Yesterday sure was an exciting day.   Edward John Paff III (Trey) was born at 1:40 PM MST on Sunday January 9, 2011, just five days before his due date.   He came into this world weighing in at seven pounds fifteen ounces and twenty and a half inches tall.   He has blue eyes (for now) and a nice head of dark hair (complete with some mini sideburns).   Both mom and baby are doing fantastic!

I’m writing this from SkyRidge  hospital from a luxurious private room with our own shower and even a futon for me to sleep.   Trey spent the night with us last night and all three of us managed to get a pretty good night of rest.   Kim is up and taking her first walk outside of the room since we moved here after delivery.   It’s a bitterly cold day outside in Colorado with over a half-foot of snow on the ground.

We should be  discharged from the hospital tomorrow morning and I suppose that’s when the real fun begins.   I will be taking off work for the rest of the week to help out.   So far Trey has been very easy-going  (except when the nurses and doctors mess with him too much).   He’s also a great eater and spends most of the time sleeping (even when he should be feeding).

More photos can be found over at kimandedjr.com.   I’m not sure how much I will be blogging this week, but I will try to keep posting photos.

The delayed post today probably has a few people thinking that Kim has gone into labor, but that is not the case.   I’m just having a busy day at work trying to tie together the loose ends for a release that is going out Monday.   Work has definitely been busy but I’m still enjoying it, so bring it on!   Once the baby comes I will likely take a week off to help Kim.   I wish I could take more time, but I don’t have any more vacation days to use.

Today is a big day in Cincinnati.   The annual Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout basketball game is tonight.   My University of Cincinnati Bearcats will take on the neighboring Xavier University Musketeers.   UC is looking to break a three-year streak from Xavier as well as continue their own  fourteen game winning streak.   Overall UC has won 47 of the 77 matchups, so  we are definitely overdue for a Bearcat victory.   Be sure to tune in to ESPN2 tonight at 7pm EST and wear some red and black.   Last years game went into double overtime, so it’s always an exciting matchup.

Today would have been a cool day for our son to be  born, but I think we are running out of time.   January 5th was my grandmother’s birthday (dad’s side of the family).   She was a great woman who was taken from us way too early.   I was pretty young when she died twenty years ago, but she still had a big impact on me.

We are still over a week away from the due date, but I think we are all ready for him to be born.   There is still the chance that he could be born on 1/11/11, so maybe that’s what he is waiting for.   For more thoughts on all of this head over to  kimandedjr.com, where Kim and I are continuing to blog about all things baby.

This past Saturday I finally made it out to University of Denver hockey  game.   I think the season is already two-thirds  over, so I am definitely behind.   Part of the problem is that they don’t have a very strong home game schedule.   For example, the Pioneers’ opponent  for this weekend was the University of Northern Michigan Wildcats.   The Wildcats are not in the top twenty teams nationally, so there isn’t as big of drawl than if they were playing against North Dakota for instance.   They did play the Fighting Sioux earlier this year, but it was up in Grand Forks.   And they’ve also played or will play at Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota, both top twenty teams.

Despite the below average schedule, this is still one of the best values in town.   Tickets are as cheap as $18, and with the small arena there is no need to spend more than that.   Plus we were able to score two seats for $18 total from a couple of students outside of the arena.   That’s about the same price as going out to see a movie!   Not only is it cheap, it is also really good hockey.   I prefer college hockey over the professional level, since it is often more of a team game.   I guess this can be true with most college sports.

Anyway, the game on Saturday started off a little rough for Denver.   Northern Michigan was able to take a quick 2-0 lead through the end of the first period.   From there on it was all Denver, as the Pioneers outshot  the Wildcats 47-13.   Unfortunately the Wildcat goalie played very well and only let in two goals for Denver.   Even with an extra five-minute  overtime period, the game ended up in a 2-2 tie.   Denver is now 13-5-4 and may be  able to move up in the top twenty from their previously ranked seventh position.

Happy New Year!   Before I get too far into 2011, here is the list of cities I visited in 2010 with at least one night spent in each place.

• New Orleans, LA
• Denver, CO *
• Breckenridge, CO *
• Kansas City, MO
• Copper Mountain, CO
• Frisco, CO
• Grand Canyon, AZ
• Sedona, AZ
• Phoenix, AZ
• Dillon, CO
• Section Hut, CO
• Lee’s Summit, MO
• Albuquerque, NM
• Santa Fe, NM
• Noblesville, IN
• Cincinnati, OH *
• Loveland, OH *
• Boston, MA
• Newport, RI
• New London, CT
• Yellowstone National Park, WY
• Bozeman, MT
• Grand Teton National Park, WY

Those cities marked with an * were visited multiple times on non-consecutive days.

See also: 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006

Typically I try to get this done before Christmas, but since we weren’t traveling this year I knew I would have extra time to finish.  Finally this year’s NOW That’s What Ed Calls Music is complete!

1. Grace Potter & The Nocturnals – Paris (Ooh La La)
2. Julian Velard – Joni
3. Michael Franti & Spearhead – The Sound Of Sunshine
4. Vampire Weekend – Horchata
5. John Butler Trio – One Way Road
6. Local Natives – Airplanes
7. State Radio – Calling All Crows
8. Ozomatli – 45
9. Band Of Horses – Laredo
10. Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights – Gypsy Woman
11. Martin Sexton – Livin The Life
12. Sara Bareilles – King of Anything
13. ALO – Big Appetite
14. Mumford & Sons – Little Lion Man
15. Ben Rector – Moving Backwards
16. Everyday Animals – Voice On A Stereo
17. Danielle Ate The Sandwich – American Dream

All tracks are available for download from  this site and I’ve also added them to  sendspace.com (download link toward the bottom of the page), which should be a much faster download.  Please support these artists by buying their albums and attending their live shows.   As always I hope you enjoy the compilation and happy holidays.

We ventured out on Christmas Eve in search of some holiday lights.   We first stopped by the Denver Botanic Gardens on York Street for their Blossoms of Light.   There over one million lights cover the winter plants.   However, it didn’t seem worth the nearly $10 price of admisison.   The ice sculptures […]

This album contains 3 items.

Well I had another bad round of fantasy football this past weekend.   As I mentioned earlier, I made it all the way to the championship in one league.   Unfortunately, though,  I lost the game by less than five points.   Had I played the right players, I could have won, but I guess that is all part of fantasy football.   However I still won $80!   I also lost the final game of the consolation bracket in another league, finishing in sixth place.   So my final standings were second, fifth, and sixth places in all three of my leagues.

I did manage to finish the Jenny Challenge, though it required heading out on Christmas morning to finish up the last of the miles.   Though I doubt I’ll continue to run at that pace, I have enjoyed the extra activity and hope to keep most of it up.   It doesn’t hurt either when you shed a couple of extra pounds, as that helps keep the motivation high.   However it will take some effort to keep on running with the baby on the way soon.

To kick off the holiday weekend my wife and I headed to 8 Rivers  Caribbean restaurant in LoDo.   We had a Groupon  for $30 worth of food that we had to use by the end of the year.   I made reservations online, though they were not needed, as the restaurant was mostly empty upon our arrival.   We were greeted and seated by a young man who would eventually be our server as well.   I decided to start with a cocktail, the dark and stormy, which mixed rum with ginger beer.   It was good, but perhaps a little expensive at almost $10 a glass.  

Upon glancing at the food menu, I realized that expensive would be a common theme for the night.   Most entrees  were well over $15.   I’m not opposed to having more expensive meals while dining out, but I expect the food to be  great and a good value.   Unfortunately I don’t think the food lived up to the cost.   I had the Jerk Chicken Pasta  with Festival Bread, which is one of the spiciest  dishes on the menu.   The Caribbean spice is different from what I’m used to, but still I grew to really enjoy the taste.   It was definitely spicy, and I’m glad the server warns customers of this, as it could take some people by surprise.  

Jerk Chicken Pasta with Festival Bread

The serving of Jerk Chicken Pasta was also fairly large and seemed like a decent value for the $17 price tag.   However, the Jamaican Curried Chicken that my wife ordered was a much smaller  portion  and didn’t seem like a very good value at all.   The dish  consisted of slow cooked chicken and onion in Jamaican Curry. Served traditionally with rice n’ peas, fried plantain and chef choice vegetable (green beans).   The chicken was served  on the bone, which made it look like a lot more food than it really was.    To top off the  smaller than expected dish were just a few of their plantain chips.   I would like to have seen a few more thrown on the plate.   Again the food was pretty good, it just seemed to be  too expensive for what was received.  

Jamaican Curried Chicken

I doubt that we will return to 8 Rivers. Again the food was good, it just didn’t seem like a good value. I’m glad that we had a Groupon that helped to eat some of that excess cost.