snagabag

This won’t come as a surprise to those of you who know me, but I was a huge fan of the X-Files back when it was on TV. I loved the show, and even saw the first movie on opening night even though it was the same day I returned from a 7-day Alaskan cruise!

Last night I saw the new X-Files movie with my pal Sheila, and I’m bummed to say it was not very good. I thought the story and script were the main culprits. I didn’t find the plot to be engaging, and I thought a lot of the dialogue was simply not interesting. Sheila is also an X-Files fan (hey, it makes her cool to me!), and she also found the movie to be slow and a bit boring.

As much as I wanted to like it, I can’t recommend it. Stick to the first movie, which while not great, is at least entertaining. Of course, the best episodes of the TV show are really what are worth watching to get an X-Files fix.

Oh yeah, one of the reasons we went to the movie was Sheila had free passes. We got to the theater, walked up to the box office, and Sheila happily presented her two free passes. …only to be told they were for a different theater chain! These MIT graduates just aren’t what they used to be.

I don’t think Liah understands the concept of a best friend yet, but she clearly has fave friends, and our friends Sheila & Herb’s eldest daughter Sophia is definitely one of Liah’s favorite friends. Sophie turned 3 yesterday, and as often seems to be the case with birthdays, the celebration was a multi-day affair.  Heck, I celebrate mine for at least a week!

Sophie was born on Liah’s original due date, July 25th, so Liah is exactly 2 weeks older than her. Yesterday, on Sophie’s actual birthday, we ventured out to Chuck E. Cheese. It’s a little sad to see how they’ve replaced the mechanical characters with TV sets that run commercials in addition to shows, but the kids always have a great time. Liah was the only kid in our group to climb all through the tunnel maze. She is afraid of a few things, but with everything else it’s full steam ahead!

Today, Sophie’s parents threw a pool party for her, and it was a lot of fun! Not only did Liah and the kids have a great time, so did the parents. I’ve put some photos from the festivities online. Just select any of the photos in this post to see them, or click here to view a slide show. Be sure to leave comments and vote for your favorite pics!

Liah had surgery for the second time today. She had tubes put in her ears when she was 11 months old, and today she had her adenoids removed. The surgery was a success; everything went exactly according to plan. In addition, Liah was incredibly brave. For example, we were in the pre-op room, and when the nurse came to take her to surgery, not only did Liah happily hop into her arms, she did not cry or even glance back to her mom and dad as they carried her away! I want her to be independent and strong, but let’s not go overboard! After the surgery Liah was clearly out of sorts. It was easily the most frazzled I had ever seen her. As much as I joke about Liah being a daddy’s girl, when she was really needing comfort she wanted her mom. It was heartwarming to watch them.

By the time we left the hospital Liah was already well on her way to being her normal silly self, and she should be back to 100% within a day or two. Speaking of being brave, Liah watched intently as the nurse unwrapped her bandage, peeled off the tape, and removed the IV. She was fascinated.

I’ve put some photos from the hospital stay online. (yes, I try and always have a camera on me.) You can see them by here or on the the photo.

Liah slept with Aparna and I last night in our KING size bed.  So what happened?  Liah was bumping up against me the entire night.  She essentially shoved me off the bed!  Aparna woke up before us and witnessed the little bed hog in action and started cracking up.  Thankfully, she took a picture so you don’t have to rely on my word.  If you look closely, you’ll see I’m resting an elbow on the nightstand.

On the plus side, both my daughter and I insist on sleeping with 3 pillows each.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIAH! Today is my little girl’s 3rd birthday.  She is a smart, fun, silly, outgoing girl, and I love being her dad.  I wouldn’t go so far as to say she’s a daddy’s girl considering how often she deals with me disciplining her, but she does usually want her daddy when she has a boo-boo.

The part of her personality I find most amusing is her desire to be involved with whatever’s going on.  Like father, like daughter, eh?

yeah, yeah, I know Aparna kept her maiden name.

The walk I wrote about a few days ago has come and gone, and I’m happy to report it was a big success!  Just as importantly (to me at least!), my fundraising was big success!  I was the #2 fundraiser for the event.  I’ve raised $2,302 (the top fundraiser raised $2,500).

Despite the blazing heat, I had a great time on the walk.  I was joined by a number of friends who came out to support the event and me.  Having them do the walk with me meant a lot.

To everyone who donated, THANK YOU.

You can see a few pics from the event by clicking here, or by clicking any of the pics.

Well, even though I’m fairly certain my email request for donations went to a much wider audience than my blog gets, I figured I’d post my request here too. This weekend, I’m participating in my second Chron’s and Colitis Foundation of America walk, and as part of that I’m raising funds for the CCFA. If you’d like to donate it would be greatly appreciated.

Click here to donate.

Here’s the email I sent out asking for donations. Oh yeah, I’m currently the #2 fund raiser. Help me get to #1 again!

Hi Family and Friends,

Aparna contacted many of you a little over two years ago to let you know she and Liah were participating in a 5k walk for the Chron’s & Colitis Foundation of America.

Since that time, I’ve had two more flare ups, one in the fall of 2006 and another in the summer of 2007, so my Ulcerative Colitis continues to be an active part of our lives. However, since that last flare up I’ve taken a number of positive steps regarding my disease. I started attending the monthly Austin CCFA Support Group meeting last Fall, and I’ve found those meetings to be very rewarding. It’s been long established that exercise reduces the effects of UC, and I made a commitment this year to exercise regularly. I started in February and continue to exercise on a consistent basis. I’ve lost almost 25 pounds, and it’s not a stretch to say I’m in the best physical shape of my life. (yes, I realize it also doesn’t mean much to say I’m in the best physical shape I’ve ever been in. Finally, the CCFA has free camps around the country each year for children and teens afflicted with Chrons or Colitis, and I’ve applied to be a camp counselor at the 2008 Texas camp this August.

This June 28 is the 1^st ever Austin Chron’s and Colitis Walk, and I’m excited to be a participant. As part of that effort, I’m raising funds to support the research and education efforts of the CCFA. For the inaugural San Antonio walk in 2006, we were the top fundraisers, and I’m hoping to repeat that accomplishment at the inaugural Austin walk later this month.

That being said, I am asking for any donation that you feel comfortable in giving to help eradicate this disease.

If you’d like to donate, you can do so online by going here: www.active.com/donate/takestepsAustin07/mo

Take some comfort in knowing this is the only email I’m going to send out asking for donations. (You’ll hear from me again after the walk.)

Well, I turned 35 today. It was actually a pretty mild day…which is perfect when you’re 35. Since I am the sole editor of this blog, I’ll once again chose to make public a private ego boost. Here’s one of the birthday emails I received today.

happy birthday!!!!! you’re so young. seriously, when i was looking at your b’day party pics, you look 25 years old. i couldn’t get over how youthful you looked. anyway, i hope you are having a great day with aparna and liah.

Who knew bangs could make such a difference?

If you are thinking, “there sure have been a lot of birthday posts,” you’d be right. My birthday celebration has been going on for a few weeks. We did do a little bit more of an official celebration on Saturday night. We went to dinner with our good pals Herb & Sheila at an amazing restaurant, Restaurant Jezebel. We then met up with some of my other pals, Garrett, MIke, and Amy, at a bar downtown to ring in my birthday. According to my mom, I was born at 12:02am on June 22nd, so it’s not terribly hard to be up at my exact birth minute. Of course, my mom also likes to tell if the clock in the delivery room was fast, my birthday could very well be June 21st.

You can a see a few pics here or by clicking the photo below.