Zoe's 1st Birthday Party with grandparents

On Saturday, Rex, Zoe, Loki and I drove to Killeen which is where my parents live. My sister-in-law, Charlotte, had come up with this wonderful idea for us to have a pre-birthday birthday celebration for family at my parents' house since my parents live between Rex's parents and us. Everyone had a lovely time. It wasn't too overwhelming for Zoe who was basically passed around lovingly between the grandparents. She opened presents with enthusiam, destroyed her cake, and was constantly enamored with a single mylar balloon.

She was a happy girl.

The Problem Solving Skills of a Baby

For Christmas, my sister gave Zoe this push toy to help her learn how to walk. Within 20 minutes of the toy being put together, Zoe discovered a different use for the toy. It gave her the ability to pet the dog while he was relaxing on his couch.

Please ignore my commentary at the end. I don't need any comments on what kind of mother I might or might not be.

Completely traceable

I'm watching this incredibly ridiculous movie called Untraceable. It's about this serial killer who sets up these elaborate methods of executing people; such as bleeding to death from small cuts and an overdose of heparin (an anti-coagulant). The catch is that the killer allows his website viewers to decide if these people will die by killing them in real time on the web. The more hits his website receives the faster the person dies. STUPID!

Why am I watching this movie? Simple. Netflix Watch Instantly. This is one of the most brilliant pieces of technology to hit the streets since Tivo. It has enabled me to watch Dr. Who on my terms without filling up my DVR. Granted I am only on the second season, but still. This is AWESOME.

Netflix Watch Instantly has also made our Xbox 360 even more useful. Sure, it has been a gaming powerhouse for me. I have spent many, many hours obsessively playing this game or that. The most recent game being Fable 2. Loved it! And I should also give mad props to Left 4 Dead. One of the creepiest zombie games ever. It gave me nightmares.

But back to Netflix Watch Instantly...I will put almost anything in the queue. Stuff I wouldn't even think about renting. That's how I ended up watching Untraceable. But I have also watched little gems like An Evening with Kevin Smith. Awesome! If you liked his movies, you will more than likely enjoy this documentary of his visits to various universities. It's one big Q&A session of awesomeness.

I enjoy being able to rate a film right on screen and remove it from my queue after I watch it without ever having to go to the Netflix site. I like that you can stop a movie, turn off the whole set up, and go back to where you left off when you resume it. It is way easier than DVDs. So thank you Netflix for providing this amazing service.

Speaking of DVDs, Rex and I were early adopters of HD-DVDs. We have an HD-DVD player through our Xbox 360. We were sad when the race was won by the Blue Ray. No matter. Today at Fry's they had some cheap HD-DVDs. We bought Clerks 2 for $3.99 and Army of Darkness for $7.99. It was quite fortuitous as we were only there for a cable.

For you crafty types out there, here's an great website for you http://www.oneprettything.com/