So, I’ll just assume there wasn’t this big void of non-blogness and continue on. Maybe, I’ll throw in a throw back post covering some of the stuff over the last four months. But don’t count on it.

We have a Playstation 3 now. Our home is the kid and tech junkie paradise of our immediate family, as far as gaming goes. It was a nice little gift from work, that actually had me spending some money on upgrading components to my home setup. Better late than never? Meh.

It is cool though. We now have an Xbox360, Nintendo Wii, and Playstation 3 hooked up to a decent and respectable receiver. We’ve never had gaming so good.

On the outset, the PS3 is one sweet puppy and I’m not sure if this is because it’s the new kid on our block, but it seems to me that it just might be a slightly better console than the other two. But to be fair, ask me in another month or so.

~

I’m looking forward to coming home today and seeing how The Little Man got on with his day back at school. No longer in junior kindergarten, he’s rolling with the big boys now. No doubt he’ll have a ton of things to say … or not

I do my best to keep my eyes closed, but Tiia’s insistence to play with my nose, goatee, and ears, gets me up.

:::

It’s a little later in the morning now. Harp and I are having tea while we sit in the shade on the stoop in the front of the house. We don’t say much, just sit and enjoy the fact that we’re finally starting to settle into our home.

Harp walks in to check on some things. I stay and watch as Tiia goes spelunking again. Last nights rain has left several large puddles in the area that is soon to be our front lawn. The Little Lady has an ample supply of rocks to throw into them, each plopping with a small “spelunk.”

This is amuses her to know end, and as I sit here and watch her, I’m become convinced that she has found her calling, at least for the next fifteen minutes.

The Little Man walks from behind me and sits next to me, pulling the straps over the Velcro on his now not so clean Puma indoor soccer shoes.

“You going to watch soccer today Daddy?” he asks. It’s in reference to my near religious following of the EUFA European Cup, 2008 edition, of course.

“Yup”

“What game are you going to watch?”

Portugal’s game against Switzerland offers me nothing. The Swiss are already out, Portugal already through.

“Turkey and the Czechs,” I tell him.

“Then what Daddy?”

“Then we’ll go and play some soccer at the soccer center, and then will come home to see if Tiger can win.”

“Ok,” he says. He leans over and gives me a hug. “Happy Father’s Day,” he adds.

:::

It’s been a good day, the Turks provided some thrilling entertainment with a 3-2 win over the Czechs, our soccer session was fun, and now I’m watching Tiger as he lines up a birdie attempt on 18. If he makes this he forces an 18-hole playoff with Rocco Mediate tomorrow. If not, he loses, and Mediate is the 2008 US Open Champion.

I’m practically on the edge of my seat. He lines up the put and steps to the ball.

“Be great…” I whisper.

The putt is taken, about 2.5 seconds later the ball drops to an incredible ovation. It’s been a good day.

On the floor next to the bed, are my workout t-shirt and shorts. I slip into them and begin the walk to the bathroom to freshen up. I then grab my contacts and a fresh pair of gym socks and head downstairs into the basement.

The contacts are on fast, and before I got on my bike trainer, I make sure that “Reign of Fire” is ejected from and “Finding Neverland” is inserted into the laptop. I keep the laptop in front of the bike, with speakers attached to it.

I ride, watching Johnny Depp’s, J.M. Barrie, find hope in four little boys; find his inspiration to write Peter Pan. After an hour, I’m done my morning ride, just a short one, low intensity, with the rest of the movie to be viewed tomorrow.

Back upstairs, I shower, splash on some cologne, comb this shag of hair, and get ready for work. But not before waking The Little Man to tales of pirates and walking the plank. I take him to the bathtub where he readies himself for his morning bath.

Downstairs now, I drink my morning shake, pack my laptop into its bag, grab my coffee thermos, and head off to work. Before leaving though, The Little Man runs down after his bath and reminds me to have a good day, more today than any other.

I pick Jeet up along the way to the train station. On the train we talk of work, hockey, and other guy stuff. On my walk into work from Union Station, I get a call from Paul and speak to Sahib and Simrit too.

I get to work, set my laptop down on my desk and open it up to begin the day’s work. I open the calendar …

Today, I’m 36.

Tiia turned two, last week. Two … for thirty-four years, my life was lived without her.

I’m going to come home tonight, and my daughter and son will run for the door to give me a hug before I can even take my shoes off. Harp will look at me, smile, and give me a nod.

At 36, that’s all I need …

Canadiens clinch!!!

Ahem, in case you didn’t know, that ‘x’ there beside Montreal’s team name ... yeah ... well, that means we clinched a playoff birth.

It’s an amazing thing that’s going on with our team. We’re playing well, we’re young, we’re fast ... we’re no longer the team we were of years past. Oh we’re still green. I have no illusions of winning a cup this year, but stranger things have happened with a decent Habs team that was young and played with a ... *cough* ... rookie ... *ahem, hrrghgg* ... goaltender.

Hey ... one can dream, no? At least we’re not fighting for eighth spot ...

We were talking about music at work the other day. The conversation drifted, floated, darted all over the map from genre’s to hooks to lyrics. It boiled down to defining what “sound” defined you.

That’s a very difficult question for me. I’m all over like a Picasso rendering of Mr. Potato Head (incidentally, I’ve been dying to find a moment where I could throw in that reference from Toy Story). But … I do have a sound that I heavily favor.

That sound takes baselines from Beck, guitar twangs from vintage Rolling Stones, vocals that cross Liam Gallagher with Chris Martin (throwing in a dash of Richard Ashcroft), melody dashes from The Beatles, grinded with some of the Grunge from the 90’s, and a hint of piano (because everyone loves a piano) … would that some it up?

Pretty close … maybe throw in some hard guitar from Rage Against The Machine, but that’s more of a “mood” thing for me. Take a nod from Pearl Jam, maybe a hat tip to the 80s?

You might wind up with something like Sister Surround … and then later something like Mantra Slider.

Then you take the time to listen to TSOOL ... totally listen to them … and you decide …

TSOOL > Oasis.

On a side note, for those who want to know, we’ve been using a portable electric grill to cook and the laundry rooms sink to do our dishes. Hard times, hard times

So on a side note I thought I’d write about my journey into work. Normally it was on the GO train to Union Station, followed by a 20-minute walk to the office. But lately, I’ve been taking the car into work, because of the long days I’ve been putting in. Things have returned to normalcy, however, so it’s hoped those long days are done.

Anyway, when I drive in, I take the Lakeshore exit off of the Gardiner coming into Toronto. I then turn north on Bathurst and get ready for my right on Front Street. When I take that turn, I take it real slow, And I turn my head to the left, look through the window of the showroom and drool over the three Lamborghini Murcielago LP640’s and the two Gallardo’s.

Those four seconds in the morning and again in the evening are priceless. Cars, for all intents and purposes are like the ultimate mistress for men. I have a selection of tastes when considering which mistress I’ll let my mind’s eye roam too. But as far as exotic sports cars go … the Lambo does it for me.

It’s been a harrowing week and a half. We’re into day 10 (11?) of living in our new home and we’re finally starting to settle in. The den, my office, finally got finished over the weekend. Complete with IKEA furnishings. Cheap, but good looking. Only thing I have to think about now is how to properly hide wires. Solutions are welcome.

The kitchen is nearing completion … we opted for a custom job, so it had to be installed AFTER getting the keys to the house. We’re waiting on our gas cook-top and built-in microwave that will top off the already installed built-in oven. And of course the counter top is yet to arrive.

The fridge and freezer are massive. You’ll see, pictures to follow soon. The installation of the trim kit around the fridge and freezer was more work than originally thought. There is a ton or minor adjustments to be made to make sure the units, top and sides of the kit are all level. But we got her done.

I don’t think we’ll attain that any level of normalcy for another two weeks yet. There are still several boxes to sift through. Books and DVDs have to be sorted (to my liking), pictures have to be hung up, the kids rooms need to be finished off so they look more like kids rooms.

I’ll walk around the house tomorrow and take pictures … and have them up right after.

It’ll be over soon enough, but I’m vowing this is going to stop.

:::

The Little Man went to his hockey class today, Super 6’s and 7’s. The numbers don’t denote the age group. The numbers denote the level of skating proficiency needed for the class. It’s a class for kids who have finished, and are comfortable with, power skating.

The Little Man has taken to skating so well, he went from Tips for Tots, skipped over Powerskating, and straight to the Super 6’s and 7’s.

It’s more of a trial, actually. We, as in the instructors and I, are going to see how he copes. Today he was a little shell shocked at the speed of the kids in the class. No longer finishing first and waiting in the drills, he was struggling to stay in the second third of the group.

It’s as clear as day, he doesn’t have the stamina the rest of the class does. The Little Man, four, and one other boy who is five, are the rookies. The rest of the class is full of seven and eight year olds … they have bigger lungs, longer legs, and they can fly.

I wanted so badly to get out there and help him along. The instructors have very little mercy on the kids. The class really pushes them in their drills; not just to complete them, but to complete them with speed.

After the skate, The Little Man was at a loss for words. He didn’t say anything. I was taking off his equipment, when I stopped and looked at him. He looked right back.

“It was hard, Dad,” he said.

“I’m proud of you, Taaj.”

He let out a long breath.

“Can we come to this class next week, Dad?”

“If you want.”

“I do.”

He fell asleep in the car … exhausted.

The Little Man started school in September. I was the one that dropped him off for his first day of Junior Kindergarten and I don’t think I’ll ever forget watching him walking around in the playground searching for the first kids that would soon become his friends and classmates.

I remember him standing against the wall as his class formed a line, as he watched other kids cry, occasionally glancing over to me, getting the reassuring look that everything was going to be ok.

This was also the year The Little Man came into his own with skating and playing hockey. He’s bloomed over that last four months. So much so, that I’m wary of having his four year old frame joining the ranks of 7-8 year olds for his next session.

2007, saw our house break ground. Clearly, that’s no where near as exciting as the day of getting your keys, but when you put down a deposit for a home that will be delivered two years away, hey you’ll make any progress a moment to note.

The year also brought Tiia her first favourite movie, Alvin And The Chipmunks. She loves that flick and thanks to the ‘internets’ she watches it regularly and can pretty much sing most of the songs to tune. She may not get all the words, but that doesn’t matter to her.

Her favourite moments in the movie? Alvin with the hula-hoop, Alvin taking a shower in the dishwasher, Alvin saying “Dave, needs a little help … from the loovvvvve doctor”, and the chipmunks singing Witch Doctor.

Some change was in the works for Harp and I. We both changed paths in our careers. Choosing somewhat more dynamic work, respectively. Harp’s still with Microsoft, but in a much more different role and I’m in a brand new company altogether, working with the same technologies, just for different audiences. On a personal level, I love the work that I’m doing, but I miss my friends in the old place.

2008 promises to be a more exciting year. The kids are growing up, which means things are going to get more dynamic with regards to what they will be doing and what we’ll be doing with them. Harp will be enjoying some new things at work. Me? I’m not sure … I think this year will mean a lot of exploring for me, career wise.

But there’s no doubt that getting our new home this February will be a highlight of for 2008. Here’s hoping your year brings you many highlights.

There’s something to be said for the festiveness of the time when there are kids involved. The excitement of the big day is in no short supply. Watching their faces, their eyes, as they rip open their gifts … priceless.

I had to work over the break. I couldn’t get as much done, as I wanted to. Family commitments were paramount during the time, and well, there was a lot more work involved than originally thought. Still though, it’ll be all right. Busy, but all right.

So, what’cha get? Hehe. Taaj and Tiia got a bunch of toys. Taaj got some cool games. I have to say that NHL08 (xbox360) is super awesome, but the level of involvement in that game can suck you right in. Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii is fantastic. Nintendo has pulled it off again with that game franchise. I’ll save a longer write up for that later.

Harp got a pair of leather boots, I got Lost – Season 3 on DVD. We’ve never watched an aired episode, just got caught up on the show by watching in on DVD.

We had new additions to the family. Robbie and Kiran had Sienna (their baby girl) arrive on Christmas Day. How about that for a gift? Heh … I guess shopping for that got done early. Nine months early .

Now we’re all waiting on Khush to pop …

Did you make any resolutions? There weren’t many heard around the holidays. Personally, I’m gonna get back on the bike to shake of these five or six pounds of holiday weight. Just try to be better.

We have our home to look forward to in February. And I suppose that’s why this year, I’m not feeling the “oh no’s” after the holidays. Plus we Canadians now have an official statutory holiday to look forward too, on February 18th.

A day off to break the long layoff from Holiday Season to Easter, super cool.