the comments with you, kind reader!

NOTE: As a result of our travels, Smooth Harold will be on a publishing hold until Monday, February 18 at the earliest. Have a great week, everyone.

I’ve uploaded a handful of recent images to Flickr after Lindsey and I erected our Christmas tree on Tuesday. Peep ‘em, if you dare. Oh, and expect a steady influx of photo blogging in the coming days — the newness of this camera has yet to wear off.

Holidaze 2007 (or Blake tries out the new DSLR) [Flickr]

The toy compact disc you see pictured above is not compatible with PS3 hardware — in fact, the little booger is twice as thick as standard CDs.

But the irregular gauge nor warranty endangerment would keep my little Sadie from trying to play “I’m a Little Tea Pot” on the ill suited $500 machine this past Monday. Amazingly, the PS3 took the disc, but wouldn’t give it back — the Blu-ray drive was in duress.

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Madison Snow spawned Thurs. Oct. 11, 2007 at 4:22pm MDT. She weighed 8.2 oz and is 19 inches long. Mom and baby doing fine…

Hello world!

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First, let me preface this post with a disclaimer: I come from a long line of individuals that simply must be right all of the time. No inaccuracy, however insignificant, can go uncontested in my immediate family. Part of that stems from the high number of intelligent siblings I grew up with, not to mention two shrewd parents. And while I can’t speak for others, I know my motivation to cross-examine every single statement was — and still is to an extent — rooted in my desire to display how much I know rather than enlighten others with meaningful truths. Truths with value. How noble of me, right?

That said, my feelings have slowly changed over time, especially since courting the beauty and brains that is Lindsey Snow of Seattle, Washington. In the last 4 and a half years of knowing her, Lindsey has taught by example in discerning what warrants correction, and what doesn’t. I can’t imagine how many times she must have let slide something I inaccurately said. I doubt she even acknowledged the act, rather opting to just let it go. At the same time — and while typically a quiet individual — Lindsey will readily stand up for something that matters; a material truth. “What matters,” you ask? I’ll leave that up to you, but I do know the order someone was cut from a reality show or what color shirt someone was wearing (when not profiling a criminal, of course) doesn’t matter.

I’ve been presented with three opportunities in the last week alone to correct another individual on some minute detail. In realizing what was important, I decided against correction without telling myself, “Don’t worry, Blake. You REALLY know what s/he doesn’t.” I just moved on in the moment, and it felt really good. Like, “Wow, that was really nice. I should do this more often,” good.

So, yeah. It’s a refreshing experience not to have to be right all of the time. There I go boasting again…