Negative Reinforcement

The other day, I painted Harper's toenails pink. She says that they're blue. We're working on that...

Everything

This stupid video chokes me up every time I watch it. I hate it when things predictably choke me up - hence the title stupid video. I actually secretly love this video. I think it gets to me because it makes me think of all of the horrible stuff Harper may encounter in her life. Thank goodness she has a Father who loves her even more than I do. Please watch this video. I know it's over 5 mins long, but it is totally worth it.

When The Science Hits The Fan - Vampire Lamp

I read this story the other day and thought it was very interesting. I was always under the impression that the way to get people to care about something is to show them how it impacts their wallet. But, I think this guy may be on to something. Basically, a British designer named Mike Thompson has developed a lamp that runs on blood. It's a single-use device that requires the addition of blood to initiate a chemical reaction in order to light up. Taken from Thompson's website :

The average American consumes 3383kwh of energy per year. That’s equivalent to leaving the light on in 4 rooms for a whole year. The simple flick of a switch allows us to power appliances and gadgets 24/7 without a thought to where it comes from and the cost to the environment.

For the lamp to work one breaks the top off, dissolves the tablet, and uses their own blood to power a simple light. By creating a lamp that can only be used once, the user must consider when light is needed the most, forcing them to rethink how wasteful they are with energy, and how precious it is.

I realize that this is a little extreme but, the thought process is interesting. How do you think we can get people to be more conscious of personal energy consumption? How do you and your family conserve energy?

Shot In The Arm

Nothing terribly exciting to report today. I got my flu shot yesterday. My arm hurts a little. But, it's a small price to pay for peace of mind. I really don't want Harper to get the flu, so we are all getting our shots. Last year was the first year that I got one. The year before, I didn't get the shot because I was pregnant and didn't want to expose Harper to the vaccine (yes, they do recommend that pregnant women get the shot, but I thought I knew better). I ended up coming down with a horrible case of the flu which caused me to go into labor and have Harper. She was fine and I was fine, but I could have done without all of the puking. So...the moral of that story is that I am getting the flu shot from now on. It makes sense for me. I work in a hospital setting and I have a little kiddo. What about you? Are you getting the flu shot? How about the H1N1 shot. I haven't made my mind up about that one, but I'm leaning toward getting it.

On a completely unrelated note. Here's a picture that I took at work. It's a cross section of a blood vessel. The blue dots are the nuclei of the cells that make up the vessel. The bright red staining is marking a protein that makes up the muscle of the vessel. I like my job.

Pink Toes

It was an interesting night at our house last night. To spare those of you with weak stomachs, I'll keep it brief. Harper pooped in the tub again. Then she peed on the floor. Fun stuff. Oh well. It happens. However, last night wasn't all bad. In fact, we had a lot of fun. We painted our toenails.

If you ask her what color they are, she'll tell you they're blue. She says everything is blue. We're working on that...We also watched one of Harper's favorite TV shows - Dancing With The Stars. She literally dances along as she watches it. It's pretty cute.

Bring It On

It's Fall! I love fall. It's my favorite season. I love the trees, I love the smell of burning leaves and pumpkin pie. I love wearing sweaters. I love going to pick out pumpkins. I love apple cider. Last night I celebrated the beginning of fall by getting one of my favorite fall treats at the store - Concord Grapes. Yes, they do have seeds and they are kind of like slimy eyeballs, but I love them.

I'm taking the easy way out today. I'm sick. I've been sick for 17 days and counting. Some days I feel like I'm turning the corner and getting better. Other days, like today, I feel like crap. So, I'm taking the easy way out. I'm not posting anything clever or profound. I'm just going to put up some more pictures of my cute baby. The end.

Picture Perfect

You know what's awesome? When people who aren't related to you love your kid as much as people who are related to you. This past weekend, Harper and I took a trip up to Cincinnati to visit all of our friends who have recently had babies. It was a great trip - but way too short. You just can't see everyone that you want to see and spend as much time as you want to spend with them when you're trying to cram it into the timeframe of a weekend. One of the highlights of the weekend was a photo shoot. I asked my friend Andrea if she would take some pictures of Harper (we need a picture to use for our Christmas cards, you know). Not only did she take pictures, but our friend Kelly - who is a professional photographer - also took some. They came out absolutely great! I am so grateful for all of our Cincinnati friends who love us and make us feel like family.

Birds on a Wire

Once again NPR has provided me with a blog post. I heard this story the other day and I think it's one of the coolest things I've heard in a long time. A Brazilian composer named Jarbas Agnelli saw a photograph in his local newspaper of birds sitting on five parallel wires. He immediately thought that the birds looked like notes on a music staff. He sat down at the piano and played what he saw. Below is a video of the photograph along with the music that came of it.

Miscelaineous Music - Entheos

I'm really excited to share some music with you today. Entheos is a great band out of Cincinnati, Ohio. Here's a link to their MySpace page and blog. They just released a new album entitled Sense. You can download it here. In the spirit of full disclosure, I have to admit that I have a selfish reason for plugging this band. Rob and I are friends with one of the band members, Alison, and we did the string tracks for the album. Recording for this project was an awesome experience. We did it in an old church that had been converted into a recording studio. I was all of 9 months pregnant with Harper so I kind of thought of it as our very first family music project. Here are a couple tracks from the album. Enjoy.

Lost:

Everything:

Colors:

Role Models

There have been a lot of celebs behaving badly in the news recently. First Serena Williams, then Kanye, then Roger Federer. By the way, why did Serena's outburst get so much more attention than Federer's? I realize that Federer's was toned down, but it was still disrespectful and still contained swearing. Anyway... it seems to me that it's getting harder and harder to find celebrities who are good role models. I know that this topic usually disintegrates into a circular discussion about whether or not celebs are inherently role models. I'm not interested in going down that road today. The bottom line is that kids (as well as a lot of adults) do look up to celebrities. My question for you is are there any good celebrity role models out there?

I'm Back

Did you miss me? Wait, don't answer that... Anyway, I'm back. Sorry for the lapse in posts. I had an overnight work retreat/conference over the weekend and I had a cold. No fun. Nothing super exciting to report about the retreat except that I won an award for my presentation - a small consolation for having to be away from my baby and husband. But, Harper and Rob seemed to have a great time without me (can you believe it?). I think they spent the entire time outside. Thank goodness for cell phones. Rob sent me pictures of their activities all weekend. Here are two of my favorite. They had a picnic breakfast in the front yard on Saturday morning. I love how her hair is totally out of control.

When I got home on Saturday afternoon, Harper really wanted nothing to do with me. She was still in Daddy mode. In fact, she was kind of a booger the rest of the evening. For instance, she whacked me in the face with a spoon and cut me right under my eye. She also peed on the floor that night instead of in her potty. Welcome home. The funny thing is that I couldn't be happier to be back.

Can You Dig it?

Here are some things I dig right now.

1. This blog is great. Very clever and thought provoking.

2. The Closer - my new favorite tv show.

3. Football season - Go Bucks!

4. This next one comes with a serious disclaimer. This video is outrageous. It's totally disgusting and yet fascinating all at the same time. I do not recommend you watch it under any circumstances. Actually, I don't really dig this video at all. Forget I mentioned it.

Rise and Shine

I love getting Harper out of bed in the morning. She's always in a good mood. I took this video this morning and it's pretty typical of our morning routine. Notice that as soon as I open the door, she says "two." Every morning, I count to three and turn her light on. For some reason, she really likes the number two. In fact, if you ask her if she can count to three, she says "two, two, two." Every morning, as soon as she hears her door open, she says "two". I love it!

Elton, Spiders, Music, and Listerine

Sometimes Harper likes to channel Elton John.

Spiders are not cool. Spider webs on my front porch bedazzeled with dew are cool.

I heard on my local public radio station this morning that the station is going to stop playing classical music during the day. Instead, they are going to have news programs all day long. While I thoroughly enjoy listening to NPR during my morning and afternoon commutes, I find it troubling that a public radio station in Music City is no longer going to play any music. I also find it disappointing that no other radio station in the Nashville listening radius plays classical music at all.

One more thing for today...why does Listerine have to burn the crap out of my mouth? Just wondering.

Yea Harper!

It was a big night at our house last night. Harper went peepee on the potty! Don't worry, I have no intention of chronicling every trip to the potty, but last night was the first so it deserves special recognition.

Who Said A Funeral Can't Be Fun?

This guy really puts the f-u-n in funeral. Behold:

Go Fish

Today I want to tell you about something that has significantly contributed to my sanity over the last few months. Harper and I listen to this cd just about every time we get in the car. It's wonderful. You can listen to audio clips at the bottom of this page. Harper literally cheers and claps her hands as soon as the music starts. It's by a group called Go Fish. Their motto is "Great music for kids that won't drive parents bonkers!" Mission accomplished as far as I'm concerned. In fact on some mornings, after I drop Harper off at baby school, it takes me until I get to my parking garage at work to realize that I haven't turned NPR on and Go Fish is still playing. To all of my friends with little kids, I would highly recommend getting this album. It has made our car rides infinitely more enjoyable.