Halloween

Occasionally, I think I'll throw in some random things you missed while I was away. Here's a look back to Halloween.

David couldn't make up his mind throughout October. He went from Spiderman, to Superman, to a Sword Fighter, to Zorro, to finally his own costume, a Vampire. Way too cute to be scary.

It appears Matthew went as a Dinasaur Caught in the Headlights.

Happy belated Halloween to you all.

.

Look who's Fwee!

Happy Birthday, Matthew!

Oh My Aching Back

Every shovel counts!

9 freakin hours on my hands and knees

But I think it paid off. Time to relax.... Oh wait...

Oh My Aching Back

It is really nice living in a home where the landlord actually cares about the place. (Secretly though, we are afraid that our landlord and his replaced hip are hoping to go from a 2-story condo to a single story home as soon as the yardwork is done!)

Looking for a fun project around the home?

Here's what you will need on Day 1:

3 friends willing to help you dig as deep as the landlord dictates - which meant digging till you heard the Chinese language.

An agreement that if we dig up anything, like a treasure, Dominic doesn't tell his Mom, and I don't tell Michele, and we split it 50/50. (In reality, Dom got 4 pieces of broken glass and I got 14 Bud Light Bottle Caps.)

Then, on Day 2:

3 friends willing to fill in the hole you just dug per the landlord's request, because the hole is too deep.

One load of crushed gravel.

A second load of crushed gravel because the landlord says, Wow, I didn't know what I was thinking.

One delivery of Patio Blocks.

Then a second load of Patio Blocks because the landlord says, Wow, I really thought I was good at math, but evidentally not.

And okay, a third delivery of patio blocks because the landlord says he could really use a calculator.

Then,

Plan on spending at least 9 hours on your knees.

Plan on two doctor visits and a series of x-rays to ultimately tell you that you your wrist is swollen and it might feel like an accordian, but you don't have any broken bones.

Did I mention the part about spending at least 9 hours on your knees? We laid 12x12 block in an area 5' x 26' and another area 14' x 22'.

No. I would never do this again.

And that was just Part I. There is no rest for the injured and swollen. There are 4 pallets of Sod in the driveway. The three friends vowed never to return, and are replaced by 3 children to help rake up the existing dead grass. 12 Contractor sized Garbage bags worth.

Did I mention the swollen, painful wrist? Oh well.

Bring it on!

So from the pictures, you can see that we prevailed. We have a patio. We have grass. It really is awesome.

I declared we were doing nothing but chill this weekend. No plans. No yard work. No company. Just chill. Famous last words. We spent 6 hours shopping for a couch on Saturday. Joy. That was real fun. And on Sunday, I met the landlord at Home Depot and had to plant the two large carts worth of Jasmine and shrubs he bought. I was grinding my teeth the whole weekend.

The landlord asked about laying mulch next weekend.......Oh Hell No.

Check out Springingtheblues.com. That scrunching sound you hear, will be the sound of my beach chair digging into the sand, listening to live music and my fat ol' arse not moving for nuthin until my koozie needs refilling...

Big smile.

.

Yeah Baby, It Worked!

It is Thursday night. March Madness. Florida is playing BYU. We live in Florida. The Jax area is like super hyped up. But more importantly... UCONN is also playing. UConn is playing against one of my best friend's alumnus, SDSU....insert his evil, taunting smiley face emicon here...

Murf even calls me from San Diego and rubs in the fact that he is at a bar with his boss, drinking margaritas waiting for the game to start. Then he asks me what I am doing.

Insert my own evil cheshire grin smiley face emicon here.

"We are going to an Art Show at David's school. David has art hanging at the Art Show. Michele called me and asked if we could have Pizza delivered afterwards. She had a long day cleaning the carpets with a Rug Doctor and definitely is not in the mood to cook."

"How about we go out and eat after David's Art Show?" I innocently replied to M's request.

Insert another evil cheshire grin smiley face emicon here.

Chicago Pizza. Florida Gators on one big screen to my left and the UConn game on a tableside HDTV to my right. I couldn't have asked for anything better.

Oh yeah baby, it worked!

UConn even won by seven. Florida then won in OT.

Insert one big happy husband smiley face emicon.

But now insert one really bored wife's smiley face emicon here.

And now insert one big smiley face emicon that says my wife has just given up sex for Lent...

oh boy.

Go UConn!

.

Hi. Remember Me?

Hi. Remember me?

I would like to thank SW, my friend, co-worker and deep down real good guy for getting me back on-line. His generousity and expertise will soon be your demise.

Since August, I went back to my blog every so often, and made a few book additions, music additions, etc., but I am sorry I have not written. The longer it went, the more stress and pressure I felt that I had to make up for the hibernation. You should see my receding forehead. Wait - no, my forehead is not receding, my hairline is. My forehead is only increasing in acreage.

Well, I am back. I missed you. I missed writing to you. I missed thinking about what and how to write to you.

The boys are bigger. Taller. I swear I cannot find a pair of jeans to fit David. The boys are talking without breathing between sentences. David is reading. Matthew is pretending to read. David draws really cool pictures. Matthew draws spiders with 86 legs. David is missing his two front top teeth. Matthew is missing his ability to tell the truth...and I quote: "awww man...David did it! Say okay, Daddy!" And then he typically adds a really cute grin. We are SO in trouble.

Today is the first day of Spring. Kind of fitting.

I look forward to looking back and looking forward again with you in mind.

It feels good to be back at the desktop. I've got a glass of wine in one hand, Michele glued to a Law n Order rerun for the 300th time. David is doing Legos and pleading for another 10 minutes before he has to go to bed. Matthew is lining up Hot Wheels in David's way, screaming "Momma! Dabid's in the way of my road! I want a big woad! Momma I want juice! I want a big juice!"

And then steps on David's 1002 piece Police Lego scene of 62 police cars and 117 SWAT guys with 42 Specially Activated Lego Law Enforcement Vehicles...

They actually make Lego handcuffs, can you believe that?

With his ATM Robbery Scene Without Witnesses in shambles, David starts to cry because it is near 9:30pm and after living off a consistent diet of microwaved Pizza Rolls and Cheese Sticks, he basically denies his inability to make it past 9:31 without throwing a tantrum. He is then promptly screamed at to go to bed by one particular fed-up Mother.

I suck down my glass of wine in one gulp and wonder if my first post since August is really the message I was hoping to portray.

.....

You there?

I'm here.

Happy Spring.

.