This afternoon we headed outside for popsicles and swinging.

Eli had to show Kat some Jedi moves. Jedi moves involve him jumping from the step while swinging his lightsaber wildly.

Here’s Liza producing some Spielberg brand looking or maybe it’s Bono serious gazing, hard to tell.

He was in heaven this afternoon since Kat and I could take turns pushing him in the swing.

Good thing they make that red die so it washes out these days, otherwise we’d never see this outfit again. Check her “buh-fie” hat that Kat brought her.

It’s hard to resist this much cute. Except when Liza’s awake at 3 a.m. and Eli gets out of bed six times before he falls asleep. Then? Then it is so easy to resist the cute.

When we were in college, Stephen took me to see Pink Floyd in concert. This is standard mating ritual for the nerd set.

He loaded eight of us into his parent’s Suburban and we drove the five hours to Texas Stadium in Dallas to see the show. Sounds like a great college road trip, huh?

Except the part where I was sick as a dog. I had some sort of cold/flu and my head was so stuffed I could barely hold it up. I was completely miserable and popping Sudafed like candy but dang, I was going to see me some Pink Floyd.

All I remember of the concert was the driving rain that began during an extended set of songs from Dark Side of the Moon and poured in on the crowd through the open roof, the giant pigs and the fact that I couldn’t yell worth a darn. So in spectacular nerd mating ritual style, Stephen got his best pals Mike and Scott to yell for me. All three of them took turns yelling, “Misty says, ‘Woo!'” It was only one on a very long list of things that made me marry Stephen.

Yesterday, I got an email from Mike:

I went to see Bob Dylan here in Little Rock on Tuesday. During the show, I shouted out “Misty, says ‘Woo!'”. I though you might like to know.

So I quickly replied and asked him if I could post about it. Here’s his return email:

I’m pretty sure Scott yelled that at The Who as well. It is sort of a
tradition with us.

So if you are ever attending a concert and you hear some guy yelling out of the crowd, “Misty says, ‘Woo!'” know that it is a long tradition and that they are yelling for me. And seriously, if you aren’t as charmed as I am by that then your heart must be a concrete block.

My theory of barbeque restaurant signs must be extended.

Unborn babies are very noisy.

For those of you who aren’t tracking my every move via my state-mandated ankle bracelet, here’s my schedule of panels for Dragon*Con over in Atlanta this Labor Day weekend.

A Long, Sad History: Automatic Docking in Orbit
In June of 1997, astronauts crashed a resupply ship into the Mir while attempting a manual docking. In 2005, NASA crashed one satellite into another while attempting automatic docking. Why is on-orbit docking so hard? It’s just rocket science!
Saturday, 4:00 PM, in Forsythe.

That one should be interesting. I knew there had been a number of docking mishaps before I started my research, but dang, I had no idea how many there really were. Plus now I have a chance to pick an audience member and whirl them around at one Hertz.

Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow: 6th Annual Recruiting Session, Membership Drive and Bake Sale
Members of the professional association for the working Evil Genius discuss various methods of taking over the world for fun and profit, avoiding common mistakes and the design of secret lairs. See the newly crowned ‘SUPER VILLIAN’. Evil Geniusy things abound!
Saturday, 5:30 PM in A601-A602.

This year’s theme is “steampunk”, which means I’ll wear a pair of welding goggles and otherwise ignore the theme. My plan to take over the world, oddly enough for me, doesn’t really include lasers this time around. Plus I’ve got some ideas about how to be evil on the cheap. Hint: why build super-expensive laser-guided bombs when you’ve got dogs?

WhatTheCast – LIVE!
The people behind Dragon*Con TV bring you a LIVE (we hope) version of their chaotic, and amazingly funny, WhatTheCast.
Sunday, 1:00 PM in Rockdale.

In keeping with our normal mode of operation for our podcast, I’ve no idea what we’re going to do, beyond making Brian try that rock-hard package of Big League Chew he won at the Jonathan Coulton/Paul and Storm concert.

Build Your Own Quantum Computer for Fun and Profit!
Quantum computers may be like artificial intelligence and fusion: always ten years away. But just in case, come find out how quantum computers work, why people are interested in them, and how you can build your own.
Sunday, 4:00 PM in Henry.

Now this one should be a blast, especially since I’ve got a lot of audience participation planned. Ever wanted to be a qubit? Now’s your chance!

I knew there was a good reason to hate Mondays. Rainy ones are even worse. Vomit and poop make it uglier. 30 minute naps all around after all of the above equal the kind of pain associated with giving birth.

Say, when is Daddy coming home?

Tokyo is just like New York.

Today was Eli’s first soccer game, which, in his under-five league, means all the kids bunch up around the ball except for the ones whose attention has wandered elsewhere.

All the kids except for this one girl on the opposing team who must have been 8 or 9. She could dribble the ball with either foot, and as soon as Mini-Mia got ahead of the pack, she would accelerate and score. She could cut the ball out of a group of kids. She could defend.

I was ready to go all Jeff Gillooly on her. “Psst, kid, need a snack? I’ve got Teddy Grahams! That’s right, a little closer, a little closer…” and then WHACK. People talk about sports being a good way to teach kids real-life skills like teamwork and cooperation, right? Why not give them a real lesson in how the world works!

This is a recipe that my mom cut out of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette many years ago and I suppose it is the reverse-engineered version of a dip from a restaurant in Little Rock called Trio’s. The dip looks like it’s still on the menu too. We love it at Casa Granade and I make it at least once a month to take with us to a gathering or we eat it all ourselves for lunch on a Saturday.

8 oz. cream cheese
8 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, chopped
1/3 c Parmesan Cheese
1 can Ro-Tel
1/4 c purple onion, diced
10 oz. package frozen spinach, thawed and excess water squeezed out
chopped jalapeños to taste

Put all in a microwave safe bowl and microwave until cheese is smooth, stirring periodically.

I usually serve with corn chips but the recipe actually calls for baked pitas. I don’t use the pitas because I can never make them quick enough to eat with the dip or get enough made to finish the dip off. The pitas really do make it awesome.

Baked Pitas
Cut pitas into wedges. Brush with melted butter and then shake on lemon pepper and cumin. Bake at 325° until crisp. Serve with spinach dip.

English makes everything better.