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New cap for akello

akello and mama went for a walk in the park yesterday and he got to wear his new cap!
these overcast mornings lately have been great for walks. nice and cool. i have a feeling those days will soon be over!

speaking of walks. here is your ghetto walk pic of the day.



looks like these people are going with a nice neon green trim to compliment thier earth toned olive house paint. goes well with the hunter green awning. you know...gives it a little pop!

im going to bed before 10

i can do it! but i gotta make this quick.

so things with the school are going good, people are signing up, wich leaves me with a "whoa this is for real" kind of feeling. My friend ron says when he retires he's going to open up a vietnameese noodle stand just so that he can call it "pho real!" thats reason enough in my book. at least make a t-shirt or something.

anyway. i know you people are dying for todays pic from the ghetto walk...



now then,. some akello video.



and for those with no highspeed, a pic of akello exploring the bean bags!



notice the new fish there on the left? i call him bob. i take care of him. it was funny cuss we were all night before style getting ready for the school openhouse. and theresa texts me..(yes she texts now).."pik up beta frm petco!" so i got one. and the next day she texts.."pic up food for beta!"

we had forgotten all about feeding it and had been treating it like anoher item for the school. i call him bob because of that movie "what about bob" in that movie their is a character who happens to be a fish named "gil" who is owned by bob. it was the first time i had ever heard my name in a movie. it obviously stuck. so i call my fish...BOB!

ANYWAY, you will also notice the new beautiful tapestry the shields the fireplace. it is a yard of fabric that i bought at ikea for 3 bucks, then i had my mother in law sew some loops into is so i could hang it from the mantle via a dowel rod that i had to cut myself at the home depot. ( more later on cutting it myself) it shields the stereo equipment and doubles as art! which it is.





oh and you will also notice the latest donation to the school. i got to say , the outpouring of support for MITN has been great! more on that later. but for now ...see that little pouf! (that's italian for cushion) stephani with an I gave that to us. it was from the ill-fated Banana Republic home collection. (remember when they just sold khakis and t-shirts!) she thought it would be perfect for little ones to pull themselves up on. and its made of ultrasuede, the real deal from toray. not microfiber. stay away from microfiber. anyway, yes i wish nadine was still here so she could testdrive it!. it also makes for a great ottoman for the couch as there is nothing in front of it now.



goodnight!

Montessori keeps it real

so i wanted to start talking more about montessori stuff, especially with the new school about to begin. Now the most important thing in montessori is keeping it real. No cartoony images, more wood, less plastic, no toys that make electronic noises.

so with this in mind i have come up with a great t-shirt/marketing tool for our students at MITN.



i havent shown this to theresa yet. its rough, still needs work...like spelling school right, but you get the idea! dave chappelle would buy one...if he was down with montessori. maybe i shoould send him one

Baptism photos

so we FINALLY picked up our baptism photos that we took at SEARS in....JANUARY!

when i rolled up the lady was like, hmmm i dont see those anywhere. I chimed in with a sheepish look on my face, "well, we did take them in January" "wow that was a while ago!" "yeah well...."

"you didnt get a call?" she asked? "no" and it was true. we knew it only took two weeke for them to be ready but we just didnt have time to get them, and when we did have time we just werent thinking about it. Apparrantly it was the ladys job to do the calling and she admitted that she had assumed her manager called us since he took the photos, and he usually calls his own peeps. She was really sorry., especially since i had waited patiently in line for 30 minutes reading a better homes and gardens that i stole off the checkout stand shelf.

"its no big deal really" and she was so nice that she just gave me all the pictures. i say this b/c apparantly what they do is print out all these extras, like a big 8X10 and a calendar sheet with the babys picture on it, all this stuff to try to get you and buy it since its ready and all. but she just gave it all to me. so that was cool
well. here they are!




my fave

open house!

i have sooooo much to write about but im out of REDBULLS so i will only talk a little.

the open house went awesome! we had a great turnout of some very possible students! it was from 10 to 12 this morning. i worked up to 9:45am with final touches, theresa practically had to kick me out. I think i had lost it by the time i kept re-arranging the vitamin waters (my new addiction since giving up beer for lent) for the guests on the entrance table.So i took akello out on his morning nap in the stroller. he slept for two hours! my legs were so tired! at the end of it, i felt like conan the barbarian pushing the the giant wheel of pain! but i knew it was good to give theresa alone time with the prospective students. on the walk i took this pic of landscaping gone wrong.




i cant stand this cheap plastic edging. and the rock? was that the crowning jewel. did someone say, "WAIT! what this needs is a rock! yes! now it is complete"
more on cheap plastic edging later.

back to MITN open house. whew what a relief.

i have to say that in the past week we have had very speacial and helpful guests. Lara and her two precious daughters Paloma and Nadine from houston. They have been such a joy. Lara's advice and wisdom has been invaluble in this nascent stage of the school, her daughters test driving the space has helped as well. Lara remember had her own school in austin at one time, and is now starting one in H-TOWN.




They went back to htown today but will be back soon.

they were great for akello too! nadine is 8 months and is crawling and i think it has motivated akello to start scooting a bit more too.



just the socialization is so awesome for him. Paloma would shower him with kisses every morning when i got him dressed and every evening that i gave him a massage. akello feels the love.







i dont know if akello is getting older or if its the girls being here but he is a LOT less sensitive to noise, sudden, louud or anytype. he doesnt flinch like he used to and stays asleep through it too. this is a joyous new thing.

on the walks in the morning. a slow and sleepy friday morning i swear, it seems like everyone is out to get you. it would drive me nuts. now its not so bad. what i mean is that, the UPS truck would not only rev its diesel truck by you only to screech to a halt 10 feet ahead of you, only to have the driver slam the truck door open as you passed, and then the umpteen dogs bark at the truck and just when you think its cool and your baby hasnt woken, then here comes the garbage truck, or some painting contractor or YOU NAME IT!!! if its loud and makes noise it will be there to drive you nuts and make you walk so fast to get out of there that hamstrings will be hurting the next day...after a walk! and forget about turning around and walking the other way. thats when some bro will decide to bring out his garbage bin and slam the door behind him and then the neighbor next to him starts up his mower!

uggg. you people have been there, that or you will be. we know of 5 couples having babies in april! isnt that nuts! thats a lot of new friends!





i met baby Aivy for the first time today, she was so small, she reminded me that akello was tiny at one point too. seems like so long ago. Aivy's mom linh thought the bertoia chairs were comfy. thats right, comfy. people at work and all my freinds are trying to buy them off me. but im keeping them for now. dont know if i will keep all of them or not, but ill at least keep one, you know for the chair museam thats going on upstairs. i broght two into the office as visit chairs and took out the two more comfortable but bigger JC evans chairs. theresa was elated.

im gonna sell those off.

anyway.

The most uncomforatable chair ever!

look at them curls!

i take care of akello's grooming. Clipping his fingernails, toenails, brushing and combing his hair, and washing his face in the morning as part of our routine. but these curls are soo cute, i have been sparing him the usual comb/brush/massage/blowout in order to keep these curls!

MITN openhouse is just two days away! we are excited and nervous. still much to do. i finished the front today. i got to say thanks to my dad for helping me out on most of it.

the before before


the first revision, when mulch was trendy


the final revision, sick of replacing ugly grey mulch/found all that pea gravel on craigslist/neighbor gave me 2 giant agaves. Oh the agaves. what a story. i installed those myself in one night. when i get excited about something...nothing stands in my way. but that a story for later





dash of akello to keep it interesting.....



ok here is the story for today. its late. but i still have enough juice for this.....

so i walk akello in the mornings on my days off, or when i dont have to go in till late. its great excercise and i get to tour the neighborhood, akello will sleep for an hour, so i can time my walk to arrive at home just as he is waking up. well half of my hood is nice and clean, part of a new subdidivision. the other half, (My half) is older and some homes are nice, but most are whateves, and some are downright ghetto. in fact ive been thinking of bringing the camera with me on the walks to document the ghettoness and starting a new blog.....JUNKSTARS!!

T came up with an idea for a tv show called junkstars, but maybe it should just be a blog. or coffee table book? i dunno. anyway. so i am walking by this one house with a ghetto fence thats so decrept you can see straight into the persons backyard.. and what do i see in said persons backyard??????

well take a look and see if you can spot this beautiful piece of midcentury sculpure.



did you see it? its kinda hiding. i took the pic super fast cuss i didnt want the neighbors to call the cops on me. and id zoom in on the pic, but remember, i had my camera set to stun b/c of the memory card that can only hold one picture, a small one at that. i have since picked up a new card. get this. the one we lost cost us 100 bucks and was one gig. that was a year ago. i went to circuit today and got a 2 GIG card for 35 dollars!!! a scandisk ultra at that. always buy scandisk ultras. anyway,

i have been formulating my plan for a couple of days as to how to attack this. oh! and if you couldnt make it out, its a harry bertoia side chair. New, they cost $384
used, well....it depends on who's buying and whos selling.......ooooohhhhhhh.....
and get this, there was also another under the porch. so these people have 2 of them!!!!

so i formulate my plan: i will ask where she got'em, and that my dads been looking for two of them b/c he as two and cant find more anywhere. This will be a good opener to see where the person stands, and then i can go from there.

so today i went over and knocked on the door

EXT. DAY - NEIGHBORS HOUSE

Gil slowly drives up to the house and notices a minivan parked in the drive. He slowly and methodically takes off his watch and wedding band, tucking them under his seat while his eyes scan for anything that could give him more knowlege of what hes up against. The birdfeeder, not designer. the minivan, means the person is definitley older has kids. the iron bars across the windows, shows them to be cautious.

Gil steps out of his truck, takes his wallet out of his addidas tennis shorts and puts it back in the truck.

He steps to the door and rings the doorbell. an old lady in her 60's answers the door. gil knows that this could go either way at this point. she either knows what she has and purchased these herself way time ago. or she aquired these in some way.

LADY
Mikes not here.

GIL
oH, Im not here for mike.

the ladys interest peaks and the screen door opens.

GIL
I was walking by this morning and i noticed you had
two white chairs in the back there.

Gil waits for a response, and eyebrow lift, a grin, a rested shoulder. but gets nothing and presses forward

Gil
Where can I get some chairs like that?

the lady walks out and starts to shake her head and laugh, as if shes told this story a thousand times.

LADY
You know. i dont know where you can get them
i used to work at IBM and one day they were
just giving em away so i took some. i have
four of them, two more are in the shed,
why? you looking to buy some?

the lady grinned and stepped closer, Gil was one step away. but how much would this step cost him?

Gil
well, yeah sure, but ...i kind of wanted some
new ones. see my dad has two of those chairs
but we cant seem to find them anywhere. he wants
two more.

LADY
Well lets go look at em!

she leads the way to the back. gil follows close behind reminding himself not to get too excited. he still has to be sure that there not knock-offs, but being that the chairs came from IBM, this is highly unlikely....

LADY
Where did your dad get his?

Gil lifts the side chair. weight feels right.

GIL
He got em at his scholl where he used to teach
they used em around the pool. i guess cuss you
can get em wet.

theres one more test. the sit test. gil takes a seat and its confirmed immediatley. this is the most uncomfortable chair in the world. one who's beauty is such that people will look passed the lack of comfort just for them to grace their patio or kitchen. they are purely sculpture.

And just then, gil waits too long and takes a mistep.

LADY
HOW MUCH YOU GIVE ME FOR THEM?

thats right, she has beaten gill to the question. He has but one choice. stall.

Gil
ummmmm. lets see........
ummmmm. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

it works.

LADY

GIVE ME 20 DOLLARS FOR ALL FOUR!

A slow grin crosses gil's mind. yes.oh how sweet it is....but he still sits there...thinking, and humming.


GIL
HMMMMM............
Well thats 5 bucks a chair.
yeah, that seems fair.
you know, i dont even have
my wallet on me.....oh i think
its in my truck. hold on, oh,
would you mind helping me
carry theese?



With his iconic seating collection, Harry Bertoia transformed industrial wire rods into a new furniture form. The events that made this work possible began a decade earlier at Cranbrook Academy of Art when Bertoia met Florence Knoll Bassett (then Florence Schust). Years later, the Italian-born designer was invited to work for Florence and her husband Hans Knoll. The terms were favorable to the artist and Bertoia was given the freedom to work on whatever suited him, without being held to a strict design agenda. The result of this arrangement was the Bertoia Seating Collection (1952). Featuring a delicate filigreed appearance that's supremely strong, these airy seats are sculpted out of steel rods. In his art, Bertoia experimented with open forms and metal work, and these chairs were an extension of that work. "If you look at the chairs, they are mainly made of air, like sculpture," said Bertoia. "Space passes through them." After designing his seating collection, Bertoia returned to focusing mostly on sculpture. His work was often used in projects by Eero Saarinen (another Cranbrook friend), notably at MIT and the Dulles International Airport. The white chair can be used outdoors with proper care and limited exposure to the elements. Manufactured by Knoll according to the original and exacting specifications of the designer. Made in Italy.

video!

some video of akello playing the bongos. manu chao sings this song called "king of the bongos" that we heard on a kids cd. i cant stop singing it.

almost there

One of these days im going to be able to just go home straight from work, without having to stop somewhere, or do something as soon as i get home. its been an exhausting past couple of weeks.

Theresa and i are both tired, but Akello keeps us going! He is such good motivation.

we are getting down to the wire with MITN, and im happy to say that www.morningsinthenest.com is now live! although its just a temporary web site that i put together on blogger until my friend can finish the real website, but it'll do for now.

so we have misplaced our camera's memory card and have not been taking pictures.
ive been using the one that came with the camera but it can literally only hold 1 photo. this is b/c i have my settings set for superfine compression and set at max resolution for all photos.

i took this one yesterday



these saftey corner things are a JOKE!!! lara's 7 month old Nadine pulled one off on her last visit. pulled it off like it was childs play. cheap ass adhesive. now i knew this might happen cuss my freind tony had to drill his into his coffee table. well, im not about to drill safety corners into a thousand dollar coffee table, even if i didnt pay for it!

oh! my sister got a job at MOTIF! yes, thats right, my sister is working at a modern furniture store. whats next? is mom going to be asking me about my employee discount! whoa! pull up on them reigns! lets not get crazy! i cant explain ginas shift to "the international syle" from the "bombay" style, but she is getting learned down there in san marcos design school, i coulda told her that wroght iron curly q's and cherrywood were lame and not charged her thousands in tuition but nobody asked...

anyway, im prolly not even making sense im so tired. ok so im going to figure something else out for the coffee table protection, i have also been installing safety this and safety that. its noooo fun. lots of headaches so far with the cabinet latches. ugg.

starting to feed akello!



akello meets a new freind! baby Aivy!

hello

akello and Eneas's daddy Chris on his last visit in. Akello is teething up a storm!

hello akello fans out there. i wish i had time to blog more but theresa and i have both been using every last free minute to work on MITN, (pronounced mitten) short for MORNINGS IN THE NEST.
I have just finished designing the website and hope to have it up and running soon!

until then... start spreading the word. we are looking for students to begin in april!

scroll down to see the flyer



further






more






ok




and



here



we




are

west end girls

akello likes the pet shop boys!



or he took it out of the cd case anyway

akello is starting to really move around! he can roll over pretty consistently and before you know it he will be crawling up the walls all lionel richie style, or was that billy ocean?? anyway,
we are having a blast with our little guy these days. things are busy with the school and its coming together. My dad has been by helping with a lot of the outdoor stuff. soon well be done! work on the website begins tommorrow with hopes for it to be done on wednesday of next week.

REMEMBER. you can always go to my flickr page where there are more photos than what i put in the blog

http://www.flickr.com/photos/giltastic

i will work to make this a link on the page to the right, but for now, youll have to bookmark it.





MMMM....excercise mat!



FUN! FUN! FUN!


punch drunk on giggles


dad tilling up the garden for the school


gina stops by for a visit


playing for gramma p!