The Muny! - a photoset on Flickr

Lauren went to the Muny for the first time last night. She saw the Wizard of Oz with Karri. She even took a nap in the afternoon so she could go. Shows at the Muny start at 8:15, which is after her bedtime. They got back to the house around midnight. Lauren was excited that the fireflies came to watch the show as well.

Quick Flickr Tips

Comments and notes, mouse over the picture, can be added to any picture. You can also lable a picture as 'A Fave'. Look for the buttons above the pictures.
 
You will have to be logged in to Flickr to do these tricks. See the links for examples.

Flickr Sets

Karri has been uploading quite a few pictures lately to Flickr. She is trying to add new pictures daily.

The best way to browse the pictures is by clicking on the labeled 'Sets'. They are the smaller thumbnails going down the right side of our Flickr page. The main 'photostream' are the larger pictures on our Flickr page arranged in two columns on the left. The main photostream includes all of the pictures we have put on Flickr. They are arranged, by default, with the most recent pictures uploaded always showing on the front page. The Sets, include pictures from our photostream, but they are arranged by topic. Clicking on a set will show small thumbnails of all the pictures in that set. There is a link to View as Slideshow' or you can click on the individual pictures to view them.

Lauren and I went to Michael's Swiss Inn last weekend for hot chocolate and coffee. Michael's has a full coffee bar that serves Starbucks. A picture of a Caramel Macchiato on the wall caught my eye right away. I caved in and ordered one for the first time. Other than the occasional Mocha at Borders, I drink my coffee black and strong. Before we left, Lauren's hot chocolate was spilled all over the floor and I decided to find a recipe that would match Michael's Caramel Macchiato. I'm going to try making this one tonight.

Caramel Macchiato

The average coffee mug is probably equivalent to a Tall (12-oz/355 mL).
I am not following precise Starbucks standards, though if you must know
it's properly one shot of espresso, about .75 oz syrup (.25 oz per 4 oz
liquid capacity).

• milk
  
• espresso
  
• vanilla syrup
  
• your favorite caramel sauce
  

In a regular-sized coffee mug, add vanilla syrup and steamed milk. Top
with milk foam and add freshly brewed espresso through the foam.
Drizzle with caramel sauce.

Iced Caramel Macchiato

Same ingredients, plus some small ice cubes and (optional) whipped cream

In a pint glass or iced tea glass (we're assuming 16 oz), add vanilla
syrup and fill about 3/5 of the way with cold milk. Add ice almost to
the top and pour espresso (2 shots would be typical) over the top. If
you've done it right, the espresso will mix in only about halfway down
without stirring. If adding whipped cream, add it here. Drizzle the top
with caramel and enjoy.

or

http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/getrecipe.zsp?id=59458

Jessalyn just decided she was ready to walk. Yesterday she started trying on her own without our encouragement. Just now, she got up and walked across the living room. She did it multiple times and thinks she is pretty cool.

If you check in frequently at our Flickr site, you may have noticed a few changes. Flickr is constantly evolving as more features are added, deleted, or made easier to use. Most recently, the layout of pages have seen some improvements. Everything feels a little more 'logical' and easier to navigate.

Sets with thumbnail previews go down the right side of the page. The most recent photos uploaded to Flickr are on the left. Links to sets, tags, archives, favorites, popular, etc. are at the top.

Security conscious Karri has started to restrict who can view photos. I tried to tell her that the psycho next door is more of a concern than than wierdo on a computer somewhere. Nevertheless, she is changing permissions on photos of the girls to Friends and Family only. That means that you must have an account with Flickr (Free and I have never recieved any spam as a result of signing up) and be logged in to view photos. I will send invitations to everyone who has not already joined Flickr. They will come via email.

I found a link on the Flickr blog about a new group called 'The Blink of an Eye'. In July, Flickr is hosting a juried exhibition of photos from this group in New York. Any member of Flickr can submit one photo to this group to be considered for inclusion in the exhibition. The blog makes it sound like only five photos will be selected. Anyway, there are some really good photos to be viewed. Browsing through photos on Flickr is truly addictive. It reminds me of the 'Day in the Life' photo books from Time, etc. Flickr is a day in the life of the world.

City Museum

We went to the City Museum in St. Louis on Sunday. It is more of a giant artistic playground than a museum. Karri has posted some photos on Flickr. Do this search on Flickr

"city museum" St. Louis

to see more photos from the museum. There are some cool evening/night shots to be found.

Mmmmm

Magic Shell Rocks!

Flickr Basics

This link will take you to Flickr. The learn more link provides a brief overview of Flickr's features. In order to get the most out of Flickr, it is best to create an account. Yahoo owns Flickr, so if you have a Yahoo ID (email, etc) the process should be simple.

Click on the thumbnail pictures on the left or by following this link to get to our pictures or what Flickr calls, a photostream.

When you get to our photos, you will see sets of pictures on the left. The most recent photos uploaded will be displayed in the middle of the page. At the very bottom of the page, numbered links to older photos are listed. On the right side of the page are links to Sets, Favorites, Profile (not much there), a tag search box, a link that will display all tags we have used, a link to a calendar showing when photos were uploaded and archives. There is also a link to view the latest photos as a slide show.

If you click on a set, you will see all pictures related to that topic. They can be viewed as a slide show or by clicking on each picture individually.

If you click on About-Us' tags, you will see a list of all the tags that have been used to help identify pictures. The bigger the word, the more photos there are tagged with that name. Clicking on Lauren, for example, will show all photos tagged with 'Lauren'.

That's all for now.





 

Flickr

What website is one of Time.com's 50 Coolest Websites of 2005 and is described as 'completely addictive', 'amazingly easy', and a 'visual playground' by Time, Forbes, and Salon Magazine? Flickr, of course. Flickr isn't the only photo blogging site, but it is the one where you will find our pictures. I will be writing about how to get the most out of Flickr. For example, did you know that some of the pictures we put on Flickr are the original full size photos. That means the photos can be downloaded and sent to the photo lab of your choice for processing. If you don't want to bother with downloading a photo, prints can be ordered right from Flickr through one of their partners. You can also have photos printed on stamps, order posters, photo books, DVDs, etc. Just what everyone wants, a giant poster of me! You will need to sign up for an account 'free' in order to get the most out of Flickr.

Check out this link to explore and see some interesting pictures hosted on Flickr.
flickr.com/

Click on Interestingness or search to your hearts content.

Spring Storm

A severe storm blew through the St. Louis region on Sunday April 2nd. We were at LAX in Los Angeles getting ready to fly home when our neighbor called with the bad news. The mature maple tree in our backyard fell on our roof resulting in some minor damage to a gutter and a few shingles. A Bradford Pear in the backyard was also knocked over. Two very large sections of the privacy fence in the backyard were flattened by the wind. There was some minor damage to a window screen, the ceiling fan on the patio, and the facia around the patio. Thankfully, no significant damage was inflicted on the house itself.

The power was out until around 11:00 Tuesday morning. Major inconvenience! Many of our neighbors lost large areas of shingles from their roofs, trees, limbs, etc. Surprisingly, some of our neighbors houses and yards were completely untouched. Just outside of town to the south west, a large 'shed' or barn was destroyed and scattered across two farm fields. The line of debris led straight to a couple of houses that no longer have roofs.

The weather report on the news tonight confirmed that an F1 tornado with 112 mph winds went through the Highland area. The shopping district in Fairview Heights, which is about 30 minutes south west of Highland and is the largest shopping area in the metro east, was hit badly. An F1-2 tornado with 125 mph winds knocked down a clothing store, killing one customer, and caused so much damage that the mall and most of the major stores were still closed today. We feel we were pretty lucky. The tree is now off our roof and waiting by the road for the chipping service to come take it away. The fence is going to take a little more time to repair.

A big thanks goes out to all of our neighbors who took their time to help cut down the tree and haul it to the curb.

Pictures of the damage are on Flickr. Click on the thumbnails to be taken away...

Last Thursday, Karri, the girls and I left St. Louis and flew to San Francisco to visit with Karri's uncle and extended family. We flew Frontier airlines out of St. Louis and couldn't have been happier with our service. We were upgraded to first class accommodations and we were lucky to have witty flight attendants to help pass the hours.

We couldn't go to San Francisco and not tour the sights. Lauren stuffed a bear at the Basic Brown Bear Factory in San Francisco. While there, we learned that the owner of the Build a Bear chain of stores ripped off the BBB Factory right down to the colors on the walls. We shopped at Pier 39 and checked out the seals at Fisherman's Wharf.

On Monday, we began our journey by vehicle to Anaheim for my conference. We decided to take the scenic route and drive down the coast on Highway 1. Rain and drizzle hampered some of our sightseeing, but we did get to see some fantastic views and Lauren was able to play in the sand and collect some rocks from the beach. The second half of our trip down Highway 1 was very interesting. The rain and drizzle, fog, S curve roads half blocked by rock slides, and huge cliffs overlooking nothing but ocean and crashing waves helped Karri age about 10 years. Thankfully, we were able to navigate the rock slides and wildly curvy roads to safety. Since we started late, it was night as we drove the last 132 miles!! This was good for Karri. She pretended that there were no cliffs and jagged rocks being pounded by huge waves 1000 feet below. The next time we are in California I want to drive Highway 1 again so I can see what we missed while it was dark. I don't think I'll get Karri to drive that way again.

Practice writing name.jpeg

Practice writing name.jpeg
Originally uploaded by About-Us.

More of Lauren's art/school work was added to Flickr today. Enjoy.

8

8
Originally uploaded by Jeff, Karri, Lauren & Jessalyn.

The number 8

Recipes

I've added a new section with recipes that we have made and found to be good enough to share. See them here...Good Food

Superbowl Sunday

Superbowl Sunday! It's the biggest sporting day of the year! I'm going shopping.

All the guys out there are thinking 'groan' "He is being dragged to Kohls, Target, etc. his wife." "The poor guy..."

In reality, it was my decision to go shopping. The only thing I'm worried about missing are the commercials and the Rolling Stones half-time show. Thank goodness for VHS.

By the way, who is playing today?

7

7
Originally uploaded by Jeff, Karri, Lauren & Jessalyn.

The number 7.

Lauren and I scanned some of her work from school today. She added her own comments to each of the pictures! Enjoy!

The Day After

I felt okay today after my run last night. I was a little sore, but I managed to not complain too much! Tomorrow we are going to the rec.
center to walk and swim.

I ran one mile this evening. One grueling mile. One long grueling mile! Well, it really wasn't that bad. I thought I could probably finish a mile in under 7 minutes. Totally unrealistic. I finished in 11:29. That is 11 minutes, not hours.

We packed up the kids and headed to the rec. center Friday evening for some walking and swimming. Karri and I walked a mile on the track while the girls rode in their chariots. Lauren and I lapped Karri and Jessalyn on lap three. While we were walking, Lauren asked a couple of times where we were going and why we kept walking around in circles. No amount of race car sounds and near crashes can entertain a 3 1/2 year old for fourteen laps. I began to wonder if gerbils care if they don't get anywhere but do get in shape? The rec. center had complimentary copies of a 'Pace Your Race Chart' from Runner's World. At my current pace, 11:29, I could finish 26.2 miles in just over five hours! However, my current condition would leave me flat on my face after mile three.

I received some running gifts for Christmas. My dad bought me some socks that whisk the sweat away from your skin. They are supposed to help reduce blisters. No blisters yet. Karri bought me The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer. The book is based on a class taught at the University of Northern Iowa. The class was first taught in 1985 and over 200 students have taken the course and followed the training program outlined in the book. All but one student finished a marathon by the end of the course. I'm not sure what happened to the 'one student'. The book said there would be more about him later. The interested reader can read an excerpt from the book here.

Karri thinks I spend too much time trying to be witty while writing. Maybe so. I'm sure she would have written something like this...Ran a mile today. Not too cold outside. Husband freaking out, skeptical, yet supportive. Witty comes naturally for Karri since she was born in Whittier, California.

Karri found out that 40 percent of the 40,000 who register for the Chicago marathon are first time marathoners. You have to qualify for the Boston Marathon, which DW (Dear Wife) pointed out, is not a requirement for the Chicago marathon. An apparent plus for me.