Wednesday, Reagan and I took Reagan’s parents down to the Brooklyn Bridge. Every time that I walk across it, I think the same thing: “I don’t do this enough.” Even though it was only 29 degrees, we had a really fun time.

Toward the end, Reagan did get a little bit pouty about the cold. But it was mostly just cute.

Here are a few more photos.

Tuesday was a very busy day for us. We moved Piper back to New Jersey in the morning. The move seemed to go pretty smoothly. Piper was still in a good mood, even after they completed all of the intake pestering. Later in the evening, we picked up Reagan’s parents from the airport.

Wednesday, when we visited Piper, she was sleeping when we arrived. When she woke up, she puked right away. Poor little squirt. But once we got her cleaned off and everything, she eventually livened right up, and we had a really fun time hanging out with her.

Inspecting Grandma’s chin:

Inspecting Grandpa’s ear:

Go here for a couple more photos.

I was out early this morning moving the car, and I really liked the way that morning sun was making these buildings glow. I’m going to try to take full advantage of the sunshine today, since it is supposed to snow/rain for the next two days. Boooooo.

Going back to the electronica side of things, this week. Paul Oakenfold is one of the World’s original trance djs. I feel like he is kind of a legend or pioneer, in his own right. Even if you don’t particularly care for trance, if you are a fan of music, then you can probably appreciate what Oakenfold had accomplished professionally.

Oakenfold came up through the ranks of the Music Scene starting in the UK as a type of garage DJ.  He practiced and experimented with mixing popular music starting in the 70′s, before traveling to New York City and eventually becoming a producer for names like Dj Jazzy Jeff and Salt n Peppa. He was also the UK promoter for Beastie Boys, during the “License to Ill” era.

Later, of course, he became one of the biggest names in trance music, and probably club music, generally. He has probably done half a million remixes. Undoubtedly, he has mixed mixed something that you like, or even love.

I really started to get into this genre in college, when I discovered that I could have it absolutely blasting in my headphones without being distracted from reading/writing/studying.  Not only does the music allow me to focus on other things, but the up-tempo breakbeats also actually keep me motivated, and I have found that I am more productive. This may sound completely lame, but it is totally true.

I feel like Oakenfold is most well known by a couple of his tracks from Bunkka, “Starry Eyed Surprise” and “Southern Sun.” Those are both very hot tracks, in my opinion. But the song that I’m sharing today is from Oakenfold’s “Great Wall.” The track is “Dirty Sticky Floor [JXL Full Length Vocal Mix] – Dave Gahan.” Unless you hate trance music, feel free to check it out.

Saturday night, we had a really fun visit with Piper. Our friends the Smoots came with us. It was really fun to watch their little daughter Stella play with Piper. Stella was really sweet to Piper, and Piper was completely mesmerized by Stella.

Piper is moving back to Wanaque in NJ this week. Tomorrow, to be exact. We were so happy that her moved was delayed long enough that she was able to stay through Christmas at Blythedale. We really had a great long- weekend with Piper. We are being optimistic that things will continue to go well with her.

Shifting gears, we posted the “outtakes” from our Christmas card photos, over here. You may have already seen a few of them on Reagan’s Blob. Anyway, there are some pretty cute ones of Reagan and Piper, all dressed up nice.

Here are a couple more favs:

Last night, Reagan and I went to a church on the east side to watch a live nativity with some of our friends. Afterward, we ate at this Brazilian place called Zebu, on 92nd and 2nd. It was pretty awesome food. I woke up bright and early this morning with an excited little wife tugging on my arm, asking me when I was going to get out of bed. Reagan was already showered and ready to get this Christmas going. Hahahah. We opened some presents, then packed up the car and headed to see Piper. She was still a little bit groggy when we arrived. Her hair was full-on mad scientist, hahaha.

She was in a super good mood though. She definitely knew that something was up, right away. Reagan put her into her new Christmas pinafore that she got from her aunt Sarah, then fixed her hair. After that, it was straight to business. Piper was totally into opening presents, this year. She was tearing them open like a total pro, smiling all the while.

I totally love the photo below, of my two smiley Christmas girls.

As always, I totally went overboard with the photos, but here are a bunch more, if you want to check them out.

for another great sunset.

Red Hot Chili Peppers. I have pretty much loved these guys forever. I got in trouble from my mom for the album cover of  “Mother’s Milk.” I remember when they played at Park West with Oingo Boingo. The cover of “Mother’s Milk” has since been censored. Both Park West and Oingo Boingo no longer exist. RHCP has gone through as many guitar players since then, as they have changes of underwear. I’m glad that through all of that, they are still cranking out some quality sounds.

Since it is the week of Christmas, I thought I should post something festive. I didn’t want it to be too cliche though. So I’m doing “Snow” from “Stadium Arcadium.” As an added bonus, I’m also including a link to “Deck the Halls,” performed by RHCP A’capella. Merry Christmas.

Snow (Hey Oh)

Deck the Halls

^—-This was our block, this morning. Yes, it turned out to be a legitimate snow storm. I still think that all of the hype was a little much, though.

Lucky for us, it apparently had been pretty windy on Ft. Washington. Because when we got to our car this morning, the wind had already done most of the job of clearing the snow off of Bebe. The rest of the job was done by the windshield wipers and sitting in a heated garage under the church. Hehe.  From the photo above, you can tell how excited Reagan was about the snow.

After church we headed up to Westchester County, to kick it with Piper. Our friend Leslie came with us. It was her first time meeting Piper. I didn’t want to say anything, but Piper was playing favorites today, and Leslie was clearly the winner. It is so cute, the way that she reaches out for people, when she is standing up, so that you can hold out your hand and let her walk over to you. She did this with Leslie more than once.

She did smile a few times, but we could tell that she was in a really mellow mood. So, she mostly just kind of lounged around on laps, while we talked. It was definitely not a bad way to wind down the weekend.

Here are a couple of more shots from our Piper visit, today.