Well, Dawn spent time with other adults, playing a game called Apples to Apples. I mainly spent the night downstairs playing pool with Lando.

I've no idea why Lando looks so forlorn here. I doubt it was anything Maddie said!

Notice Lando's shirt? That's right – Super Mario Brothers! Yes, he is a Nintendo child! He wins races in Mario Kart fairly regularly now and has actually made it through the first level (1-1) of Super Mario Bros. Wii. Lando and I spent most of the evening downstairs playing pool. Lando has enhanced the game of pool with his own custom rules, most of them taken from Nintendo games, including obstacles and boss monsters.

Also, notice the cat with the jack-o-lantern body in Lando's hands? That's Pumpkin. Notice the lack of Giraffe in Lando's hands? After 5 years at the top of the totem pole, Giraffe has finally been displaced by Pumpkin as the toy that Lando carries with him everywhere! We're not sure why, but perhaps it's because Lando's hands are now large enough that Giraffe's long-suffering neck was too skinny to be a comfortable fit. Whatever the reason, Pumpkin is now top cat!

Can you say "cute overload"? That's Anna on the left (Ann's daughter) and Maddie on the right (daughter of Donna, who is providing the lap for this meeting of toddler minds).

Aww!

Look! It's Cute Thing 1 and Cute Thing 2!

And that concludes this installment of "Little Kids Being Cute Just by Existing"!

Lando is standing on the fireplace hearth; he's tall, but he's not that tall!

After we took this photo, Lando was sick, so he didn't go to preschool. Then there were 2 days when preschool was closed for a workshop and parent-teacher conferences. So it wasn't until more than a week later that we were finally able to get this photo to his teachers. I haven't seen the result yet.

Speaking of parent-teacher conferences, we met with Lando's teacher, Mrs. House, to find out how Lando is doing. The short version is he's doing great! She did say that he doesn't like to dance, which was no surprise to us. Whenever the kids are asked to perform something like "Itsy Bitsy Spider" or "I'm a Little Teapot" (or whatever it is the kids do these days), he doesn't want to do it. We've noticed the same thing at Funshop, as well as at the preschool holiday shows where the kids put on a performance.

So far, despite his high energy level and friendly nature, he is not interested in being a showman!

Here's Lando demonstrating his artistic talents in the area of painting. (This was actually from 2 weeks ago. I'm a little behind!)

Some of you (perhaps mainly those with a Y chromosome) might be wondering, "What was wrong with the old shoes? They don't look so bad." Others (perhaps mainly those with a matched pair of X chromosomes) might be wondering, "Why did you get a new pair of shoes that are exactly the same as the old pair of shoes?" A few of you are trying to remember what a chromosome is.

If this was a Scratch-n-Sniff photo, I would ask you to scratch the old shoes and take a whiff. (Actually, go ahead; you never know.) Yes, they reeked. Not, I hasten to add, because of my feet! Instead, they were apparently baptized at some point by one of our cats. I've no idea which one or when it happened, but for the last couple of months I had been noticing a slight scent of urine. I mainly noticed it at work. At first I thought it was my clothes. Then I realized that I mainly noticed it when I was sitting at my desk. The reason was that, while sitting down, I'm closer to my shoes!

After I realized what the problem was, we washed my shoes in the clothes washer. That was apparently a mistake, because they smelled much worse after that! I'm guessing that washing them just brought the scent back up to the surface.

So, for those of you wondering the first question, there's your explanation.

As for why I got the exact same type of shoes (New Balance 993's), this is at least the 5th pair that I've owned. Many many years ago, when I first began running, I was introduced to New Balance shoes. At the time, being a basketball player, I wore red Converse All Stars, just like pretty much everyone else. The first pair of New Balance running shoes I put on were a revelation: Shoes didn't have to weigh a ton and have soles with all of the shock absorption abilities of, uh, something that doesn't absorb shocks very well!

I don't recall what model my first New Balance shoes were. I remember they were a royal blue color. Later I began wearing New Balance 990's. Eventually New Balance discontinued the 990's and replaced them with the (nearly identical) 993's.

What can I say? I'm a creature of habit.

Besides, I love my New Balance 993's!

Okay, I'm done. I'm expecting a check from New Balance any day now.

P.S. I did notice one difference between the old 993's and the new ones: The old ones just say "New Balance" on the tongue of the shoe; the new ones also say "Made in USA". I consider that to be a somewhat nice selling point, while at the same time somehow funny. I'm not sure what that says about me.

P.P.S. Incidentally, when you wear size 15A, the Internet is a wonderful way to find shoes that fit!

New camcorder + new video editing software + me = video.

We've had lots of snow this winter, but most of it has not been good for playing in. It's either been bitterly cold or deposited on top of sleet. However, on Valentine's Day the temperatures were near freezing, the earlier snow packed well, and the falling snow made everything even more magical. The music, "Walking in the Air" by George Winston, seemed appropriate.

(Note to myself: Ten years from now, when my surly teenage son barely even grunts at me, remember to watch this video.)

However, we would be going to Funshop on Monday to pick up the materials for the new session (which will begin on Feb 4), so I told him that we could play a bit of tennis then. True, it would be cold, but I knew that he would only want to play for about 5 minutes anyway.

I was wrong.

Worse than that, not only was it much colder (well below freezing) and dark, but we also had ice, snow, and wind to go with it. Perfect tennis weather!

I'm not sure how long we were out there, but it was at least 30 minutes, perhaps more. Long enough for Dawn to go inside the Funshop building, complete all of the necessary activities, then come back out and join us for a bit more tennis.

Lando plays tennis on our Nintendo Wii regularly. One of the activities involves hitting a tennis ball at a wall, so Lando wanted to be sure to do that. Incidentally, he's actually using a badminton racket, because he prefers it over (heavier) tennis rackets. Perhaps this will be a new trend in tennis!

One advantage to playing tennis at night in the middle of a snow/ice storm is that you don't have to wait for an open court. You have your choice of any of them. Or, if you prefer, all of them!

Lando originally was playing behind the backcourt, just like he's seen tennis players do on TV (and on the Wii). Luckily I was able to convince him that he was better off playing a little closer to the net.

"Lando, Mommy's frozen solid, so we should probably go home now."

He's recently gotten into the habit of jumping in front of the camera and making funny faces whenever I take a picture.

Another funny face from Lando. I have a feeling we're going to be seeing quite a few of these for awhile.

Finally, the taping of the trim is done. It's time to paint! Lando has the basic technique down -- stick brush in paint, rub brush on wall, repeat. He could use some practice, though.

Hey! I think he's getting better already! A little.

Keep going!

"Hey, Lando, you missed a spot!"

The wall is painted! At long last, we finally have at least one bedroom wall that isn't some shade of white!

Yes, there are 3 more walls to paint in this room. The others generally will require patching a few holes first. This one had no holes, and we had moved the dresser out of the way while vacuuming, so on the spur of the moment we decided to paint it.

It seems like when we plan to work on a home improvement project on a particular date, something comes up and we don't get around to it. The stuff that we get done tends to be things that we decide to do on the spur of the moment. I've no idea why.

P.S. The painting of the flower is by Dawn's mom. It looks really nice, at least when it doesn't have a teddy bear's head in front of it. Oh, and the purple yip yip alien next to the teddy bear was crocheted by Dawn. If you don't remember what a yip yip alien is, here's a video to refresh your memory.

I finally got new software today (Sony Vegas Platinum Pro), which actually allowed me to edit and render video without crashing! So here it is, in all its underwhelming not-worth-the-wait glory: Lando at a swimming pool birthday party!

Someday, when I actually learn what I'm doing with this software (and have several hours of free time available to me each day) I might make videos with a bit more polish. For now, this will have to do.

This was only the second time Lando had been in a pool, so it took him awhile before he worked up the courage to actually get into the water. Once he did, however, he had a great time! Perhaps we should look into swimming lessons soon.

Remember the problem we were having with our furnace? The temperature at the air vents was only 74 degrees. After the furnace guy replaced the part that wasn't working right, the temperature at the air vents is now about 115 degrees. As you might expect, that makes a BIG difference! For one thing, the furnace now shuts off occasionally!

On another house-related topic, our basement sump pump discharges onto our front yard. And you may be asking yourself, "How well does that work during the winter?" I'm glad you asked!

Here's where the basement sump pump discharges onto our front yard. Do you like that nice little flare of ice forming around the end of the pipe? It's a be-iced pipe!

The frequent discharges from our basement sump pump kept a wide swath of our front yard mostly snow-free earlier this month. But what's that odd patch at the bottom of the slope? Hmm...

At the bottom of our front yard, you'll find solid ice! The basement sump pump discharges at the top of the yard, but by the time it gets down here, it's frozen!

Well, isn't this festive! Christmas decorations! Snow! Treacherous sheet of ice!

The ice doesn't just coat our front yard. It also flows over the sidewalk and onto the bottom of our driveway.

Here's what our front yard looked like a couple of days ago, after we got 6 inches of snow a few days earlier. The ice is still underneath there, fiendishly hidden underneath a beautiful blanket of snow.

This is what the backyard looks like after the installation of our new septic tank. What? You mean you can't see anything? Me neither. We've had snow on the ground continuously since Christmas. With any luck we'll get some melting soon so that I can FINALLY see what my backyard looks like!

Here's the "before" photo.

Okay, there's not much to see there, because I didn't think to take the picture until I had already removed the old shower head.

So here's the old shower head in the bathroom sink. Impressive, eh?

Here's the new shower head in action.

Look, Ma! No leaks!

Actually, the "no leaks" thing took 3 attempts.

The sparse instructions said to use Teflon tape between the shower mount and the water inlet. And they said to use Teflon tape between the hose and the shower mount, so I did so. But they said nothing about using Teflon tape between the hose and the shower head. That seemed strange, but I followed the instructions.

As expected, it leaked. Why would they mention using Teflon tape the first 2 times, but not the 3rd time? I guess those words would have put them over their word budget.

The shower head came with 3 washers. Two of the washers were already in place. The 3rd washer was, for reasons known only to the manufacturer, attached to the hose with a twist-tie. The only likely place for the 3rd washer was between the hose and the shower head. However, without the washer, the shower head screwed flush with the end of the hose; with the washer, there was a gap between the shower head and the end of the hose. The instructions, of course, made no mention of any washers. I decided to try it without the washer.

Again, as expected, it leaked.

It's almost as if the shower mount and hose were made by one company, while the shower head itself was made by a separate company and added too late to include in the instructions.

Now, I know what you're thinking: "Wally, changing a shower head does not in any way justify a 4-photo blog entry. Boring!" Yeah, I know. But there are just so many repairs and home improvement projects waiting for us that I figure I'll take credit for at least getting something done!

In that vein, here's what we've done (or had done) since we bought the house (about 16 months ago):

1. Removed every inch of carpeting.
2. Removed the closet doors in the craft room and the master bedroom; we'll eventually install curtains, at least in the master bedroom.
3. Removed the medicine cabinet in the master bedroom; the replacement will be installed Real Soon Now.
4. Removed the thermal roller shades from the family room doorways.
5. Removed the wallpaper in Lando's bathroom, the kitchen, and the laundry area.
6. Replaced the faucet in Lando's bathroom.
7. Replaced the faucet in the kitchen sink.
8. Replaced the garbage disposal (as well as the drain pipe).
9. Replaced 2 toilets with ultra low flow models and removed the 3rd (although we haven't installed its replacement yet).
10. Replaced part of the underfloor in Lando's bathroom and installed self-stick linoleum tiles.
11. Replaced the lights over the sink in the master bathroom.
12. Replaced the light switch in the dining room.
13. Installed swag lamps in Lando's bedroom, the master bedroom, and the craft room.
14. Installed ceiling lights in the dining room.
15. Installed a ceiling light in the family room (with Eric's help; actually, Eric pretty much did the entire thing; thanks, Eric!).
16. Painted Lando's bedroom walls.
17. Had a French drain and a curtain drain installed in the backyard.
18. Had a new septic system installed.

We still have a very long "to do" list, so it's nice to create a "done" list!