If Only

I spent the evening at the home of my boss who own a gorgeous home out in the country. Not only is his home gorgeous, it’s a large home on 25 acres and includes a barn, guest home and lots of pasture for his three horses. As I stood on the porch, I watched 3 deer walk across the grass  It’s such a peaceful setting.

As he gave me a tour of his home, I thought to myself, “I’d be a lot happier if I had a home this big”. 

After a few hours, I left his house and drove through a maze of twisty, dimly lit roads to my much smaller home that’s probably not much bigger than his barn. Our home is not decorated as well nor does it have fancy landscaping, exotic stones or many deer passing through the yard. The grass is a little longer than it should be and there are toys scattered throughout the backyard.

It certainly isn’t on par with the house I just visited.

And then I started thinking.

If I had a bigger home I wouldn’t see my kids as much.

If I had a bigger home I wouldn’t be able to hear my kids laugh themselves silly.

If I had a bigger home I wouldn’t overhear the funny stories they tell each other.

Then then I realized that a bigger home wouldn’t make me any happier because I’m already as happy as a father can be.

Remembering the Beijing Olympics

This summer’s Olympic games were so amazing that I’m sad to see them come to an end this evening. Here’s what I’ll remember most:

  1. After winning gold in women’s beach volleyball, watching May and Walsh fall to the sand in jubilation. A wonderful moment!
  2. Usain Bolt’s chest thump on the way to setting a world record in the 100m.
  3. Gymnast Shawn Johnson’s infectious smile.
  4. Lebron James diving out of bounds to save a ball in a game vs. Greece with his team up big. The “Redeem Team” made me proud of the NBA again.
  5. Watching Michael Phelps cheer on his teammate, Ryan Lochte, in the 100×4 relay. The most exciting event I watched.

    olympics

This marks the first Olympics that I watched more of online than sitting in front of the TV. NBC did a nice job of getting video of the events online quickly and the quality was quite good.

What were your favorite moments?

Sears, We Have a Problem

Here’s one of the shirts I purchased at Sears yesterday once I was able to find someone to take my money.

I washed the shirt this afternoon and didn’t realize the associate failed to remove the ink tag until it went through the dryer. What you can’t see in this picture is the red ink stains under the tag. It could have been worse. Best I can tell the ink didn’t bleed into other clothing.

I purchased a similar shirt in burgundy at the same time which had the tag removed. Perplexing.

So it’s back to Sears tomorrow. I hope they have the same shirt in stock.

shirt

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Anyone Around To Take My Money?

Have you gone into a store and found what you came for, but when you were ready to pay, couldn’t find anyone to take your money? That’s what happened to me this evening when I visited the Land’s End store inside of Sears. As I stood at the counter with my hands full of back to school clothing, I noticed two Sears employees: one was folding sweaters while the other organized shoes. Both  noticed me but kept on folding and organizing. After a few minutes the employee organizing shoes told me to look for help at customer service.

Do you want my money or not?

As much as we like the quality and guarantee of Land’s End clothing, the poor customer service is the last thing I will remember about my visit. Is that fair? Probably not but that’s how I feel. I shouldn’t have to spend much energy or time looking for someone to pay. Maybe we should use the Lands’s End website next time although we like our kids to try on clothing given how fast they are growing.

We left Sears and walked to the Nordstrom wing of the mall. I pushed our stroller through the cosmetic department full of women sporting white jackets and impeccable skin. I’m always a bit uncomfortable wandering into this area in a Stepford Wives sort of way. As we made our way through hundred dollar wrinkle cream, my kids decided to touch every display case, box and perfume bottle. We eventually made our way to the Clinique counter.

It would be easy to ignore a guy herding three kids through the store who appears punch drunk on way too many overlapping scents. I don’t look like I’m on the verge of dropping Franklins on exotic cosmetics I can’t pronounce.

But I wasn’t ignored.

Before I could bring the stroller to a stop, a friendly woman approached me and asked if she could help. I told her I wanted a large bottle of liquid facial soap which she grabbed and rung up in less time than I spent waiting for someone to help me at Sears.

I left Nordstrom feeling like they value my business and my time.

I also smelled really good!

Dragons on My Mind

Given how often I have music playing in the background, it’s not uncommon to have a song running through my mind throughout the day. Especially when I’m bored. It’s usually a song like Mother from Pink Floyd or similar tune I’ve listened to for years and know all the lyrics to. screen_2008-08-22 00.23.45

But yesterday, as I sat in a large conference room, surrounded by colleagues waiting for the HR manager to arrive I found myself humming the song below as these lyrics whirled through my mind:

“Come along take my hand…let’s all go to Dragon Land.”

When I caught myself humming the theme from Dragon Tails, I sheepishly looked around to see if anyone was listening. If anyone was listening they probably chalked it up to the fact I was working on my 2nd Diet Coke before 9 am.

It could have been worse. It could have been this.

http://songza.com/e/listen

Nordquist Blog Goes All GQ

I’ve said it’s always good to have a friend who is a programmer. But since I’ve started blogging I’ve found it just as helpful to have a friend who is a skilled designer, and I have that in my friend, Brandon, who worked his magic on my site this evening.

I asked him to create a logo and give me a little more space to work with on my blog, yet keep the overall flow and simplicity in tact. He gave it a new look without making it too fancy. It’s also nice to have a design that’s all mine.

When I first started reading blogs regularly, I visited each site to see if new content was available. When I discovered Bloglines I stopped that practice. I switched to Google Reader recently and I use it to read a number of blogs. But I follow about 25 blogs or so that I visit regularly, and I feel I gain someone by visiting the actual sites instead of pulling the content through an RSS reader.

Baby Monitor Madness

Before our first child was born we made a trip to Babies-R-Us and were immediately handed a list of items all first time parents should have on hand. Curious how all the items were available at…Babies-R-Us. I’m surprised they didn’t have a wing dedicated to delivering babies right there in the store!

The list included at least 50 items yet Kim only trusted me to pick out two of them on my own: the thermometer and the baby monitor.

Selecting a thermometer was as simple as deciding whether to play $5 for an old fashioned one or $75 for a fancy digital model like the Braun we’ve seldom used. Of course even 5 bucks seems like a lot when the friendly employee tells you the baby’s mouth isn’t the ideal orifice to obtain an accurate reading. I didn’t ask for a demonstration. Just give me the one you stick in the ear and I’ll move on.

But the baby monitor was a different story. Had I understood what I was getting into I would have done everything I could to keep it out of our house including uncovering an obscure medical study pronouncing they often catch fire and burn homes to the ground. If I couldn’t find one, I would have created my own study.

image 
The perfect chew toy for your dog!

The first monitor we bought was an expensive Sony model. Like parents who rush out to purchase minivans in preparation for their first child, we made a number of bonehead purchases, and this was one of them. The only redeeming quality of the Sony was that it never quite worked properly.

What I didn’t realize at the time was these monitors are used to bring your child’s crying, yelling and screaming to all areas of your home. If you’re asking yourself, “why would I want that?” then we’re in the same boat. I was a rookie parent and it was ON THE LIST! Who was I to object?

Finally, Kim realized the Sony monitor wasn’t working correctly and decided to purchase another brand. Unfortunately, this set worked and my life has never been the same. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been working at my computer when suddenly this loud SHRIEKING CRY comes barreling through the speaker scaring me out of my chair. Imagine someone sneaking up behind you and then screaming directly into your ear. That’s pretty much how these suckers work.

My parents raised me just fine without any such device. Same goes for your parents and their parents. If I cried going to sleep, oh well. I’m certain our children will survive without this silly device.

Hey, I wonder if this new model is water proof? I’d better test it.

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See Kai Run

We stopped by a small but unique store in Bellevue today called Common Folk Kid located at Crossroads Shopping Center. We visit the store when we’re in the area because they carry toys and puzzles and games and clothing we don’t find elsewhere.

Our kids love to browse through the store and tells us what they REALLY REALLY REALLY need.

Take it to Santa.

As we looked around the store, Kim noticed they carry a line of shoes for kids called See Kai Run that we love but have never purchased. But how could we pass up a pair for very own little Kai?

We couldn’t. 

seekairun

Flowers on the Corner

I spotted a lady selling gorgeous flower bouquets while I filled up my car this afternoon. She was arranging a collection of followers of many colors as I approached her. I said, “Can I buy the bouquet you’re working on?” She nodded and went back to work.

I watched her grab flowers and leaves and other plants I didn’t recognize out of the back of her Pathfinder. She’d move and twist and the stems just so. She pulled off leaves and cut stems to the right length.

flowers 
One of the many flowers I bought today

Her hands moved in a flurry. I wondered if she had a picture in her mind of how the finished product should look or if she created it on the fly.

The flowers kept coming and the size of the bouquet keep growing. I thought to myself maybe I should have asked how much she planned to sell it for before offering to buy it.

She added some green and still more flowers. Finally she ripped off a large swath of white paper and wrapped it around the flowers. The last thing she did was tie a small bag of water to the end of the stems before handing it to me.

I stood there holding this amazing bouquet barely able to see her when she said, “How does ten dollars sound?”

I gave her $15.

I bought them home to Kim who put them in a vase in the kitchen.

I should have given her $25.

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