James and Claire

James has his days and nights completely backwards. The child sleeps all day and stays up all night. I call this the 'College Schedule'. We have been tag-teaming him pretty well and are working on correcting this behavior. Overall, he is a very good baby and is fun to be around. He is not a big cryer, but he grunts a lot.

I got a little work done in the morning while Christy and James ate breakfast and got ready to head out. We were thinking about hitting the Cheesecake Factory for lunch, but James took a little longer to feed than usual and we were running late....the main problem being that I had a teleconference at 1:00. So we headed to the hospital, where Christy went in while James and I participated in the teleconference from the car. We figured we would go to eat afterwards.

Christy talked to the doctor briefly, but he was dealing with a sick baby and had not had time to examine Claire's sleep study yet. Christy cuddled with and fed Claire and then headed back to the car.

As we were pulling out of the parking garage, I heard a popping sound and quickly noticed that the power steering on our trusty rental car was no longer working. I drove a few blocks and found a Shell station. Across the street was a mechanic, who was nice enough to take a quick look. The power steering fluid compartment was full, and his quick assessment was that this was 'more than a flesh wound'. That was enough for me. I signalled to Christy, who got on the phone with Hertz. Hertz quickly sent someone over to pick us up. When our transport arrived, I transferred all of our belongings to her car, which included installation of the car seat.

The woman drove us to Hertz headquarters. They were happy to see me there, as I was wanted in 8 states for never turning in my rental car. Oops. The original contract was for 2 days. I had extended it an additional two weeks way back when, but had not updated it in a while. I once again played the 'adopting twins' card (which I am finding is a very strong play) and all was forgiven. They tried to put us in a tiny sedan. Playing the card once again, I convinced them to give us the biggest car they had on their tiny lot....a blue Rav 4. While it is sizeable, the inside smells like someone has been smoking and pooping in it for several years. I made them note on the rental agreement that it smelled like smoke and poop before we ever got into it. I also made plans to get a new car the next day. I want to give Hertz credit. The car broke down, but they resolved the issue very quickly.

I then transferred all of the stuff once again, installing the car seat now in the Rav 4. Installing car seats is a fun activity in general, but the joy is intensified when there is a 104 degree sun beating down on me as I did it...and a rental car agent watching me like an animal at the zoo while the veins in my neck popped out.

We then decided to go ahead with the Cheesecake Factory. Christy really wanted it because it reminds her of home. My motivations were less emotional. We ended up getting there at 3:00, so there was no crowd. As we were sitting at lunch, my cell phone did that neat trick where a voice mail shows up even though the phone never rang. I checked my messages, and it was the doctor telling us that Claire had passed her test and she was being released on Thursday. I quickly called Gladney to make sure they would have someone there for the release.

We went back to the hotel, where I booked a flight for my mother to come down on Friday and we started preparing for Claire's arrival. Just after booking the flight, we got a call from our Gladney case worker. She was telling us that the interstate paperwork would probably happen very quickly, and that everything is in place so Claire's may be really fast. With this new information, Christy and I made the decision to save my mother from having to fly down and then fly right home. She was very disappointed but I promised that there will be plenty of opportunities for her to help coming up. I called United and they refunded my miles, but not the $100 fee that you get when you book a flight with miles within 48 hours of flying.

We are not sure when we are coming home exactly, but we think it may be very soon...and this is exciting. As nice as Austin is, we are both sick of being away from home and away from Nicholas. I can't wait to watch something in HD.

Christy and I took James on a tour of the hotel to meet all of my friends. I pretty much know everyone that works here. We took him by the front desk, where I have come to know everyone through use of the fax machine, outgoing mail, the island of lost packages, and constant room changes. Later we took him to the patio bar, where my bartender/therapist was very excited to meet James. She even secretly gave us the recipe for some amazing tomato-chipotle soup that Christy could not get enough of. If there is one thing I have learned after 36 days at the DoubleTree....be nice to everyone, because they all wield the power to give you free cookies.

We have started the packing process, figuring that things will be harder when Claire joins James in the 'all night party suite'. We are going to have to buy a cheap suitcase to put stuff in. I am still trying to figure out how we are going to do the flight. Just getting rid of the rental car with two babies, two suitcases, two car seats, and assorted carry-ons is going to be a challenge. My current plan is to pull the Rav 4 up to the curb, get all of our stuff out of it, set it on fire, and walk away. I will make sure not to return to the scene of the crime as bystanders comment 'Look at that burning car. Why does it smell like poop?'.

And speaking of poop, I wanted to say thanks to Shelley, who is feeding and caring for our dogs...and is doing so on short notice. She is one in a long list of people that has made this crazy month possible.

Today's questions come from my brother Chris, who asks: What is the difference between a one hump camel and a two hump camel?

The answer of course, by simple arithmetic, is: one hump.

His second question: If, in the future, lasers are weapons, can we use mirrors as shields?

I have no proof, and am far too lazy to do research, but my gut tells me that there must be laser weapons out there already. So the answer to this question may have near-term, if not immediate applications to your everyday life. I think that simply reflecting a laser that is intended to hurt you is a bit irresponsible. The laser may go on to hurt someone else. What your shield really needs to do is absorb the laser, rendering it powerless to harm innocent civilians. I think that a 1 inch layer of sharp cheddar glued onto your shield should do the trick. Make sure that, underneath the cheddar, the shield is still a mirror, just in case the laser is able to penetrate the cheese.