Month: November 2010

I’d Like to Thank…

Well, another Thanksgiving has come and gone.  This year we hosted most of my family here in Texas, and the weekend turned out really nice!  We really missed my sister and her family who were in Washington DC doing classified stuff, but we tried to have as much fun as possible without them.

Since my aunt took care of most of the Thanksgiving dinner, I was able to spend a little more time baking and doing other meals.  I made another Triple Chocolate Mousse cake for thanksgiving dessert, and also baked a homemade Red Velvet cake for Ben’s birthday celebration on Friday.

We had a traditional thanksgiving dinner with Turkey and heidi’s YUMMY stuffing!  Oh soooo good!  We also were able to squeeze in the obligatory trip to Steak and Shake for my Mom.  It’s her new favorite joint, and she’s excited that one will be opening soon in Vegas.

Mom brought the first “batch” of baby stuff, and we made a trip to Joann’s to pick out a quilt panel with her.  She is just too excited about this stuff, and I say bring it on!  I love having the hand made stuff.  And I have a slight feeling with a couple of very craft grandmas and aunts, we’re going to have plenty of it.

Sorry.  No pics of that stuff yet.  I’ll get A2 on that, stat!

Now its back to work.  Ugh.

Hyundai: A Major Design Upgrade!

Have you seen a Hyundai lately?  Yes.  You heard me.  A Hyndai.  This low-cost brand has been the ugly step-child of the US auto industry for some time now, but just yesterday I pulled up to a new Hyundai Sonata.

And my design jaw dropped.

Here is the Sonata before:

Really – this is your run-of-the-mill, bland, mediocre, sedan.  This doesn’t say anything but functional, practical, low-cost, lazy.

I now give you the 2011 Sonata

I’m not a car guy at ALL… but this is SOOO head and shoulders above the previous model, my designer-mind couldn’t resist figuring out what is going on over there at Hyundai.  Even just pulling up to the rear end, I couldn’t believe the character it had.  Then, following the side panels to the front view, it had impressive use of line and curve to make it look both sporty and luxurious.

What a design transformation.  I would actually buy a car that looked like that.

Doing a bit more research, it turns out that Hyundai has been investing in design for the last decade, bringing up design centers in California and Germany, and are starting to pay attention to the design of their vehicles.

Way to go Hyundai.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704754604575095102431859856.html

Why I Love My Wife

Just a few reasons I love this lady… for no particular reason.
  1. No pretense.  She ate a full meal when we had our first date.  She was hungry – so she ate.  None of this eating a pre-date meal so you can look like you don’t eat a lot stuff.
  2. Slow to judge.  She is always slow to judge someone based on limited information.  She’s no dullard, but she gives everyone a fair shot to prove they are idiots before calling them such.
  3. Generous.  She took what I thought was generous and took it to a whole new level.  Give til it hurts.
  4. Cuddler.  She likes to be near me, whether she feels good or not, and whether my breath stinks or not.
  5. Vegetables.  She makes me eat them.
  6. Thorough. She saves the yellow slip from church.  Our finances are all thoroughly audited.
  7. Encouraging.  She pushes me to my limits and then helps me manage the stress.
  8. Adventurous.  We’ll probably never vacation in the same place twice.
  9. Rut-free.  She can’t stand that I have a glass of Orange Juice and two Special K bars for breakfast every morning.
  10. Strong.  Unless it’s a spider or a lizard (in which case she turns into a totally stereotypical girl) she is not afraid of anything.
  11. She’s having my baby.