Yaletown Dad

The things that come out of this little kids mouth. I never realized that kids are truly like sponges. We always used to ask Sage when she awoke from a nap if she was happy, now she asks us “are you happy today?” We always get her to repeat things like “say armadillo” now she tells me to “say amadammo”. She’s a little comedian and doesn’t even realize it.

I know it’s been a long time since the last entry, but between work and life there isn’t much time left for computer. Here’s a pic of the dynamic duo from Mama’s restaurant in San Francisco this year on our annual Cali/Oregon road trip:

It’s getting harder and harder to get a good pic of her, most of the time the “scrunchy” face comes out:

She definitely takes after her parents sleeping pattern and thankfully so, I’ve been working way too many nightshifts.

I can’t believe she’s almost 3. Where does the time go?

Short post for today, have to go to work.

Now playing in Daddy’s iTunes and Youtube: We no speak Americano – Yolanda Be Cool and D-Cup:

This year in Vanhattan we had a pretty bleak start to the summer season, if I remember correctly we only had 3 days over 20c before June 15th. Even for this rainy city that’s pretty weak. I guess while I was working a bunch of OT it didn’t matter what the weather was like because I couldn’t be out there to enjoy it, but now that the sun has finally decided to show it’s face I wish I wasn’t working so much. Short term pain for long term gain I guess.

Whenever humanly possible we get out in this beautiful weather though, and the camera is always in tow, LITERALLY, it’s in our bike trailer with Sage and it ain’t light! Now that I think of it neither is Sage, dads legs are getting a workout. And while I’m on the subject what a cool time we live in, I started mapping all our bike rides with the GPS on our iPhone with the Runkeeper app and it works great, I highly recommend it.

I love being able to capture all these moments in such clarity. This camera was such a great purchase, I don’t regret it for a moment. Can’t wait for my next piece of Pro Glass, probably the 24-70 2.8, and only once I reach the full potential of my 14-24 2.8. And I’ve got a long way to go.

Only a few weeks to go til our big trip down south, time to get Americanized, at least for 3 weeks. Hopefully I’m going to be able to meet up with a guy named Benny Gold in San Francisco and talk about the possibility of opening a retail space here in Vancouver. It’s a venture that I think we really want to try as Michelle has given notice at her job. Finally after 11 years!!! Michelle would be such a great fit as a manager as well, and hopefully our friends Corey and Darcy will come on board.

Oh and I finally succumbed to dressing like a 30 something dad, well not fully but pretty close:

And of course the Tods are the quintessential 30 something dad shoe and always sans socks:

Actually those are my Prada ones but I bought a pair of Tods too, they’ll surface in later posts.

Time to sign out, I need an afternoon nap before my 4th night of 5 night shifts in a row, uggghhh.

Now playing in Daddy’s iTunes: Animal (Fake Blood Remix) – Miike Snow (The video cracks me up everytime I see it)

You would figure with the recent Anniversary gift of a new camera (a Nikon D90) that I would be blogging like it’s going out of style, yet I’m so busy learning how to shoot I haven’t made the time. So here’s a short post and a few pics:

The Chief and Darcy:

The Shooter himself:

And my beautiful wife:

Keep in mind I’m just learning how to shoot, deciding what lenses I want to buy and desperately trying to pick the right moments. I’ve always said a picture not taken is a moment lost in time, now I don’t have any excuse. Many new pics and posts to come.

Now playing in Daddy’s iTunes: Strict Machine – Goldfrapp

Take advantage of this time when they are so small, hold your kid, let them draw you pictures, let them tell you stories and pay attention to what they say. They’re never going to be this small again. Just when you think they’re too heavy to hold or carry just remember they’ll be heavier tomorrow.

You might never see her with Kitty’s royal wand up her nose again:

Hug your kid today.

Now playing in Daddy’s YouTube and iTunes: Finally Found – Late Night Alumni (Max Vangeli Remix)

I’ve always been a fortunate person, I don’t believe in luck. For the second monday in a row I won a door prize at Mt. Seymour, the final tally is 2 Nike tee-shirts a Nike 6.0 toque and a Nike 6.0 baseball cap, and to add to it all Michelle won a Hurley hoodie tonight. Maybe a little bit of my fortune wore off on her tonight.

All that on top of a great night skiing without having to tow our daughter around was great. Sage was able to spend a few hours of quality time with “Drama” (Grandma) and we were able to regain a little bit of our youth. I even wore my hat backwards for the first time in a long time.

Here’s a pic from tonight, believe it or not that is actually night skiing thanks to the time change:

Now to finish off a little leftover Mongolie grill from lunch today and call it a night.

Now playing in Daddy’s Fairtilizer: Untitled Daft Punk Track from the Tron Legacy soundtrack

I cannot wait to see that movie and buy it on Bluray. Here’s a link to the trailer to whet your appetites: Tron Legacy

I actually have a scheduled 5 days off from work, I can’t remember the last time that happened. Overtime has taken over my life. My mind is just spinning with possibilities. I know I’m looking forward to going skiing again on Monday at Mt. Seymour with Michelle for what will most likely be the last time this year. Here’s some crummy iPhone pics from last Monday night:

I can’t wait until next year to start Sage on Skis.

Day 1 is Daddy/Daughter day though, have to focus on the moment. I just finished night shift at 6:00 this morning and I get to spend all day today with Sage while Mom is at work. I love these days, just playing games, drawing, going to the park and usually running errands. I’ve got to make something for dinner tonight, I’m thinking something Indian that I can have stewing all afternoon.

The rest of my days off activities are TBD, the weather forecast is rosy, I’m looking forward to spending every waking minute with my favourite 2 girls.

Hey now you can listen to what I’m listening to by clicking the link, how cool is that? If only I could embed the player properly, I guess I’m not geeky enough to know how to do that. Just press play when the new window pops up.

Now playing in Daddy’s Fairtilizer: Lying Around (Sharam Jey Remix) Cassette kids

We all have major milestones in our lives, for a baby and then toddler they come much more frequently. Today’s major milestone was leaving a bear in the potty, and I don’t mean a teddy bear. She has caught on to potty training so quickly it almost actually makes me miss changing little diapers. I might not actually get to tell her it’s time for a “butt check” ever again. Almost makes me want to have another little one to go through it all over again. Almost being the key word in that sentence. Haven’t I said that before?

Milestones for adults are a different story, the passing away of a loved one being one of the biggest of all. Two weeks ago I lost one of my best friends and father in law Ryne. He went way too young, just turned 59. He was a great man, one to be remembered. He was the kind of guy who would give you the shirt off of his back and if you asked for his pants as well he’d more than gladly oblige.

We had many great times together, we went out in his boat often catching crabs, our own version of “Deadliest Catch”. He taught me how to ride a motorbike on the street. We shared our great love of Hockey with the Canucks being the primary subject of conversation. We played so many games of crib we almost wore out the board, no word of a lie we probably played 1500 games over the 9+ years I was privileged to know him. I miss him more than it shows on the outside.

He loved his daughter (my wife) and his grand-daughter maybe even just as much. Sage was the light of his life and he was so proud of his daughter for raising such a great child. Actually he was proud of his daughter for everything she did and was never shy to tell her. A lesson I will do my best to mimic my whole life when it comes to raising my own kid.

One thing that really stuck with me was he told me directly that I work too hard, and coming from him that really hit home. Any friend of his knew he was one of the hardest workers ever to graze the face of the earth.

I have to reconsider my priorities.

Here’s to the man we all loved:

And here’s Sage to cheer every one up:

Now playing in Daddy’s iTunes: Carry Out – Timbaland ft. Justin Timberlake

For the second time this year I’ve dropped a full bottle of alcohol on the ground only to see it smash in to a thousand heart breaking pieces. The most recent being a brand new bottle of Old Pulteney scotch I had received as a gift and was saving for a special occasion. My father in law, a few close friends and I were off to play some crib on his boat and I guess I was holding the cardboard tube upside down and out it fell, just 10 feet short of the dock on to the asphalt. I almost got down on all fours and started licking the pavement.

Earlier this year on our trip to Onion Lake I had a 60 oz bottle of Bailey’s fall out of my drivers side back door just a foot shy of my garage, again I had the temptation to get down and lick it up, but I resisted.

Not that I believe in resolutions but if I were to make one it would be not to drop any bottles next year.

Then again it’s all relative.

Now playing in Daddy’s iTunes: Let Me Be Real – Fedde Le Grand Ft. Mitch Crown

I guess the title of this post is far more deep reaching than I originally expected now that I think about it. Let’s consider the average persons history of alcoholic consumption, none of which resembles my own. (wink wink)

15-18 years old = Whatever you can get your hands on, most likely something along the lines of Pilsner beer, SoCo, Jack Daniels or Lemon Gin. Shortly after consumption the bottle or can would end up in the bush somehwere because there was no way you wanted to be caught with the empty bottle. Mother nature be damned.

19-24 years old = Still whatever you could get your hands on, but inexpensively. Massive amounts of Pilsner cans, but a few Granville Island bottles scattered in the mix because you are pretending to have an ounce of class. Gone are the bottles of SoCo and Lemon Gin. They have been replaced by Bacardi (white) and Smirnoff. Still the bottles don’t make it back to the recycling depot though. They either end up being un rinsed and in a big garbage bag stinking to high heaven, or dumped off in the blue bin in the apartment building you live in because it’s way to much work to clean them and drive them to the actual depot. All the while knowing you are probably throwing away $30 per month by not doing so, and you are doubling that considering you payed the deposit when you made the original purchase.

24-27 years old = Gone are the cans of Pilsner and Budweiser because you think you are too old for that. Now in the bin you find Guiness cans (because of the Harp® device), bottles of Smithwicks (for the black and tans) and more green glass Heineken bottle than you can count. You’ll even find an empty Scotch bottle (most likely a blend) and even a bottle of wine (Something VQA) that your boss gave you near the holidays. These actually make it to the depot but only after the whole corner of the shed is full, the bin long since overflowing. When you actually get them to the depot you are disgusted by the amount of mould you come in contact with, yet you leave with a smile and $25 from the depot.

27-30 years old = Recyleables now come in normal size batches, because it would be totally embarassing to have any of your friends or workmates see such a huge stack. You would look like a pig. Your appearance starts to mean something, at least to you. Now the content of your bin includes the likes of Glenlivet, Glenfiddich and many other single malts. A few Penfolds bottles even speckle the mix, you pretend to know the difference between Shiraz and Syrah.

The mold is gone because you rinse all your recyclables, you talk to your neighbours about how “Green conscious” you are just because you actually go to the depot to return them, even though you negate your green credits by driving your bottles there in your one tonne truck.

You’re still proud of your money you get back except now it goes into your newbornes piggybank.

31+ years old = A mix of juice boxes, Orangina bottles and Pom Wondeful plastic jugs now scatter the mix, you’ve got to maintain a healthy prostate. The young one is taking over. Throw in a few Yop bottles for nostalgia. Alcohol containers take a side seat, there’s still a few but your priorities have changed. Hopefully for the good.

Who knows what the next few years will bring? Maybe a regression as the mid life crisis kicks in. Pilsner anyone?

That being said I’m much happier recycling juice boxes rather than mouldy Pilsner cans.

Here she is preparing me a drink:

Now playing in Daddy’s iTunes: Boom Boom Pow – Black Eyed Peas

Had to post this pic tonight, seeing her ready to go out for Sunday pizza and beer at Yaletown Brewpub all I could think is she looks so Yaletown it hurts, Ugg Boots and a velour Juicy suit on top of a little TNA wife beater. Fits right in with the rest of the clones around here.

Now playing on Daddy’s PVR: Spaceballs