The first stop was SuperCuts downtown where she met Sherri, the woman that’s been cutting my hair for over 12 years now.

Then we went for a walk outside since we were downtown in Chicago. Sydney told me the sun was a bit bright so we kept the walk short.

Next stop was the Apple store in Oak Brook, where she was clearly just as excited as I was to be there.

On the way home she asked if she could have some ice creatm, so we stopped at DQ for a special treat. She didn’t eat the whole thing so I had to finish it off.

Finally at home, she passed out. I like to call this photo “Creepy Sleepy” because she’s sleeping with her eyes open. She does this all the time.

All in all, it was a great day with my little princess and I can’t wait for our next date together.

Love you daughter.

This past Saturday we didn’t know what to do with the boys. The weather wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great. We had spent the previous weekend at the mall since the weather was so nasty, but didn’t feel like being indoors again.

We left on Saturday at 10am, went to see a movie, checked into a nice hotel downtown, had lunch and then just relaxed in the room and ordered room service. We didn’t return until Sunday at 1pm and then spent the rest of the days with the boys at the park.

Probably the greatest fear I’ve had for as long as I can remember is speaking to a group of people (large or small). Just being that center of attention with all eyes on you has always caused me very deep discomfort. In fact, when I had speech class in high school I would actually skip class on the days that I was supposed to speak. No surprise, I failed the class.

However, I’ve also wanted to start teaching – either one-on-one or maybe at a local college, and being afraid to talk to people does not go well with that goal. So early last year I decided I would at least make an attempt to get past the fear enough to do a single presentation. After that I could decide if I wanted to pursue it or not.

So last November I was scheduled to do a presentation to a group of editors that are part of the Chicago Final Cut Pro User Group , but due to a scheduling mixup I got bumped until January of this year. The presentation was on two things. First, how to find creative inspiration when you have no idea what you want to create, and second to break down of a project I did last year to show how I used the inspiration of a movie open to influence my own project.

Because of the help of my colleague and friend Jeff Carrion, I was able to refine my skills during a rehearsal at the office. Jeff gave me great feedback and what he liked and where he thought I should make changes. And with the help of my good friend Noeleen McGrath, who is herself a media coach, I was able to get feedback both before and after the presentation on how I can improve. She provided me a detailed list after the presentation with very specific things I need to work on. I feel very luck to have somebody like her available to help me out.

The result? For a first time out, I did pretty good. There are plenty of things I want to change for next time, but I did what I set out to do, which is to do my first presentation. The feedback I’ve received from people at the meeting has been good, and I would day there’s a good chance I’ll do more in the future for other groups as well.

If you would like to see the presentation, you can find it on my professional blog SuiteTake.com.

For the second time this year, I was interviewed on an industry podcast that I listen to every week. This has been a big year for just doing the things that usually freak me out and bring me to my knees. I was interviewed earlier this year about something else on the same show, but I think I actually did a better job this time. If you’re interested in hearing my 5 minute interview, check out the link on my industry related blog. 

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On Saturday we decided to try again getting some photos of the boys as well as an updated family photo. They boys were GREAT and just seemed to love not only being outside, but playing with leaves (a new experience for them). 

You can see the best of them on SmugMug.

Over the years I have received many questions like “What is a good camera to buy?” or “What computer would you recommend?”, or even “Why do you always look so handsome?”. OK, not the last question but you get the idea. People ask me because I’m a nerd, and I’m always reading reviews and tech articles. I’m always glad to help because I know what it’s like to need that kind of help in other areas of my life, and I know it can really be a big help. 

I’ve always said if I got a dollar for each product I sold I would have a nice little piggy bank. Well now it’s possible for me to do that by having an affiliate store with Amazon.com

Here’s how it works. If I send you a link to a product as an answer to a question you asked me, the link will be to Amazon.com (as it usually was in the past) but will be coded with a special number that gives me credit for any the purchase you make. The price for you is exactly the same, but I’ll get a small percentage of what you purchase. 

In addition, there is a new page on this site (Tom’s Recommendations) that has some of the things people most commonly ask me about. In most cases they’re things that I currently own and really like.

I don’t really care if you buy it from Amazon.com or not, but in case you do it will be nice that Amazon.com pays me a small fee for sending you there. 

Going up.

Coming down.

Photo courtesy of Lucy in London. You can see more of her work on flickr.

At this time next week I’ll be in the air on my way to Beijing China for an 8 day trip. The flight is 18 hours (not so good) but it is a direct flight, so at least that’s on our side. 

This week I’ll be in high gear to prepare for the trip. I have not really thought much about it until now, knowing I had blocked out time this week to take care of everything. It’s not just preparing for the trip itself, but also making sure the edit system is in tip-top shape. As with every trip I do, the system will be setup and taken through a test run at the office to make sure everything is running well, as well as to make sure I have all of the various adaptors, cables and other small pieces needed. 

Unlike most trips, I’m also limited on what I can take, and how many bags. Between the edit system and my personal suitcase, I can only bring 3 cases. So I have slim down and only take what I need without leaving anything important behind. 

Here are a few photos, and you can find the rest of them on Flickr. 

Because I have not been feeling well since getting back from the Thailand trip, we decided not to make the trip to MI this year for the annual family reunion. I think we made the right call even though we were both disappointed that we didn’t go. The boys were really looking forward to it, it’s all they’ve been talking about. 

So, instead we took a much shorter trip down to Chicago’s Millennium Park and walked around with the boys and just hung out on the grass for awhile. 

There are more photos here of Andrew only because Max was still sound asleep in the stroller when we stopped. By the time he was awake they were both ready to eat so we didn’t have time to get more photos of him. 

Here’s a short movie clip as well of them playing in the grass for the first time. 

Not much. But here it is anyway.

I really enjoy having them sit like this while watching TV.