Monday mash up

Looks like the temperatures are finally going to warm up this week. It's been the longest cold snap in Charlotte in decades. And I'm so pleased we got to experience it during our 3rd winter here. Unfortunately I leave for NYC today and will be there until Thursday night. So I won't get to enjoy 50+ degree weather until I return.

What else does that mean? My first American Idol recap of the season will be late. Sorry, folks! With business dinner and drinks, not to mention the lack of a DVR in my hotel room I won't be able to watch the first two nights of auditions until this weekend. Perhaps one of these days I'll look into a sling box....

Good news on the American Idol front, however. Turns out that everyone else hated the Top 36 and Wildcard format just as much as this faithful recapper did. So the producers have decided to go back to the Top 24 format with 12 guys and 12 ladies squaring off. The claim is that the audience gets more emotionally invested because we see the performers more often prior to the Top 12. I'm just happy that it might help with my American Idol pool rankings. I'm still hesitant about the 4 judges. Last season Simon didn't get to weigh in on every performance and since I agree with him 95% of the time it was distressing for me. I also wonder who will take the Paula role over now that she is gone. There really has to be a judge who pours on the sugar as an antidote to Simon's bitterness. Well, not really bitterness but that metaphor ran away from me. Y'all know what I mean.

I've been surveying my library to determine what books I can purge and how to turn it more kid friendly (read: store more toys) for Cameron. I've also packed two hard cover books for my trip to NYC. All in all it makes me lean towards one day getting an eReader. There are some pretty cool ones that were showcased last week in CES. Here's a link highlighting a few. I am far from an early adopter. True, I got a Tivo way back in 2005 but even then it had been out for a few years. My biggest concern is that I want to make sure all my fantasy books get published in the digital format. And in strolling through Amazon I would estimate that only 30% are today. Anyone also struggle with this decision?

Cameron and I went to a birthday party for one of her play group friends this weekend. He turned one and his parents threw him a little party. It was timed perfectly for Cameron's nap and she enjoyed playing with "new" toys and tasting ice cream for the first time. It also got me thinking about what to do for her first birthday. Our house isn't very well set up for entertaining unless we were outside. But late March isn't a great time to have a BBQ. Perhaps we should just do something low key with a trip to Discovery Place or some other kid friendly venue? What did you did for your kids' first birthdays?