iTunes Ping

Quick post: my iTunes Ping link.

Labor Day Weekend

It’s nice to have a long weekend coming up – and it’s almost as nice to have a half empty office tomorrow. Lots of my coworkers will be on vacation early, which hopefully means that I can get more done with less distractions. We’ll see.

Its also nice to think that there will be more hours in the day this weekend to take pictures, play with the boy and see friends. Of course, assuming that Earl doesn’t rain us out.

Health

Little kids get sick a lot. A whole lot. It messes with them. Recently, Qais spent another couple of days with his head down on our shoulder, sleeping as much as he could. It appeared to be a combination between a viral infection and some heavy teething. Along with that came a high fever and heavy congestion. My wife tells me he was snoring like I do when I’m having a bad night. Window shaking.

He’s mostly better – up and playing again, and sleeping better. Which means we get better quality time with him during the day, and better time to ourselves at night when he’s sleeping. I hope this means I’ll catch up on some of my photography and writing projects.

Back

Back from my little trip to the beach, settling back in, and getting pictures off my memory card. It appears, however, that I forgot the fundamental rule of taking pictures – make sure your lens is clean. There are a handful of dust spots on every image I’ve reviewed so far. For some images it’s no big deal, but for a lot, they are very distracting. Once I saw them, I hauled the lens out, and there they were, plain as day. A through cleaning and a spot check later, I’m happy that I got them all. Still a little mad at myself for taking all these pictures without cleaning the lens first.

Happy Birthday, Qais

A year ago today, at 12:19 in the afternoon, Qais Emerson Dezendorf was born. The last year has been one of learning and growth – for him and for my wife and I. We have learned how much joy the little guy can bring into our lives, even as we learn how to get by with less sleep and less time to do other things. We have loved every minute of it, even the hard parts. We would have it no other way. Qais, you are worth every minute of every day.

I’m also deeply indebted to my wife, who has taken on the full time job of a stay-at-home-mom. There is no greater job in the world – in gravity, in rewards, or in importance. I am humbled at her ability to care for, feed and love our child. My goal as a father is to do half as much for him as she does – and I often don’t come close, though I try as hard as I can, every day. Qais’s birthday – especially this first birthday – is as much a celebration of her as it is him.