Day 7.076: I ran a what?

All of these things have something in common:

They don't look very much like the route map I posted yesterday.

All but one of them were suggested (not the specific pictures - just the things) by either commenters on this blog, my Facebook friends or my running forum buddies.

If we count "licensed to carry small arms" as a T-rex vote, then that wins with three votes. Two votes went to each of aardvark, dog and kangaroo. There was a strong thread of puppets with Kermit, Sam the Eagle, Cookie Monster and Big Bird all featuring. Sherlock Holmes and The Stig round out the guesses - leaving just...drum roll...the mouse.

Yes I thought it looked like a mouse, but what do I know. I may have been influenced by the fact that one got into my desk drawer at work and tucked into a snack I'd left there over the weekend.

All of this nonsense did lead me to these people though - hat tip to ilanarama for that one!

Day 7.023: Super drive

I started the day making a rug city with E5N1 (I look forward to sharing it with you in due course) and I'm ending it watching a big football game (on TV) in Portland. In between, some games with the girls and some computer problems. Oh, and four hours in the car. Quite a day.

Day 7.008: Why is no-one dancing?

E5N1 found me this morning. None of the kids knew I was coming home and I arrived after they were tucked up in bed last night. He was quite surprised and then persuaded me to hide from the girls.

We had to get out of the house for breakfast as we had another viewing for the house, so the kids settled down to watch iCarly while Exile #2 did the last clean and tidy and check-around.

Since they were glued to the TV, I ventured out of my hiding place until I heard the theme music start at which point I dove into the kitchen because, without fail, at that point all three of them jump up and start dancing around the room.  Exile #2 said, "Go and start dancing with them!" as a way of surprising the girls, so I went in.

But no-one was dancing.

It seems they'd taken Exile #2's instructions to sit nicely and not mess the room up quite literally.

So I walked up and said, "Why is no-one dancing?"

Exile #3 and Exile #4 both turned around.  Exile #3 started to say, "Because we're..." The looks on their faces when they realised I was there and wasn't supposed to be were priceless.  Exile #3 did cartoon-shocked while Exile #4 looked genuinely scared like I'd come to life out of the Skype screen or something.

Good times!

Day 7.001: Happy Birthday (NY)

What could be more appropriate than combining the anniversary of our first day as residents of the US with the anniversary of my birth (observed).

Yes it was birthday part 2 today. It included presents and cards, cleaning and tidying and leaving the house for a viewing, Doctor Who cupcakes, The Hobbit part 2 (without E5N1) and lots of hugs.

And so begins the eighth year of the Exile.

Day 6.359: Too cold for me!

I've run when it's 1°F, 0°F and even, perhaps, a few degrees colder, but this morning, even though I left it until 7am to get out of bed, when faced with this:

(that's -24°C) I decided that an indoor day might be in order.

So I spent the day watching TV, internet videos, reading (I'm about halfway through the excellent Wool by Hugh Howey) with a bit of cooking and clearing up.  I've also been playing Halo 4 - yes I'm this guy:



but with nearly up-to-date hardware and a more manageable 1 year delay.

Day 6.358: Central heating for kids?

It's been very cold and will be again tonight, but the snow has stopped and it's warm inside my apartment (away from the drafts under the doors) and, apparently, warm enough back at home for this:

Maybe we wish it was a little colder there!

Day 6.349: Cardboard World

I hope you all had a great day whether you were celebrating Christmas or not. Our morning went something like this:

"Woah!"

"Ah!"

"Argh!"

"Cardboard World!"

After which we had a delicious lunch and the kids smiled like this:

There were also Skype/Face Time conversations, a game, lots of jokes from E5N1's joke book and two of us watched Doctor Who - the rest will catch up tomorrow!

Day 6.319: of The Doctor, The (3D)

On Saturday, after my visit to the beach, I was in need of a late lunch, so I drove to Brunswick (as you do) and fell on my feet when I wandered into The Little Dog Coffee Shop.  They were running low on lunch things but they had the makings of this fantastic salad - just what the doctor ordered.

Talking of The Doctor, I was back in Brunswick this evening with a whole lot of other people (at least three screens' worth) - some of whom were wearing fezzes and stripy scarves and bow ties.  Whovians one and all to see The Day of The Doctor.

My showing was in 3D and very excellent it was too - with a very nice making-of documentary to follow with an appearance by one more former Doctor!

Day 6.303: Geeking out at The Maine Mall

We had a busy day - getting to know various parts of the area - including - though we hardly ever visit one near home - the mall.

We happened upon these three gentlemen:

who we assume were attending Coast City Comicon - we didn't check with them, but they did pose very happily for me in their excellent costumes complete with proton packs with lots of details and flashing lights.

A little later, these two posed for me too...

in a shop full of geeky goodies and many graphic tees.

Day 6.292: TV star #3

Look who appeared on our TV today:

Ready for your close up?

Add, "pretending to do something on a MacBook" to the list of things she's learning at middle school.

Day 6.288: Fancy dress rehearsal

In the UK, "costume" is replaced by "fancy-dress" in phrases such as "costume party" and "don't forget to come in costume!", thus setting up the title pun!

It was both the elementary and middle school Halloween parties this evening. I photographed King Julien and the Empty Child on the doorstep before taking the latter and one of her friends to their middle school event (drop-off only) and then continued on to catch up with the former and Exile #2 at the other party. Exile #4 was at a post-school pre-party play-date (try saying that three times fast!), so I caught up with Artemis later in the evening.

All this is basically a dry-run for Thursday of course, when we will venture out to scare the neighbours out of their candy - or just say how nice it is to see each other (especially the kids) and then...please help yourself!

Day 6.272: E5N1 and the magic corn dog

Here are some beautiful water-drop covered things from our trip to Five Rivers:

And now, on to the poor discarded corn dog:

Of course it wasn't really a corn dog.  As Betsy correctly identified, it was a cattail (bulrush).  This is the moment when E5N1 first spotted it:

amongst other things, he decided it granted him the power of flight:

and as a result I referred to it as "the magic corn dog" - to which he always replied, "No! It's a cattail!"

This also happened:

Which obviously brought this to mind:

Every day is an adventure!

Day 6.258: What's the matter - too corny for ya?

I spotted this while out for my long run on Sunday:

I wondered what these five stalks of corn had done wrong (or right) to be left behind by the harvester.

Which in turn reminded me of this:

Day 6.204: Unseasonal TV

Hmmm, let me see...Friday... I was at work, after dinner Exile #2 and I attacked some rampant weeds in the backyard while the kids tidied up from the meal.

After the kids went to bed, Exile #2 and I watched the last episode of BSG Season 2. It's part of our catching-up on Amazon Prime Instant Video with old series we failed to watch at the time.

This is what we've caught up with over the last several months:

• Firefly (that's where it started)
• West Wing (drifted away after 2 and a half seasons but we may return)
• Dollhouse (loved it!)

then we got distracted by Game of Thrones season 1 (we had to pay for this one!) and then season 2 (on DVD)

• and now we're back watching Battlestar Galactica (2004) for free.

Also (with the kids) quite a lot of Doctor Who (original and BBC Wales) - most of this is re-watching for the adults.

(I may have forgotten something).

It's such a more civilised way to watch than both waiting a week between episodes and having to deal with commercials.

Our cable TV watching is currently limited to: So You Think You Can Dance and Exile #2's watching of The Daily Show and Colbert Report while I'm blogging some evenings. I sometimes wonder if we should continue to pay for it.

What's unmissable for you and are your viewing habits changing?

Day 6.132: Tale as old as time...

He summons up the courage to say hello to the TV star, then spills coffee grounds on her sandals...  Yes, that happened. Sorry Innae Park!  Sadly, not the first time I made a big impression on the local news folks.

Apart from that moment, we had a very lovely evening at Exile #4's piano recital. Her pieces (including the Beauty and the Beast theme) are embedded below.





Didn't she do well?

Day 6.125: I need a doctor...

I'm not sick. Very healthy in fact - running is going well. Work...well let's just say not so much.

Not quite bad enough to need to be rescued by this young/old man (currently living on my desk) though!

Not so far anyway!

Day 6.072: East ended

It's amazing what you find on the seatback entertainment system on a Korea Air flight - although this is not what British readers might initially think (based on a sample of two so far). It is in fact the live image from the downward camera as we flew in over New York City - not the credits of Eastenders despite the first-glance similarities.

In other news, I'm safely back home from my trip to the Far East!

Day 6.063: Invasion thwarted (at dinner time)

While we were waiting for dinner, a news report came on about the Japanese invasion of this town yesterday. As far as I can work out, the invasion was a little half-hearted and was beaten back by Koreans with antiquated weapons.

Sometimes, not understanding the language makes life more exciting!

Day 6.055: "Books" and TV

Whether the school book fair and 'No TV week' coincided by accident or design I'm not sure, but we are enjoying enduring both at the moment.

The normal book fair rule is that we will buy one book of their choice (with our veto) and if they want anything else, they can use their pocket money.  This year E5N1 stretched the definition of 'book' to the limit by picking out this:

Well, it is a book and some LEGO - and let's face it I wholeheartedly approve.

Until today, he has refused to attempt to build any of the "Crazy Action Contraptions" from the book, preferring, along with Exile #4 to make various weird and wonderful creations from their imaginations.  I wholeheartedly approve of that too.  However, I was happy this evening when, in our no-TV, no-Xbox evening, he finally agreed to make one of them.

He seemed happy too:

Is it possible that he's planning something?

Day 6.036: Downhill from here

Any of you who are friends with the real me on facebook know about our creative project. We're about halfway through, so there's a chance that normal service will be resumed soon-ish.

We watched the last two episodes of Doctor Who Series 6 this evening. It was bewildering, but I have thoroughly enjoyed rewatching it - some of the performances by Alex Kingston, knowing what we don't (the first time around at least) are quite impressive - despite the cartoonish elements of her character. Now, we only have one more Christmas special to watch and we're back at the whim of the BBC America as to when we can catch reruns of the first section of season 7!