Another Cousin Joins the Clan!

Yep, Maryanne delivered her little bundle of joy today. Little "Baby Boy X" was born today at 4:12. He weighed in at at a hefty 8 lbs 3 oz and was 20 inches. I say hefty because if you've seen Maryanne with her baby belly, you would think the kid could not have been more than 5 or 6 pounds. I don't know how she has these big babies! Good coloring and some hair to boot too.

Oh, and if you asking why I refer to him as Baby Boy X, it's because the name is still up for discussion. I'm sure the kiddo will have a name soon though.

The real treat came when I got word that she was in labor in the morning.....I was able to blow off about 5 hours of meetings to be her labor coach. Not a bad trade off if you ask me. (Now keep in mind that being a good labor coach usually means just keeping your mouth shut and not trying to crack jokes before the epidural kicks in.) So I suppose I didn't drive her too crazy as her coach.

And for those of you catching score, there are now 5 cousins on the Tweedy side, all under 3 1/2 years old. Family get togethers will be a little bit fun, and a lot of crazy!! :)

In-Flight Movies

I forgot to mention on my previous "Orlando" post that I had the opportunity to watch 2 movies. The first one "He's Just Not Into You." Great little romantic comedy...in fact, I think it is one that guys can like too. Ensemble cast where you recognize just about everyone. It was worth the $2 headset fee - even though the ear buds were uncomfortable. (Note to self - always remember to pack headsets.)

The second movie was "Bride Wars." I'm glad I already felt like I got my money's worth on the other movie because it was not worth $2. Only watch this if you are stuck on a plane or it shows up on TBS.

Not on the flight, but in my Netflix, was "The Duchess" with Keira Knightly. A great mix of Jane Austen and The Tudors. (Think 18th century England but not quite as smutty as The Tudors.) I really liked it. Am now reading the book upon which it is based.

Addi is Walking

Well, it's official. The little girl is walking. She can't yet "walk the house", but she can take 10 - 20 steps before grabbing furniture or sitting down. (Of course this mostly transpired while I was in Orlando - as I knew it would.)

And she moves fast. It used to be that I would put her down somewhere to play with a toy and go do something close by (like wash the dishes.) Now, I have to go look for her...and often find her under the kitchen table. (It's like a weird version of hide and seek.)

For those keeping track, she still only has one tooth. :)

Orlando

Being an accountant, I rarely have to go anywhere except the office. It's something that I actually like. If anyone knows me at all, they know I am a creature of habit. So it works out very nicely that I take the same route at the same time everyday.


Also, as any business traveler can attest, there is a HUGE difference between business travel and personal travel. It's one thing to go somewhere cool or amazing when on vacation, it completely doesn't matter when there is business travel involved. So needless to say, I do not volunteer for business travel.


This being said, I was asked to go to a conference in Orlando. My company is currently implementing a new software system and it's probably the biggest project I will be involved in. So I said okay and I flew out on Monday morning to the fine city of Orlando. (Keep in mind that in order to get to the airport, I had to get up at 4 something in the morning....which is another reason I don't care for business travel.)


I didn't realize how long it had been since I had been on the plane until I walked into the American terminal at LAX. They have the kiosks now to check in...and to easily pay that $15 for the checked luggage (Yikes!) But aside from that, the airport was, well, LAX.


I won't bore you with the conference details (unless you really want to hear about SAP as an ERP solution). But there are a few things of interest.


After landing, we were thinking about dinner. And for some reason, I was craving a steak. Don't ask me why, but I just wanted it and it turned out that it wasn't too difficult to convince the guys I was with to go for steak. So we ended up at this place called The Capital Grill. After seeing wine lockers for both Warren Sapp and Shaquile O'Neal, I realized that we were in a fancy place. (Never mind that I had to explain to our CIO who Warren Sapp was.) It was a good meal...definitely on the level of Morton's or Ruth Chris.


The other cool thing was that the conference brings in someone every year to do a concert on the last night and this year it was Don Henley. I didn't realize how many songs I knew that he sang. (I also didn't realize he fronted the Eagles until a couple of weeks ago either...but you can mock me for that later.) So it was a good time. There was one unexpected item...when he sang Tear 4 Fear's "Everyone Wants to Rule the World." It sounded good...but I had to wonder if he was really doing a tongue in cheek song since he was pimping himself out to a "corporate gig."


And lastly, I flew back yesterday. After a few delays with the flight, I was able to get to my car right before 5. Yay - right into 405 rush hour! Oh, and I had a parking ticket too. Either we forgot to put my current sticker on my license plate or it has been removed. Either way, the economically deprived city of LA will be getting $25 from me.

Needless to say, I am glad to be home to the kiddies.