Whoa! BofA is taking over the world

As many of you know, I previously worked for MBNA who was the largest independent credit card company. Well, literally days after I left MBNA for Deloitte, it was bought by Bank of America. Making BofA a MAJOR player in the credit card market.

This year BofA also bought Countrywide, the largest mortage broker in the US. Today, they announced that they bought Merrill Lynch. All I can say is WOW! I can't wait to see their quarterlies. I wonder how much of the "assets" that they have bought are uncollectable. I'm also curious to see how their stocks open on Monday.

I wonder whether they'll buy AIG and Lehman too. I'm also surprised that the SEC is commenting further. There are no Sherman anti-trust concerns? They are a huge part of the financial services sector now.

P.S. Yes, I know that I am dork.

New Blogs and Toddler Madness

I have started two new blogs. The links are on the tab to the right. One is to document my cooking. The other is for the playgroup of mommies that I attend. Check them out.

As for the "Toddler Madness." It has been an interesting week. First, Eliza decided that Claron's phone would work better for the fish and gave it to him. Yes, Eliza dropped Claron's cell phone right into the fish bowl. All fair though because Claron was "watching" her at the time. This isn't all though. On Thursday, we had the missionaries over for dinner. Eliza had a late nap and awoke midway through dinner. When Claron brought her down she had something on her face. I kept looking at her but for the life of me could not figure out what it was. After they left, I gave her a more thorough inspection and discovered it was purple nail polish. During her nap, she somehow managed to reach my makeup bag from her crib. She opened it and had some fun with nail polish. Amazingly though she only got nail polish on her face and dress. There was not a drop in her crib, on her wall, on her hands or in her hair. The joy of toddlers!

The camera battery is dead. I need to recharge so that I can pull the pics. So, more pics some time this week.

What a trippy video!

Eliza is in love with this video. It kind of reminds me of the Quizno's subs rats. She loves to dance. I warn you though, it is an earworm of the highest order.

I like cake!

South Carolina!!!

Hey y'all! Greetings from the South. We are preparing to depart the east and have had a great time. Right now though I'm sick, sick, sick, but the important thing is that we've been having a blast! We went to SC with my parents and have been visiting with Claron's family as well. Eliza is being ridiculously spoiled and I'm not sure if I will convince her to come home with us. But for now, here are the pictures:

In the words of Eliza...

"Uh-oh!" I can't find my camera. I'm going to tear the house apart now. I'm sure my toddler has found an innovative place for it to rest-- like in the back of the plant, the oven or under the couch. *sigh*

Nursery and other fun

So, I've had a few people ask, "What is nursery? I thought you weren't sending her to daycare yet." Well, nursery is not daycare. It is a church thing on Sunday. Eliza goes and hangs out with other kids her age for two hours while Claron and I are in church. She loves it. Thankfully, we have great nursery leaders.

In other news, Eliza has pink eye. I think I have it too. How great! At least it will be over by the time we go to South Carolina on 8/23.

No, we're not dead... just busy.

So, what a busy summer we are having. Since I've last checked in here's what's happened.
-Eliza is now officially in Nursery! She loves it. We have great leaders.
-We went to the east coast and back. Lots of great pictures (on my parents camera. Ours was on the fritz!)
-We had an earthquake. It was quite minor. Nothing really.
-My sis-in-law (aka twin wife) is pregnant!! We are so excited. Eliza will have a 1/2 sister or brother. No, Claron hasn't been cheating on me. If you don't understand, e-mail me and I will give you a full blown genetic breakdown. (Claron and Clark have an idential genome. Blah. Blah Blah.)
-Eliza has started to potty train. I know I will be sorry. Yes, I know, but she has been begging. And yesterday was the last straw. She took off her diaper and pooped in her crib. You would think I would be furious, but I thought it was absolutely hilarious.
-Eliza is super tall and has a great tan (even though I slather her in sunblock every five minutes. Go figure!)
Here are the pictures:

Pretty gnarly, huh? This was the smoke from the fire.

Very Armageddon-ish.

Eliza will be glad to write you a parking pass.

Eliza eating crepes at the French festival.

Eliza having fun with Dad, Mike and Shayna. Three of her favorite people.

Eliza and Shayna with Mike in the background.

Eliza and I.

Eliza and Aunt Lilly.

Eliza was prepared.

Picking shoes. She is not the best at matching.

She loooooves shoes.

I like this picture.

Our new pet. The "kitty"

Swinging. She is so fierce.

She loves the swings.

Eliza's first day in Nursery.

Eliza and dad on the plane.

Eliza on the way to church.

Looking fierce again.

This is the look for the boys.

Smillllleeeeee....

Eliza in the pool

Byproducts of a disaster

The fire continues here in Santa Barbara. Last night it grew from 200 acres to 2400 acres. We watched as it went from a small area of our horizon to engulfing almost the entire mountains to the west. It is not coming south so much though, so for now, we are safe. However, the fire has been reeking havoc in other ways.

1) Electric. Last night smoke affected the main power line to Santa Barbara, and we were without power for 5 hours. We had scheduled with friends, Jared and Katie, for dinner. They came over and we had a great time playing Apples to Apples and eating by candlelight. The babies also had a great time playing. Also, we did not open the fridge or freezer and so everything was fine. My popsicles didn't even melt. Yea!

2) Air Quality. It may not snow in Santa Barbara, but it sure looks like it today. Ash is dropping from the sky and it is "overcast." The picture below is from yesterday. Because of the poor air quality, Clark and Lilly aren't coming to visit this weekend.

3) Society in general. With the power out and the fire looming on the horizon, it has been reassuring to see neighbors helping neighbors and being generally social. In my own way, I really enjoyed the power outage last night. It was truly dark for once and everyone was congregating and talking. A lot of people left though.

Yesterday afternoon, the winds were easterly; hence, the billowing smoke.

Mmmm... Makes me want to breathe deeply.

Sunset

Today, the smoke covers the whole sky. The first picture is from the Independent. You can find updates on the fire here.

Here is the current info:

Fire! Fire!

Vivian took this picture. That is my house on the left and my car on the right. Niiiiiccccceeee...

We're on Fire!! No, really!

So, there is a wild fire that I can see from my front door. They are calling it the "Gap Fire." It looks pretty gnarly at night when you can see the flames. So, far they are estimating that it has burnt 100 acres and is heading this way. However, we live on the ocean and have pretty good wind coming off of the water. Also, it has been "moist" from these breezes. On the other hand, SB gets these crazy winds called "sun downers." They are these hot winds that come from the hills. We are predicted to get sun downers tonight which would push the fire towards us. We were predicted last night and thankfully, they didn't come. It still has to burn through the ranches, a few developments, jump the highway, burn a shopping center, and a big field before it gets to us... or it could go west then south and burn all of Elwood Mesa and get to us.

There was a fire 18 years ago that burnt into the city with sun downers. It was the Painted Cave fire. It was 4 miles from where this fire is burning.

The helicopters and planes have been going all morning and they've brought in firefighters from the two neighboring counties and from LA.

We'll keep you updated.

For those who understand fire lingo: http://www.wildlandfire.com/hotlist/showthread.php?t=5461

Here are the pictures:

The red dot at the top is the fire. This is the view from the ocean.

This is the view from Cathedral Oaks.

This is the view from Camino Cielo.

This is Eliza watching the news with Dad.