On your mark, get set . . . . .

We've had this lil' video camera since Celia was born. It's about as big as a deck of cards, and can record about 25 minutes of material. I like it a lot because it's user friendly and takes pretty good videos, but Mike and I are not really gadget heads, so what do you do with the videos once you collect a number of them? Yeah, yeah, I know we are supposed to get them professionally burned to DVD and then catalogue them, but who has the time? I know we will do that eventually (especially since the videos take up so much space on the computer), but in the mean time we felt like we needed to find SOME outlet for them. Mike didn't want to YouTube them, because that is so public, so he found this site called Vimeo where you can post videos for free. We tried that, and found it to be a little complicated. It took a long time to upload, people had to create passwords, etc., etc., etc. So - what is the point of this rant? The point is - here's a video of Celia crawling. Couple of suggestions - first, she really gets going near the end of the video (wait for it, wait for it!) Also - push play then pause it and let the video load a little before playing again so that it doesn't stutter so much.

This site, too, takes a long time to upload the video, but the whole process is a lot easier. So, I am going to try and put more videos on this site. The only potential problem is the time it takes to upload and the fact that I am *ahem* a little less than patient (no comments on this statement, please).

It's cold and gray here in the capital city, Ladybugites. Though honestly, the 20 degrees expected today is a lot better than last week when we had windchills in the -20s. This is the time of year that is hardest for Mike and me - a long stretch of cold without a holiday to get us excited. We are trying to keep the endorphins flowing by working out at our local community center (we, like my sister's recent post stated, found that our YMCA membership was a little steep for us right now - $83/month!). Our community center has a 12-lap mile walking track and a little workout room with a couple bikes, ellipticals and treadmills. It suites our needs for the time being, and it feels good to be with our neighbors and contributing to the center.

Mike's birthday is on Monday. For Christmas we received a gift certificate to the St. Paul Grille from Mike's brother, Craig, so we are using that to go out this evening. I am very excited! Mike and I haven't really gotten out much alone since Celia was born. I can blame that on our money crunch, but it also is because we just haven't made time for it. Kaarin is babysitting and has generously given us a few hours before dinner, too, so we can go to a museum, or a movie, or maybe just get coffee. Doesn't Mike look excited, too?

I think the St. Paul Winter Carnival is going on this weekend, too. If we go tonight I will be sure to post some pictures of the ice sculptures. Have a good weekend!