Batten down the hatches

Big storm a-coming. We're all provisioned up, have sufficient taco ingredients for several days of nourishment for Bella and Isaac, and have set up a sizeable fenced in dog run for Zinsser that will allow him to do his business without us having to get the leash out.

So Philly is really really done: After a good transition session on Friday, my email box has been silent as the christmas eve mice, so I'm just going to zip up that project folder and turn my attention to Cleveland. The 4 hours of work I referenced last week turned out to be very successful: Our client is headed off to vacation satisfied that things are on the right track, and his admin just sent out our meeting schedule - and it really will be less than 50% travel through March. I'm so excited.

With me working at home this week, I've had a little "helper" - Bella has been up and out of bed right away upon hearing me wake, and has been shadowing me: She nestles in with me on the couch and watches me work on spreadsheets and review documentation, asking questions about what some words mean, and challenging me as to whether this is "really work". But mostly, I think she's just happy to have me around. We've also been reading a LOT - we're on the chapter books, and she gets mad when we reach the end of a chapter... "But dad, you can't stop THERE - it doesn't make SENSE yet!!!"

On the other hand, Isaac has been a bit remote: He's very focused on his CARS: When he's not watching the show, he's playing with the vehicles. He's not cuddling at all, but he'll wrassle. In general we just need to bundle him up and throw him out in the back yard for a while. Dude needs to burn off energy.

With the weather coming up, I'm happy that we're pretty "under scheduled" for the next few days: We carved out a LOT of just us four (plus Zinsser) family time... so I say "let it snow let it snow let it snow".

Quick media update: I know that nobody actually watches Dollhouse, but I'm just going to be one of those voices on the internet hollering out "THESE LAST FEW EPISODES HAVE BEEN INCREDIBLE" - If they had been this good from the start, we wouldn't be looking at cancelation, but on the other hand, it's pretty remarkable to have 16 episodes of backstory to build on, and then put the hammer down on your last 7 episodes, and treat it as a miniseries with an arc. There are some seriously challenging concepts in there (well, the core concept was pretty challenging to start with... programmable people doing your every whim?), Anyway, I'll be sad to see it go, but I am happy to have it go out WELL: I'd rather have this great story than 4 seasons of meh (like what we have with Heroes).

Other media update: I'm so happy for Russell on SYTYCD: He was wonderful. I hope his leg gets better. I think that of the top 4, he really had the whole package: Jakob was the best dancer, but he was so mild in interviews it was hard to get a read for his personality. Same for Katherine, who was so impressive. Ellenore worked the personality angle, but honestly by the end I was a little weary of her "head tilt" move: But her robot dance with Ryan was just the best, even if Nigel didn't "get it".

Allright, my car should be ready to pick up now, fully winterized for the days to come!