Take Two Beers and Jump

I have been trying to get a picture of Ethan standing up or walking for a couple of weeks now.  He is now walking (running) very well now, but he is hard to catch with the camera sometimes.  Things are good at the Murray household.  Last weekend my mother was here.  She hung out with Ethan on Friday so Tiffany and I could go out.  We went to see the Toadies play at a bar here in town.  As always, the band was terrific.  Another plus is that they didn't get shut down this time.  I'm not still holding a grudge.  Despite the torrential downpour we had that night, there was still a good crowd.  Being soaking wet didn't stop me from having fun.  If I was going to guess how many times I have seen this band, it's around 20.  I would probably rank this as one of their best.  The setlist was fantastic, inluding a great cover of The Beatles' Don't Let Me Down.  I am looking forward to an acoustic show in New Braunfels at the end of the month.  Saturday night we had the extended family out for steaks.  It was a good chance to visit, although most people just watched Ethan do his thing.  Now that he has mastered the art of walking, he has moved on to climbing.  He is not going to be happy until he has conquered every piece of furniture in the house.  It probably won't be long though.  He is freakishly tall.  According to my official measuring stick, he is over 5 inches taller than I was at a year old.  Maybe that means something and maybe it doesn't.  He is already able to reach things on the kitchen countertops if they are close enough to the edge.

I have divided my time the last two days between cleaning up around the house and planning our trip to New York.  One of these things is fun.  The other one isn't.  We already have the hotel and flights booked.  Now I am trying to figure out what we are going to do while we are there.  I'm not really worried that we'll be bored.  We do like the theater, so that is definitely on the agenda.  I already have a few shows in mind.  Also, I would like to get tickets to see Jimmy Fallon.  I watch his show almost everyday, and he just keeps getting funnier.  I will gladly take suggestions for anything worthwhile.  We have pretty much done the tourist stuff, so I am looking for things that might not be as common.  I got a book that has a bunch of New York oddities.  I have bookmarked several of them.

I need to get back to something productive, but I would like to give props to Jet Blue's Steve Slater.  Since witness accounts vary, who knows how much of his story is true?  He's already been charged with two felonies, but anyone who works with the public has had days when they felt just like this.  I say cut the guy some slack.