Joy is having a hard time drinking enough water throughout the day. In my attempts to help her, I’d like to buy her a water bottle that is or is close to the amount of water she should intake each day. Thus relieving her of even thinking if she has drunken enough yet or not. According to web calculators she should be drinking around 100 oz a day or 2.2 liters. I found this one on Amazon. I picked it b/c it doesn’t look too overwhelming, it has a lid, and is BPA free.

Any one out there have any recommendations for a large capacity water bottle?

a businessman was at the pier of the small Tuvaluan island when a boat with a fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were fish. The businessman complimented the Tuvaluan on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The fisherman replied only a little while.

The businessman then asked why he didn’t stay out longer and catch more fish? The Tuvaluan said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The businessman then asked, but what do you do with the rest of you time? The Tuvaluan fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a nap with my wife, Puna, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitars with my friends; I have a full and busy life.”

The businessman scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and I could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats; eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. You could sell directly to the processor and eventually open your own cannery. You would need to leave this small fishing island-nation and move to Australia, then LA and eventually New York City where you would run your expanding enterprise.”

The Tuvaluan fisherman asked, “But how long will this all take? To which the businessman replied, “15 to 20 years.” “But what then, sir? The businessman laughed and said, “Thats the best part! When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and make millions, flying around on your own corporate jet!” “Millions, sir? Then what?” The businessman said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing island where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a nap with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your friends.”

The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, “Isn’t that what I’m doing right now?”

-Author Unknown

And Firefox 4 is coming out on March 22nd. 🙂

I recently finished a 4-week Wilton Cake Decorating class that I took (through the city) with my lovely friend Katie.

It was interesting to do everything from scratch! I can see why people just use box mixes… But the density and flavor of those just don’t compare to homemade cakes.

I loved learning some of the tricks of the trade and some basic decorating skills, even if it was a lot of work to come ready each week with cakes and icing ready to go!

My first cake was a yellow cake with chocolate buttercream icing, and vanilla pudding & strawberries as the filling. It was good enough to eat (although a bit dry).

The second week we did cupcakes, which was a lot of fun. We learned a couple types of flowers and also how to fill cupcakes (my favorite)! I always insisted on using real butter in my buttercream icing recipes because I just don’t like the blandness and yuckiness that is shortening. But the real buttercream melted a little and didn’t make the stiffest flowers. I also just used a German chocolate box mix to make the cupcakes, but I added coconut cream pudding to the mix, which made them super moist.

My last cake had a “fish” design. I didn’t care too much about making it perfect because I only had 20 minutes to decorate the cake. But I WAS able to get the base layer of icing (the white part) super smooth; it almost looked like fondant. The cake inside was dark chocolate cake with chocolate pudding as the filling. It was very moist and delicious!

It was a great course. I was so grateful to Pace for putting our kids to bed each Thursday when I was at my class!

Wife = Great

Happy Valentines Day Joy

I love you!

Joy has a very calm side. She could lay on my shoulder for hours at a time. I really like how she falls asleep on me. Her soft side stays around most of the day, although Chase knows how to harden it pretty fast. While I’m usually the first to pull away after 5 minutes, I love when Joy hugs and kisses me. I couldn’t ask for a better example for Charlotte to become a wonderful woman. Keep up the good work honey and Happy Valentines Day, I love you.

Joy is so much fun! I really love how she plays with our kids and makes time for fun. She loves cleaning and doing laundry, but luckily she stops to jump in the pillow pit of doom and watch some Disney movies. I really need a wife with a good sense of humor, especially when I have some food that doesn’t agree with me. Joy always laughs at my jokes. I’m really glad she isn’t too serious about most things (don’t poke her arm pit, she will kill you). Happy Valentines Day Joy, I love you!