Let’s Hear it for Spontaneity

Met Abby in Paris as planned…and that’s where the planning stopped.  As is often the case when we travel, we let the wind blow us where it may and if we get a wild hair to do something, we do it.  No timetables to keep.  No deadlines to meet.  It works for us, but I’m sure would drive other people NUTS.

After wandering about the city Friday afternoon, it was about time to head out for dinner.   Spur of the moment as we were walking out the hotel door, we thought we’d ask the concierge to check on a Seine dinner cruise for us.  It’s Friday night.  7:45.  You have to be onboard by 8:15 or you’re left at the dock.  Turned out there were two cancellations, but we had to step lively.  Upstairs, changed, out to cab and onto boat across town in 20 minutes.  And we were seated on the window with full and perfect views as everything passed by…Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Pont Neuf, Notre Dame.  We’ve been through these on foot several times, but seeing everything by boat was a nice new spin.  Not bad for day one.

Onto Saturday, more wandering was on the agenda after a little breakfast on the Rue Cler.  We agreed it was time to see something new and, while we had talked about how fun it would be to see an opera while in Paris, we knew there was zero chance of scoring tickets same-day for a Saturday night, sold out show.  BUT, you can tour the opera house at least.

Long story short, we ended up running into a chap needing to unload his front-row center, box seats, for that night’s show and given the hour (it was 5pm, show at 7:30), we had to make a move.  Same as last night…back to hotel, upstairs, quick change, back in the cab…made it with 2 minutes to curtain raise.  AWESOME seats.  Not my favorite opera (Faust), but well worth the overall experience.

Now, on the TGV to London…

Bon Soir

Abby has two weeks worth of recruiting work for Microsoft in Europe, and while I would have really enjoyed joining her the first week in Warsaw (never been, incredible history, etc.), that was too long to be away.  It worked out that I could join her in Paris for the weekend before heading into London for her next week of work. 

I’m sitting in LAX waiting for my connection and realizing our last trip to South Africa has probably ruined me entirely for all air travel from now on.  Figuring it would be our last trip for the family grew (and look at that, now we have Jack!), we stepped up, cleared out the frequent flyer miles, and went first class the entire way.  Gotta say, first class on British Air is niiiiiiiiice.  We’ll see how Air France comes through.  But hey, it’s the means to an end.  Paris in 10 hours…

“Breakthrough”

Big day.  It’s day two of our Maui vacation, and Jack’s first tooth popped through today.  Actually not one, but two.  We’ve been wondering if little man would be a lifetime member of the “drool and gum it” club at the rate he was going.  He’ll be crunching down apples and ice cubes in no time.

Family’s First Christmas

A Merry Christmas indeed!  Time keeps flying though as Jack Jack’s already a month old.  We’re Christmas junkies as it is, pretty much going haywire every year with decorations, family dinners, parties, etc., but this year obviously added another dimension.

The temp is still sub-30, so the snow and ice remain.  And while it makes for some sketchy driving, the scenery isn’t bad.

The water “issue” behind us, or at least to the point that we have hot water again, Abby and I set out to have Christmas basically explode all over the house, have a few friends and family over, and just thoroughly enjoy the Holiday with Jack.  Hopefully, we’ll find some time between now and New Year’s for a little R&R.  But that’s a Christmas wish that’s not likely to happen.

Along with Grandma and Grandpa Rogers and Aunt Chelsea, we had our good friends Rick and Lori over on Christmas Eve with their new baby girl Emily who is a few days away from six months old.  Grandma, Grandpa, and Chelsea stayed the night, so I had my sous chef again for Christmas dinner…although we kept this a bit more low-key than Thanksgiving.

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I know mom and dad had a blast, and I think Jack did too.  Granted, it was more for us than him, it’s another milestone first of our family.

Ho, ho, ho!

Winter Exacts Its Pound of Flesh

Mother nature created quite a balancing act this year.  On the one hand, it looks like Jack’s first Christmas will be a white one.  Outstanding!   On the other hand, the temp has been so far below freezing that a water pipe busted at 3am on Sunday.  Definitely NOT outstanding! 

I have to give credit where it’s due here, as I was immensely impressed by the City of Bellevue who not only had the decency to answer my wee morning call with a live body, but sent a crew out within 15 minutes to shut off the water main at the street.  They helped keep a nasty situation from becoming truly disastrous given that the previous owner of our house, in an epically boneheaded move, had buried the water shut-off valve behind drywall – something we didn’t discover until days later.  Anyway, all that “fun” is worth a separate story.

Let’s just say, this isn’t the type of thing you want to see on the outside of your house:

And though I can’t stand shameless plugs, I have to give one here.  Right after the 3am call to the city, the 3:30am call to Beacon Plumbing went out.  Not only did the owner answer the phone himself (evidence of how much volume the weather was creating), he guaranteed a crew would be out by 7am – something no one else would do, if they even bothered to answer the phone.  I almost felt guilty when the guys had to spend another hour digging their truck out of our driveway. 

A Very Happy Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for, all the more true this year with Jack joining the family.  It’s hard to believe little man’s only (already?!) 10 days old.  It’s been non-stop action since we brought him home though…the parade of visitors, 3am feedings, etc, and now hosting Thanksgiving dinner.  This was, of course, by our own design since the idea of packing up to go anywhere with a not-yet-two-week-old had less than zero appeal.   But we wouldn’t change a thing. 

Jack spends most of his days sleeping, and despite a full house with plenty of noise, today was no different.  Every now and then he cracks an eye or two and joins in the festivities…

All in all though, a rather smooth day.  Abby had one “demand” with a late-November due date: “I want to spend Thanksgiving at home!”  So as promised, I spent the day in the kitchen.  If not for my trusty sous chef in Grandma Kristine, it wouldn’t have happened though (I’m not sure how Grandma feels about ever reprising that role though).

Just a low key night at home with family.  Now, family +1.

Peanut’s Outta the Shell!

Introducing John Michael Mellon, our flawless new addition.  Baby “Jack,” as we’ll call him, joined us at 11:06 AM this morning, weighing in at 7 pounds, 4 ounces and stretching out at 20 inches long.  Abby and Jack are doing well, both sleeping peacefully as I write this.  Stay tuned for more to come as time, picture aggregating, and exhaustion recovery allow.