A Year of Change

Last night was the annual school carnival from 5 to 8pm. What a zoo! Picture 300 kids and their parents all running around hyped up on cotton candy, sno cones, pizza and pop. The boys had a blast with each of them sprinting off in different directions with their friends as soon as we arrived. Our oldest had volunteered to work one of the booths as part of student council. His booth turned out to be the sno cone stand where as my wife tells it, he personally drank 9 gallons of blue sno cone juice or whatever it’s called. We then all ended up at our close friends house for some post carnival adult libations. The kids continued their self induced rampage by playing endless made up games and running throughout the house. They sometimes move so fast they seem like a blur. I think our littlest one has had a stomach ache since the middle of the night while the oldest is still asleep. Mom works from 11:30 to 7:30 today and needs to head down the street to give Bunker (remember the diabetic poodle) his morning shot. I guess she couldn’t get the muzzle on yesterday and pulled her hand away just in time to avoid a little nip on her hand.

My Mom leaves for Arizona early Monday morning. I’m glad she’s going as I think the sun and warmth will do her good. My little brother is driving her (and her car) down and will stay a week or so and then fly back. We (my wife and I) are both nursing small self inflicted headaches that we’re trying to drown out with second cups of strong coffee. Our friends (who’s house we were at and shared an adult pop or two with) are both already up and on the road as the Misses had to work (also at Whole Foods) at 7am while her husband had to be at a soccer game for one of their kids also at 7. They’ve got to be feeling worse than we are for sure!

Today’s going to be a muddy slushy mess outside as with 60 degree temps a lot of snow will be melting all at once. They say it’ll be in the 60’s for the next week or so which will be a nice welcome change from all the cold and snow we’ve had. We’re personally ready for summer. On TV there’s some fishing show with guys catching perch in the Great Lakes. When I was a kid, I remember my Mom and grandparents taking us to fish frys in Wisconsin when we were there for summer vacations. Oh man was that good food. Those were the days. It’d be fun to have a boat and live on a lake.

I have an hour or two worth of work to do this morning to get ready for next week. it seems there’s never enough time in the day to get everything done. The boys will wake soon all rested and ready to go so I’d better get some breakfast going. Mom’s now downstairs on the elliptical trying to get some exercise in before they wake while both dogs are asleep at my feet after a 30 minute bout of tug o war with a stuffed animal. This is about as peaceful and quiet as it ever gets around here. So time to go and start the day,

Have yourself a good day wherever you are and God Bless

Got up at 3am, had a headache all night and the boys were coughing. Looks like they might have finally got me! I went to the gym at 4 to try to “work out” any impending illness that’s trying to infect me, so far I feel better.

Tonight is the carnival (an annual event) at the boys school. Our eldest has volunteered to work the cotton candy booth and clean up. (maybe he thinks he gets free cotton candy! just kidding, he really wants to help) Having 2 kids nowadays means something is going on almost every single night! It’s a lot of work but if you’re going to have kids, you need to be prepared for all that comes with it. On top of that, my lovely, thoughtful wife and her help the world attitude (which is an admirable trait), had called the 90 year old lady down the street yesterday to see how she was doing. The response was not good as our neighbor was quite upset. At first my wife thought she might have fallen or had some kind of health problem but it turns out she was upset because her 15 year old poodle has diabetes. This on the surface didn’t seem so bad until my wife learned that the dog needs insulin shots twice each day, morning and night. To make matters urgent, the poor dog had not had any insulin for 3 days as her owner, (our 90 year old neighbor) can’t manage to give the dog his shots. Upon learning this my wife came home and told me to get the car keys as we had to take our neighbor and the dog to the vet right away! (still not so bad right, we can find the time to take an little old lady who has nothing left in the world but a little poodle to the vet) So we drive down to her house to find that nobody had helped her shovel her walk from all the snow over the past few weeks. While my wife proceeds to load up the neighbor and her poodle, I shovel the walk. (I don’t like the way this is going) On the way to the vet she tells us everyone wants her to put her little dog down, you know give it THE shot. She laments that the dog is all she has and he’s not ready to go, and my wife then jumps in and tells her not to let anyone tell her what to do! She should do what she wants to do. We get to the vet and realize that the only way to keep this little dog alive is for it to have its insulin shots each day, morning and night. Don’t they have some kind of pill or something? Now with the 90 year little old lady unable to give her dog his shots, who do you think is going to be doing it? You guessed it, we are! On top of all this, the little dog seems to be a biter. This means we need to muzzle Bunker (that’s his name) each time before his shots. The injections need to be 12 hours apart so now everyday right after we take the kids to school, about 8:15am and every night, about 8:15pm, we’re honorary veterinarians. They gave us a crash course at the vet clinic and we’re all back in the car headed home. As soon as we’re all in the car,  (my wife and I, Bunker and his 90 year old owner), she tearfully tells us she’s a very spiritual person and she had been praying somehow, someone, would come to her rescue and save her little dogs life. She then said she was so amazed that it would be us, neighbors she knew in passing ( my mom and her have known each other for years) but never really had much contact with. I guess God works in mysterious ways. I never thought yesterday morning that by the end of the day we’d be giving insulin shots twice a day to a biting little 15 year old poodle!

Well time to get the kids moving and breakfast going as we have a big day. Oh by the way, the thing we were trying to remember the other day that our youngest had said was that he liked having a unibrow! You know, one big eyebrow going all the way across your forehead. This came about as he came home from school and had drawn a line from one eyebrow to the other with a magic marker, hence, his unibrow. Priceless! Thank God it wasn’t permanent marker!

It’s going to warm up to about 45 or 50 today and be in the mid 60’s tomorrow, look out, lots of mud and slush and runoff everywhere this weekend. Mom works both days so it’ll be me and the boys, we’ll keep you posted.

No matter how I try, I can’t sleep past about 5am. I remember when I was a teenager I could sleep until 10 or 11 easy. I can’t even imagine that nowadays. The kids had a full day, (even though it was a half day at school), that finished late last night after basketball. Our eldest comes home a bit after 8:30 and is looking for dinner. By this time Mom and the littlest one are already upstairs in bed. We’re really blessed as we have 2 really good boys.

The oldest and I have begun talking about our long awaited summer camping trip. We’ve been talking about it for years but this year decided everyone is finally old enough to go. If we don’t start planning now, something will come up and it won’t happen. It’s really important that the kids get exposed to the outdoors at a young age. Of course Mom wants some kind of bathroom. (she’d like to go back to our friends fancy ranch!) It sure would be nice if we had a camper to go on the back of our pick up truck (sounds kind of red neck but the new campers are really nice) but they cost around $30,000 and would only get used a few times a year at best. Hence, no camper here. I guess Mom will have to do without a bathroom. The other option is to rent a small motorhome, let Mom sleep in there and we boys will sleep outside. Stay tuned as a few months from now I promise the post following the family camping trip will be one not to miss!

It’s going to be in the 60’s all weekend. This means lots of slush and mud from all the melting snow. Hopefully the warm weather will stick around for a while. We’re all ready for Spring around here. I checked the weather for next week from here to Phoenix to make sure all’s ok for my Moms drive down to Arizona. So far, it looks good.

Mom’s up and our 120 lb Malamute is shadowing her every move. He likes me but loves her! I have a feeling today is going to be a good day. We’re on the verge of something life changing happening to our family. My wife is working (for the past few months), on her secret new business idea (can’t tell you what it is so don’t ask) that she thinks will be embraced by women everywhere. She needs to raise a little capital (which won’t be easy) but I think she might have found a nice little niche developing a much needed product that’s useful and fashionable. Stay tuned as someday you’ll probably be reading about her in People or Vogue magazine. We’re sitting here trying to remember what our youngest said yesterday as when we heard him, we both looked at each other and said we have to put that in the blog! Of course now we can’t remember. Our boys are such characters, we always say they should be on TV. My wife’s childhood friend is a big time Los Angeles producer with Disney connections and we always joke that we should put them both in the “Disney Machine”. Probably best we don’t as all you have to do is turn on the news to see how those childhood stars turn out, can you say Lindsey Lohan!

Well, time to get some exercise and have my third cup of joe. (maybe I should pass on that!) I’ve had a headache all night I think because the heat was too high. Hopefully 30 minutes on the elliptical will get rid of it.

Have a good day and stay healthy.

The short post yesterday was due to the fact that I had my 2nd colonoscopy at 8am. I wasn’t going to mention this but then thought there might be some people that have a stigma about this routine test. The worst part, which is a whole lot better than 5 years ago, is the prep the day before. You basically chug down a mixture of Gatorade and laxative over a couple of hours and then stay close to home. The procedure itself is not bad at all. Those who experience this for the first time are a bit nervous just because of the unknown. I witnessed this first hand again yesterday morning with people who were obviously coming to their first baptism from behind. You arrive at the center, a nice name for a sterile environment that used to be Taylor’s Supper Club, a dinner show club my parents used to take us to when I was a kid. The nice people then explain the procedure after you slip into a gown and wait for your turn. The procedure itself is only about 15 minutes long and you’re knocked out for the whole thing. The first time I remember watching the TV screen in the room but now they’ve switched drugs and your totally out of it the whole time. I don’t even remember walking back to my chair. I do recall telling stories to Amber, the nurse anesthesiologist, and then asking her “what are you doing in my house”. I hope I didn’t say anything embarrassing! Anyhow this test can be a life saver. Colon cancer is the second leading “cancer killer” and is totally preventable. If you have a family history (which we do little brother!) you should get tested as early as your mid 40’s. Five years ago I had a couple of polyps but this time was polyp free, must be all that clean living. So if anyone out there is 50 or older (or has a family history, then 45) get in there now. Enough said but you don’t want to die over something you can prevent.

Now for today, the kids have a half day at school, (you’ve got to be kidding me!) so they’ll be terrorizing the wife and I all afternoon. It’s 9 below outside right now but doesn’t seem that cold, I must be getting used to it. Looks like Grandma is heading down to Arizona where it’s a lot warmer, next week. We’ll have to try to get down to visit her maybe around Easter. I finally got the wife to the doctor yesterday where they put her on a Z Pak (5 days of antibiotics) to kick her cold or whatever she has. All 3 of these walking petri dishes (the 2 boys and my wife) are still part of some sinister plot to infect me, I know it. My wife is off work until the weekend so she’s trying to get better and get some chores done around the house. Looks like it’ll be the boys and me again this weekend.

I won’t be going to Italy next week as I now have a trip to San Francisco that came up yesterday (see I told you things change daily) and also need to get in a day trip to Miami and then D.C. which is still scheduled. It’s 7am and here comes Michelle Obama on the Today Show. She’s now trying to tell us that restaurants (by law) should be forced to limit their portion sizes. You’ve got to be kidding me, again! Let’s see, the government is now proposing regulation that says when I go to a restaurant and buy a steak, it can only be this big. Man I don’t know what the world is coming to. Over regulation and big government has to be stopped. (speaking of being stopped, my wife is stopping me now as I’m bordering on jumping into a political rant) In closing , my feeling is that if your overweight, go exercise or stop stuffing your face, point is, it’s not the government’s place to tell people what or how much they can eat. God help us.

Time to run as the kids are getting restless and I’m late for a call.

God Bless,

As promised, it’s back!!!! Looks like another 4 to 6 inches on the ground with it still coming down. It’s 9 degrees outside right now and the snow will continue throughout the day. The boys made it to school yesterday while Mom tried to get some much needed rest on the couch. She took the boys to the doctor after school and so far, all is ok. I guess we’re waiting on whooping cough tests that’ll come back in a couple of days. Mom is the one that needed to go to the doctor but of course, she didn’t get there. With an ok from the doctor, the boys did go to basketball. They sure love it and go right to sleep when they get home.

I need to get going and clean off the car as I need to be out the door by 7am. Lots of work going on and I need to make some plane reservations today. I was supposed to go to Italy on the 18th but have too many issues here stateside. Instead I’ll probably make a quick trip to Miami and then back out to D.C. around the first of the month. Hard to tell as things change daily.

Have to run, more later, maybe…..

The Vince Lombardi (Super Bowl) trophy is headed back to Wisconsin. Named after arguably the best football coach ever, to those that knew him and/or played for him, he was a better man and mentor than a coach. I’ve read a few books about the man and it seems he was always more interested in teaching young men how to be “good men” rather than good football players. In the pre-game yesterday they interviewed Bart Starr, the famous quarterback from years ago. When asked about how Coach Lombardi prepared them for a game he said “coach didn’t prepare us for games, he prepared us for life”. He went on to say that Coach’s priorities were “God, then family and then us”, joking that we, and football, were way down the totem pole as far as importance in life. Other famous quotes include those such as “son, winning isn’t the most important thing, giving your best effort is”. Seems like today, we could use a bit of Lombardi wisdom in our lives. Oh well, important or not, it was a great game and I’m thrilled the Pack won!

We had a busy day yesterday making snow forts in the front yard in case the dreaded neighbor kids came over and dared to pick up a snowball. Mom worked until 5:30, (they let her go home a 1/2 an hour early) and we all watched the halftime show together. She had her first employee review yesterday and to no one’s surprise, (those of us that know her), she was of course rated “awesome” in all catagories. She started the day going to work with a temperature over 100 degrees but said she couldn’t call in sick as she’d only been there a few weeks and it was Super Bowl Sunday. That’s the kind of worker she is. It’s 6am and she still has a 101 degree fever and the boys are both nursing their endless head colds and deep rooted coughs. So far I’ve managed to avoid the plague that lives in our home.

We’re supposed to get another round of snow tonight that is threatening to close the schools tomorrow. We have a lot on the ground outside right now and it’ll warm up enough just to melt it a bit so it can re-freeze into a nice icy sheet on the walks and streets. We both (the wife and I) got in our exercise yesterday and passed on any adult beverages. We feel much better when we incorporate those practices into our days. The boys have basketball tonight but as of now, we need to keep them home as we need to try to kick these deep coughs. I’m off to the elliptical downstairs as my day starts with a conference call in about 90 minutes.

Enjoy the week and keep a positive attitude.

I awoke at 5 am to a fresh blanket (sounds cliche but really does look like a blanket) of snow. It looks like another 6 inches or so fell overnight and it’s still coming down. They say we’ll get up to another 4 inches today before it stops, then a bit of a break tomorrow before another round on Tuesday.

My honey was sent home a 1/2 hour early yesterday as her manager told her she’d worked so hard to just go home. If the world, or even a small percentage of it, had the work ethic of my wife, we wouldn’t be in the trouble we are today. Mark my words, she’ll be moving up the ladder faster than anyone else there. She works again today from 10 to 6 which means she’ll be home about half time of the big game. You see on Super Bowl Sunday, time is measured around the game. For example, it’s 3 hours 48 minutes before pre game right now. She finished putting the final touches on her famous tortilla soup and made a fresh load of guacamole for me and the boys. I think she’s downstairs on the elliptical getting some exercise. I was going to try to get to the gym but will probably follow her as we’re running out of time. I did shovel our walk and Grandma’s and cleaned off the cars which with 6 inches of snow is a workout in itself.

The youngest and I had some alone time yesterday while his older brother was at the birthday party. We did some shopping, went to the bookstore and had a hot chocolate. (mine was actually a double espresso) Then we headed home to finish the laundry and housecleaning. We picked his brother up about 5:45 and headed home for dinner. My brother made ribs and sauerkraut, an old standby from my youth. It was nice not to have to cook or eat my tortilla soup as it’s great game food.

I’m trying to get my Mom and brother together for the game but they’re both opting out saying they each want to watch the game alone. Wonder if I have bad breath? It’s probably the kids as they don’t want to be distracted during the game. Oh well, to me, part of the fun of the Super Bowl is getting together and watching it in a group. I guess this year it’ll be me and the boys! We’ll come up with some fun things like a “pool” with nickels or dimes, decorate the house a bit and make some fun non-alcholic drinks. Who knows, maybe well even have our own “snow bowl” game before the actual game starts. Maybe we’ll crash Grandma’s or my brother’s house before the game. (if either of you are reading this, you’d better answer the door if we show up!)

Too much snow to get up the hill to church. We really wanted to go today as there’s a kids class that starts today. I think it’ll probably be postponed as chains are required to get up the hill to our church. Oh well, time to get going as Mom will be showering and leaving pretty soon and I want to get 1/2 hour on the elliptical.

God Bless everyone and Go Pack! Give us a call in the 2nd half if you’re watching.

It’s Saturday morning and we’re all up. Mom has to work from 10 to 6 and the oldest has a birthday party from 1 to 6, so the youngest and I will be spending the afternoon together. His suggestions for the day include roller skating, going to the Lego store, Jose O’Shea’s (a mexican restaurant) for lunch, and playing the Wii game. All this while he’s still congested and has a runny nose. Not sure how much of the above will play out, we’ll have to wait and see as both boys can change their mind within seconds.

My friend with liver cancer got some good news yesterday after his biopsy.  Looks like it’s localized and they’re just going to go in and cut it out. Much better than having to go through chemo. I think I have him convinced to give up coke (I mean soda pop), and start eating better. He was pretty nervous before his appointment yesterday morning and on top of the world after. Funny how a near death experience will change ones view on life and hopefully their bad habits.

We had game night last night, just the four of us. We played (or tried to play) Cranium. It’s a pretty difficult game, especially for kids. (there has to be a kid version) We had some pretty funny moments but boy is our eldest competitive. If the rules aren’t followed to the letter, look out as he turns into judge, jury and executioner. We have to repeatedly point out that’s it’s just a game. Anyhow we had fun and then had a bite of dinner and tried to call it an early night. The snow is supposed to return this afternoon and stick around until mid week.

Mom’s making tortilla soup (I can smell it from the couch) for tomorrow’s big game, because she won’t be home from work until the 2nd half. I’m sure proud of her sticking to work. She picked up her first paycheck yesterday and it was a bit over $450. It doesn’t seem like a lot for as much as she worked. I had to remind her of the other benefits such as the discount of groceries but more importantly her getting out of the house and back into the real world. Week after next she starts training to be a cashier and then things should be a little bit more fun. One of the best benefits is all the stuff she’s learning about our food supply and what’s good for you but more importantly, what’s really bad for you. I’m starting to plan out our garden for the coming season. We’re going to take another stab at it and hopefully have some better results this year. I’ve been reading and studying for a few months and am going to narrow it down to things I think we can really grow well. We’d really like to stick some chickens up at Grandma’s (in the horse pasture) but this is a pretty big project. I had another thought as we have a 90 year old lady down the street we get fresh eggs from right now. Problem is we only get a dozen or so a week and we need about 4 or 5 dozen a week! I was thinking of approaching her and seeing if we could buy her some more chickens and/or help pay for the feed and in return, get more eggs each week, kind of like a co-op. This sure would be an easier way to go.

Gotta get going as it’s almost 8 and I need to get some exercise in before Mom’s off to work. We also need to get a birthday present for the party today, wish we could just recycle some of the useless toys upstairs. I guess my mother in-law is having a big 80th birthday bash in Sacramento on April 8th. We’ll have to make this one for sure. I’m ok with driving but my wife thought the last drive was a living hell. I just asked both boys and they’re split on whether we should drive or not. It’s almost as expensive to drive as fly when you factor in a rental car and the other expenses. Anyhow, looks like we’re going to California in early April.

Stay safe and remember, Go Packers! (for my Mom’s sake)

It’s 19 degrees this morning, feels like summer. Today we get a break before the snow comes back tomorrow afternoon and supposedly lasts through mid week. We coaxed Grandma into coming over for dinner last night. It was a really enjoyable evening. The kids were well behaved (we bribed them, no just kidding), and dinner was great. Continuing with the theme of earlier days posts, we prodded Grandma to tell us some stories of her childhood. It seems she too has many similar experiences of many of those who grew up in that era.

One story was when she was in high school and went with her friend and family on a trip to Chicago. This of course was a pretty big deal for a girl from a small town in Wisconsin in 1950. She told us of how a few days earlier she smashed her thumb in a car door and had to frequently stop on the way to soak it. When in Chicago, she and her friend donned their finest cotton dresses (probably home made) and headed off to the Trianon Ballroom for a dance. She says they were way underdressed compared to all the “city girls” in their finest dresses. Somehow I think my Mom was still the most beautiful girl in the room, she’s always been a looker. Anyhow she remembers an older boy, she says, “he must have been 20 or 21 one and I can still see his face”, who asked her to dance. This must have been quite a trip. Other stories include her skating in freezing cold weather when she was young and one afternoon before dinner, while doing her finest Sonja Henie impersonation, she fell and broke her wrist. Her Mom, (my Grandma) then fashioned a splint with a cardboard box from a block of cheese (Wisconsin is a big cheese country), around her wrist and arm as there were no emergency rooms to visit at night and they could do nothing until the morning. She remembered “walking the floor” all night in pain. Can you imagine the pain of a broken wrist that needs to be set, wrapped up in a cardboard box, and then being told to go to sleep until the doctor is in the next morning? We shared other memories of her childhood and mine as life in Wisconsin was pretty good in those days. My grandparents (her parents) were really good people. Simple words, but sums it up. They were kind, thoughtful, and caring. I never remember either of them remotely upset at anything. Perhaps my Mom does, but I can’t imagine them ever yelling or raising their voice. Maybe I’ll get a little more insight today as my Mom told me she’d share the story of when she wrote a letter to the Governor and in her words, “boy were my parents mad!”.

It seems life was much different back then. After hearing stories (from my Mom and mother in-law), some might say it was a much harder life, but if you didn’t know any better, I don’t think you’d notice. I look forward to hearing more from my Mom, we need to write these down! I can’t believe I’m in my 50’s and just now hearing some of these stories. Well, better late than never.

After the kids being home 4 of the past 5 days, they finally go back to school today, yea! I think even they are excited as the last 2 days have pretty much been spent inside the house. Mom did get each of them a play date yesterday which helped some but I think they were still kind of bored and tired of being stuck in the house. We finally will all wake up today with no house guests. No matter how easy or good your guests are, it’s always a great day when they finally leave and you can get back to your family routine.

My wife and I were talking about yesterday’s post (the part at the end) where it talked about life for our parents and grandparents. She talked to her Mom before she (her Mom), read the post and asked about her experiences as a little girl. I guess it was pretty similar as she told my wife they didn’t have running water until she was in high school. They also had a big tank to collect water that they filled with charcoal to filter out the impurities. I think she said that a lot of the time the water was more or less unfiltered as they didn’t always have money for coal. Funny how we’re only a generation removed from such a different way of life.

If you’ve been reading along daily, you might think we’re some kind of survivalists. Well relax. You see, we really don’t subscribe to this type of thinking as most of those people (I think) are planning on some sort of Armageddon fast approaching. We on the other hand just have little faith in the government being able to take care of anyone in a time of crisis. If you look at events such as Hurricane Katrina or the foreclosure problem facing many family’s, our government has all kinds of expensive programs designed to take care of these people, but they never seem to actually work. Having a couple of young children prompts us to try to have some basic living supplies on hand to get by in the event stores run out of things for an extended period of time. This is mainly food as I’m sure our kids would go into some sort of coma if they didn’t eat every 30 minutes! Anyhow we kind of see a time where people are going to have to be more self reliant as many of the comforts we have today will either be too expensive or unavailable in the future. I don’t think anyone can argue the fact that things will not continue status quo or as they are right now. There’s just too much that needs fixing whether it be social security, the economy in general, the nations food supply, our bridges and roads, etc. If you really think about it, you get the picture. We just don’t have the money as a nation to fix everything. As I said a few weeks ago, we need to start building and buying things in America again.

Oh well, enough of my rant on what’s wrong with our Country. At least I’ve stayed away from politics. (my wife won’t let me go there) Remember to live each day like it’s your last as you never know!

In closing, if anyone has any stories to tell from when they were kids (all you grandma’s out there), leave us a comment and will include it in a coming post.

best,

Side note : 2  note worthy additions….First, the youngest tripped over, or was tripped by his brother yesterday and knocked out his loose tooth. It is the first tooth he has lost.

Second, during this deep freeze..while the boys were suffering from cabin fever…I asked the youngest…”Why are you behaving so badly”, to which he replied, “Maybe because I am related to 2 kings”. There you have it, one simple statement that explains it all!!

Have a great day!

LLF