Brian McFeely, Musical Genius. Erin McMiller, Captive Audience.

Finally, someone who appreciates my music. During the change of a poopy diaper tonight, I came up with a little ditty that Erin just loved. All on my own. Because I'm a musical prodigy. Finally. At 33 years of age.

Sung to the tune of nothing I recognize:

"Poo poo poop,
Poo poo poop.
Poo poo poop,
Poo poo poop.
Poo poo poop,
Poo poo poop.
Poop poop poo poo pooooooop.
(pause)
All songs copyright Brian McFeely 2007."

As you can see from the above picture, Erin has been smiling for the past two weeks. She's got a great smile, and all it takes is some clever lyrics using words she's familiar with.

Chocolate's not just for breakfast.

Lil' E and Ms. A met Christie and Henry (pictured) at Via Delizia for "lunch" today. Yes, gelato, mochas, hot chocolates, and chocolate cake count as lunch. Must say the gelato was perfect - creamy, no traces of ice, perfectly smooth with balanced flavors. The cake enjoyed by Christie appeared wonderfully gooey and very attractive complete with a sugar monkey. While not sampled by our table, the panini looked very fresh, flavorful, and reasonably priced. The comfortable environment made for a great visit - we were free to chat, take our time, enjoy the afternoon. And since both the little 'uns had lunch as well, the establishment is very breast-feeding friendly. But then again, this is Portland.

Erin's First Threepeat

(Opening the third diaper of the session)
Brian: "Hey there, sweetie, you sure are prolific!"
(Wiping Erin's hindquarters)
Brian: "Do you know what prolific means?"
(Attaches the diaper tabs to the front of the diaper)
Brian: "Well your butt sure does."

Polite dinner conversation

Grandparent #1: The exchange rate hit $1.50 per
Euro today.

Ms. A: Wow. Bummer for travel, but that's really good for the US export market.

Grandparent #2: Hmm. What is the main export for the US?

Mr. B: Hegemony.

This. Is. War.

Meet Steve. This is the first kitty in the McMiller household when he was a baby. (He's now 2 1/2 and not as fuzzy, but still cute.) It is my humble opinion that Steve was the cutest kitten ever. Don't believe me? Check this out:

Kitten War!

There. I've met my quota for warm fuzzies today.

Many thanks to S.N. for the link.

This counts as a date!

Last night, we actually cooked something for the first time in over a month. Never mind that it was potatoes from our CSA that made its last veggie box drop in early October. We cooked, darnit, and it was delicious! Who can resist stick-to-yer-ribs comfortfood scalloped potatoes with cheese?


To top it off we watched two ENTIRE movies, start to finish, without significant breaks. Will wonders never cease? Sat. night was "Sicko", followed on Sunday by "Michael Moore Hates America." Both are recommended - the former being a commentary on the US health care system, the latter being at first an expose on the rotund docomentarian but quickly morphing into an introspective work on the act of creating a documentary film. An interesting quote (not 100% correct): "The essence of tyranny is the denial of complexity." The McMiller household believes in fair, balanced entertainment.

The Siblings Visit

Alternate Title: Those Siblings Who Can Easily Travel Because They Currently Do Not Have Children Visit

So, we had a great visit last weekend with Sharon, Matt, David, and Linnea.

They stayed that the Travelodge out on 82nd Avenue, which Sharon and Matt report was a great place for a great price on Friday but which they and David and Linnea described as "the crack hotel" after spending Saturday night. I think the whole thing hinged upon the simple fact that David and Linnea were pissed because the night they were there the hotel ran out of doughnuts in the morning. Please note the review half way down this page.

Anywho, Saturday we took a walk in the park, went to Saturday Market, checked out the waterfront, then came home for fajitas and, most importantly for Ashleigh, cervezas. Then, I had an opportunity to show Dave (using our new super-duper Tivo technology) why 30 Rock is vastly superior to Scrubs.

Sunday morning we went over to Drew's to watch him prepare to brew some beer with Josh, then we hit a fancy lunch at Zupan's with Mark and Erik. Cupcakes were had from Saint Cupcake, and then the party had to go their separate ways.

Big weekend. Good weekend.