Just in time for Christmas

Well, we made it home today, just in time for Christmas. Air travel in some parts of the coutry had me a little worried, but we had a direct flight. It was very windy in Portland, which made for a bumpy landing. We're all unpacked now, and waiting for Santa to come. Florida was great (it was good to wear shorts and feel the warm sun again), but it's good to be home.

Last day in Florida

Kids are in shackles - we're free!

Ready for takeoff

Harbor Cam

If you want to see what the Portland waterfront looks like at this moment, check out this web cam, which is on the corner of Franklin and Commercial in Portland's Old Port. It updates every few seconds and rotates its view every minute. The right-most view is of the street right in front of where Chris works.

Patriots take care of the Steelers

The Patriots took care of business on Sunday and it was a great game to watch in person. Close first half, blowout second half. When Randy Moss dropped the lateral there was a collective groan followed by successively louder cheering as the play developed. Some great defensive stands really got the crowd going. Of course, the tailgate was perhaps the most memorable part as we devoured some of the best ribs I've ever had in a parking lot full of rabid fans burning Steelers hats. See for yourself.

The tailgate has begun!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

After Monday's snowstorm, it's gotten cold. This is good, because it makes the snow last longer and look nicer. But, it's gotten me thinking about where we'll be in 11 days. So, here's a comparison of the weather in Gorham, ME vs Orlando, FL. Check out the dew points and sunset times.


A far cry from December 2006, when the kids rode their bikes with no jackets on Christmas Day. Last June, while we were sweltering in a heat wave, I did the same comparison:

'Tis the Season

We are in full Christmas mode in the Chapin household. This year, for the first time, we decided to go with an artificial tree. Since we will be on vacation in Florida from 12/18-12/24, we didn't think the hassle of a live tree was worth the amount of time we would be able to enjoy it. Honestly, if you stick a Douglas Fir Yankee Candle in the room you can't tell the difference unless you're about 1 foot away.

And, to try and impart the joy we are all feeling at this time of year, here's a little something to share our spirit with you (I'll remove my tongue from my cheek now).

Snow Day

The kids have their first snow day of the year today so I'm playing hookey with them. Sledding, build a fort, some video games... I don't know what the kids are doing but that's my plan.

Update

Just a quick update. Janet, Larry, Andy, and Jack came last weekend. We had a good time, including cards (of course) and bowling. We all went to Michael's hockey game Sunday morning where he scored a goal and an assist in a 5-3 loss.

Emily lost a tooth this week.

Turkey Lurky

Happy Thanksgiving!
We had a very low-key Thanksgiving this year with just the 4 of us and Mimi. Chris still slaved in the kitchen just as much as if she were serving an army, and we'll have enough leftovers for another whole dinner. That's good because Janet and her family are coming tomorrow for the weekend.

The hockey player

Power Outage

Last weekend we had a mysterious power outage at 7AM on Sunday. Weather was fine. Anyway, Michael had a hockey game at 9AM, so we had to get breakfast ready and get to the rink. With no electricity the kids still wanted eggs for breakfast, so I took out my camp stove and made eggs and toast on the counter. The kids thought it was really roughing it. Boy do they have it easy!

Shopping Weekend

Chris is on a shopping trip with the girls in North Conway this weekend. So, I am home alone with Michael and Emily. We have had a nice low-key weekend so far. We did some shopping of our own today, taking advantage of Mommy being out of town. Now Christmas shopping for her is just about done. It was already crowded at the Mall. Can't imagine what next weekend will be like.

Windows are a popular operating system

The other day Emily was playing Webkinz on our laptop. When she shut down the computer, she was reading the screen and said "Dad, I think I found a mistake. It says 'Windows is shutting down'. Shouldn't it be 'Windows are shutting down?'" This observation from a 7-yr-old amazed me but what amazed me even more is that she totally understood when I explained to her that normally she would be absolutely right, but in this case, Windows is singular because it's the name of one software product.

Hockey Season is underway

Michael had his 2nd Huskies game today. Last week they won a 3-2 game, in which Michael had 1 assist. Today they lost a suspenseful back-and-forth game 8-9. Michael scored 2 goals today though in the loss. He's playing right wing on his Huskies team, whose sponsor is HVAC. He's had several practices for his middle school team, and their first game is next weekend. Playing on 2 teams gets him lots of ice times, and luckily so far their schedules haven't conflicted. Last week he had 5 practices in 4 days.

Trick or Treat

	The Clown and the Crazy Patriots Fan getting ready to go beg for candy.
	Here's Daddy doing his best Coco Crisp impression.

Soxtober

We can't believe the Sox won it all again! Chris, Michael and I stayed up to the final out Sunday night. Hopefully when Michael is 50 he'll tell people "yeah, my dad let me stay up to watch the Red Sox win the World Series". He's really getting spoiled as a sports fan and I hope he remembers it for a long time.

Watching the Patriots is pretty fun these days too. Looking forward to going down to Gillette to watch the Steelers game.

Nothing runs like a Deere

Chris took Emily and our neighbor Ben to Pumpkin Land in Poland, ME last weekend. It was quite a circus. The kids liked these John Deere tricycles the best. Go figure.

Ducky

A couple weekend ago we had a visit by Chris' Mom's best friend, Mary (aka "Ducky"), and her friend Nancy. They had a great time exploring Portland's wharfs and shops and we enjoyed having them at our house reminiscing and sharing lots of good memories. Thanks for coming Ducky!

Phil and Colleen

This past weekend Chris' cousin Colleen and her husband Phil came to visit us. We had some summer-like Fall weather and enjoyed a day doing some local sightseeing. Here are some pictures.

Emily's ankle

Emily twisted her ankle on Thursday. It looked like a sprain to me, but a little internet research and a call to the doctor confirmed that kids don't usually sprain their ligaments, but rather their bone breaks at a growth plate, where 2 bones are growing together. It's a weaker spot than the ligaments. So, she has a swollen and bruised ankle and has to wear a boot that immobilizes the ankle joint for 4 weeks. Aside from some tenderness on the ankle bone, she's not in pain and the boot hasn't slowed her down one bit.

Ray Chapin, 1926-2007

My Dad, Raymond W. Chapin passed away on September 26. He was 81 years old, served in WWII, worked as a mover for 30 years, had 6 children, and 9 grandchildren. He died peacefully and his passing brought the family closer together. He will be missed.

Worlds tallest sand castle, sebago Lake, ME

Seadogs playoff baseball

Catch Up

Again a few weeks go by with no posts. Here's what we've been up to:

Took a long weekend at Bar Harbor. Had lots of fun climbing on the rocks along the shoreline, doing wome geocaching, and going on a whale watch. Check out the photo album for some great pictures of humpback whales.

Went to our neighbor's camp at East Grand Lake. Had tons of fun swimming, snorkeling, catching crayfish, waterskiing, and kneeboarding.

Chris and the kids went to her Dad's house at Honeoye Lake, NY. I stayed home to catch up on some work, so I could enjoy this last weekend of summer with the family. They had a lot of fun at the lake, waterskiing, playing at the shoreline, and visiting with Uncle Keith and Jameson. Here's a photo album. On the way back from the lake, Chris and the kids stopped at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Michael was a bit overwhelmed with all the baseball lore. Of course, there are pictures.

And that brings us to this weekend. Nothing planned. Back-to-school shopping is done. Just enjoying the last day of summer before school starts. Emily is going into 2nd grade, and Michael is going into 5th grade, in their last year at their respective schools. It will be good to see old friends, get back into the daily routine, and learn stuff.

Max Roach

Max Roach died yesterday. He was a legendary jazz percussionist and was a music professor at UMass. I once saw him perform a hi-hat solo for about 30 minutes that to this day is one of the most amazing musical performances I have seen or heard.

Happy Birthday Emily

Emily celebrated her 7th birthday on Wednesday of last week.

Little Sebago

Last Sunday we spent the day with Dan and Kathleen, who were on vacation at Little Sebago Lake. Does this picture look familiar? Check out this one from 2 years ago.

Popham Beach

Last weekend we went to Popham Beach. This is our favorite beach because the conditions change with the tide. It's like going to 4 different beaches on the same day. Lots of flats at low tide with ankle-deep water to run and splash in, go for a ride in the river (downstream while the tide is going out, upstream while the tide is coming in - do both on the same day), and body surf the breakers. Walk out to the island at low tide or take a stroll up the river. We also went to Fort Popham, a civil war-era fort built to protect the mouth of the Kennebec River, which leads to Bath, an important ship-building town, and Augusta, the state capitol.

Softball Update

The Heartwood Swingers were victorious tonight, 12-7 over our rival neighborhood, Gateway Commons. Stay tuned for more softball highlights and photos.

Summertime

I think this happened last summer too: I got so busy that I forgot to post for a few weeks. It seems like we are busy almost every night of the week, between Michael's hockey games, my golf league, and Chris' and my softball league. Softball has been a lot of fun. We've got a neighborhood team in our town's summer rec dept league. Tonight, Chris (yes our Chris) made a great play at 2nd base, taking the throw from shortstop and tagging 2nd base in a lunging play for the game ending force out.

Michel went camping with my sister and her family for a week at Lake George. They went to Six Flags, Fort Ticonderoga, and a boat cruise on the lake. And, he's already been on field trips to amusement parks and beaches at summer camp.

Emily had 1 week at summer camp, now back to Kimmie's day care. Then back to camp next week for a field trip to Splash Town.

Mix in some yard work, poker games, cookouts, and birthday parties, and it feels like we're on vacation without taking off any time from work. But it sure is tiring.

Shrinkster

Just came across this useful web utility:
http://shrinkster.com/
You register a URL and it gives you a very short URL that will redirect to the original one. Use it for links to YouTube, knowledge base articles, or any page that has a really long URL. Long URL's are a pain because they don't always work in forwarded emails, and you can't easily read it to someone or use it in a presentation.

Summer Starts

Happy Summer Solstice!

Tuesday was the last day of school for the kids, so summer is truly starting. Can you believe that our kids will be in 5th and 2nd grades? Emily is about 9 years from getting her license - and Michael is 3 years older than her!

It's been so busy lately, and the end of school doesn't change that. Summer camp starts soon. Baseball is over, but summer hockey starts this week. Michael is going camping with my sister all next week. Brownies is over. Chris and I are playing in a neighborhood softball league, just to make sure we don't have any free weeknights at all. I'm not sure these days if work is a nice diversion from home or if home is a nice diversion from work.

2007 Fishing Trip

Last weekend I headed up to Greenbush, ME on my annual smallmouth bass fishing trip. This year I was accompanied by Shawn, Mario, Doug, Bill, and Dan. And we met up with Fred and Wally who live near there. We had great weather, and even better fishing. I caught about 10 on Friday and over 30 on Saturday. Here is a photo album of the whole weekend.

Presumpscot River Bass

I took Michael fishing today despite the cold, drizzly weather. We headed out to our local fishing hole where we did some fishing and poking around in some backwater areas. I caught 5 fish, including this nice 3-lb largemouth bass. Michael tried but did not catch anything, but he's already looking forward to next time. There was plenty else to do, as we saw lots of wildlife, including turtles, a wood duck, and some loons wailing away in the mist. Michael said it was creepy, but cool-creepy, not scary-creepy. We also hiked on the dam at the end of the lake, and saw some areas we'd like to explore on a future trip. It was a good tune-up for my fishing trip next weekend.

Wedding Bells

Want to feel old? Attend YOUR NEPHEW'S WEDDING! Yes, my nephew Dave got married this weekend in Montague, MA. Congratulations Dave and Shelley! Here is a photo album.

Where would you rather be on mother's day?

Baseball Season

Michael's baseball season has started. In Gorham, we have Cal Ripken baseball for 9-12-yr-olds. It's just like Little League, but different. Michael is on the Gorham Savings Bank team. Here is a photo album to which I will add pictures throughout the season. So, add it to your RSS reader, bookmark, or check back here to see when I add to it.

The Tooth, the Whole Tooth, and Nothing But the Tooth

is exactly what Emily will be putting under her pillow tonight after she lost her 1st tooth. After playing with that pesky lower incisor with her tongue all weekend, she finally yanked it out. She was ready to go to bed early tonight in anticipation of a visit from the Tooth Fairy. What's the going rate for incisors these days?

Father Daughter Dance

Just realized that I never posted about the Gorham Football Boosters' Father Daughter Dance on April 7. Emily and I got all dressed up and headed off to the middle school gym, where she proceeded to run around with her friends for 2 hours while I stood around with all the other dads wishing there was a punch bowl. She did dance to some oldies and slow songs and I think she will remember her first dance.

Keep Moving Forward

We got our telecomm back last night, I guess that's what we get for having TV, internet, and phone coming through one wire. Rest of the neighborhood got power back yesterday too. Crazy weather. Almost expect power outages and shut-ins during the winter, but not at this time of year, at least not in this part of the country. Also, with the tragedy at VTech, it's been one unsettling week. With the war going on overseas, and stuff like that happening every few years here (Jesus, I just looked it up - the Amish shooting was only 6 months ago), makes you wonder how much more this country can take. OK, time to stop watching Jericho...

But, life goes on and there's nothing to do but Keep Moving Forward (watch Meet the Robinsons for the theatrical reference). Michael has his first Cal Ripken game Monday, I just got a promotion, the 500 bulbs Chris planted last Fall are poking up, and Emily recently scored a 107 on a standardized reading fluency test (the target was 23). We just keep moving forward.

Quiet around the house

Day 3
We have power; half our neighborhood still doesn't. But our Cable TV, internet, and phone are still out. It's actually been a nice, quiet couple of nights. Lots of reading going on...

The rain rain rain rain came down down down

Our house is high and dry, but here are some
scenes from southern Maine.

Happy @#$% Easter

Cal Ripken

Congratulations to Michael for trying out and making it onto a Cal Ripken baseball team. He will be playing on Gorham Savings Bank. The season ends in early June. I'll keep you posted with pictures and news.

Hexagonal Storm on Saturn

This image of a hexagonal storm on Saturn gives me the creeps.

Palm Springs

Here's the view from my hotel room at a conference last week in Palm Springs. The conference was great, if you like listening to seminars about .NET, SOAP, and ADF's (which I do). I even had some time to explore nearby Joshua Tree National Park. Check out the photo album.

Airbus A380

On my way to Palm Springs last Monday I had to change planes at LAX. By chance the double-decker Airbus A380 was there after its inaugural transatlantic flight. Pretty cool.

Game 3!

Game 2, worth the 55 min drive thru 1 foot of snow and driving sleet to play a game w/ 1 sub!

Day 2

After Day 2 of the NCAA Tournament, here are the household standings:
Ted: 28 pts
Emily: 26 pts
Michael: 26 pts
Chris: 26 pts

What better place to be during a snowstorm than Michaels end of season hockey tournament?

Warmer times for some of us

Good thing I'm headed to Palm Springs for a conference next week.

Today's High 95F

Spring?

Saw my first Robin of the season this morning. A sure sign that Spring is coming soon. The temperature reached 60 a few days ago, which certainly made it feel like Spring, but today it's 20 and we're supposed to get a foot of snow, sleet, and rain tonight into tomorrow. Better not put away the snowblower just yet.

Another sign of Spring is March Madness. Results after Day 1 of the Chapin Houehold NCAA Basketball Pool:
Emily: 14 pts
Michael: 13 pts
Ted: 13 pts
Chris: 12 pts
Stay tuned for daily updates.

π

Happy Pi Day. Forgive me for not posting at 1:59, but I came close!

Akira Haraguchi recently recited Pi to 100,000 digits.

Here it is to 50:
3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510

Here's a way to memorize it to 14:
How I need a drink, alcoholic in nature, after the heavy lectures involving quantum mechanics.

Yes, I know I'm a geek...

20 Years!

Can you believe that plans are underway for the 20th reunion of Amherst Regional High School Class of '88?

Mama's gone to play

Chris left today for her annual Girls Gone Wild weekend in Vegas. I'm looking forward to the weekend with the kids. Actually, if get enough snow tonight to cancel school tomorrow, I promised them I would stay home with them, rather than taking them to daycare. Although I have tons to do at work, I'm kind of hoping it happens.

Day Off

Today is President's Day, the first day of the kids' winter vacation. Chris had to work today, but I have a paid holiday, and am enjoying spending the day with the kids. It's days like today that give me a great appreciation for stay-at-home moms and dads everywhere. This is no revelation to me; I've done this many times and to me it's a treat to spend a weekday with the kids - seems strange that this is such an unusual event. But it always strikes me that this is unusual to us because Chris and I both work full time, but to so many people it is normal, and to them maybe not such a treat. I'm not so sure how good I would be at this if I did it every day.

Here's how my day has gone so far:

8:00 - Wake up, shower, get dressed, get the kids dressed.

9:00 - Put dinner dishes away, make breakfast to a chorus of "I'm starving, where breakfast?". Eat breakfast. Clean up breakfast. Start dishwasher.

10:00 - Fold and put away laundry that got washed and dried this weekend, but now sits in huge piles - a task that normally seems to take us all week is relatively easy, and the kids are actually helping.

11:00 - Bundle the kids up (it's 15 degrees out) and take them to a local sledding hill about a mile away. There are some other people there but it's not crowded. We have lots of fun, until the kids realize that having to walk up the hill every time is so Old School and they like the tubing place that pulls you up the hill better. At least I saw smiles on their faces on the way down.

12:30 - A trip to Dunkin Donuts for hot chocolate on the way home where Emily declares: "America Runs on Dunkin'"

1:00 - Put away breakfast dishes. Make lunch. Eat lunch. Clean up lunch. Load dishwasher.

2:00 - While I was cleaning up after lunch both kids conveniently disappeared, but I didn't mind. Emily curled up on the couch in a blanket watching Fairly Odd Parents on TV and playing a hand-held Hangman game, occaisionally asking out loud to no one in particular "What's blank-A-blank-blank?" Michael went to his room to watch college basketball and play basketball himself with a plastic hoop hanging over his doorway. When he slam dunks, his body hits the door, creating a thud that can be felt through the entire house.

2:30 - After debating whether I should try to get some free time to myself by reading a book, catching up on some TV on the DVR, or playing some XBox, I decided that as soon as I started to enjoy the peace and quiet, the peace and quiet would abruptly come to an end. So, I decided to blog about this day and look back on it someday as a reminder of these rare days. Sure enough, the sound of my typing has attracted Michael from his basketball and here he stands, sweat dripping from his brow, correcting my grammer. Must be time to go start up a game of Clue or something. Chris will be home in no time, tomorrow we'll be back to trying to fit all this quality family time in between 5PM and 8PM.

Happy Birthday Michael

We had Michael's belated 10th birthday party for his friends last weekend. We had his buddies at our house for fun, cake, presents, then we all went to a Portland Pirates game vs Providence Bruins. Michael, who bleeds black and gold, rooted for the visitors, since they are the Boston Bruin's AHL team. Providence won 6-4, so there were plenty of goals for everybody. Plus a couple of fights to complete the hockey experience.

I posted some pictures to our Picasa Web Album.

Brrr!

After a very mild Fall and balmy first few weeks of winter, it is finally COLD. It was 0 degrees this morning.

Go Bruins!

Boston beat Buffalo 3-2 in a shootout. The whole family enjoyed a train ride to Boston and a hockey game on this day off. I put some pictures in a photo album.