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SOCIAL MEDIA

From my family to anyone affected by Sandy and her aftermath, you are in our thoughts and prayers.

HURRICANE SANDY

October 30, 2012

 With Halloween right around the corner, we took pictures of  Madison in her costume like we did last year (we're starting a tradition, I suppose).  It's a mini, informal photo shoot before the actual trick-or-treating night just in case she were to mess up the costume in some way, we have pictures prior to.  Last year she was a duck... although a lot of people thought she was a chick for some reason, the actual costume said duck so we went with it.  We purchased the costume from Carter's and they have it again this year, too.  Although now it comes with the long-sleeved white shirt to go underneath; that wasn't included when we purchased it so we just threw a long-sleeved white onesie underneath instead.  The striped tights are included, as well.
This year we wanted something equally as squeezable so we went after the costume we really wanted last year, but couldn't find anywhere because it sold out.  FAST.  It's Tom Arma's white tiger costume that both my wife and I fell in love with from the first time we saw it and knew that it was going to be Madison's costume at some point... and we were hoping for sooner rather than later.
We started our hunt in late August thinking we had plenty of time to find the costume, but we still were having trouble.  After some research we discovered that Tom Arma only makes a limited number of his costumes and once they've sold there's no guarantee that they'll be available again! We then took our search to the one place where everything pre-owned eventually finds its way to live...
...and there were a couple listings for the white tiger, but not in the size we needed.  We stalked the listings everyday until finally the size we needed was there, but it turned into a bidding war that we lost.  We.  Were.  Pissed. Upset.  But that's how it goes sometimes so we were back to stalking and at this point had started to discuss backup costumes, even though it wasn't even mid-September yet.  (What's wrong with us?)  Days went by and we were ready to give up when the exact size we needed appeared and, to our surprise, it was a "buy now" and not up for bidding so we snatched it up immediately.  Persistence does pay off. 

Although going forward, we'll have the power to veto any costume that seems out-of-this-world ridiculous we want her to have all the fun in picking out her own costumes so this year was our last chance to pick one out all by ourselves without any real input from her.  I imagine next year will be a whole new ballgame.
Image sources:  Carter's, Tom Arma, Ebay.


CROUCHING TIGER, SITTING DUCK

October 20, 2012

If someone told me they were going to jump from the edge of space, I'd probably tell them they were wiggity wiggity wiggity wack.  Okay... more than likely I wouldn't bust into Kriss Kross rhymes, but I would definitely look at them like they were crazy.  However, I wouldn't be able to turn away which is exactly what happened yesterday when Felix Baumgartner began his ascent into space carried by an enormous helium balloon.


I still can't believe the courage of this man to climb more than 127,000 feet in the air then watch the tiny porthole of a door slide open and place his feet on the skateboard sized platform only to step off.  Every specific instruction given by Mission Control had us strapped in with Felix along for the ride of his life.  My adrenaline was soaring with each tick of the scale tracking the time and altitude at the top of the screen.  Other than the annoying "Atta boy!" from Mission Control on occasion, the coverage of this record-breaking event was phenomenal.  Even Madison was fascinated.  Yet she seemed more interested in watching from the screen of the desktop computer than the TV...


She kept pointing up as we watched with our jaws on the floor.  I was somewhat of a risk-taker in my younger days (I've been bungee jumping, not anything extreme like sky diving although I really wanted to for a while) and I can't begin to fathom the mindset it takes to achieve this stunt.  Felix broke and set records during his jump, but perhaps the most impressive fact being the first (and only, as of now) person to break the sound barrier without the help of a jet or spaceship... or UFO. 

I may have actually held my breath from the moment Felix was instructed to start depressurizing the cabin until the moment his feet touched the ground and he fell to his knees.  I thought my heart was going to stop when he stepped out onto the ledge.  I found myself clenching my fists, scared to blink and on the verge of losing all bladder control just watching this part of history-in-the-making.


I almost forgot completely that this entire event was orchestrated by Red Bull... so maybe it's not Mac Daddy that makes you jump, jump after all but cases of Red Bull instead.

Image sources:  Picture 1, Picture 2


JUMP! JUMP!

October 15, 2012

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