Jessica: Luke, next Thursday is your first day of Kindergarten! Are you excited?
Luke: Yes. But Mommy, Thursday is garbage truck day.
Jessica: I know.
Luke: Mommy, I can't go to school before I see the garbage truck.
10 years ago
Showing posts with label Family Stuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family Stuff. Show all posts
Been a while, hasn't it? Well, I kind of lost my motivation there for a while, but I'm hopping back on the blog here to try out the old digs again. It'd be pointless to go into all the happenings of the past year in detail (those who are reading here are probably Facebook friends, so you know about it anyway,) so we'll just dive back into the present.
First, the kids. Luke is five now, and he'll be starting kindergarten here in a few weeks, which will bring to an end the era of being able to plan trips at any time of year. Sad on one hand, but on the other hand, that kid is ready for some school. He's the most curious and observant little kid I've ever seen. Always with the questions like "how does this work? what's that made of?" And while I love that he's going to prove smart, answering questions that I really don't know the answer to can get tiresome. So school will be good for him. Ronin is three, and he is a monster in every sense of the word. He's almost the same size as Luke (they can wear the same size clothes,) and he's built like a linebacker. If he ends up with that size and my brother's athletic prowess, watch out. Unfortunately, however, he may end up about as coordinated as I was when I was a kid (which was not very.) Also since he's this age, he is a miserable person. I don't know if everyone has this experience with three-year-olds, but in short, mine have been awful people. Luke is better now, which gives me hope for Ronin, who a year ago was a gregarious, outgoing, fearless little boy and is presently bad-tempered, demanding, and scared of everyone and everything. But we still love him. As for little Renae, she's pretty much the cutest baby ever. There are only good things to say about five-month-olds, after all. She pretty much just sits there and smiles and makes cute baby noises. The boys love her to death, which is both good and dangerous. They don't quite realize the size difference between them and her (mostly the oafish Ronin,) so we have to keep a pretty close eye on their interactions.
As for personal stuff, I'm still pretty much a fat guy, but I'm getting on a program to make that different. This has happened a few times before with moderate success followed by reinflating, but this time I've got a pretty good feeling about it. The thing with me is that I have to have a routine that I can follow constantly, and it's good to have my food regulated to "you can eat the following things, and if you eat anything else, here's how to do it." So Jessica and I are on the Power 90 program right now (which is the precursor to the P90X, because we're just not in good enough shape to do that yet,) and it's feeling good. We get up at 6:00-6:30 every morning and work out for about 40 minutes. I haven't been able to stay up as late as I typically like to, which is a drawback for me, but at the same time I feel good all day long and I have energy like I didn't have before, even with the same amount of sleep. I'll get into results once we finish the program--we've only been doing it for a week and a half now, so I don't want to talk it up too much just yet. Hopefully the results will be dramatic enough to post some before and after pictures.
I think blogging feels good again. I won't get into a bunch of media recommendations or witty anecdotes just yet (namely because I don't have any at the moment,) but that will come later. I do have just a few recommendations, though:
*If you haven't seen Breaking Bad, the AMC series, watch all three seasons immediately.
*If you haven't seen Inception, run - do not walk - to your nearest movie theater and take care of that.
*If you want to hear some good music, check out the new Black Keys album, called "Brothers." It's fantastic. I had just about given up hope that this group would release an album that sounded a bit different from all their others, and this one did the trick. Great stuff.
First, the kids. Luke is five now, and he'll be starting kindergarten here in a few weeks, which will bring to an end the era of being able to plan trips at any time of year. Sad on one hand, but on the other hand, that kid is ready for some school. He's the most curious and observant little kid I've ever seen. Always with the questions like "how does this work? what's that made of?" And while I love that he's going to prove smart, answering questions that I really don't know the answer to can get tiresome. So school will be good for him. Ronin is three, and he is a monster in every sense of the word. He's almost the same size as Luke (they can wear the same size clothes,) and he's built like a linebacker. If he ends up with that size and my brother's athletic prowess, watch out. Unfortunately, however, he may end up about as coordinated as I was when I was a kid (which was not very.) Also since he's this age, he is a miserable person. I don't know if everyone has this experience with three-year-olds, but in short, mine have been awful people. Luke is better now, which gives me hope for Ronin, who a year ago was a gregarious, outgoing, fearless little boy and is presently bad-tempered, demanding, and scared of everyone and everything. But we still love him. As for little Renae, she's pretty much the cutest baby ever. There are only good things to say about five-month-olds, after all. She pretty much just sits there and smiles and makes cute baby noises. The boys love her to death, which is both good and dangerous. They don't quite realize the size difference between them and her (mostly the oafish Ronin,) so we have to keep a pretty close eye on their interactions.
As for personal stuff, I'm still pretty much a fat guy, but I'm getting on a program to make that different. This has happened a few times before with moderate success followed by reinflating, but this time I've got a pretty good feeling about it. The thing with me is that I have to have a routine that I can follow constantly, and it's good to have my food regulated to "you can eat the following things, and if you eat anything else, here's how to do it." So Jessica and I are on the Power 90 program right now (which is the precursor to the P90X, because we're just not in good enough shape to do that yet,) and it's feeling good. We get up at 6:00-6:30 every morning and work out for about 40 minutes. I haven't been able to stay up as late as I typically like to, which is a drawback for me, but at the same time I feel good all day long and I have energy like I didn't have before, even with the same amount of sleep. I'll get into results once we finish the program--we've only been doing it for a week and a half now, so I don't want to talk it up too much just yet. Hopefully the results will be dramatic enough to post some before and after pictures.
I think blogging feels good again. I won't get into a bunch of media recommendations or witty anecdotes just yet (namely because I don't have any at the moment,) but that will come later. I do have just a few recommendations, though:
*If you haven't seen Breaking Bad, the AMC series, watch all three seasons immediately.
*If you haven't seen Inception, run - do not walk - to your nearest movie theater and take care of that.
*If you want to hear some good music, check out the new Black Keys album, called "Brothers." It's fantastic. I had just about given up hope that this group would release an album that sounded a bit different from all their others, and this one did the trick. Great stuff.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
With a special announcement. As of a few days ago, my wife has joined the ranks of the bloggers. I can tell by her first post that she's going to be good at this, so check it out. I'm adding the feed to my list of blogs as well. Till next time.
Link
Link
Friday, March 27, 2009
There's been some talk of weight loss in the previous post/comments, and I'll keep that theme going for a little bit.
My boss was in town this week, which put me a little bit behind on...well, life. So I was a day late with my MMATorch column (it's up now), and I'm a day late here. Besides putting me behind on my writing, that little fact also makes me eat badly. An excuse? Of course. But she buys us lunch more often than not, and what am I going to do, get a salad? Please. I'm not that far gone. So yeah, it's been a bad week for being on the wagon. I haven't actually weighed myself, but I'm surely a couple pounds heavier than last week. That's considering also that I've been at work more hours than usual, preventing me from going to the gym. That's the first week I've missed since November. So I'm getting on that train again next week, and getting the discipline back in my eating habits.
Speaking of which, his Shoelessness asked about any recommendations. I don't know what this will do for you, but I can tell you what I've been doing, and it's really simple.
1. Count calories
I never did this in any prior diet. But when I'm really going strong, I'll eat anywhere between 1200-1500 calories a day. Not a whole lot. It's actually pretty easy when I'm working because of some habits I changed. I never used to eat at work. That meant that I ate a whole lot when I got home or before I went in. So I started eating a lot of lean cuisine/healthy choice frozen meals. Most of them are actually pretty tasty, and they're usually under 300 calories, and they're quick to eat at work. Also to keep the calories down, I drink almost none of them. I usually have a glass of orange juice or milk at breakfast, and then it's water and Crystal Light the rest of the day. I'm a big drinker, and I actually hate water, so this was an adjustment. But it definitely works. Drinking a lot of water keeps me from being really hungry, and of course it's nice to be hydrated (especially when working out). I also stopped grazing. I don't walk through the kitchen and grab a cracker, or a cookie, or a handful of chocolate chips, or all of the above. That's all stuff that I'd have to keep track of, and it takes away from what I can eat at dinner.
2. Eat breakfast, but not a huge one
I don't like cereal, so I never used to eat breakfast. Now I have a banana (sometimes with some peanut butter to get the metabolism going) and a glass of orange juice or milk. When I keep it low-cal at breakfast and lunch, it makes dinner a lot easier to deal with because a lot of times it's tough to count calories in recipes. Usually by dinner I've only eaten between 350-450 calories, so I've got lots of room.
3. Don't eat late
Nothing after 7:00. I've always struggled with this because I love to eat, and I love to eat while watching TV, especially sports. So this is a tough one, but also important.
4. Portion and self control
This was the biggest thing. I didn't want to "go on a diet." I wanted to change my eating lifestyle. I figure if I go on a diet and lose a bunch of weight, but never change my eating habits in general, I'll just gain it back. So the key to all of this was to control myself. The non-grazing, not eating after 7:00...all that stuff. That's why the portion control is also important. I would usually eat 2 or 3 servings at dinnertime, but now I keep it at one. The best thing about that is I can recognize more easily when I'm not hungry, and that's when I stop eating.
So no magic tricks or anything. Just change. Also there are no dumbbells. (At least until I lose some more weight.) (And yes, that was for Joel's benefit.)
So as you can surmise from the post title, it's freaking cold here in North-central Indiana. Last night it got down to -4 with a -26 wind chill. That is coldness of ridiculous proportions. I know it's cold in Minnesota and North Dakota and stuff, but this is not there. We are not used to living in a freezer. My garage door doesn't work because it's so cold, and I get up to five employees a day calling me because their cars won't start when it gets like this. At least there's not ice on the roads to go with it, because I'd have no one left to work.
As an illustration of the numbing frigidity of this joint, Jessica saw the cable outlet out of the corner of her eye yesterday and noticed that one of them was white. She was about to get annoyed because one of the boys put Desitin on it, but when she took a closer look, she saw this:
That's right. Ice. In my house. Such a thing is not cool in my book, literal interpretations of that phrase aside.
I mentioned the boys earlier , and it occurs to me that I haven't posted pictures of them in a while. So here's something for you. This is them on Christmas day, showing off their new pajamas in front of the awesome Christmas tree that we turned into a prelit tree ourselves (pictures of that may come later as well.) I guess that kind of makes it a post-lit tree, but it's prelit for next year now, so whatever.
As a side note, the ice picture was taken with our new camcorder, which is awesome. It's a Canon HG20, and it's most excellent. We'll be taking it on our 10-day trip to Europe (more on that next week), and if I can figure it out, I'm thinking about a series of vlog posts while we're there. We'll see if I can do it, and if I'm up for it when we get there. But that's it for now. Till next time.
Ooooooohhhhh!! I totally fooled you. You thought I was leaving without talking about the Eagles? Please. I'm not going to say much because I'll get myself all lathered up, but let's just say that if we can't beat the Cardinals to get to another Super Bowl, it will not be a good day. If the Birds can get into the big game, I'll be headed to Delaware to watch the game with the family. But in short, here's my prediction: Larry Fitzgerald (the best receiver in football) will have a few awesome catches and perhaps get the Cards a touchdown or two. Anquan Boldin will also have one or two nice plays. But they won't be able to run the ball, and Kurt Warner will lose at least one fumble, maybe two. McNabb, meanwhile, will be able to use short passes to the quick receivers and tire the defense out. Westbrook may be hurt, but he'll still command a lot of attention even if he doesn't get the ball a whole lot. Buckhalter will get some carries and he'll also make a big play as a receiver. The Eagles will seal the game in the fourth when DeSean Jackson makes a big catch for the winning touchdown, but the outcome of the game will never be in doubt as the Cardinals will not be able to consistently get anything going on offense against the Eagles' suffocating D. They'll be shut out completely in the second half as Philly takes over and finishes off an improbable run to the NFC championship.
Bank on it.
My boss was in town this week, which put me a little bit behind on...well, life. So I was a day late with my MMATorch column (it's up now), and I'm a day late here. Besides putting me behind on my writing, that little fact also makes me eat badly. An excuse? Of course. But she buys us lunch more often than not, and what am I going to do, get a salad? Please. I'm not that far gone. So yeah, it's been a bad week for being on the wagon. I haven't actually weighed myself, but I'm surely a couple pounds heavier than last week. That's considering also that I've been at work more hours than usual, preventing me from going to the gym. That's the first week I've missed since November. So I'm getting on that train again next week, and getting the discipline back in my eating habits.
Speaking of which, his Shoelessness asked about any recommendations. I don't know what this will do for you, but I can tell you what I've been doing, and it's really simple.
1. Count calories
I never did this in any prior diet. But when I'm really going strong, I'll eat anywhere between 1200-1500 calories a day. Not a whole lot. It's actually pretty easy when I'm working because of some habits I changed. I never used to eat at work. That meant that I ate a whole lot when I got home or before I went in. So I started eating a lot of lean cuisine/healthy choice frozen meals. Most of them are actually pretty tasty, and they're usually under 300 calories, and they're quick to eat at work. Also to keep the calories down, I drink almost none of them. I usually have a glass of orange juice or milk at breakfast, and then it's water and Crystal Light the rest of the day. I'm a big drinker, and I actually hate water, so this was an adjustment. But it definitely works. Drinking a lot of water keeps me from being really hungry, and of course it's nice to be hydrated (especially when working out). I also stopped grazing. I don't walk through the kitchen and grab a cracker, or a cookie, or a handful of chocolate chips, or all of the above. That's all stuff that I'd have to keep track of, and it takes away from what I can eat at dinner.
2. Eat breakfast, but not a huge one
I don't like cereal, so I never used to eat breakfast. Now I have a banana (sometimes with some peanut butter to get the metabolism going) and a glass of orange juice or milk. When I keep it low-cal at breakfast and lunch, it makes dinner a lot easier to deal with because a lot of times it's tough to count calories in recipes. Usually by dinner I've only eaten between 350-450 calories, so I've got lots of room.
3. Don't eat late
Nothing after 7:00. I've always struggled with this because I love to eat, and I love to eat while watching TV, especially sports. So this is a tough one, but also important.
4. Portion and self control
This was the biggest thing. I didn't want to "go on a diet." I wanted to change my eating lifestyle. I figure if I go on a diet and lose a bunch of weight, but never change my eating habits in general, I'll just gain it back. So the key to all of this was to control myself. The non-grazing, not eating after 7:00...all that stuff. That's why the portion control is also important. I would usually eat 2 or 3 servings at dinnertime, but now I keep it at one. The best thing about that is I can recognize more easily when I'm not hungry, and that's when I stop eating.
So no magic tricks or anything. Just change. Also there are no dumbbells. (At least until I lose some more weight.) (And yes, that was for Joel's benefit.)
So as you can surmise from the post title, it's freaking cold here in North-central Indiana. Last night it got down to -4 with a -26 wind chill. That is coldness of ridiculous proportions. I know it's cold in Minnesota and North Dakota and stuff, but this is not there. We are not used to living in a freezer. My garage door doesn't work because it's so cold, and I get up to five employees a day calling me because their cars won't start when it gets like this. At least there's not ice on the roads to go with it, because I'd have no one left to work.
As an illustration of the numbing frigidity of this joint, Jessica saw the cable outlet out of the corner of her eye yesterday and noticed that one of them was white. She was about to get annoyed because one of the boys put Desitin on it, but when she took a closer look, she saw this:
That's right. Ice. In my house. Such a thing is not cool in my book, literal interpretations of that phrase aside.
I mentioned the boys earlier , and it occurs to me that I haven't posted pictures of them in a while. So here's something for you. This is them on Christmas day, showing off their new pajamas in front of the awesome Christmas tree that we turned into a prelit tree ourselves (pictures of that may come later as well.) I guess that kind of makes it a post-lit tree, but it's prelit for next year now, so whatever.
As a side note, the ice picture was taken with our new camcorder, which is awesome. It's a Canon HG20, and it's most excellent. We'll be taking it on our 10-day trip to Europe (more on that next week), and if I can figure it out, I'm thinking about a series of vlog posts while we're there. We'll see if I can do it, and if I'm up for it when we get there. But that's it for now. Till next time.
Ooooooohhhhh!! I totally fooled you. You thought I was leaving without talking about the Eagles? Please. I'm not going to say much because I'll get myself all lathered up, but let's just say that if we can't beat the Cardinals to get to another Super Bowl, it will not be a good day. If the Birds can get into the big game, I'll be headed to Delaware to watch the game with the family. But in short, here's my prediction: Larry Fitzgerald (the best receiver in football) will have a few awesome catches and perhaps get the Cards a touchdown or two. Anquan Boldin will also have one or two nice plays. But they won't be able to run the ball, and Kurt Warner will lose at least one fumble, maybe two. McNabb, meanwhile, will be able to use short passes to the quick receivers and tire the defense out. Westbrook may be hurt, but he'll still command a lot of attention even if he doesn't get the ball a whole lot. Buckhalter will get some carries and he'll also make a big play as a receiver. The Eagles will seal the game in the fourth when DeSean Jackson makes a big catch for the winning touchdown, but the outcome of the game will never be in doubt as the Cardinals will not be able to consistently get anything going on offense against the Eagles' suffocating D. They'll be shut out completely in the second half as Philly takes over and finishes off an improbable run to the NFC championship.
Bank on it.
Friday, January 16, 2009
So I've finally broken down and joined Facebook. I did this about a week ago. I figure hopefully it'll help me get back in touch with a bunch of people that I haven't talked to in forever, and I'll also have more people checking out the blog (and hence perhaps some more motivation to update it.) That also means I'll probably break out a "what I've been up to for the past 10 years" post, so the three of you who are regular readers of the blog will have to put up with a bit of repetition.
Those of you who are both Xbox 360 owners and Netflix subscribers like myself have noticed that the 360 can now stream movies from the Netflix Watch Instantly catalog. How awesome is this? Extremely. Am I a nerd? Absolutely. But it's still fantastic. I just put on an episode of The Office for the heck of it, and the video quality is great.
You know what's underrated? Two things: Tater tots and Heath bar. You might never include either of them in the pantheon of great foods, but neither ever disappoints. It also holds true when you combine either one with other elements. Case in point: Heath bar pieces in ice cream or on a cake? Wondrous. Tater tot casserole? Delicious.
I've decided that I'm not going to make a long-term decision about facial hair. I've had a goatee for almost five years with the occasional full beard interlude thrown in for good measure. Then in September, before the Outer Banks vacation (about which I criminally never blogged) I shaved the whole thing off and went with bare face for a little bit. And now I've got the full beard going again. So basically what I'm saying is that if you see me on a regular basis, you'll never know what's coming at you. Is it stubble today, or do I still have the beard? Perhaps I shaved it down to a handlebar mustache (I did that for two days after Halloween.) You just don't know.
I've also decided that it's probably time for the Eagles to move on without Donovan McNabb. It hurts me just to say it, because I love McNabb, but I think he's reached a point where we're not going to win it all with him. He's been horrible in the first half of almost every game this year, and then he hit a low point (maybe a career low point) with a horrendous performance against the Bengals on Sunday. I mean, really? They couldn't score more than 13 points in 5 periods? The defense is still pretty good, and the only reason the team isn't terrible right now. On the other hand, I'm not nearly as devastated about the Eagles this year as I normally would be, because the Phillies have lifted my sports spirit for the next year. What? The Sixers already have a losing record? That's alright. The Phillies won it all. The Flyers are in fourth place in the Atlantic Division? It's okay. The Phils are taking care of me.
Finally, the boys proved my theory again that toys are not needed. We bought a new upright freezer on Saturday and brought the box inside for them to play with, and that's all they've been doing. Luke brought all the toys upstairs from the basement and put them in the box, but not necessarily to play with them. Just to have them there. Jessica's parents were here over the weekend, and her dad cut windows in it for them. It's big enough that Ronin can walk upright in it without ducking, so he can't stick his head out of the window in the top, but he still enjoys it. So basically toys are a waste of money. Just buy large cardboard boxes. Or just magazines and wrapping paper for smaller kids.
For those who may have followed the link here from my Facebook page, you may not know about the boys yet, but I'll have pictures up soon enough.
Those of you who are both Xbox 360 owners and Netflix subscribers like myself have noticed that the 360 can now stream movies from the Netflix Watch Instantly catalog. How awesome is this? Extremely. Am I a nerd? Absolutely. But it's still fantastic. I just put on an episode of The Office for the heck of it, and the video quality is great.
You know what's underrated? Two things: Tater tots and Heath bar. You might never include either of them in the pantheon of great foods, but neither ever disappoints. It also holds true when you combine either one with other elements. Case in point: Heath bar pieces in ice cream or on a cake? Wondrous. Tater tot casserole? Delicious.
I've decided that I'm not going to make a long-term decision about facial hair. I've had a goatee for almost five years with the occasional full beard interlude thrown in for good measure. Then in September, before the Outer Banks vacation (about which I criminally never blogged) I shaved the whole thing off and went with bare face for a little bit. And now I've got the full beard going again. So basically what I'm saying is that if you see me on a regular basis, you'll never know what's coming at you. Is it stubble today, or do I still have the beard? Perhaps I shaved it down to a handlebar mustache (I did that for two days after Halloween.) You just don't know.
I've also decided that it's probably time for the Eagles to move on without Donovan McNabb. It hurts me just to say it, because I love McNabb, but I think he's reached a point where we're not going to win it all with him. He's been horrible in the first half of almost every game this year, and then he hit a low point (maybe a career low point) with a horrendous performance against the Bengals on Sunday. I mean, really? They couldn't score more than 13 points in 5 periods? The defense is still pretty good, and the only reason the team isn't terrible right now. On the other hand, I'm not nearly as devastated about the Eagles this year as I normally would be, because the Phillies have lifted my sports spirit for the next year. What? The Sixers already have a losing record? That's alright. The Phillies won it all. The Flyers are in fourth place in the Atlantic Division? It's okay. The Phils are taking care of me.
Finally, the boys proved my theory again that toys are not needed. We bought a new upright freezer on Saturday and brought the box inside for them to play with, and that's all they've been doing. Luke brought all the toys upstairs from the basement and put them in the box, but not necessarily to play with them. Just to have them there. Jessica's parents were here over the weekend, and her dad cut windows in it for them. It's big enough that Ronin can walk upright in it without ducking, so he can't stick his head out of the window in the top, but he still enjoys it. So basically toys are a waste of money. Just buy large cardboard boxes. Or just magazines and wrapping paper for smaller kids.
For those who may have followed the link here from my Facebook page, you may not know about the boys yet, but I'll have pictures up soon enough.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Today I get to celebrate spending seven years with my best friend. Happy Anniversary, baby. Seven years and two kids later, I love you more than I ever have.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
I got word this morning that my grandmother died. She's not been well for a while, so it wasn't entirely unexpected, but it's always sad to lose a grandparent. And Mom-Mom was great. I won't take too much space to eulogize here, but she was always very kind to me and to everyone else, though I don't know that you'd want to cross her too often. That was part of what made her fun, was that she never seemed behind the times to me. She never seemed old outside of, you know, having a high number for an age. Mom-Mom had an email address, and used it more often than my dad does. She watched every Phillies game every season (though she only ever saw one game in person - last year.) She always had something nice to say if she wanted to, and she had a quick wit to go with that. I'm glad for her that she'll be with Pop-Pop now, who died a few years back, because I know she missed him terribly. As a side note, those of you who aren't from the East may wonder at the Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop names, so just trust me when I tell you it's an East Coast thing. Heck, it's my parents' names now too. How weird is that?
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Jessica and the boys are going to Delaware for about three weeks starting tomorrow. It's something she likes to do when I go out of town on business. When she bought the plane tickets, I had a meeting scheduled for this week in Cincinnati, and another scheduled from the 21st to the 25th in Naples, FL. Of course, the week after she bought the tix, the first meeting was rescheduled for next week. Luckily of course, it's still all within the range of them being gone. I just hope it doesn't get rescheduled again.
So I'll be flying solo for a while, which is fine for a few days, but gets old after a bit. We'll see what happens here. I'll surely be checking out some movies during the time, but I'll also be catching up on fights. I've got a ton of fights to watch. Speaking of movies though, I saw the first few minutes of "The Dark Knight", which is playing with "I Am Legend" in the IMAX theaters, and I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am for it. In just that short clip, it is apparent to me that Heath Ledger has nailed the role of The Joker. Yes, I am a nerd. For what it's worth, I also enjoyed I Am Legend. I had a small quibble with it, but it was largely a good movie, and very entertaining. You know, I always forget how big the IMAX screen is between visits. Then I remember when I have to turn my head to see what's happening on the other side of the screen.
Anyway, I'm keeping it short tonight because I'm getting up way too early tomorrow to take everyone to the airport. The flight leaves at an ungodly 6:20 am, and we live an hour away from the airport, so you do the math. I'm also planning on working some serious hours tomorrow so that I don't work a bunch of big days this week. We'll see how that goes.
So I'll be flying solo for a while, which is fine for a few days, but gets old after a bit. We'll see what happens here. I'll surely be checking out some movies during the time, but I'll also be catching up on fights. I've got a ton of fights to watch. Speaking of movies though, I saw the first few minutes of "The Dark Knight", which is playing with "I Am Legend" in the IMAX theaters, and I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am for it. In just that short clip, it is apparent to me that Heath Ledger has nailed the role of The Joker. Yes, I am a nerd. For what it's worth, I also enjoyed I Am Legend. I had a small quibble with it, but it was largely a good movie, and very entertaining. You know, I always forget how big the IMAX screen is between visits. Then I remember when I have to turn my head to see what's happening on the other side of the screen.
Anyway, I'm keeping it short tonight because I'm getting up way too early tomorrow to take everyone to the airport. The flight leaves at an ungodly 6:20 am, and we live an hour away from the airport, so you do the math. I'm also planning on working some serious hours tomorrow so that I don't work a bunch of big days this week. We'll see how that goes.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
{In case this gets finished after midnight, let me just say that I started at 11:15, so it counts.}
Luke's birthday was Tuesday. He's a fan of birthdays, you see, because he
knows two things: cake and presents. Mostly cake, really. Jessica made a dinosaur cake, which went over huge with the three-year-old crowd (which happens to be Luke's new scene, luckily.) All day long, from the time he woke up, he wanted cake and to see Jaden and Zane (Zimm's kids). We would play for a while, and he'd say, "Have cake?" And we'd say again, "We'll have cake at your party." "See JadenZane?" "They're coming to your party." "Okay. See JadenZane and have cake at party." This was the conversation we had at least 400 times before the party. We also set up the present that my youngest sister sent for Christmas, which was an inflatable tent with plastic balls inside. Ronin enjoyed this as well, as you can see . So with a ball tent, dinosaur cake, and pizza, we were all set for a birthday party.
The guests (Zimm and family along with Zimm's brother- and sister-in-law and their two kids) arrived at about 5:00, and the party was on. We started by watching the end of the Michigan-Florida Bowl game (the Michigan people were in the house, after all). There were four kids (Luke, Jaden, Zane, and Matt & Nikki's daughter Kieli) who were mobile enough to enjoy the ball tent and roam around the house playing, while the other three (Ronin, Keegan, and Kieli's brother Grayson) stayed with the parents. Once the game was
over, we all headed to the kitchen for pizza and cake, and then came the presents. Luke is always excited to open presents, but it got to a whole new level when he got to the one from my mom. Contained inside the wrapping paper was a moving and roaring dinosaur toy. This was the hit of the evening with all of the kids. (See exhibit A.) I don't think I've ever seen four kids of that age group all enthralled with the same thing without somehow beating each other up. They all took turns and pushed the button to watch the dinosaur move and roar. I have to say, too, that the thing is pretty cool. Every day since his birthday, Luke will wake up in the morning and from his nap, and ask "Where's the dinosaur?" Then he marvels at the fake reptile for at least 10 minutes. Good times.
So after the presents came the real fun. As you may have read on Zimm's blog, Matt and Nikki have a game for PS2 called Singstar. This is the best game ever. As Zimm explained, it's basically competitive karaoke. You get points for holding notes the appropriate amount of time and singing in tune with the song. And not to blow my own horn, but I'm pretty awesome at it. We played guys against girls for two games of seven rounds each. The rounds consisted of either a battle (where a representative from each team takes the mic and lays down the lyrics in hopes of getting a higher score than his or her opponent), a duet (where each team takes turns having two representatives who sing a song simultaneously in hopes of achieving a high combined score), or pass the mic (which is what it sounds like). This game was so much fun, I could have played all night. My favorite part, however, came in between games when Zimm and I went toe-to-toe and scream-for-scream on "Best of You", by the Foo Fighters. He edged me in that one, but I want a rematch. My score suffered when I looked down and saw the kids staring slack-jawed at their dads screaming, muscles clenched, eyes closed, into microphones. It was hilarious. And as a side-note, I don't know how Dave Grohl does it. Just doing that one song took it out of me. I was literally flexing every muscle in my upper body trying to force the growling and yelling out of my lungs and keep it in tune. Good times. So it is now my position that Xbox 360 needs a karaoke game. And really they've already got Guitar Hero and Rock Band, so why not?
Luke's birthday was Tuesday. He's a fan of birthdays, you see, because he
knows two things: cake and presents. Mostly cake, really. Jessica made a dinosaur cake, which went over huge with the three-year-old crowd (which happens to be Luke's new scene, luckily.) All day long, from the time he woke up, he wanted cake and to see Jaden and Zane (Zimm's kids). We would play for a while, and he'd say, "Have cake?" And we'd say again, "We'll have cake at your party." "See JadenZane?" "They're coming to your party." "Okay. See JadenZane and have cake at party." This was the conversation we had at least 400 times before the party. We also set up the present that my youngest sister sent for Christmas, which was an inflatable tent with plastic balls inside. Ronin enjoyed this as well, as you can see . So with a ball tent, dinosaur cake, and pizza, we were all set for a birthday party.
The guests (Zimm and family along with Zimm's brother- and sister-in-law and their two kids) arrived at about 5:00, and the party was on. We started by watching the end of the Michigan-Florida Bowl game (the Michigan people were in the house, after all). There were four kids (Luke, Jaden, Zane, and Matt & Nikki's daughter Kieli) who were mobile enough to enjoy the ball tent and roam around the house playing, while the other three (Ronin, Keegan, and Kieli's brother Grayson) stayed with the parents. Once the game was
over, we all headed to the kitchen for pizza and cake, and then came the presents. Luke is always excited to open presents, but it got to a whole new level when he got to the one from my mom. Contained inside the wrapping paper was a moving and roaring dinosaur toy. This was the hit of the evening with all of the kids. (See exhibit A.) I don't think I've ever seen four kids of that age group all enthralled with the same thing without somehow beating each other up. They all took turns and pushed the button to watch the dinosaur move and roar. I have to say, too, that the thing is pretty cool. Every day since his birthday, Luke will wake up in the morning and from his nap, and ask "Where's the dinosaur?" Then he marvels at the fake reptile for at least 10 minutes. Good times.So after the presents came the real fun. As you may have read on Zimm's blog, Matt and Nikki have a game for PS2 called Singstar. This is the best game ever. As Zimm explained, it's basically competitive karaoke. You get points for holding notes the appropriate amount of time and singing in tune with the song. And not to blow my own horn, but I'm pretty awesome at it. We played guys against girls for two games of seven rounds each. The rounds consisted of either a battle (where a representative from each team takes the mic and lays down the lyrics in hopes of getting a higher score than his or her opponent), a duet (where each team takes turns having two representatives who sing a song simultaneously in hopes of achieving a high combined score), or pass the mic (which is what it sounds like). This game was so much fun, I could have played all night. My favorite part, however, came in between games when Zimm and I went toe-to-toe and scream-for-scream on "Best of You", by the Foo Fighters. He edged me in that one, but I want a rematch. My score suffered when I looked down and saw the kids staring slack-jawed at their dads screaming, muscles clenched, eyes closed, into microphones. It was hilarious. And as a side-note, I don't know how Dave Grohl does it. Just doing that one song took it out of me. I was literally flexing every muscle in my upper body trying to force the growling and yelling out of my lungs and keep it in tune. Good times. So it is now my position that Xbox 360 needs a karaoke game. And really they've already got Guitar Hero and Rock Band, so why not?
Friday, January 04, 2008
Ah, intentions. I've intended to post pretty much every week since the last time I did so (in June). You can see how far that's gotten me. But all that aside, I wanted to get on here and give an update of sorts to those of you who remain in the wasteland that this blog has become.
Our newest addition, Ronin, is doing really well. We've been lucky with babies so far. Luke was really mellow as a baby, and Ronin is the same way. The difference is that Ronin is a lot more actively happy. Every time he sees someone, he gets a big grin on his face. It's hilarious. He almost never cries, and he sleeps through most of the night, waking up only once to eat. So things are great on that front.
Luke is still a mess. There is no mistaking him for anything but a two-year-old, but I must say that his two-year-oldness has gotten a lot better over the last couple of months. Whereas he used to throw himself on the ground and have a fit when we asked him to do something (go to bed, take a bath, etc.), now he just says, "no". That is, of course, unless we're in public. If we're out, he feels it necessary to make a scene. But such is life, right?
I won't bore you with work stories, because it bores me just to type them. It's enough to say that work is keeping me way more busy than I'd like. My next trip is to Bloomington next week. Good times.
Mainly, I wanted to get on here and throw a couple of things your way that are worth checking out. Let's start with TV, and we'll go from there.
Dexter: I saw that this show got an Emmy nomination, and while I usually don't put much stock in those, this one deserves it. It's about a serial killer who is also a blood spatter expert for the police. I thought the premise was intriguing, but had the potential to be hokey. Luckily, they managed to pull it off. The series is excellent, the storylines are great, the acting (with one or two exceptions) is superb, and it's definitely worth checking out.
The Wire: I know you've heard it before, and I'm telling you again. This show is amazing. I watched all four seasons last year, and it was riveting the entire time. I know you've grown weary of the Law and Order-type procedural drama, and I promise this doesn't even come close to fitting that mold. It's so realistic it feels like a documentary at times. Take it from a guy who watches a lot of TV. This is a show you need to watch if you like good television.
The Harry Potter Series: This is directed at Zimm. Read these books. Seriously. I know you may have forgotten that novels can be enjoyable by this point, but I will lend you all the books in the series. You'll finish them in less than a month. Also, to anyone else who hasn't read them, or who makes fun of people who read kids' books, I'm not wrong about this. These books are stupendous.
Crackdown: If you have an XBOX 360, play this game. You won't regret it. Also, Zimm, get a 360. Also, Johnny, get a 360 when you return to your native land. I have missed shooting you all in the face, and the face-shooting must shortly resume.
Black Snake Moan: Great movie. Samuel L. Jackson as an old blues man. Do you really need to know anything else? Okay, the movie opens with a Black Keys song. That should tell you enough about the soundtrack. Also, if you watch this and Alpha Dog, you will agree with me that Justin Timberlake has a future as an actor.
300: This one isn't for everyone, and you probably know if it's for you by watching the trailer, meaning you probably don't need my recommendation, but still. This movie rules and it's on DVD, so I figured I'd say something.
This Link: Here's what happens when you microwave things. Do I need to say more? (Watch the eggs.)
And there is your random list of cool things. Check them out. Also, you have my standing recommendation to start watching mixed martial arts, if you have not already done so. I spend a lot of my time watching, writing, and podcasting about the sport, and it's tremendously enjoyable. I'm thinking about putting together a list of fights that people should check out if they're curious about the sport but haven't seen anything. I'll post that here if I do it. And until next time, enjoy your song of the day.
Song of the Day: "Future Baby Mama", by Prince. This song isn't even that great, but I thought you should know that Prince has a song called "Future Baby Mama", and that only Prince could make a ballad out of a song with that title. I'm just sayin'.
Our newest addition, Ronin, is doing really well. We've been lucky with babies so far. Luke was really mellow as a baby, and Ronin is the same way. The difference is that Ronin is a lot more actively happy. Every time he sees someone, he gets a big grin on his face. It's hilarious. He almost never cries, and he sleeps through most of the night, waking up only once to eat. So things are great on that front.
Luke is still a mess. There is no mistaking him for anything but a two-year-old, but I must say that his two-year-oldness has gotten a lot better over the last couple of months. Whereas he used to throw himself on the ground and have a fit when we asked him to do something (go to bed, take a bath, etc.), now he just says, "no". That is, of course, unless we're in public. If we're out, he feels it necessary to make a scene. But such is life, right?
I won't bore you with work stories, because it bores me just to type them. It's enough to say that work is keeping me way more busy than I'd like. My next trip is to Bloomington next week. Good times.
Mainly, I wanted to get on here and throw a couple of things your way that are worth checking out. Let's start with TV, and we'll go from there.
Dexter: I saw that this show got an Emmy nomination, and while I usually don't put much stock in those, this one deserves it. It's about a serial killer who is also a blood spatter expert for the police. I thought the premise was intriguing, but had the potential to be hokey. Luckily, they managed to pull it off. The series is excellent, the storylines are great, the acting (with one or two exceptions) is superb, and it's definitely worth checking out.
The Wire: I know you've heard it before, and I'm telling you again. This show is amazing. I watched all four seasons last year, and it was riveting the entire time. I know you've grown weary of the Law and Order-type procedural drama, and I promise this doesn't even come close to fitting that mold. It's so realistic it feels like a documentary at times. Take it from a guy who watches a lot of TV. This is a show you need to watch if you like good television.
The Harry Potter Series: This is directed at Zimm. Read these books. Seriously. I know you may have forgotten that novels can be enjoyable by this point, but I will lend you all the books in the series. You'll finish them in less than a month. Also, to anyone else who hasn't read them, or who makes fun of people who read kids' books, I'm not wrong about this. These books are stupendous.
Crackdown: If you have an XBOX 360, play this game. You won't regret it. Also, Zimm, get a 360. Also, Johnny, get a 360 when you return to your native land. I have missed shooting you all in the face, and the face-shooting must shortly resume.
Black Snake Moan: Great movie. Samuel L. Jackson as an old blues man. Do you really need to know anything else? Okay, the movie opens with a Black Keys song. That should tell you enough about the soundtrack. Also, if you watch this and Alpha Dog, you will agree with me that Justin Timberlake has a future as an actor.
300: This one isn't for everyone, and you probably know if it's for you by watching the trailer, meaning you probably don't need my recommendation, but still. This movie rules and it's on DVD, so I figured I'd say something.
This Link: Here's what happens when you microwave things. Do I need to say more? (Watch the eggs.)
And there is your random list of cool things. Check them out. Also, you have my standing recommendation to start watching mixed martial arts, if you have not already done so. I spend a lot of my time watching, writing, and podcasting about the sport, and it's tremendously enjoyable. I'm thinking about putting together a list of fights that people should check out if they're curious about the sport but haven't seen anything. I'll post that here if I do it. And until next time, enjoy your song of the day.
Song of the Day: "Future Baby Mama", by Prince. This song isn't even that great, but I thought you should know that Prince has a song called "Future Baby Mama", and that only Prince could make a ballad out of a song with that title. I'm just sayin'.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
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