Blizzard '08

20080227-40-14638.jpg, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

That's right, I leave town for like 10 nights a year and somehow I managed to miss Nashville Blizzard '08. I was at an ASTD conference called Techknowledge. Look what happened last year when I went.

Thanks to Jenn for getting the camera out in my absence.

Brian's House

20080228-40-14643.jpg, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

Today's excitement was provided by the home inspection on Uncle Brian's new house. That's right, it's official now. Uncle Brian in moving from DC to Nashville in the next month or so. We are thrilled to have some family joining us here in middle Tennessee and have promised to do everything in our power to abuse our new found babysitter. (We will, of course, be doing it because it benefits the girls and Brian loves it, never for selfish reasons.)

Brian picked out a really cool place in the more urban East Nashville area. We're excited about that, too, cause it gives us a great excuse to head up to Nashville more often than we do right now. In this picture, you can see the main living room, followed by the kitchen, followed by the dining room and entry. The house is long and thin in a really cool, open, funky sort of way. Brian definitely did well with his selection, of house and destination. You'll all be certain to see him featured more often on this blog living here in Nashville.

The Alamo

The Alamo, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

Yup, i actually remembered to visit the Alamo. Truth be told, I've
visited it both nights. Last night, it was an accident. Tonight? A
trip to haagen daz.

I have some vague memory of being obsessed with the Alamo growing up.
Can anyone confirm or deny?

Oakley, too

Oakley, too, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

Just so that you can all see Oakley's working on her game as well.

Cruising the Riverwalk

Cruising the Riverwalk, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

I'm in San Antonio for a conference. The Riverwalk is pretty cool, but
also seems like a weird combination of Venice and Opryland. I think I
would feel better if the water weren't such a funny color.

I will say, though, that it took some real foresight to do all this...

Preparations have begun...

Preparations have begun..., originally uploaded by flamingobear.

The Nashville Masters 2008 is only 60 days away. It may be 45 degrees,
but we have to be ready.

Bring it, Viet.

Sunday, before a trip

20080224-39-14625.jpg, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

I head out to San Antonio for a conference the next three days, which means that I won't have any good updates for you. (Or, more accurately, that my posts will be about work/travel stuff, and most of you won't care.)

So, today we've just been hanging out. We're recovering from a collection of illness in the house, so church was out this morning.

Jenn is sick

My wife is sick, and I do feel bad for her. One sign of her constitution is that she still made me go to the poker game I had planned last night. This morning, she told me something Lindy did yesterday.

Jenn was resting on the couch. She was feeling bad enough that she was just holding her hand against her forehead. Lindy came up to check on her...

Lindy: Mommy, let me in. I'll take care of you. [She then moved Jenn's hand and placed hers on Jenn's forehead.]

Lindy: [moments later] Mommy? Why do I have my hand on your forehead?

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Paleta!

Paleta!, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

We do love paletas.

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Bedtime

Bedtime, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

Aspen is reading to her sisters. It's homework and bedtime reading at
the same time.

At one point, Aspen said, "I'm teaching Oakley reading strategies."

I thought, "Hmm, I should probably find out what those are..."

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Lou

Lou, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

Yup, I got an iPhone. So now you get to feel the pain of me taking
stupid pictures in random places and posting them. Sorry!

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A lovely dinner

A lovely dinner, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

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Why my job is cool

20080218-38-14619.jpg, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

Sorry, I missed a day yesterday. I found myself laid up in bed for most of the day yesterday with whatever it is that's making its way around. Fortunately, I was just about entirely recovered 14 hours after it started.

So, I decided to stay out of the office today in effort to stop the spread of what I've got. That meant a day of working from home, which is fine by me. My job is cool because I can actually still work with all the folks at the office (Mike, Kevin, Troy and others) using instant messenger, etc. The impact on work is minimal, and the alternative setting can actually help me focus on different stuff.

But how cool is this... it's like 45 degrees today, and beautifully sunny. So I thought, "Why not work on the screened porch?" Aspen and I spent Saturday afternoon clearing the cedar branches that had been removed for the treehouse. We brought them up to the house, and they make the most excellent firewood. So I'm working in the sun, by a big fire. It's pretty excellent.

A quick note for those of you with white Macbooks... soot and the Macbook are not particularly good friends.

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Underrepresented

20080216-37-14615.jpg, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

OK, so I noticed that I'm totally underrepresented in our photo collection and on the blog. I am only slightly behind some other parent, but I decided I would attempt to rectify that to some degree tonight.

So, I made Jenn take a picture of me in my new hat... one of my birthday presents. I didn't even get up from the computer, so the lighting is, of course, brilliant. But, for those of you who feel I don't show up here enough, perhaps this is progress.

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More Great Cake?

20080216-36-14593.jpg, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

That's right, partly due to circumstances, and partly because Jenn was ready, we passed on our typical, wonderful baked goods from Kingsport and Jenn created these. Strawberry cupcakes, at Aspen's request, topped with whipped cream and a real strawberry. I must say, they were quite good.

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Her Birthday Hat

20080216-36-14598.jpg, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

Aspen created her own birthday hat this evening using bows for the gifts she opened earlier. I thought that was pretty cool.

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Birthday Presents

20080216-36-14582.jpg, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

Birthday presents abound around here on February 16th. Bow by Jenn, note by Oakley.

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As reported to me...

OK, I wasn't there for this, but a little birdie tells me it sounded like this:

[preparations for departure]

Jenn: Oakley, where's Lindy? We have to go.
Oakley: [puzzled] Um, on your hip.
Jenn: Oh, OK.

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Banana Brulee Bites

20080214-35-14579.jpg, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

We eat at home, a lot. When other people are going out, we're eating food from Avalon Acres, our local CSA (community supported agriculture).

On top of creating meals out of whatever meat the CSA provides, Jenn has been experimenting with dessert as well. Lately, she's been messing around with small, single serving desserts that would work for a shower she'll be hosting later this year.

That's right, I am the beneficiary.

Tonight, I even got to bust out the propane torch from the shop for some caramelization. I rate the banana brulee bites a winner. They bring together banana and the best part of a brulee, the crunchy burnt sugar.

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It snowed... seriously

20080213-35-14566.jpg, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

OK, so yesterday, when I went to work, it wasn't snowing or anything. And two hours earlier, we'd received a call indicating school was canceled. Well, there were never slippery roads, but at least the snow came, sort of.

I was unavailable, but Jenn managed to catch the girls with a few snowflakes.

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Happy Valentine's Day

20080214-35-14573.jpg, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

Lindy wishes you all a happy day

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Duly Noted

I'm going to use this forum to note something of importance. I received a commitment from each of my daughters just now. The conversations each went something like this.

Tim: Good night.
Daughter: Good night, Daddy.
Tim: I love you.
Daughter: I love you, too.
Tim: Happy Valentine's Day.
Daughter: Happy Valentine's Day, Daddy.
Tim: Will you be my valentine forever?
Daughter: Yes.
Tim: Every year?
Daughter: Yes (happily)

I would like it noted that they have each committed to this in perpetuity. When they try to get out of it in 2, 5, 7, 10 years, I would like all you to chime in on my behalf.

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Uh-oh...

OK, so I spent almost the whole day at work today. This makes the 30 days, 30 posts things difficult, because I am most certain that you don't really care about the day to day of my job. But, as I previously mentioned, 30 days means plenty of inanity, so, that's what you get.

People at work today were treated to a rarity today... they got to hear me through the walls as I was ranting... I spent the afternoon with Mike (my partner) and our realtor. I am certain that I will offend someone (probably a realtor) with this post, but I simply don't get the fees that a realtor is paid.

Thus far, we've spent the following time with our realtor (who comes highly recommended)

• We did a primary interview
• We negotiated our contract
• He came and visited for less than an hour
• He sent us a list of what I believe was every available property in our defined area
• We picked a few things that were of interest
• Today, he drove us around to those places for about 3 hours

At the end of the day, I indicated that I thought he now had a better sense of what we were after and that he could go find the right place for us. From my perspective, that was today's purpose... to give him enough info that he could dig up a gem. His response,

"Well, that's pretty much everything that's out there."

Seriously. If I'm generous, that means he's put in, oh, about 6 hours toward this project. The standard, or colluded, rate for a realtor (just the buyer's) is 3% (or more). Depending on the office we buy/lease, that will be a minimum of $10,000 for the realtor. $10,000+ for maybe 15 hours of work.

I'm all for getting as much as you can for doing as little as you can. In a sense, that's what we do well at work. We've built an excellent set of products and we implement and service them, and we charge a lot to do so. But if a potential client wants to, they can find a lower priced provider or they can even choose to do the stuff themselves. They have options. All of the tools that are available to us are also available to them.

We want to buy/lease some property. I would love to search the database of available properties myself. But those tools are kept amongst the colluders. They hoard the information and use that to extort the buyers and the sellers.

I am aware that the market is moving in the right direction. Zillow, Google, and others are opening this information up, particularly in the residential arena. That's good. I also know there are exceptions... Jenn's brother Brian worked with Brian Copeland to very positive effect in his coming move to Nashville. Copeland knew things Brian and I didn't. He had expertise in a certain part of Nashville and shared it effectively.

In total, though, I think the realty system, with its lack of transparency and openness, isn't far from done. At the first moment that I believe I can get away with purchasing a piece of property without a realtor, I will be all over it.

So, I'm sure you're now all thrilled that I'm posting 30 times in 30 days. These bits of uninvited brilliance will undoubtedly have you coming back for more (sarcasm)!

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A beautiful day

20080212-33-14543.jpg, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

So, I have a day school meeting today. I decided to stay home before it, party because I get a chance to take Aspen to the bus stop and Oakley to school. Well, you can see how beautiful a day it is for that.

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Camp Chippewa

I've written about this before, but I got a nice reminder about it today. Michael Thompson, one of my counselors, and the current director at Camp Chippewa, visited today. He's in town for the ACA and AIC annual conferences, and had enough time to come down to the house for a couple of hours.

Mike and I talked about camp for a while, but I'm kept up to date pretty well between the blog and the Rendezvous event I attended this summer. The biggest thing I realized is that camp needs "salespeople" of a sort. Michael spends tons of time "selling" camp to people all around the country.

As you're all well aware, I don't produce male offspring. Chippewa is a camp for boys, and for good, well thought out reasons. My influence has stretched to those I work with and my sisters, and even good friends... people that are close to me basically have daughters. So, I doubt that anyone reading this blog actually has a son to whom this would apply, but...

I want very much to help send more boys to Chippewa. Whether you are someone I know well, or a random reader of this blog, please write me at tim@flamingobear.com and ask about camp. So often we're asked to help with something we don't care about. It would be awesome to tell people about something I do care about.

I came back from my camp visit this summer thinking about it a lot. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how best to express what camp meant to me. It came down to this...

It is a powerful thing to visit the place where you learned the things about yourself of which you are most proud.

I remember a lot of stuff from school, and a lot of great people from college or volleyball, or whatever. But at camp, I learned a lot about independence, and how to deal with other people (boys in particular), and how to teach, and how to command attention... and countless other things I'm too tired to try to express eloquently tonight.

I'll leave it at that, and it will give me an excuse to tell more about it another time. If you've got a son between the ages of 7 - 15, let me know. I'd love to make the sales pitch...

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Marvelous Aspen

20080210-32-14536.jpg, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

Aspen had a big day today, including a trip to the pool with her friend Analise. When she returned, she needed to put together her Marvelous Me project for school. In honor of her birthday, they will celebrate her all week.

And I'll follow their lead today. Since the picture is somewhat illegible, I'll quote some aspects in text...

These are a few of my favorite things:
Color: "blue" (a brief departure from pink)
Animal: "horse"
Food: "pizza"
Book: "Mary Popins" [sic]
Sport: "Basketball"
Thing to do in school: "Recess"
Thing to do at home: "play with my sisters"

I am a star because... "I smile"

I show others I care by... "helping them".

Write three super cool facts about yourself here:
"My sisters and I are named after trees."
"I love animals."
"I play basketball and soccer."



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30 days. 30 posts?

Alright, so, Angie Six, a friend of ours, has started a project today. She's shooting for 30 posts in 30 days. I was commenting on her blog that it sounded like a great idea, and that the result would be really cool to look back on, yadda yadda... And then it occurred to me that I would be pretty stupid not to try it myself. So, why not now, right?

Now, I tried something similar in December, where I was shooting for 30 days, 30 sporting events (playing in them, not watching). Through about two and a half weeks, I was ahead of pace... and then the calf injury struck.

So, I am well aware that I need to stay ahead of the one per day pace in case a clicking injury comes along (or writer's block).

Enjoy this, or use it as a reason to unsubscribe... either way. Regardless, it gives me great license to post the random and the inane.

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Self Esteem

Is there any better self esteem builder than your youngest daughter insisting that she bring Raggedy Ann into the bathroom when you need to use the potty, and then having Raggedy Ann clap for you after you do so? As Lindy said, "Raggedy Ann is excited."

There's no doubt... I am the man.

"Spring" in Nashville

20080209-31-14526.jpg, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

No, it's not spring, and I'm certain that there are many weeks of winter left. But these days are why we put up with July and August. We spent spent most of the morning outside playing, and you can see the sky and the absence of jackets. It was an excellent morning.

Happy Birthday, Aspen (Part I)

20080208-31-14484.jpg, originally uploaded by flamingobear.

The celebration of Aspen's birthday has begun. This year's "party" was a special evening with her best friend Cassie. Cassie rode the bus home with Aspen (a first for Aspen) and we played briefly at home before heading out for some ice skating (keeping up with five women on the ice, Lindy included, was enough to prevent any pictures or video). Both girls did great, and then we headed over for dinner at no place other than Satco.

Cassie had never been, but she was incredibly good about trying Aspen's favorite foods and now lists Satco among her favorites.

Dinner was followed with present opening and a visit to Ben & Jerry's. A brief game of hide and seek, and the trip back to Cassie's house ended the night.

Happy Birthday, Aspen!