How To Train a Dragon

Apr 18 2010

The kids and I went to see How To Train A Dragon 3D yesterday and loved it! My son left the movie and was asking me if we could buy it. My daughter left the movie begging to go to McDonalds to get a happy meal and another dragon toy.

The kids had very different experiences at the movies. The girl who is 3 was very confused at the beginning of the movie during the raid scene. She was under the impression that all dragons are good. I couldn’t see her face but I think she may have even wanted to leave. Towards the end of the movie, she was very excited that you could train a dragon and it would be good. There may have been a point at the beginning where she was even scared. Again, it was hard to tell because it was dark. Her favorite dragon was Toothless because “he is the nice one.”

My son who was six was enthralled by the movie the whole time. I think he was mentally cataloging all of the different types of dragons. His favorite was the two-headed dragon.

For me, I thought it was very entertaining and wouldn’t mind seeing it again. The 3D was just so-so and the story was fun.

- Dana

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Edwards / Johnson Biggest Loser Showdown – Week 1 Results

Apr 11 2010

Our results are in for the Edwards / Johnson Biggest Loser Showdown. We had two folks join who weren’t Edwards’ or Johnsons so if they submit their % weight loss, we’ll have to change the name of the Showdown. Until then, we’ll just keep going with the same name.

I’m really proud of everyone so far. Jill and Deanna did great and completed the physical challenge of working out 4 days this past week. I did not make the challenge so I hope they don’t vote me off the Island! :)

Here are the results shown in % of original weight on 4/4/2010:

  1. Deanna      95.9%
  2. Jill               96.6%
  3. Dana           98.0%

I guess this week that I will have to lay off the beer and cheesesteaks. Here I come! :)

-Dana

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Super Girl and Her Frog!

Apr 05 2010

I love this picture that Jill took of Super Girl and her frog …

- Dana

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Edwards / Johnson Biggest Loser Showdown – Week 1 of 6

Apr 05 2010

So the family and I were driving back from Easter, having eaten probably 25 pieces of cake, when Jill and I decide to drop some weight. Our friend, Paul, told us about his work doing a Biggest Loser Challenge and after some discussion we decided to do the same thing. Jill’s mom was in the back and she signed up too. To start, we each put $10 prize money into the pot. Each week, we’ll have a challenge and a weigh-in. The two that lose the least in % will add $5.00 to prize pool!

So we are all at starting weight so the standings should be obvious: :)
Dana 100%
Deanna 100%
Jill 100%

Wish us all luck and remember that anyone can join us if you’re interested!

- Dana

One response so far

US Airways Flight 1015 from Dallas to CLt

Apr 03 2010

This past week I had the pleasure of traveling to Dallas, TX for work to visit with my team. I am pretty sure that it is true that everything is bigger in Texas.

As usual, I very dedicated to US Air and I took US Air out and back from Dallas. I am beginning to wonder why I maintain loyalty to US Airways due to the miss rate for customer service issues. That said, I am bit stubborn and wont give up on them. What I will do is start making these issues more publics for everyone to read. Hopefully US Air will read it and address this for everyone else and my future trips.

My US Air story starts last year. In years past I flew much more and likely had similar stories but now that I fly less it is easier for good and bad experiences to stand out. My tracking of experiences starts 3 flights ago when I was flying from Minnesota to Charlotte. If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you will remember this as the “Thanks, Wendy” Experience. See pictures or my Facebook page for details. The picture to the far left is her at work for the flight after the flight I was supposed to take. This particular flight was headed to Philadelphia. I wonder to this day if I could have flown to Philadelphia and then caught a flight to Charlotte. If I was “Wendy”, I would have at least offered this to the aggravated flier – in this case, me. The second picture is her doing something with the flight I was supposed to take. I couldn’t hear what she was saying but nonetheless she was working on the flight I was supposed to take. Did I mention yet that alot of this story occured while the plane was still just sitting there? If I didnt, here is picture of it just sitting there. It sure looks nice, doesn’t it?

My Dallas to Charlotte experience was minor compared to being instructed by Wendy incorrectly as to when / where to be for my flight. Nonetheless, it was annoying and should have never happened.

The experience starts with the boarding process. As many of my family and readers know, I have very bad leg and back issues. We experienced multiple delays in beginning the boarding process and we were never told why. As we sat on the plane, there were four people who were double booked for their seats and that made for some interesting sub-experiences. A couple of people were borderline hostile. I can’t say that I blame them after waiting a bit to get on the place only to find that I didn’t have a seat would have made me upset too. While we were waiting for the boarding mess to be sorted out, we were greeted with an extreme heat which made many people sweat and complain about it. I was able to will myself through it but I can tell you that I wasn’t particularly happy when the individual next to me dripped sweat on me. Eventually, the air came on but it was after a good 20-30 minutes of not fun heat.

The funnest event of Dallas to Charlotte Flight 1015 was with the drinks. While it is minor, it was annoying and just showed me that the attendant didn’t really care about her customers. She came by and asked me what I wanted. My reply was clear, “A cup of ice please.” If you know me, you know that it was loud, clear and in no uncertain terms but polite. The waitress came back with a cup of water. I asked politely for a cup of ice to which she responded, “Oh yes, my apologies…I will be right back with that.” She took the water back and I was hopeful for a cup of ice. What occurred next was a bit bizarre, she brought drinks for everyone else all around me and never came back to ask me about anything. After we began experiencing turbulence, I realized that it would never come. Oh well. Like always, here are my pictures…first one is my neighbor’s glass which is used and empty and the next two are pics of the offending attendant.

I know I know … some of you might be saying that it is minor and I should ignore it. I think the important part is that 2 of 3 flights for which I expected a reasonable value exchange – money for service – didn’t go so well.

I’d love to hear your comments and stories. I fly to Jacksonville, FL on Tuesday the 20th and I will update the post accordingly or perhaps start a whole new one.

- Dana

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Lucy Loses 5 Pounds!

Mar 23 2010

Ok, so, our dog is a shih tzu and for some reason she likes to play with inflatable monkeys. She is doing so in the picture below. For the past few weeks, her hair has been knotted and getting bushier by the day. She is hilarious looking because her head looks smaller than her body when her hair is full.

When I came home tonight, she had gotten a haircut and I am pretty sure she lost 5 pounds. Either that or my wife switched our dog for a chiahuahua. You can be the judge. Either way, she is a funny looking dog. :) She might even look like a Chinese Crested right now.

- Dana

One response so far

St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Charlotte

Mar 19 2010

The family really enjoyed going to the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Charlotte. Our son was a little bit foul for part of the day but overall, he really enjoyed it. The kids’ favorite parts were the double decker bus and the walkers who were handing out the candy – of course! I am really waiting to see a high school band that plays with enthusiasm. Either way, I thought I would share a few photos. Hope you enjoy them.

- Dana

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Horn

Mar 10 2010

If I had an awesome van, this is what I would paint on the side of it, especially if the van had a tinted, heart-shaped window and a ladder on the back.

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Afternoon at the Park

Feb 21 2010

Our bike ride today was pretty fun. Midway through the ride, we stopped at the neighborhood park to play. It was a beautiful day and the park was crowded with people. The kids played while mom and dad enjoyed the sun on the park bench.

Towards the end of the ride, we found sea oats and eventually brought them home after a short “sword fight” with a neighbor kid.

-Dana

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Our Snow Family

Feb 01 2010

Our kids experienced their second snow this past weekend. While I can’t recall just how many I have experienced, I know that this one was my favorite and continues to be since the snow hasn’t left us yet.

We spent the first night looking out the window at the snow and the kids just loved watching the flakes come down. The night wasn’t over until we had gone outside for a cul de sac snowball fight. Our youngest was trying her best to throw snowballs but most of them just fell backwards off her hand. Our oldest had more success but grew bored of the snowball fight and began designing something or other in the snow off to the side.

Then, the next morning began with the kids bouncing up and down on our bed very early in the morning and abot 3 hours of sledding in the sleet.

Our snow weekend ended after another day of sledding and ultimately building our snow family. That was a great weekend. Did I mention it was Jill’s Birthday and we had a great little birthday weekend? :)

- Dana

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