A Year of Change

It’s 7am and Mom’s already gone to work. The boys are still sleeping and I’m on the heating pad trying to kick this back thing. Both boys had their first soccer games yesterday. The oldest at 9am and then the younger at noon. They both played great! You can see their natural athletic ability when comparing them to other kids their age. The oldest is really really fast and his coordination is catching up with his height. He played goalie the second half and while the other team scored twice, he stopped about a dozen other shots on goal. The coach and a bunch of other parents came up to him and me after the game praising him for his exemplary play. Now the younger one is still at the age where they just run and kick it as hard as they can which he too did well.

The oldest has flag football this afternoon from 2 till 4pm. I managed to get the house semi clean yesterday (and was yelled at by the misses for doing so with my back) but I just can’t stand it when it’s a mess. The oldest really helped me out with the afternoon cleaning. We should go to church today but no way can I make it. I think my backs set back a bit in the healing department because I had to go to two soccer games yesterday, I really need to rest it this morning before football. If any of you go, say a prayer for us!

We’ve decided to try our hand at making bread from bulk whole wheat as it’ll bring the cost down to under a buck a loaf instead of the $5 a loaf the store charges these days. This involves grinding the whole wheat kernels into flour ourselves. I think I’m opting for a manual grinder as it’ll wear the boys out and teach them they have to work for their food! We’ll keep you posted on this one, it should be an adventure. (wish my grandma was still around as one of my fondest memories as a kid was her baking bread, I can still smell it to this day!)What we really need are some milk cows, I can’t believe we now go through a gallon a day around here, and that’s with the misses and I only using a splash in our morning coffee! If you add it up, that’s about $2000 a year just on milk. Mom brought a pizza home for the boys and made some tostada’s for us for dinner. I think we’ll cook up leftovers for dinner this evening.

The littlest one just came down and politely asked if he could watch a kid show. Funny that they’ve now discovered things like Bugs Bunny and Tweety Bird that we watched as kids and actually prefer those to the newer shows on in the am. Both boys sure are precious little kids in the morning when they’re still half asleep. Don’t get me wrong, they’re always great kids, it’s just in the morning they’re too tired to fight over anything.

I think it’s going to be a nice day and heard it’ll be 75 tomorrow, Spring is fast approaching. Our 10th anniversary is coming up on the 25th. Instead of spending money we don’t have on some kind of gift for each other, I think we’ll just have a nice family dinner. If any of you grandmothers have some family heirloom (this is slang for jewelry) send it to me and I’ll give it to the misses taking full credit myself. (just kidding, I’d somehow mention your name!) I know you’re all hoarding a dozen or more rings than you have fingers! Personally I don’t need anything as I have all I need (my wife and kids) but you women know how you girls like your bling!

Mom woke the L.O.L. down the street at 6:45 to give the dog his morning shot. I guess she (the L.O.L.) was a bit groggy as she forgot to use her oxygen last night. What a good girl my wife is to do this EVERY morning and night. It’s a real commitment on her part.

The oldest is now up and I need to find something for them for breakfast. I’m tempted to take them out to eat so I don’t have to stand in the kitchen (with my back) but don’t really want to spend the cash. Speaking of cash, you all should turn some dollars into physical gold and silver as they’re both going way up and the dollar is going way down. I told my Mom to buy gold less than 3 months ago when it was $1030 an ounce and it’s now about $1420. Silver was $20 and ounce and now is $35, both pretty amazing returns. One word of caution, if you do heed my advice, take physical possession of your gold and silver, do not leave it in the hands of some firm or Company. There are many places where you can go and buy these for a few dollars over spot price (the current market price). If interested, go to www.kitco.com to see current quotes. Mark my words, gold will be $2000 an ounce or more by the end of the year and silver well over $50! Some respected analysts have gold going into the thousands and silver to $100 to $150 an ounce. (there’s already physical shortages on silver) Now we don’t have the money to buy this but if we did, that’s what we (and you) should do now! I know, go out and buy us an ounce of gold and for our anniversary, there’s a good idea! Anyhow, ever changing times we live in, be prepared as it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out no one is going to take care of you but you. Not being pessimistic, but just look at Japan, those poor poor people.

Ok, I’ll stop for now as breakfast is needed, have a great day and God Bless,

Man my back is killing me. At least I’m limping now instead of crawling. Both boys have learned a bunch of new profanities as even the slightest movement can cause a spontaneous outburst (from me) of some forbidden word. It hurts so bad, I’m even coming up with words that I’ve never heard. Oh well, life doesn’t seem to be stopping so I just need to tough it out. Both boys have soccer games this morning, one at 9am and the other at noon. Mom works at 8:15 so I’ll be heading out in about an hour, hope I can walk to the field (from the car) before the first half is over! I guess Mom was up about 5 times last night with the big dog who clearly wanted outside to chase the raccoon or whatever creature seems to get him going. I (on valium and motrin) slept through the whole thing.

School was good for both boys. The youngest went straight to a friends until 4:30 while the oldest went down to Uncle T and Aunt B’s house. It’s good he likes visiting with them. When they both arrived home, they continued playing outside until dinner was ready. Mom made a great vegetarian lentil soup. I ate so much laying on the couch all day that I think I need to fast today. I probably should eat something though as my stomach will get upset if I take motrin with no food. I feel sick right now as it is.

It’s supposed to be around 70 today which will be good as the boys can then play outside after their games. I need to cut this short today as it’ll take me 30 minutes to find some jeans and then get them on and I’m quickly running out of time. Hope everyone is doing well, have a great weekend.

best,

There is nothing more pristine than the early morning after a spring snow. The snow is glistening on the wet tree branches with a backdrop of turquoise and baby blue. It was so peaceful on my jog down to Bunkie’s…just birds chirping and mist rising up from the snow blanketed yards.  Beautiful!

My hubby has boxed and shipped 1 too many cases of vino.  After he picked the boys up from school he was picking up a piece of paper from the floor and Wham…there went his back.  He almost had to crawl to the car to get the critters from the groomer (The dogs are gorgeous). He texted me at work to fill me in and when I called you could literally hear the pain in his voice. Luckily the boys have friends on both soccer teams, so transportation to and from practice was handled. Dad rested his back to no avail. When I got home he couldn’t get up without help.  I have so much sympathy for anyone with back pain…it truly sucks! Anyway, we got him upstairs…iced his back…administered motrin…and got the boys into bed(I’m not sure if they brushed). He is a bit better this morning…bent 1/4 of the way forward and twisted a 1/4turn to his side…it hurts to watch him move.

He has an important account to see in Boulder this morning, so we will try and manage to do that without inflicting more injury.

I am off today…so my plan is to get our house in shape…with the dryer out we are looking like “Hoarders”. We have too much stuff and not enough storage…I’m sure most of you can feel my pain. Also, I am admittedly a procrastinator these days and need outside motivation to get my “House” in order. We are expecting company next week..a friend, her husband, their 9 year old daughter…and their 5yr old twins.  That should be my motivation….Let’s hope so.

The repairman is here and the verdict is…the motor went out on our LG(Life’s Good)dryer. Really????

Two soccer games tomorrow and I am working….hopefully Dad’s back will be better. The boys are bummed that I will be working since it is the first of the season and I have never missed a game. I am sad as well…We may have to enlist Uncle T. and Aunt Blondie to cheer from the sidelines. We have to cheer for both teams and can not rip on the refs at the risk of being asked to leave the game.  That is a bit tough for fans like us…

I am off to get the heating pad, take a shower and attack this house!

More prayers for Japan and all that are in need..

God Bless,

LLF

Today is St. Patricks Day, hope you’re all wearing green. If you lived in our house, it’s a must as the boys are looking to pinch anyone not in the color of the day. What a day yesterday. After school we had every kid in the neighborhood outside playing baseball, football, riding bikes and skateboards. Thankfully I decided to throw the youngest’s bike in the truck and get his tire fixed on a run to Fed Ex to ship more wine. He hopped right on it when he arrived home and was up and down the street countless times. Our oldest had dinner with Uncle T and Aunt B although I don’t think he ate much except a ton of guacamole.

Mom still has a headache, sinus infection we think. We had a Z Pak called into the pharmacy but haven’t made the trip up the street to get it. She works from 10 to 7 today so she’ll need to get it this morning. Both boys have soccer practice this afternoon so I’ll need to plan out my day getting everything done earlier in the day. I think I’ll get some corn beef today although we usually pass on this as it’s so salty. We’ll see how the day goes. Looks like my missing wine shipment arrived at the distributor instead of our house so I’ll need to make the drive across town to retrieve them this morning. The mud room is still clean, some kind of record around here as we’re going on 2 days now! (I’ve secretly kept it locked so no one can mess it up) Both dogs go to the groomers this morning. This is an extra expense but they’re starting to smell and their nails are getting pretty long.

No rants this morning on Japan, Libya, governments or politics, aren’t you glad? All I ask is that you be aware of what’s going on in our World, for your own safety and that of those you care about. Enough said.

OK, time to get moving as we have a lot going on around here this morning. The big dog is in as that f&%k!n@ raccoon or something is in the back yard. I really might have to shoot that sucker!

Hope all’s well with everyone, give us a call and take care.

I’m tempted to turn on the sprinklers today but know that as soon as I do, it’ll snow. Springtime in the Rockies can fool you as one day it’ll be shorts and flip flops and the next, snow boots and coats. I was stuck at home most of the day yesterday waiting for a shipment of wine to arrive via Fed Ex from Italy that never showed. In addition to working downstairs, I made it my mission to clean up the mud room once and for all. This project took me most of the day. I found stuff going back to 1967, threw out a lot of old shoes and coats we don’t wear or that were worn out, and washed all the remaining hats, coats and gloves. With the dryer broken (still) I had to take a load down to Aunt Blondie’s (who always folds it for us) and hang the rest outside to air dry. I think we won’t tell Aunt Blondie when the dryer is fixed cause she does such a good job folding our clothes! The oldest had soccer practice at 5:15 and by the time we got home it was 6:45. I rushed to make dinner as Mom was off at 7pm.

A quick trip to Kohls (a great value department store) used up my $50 T Mobile rebate card on socks, a pair of flip flops for the youngest and a shirt for each boy. Even at this “value oriented” store (fancy name for cheap), $50 doesn’t go very far. We’re back on the new workout program today after 3 days off due to lack of time or poor scheduling. (plus our bodies needed the break as we were too sore to move!)

Today Mom is off and then back to work tomorrow. She also has Friday off and then has a stint of 4 days in a row. Looking at her schedule, she works this, and next weekend meaning I’ll be doing double duty with dueling soccer games in different locations. I think the only weekend she’ll get off is in early April when we go to her Mom’s 80th birthday party. Sure is a drag with her gone EVERY weekend but we need to do whatever we can do to bring in a little extra cash. I know she’d much rather be at home, but is doing what she can to help. True to who she is, she’s still a great worker and their lucky to have her.

Japan is still a nightmare and no matter what you hear on the news, we really don’t know the full truth of what’s going on. Turns out Tepco (Tokyo Electric & Power Co.) has a long history of under reporting the severity or flat out not telling the truth when it comes to radiation accidents at any of their plants. (see my earlier post stating just this!) I don’t know why anyone should be surprised by this as most large companies have a pattern of lying to the public for their own protection or gain. One thing that is remarkable is how well mannered the Japanese people are while standing in line for food or water. They seem almost too civilized but I suspect this will change a bit if things don’t get better soon. You’re already hearing dissent or mistrust of the government by people not believing they’re being told the whole truth. Anyhow we hope and pray for the people of Japan. Lost in all this is what’s still going on in the middle east. Protests continue and regimes are opening fire on their own people trying to stave off the surge of democracy by the people. It even looks like Gadhafi will probably survive in Libya. How sad that the people sacrifice their lives for freedom and the international community stands by and debates a “no fly zone” while he bombs his own people. OK, sorry for my world views, let’s get back to our little corner of the World.

We’re still juggling finances, not getting enough sleep, and constantly doing laundry and cleaning the house, some things never change. Lot’s of work to do today including more unpacking, re-packing and shipping of wine. Sure will be glad when this is over. Hope everyone has a good day, stay safe and live life to the fullest as who nows what tomorrow will bring.

God Bless,

Good Morning! We are still challenged by the time change and sleeping an hour later than we should. The extra sleep may not necessarily be the time change….our youngest came in three times last night to sleep with us.  I got up and walked him back to his bed twice and then had him crawl in bed with his brother all the while hoping any warm body would do for him to “Snuggle” with…not so…he came in a fourth time at 1:43 a.m. and I gave up and let him climb over me to the middle of our bed where he kicked and tossed in  his sleep the rest of the night. Our lab of course barked insistently to go out at 2:30 and my sweet, sweet husband got up to let her out..wait for her to do her business and come back in. He then returned to bed where I’m sure we both wish we still were.

We are missing our workout this morning to walk the dogs.  I am working this morning so our time is limited and we don’t have the extra hour for the workout.  I’m sure our furry friends will appreciate our sacrifice and we do get a walk out of it.

The boys played hard outside yesterday and last night and went to bed with a bit of fussing. Although the clock reads 7:30p.m. their bodies are telling them it is only 6:30p.m. and they just are not ready to quiet down. Tough on tired Moms and Dads but we need to step back and realize that there is a bit of an adjustment period for all of us.

The oldest has soccer practice tonight and one of the youngest’s best buddies is a little brother of a teammate, so he will have some good playtime tonight as well.

We have been reminded a few times in the last week that our oldest needs socks.  It sounds like an easy item to buy….but….if you have children like ours(I hear from friends that theirs are the same way about socks)the socks have to feel just right. If by chance the first 2 or 3 pairs you try on don’t feel right it only takes about 30 to 40 more times to find the right socks. Boy am I glad to be working today…I have total sympathy for Dad today. Maybe Aunt Blondie wants to try her hand at sock shopping…the oldest likes short socks and wears a size 5 shoe and the youngest likes socks to his calf and wears a 1 and 1/12 shoe. Good luck if you choose to take on this challenge!!!

A “Thank you” goes out to Aunt Blondie for drying 2 loads of our laundry in the past 2 days. I took 2 loads to Grandmas yesterday and turned the boys loose in the pasture.  They found some potato bugs, a huge slug and a few spiders. The slug slimed the oldest and he was a bit grossed out. Good times for little boys!!! They also played on a broken tree swing and had a great time with each other. They are now lobbying hard for a tire swing in the back yard. We’ll see.

I am off to walk the dogs…looks like Dad has a call.

Until tomorrow…more prayers for Japan…family,friends and those in need.

LLF

This morning the sunrise was beautiful. Deep blues, bright yellows, shades of pink and orange…gorgeous!! The boys are having a tough time “Springing forward”, as am I. They slept in until well after 7 and I still feel like going back to bed.  We had our morning breakfast together, but the youngest was tardy to the table due to the time change of course. We rushed to get dressed, brush teeth, tie shoes and head out the door. I didn’t realize until we got to school that the youngest’s face was wearing a lot of his breakfast. I immediately gave him the “Mom wash”. EWW!!! were his exact words. I dropped the kiddos at school and headed off to shoot up our four legged friend.  Dog and Lady are having difficulty springing forward as well.

Our youngest was back in his roller skates yesterday and came downstairs(Yes,in the skates) with a green mouth and tongue. He said he had found his brothers candy stash in their room and just could not resist eating it. I took a picture and quickly washed his face with a wash cloth this time, but the evidence was a lovely, green grin, stained around his lips. No one has spilled the beans to his brother…so let’s everyone keep it that way. Thank you all in advance for helping us avoid a meltdown. Anyway, after the oldest got home the youngest was off to a friends. The two big boys made a Costco run and a few other father son bonding errands. They enjoyed great conversations and a couple of yummy treats. (Don’t tell the little one). It is 3 times easier with our munchkins when it is one on one and there is no competition for a parent’s attention.  I know the math doesn’t make sense when there are only 2 kids, but believe me…definitely 3 times easier!

I worked until 8..oops…supposed to be 8:30 but I had it in my head that I was off at 8..so I shut down with my Supervisor’s approval. I stopped at SLOL’s and met her friend from Pueblo(Lovely gentleman) and her son from Seattle. Her son barely looked up from his computer to say “Hello”…Did I mention I had to ring the doorbell twice and LOL had to answer the door.. The son seemed annoyed to be there and had a snide comment about the dog needing a shot… I certainly hope I am reading the situation incorrectly. LOL is happy to have company and her friend will stay with her for four or five days.  She goes in for an “Outpatient” back surgery on the 25th…everyone please say a good health prayer. (Maybe a good son prayer as well).

Dad drove to the airport to pick up more wine to ship out for samples…built boxes, filled boxes and now has headed off to Fed Ex. I got up on the wrong side of the bed and I am having a difficult time shaking off my attitude. Maybe it is allergies. Maybe it is the angst and sadness I am feeling for all of the displaced and grieving people of Japan. What a horrific tragedy. The news is now reporting that the entire Island/coastline of Japan has shifted 13 feet. Amazing and terrifying…I pray that they can cool down the reactors before the double disaster(Earthquake and Tsunami) turn to a triple disaster for the people of Japan and those of us watching the unimaginable.

I am off to throw the ball and lose my attitude before my hubby returns from Fed Ex….Then off to Grandmas to dry laundry. Stupid dryer!!!

Side note: I am thankful for Grandmas, for Aunts and Uncles and Moms and Dads, for good friends, and children that make you laugh and of course for our pets that love us even when they don’t get a walk.

Take care and God bless,

LLF

Morning came early as we were at friends last night for a great dinner and got home a little late. On top of that we indulged in a few adult beverages, (man can they drink!), so that coupled with 1 hour less sleep due to daylight savings time has made for a slow moving morning. Thankfully it’s Sunday. Mom was supposed to work at 8am but switched her shift so she now works from noon until 8:30 tonight. We left our eldest at our friends as he spent the night with their son who is his classmate and friend. I dropped him off around 4pm last night as he went to Mass with their family. We are of course not catholic, but he joined them anyhow and from what we were told, was a perfect gentleman. (of course we were not surprised as he always is) He’s going with them this morning to a soccer game and should be home around noon.

We ran a few errands in the morning and both boys have once again grown out of their tennis shoes. I heard all morning about the new “zig zag” shoes that are all the rage at school. All it takes is 1 or 2 kids to be wearing some new fashion and it’ll sweep through the school in a matter of days. Our eldest lobbied me hard all morning to get him a pair and of course our youngest followed his lead and soon I was being double teamed. When we arrived home I looked them up on the internet only to find out that they’re $70 a pair! Now as fast as their feet grow and the fact that they’re $70 each or $140 for 2 pairs, this just wasn’t going to happen. A few minutes later our eldest came in from outside and asked “Dad, I just want to know if we’re getting the shoes?”. When I told him how expensive they were, he stopped me mid sentence, (before I was going to say no), and said “that’s ok Dad, if they’re too expensive, we don’t have to get them”. WOW,  what great kids. Both boys played hard most of the rest of the day and then continued their wild ways at our friends house last night. Our youngest while seeing the tragedy in Japan commented that he was going to design a suit people can wear that’ll save them from tsunami’s and make a fortune! A few seconds later he told me that he decided he was going to “sell them for free” because they’ll help a lot of people and some people might not have the money to pay for them. What a great kid, both boys are a real testament to what great parents we are! Now before you all laugh, this is of course is a great testament to what great parents our parents are! (not so funny now, right, all you grandma’s and grandpa’s out there)

Looks like multiple reactors are melting down in Japan. This is worrisome as radiation can and will drift towards the U.S. Hope they get a handle on this and put politics aside and be real with what’s happening, and ask for help from the international community, sooner rather than later. (usually countries and/or governments understate the true level of disasters for some financial or political reason) Everyone needs to understand that you should not count on the government to help, save or support you in any tragedy as they’re just not set up to help the individual. (remember Katrina) Wake up and prepare to take care of yourself and your family as if/when something happens to you, you’re pretty much on your own. Just look at the hundreds of thousands of people in Japan without water, food, shelter, etc. Ok, sorry, enough of my rant, just one more thing, here’s a quote from Thomas Jefferson to ponder, “God doesn’t call the prepared, He prepares the called”. Think about it! We’re living in ever changing times. We’re not in Kansas anymore Toto!

Mom’s baking banana bread and we’re putting a chicken in the oven this morning as we didn’t cook it last night. We did some laundry yesterday and were heading up to grandma’s to use her dryer but didn’t make it. Instead we just laid our clothes out on the dinning room table and chairs to dry, I think they’re still a bit damp. It rained a bit last night but is sunny now. Roller Boy is back as our youngest is skating around the house at blazing speed. Bunkie has had his morning shot and Mom’s making eggs. Time to run and get moving as to quote John Wayne, “we’re burning daylight”.

Take care, be safe and enjoy the day. more tomorrow.

Another weekend is here. Mom’s working both days, again, agggh. Wish we could get one weekend where we’re all off so we could do something as a family but tough times call for sacrifices. Our oldest said that it used to be fun when we had “boys weekend” (a weekend with just the 3 boys), but now all we do is work around the house. I told him that this is because EVERY weekend is now boys weekend and we can’t just play all day every weekend. I am going to try to do something fun for them today as he’s probably right. When I think about it, we have gravitated away from fun activities to just working around the house.

Mom had Bunko last night and we were all asleep when she made it home. She’s still sleeping so no word on how her evening was. The theme was painting and all the girls were painting some sort of something something on canvas. I looked around the house but can’t find it, maybe it’s a nude self portrait! Thanks to my Mom for getting the misses a key to her house yesterday so we can use her dryer for the next week or so. This is a huge help. Funny how our life is turned upside down by a little thing like a broken dryer, imagine if you lived in Japan! We feel so sorry for those poor people over there. My brother in laws wife (I guess that makes her my sister in law) is from Japan. Her parents are alright but they have many friends they can’t get in touch with. We’re praying for theirs (and everyone else’s) safety. The damage is so immense, no one knows the entire scope of it yet. Now it looks like one or more of the nuclear reactors is melting down as the government is handing out iodine (which blocks radiation absorption by the thyroid) to the people. This is potentially catastrophic for the world as the jet stream can carry the radiation directly to the U.S. not to mention that the area will be uninhabitable for century’s. Hope this isn’t the case. I need to pause here and take a little break for an hour (exercise) and will return shortly, talk amongst yourselves…..

I’m back, wow that P90X exercise program is a killer. It’s only been 3 days and the wife and I can’t stand, sit, walk, talk or do anything without feeling sore in our muscles. Now we pride ourselves in staying in pretty good shape. I know we’re not as good looking as we think we are (maybe my wife is) but self confidence is a good thing. We go to the gym and lift weights at least 4 times a week but this workout is kicking our butts. So 3 days out of 90 down, I like to call it P87X today. Lookout here we come.

It’s now 8am and our hour workout is done and Mom is down the street to give Junkie, err I mean Bunkie, his shot. The boys are slamming down Poptarts (the organic ones in case you’re wondering) and watching some TV. Today we’ll clean up the backyard and mud room and then try to find something fun to do. Chicken for dinner tonight as we pulled one from the freezer 2 days ago and it should be good to go tonight. I never thought it would be a special day to have chicken for dinner but now that we’re watching our pennies, we eat a lot of pasta.

Looks like a nice sunny day although it’s supposed to be cooler, right around 55. Mom’s back and making us protein shakes for breakfast, even our jar of protein powder has jumped from $26 to $43 in the past 6 months! Thankfully it was on sale for $36 which makes it around $28 with our discount, I should have bought a bunch of them!

The kids stayed at school and played for a bit with their friends yesterday afternoon and then Mom brought 2 extra ones (kids) home with her and they all played outside for a while. Our friends called to see if we wanted to go to Laser Tag with them (as both Mom’s were at Bunko) but I passed as it would have been about $50! We’ll find something to do outside today that’ll be as much fun and cost a whole lot less. Our joke around here is that if we have any extra money, we spend it on “beans and bullets”, you can’t go wrong there. Anyhow time to go, have a good day and pray for Japan and buy a few extra cans of food, don’t think it can’t happen to you!

God Bless,

Well soccer officially started last night with both boys having practice at the same time. Mom dropped the oldest at his and took the younger to his practice and I headed over to the eldest ones practice about half way through to watch him in action and bring him home. We were informed by his coach that this year we’re in a new league which will require travel to places like Longmont, Boulder and Broomfield for games. For those of you not local, this means games up to an hour away from home, wish they would have told us this BEFORE we signed up! Not sure what to do when Mom’s working and both boys have games at the same time, hmmm. All four of us arrived home about the same time and began scouring the cupboards for something to eat. Mom did so much cleaning yesterday she forgot to take something out of the freezer for dinner. Oh well, we always have our old standby to fall back on, pasta!

After dinner and a bit of family TV, we began the power struggle trying to get the boys into bed. After fierce negotiations similar to those going on in the middle east, we finally got them both to sleep by about 8pm. Right before then we heard a loud noise downstairs that sounded like an earthquake in the backyard. Turns out, our clothes dryer is now also busted! Now we can live with a broken microwave and holes in the walls and ceiling and exposed pipes but I don’t think we can do without our dryer. Looks like we’ll need to call the repairman first thing this morning and push back some other bill in order to get this fixed, it just never seems to stop.

Now to put it all in perspective, overnight Japan had a huge earthquake and a tsunami that has killed scores and done massive damage. Hawaii is supposed to get hit right about now and the west coast of the U.S. is all on edge. You don’t want to mess with huge waves of water as their power in unbelievable. We get knocked over by 3 foot waves when in Hawaii on vacation and these are supposed to be as high as 30 feet! Guess the broken dryer and pasta (again) is not so bad after all. I have another 300 lbs of wine arriving on a 10am flight from Germany this morning and will need to head out to the airport to pick this up around noon. Mom has Bunko (her girls night out/drinking game party) tonight. I think the theme is something to do with art as they all are going to be painting. The boys and I will have to find something to do tonight and the next 2 days as once again she’s working for the weekend. (I think there was some song called “Working for the Weekend” by a band called Loverboy if I remember right)

Time to get downstairs and on the phone as it’s already about 9am on the east coast and 3pm in Italy, in other words, I’m late for work even though it’s a bit before 7 here. The youngest is up and has changed the news to Spongebob Square Pants, his favorite morning show, and is munching down a bowl of cereal to start his day. The oldest seems to have hit the point in life where he likes to sleep in, and so life goes on.

Have a good day and get ready for the weekend, we hope everyone is happy and well.

Hold on, the wife is on the phone with Sears and it turns out she bucked up for the extended warranty when the repair people were out here last for the washer, hallelujah! I never sign up for those, thankfully she was the one here when they asked her to buy it. (hope I didn’t get mad at her!) Looks like we might be having hamburger for dinner tonight after all ! Oh oh wait, she just found out it’ll be 8 to 10 days before a repairman can get here. I knew there was a catch! We’ll have to ask my Mom if we can use hers as she’s in AZ. The other alternative is to put up a close line which I’m ok with but it’d have to be in the front yard as our big dog (who lives in the backyard) would have a field day pulling all the clothes down and chewing them up. I don’t know how the neighbors would feel about clothes hanging in our front yard. Anyhow, around here we do laundry at least once a day (usually more) and will need to find some solution, we’ll keep you posted.