Data Day: Websites I Visit On a Daily Basis

Time-lapsed Blogography Day: Twenty Years Ago Today

Twenty years ago today, on Saturday, November 20, 1999, I was in Philadelphia for the VT-Temple football game.

It was the beginning of our extravagant week-long Thanksgiving break and I had driven home the night before with Jen and her cat. Liz, Shac, Kelley, and Melody converged on my house Friday night so we could get an early start, and we ate pizza and watched Shawshank Redemption on VHS. In the morning, we woke up early and met Jason and Richard to caravan two cars up to Philly. The three in the back seat promptly fell asleep while Liz and I sang along to musicals in the front.

The game itself was pretty monotonous, with VT winning 62-7. Afterwards, Jason insisted that we stop at Hooter's before heading home and gave us pre-GPS directions to get there. Unfortunately, all the streets had changed names since his last visit, and we drove around the seedy parts of Philly for an hour and a half before finding it. The wings were just okay.

I managed to snatch a nap in the restaurant to prime the drive home, and we got back to Alexandria around 11:30 PM. The next day, I did 6 chapters of Physics to prepare for my final exam (Clearly, I had not kept up with the class as it progressed, trusting in my two years of high school physics to keep me afloat).

Weekend Wrap-up

On Friday evening, we made minestrone soup for dinner. Rebecca went out and met up with our friend, Catherine, after Maia went to bed while I stayed home and worked on Puzzle Boat puzzles.

On Saturday, Maia did not nap. I was distracted from my office by the sound of knocking and realized the knocking was coming from INSIDE HER ROOM. Maia had climbed out of her crib and come to her door to inform me that she had crawled out like the protagonist in Big Bed For Giraffe. After she easily did it a second time for an audience, we took the side of the crib off and permanently converted it into a big girl bed.

In the evening, we picked up carry-out from Cheng's in Chantilly and had Game Night at the Smiths. Maia alternated between placing Rebecca's Ticket to Ride trains in the ocean and diving off the couch into beanbags (a game apparently called "KABOOM").

I was worried about how Maia's first night in a big bed might go, but she fell right to sleep. An hour later, she had rolled into the middle of the room where she stayed for the rest of the night. She then got up at the usual time, happy to have options, and got back in bed.

Rebecca and Maia went to church on Sunday morning while I stayed home and did some minor organizing. We had Hannah over for a dinner of leftover soup, broiled chicken breast, and fresh broccoli.

How was your weekend?

List Day: 8 Minor Things I'm Thankful For

1. I have never had a food allergy so intrusive that it forces me to question the meals put before me.


2. I live in a neighborhood with an HOA that can't be bothered to interfere in anything.


3. I have never worked in a job with fixed start and end times.


4. I have a backlog of new shows to get through.


5. I have never needed to be in a hospital, except to visit other people.


6. The most negative thing that happens to me on a regular basis is when I open a yogurt and the pressure from the lid spatters yogurt on my dress shirt at work.


7. I have never lived in a place where I had to move my car in order to have guests park.


8. I have never been so poor that I had to buy paper towels that always rip off like this:

Chad Darnell's 12 of 12

12 pictures of your day on the 12th of every month

6:53 AM: Showered and ready for work.

7:12 AM: Bagel for breakfast.

7:34 AM: Setting up in the home office.

8:14 AM: These stuffed animals seem to have had a tragic accident overnight.

9:23 AM: Off to school.

12:14 PM: Leftover hoagie from Fireworks Pizza for lunch.

1:24 PM: Exercising and rewatching Fargo.

2:44 PM: Working on a new Puzzle Boat puzzle.

3:58 PM: She woke up and immediately selected the next dress she wanted to wear from the closet she can reach.

5:44 PM: Sandwich and assorted fruits for dinner.

6:04 PM: Helping with the worst puzzle.

7:15 PM: Excited to be in the bath.