So, fellow Marylanders.  Still don’t believe in the slippery slope?  Try this one then:

Del. Eric M. Bromwell (D-Baltimore County) has introduced legislation that would allow 3,000 slot machines inside the secure gate areas at Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall airport. I suppose the idea is the same as the recently voter-approved legislation that is allowing slot machines to be installed in five locations around the state: tax people who can’t do math and can likely least afford it. But this one has a wrinkle: by placing slots in the airport, you’re targeting travelers who presumably have money to burn (and frankly, who doesn’t these days?) and are likely from out of state or even out of the country.

Let’s hope that on the off chance this passes, they’ll have better success in implementing it. So far with the previous slots approval, two of the six bidders for the five slot licenses have failed to provide the $22.5 million in fees, and the total number of slots requested has only totalled 6,550, far fewer than the 15,000 allowed under the law.

Slot machines were a bad idea last November, and they’re a bad idea now.

Hey, I’ll admit it. I like going to Las Vegas to gamble and have done so on occassion. But when I board my plane at McCarran, that’s the last I expect to see a slot machine until I go back next time.

Add carrots to the list of fruits and vegetables Sasha doesn’t like. The list now includes such baby mainstays as:

• bananas
• applesauce
• butternut squash

What does she like? Well, she deigns to eat sweet potatoes, if you coax her enough. But her only real favorite is oatmeal baby cereal. That’s right, the tasteless gray gruel that most reasonable humans, baby or otherwise, would tolerate, not enjoy.

Does she appreciate the fact that I make her babyfood from real ingredients, lovingly baking the sweet potatoes and squash and steaming the carrots for her then running them through the food processor to make a nice purée easy for her toothless mouth to handle? No. All she does is make a face as if to say, “What is this slop you’re trying to force down my throat?”

At the tender age of seven months, my daughter has already proven herself quite the fickle eater.

Update:

Here’s a picture of Sasha eating carrots. Notice the look of disgust on her face. Shortly after this picture was taken, she threw up the carrots and a significant portion of oatmeal. Shortly after that, she went to bed.

Sasha is getting really good at sitting up, and can do so almost indefinitely now. Take a look!

(You can view this set and download full resolution copies of these photos on my Flickr page.)

We got our first accumulation of snow in the Washington area yesterday, making it Sasha’s first real snow day. Here are some shots of her and Sammy enjoying the snow.

You can get full size versions of these photos from Flickr.

Sasha is 6 months old today. Happy half-birthday, Sasha!

Okay, people of the Internets. I need your help. I’ve been offered by various family members a new notebook computer for my birthday, but I’m torn between two Apple offerings: the 15″ MacBook Pro and the 13″ MacBook. On one hand, I’m drooling over the lighter weight and smaller form factor of the 13″ MacBook and I’ve always thought that the MacBook Pro I have now was a bit overkill for me, at least when I got it (but at the time, it was the only Intel machine Apple offered). On the other hand, the graphics capabilities of the MacBook Pro are much better than its little sibling, and the higher screen real estate (which is what I’m used to now) would be useful when working with iPhoto and iMovie (two applications I’m using more and more).

Now, since this is going to be a gift, cost is not technically a factor, but I’d prefer not to break my benefactors’ banks. So asking for a MacBook would be a kinder request.

So what do you think? Please vote in my poll and help me decide. Thanks!

[poll id=”1″]

Sammy’s preschool class had a holiday show before Christmas. Here is the video of his stage debut.

(Everybody’s in pajamas because the show was held on “wear pajamas to school” day. Go figure.)

I don’t normally do this, mostly because I loathe New Years (it’s just another reminder to me that I’m getting older etc. etc.), but I actually have TWO resolutions for this coming year.  Normally, I don’t have any because I believe that any change you want to make in your life shouldn’t have to wait until some arbitrary date on a calendar.  Nevertheless, things have gotten to the point in my life where I feel like I need to take action, now, on two fronts:

#1: Clean Up My House

This is a little more than just scrubbing the bathroom (and honestly, I don’t even do that; I have a housekeeper who does a much better job than I can do). I mean going through every nook, every cranny, and every pile of crap in my house and getting it all under control. Scanning in the kids’ art projects and sending the originals off to the grandmothers. Getting rid of the mementos I haven’t looked out (or taken out of boxes) in 4 years. Get my house into some sort of organized shape so that it doesn’t look like a FEMA zone all the time.

A one off on this theme is to redo the basement into a kids playroom so that we can get most of the toys out of the living room (where we’re always tripping on them) and into a dedicated space that the kids can call their own. This includes laying down new flooring since the cats have ruined the carpet there.

Another related part of this is to redo the floor in the kitchen. The original vinyl tiling that’s there has been peeling up since pretty much we bought the house and if we ever want to sell the place ourselves, that needs to be fixed up.

It’s a big project, bigger than it sounds, and maybe I should call it more “organize my life”, but if I can tackle the clutter that I live in, it will be that much of an improvement in my life.

#2: Don’t Buy Any More Books Until I’ve Read the Ones I Have

I should probably add to that “ask for books as gifts”. I have a pile of books I’d love to read, but I simply don’t have the time. Why compound the problem with more books? In fact, I haven’t read a single book I received as a gift for Christmas 2007! So I really don’t need any more. I don’t need to buy them, and I don’t need to ask for them. I need to read what I’ve got.

And the same goes for audiobooks. I recently bought one that I’ve only listened to the first 3 chapters of. I can’t listen to them in the car because no one else in my family wants to listen to them (and they’re almost always in the car with me, especially during the daily commute). I find it hard to listen at work because I can’t concentrate on the text and what I’m working on at the same time. So again, no time.

Basically, both of these resolutions come down to setting priorities. I’m going to find the time to clean my house and read my books. I have no idea how I’m going to accomplish this and still get any sleep, but I have 365 days to figure that out.

They’re chewy, they’re moist, and they’ve been compared crack. And now you can bake these delicious treats in your very own home:

Ingredients

• 1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 c firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 c granulated sugar
• 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 c bread flour (yes, BREAD flour. this is important.)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon (I use Penzey’s Vietnamese cassia, very strong stuff.)
• 1/2 tsp table salt
• 3 c oatmeal, uncooked
• 2 c raisins

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Beat together butter and sugars in stand mixer with flat blade. Add egg, egg yolk, milk and vanilla; beat well. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add flour mixture slowly to batter; mix well. Stir in oats and raisins; mix well. Using ice cream scoop, drop batter onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Chill in refrigerator for at least an hour. Bake 14-17 minutes in a 350°F oven. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack. Makes 24 cookies.