Going to Lebowskifest

March 9th I will be heading to the annual Lebowskifest. It's in Seattle this year so I could not pass up the opportunity. I have already ordered my Achievers t-shirt. Yes, I am a big fan of the movie The Big Lebowski. It is probably my favorite movie next to Blade Runner. I'm not planning on dressing up as anyone of the characters. I read a tip that you shouldn't bother unless you are a dead ringer for one of them. But I can't wait to see Har-Mar Superstar perform and to have a chance to meet the real Dude, Jeff Dowd.

Happy 2007

Christmas was a blast! It was all about FInn and he really got into it this year. Some of the things he got were a handmade cape from his grandma, a robot dog, a rescue play set complete with boat and helicopter, a doodle pad, a remote control car, a talking Buzz Lightyear figure, new Buzz PJs, wooden building blocks, and a new house! We spent some time on Christmas Eve with our friends and "old neigbors" the Bellers. Eric and Maria's son Jake is just a little guy but is full of personality and happiness. Finn had a great time. Then on Chirstmas night we had dinner at our friend Heather and Brandon's. They have two girls Olivia and Ella that Finn spends a ton of time with and has grown to be best buds with. I had lots of wine and some of the best pork tenderloin in town. Also Brandon's mom made the best scalloped potatos ever. Full of yummy fat and flavor! Don't get me started on all the cookies we've eaten. But that's all over with now and we are ready to get healthy!

Well we anticipate this being a big year! We moved into our new home on December 29th and it has been a whirlwind since then. The move could have gone better but they hardly ever go well. But we love our new home. It's our very first home purchase and we couldn't be happier. It has three bedrooms and a wonderful master bath with TWO sinks. The three bedrooms will come in handy since we are expecting our second child in May 2007. We found out a week ago that we are having a GIRL! There is a severe shortage of girls in the McFadden clan so we are very happy about that. There is plenty of time to come up with a name before then.

Finn is doing well and loves his new house. He loves to tell people he meets about it. And when he actually gets a chance to show people his new room with his new (twin) bed he really lights up. His personality has really grown to be a caring and funloving child. He loves to dance and be happy as well as asking questions about why people do this, that and the other thing. But he is also getting really good at pushing our buttons too. Oh yeah, we've had some good times lately.

Here are some pictures of Finn from this holiday season.

Goodbye Bean

We said goodbye to our friend Bean yesterday. It was time. She had been suffering from bad arthritis in her hips and back for a while as well as the side effects of medication she had been taking to help with the arthritis. Her life towards the end consisted of sleeping and eating. She coulldn't go for walks without huritng the next few days. She could barely make it up the stairs. But she had her good days too where she got around pretty good. Yesterday was one of those days. She was on special food becasue she was allergic to every kind of protein. She had skin lesions all over and was constantly irritated. She was a great dog. She was so intuative and sweet. We had her since she she was 7 weeks old. We bought her from a couple that who lived in a trailer. Their lab had a litter and they were advertising on a flyer at the local gas station we stopped at on the way back to Seattle from Cannon Beach 13 years ago.

She will be missed deeply. I only hope it starts to hurt less as time goes on.

Pictures from Halloween

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Finn went trick or treaking with his buddy Owen who was a farmer (not a cowboy!).

Finn update

Jinnah has been working full time at a law firm downtown, so Finn has been in the care of a good friend. We are paying her and Finn loves the situation. He's been really good about the whole thing.

Jinnah has been really tired at night so I've been taking on more of the care taking of Finn. We've really bonded and he and I are working out our differences. I'm not the most patient person sometimes and his current stage of development is putting me through the paces. But I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

Also, my boss has been kind enough to let me work from home on Fridays so I get to take care of Finn on those days and do my work over the weekend.

So far so good.

I'll post some new pictures soon!

Oops!

There was some excitement outside our office building today. Some genius started driving down the stairway. Apparently she thought it was an entrance to a parking garage. It actually is, just not for cars.

Wise up

Finn's favorite restaurant (this week)

Blue C Sushi in the U-Village. He calls it "Dushi" and he is very serious about it. Of course we don't give him the raw stuff, outside of that there are plenty of delicious options for him. I gave him some unagi (eel) and he LOVED it. Honestly it's not the best sushi (not the worst either), but the food is fast and the atmosphere is vibrant and fun.

Last weekend the family hopped on the No.7 Metro bus from our house to downtown. Finn has really been interested in buses recently, so we thought he'd enjoy an actual ride on one. We almost missed the bus, but we ran to catch it. Finn was in the stroller, so that was fun for him. Then we got on and of course there was the obligatory stinky guy sitting close by and the pods of little, old Asian women with their bags of groceries. Finn was pretty intrigued with all the non-English speaking. Although there was a tense moment when one of the asia ladies practically sat ontop of an old white guy that had the whole row of seats to himself. He propmtly asked her to remove her ass from his lap and she did, but afterwards you could cut the tension with a knife, or with a song, which is why I broke into "My milkshake." Good times.

So we took the bus downtown and walked around Pike Place Market. One of the best places to people watch in the world.

Finn's Birthday Song

Finn turned 2 on May 4th and we all had a good day together. Finn got really into his new train table and the fact that it was his day. Check out this clip of him singing and being the happy little boy he is.

My Birthday

Is coming up on the 9th. I'll be 33. I'm like 7 years from 40. That's crazy. No big plans this year. I kind of want to do a family hike on my birthday, but with Finn almost 2 years old, I don't think it would be the best idea. It's been so long since Jinnah and I have been out and about in PNW nature. However, I'm not keen on schleping Finn's not-so-pint-sized-butt in the backpack either. That's just no way to celebrate a birthday as far as I'm concerned. So I don't know. Maybe we'll just do the Arboretum thing and put a lease on him or something.

UPDATE: Well it was a great birthday. We had an excellent dinner at the Tamarind Tree restaurant where they serve amazing provincial Vietnamese food. The atmosphere, service and food were all fantastic. It's really cheap too.

Then we went to Greenlake yesterday and had a great time walking around the lake with Finn. He had all sorts of fun checking out the ducks and geese that were everywhere. He also loved saying "hi" to all the dogs and babys that were there too. Here is a little clip of Finn playing at the lake.


Finn sings his version of Happy Birthday:

CSB - Your source for sick deals.

This guy finds the cheapest deals on the internets and posts them on his site.

Seattle's Best Foodie Blog

Seattle Bon Vivant is an excellent site for reviewing some of Seattle's best cuisines. The photos and descriptions are always a treat.

Bloglines is a great way to follow your favorite blogs

I follow a ton of different blogs and I only have so much time at work to do it in. Bloglines helps me see what sites have new entries before viewing so I only need to look at those, instead of the same old crap I've already read.

Did you know there is/was a nuclear reactor in Seattle?

Use the Internets to Stalk from Above

If you haven't already tried it, check out Microsoft's new local.live.com. Just type in an address and use the "Bird's Eye view" to scope things out from the perspective of a low flying airplane. Pretty cool stuff. They also have the satellite perspective as found with Google Earth too.

Bath time

I can't figure out how to wash Finn's hair without making him scream and try to climb out of the tub. I try to talk him through it and be as gentle as possible but every time he acts like I'm trying to drown him. I wet his hair and shampoo it and then pour the cup over his head from the back so it doesn't run down his face too much, but he still hates it. I used to just do it as quick as possible to limit his suffering, but that meant just pouring as much water over his head as quickly as possible to wash all the soap out. We even bought the special shampoo rinse cup thing, but now as soon as he sees it he wants out of the tub. I don't know what would help. Maybe we'll just hose him off out back. Does anyone have any advice?

Habeus Schmabeus

The radio show, This American Life broadcast an in depth report about the legal and constitutional shortfalls of Guantanamo Bay. Check it out here.

Our troops medical care

Check out this amazing 3 part series by the LA Times about the medical treatment provided to the injured troops in Iraq.

Cali Trip Recap

Jinnah, Finn and I went flew down to Cali 2 weekends ago to celebrate the birthday of our friend Amy Ramirez and to visit some other good friends. We had a blast! We flew into Oakland and rented a behemoth SUV and drove into the Mission where we met Erica and Ben for brunch . We had authentic Mexican style brunch and it was good. That's where Finn met Mr. Pickle. Mr. Pickle was across the street from the place we ate (name unknown). Then we drove to Santa Cruz and partied with Amy, Garrick and a bunch of other fun people including Amy's parents Alan and Patricia. They have one cool pad. Finn tried to terrorize Shasta their standard poodle, but he wasn't having it. The next day we drove to San Rafael and had dinner and stayed at Chris and Anto's place. Margaret was there too! Chris and Anto have a couple of extemely cute boys, Harper and Calder, that Finn LOVED hanging with. At one point they just started to morph into one big pile of cuteness. It that or they were re-enacting Wrestlemania. The next day we drove into downtown San Fran and had brunch with Amy and Uncle G at Cafe De La Presse. Service was poor but the food and company made up for it. San Fran is such an awesome city. Then we went to H&M which is a very cool place for clothes. Too bad Seattle doesn't have one yet, but we were tipped off by a sales person that we should have one here in a couple of years. Anyway it was a great trip and we miss our friends so much more after seeing them.