18 years with good behaviour? Maybe.

How's that joke go... the old man was crying at the table one morning and his wife comes in and asks what's wrong. He said if he had told your dad something other than yes, he might've been out of jail by now.

Well, something along those lines anyways.

The good thing is today is 18 years for the Wife and I. Personally, I don't know how she put up with me so long, but I guess in some ways that is why women are partly mysterious. Either way, it has been a good time overall, and we have been blessed with four children over that time span. Tonight, we are doing a simple dinner out at Olive Garden, and maybe a movie afterwards. I have the daughter watching the boys.

I know I will be the funny one walking into the restaurant though. My back is sore today. Spent most of the day Sunday watching the end of the softball tournament. Started at 8, ended after 4. Long time to be sitting on the bleachers. But there was enough beer for most of the day. We lost the first game we played and it put us out.

Think that is all I got for now. I think I am headed back to bed for a quick hour or so nap before doing things around the house.

PeacE

Nice Little Update

My mind has been a-wandering lately. Between the money I had to spend to send my Daughter on a school-sanctioned trip, and the upcoming revival of my wedding, oh bother, as Pooh would say.

Yer right. I am lying. My coach, fellow softball player, and one I call as friend, had a party today I forgot about. It's a good thing he called and reminded me. Otherwise, I would have been stuck at home, and not had the chance to play Ping-Pong, drink beer, and watch Bacci Ball. On my part, I am an asshole because I forgot his warm invitation when he gave it last week. MY BAD.

So, I still made it to the party, and I had a wonderful time! In fact, another good friend of mine is hitting the sales market with a new product. Check it out early at www.jasonsalsa.com and then check it out later as well. This stuff is GOOD!

I gotta go to bed, as we have an early softball game tomorrow.

PeacE

Slow Friday moving into a Weakend

This week has been seemingly one of the slowest I have had for awhile. Certainly nothing of major importance has occurred.

The Daughter is to arrive home today from Disneyland.

I am going to put up our new mailbox this afternoon.

Saturday is meant for sleeping in I think this week.

Sunday, our softball team made it to another round in the tournament, so will be up at the park drinking beers and watching some games. Then prolly home for the race.

Yup. Pretty slow weekend. At least I got time to do some reading too.

PeacE

Would This be Considered a Mini Vacation?

Welcome to Wednesday. I kind of like it. The first news I heard this morning was that the Daughter is leaving town for a couple days on a school trip to Disneyland, or Magic Mountain. I can't remember which. Either way it makes for one less kid around the house for 2 days. Sort of like a vacation. A vacation in which nothing changes for me pretty much. At least I don't have to take her to school in the early mornings for a couple days.

Not much else happening. I am getting ready to watch "Quantum of Solace" on DVD.

PeacE

I'm Missing Parts of Me

Yes, it really is true - I am missing parts of me. You know, those things like creativity, imagination, ability to make idle thoughts into something to read about. Yeah. It has left me for the time being. I am sure it has nothing to do with today being Monday, since it started last week.

What a hell of a Monday it has been, too. I came home yesterday to find the Wife trying to move a sofa from the front room, through the house the the back family room. Except she was stuck. Our house was built back in the '60s, and the back Family Room had been added on since then. Well, the first entryway she needs to go through is skinnier than the other. The couch is like 2 inches too wide to fit. Trust me, I know. It was part of the reason it ended in the front room anyways. Aside from that, I have been trying this morning a bit to twist/turn/maneuver it to go thru the entryway with no luck as well. Tonight I guess we'll just try getting it back out the front door, and carry around back through the patio door. I dunno. Damn pain in the ass is what it is. If I stayed out a couple hours more, maybe they would have had that completed already, instead of involving me in it... I dunno.

Kids are back in school after spring break. Nothing exciting there.

My bro Scotty B is coming to the Valley and getting hitched in April. The Reverend Mother is performing the ceremony.

That's all I got for now. Try for more tomorrow.

PeacE

A Tuesday Holiday

Today is St Patrick's Day. I think the US is the only country that actually really celebrates this day in any fashion, but I could be wrong.

Today is my little sister's birthday, so a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to her.

The Reverend Mother (RM) had decided to take a couple days off work this week. She claimed she was suffering from Grandma-itis; which has something to do with not being around her grandchildren enough. So yesterday was my kids turn. She picked all 4 of them up for the afternoon, and they assisted in preparing dinner/dessert. The Wife and I came over in the evening and enjoyed a good repast, then took the kids home.

So, even today being a holiday not much is going to be happening around me. I need to return some books to the library, then go to the cell phone company. I have been using a loaner cell for the past couple weeks, and now need to turn it in. I didn't want to buy a new phone, because then to get a deal, I would have to extend the contract (which expires in 3 months). RM had a phone she had used previously that I am borrowing for the time being. Heck, it may be an older one for her, but nicer and newer than the one I had! Then after that, I think I may head to the pub for a couple drinks, and maybe some Irish Stew. I sort of let the Wife know this year I would not eat corned beef and cabbage. For some reason, her eyes, STILL watered. But I think it was in a good way.

I think that is enough for now. See ya next time!

PeacE

Time to do the taxes already?

This has been my worst ever year in getting all the items together that I need to complete my taxes. Of course, this is the first year I have to deal with the employer going under and not sending out a W-2. The Wife was asking me to find out what info I could, or get it from somewhere so we can sit down and get everything done before the last minute. So 15 minutes on IRS.GOV, I have the form I need to complete, plus I can estimate all my taxes & withholds from a pay stub. Yeah, I think I am ready.

Speaking of ready, tomorrow is St Patrick's Day. One of the few holidays I don't mind celebrating. Just a good reason to have a few drinks. Oh yeah, and eat corned beef and cabbage!!! Or Irish Stew. This year I am going to be nice to my Wife though. I decided I would not go out and eat, drink, and be merry this year. As we have learned in previous years, my delicate digestion system cannot handle all that cooked corn beef and cabbage, mixed in beer and whiskey. The d00d has to sleep on the sofa near the patio door on this holiday. I don't feel like doing that this year - however, it's still a day away....

The 17th is also my little Sis' birthday. She'll be that young age of 26 this year. Geez, makes me feel a bit old, though my other Sis is 40 already....

I am still trying to figure out some dates to try to get my plans together for a trip to Indiana. That will help decide the plane ticket prices to start with, plus I can figure out where I wanna be on what day. It's been weird just guessing at a time frame and getting such extreme differences in airline ticket prices.

I think that is it for me today. Y'all have a good one and see ya laters!

PeacE

The End Is Near

Truthfully said, the end is near. Today is Friday and end of a crappy week. Well, semi-crappy week. At least my car is up and running again. Only cost $891 for a new radiator, tensioner, and belt. Oh yeah, and the labor.

No big plans this weekend. The softball tournament starts on Sunday for the league my team is in. We have one game this week. Depending on if it is a win or loss, will depend on how many games we would play next week.

Just got done watching "Rachel Gets Married". Borrrrrrrring.

I'm outta here for the time being.

PeacE

Getting New Parts for the Old Thing

I finally got my car into the garage this morning. Hopefully they will call soon and it will turn out to not be major repairs, and not costly as well.

Being car-less the past few days has driven me a bit looney. I think this is the longest I have spent in the house for any given amount of time. I am up to 4 days now. Which I suppose could be a good thing. I haven't been out to buy cigarettes (since I am trying to quit); I haven't been to the bar for a drink (though I am not trying to quit that). You'd think I would have more time to read, but I actually have been wasting more time on the computer doing stupid stuff, like trying to chat to people, or exploring some weird link I find while googling. Better off reading a book I think.

I am reading "Paths of Glory" by Jeffrey Archer. It came from my book club yesterday. It is a fiction novel regarding Gregory Mallory. Pretty good read. Other than that I am working on a series I found in the sci-fi section called "Rogue Angel". It has about 15 or so book sin the series. I bought 7 of them last week, and am only on the 4th one now.

Still watching "Ghost Whisperer" (season 2 now) and "The Office" (season 3 now) mixed in with movies. Still anxiously awaiting "Gran Torino" to get here.

Okay, I am out of here to finish watching "The Outlaw Josey Wales". Netflix won't get here until tomorrow.

PeacE

Oh, the cravings kill ya!

What do ya know, it is Monday again. Yee haw. In some ways, I am glad this week has gotten underway though. For reasons like, I need to get my car to the garage. Seems the serpentine belt has loosened somehow ( I think idler pulley broke) and there is a racket coming from the engine. Plus a few other problems. Unfortunately, I was unable to get it there this morning since my daughter was running late to school. So today I get to sit at home carless, unable to get anywhere short of taxis or bus.

Saturday night I went over to a friend's house for poker. I almost made money and ended up in 4th place. Had a great time as usual over there. The Wife went to the final performance for my daughter's play.

I spent part of the weekend at the mother in law's trying to get her HD converter box hooked up. "Take me 15 minutes" I told her. What she didn't tell me was she had bought a new DVD/VCR player and it didn't have the coaxial cable inlet/outlets, and her TV only had coaxial. SO had to wait til Sunday afternoon to get a RF connector for her. Then 15 minutes later it was done. She is really happy to have gotten it put in as Dad didn't want to begin messing with the connections.

What else is exciting and new? Oh, I am trying to quit smoking (again). The Wife had been at the store last week and in the clearance bin had found a package of Nicorette Gum, marked down from 22.95 to 2.49 so she bought it. Fifty pieces of gum in package. Instructions say to chew 9 per day for the first 6 weeks, then decrease the amount for a total of 12 weeks. So per instructions I have enough for a little of 5 days. Ha! I'll just chew one when I feel the urge to smoke, which is less than 9 times a day, unless I am out drinking. So I started Saturday. That night, I had the weirdest dream I can ever remember having. I was able to wake and grab pen and paper for the majority of the details, and am working on getting it into story form. I may share it once I am done.

I figured it was a combination of the whiskey I was drinking and maybe the gum. I wasn't sure.

Then Sunday night, again, I had two more weird-ass dreams. These I didn't pen down, but I mean, just as crazy as the one the previous night. But Sunday I had no whiskey, and no gum.

So now I wonder where are these damn dreams coming from? Nothing matches any movie I had watched over the weekend.... freakin' weird!!

Okay, that is all I got for a Monday morning before 8am. I am off to search for cheap tickets again.

Here's a pick off the youngest and his bday cake.

PeacE

Always the Last One To Hear About It

Sometimes I feel like I am that person in the world. Yesterday, the Wife mentioned to me that Paul Harvey had passed away this past weekend. Here it was Tuesday, and I was just hearing about it! I mean, I listen to the morning news on the local talk station here in the mornings, but nothing was ever said....

The son's band concert Monday was good, considering. I still need to get the camera from the wife so I can put pics up.

The Daughter has the theater Thurs-Sat nights, so or plans won't be much since we need to take and pick her up. I don't think any of us will be watching the show again though.

Discovered over the past couple days that we have wasp nests in the bush in the front yard. I get the fun part of trying to figure out how to get rid of them without getting stung or whatnot. I haven't even tried to get real close up to see actually how many nests there are. I know of two, but the Wife said she thought she had saw a couple more. Anyone know a cheap way short of cutting the bush completely out?

Okay, I am off to look at airline prices and waste time until the Wife gets home and fixes dinner.

PeacE

Blah Blah Blah

You know it is bad when you even feel like it is Monday, and it truly is a Monday. Ug!

Sorry my life has been pretty boring lately. I had to take a few days off to have something happen around here worthy of mention.

I mentioned before about the youngest son turning three. Hopefully for tomorrow I will have a pic or two of him to put up, as long as I get the camera from the Wife.

My daughter is doing the spring musical of 'Grease' at school. She plays the part of Marty Marischino, one of the Pink Ladys. We went Saturday night to watch it. Imagine, if you can, two hours 'Grease' songs being sung mostly off key, and the technical department kept screwing up the music so part of the time there was none to try to even match tone to. Overall I guess it wasn't too terrible considering it is only high school.

The oldest son has a concert tonight for the regional grade school band.

Guess that is pretty much it for the moment. I am off to watch some TV.

PeacE