Tonight, Karen and I had dinner at the China Pearl located in Quincy. Now I suck at China Pearl.
Under normal circumstances, I probably would not dine out at China Pearl because I am not a big fan of Chinese food. It's not to say that the food at China Pearl is bad or anything like that. I just prefer my mother's cooking in comparison to the food served at any Chinese restaurant. (So it's not just China Pearl... it's all Chinese restaurants.)
Anyway, the reason why we were at China Pearl is because we were celebrating my cousin's (Tiffany) daughter's (Madeline) birth. As is customary in Chinese tradition, a baby's first month birthday is a cause for celebration. In the case of my cousin, that celebration was to be held at the China Pearl.
According to my friend About.com, this celebration is known as a Red Egg and Ginger Party. (Yes, eggs dyed red are served.) For anyone curious, red eggs symbolize happiness and the renewal of life.
Eggs and ginger were not the only things that were served. As it was a Chinese celebration, the party involved the usual ten course meal.
The ten course meal involved the following:
a meat platter of pork, duck, salami, and jellyfish
a seafood dish with shrimp, scallops, and squid
a fried seafood ball
the staple of shark fin soup
chicken with shrimp chips
lobster
steak and broccoli
a mushroom dish
a noodle dish
fried rice
Needless to say, dinner was very filling. And for anyone curious, no there were no fortune cookies. There were, however, other parting gifts which I will most likely pass onto my parents as I will probably not eat the generous portions of food. Among the parting gifts were the infamous soup that my mother made for Karen after the passing of our son (Braden).
Regardless, it was a good night. It was good to see my cousins and their families. I seldom get to see them, which is a shame because my family is so small as it is. So it was definitely nice.
The highlight of the day was our visit to Target in Pembroke. Surprisingly, the visit took quite a while. In an effort to give friends and family more options, Karen and I also registered for baby products at Target.
Now, I still suck registering. In my opinion, creating a baby registry through Target was better than creating a registry at Babies 'R Us. I think the reason for my preference of Target (aside from Target being just a cool place to shop) is the free schwag we received from creating the registry.
When we registered at Babies 'R Us, Karen and I only received a little book with items that they sold and a checklist of what we should register for. That's it. From what I remember from our registry experience for our son (Braden), who passed away without the need of the registry items, we actually received other things from Babies 'R Us like coupons and whatnot. Nope, not this time.
In comparison, Target provided us with a little tote bag, a book of what they sold, a book with recommendations, coupons, a gift card for shutterfly, and a diaper. There was definitely more stuff. I'm all about the schwag.
Anyway, for anyone curious, our registry ID at Target is 014253200000046.
Friday night, my friends (Cass, Ellen, Marc, Kelley), Karen, and I celebrated the birthdays of my other friends (Garv and Leeann). Both Garv and Leeann were born in the month of January. As is customary within our circle of friends, we generally get together for each other's birthdays.
For Garv and Leeann, the restaurant of choice was Basta Pasta Enoteca located in Quincy. Now I suck at Basta Pasta Enoteca.
Basta Pasta is located where the Tullio's restaurant used to be, which is also across from the infamous pay-by-the-hour Ritz. For anyone curious, I personally have never been in a pay-by-the-hour motel... unlike Garv. And for anyone curious, Garv was with other guys at a pay-by-the-hour motel. How scandalous! Just kidding. Needless to say, the Ritz is no longer there.
Anyway, Basta Pasta was great. When I first entered the place, I was a little perplexed because smack dab on the huge television screen were men walking a runway modeling a vast assortment of clothes. I thought the show was strange, but definitely something Garv would watch. As it turned out, the fashion show had everyone glued to the screen. It was weird to see everyone focused on the show.
The seating within Basta Pasta is a little cramped, but not that bad. In fact, our party of eight was seated pretty quickly. And the place seemed like it had a constant flow of patrons.
As for the food, the food was quite delicious. I ordered the homemade chicken parmigiana panini. Not only was the panini good, it was huge. The panini was definitely worth it. The chicken was sliced thin. The sauce was great. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-O" sound.) Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Anyway, it was great hanging out with everyone. I always have fun when I'm with all of them. After all, we simply have silly topics of discussion. For instance, it turns out that Robert Downey Jr may be on Kelley's list... if she had a list. Apparently, she was a big fan of his facial hair. Who knew?
I had an appointment scheduled with my dentist today. The appointment was for the usual recommended six month cleaning. Like most appointments that I have in Quincy, I drop Karen off in the morning at the train station and then hang out with my parents until its time for my appointment. Today was no different.
Needless to say, I walked from my parents' house to the dentist's office. Normally, it's not a bad walk. The problem, however, is that this morning was absolutely freezing. With the cold weather and the howling wind, the walk to the dentist's was terribly harsh and cold.
Luckily, I made it to my dentist's office okay. Unfortunately, when I walked into my dentist's office, the office was also cold albeit a little warmer than the temperature outside. Apparently, the furnace went out at my dentist's office. It turns out that one of the employees accidentally flooded the basement this morning. With the water all cleaned up, the furnace did eventually kick back on. Unfortunately, it takes a long while for the office to actually get heat. (I think when I left, one of the radiator ribs produced heat.)
If the flooding/lack of heat weren't a sign of things to come, my dental hygienist (Joan) then walked in with a cast on her arm. Joan had dislocated her pinky finger during a freak soccer playing incident with her family. She had been out all week. And it just so happened that I was her first patient since dislocating her finger. Lucky me!
I must say, I was quite impressed with Joan. She was still able to clean teeth with no problem. It almost reminded me Rick Allen, the drummer for Def Leppard who lost his left arm yet still continued to play drums for the band. Sure, it's two totally different situations. Joan wasn't using her feet to scrape the plaque from my teeth. But the fact that she was still able to perform with one arm was pretty amazing. At least, I thought so.
Anyway, when the cleaning was complete, my dentist came over to take a look at my teeth. The good news: no cavities! Unfortunately, I suck at the dentist. The bad news is that there are a couple of possible trouble spots that need to be monitored. Bummer! That was disappointing. Oh well.
Last night, Karen and I hung out with my friends (Marc and Kelley).
On the agenda for the night were a couple of episodes of Angel. The episodes that we watched included: "Sleep Tight", about Wesley's attempt to keep Angel's son safe; and "Forgiving", about Angel's attempt to find his son who is trapped in a hell dimension.
As the episodes were not exactly the most chipper of sorts, we decided to get ready for the upcoming final season of "Lost". And by get ready, I mean watch the last episode of the previous season... because I suck at Lost.
Lost is a great show. I happen to find it the best show that is currently on television. Since it has been a while since the previous season, I tend to forget things that have happened in the storyline.
Luckily for me, Marc and Kelley recorded the last episode from the previous season that re-aired a couple of days ago. Even though we already knew what happened, watching the episode again was great. It definitely got me excited for the upcoming final season of the show.
The only drawback, however, is waiting week to week. But, like most things, it's the journey that is the fun part. Anyway, I can't wait. It's unfortunate that every great story must end.
Last night, Karen and I finally created a baby registry for our unborn child known as Hottie. Not to be confused with my friend (Hot Amy), Hottie is derived from week 26 of pregnancy where the baby is the length of a cucumber... and not just any cucumber... an English hothouse cucumber. Truth be told, I don't even know what an English hothouse cucumber looks like, but I thought Hottie had a good ring to it.
Anyway, I suck at registering. For me, I was very hesitant to create a baby registry. The last time Karen and I created a baby registry was the week before our son (Braden) was prematurely born. Unfortunately, Braden only survived a week after he was born.
Needless to say, that thought always remained in the back of my head during this current pregnancy. So I may have been dragging my feet in regards to creating another registry. But now at least, Karen and I have created a registry and added a small number of items for Hottie.
For anyone curious, we are currently registered at Babies 'R Us. The registry number is 44950876. Based on the registry suggestions from Babies 'R Us, we still have a bunch of items to add. You would think that creating a registry would be easier the second time around. Sadly, most of the items that we had registered for Braden are now gone. I guess a lot changes in two years, especially since last year was basically a blur to me.
Well, at least we've made some progress and created the registry. That's cause for a celebration of sorts. So it only made sense that we went to Not Your Average Joe's located in Norwell for dinner. Interestingly enough, Karen and I had the same meal that we had the previous week. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-O" sound.)
It was Monday after all and on Mondays and Tuesdays, Not Your Average Joe's has 10 entrees for $10 each. Some day we will meet up with my BFF (Kerry) for dinner. Needless to say, the meal was delicious. It was a good way to end the night.
While Karen went out to watch a movie with our friend (Jen), I diligently worked on installing a plywood subfloor for our first floor bathroom renovation project. Lately, this home improvement project has consumed most of my time and energy. I suppose I should ride the wave while I can before I totally burn out on the project.
Needless to say, the renovation project is coming along. Eventually, I will have to ask for some input from Karen on where she would like fixtures and whatnot so that I can either build things, run plumbing, run electrical, or whatever. Karen is a very visual person. So my drawing the design on a piece of paper or verbally mentioning things will do no good. Hopefully, I won't have to retrofit anything that I have already worked on. That's just extra work.
Anyway, when Karen returned from her excursion out, we decided to watch the next movie in her Netflix queue: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.
(The video below is a trailer for "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra".)
Now I suck at G.I. Joe. Growing up, I enjoyed the G.I. Joe cartoon... the G.I. comic books... the G.I. Joe action figures. Sure, things may have gotten a little ridiculous with G.I. Joe when they added William "The Refrigerator" Perry and Sgt Slaughter... but it was entertaining as a child. (And for anyone curious, my favorite G.I. Joe character was "Snake Eyes" who was probably everyone's favorite character back in the day. Snake Eyes was just... cool... with his black outfit... his martial arts... his uzi... his unknown past. Why... he reminds me a lot of myself... just kidding.)
The movie, however, was actually not that bad. I have seen worse movies based on toys (like Transformers). Probably the worst thing about the movie is Channing Tatum who plays Duke, which is interesting because Marlon Wayans is also in the movie. Marlon Wayans... surprisingly not that bad.
But like any movie, certain creative liberties were taken. Of course, I'd be curious to see how the sequel will play out now. Perhaps there will be a Scarlett versus Lady Jaye throwdown.
The highlight of my Saturday consisted of seeing my BFF (Kerry) and watching Veronica Mars. After all, the only other exciting thing I did on Saturday was work on the house.
Earlier in the day, my favorite brother-in-law (PJ) and I went to the local Home Depot for some supplies which will be used for the renovation of the bathroom on our first floor. Namely, I needed large sheets of plywood for the subfloor and large sheets of mold-resistant drywall for the walls.
Normally, these items would be hard to fit in a regular car. Luckily, PJ has a trailer. Also, these items are heavy. So having the extra hand definitely helped. Thanks again PJ!
There was, however, a brief incident involving the Home Depot run. PJ's truck could not shift out of park while at my house. It was the strangest thing. I've never seen that happen before. The only time I was unable to not shift out of park was when my steering wheel was turned too far to the right or left. Apparently in the case of PJ's truck, one of the fuses blew which prevented the shift out of park. It was weird. Always prepared, PJ had additional fuses for his truck. So he was able to replace the fuses and shift out of park.
Anyway, shortly thereafter I began working on the house. Before I could put the subfloor of plywood down, I needed to remove the drain for the toilet. (For anyone curious, the drain for the toilet protrudes through the floor.)
Unfortunately, the drain for our toilet is made of cast iron. Cast iron is ridiculous to cut through. My efforts to cut the large pipe with my reciprocating saw was futile. And then I remembered... I had a metal cutting blade for a circular saw. The only problem... changing the saw blade on my circular saw. The nut was just too tight and would not budge. After numerous attempts to loosen the nut on the circular saw, I decided to ask PJ... yet again.
Needless to say, I borrowed PJ's saw and switched out the blade with the metal cutting blade that I had. In retrospect, I probably should have asked him sooner in regards to borrowing his circular saw because my hand literally was throbbing from my two hour attempt at loosening the nut.
And might I add, the metal cutting blade worked like a charm on the cast iron toilet drain. The only problem of course is that cast iron... very dirty. Even with my protective eye wear and mask, I was covered in black dust. It was as though I were wearing makeup or something. It was disgusting. (It was also disgusting to know that every time I blew my nose... black came out.) I would not be surprised if I died an early death from all these home improvement projects. Perhaps I should start a pool on who, among the people I know (including myself), will pass away first. Sure it's grim... but possibly financially rewarding.
Regardless... cast iron... very heavy. I had to cut a large portion of the drain out because the original location of the drain was too tight to fit a circular saw. The potion that I cut out was heavy. I had to literally drag it out of the crawlspace. Even though I was covered in black dust, I felt pretty victorious standing over the large cast iron drain. (Master of the drain!)
Anyway, Kerry arrived shortly thereafter. She happened to be down the South Shore for the day and wondered if we would be around for some Veronica Mars watching. Now, I suck at Veronica Mars. All right, I may be lying. I love Veronica Mars.
Kerry, Karen and I started our Veronica Mars viewing quite a while ago. In fact, we tried to get my favorite sister-in-law (Janine) hooked on the show. (I think she still might have my dvd set of the second season.) Needless to say, I was excited to be able to catch more episodes of the third and final season of the show.
Plus, Kerry brought brownies. In her effort to find a good brownie recipe, she asked Karen and I to be her taste testers for two sets of brownie recipes. As it turned out, Karen liked one; I liked the other. It's not like it was mac 'n cheese in which everyone would like mine over my friend's (Hot Amy). Just kidding.
The three of us ended up watching a bunch of episodes of Veronica Mars while eating some brownies. It was a great way to end the day.
On Friday, Karen and I hung out with my friends (Ron and Trinh) and their family. Unfortunately, I suck at hanging out with Ron. Ron and his family live about five to ten minutes away in Pembroke. For the longest time, Ron and Trinh have been trying to get together with us for dinner.
Karen and I have lived in our current residence for almost seven years. Since that time, we have never had dinner with Ron and Trinh. As Trinh put it, everyone's schedule gets busy and before you know it... time passes you by. In this case, seven years flew by.
Needless to say, I had a great time with Ron and Trinh and their family. Knowing that I enjoy her famous egg rolls, Trinh made... her famous egg rolls. As well, we had pasta and meatballs complements of Alfredo's.
Dinner was great. I always have a great time whenever I visit Ron and Trinh. And their three daughters are so adorably cute and well behaved. I can only hope that if Karen and I have a daughter, she would be equally cute and well behaved. Apparently Ron's secret is that he piledrives them.
Anyway, following dinner we played some games with the kids. We first started off playing the game: Sorry. I have not played that game since I was a kid. For Karen, it was her first time playing. She had to receive some instructional help from Ron's daughter (Aree). The game was fun, especially since I kicked butt. Truth be told, I slipped under the radar while Ron's other daughter (Uma) ganged up on Ron.
For me, one of the more memorable things from the night was Aree's amazement with herself. Ron and Trinh have a table with a glass top. While we were playing, Aree decided to put her leg right up against the bottom of the glass thereby flattening her leg. Aree was so excited and amused that she called out to Ron so that he could see her flat leg. It was cute.
Anyway, the game of Bingo soon followed afterwards. Uma was in charge of calling out the numbers for Bingo. While everyone was playing, the youngest daughter (Elli) ran around with a microphone... for no reason other than she could. As luck would have it, I won the first game of Bingo. Ron ended up winning the second game.
From there, the kids went to bed and we simply hung out some more. Before we knew it, it was already way past Karen's bedtime. All in all, I had a blast hanging out with Ron and Trinh and their kids. It was a great time.
Tonight, Karen and I watched another movie in her Netflix queue: G-Force. Now, I suck at G-Force.
(The video below is a trailer for "G-Force".)
I suppose I should clarify. Karen and I watched G-Force, the 2009 Disney film about special agent guinea pigs. It's not to be confused with G-Force, the moniker that my favorite sister-in-law's (Janine) friend (Gretchen) sometimes goes by... or G-Force, the animated Japanese cartoon about five teenage champions protecting earth from the evil Galactor.
Anyway, the movie was cute and enjoyable. It was good. And for anyone curious, Jack Conley who played Sahjhan in Angel was in the movie. And for no other reason other than I was surprised... Nicholas Cage voiced one of the characters. The character sounded nothing like Nicholas Cage. All in all, it was enjoyable.
Speaking Japanese, I forgot to mention that I had also watched Blood: The Last Vampire.
(The video below is a trailer for "Blood: The Last Vampire".)
The movie is a live action remake of the Japanese anime horror film (which also spawned an animated series, a video game, a novel...). Surprisingly, I thought the movie was entertaining even if the plot was convoluted. I find most Japanese movies... generally are not that good. But hey, it was about vampires so I gave the movie a chance.
The plot is basically about Saya, a katana-wielding half vampire, who sets out to kill an ancient vampire (and any other vampire that gets in her way) because the ancient vampire killed her human father. It should come as no surprise that the ancient vampire happens to be her mother. And since it's Japanese, it should also probably come as no surprise that Saya has to wear a school girl outfit to infiltrate a military base. Regardless, it was fun to watch... probably for the blood... and the katana-wielding hack and slash aspect.
Yesterday, Karen and I hung out with my friends (Marc and Kelley). For me, the day practically flew by.
I started off the day with an eye exam. I was not looking to get new glasses or anything like that. It just happened to be over a year since my last eye exam. And it was also the case that some time last week, my eye doctor's office called to remind me of that fact and scheduled the appointment.
Needless to say, the eye exam was good. No changes. My eye doctor does not foresee any changes for me until I'm about 42 or so. Apparently around 42, people start needing reading glasses. And as an interesting note, I found out that lasik will not correct the need for reading glasses. (I figured that lasik corrected everything... but I was mistaken.)
Following the exam, I returned home; did some renovating in our first floor bathroom (ie. installed some insulation); picked up Karen from work; attended her ultrasound appointment (to which I still think our baby is going to be a girl because... like in a dramatic fashion, the baby had its hand propped up in front of its face); and then before I knew it, it was time to head over to Marc and Kelley's to hang out.
In case anyone is curious, Karen is doing fine with the pregnancy. And in case you are extra curious about the baby's name for the week, it is Ruty... as in rutabaga. (Right now, I am envisioning that scene in the movie about Daniel Ruettiger... played by Sean Astin... where the team is chanting his name on the football field. Yes, the movie is "Rudy".) Ruty! Ruty! Ruty!
Anyway, on the agenda for the night at Marc and Kelley's were more episodes of the greatest television show ever: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Now I suck at Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The episodes that we watched were: "Hell's Bells" about Xander and Anya's wedding... which was called off (because Xander was a dope); "Normal Again" about Buffy being in a mental hospital and that the past six years were a figment of her imagination; "Entropy" about Anya's revenge on Xander for leaving her at the altar; and "Seeing Red" which brings about the end of Tara.
We had watched all four of the episodes on the disc while having dinner and dessert. Marc was gracious enough to make moussaka which was very delicious. Equally yummy were the cookies that Kelley made. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-O" sound.) Needless to say, it was a very enjoyable meal.
I had a great time. Too bad the whole day flew by so quickly.
Today there is a special election in Massachusetts. The purpose of the election: electing the next U.S. Senator to fill the spot vacated by the former Senator, Ted Kennedy.
Unfortunately, I suck at special elections. And truth be told, I'm glad today has finally arrived. The past couple of weeks, Karen and I have been receiving a flood of automated phone calls from the candidates... the candidate's family... the candidate's supporters... etc. asking for our vote. As well, every commercial on television has been about the candidates. After a while, the campaign gets very annoying. So I'm glad today has arrived because I won't be subjected to hearing about the candidates any longer.
And the funny thing is, I have not even made up my mind yet on who to vote for. The fate of the health care bill rests in my hands. Just kidding. In my opinion, I would not be surprised if Republican Scott Brown did win this election. From a purely analytical point of view, he has definitely run a better campaign than the Democrat, Martha Coakley. I think whoever is running Martha's campaign should probably look for some other line of work. After all, Martha's campaign has... well... done nothing.
The Coakley campaign has pretty much rested on its laurels of being the "favorite". The Democratic party never seem to learn from the past. Hilary Clinton's presidential campaign was similar. Like Coakley, Clinton was favored to win the presidential nod. And like Coakley, Clinton did not appear to do much during her campaign until it was too late. And who ended up getting the votes in the Democratic primary? The current president, Barack Obama.
Being the favored candidate and showing a lack of action is definitely not the way to go. Like I always tell people: it's all about presentation. Coakley's mad scramble at the end is costing her, especially with the careless gaffe of spelling Massachusetts incorrectly... the state that she is trying to be represent. It does not present a good representation of her or her campaign. Scott Brown, on the other hand, has presented himself rather nicely (even if what Martha Coakley's campaign has said about Scott Brown is true).
Either way, my vote is going to be based on the lesser of two evils. To me, the people elected for our legislative branch are always going to be out of touch with the every day people. There's no getting around that. One of the driving forces in politics is money. Whoever has the most money vested in a particular politician will most likely have their agenda pushed through legislature. It's that simple.
Do you think if both Martha Coakley and Scott Brown did not have the financial backing that people would know who Joseph L. Kennedy is? Joseph L. Kennedy is the independent running for the same position. Unfortunately, the current system of the two parties has pretty much already ruled out Joseph L. Kennedy from the race. It's unfortunate (or fortunate depending on how you look at it), but it's true.
Needless to say, politics bothers me. If it were up to me, I'd get rid of the Democrat/Republican label altogether. If a two party system must exist, I'd rather have the two parties be called Liberal/Conversative. At least that way, it would be more accurate. Is a liberal Republican less conservative than a conservative Democrat? Who knows. Yet people are still willing to vote along the lines of their political party... because they are part of the party. It makes no sense.
Anyway, it should be an interesting election. I'm glad I won't have to receive any more automated phone calls after today.
Last night, Karen and I were feeling a little lazy in regards to dinner. So, we decided to go out. It should come as no surprise that we ended up Not Your Average Joe's located in Norwell.
Unfortunately, I suck at Not Your Average Joe's. In retrospect, yesterday actually would have been a good time to meet up with my BFF (Kerry) for dinner at Not Your Average Joe's. Kerry, a fan herself of the bread at Not Your Average Joe's, had mentioned some time ago that the restaurant was having a 10 entrees for $10 each promotion on Mondays and Tuesdays and that she would like to go.
With yesterday being Monday, 10 entrees for $10 each it was! And as usual, I thoroughly enjoyed the food. (Sorry Kerry!) I had the sirloin steak tips while Karen had the house-roasted classic turkey blt with cup of soup. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-O" sound.) The meal was very delicious. Truth be told, I don't think I have ever had a bad meal there. And Karen particularly liked our server (Debbie) who was just very friendly.
All in all, it was good. Following dinner, we headed home so that I could tackle renovating the first floor bathroom again. This would be my second attempt at using the Great Stuff insulation. The first time I used the spray insulation, I ran out because I had used so much of it around the window. This second time... not much better. But, I think I'm getting the hang of it. (I'll probably actually need another can of insulation.)
It was all about insulation last night. Sadly, I did not get to finish the insulation of the walls. In our efforts to be a little more greener, Karen and I had decided to use denim insulation for the renovation. Denim insulation, which is better than fiberglass in terms of the environment and cleaner particles and all that, is great! I can pick up the denim insulation, roll around naked in it (not that I would)... and I won't itch like I normally would with regular fiberglass insulation. I love it.
The only problem, however, is cutting the insulation. Usually, a utility knife does the trick for fiberglass insulation. Because the denim is thicker, the utility knife doesn't really do the job. I've been using a pair of scissor instead.
Anyway, I didn't get too far into the insulation. Nonetheless, I am proud that I have kept my focus on the renovation project... at least for now.
Yesterday, Karen and I were invited to Sunday dinner by Karen's parents. Unfortunately, I suck at visiting the parents.
Dinner was very good. Karen's parents made pork with a whole slew of side dishes ranging from roasted potatoes, to peas, to corn, to carrots, to apple sauce. All in all, everything was delicious. The roasted potatoes were very good... perhaps not as good as my friend's (Andrea), but good nonetheless.
Also attending Sunday dinner were my favorite sister-in-law (Janine) and her family (PJ, PJ and Kaleigh). So it was pretty much a family get-together. It was nice.
Interestingly enough, my nephew (PJ) asked the same question that I have always wanted to know the answer to in regards to Karen's family and their version of Sunday dinner. That question: why is it called "dinner" when we usually eat around one o'clock? Shouldn't the meal be considered "lunch"?
Sadly, the answer given to PJ was because the day of the week happened to be Sunday. Personally, I still think "Sunday dinner" within Karen's family makes no logical sense. To me, it's like the following analogy: My name is Mike 364 days of the year, but on December 19th, my name is King. I'm sure there must be some logical explanation for "Sunday dinner" at one in the afternoon outside of it being the day of the week.
Regardless, "dinner" with Karen and her family was fun. Dessert probably would have been great too had Karen's mother not dropped the apple pie on the floor the night before. Just kidding. As odd as this sounds, I can see some humor in the incident because I can picture Karen reacting the same way that her mother did... practically in tears... had she done something similar.
Following dinner, Karen and I took a brief jaunt over to visit my parents. We didn't stay long though. We did, however, manage to stay long enough for my mom to pawn off some home made hummus to us. (This is what my mother does. She always tries to give Karen and I stuff...) The hummus was made courtesy of her neighbor. (For anyone curious, the hummus is very good.)
After the whirlwind tour of visiting both sets of parents, Karen and I returned home whereby I worked some more on our first floor bathroom. To be specific, I finished insulating part of the subfloor that was not over our crawlspace. So hopefully, part of that bathroom will feel warmer now.
Last night was also the first time I ever used Great Stuff, which is a spray foam insulation for cracks. (No, I did not use that on the subfloor.) I used the Great Stuff around the window in the bathroom. As it was my first time, I may have used a little too much of it at one time. The insulation was simply overflowing from all around the window. It looked like there was a foam explosion. (I'll have to work on using the Great Stuff better. Luckily, I can remove all the excess foam.)
When I had enough of working on the house, I finally joined Karen on the couch. Karen was watching the Bring It On marathon on ABC Family. Always the fan of cheerleading movies, I decided to watch the fifth installment of the series: Brint It On: Fight to the Finish.
(The video below is a trailer for Bring It On: Fight to the Finish.)
I had no idea there were five installments of the series. Who knew cheerleading movies were such a big draw? Needless to say, this movie... not that good. Of course, I wasn't expecting much to begin with.
After all, the biggest name in the movie was probably David Starzyk, the guy in that credit card commercial who, after seeing his wife in a dress, says that they could use their credit card points for all of this other stuff... only to find out that his wife already used the points for that new dress. (I dislike that commercial... so it only makes sense that I disliked the fifth installment of Bring It On.)
Regardless of the movie, it was good to relax and spend some time with Karen.
After all, the past couple of days I have been a little stressed and concerned... more for Karen and our unborn child than for me. I just have to keep telling myself that we just have to make 12 more weeks. I will be a lot more relaxed come May 2 (the due date of our child). But the thought of losing our child much like how we lost our first son (Braden)... definitely not a good feeling.
So to unwind, I began my day like any normal person: I went running. It's a very sad state that I am in. I have not gone running (or even exercised) in quite a long time. In fact, I don't even remember the last time I did anything other than type away at the computer.
Sadly, I could not even run a full mile. I am guessing the five pounds that I have gained since Karen has been pregnant has not done me any favors. I practically keeled over when I was done and had enough. Needless to say, I will need to work more on my running. And by work more, I mean... actually run consistently.
Following my little saunter, my favorite brother-in-law (PJ) came over. I had asked him for some advice about the bathroom on our first floor that I have been working on. Yes, I have been working on this bathroom for a very long time. I definitely suck at home improvement. It's no surprise.
I guess you can say I find home improvement much like a workout (like running). I don't mind doing it. It's the motivation to actually get myself to do it that is the problem. I can probably think of a bunch of excuses not to work on the house on any given day... much like I can think of a bunch of excuses not to run on any given day. I don't have anyone to blame except myself. I just simply need to do it.
Luckily for me, PJ happened to be that catalyst. With PJ's advice, the both of us started tearing up the subfloor of the first floor bathroom. For anyone curious, there was water damage to the subfloor. The water damage has been there for a while. I knew it had to be torn up and replaced. I just never wanted to do it (a.k.a. the motivation thing) because I knew it was going to be a pain.
Anyway, once PJ got me started in the right direction, I took off from there. Thanks PJ! Destroying things is a great way to relieve stress. It was actually pretty fun to remove part of the subfloor. For anyone wanting to relieve stress, I recommend destroying things. (Hulk smash!)
Needless to say, I spent much of the entire day working on the first floor bathroom. The only time I took a break was for dinner and a brief jaunt out for some grocery shopping. In case anyone is curious, Saturday nights around 8 is a great time to go food shopping. No one is shopping at that time... probably because everyone but me has a life.
When I got home after grocery shopping, Karen was still asleep. So I basically went back to the first floor bathroom and did some more work on the subfloor. And it probably should come as no surprise that the insulation under the subfloor is not the proper insulation. Truth be told, I probably would have replaced the insulation anyway in my effort to make a more greener house.
Speaking of a greener house, PJ gave Karen and I a great idea for one of our other rooms. For lack of a better word, we have a back mudroom. PJ suggested we convert it to a green house. I liked that idea. I'll have to remember to look into that... after the first floor bathroom renovation.
Last night, Karen and I attended a service for our friend's (Kristine) grandfather. It was an interesting service. The service was held at Dolan Funeral Services in Quincy. I have never been to Dolan Funeral Services. Surprisingly, the place is pretty big. Of course, the place may have just seemed large because there were not a lot of people attending the service.
Anyway, following the service, Karen and I decided to go out. Originally, we thought about eating out at a fancy restaurant. After all, both Karen and I were already dressed up. As it turns out, we decided to grab take out from Chipotle instead.
Too bad I suck at Chipotle. Truth be told, I was a little disappointed with this past Chipotle experience. Generally, my experiences at Chipotle are pretty positive. Last night, however, was not that great.
Karen and I had ordered the featured burrito: the chicken burrito. Unfortunately, Chipotle had run out of chicken. As Chipotle likes to pride themselves on serving things hot and fresh, they started to cook the chicken for us. Normally, that's great.
The problem, however, was that they continued creating the rest of the burrito. If the rest of the burrito contained cold items, then it probably would not have been bad. Unfortunately, there are some other warm items in the burrito beside the meat (like the beans). So needless to say, while waiting for the chicken to cook, the rest of the burrito got cold. (And one would think that we would get chicken hot off the grill... except that for some reason the staff continued creating the burritos for the other customers after us... and then later added the chicken to ours.)
Luckily for Chipotle, I was pretty hungry and didn't mind that my burrito was pretty much cold. Karen, however, was quite disappointed.
Anyway, we took our cold burritos to my favorite sister-in-law's (Janine). Janine had asked if we wanted to stop on by. And so we did. It was fun hanging out with Janine and my favorite brother-in-law (PJ).
Truth be told, after Thursday's stress I think it cheered Karen up to hang out and have fun with her sister. (And for anyone curious, Janine now has Coach sunglasses. Yes, she is so Hingham.) It was fun. Karen and I used to see Janine and PJ fairly regularly. We haven't really seen them on a consistent basis in a while. Perhaps we should do it again.
Among the topics of discussion were... the infamous speculum. Janine has never seen one... until last night. Hm. I should add that to my scavenger hunt list that I'm creating. Speaking of which, it seems like Janine and PJ are fairly confident that they will win again at the upcoming photo scavenger hunt. They have already earmarked their winnings to be used for a round of drinks. I guess we'll see.
Today started off with what could best be described as stress.
For the most part, Karen and I have the same routine in the morning: Karen wakes up. She takes a shower. She gets ready for work. Meanwhile, I usually pull the covers over my head and try to sleep in a little longer. Eventually, I make it out of bed.
This morning things were a little different because Karen noticed some blood while in the bathroom. Blood is never a good sign. Blood while pregnant... definitely not a good sign. Needless to say, we went to the hospital to check things out.
The entire morning was eerily reminiscent of the premature birth of our son (Braden). About a year and several months ago, Karen was 23 weeks pregnant. She woke up one morning and noticed blood. We went to the hospital. Early the next day, Braden was born. Unfortunately, Braden was only able to survive for a week.
For me, that week was definitely a life-changer. Ever since Braden's passing, nothing has really been "normal". In fact, it seems like I've been trying to define a new "normal". It's almost as though you gain some clarity into appreciating the relationships you have in life and the world.
Regardless, this morning was almost like reliving the past. Unfortunately, I suck at reliving the past. Truth be told, everything this morning was freakishly similar to the situation with Braden: there was the blood in the morning; Karen is 24 weeks pregnant; we ended up in the same exam room at the hospital...
Needless to say, we were both a little worried and stressed. It didn't help that it seemed like we waited forever for the doctor to finally come examine Karen. The not-knowing was definitely hard to take.
And I may not have said it in the past, but I do have a new found appreciation for what women have to go through on an annual basis. When you see the size and shape of the speculum, you just have to be amazed that something like that can be inserted. Based on looks alone, it must be uncomfortable. Heck, I know I wouldn't want something like that inserted into me.
Anyway, as it turned out, everything looked okay to the doctor. It was a relief to hear that. I am hoping with the mightiest of mights that the doctor is correct in her diagnosis. Truthfully, I'm not sure I can handle another extreme premature birth and possible death again of my child.
As crazy as it sounds, I remember getting angry with God again... a God that I don't even believe in... during our long wait for the doctor to come in. A lot of things go through your head while you wait without answers. For me, it was "you're not taking this one. not this time..." I realize there is nothing I can actually do to prevent it, but it felt good to think it at the time.
Hopefully, things will turn out okay for my little Corny. Corny is the temporary name I have given our unborn child because during week 24, the child is the size of an ear of corn. I had thought of Cornish, but that was too much like a hen. There was also Cornelius, but that sounded awful. So Corny it was.
Regardless, one of pleasant surprises that resulted from this morning was that the social worker from South Shore Hospital called later in the day to see how we were both doing. It was a touching gesture and one that made me smile. The social worker knew us when Braden was born and passed. For her to even remember Karen and I must mean that we are doing something right in this world. After all, people we hardly know think about us. Needless to say, it was a nice surprise.
Anyway, Karen was told to rest the entire day. And so she did. She appears to be doing well, albeit a little bored. We actually ended up watching "Angels & Demons", which was the next movie in her Netflix queue.
(The video below is a trailer for "Angels & Demons".)
The movie was good. Tom Hanks looked much better without the long hair. What was he thinking for the DaVinci Code? In case you are curious, "Angels & Demons" is about Robert Langdon's (played by Tom Hanks) quest to unravel a plot to destroy the Vatican.
Truth be told, I actually liked the story of Angels & Demons better than the DaVinci Code. I'd be curious to see what the Lost Symbol (the third Robert Langdon book) is about. Interestingly enough, the Lost Symbol is currently the only novel by Dan Brown that I have not read yet. (Dan Brown's other novels beside the Robert Landon ones are Digital Fortress and Deception Point.) I might have to check that book out some day.
Anyway, the movie was a good way to unwind from today's stress.
On Wednesday, Karen and I hung out with my friends (Marc and Kelley).
Marc was gracious enough to make dinner. As usual, the meal was delicious. And luckily for me, I got to finish off what Karen could not. I guess that is part of the benefits of having a pregnant wife. (I suppose you could also say it's a drawback as well because I have gained about five pounds since Karen became pregnant.)
Anyway, on the agenda for the night were a few episodes of Angel. Now, I suck at Angel. The episodes that we watched were: "Waiting in the Wings" about a supernatural dance troupe; "Couplet" about the return of the Groosalugg; and "Loyalty" about Wes confirming the translation of the prophecy.
Interestingly enough, starring in the dance troupe episode was Summer Glau. Apparently, Summer Glau was so good in the ballerina role that it eventually led her to read for another Joss Whedon gig on Firefly. Also interesting is the fact that Amy Acker, the actress who plays Fred, actually inspired the episode because Joss Whedon discovered that she had taken ballet for fifteen years. (The original story was to have her and Wes dancing ballet together.)
Needless to say, the episodes were great. Following Angel, we decided to catch a couple of episodes of Human Wrecking Balls. In the two episodes, the Pumphrey brothers got to destroy a post office and a fast food restaurant. And as it turned out, Nurse Abby actually got some face time in one of the episodes because Craig received a nasty gash on his head from breaking plates. (And people think Nurse Abby is useless...)
Anyway, as usual it was great hanging out with Marc and Kelley.
My friend (Jen) had spent the night at our place. It's been a long while since Jen stayed over. In fact, I don't even remember the last time Jen did stay over. Needless to say, she got to have some alone time with Batista. (For anyone curious, we have an action figure of the WWE wrestler known as Batista in the other bedroom.)
After breakfast, while Karen and Jen went grocery shopping (and then when Karen headed off to a Lia Sophia party), I did what any person would do on a cold winter day with snow outside and the New England Patriots in a playoff game: I crawled around in our crawlspace. It's fun, I know. (In retrospect, I'm glad I did not watch the New England Patriots in the playoff game because I heard they were absolutely terrible.)
For quite some time now, the bathroom on our first floor has been in disarray. We had planned to remodel it well over a year ago. Unfortunately, I have never been motivated enough to continue to remodel the bathroom. After awhile, I simply lose the motivation because so many other things come up... like our broken treadmill... like our broken computer... etc. It gets frustrating after a while.
Eventually, Karen and I will have to start registering for baby things and all of that stuff. So my window of opportunity seems to be shrinking every day. And truly the only person that I can blame is myself because I think I can handle it all when in fact, I should probably ask for help. It's that fine line of being a burden/asking others for help that I don't like.
Anyway, there's no turning back now on the bathroom project, especially since I just cut out one of the drain pipes. And sadly, that's about the extent of the work I did while Karen was out.
When Karen returned from the party, we looked underneath our car. Sure enough, fluid was still leaking from underneath the car. (Earlier in the morning, I had noticed some fluid in our garage.) So we decided to bring the car in. It's too bad I suck at fixing the car.
Needless to say, Karen and I brought our car to the local Firestone in for repairs. The local Firestone kept the car overnight. Hopefully it won't be too bad to fix.
On Saturday, Karen and I began our day with a memorial service in Hingham. The memorial service was for the spouse of my former friend's mother (Peggy). (I say former because my friend passed away.) I can imagine that it must be difficult for Peggy. After all, she has lost her only son and her husband all within five or six years.
Nevertheless, the service was good. The last time I was at the church (The Episcopal Parish of St. John the Evangelist) where the service was held was for the memorial of Peggy's son. And prior to that, it was for Peggy's wedding 14 years ago.
If there can be anything "interesting" from a memorial, it's seeing familiar teachers of yore. (Did I mention that Peggy was a teacher at the high school I attended?) Having not seen a teacher for quite some time... and then seeing then now... is an odd feeling. You sometimes wonder if those teachers remember you the way you remember them.
Anyway, a bunch of friends were at the service too. Attending were Sam (who flew in from Virginia), Jeannette and her son, Nicole, Meredith, Garv and Leeann, and my BFF (Kerry). I think Peggy was ecstatic to see all of us there, which was nice.
And for anyone curious, Jeannette's son (Sam) is very good for a four month old. He didn't cry, scream... anything during the service. He did manage to put three of my fingers in his mouth though. Other than that, he didn't make a peep. He was good... possibly the envy of all parents who have a four month old.
Following the service, Kerry headed back to our house. My friend (Andrea) had planned a little get together for the night. As we had time before the big shindig, the three of us decided to catch a couple of episodes of Veronica Mars. Slowly, we're making it through the third and final season. Too bad it takes us awhile to watch the episodes. Remembering what happened in previous episodes is sometimes tough. Nonetheless, it was fun.
Eventually, it was time for Andrea's shindig. Her get together consisted of her self proclaimed famous dinner: chicken and potatoes. Originally, she had debated about whether to make roasted potatoes or mashed potatoes. Rather than make one or the other, she made both. (She also made asparagus and rolls too... and a trifle for dessert.)
And might I add, this dinner was pretty hyped up by Andrea. For those who know me, they know about my feelings on hyped up things. With all the fanfare, there naturally is some lofty expectations. Needless to say, Andrea delivered. Her dinner was absolutely delicious. (I probably should not be surprised because everything that I have had from Andrea has been delicious.)
I think my favorite dish was the roasted potatoes. Too bad I suck at roasted potatoes. I must have eaten a whole lot of them. Truth be told, I probably could have eaten just the roasted potatoes and been happy.
Needless to say, dinner at Andrea's was great. Besides Karen, Kerry and I, my friends (Jen and Hot Amy), and Hot Amy's significant other (Mark) were able to attend the dinner. I think they enjoyed the dinner too.
I'm pretty sure Kerry enjoyed the "bread in a can". Speaking of Kerry, it turns out that her favorite U.S. currency is the quarter. That was an interesting fact that was discovered for the night. I did not know people had a favorite currency. Who knew? Among other interesting facts are that the favorite numbers of Andrea, Jen and Kerry are 8, 21 and 2 (or 5... hence the quarter) respectively. Favorite colors are red, blue and purple for Jen, Kerry, and Hot Amy respectively. And Mark apparently is not a sanitation engineer (or so he claims)... not that there is anything wrong with that.
Anyway, it was a fun time at Andrea's. Following dinner, Jen, Karen and I then headed off to Stars in Hingham. On Christmas Eve, the three of us and Kerry had discovered that Stars was having an ugly holiday sweater party. Everyone seemed pretty excited about the party (except for me). So we figured we'd give it a try.
(Picture below is Jen in her ugly sweater.)
Joining us at Stars were my favorite sister-in-law (Janine) and my favorite brother-in-law (PJ). The place was packed... and cold. Nevertheless, it was a fun time. Jen even won a free t-shirt for having such an ugly sweater. And for anyone curious, I thought the band (The Smoking Jackets) was great. The band covered a bunch of songs that you wouldn't normally think would be covered at a bar... like Dancing Queen by ABBA... or the Safety Dance by Men Without Hats. Based on the turnout for the ugly holiday sweater party, I would probably suggest the idea to my friend (Garv) for his bar (Blue-22). But, I'm pretty sure he would pretend to jot the idea down in his hand, crumple the piece of paper, and toss it over his shoulder.
Tonight, Karen and I spontaneously had a little date night. Yes, it's true. I suck at date night. It's been a while since Karen and I went out and did something between just the two of us.
So naturally, we did what any traditional couple would do: dinner and a movie. (Hey, couples can't always be spontaneous and do exciting new activities. Karen is, after all, pregnant.) That's okay. I'm good with dinner and a movie anyway.
Needless to say, we had dinner at one of our favorite places: Not Your Average Joe's, located in Norwell. Luckily for us, we arrived right before the rush because the place got packed shortly after we arrived. It goes without saying that the food was delicious. I had the cobb burger while Karen had the waldorf salad. And I may have also devoured a basketful of bread. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-O" sound.)
With the snow coming down after dinner, we decided to head home and catch a movie. The latest movie in Karen's Netflix queue: I Love You, Beth Cooper.
(The video below is the trailer for I Love You, Beth Cooper.)
The movie was good. It was the typical high school romantic comedy. Hayden Panettiere (of Heroes fame) stars as Beth Cooper. The plot of the movie is simple: the geeky protagonist, in an effort to say that he had no regrets during high school, declares to the entire class during his valedictorian speech that he loves Beth Cooper. From there, the craziness ensues.
Of course I had to enjoy the movie. Beth Cooper was a) a blonde; and b) a cheerleader in the movie. Naturally that combination must make a great movie, right? Okay. So maybe I still feel somewhat cheated during my high school experience. The cheerleaders from my high school definitely did not look like any Hollywood cheerleader I've ever seen. I guess you could say that our high school cheerleaders... brought no cheer.
Nonetheless, I still married a cheerleader. For anyone curious, Karen was a cheerleader. Sure, that was back in middle school... but she was a cheerleader nonetheless!
Anyway, it was a great date night. I had a good time.
Last night, I finished reading a book. Yes, I too sometimes find it amazing that I can read. (Hooked on phonics worked for me!) The book that I finished reading was "Heat Wave" by Richard Castle. Now, I suck at Heat Wave.
The book is actually a tie-in with the ABC television series "Castle". In the television show, Richard Castle is a famous writer who gets to tag along with the NYPD so that he can do research for an upcoming book. It turns out that Castle and the mayor of New York are close. Hence, that is why Castle is allowed to tag along with NYPD homicide.
Anyway, in the course of the show, Castle writes the book "Heat Wave" which is modeled after the detective he has been shadowing and the Police precinct that she works at. And lo' and behold... the marketing geniuses of ABC decided to actually release a book titled "Heat Wave" by Richard Castle. (And in rather comical fashion, there is a picture of Nathan Fillion, who plays Richard Castle on the television show, on the back cover as the author.)
Needless to say, the book was very enjoyable. The book was a rather quick read as well. Without giving away any of the details, the book is basically another episode of the television show, just with different names for the characters. There are, of course, some other plot differences. But all in all, it was a good book.
Sadly, the only downside of reading the book was that when I had finished, I discovered that my computer had died. My computer is currently suffering from a hardware malfunction, which is never good. The hardware malfunction is apparently causing a memory parity error. So, it is quite possible that I will either need new RAM, or a new computer. Either way, it's annoying. (It's also annoying that everything seems to break at the same time. First the treadmill. Now the computer. What's next? I probably should not have asked... in the event that I find out the answer to that question...)
On Wednesday, Karen and I hung out with my friends (Marc and Kelley).
Marc had prepared a delicious Asian dish for all of us. As well, Kelley made her famous muffins. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-O" sound.) I love Kelley's muffins. They taste so good. One of the benefits of being married to Karen (and I should probably add that there are many benefits...) is that Karen has a small appetite, especially now that she is pregnant. That pretty much translates to more food for me. Yay! Needless to say, I was pretty stuffed on Wednesday.
On the agenda for the night: another episode of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and another episode of Angel. The episode of Buffy that we watched was "As You Were", which featured the return of (and final departure of) Riley. For Angel, the episode we watched was "Provider" about Angel losing sight of the mission to help the helpless so that he can financially provide for his son.
Interestingly enough, Karen and Kelley thought Riley's wife (Sam) was worse than Riley. I thought that was kind of funny. As for Angel, the episode is apparently one of the episodes that Marc really dislikes about the show. Truth be told, I think that episode is pretty blah myself.
Nevertheless, we decided to change things up after the blah Angel episode. The movie Green Lantern: First Flight was in Marc and Kelley's Netflix queue and it had arrived. So we decided to check it out.
(The video below is a trailer for Green Lantern: First Flight.)
Now, I suck at Green Lantern: First Flight. Of course, I probably don't suck as bad as Ryan Reynolds who will be playing the costumed superhero in the upcoming movie. I think Ryan Reynolds is single-handedly trying to ruin comic book movies by appearing in all of them. For anyone curious, he was Hannibal King in Blade, Wade Wilson (not the ex-football player)/Deadpool in Wolverine (and the spinoff movie about Deadpool), and now as Hal Jordan/Green Lantern. Granted, if I had a body like Ryan Reynolds, I too would probably walk around in a skinny tight costume too. Luckily for my friends and family... I don't. (Perhaps I'm just jealous?)
Anyway, Green Lantern: First Flight is an animated movie about the DC superhero. The movie has the voice talents of Christopher Meloni (from Law and Order: SVU), Victor Garber (from Alias), Tricia Helfer (from Battlestar Galactica), Michael Madsen (from Reservoir Dogs and Free Willy), and a whole bunch of other actors and actresses. And yes, Juliet Landau (of Buffy fame) is also one of the voices.
The movie was good. The Green Lantern was never one of my favorite superheroes growing up, probably because I thought it was silly that a ring could do pretty much anything... and probably because the guardians of the rings were little trolls. And there is also this one Green Lantern that has a ginormous head. In fact, that Green Lantern is all head (I think the character's name is Ekron). It's scary. Nevertheless, the movie was enjoyable.
And for anyone curious, here is the Green Lantern oath:
In brightest day, in blackest night, No evil shall escape my sight Let those who worship evil's might, Beware my power... Green Lantern's light!
I'm going to have to randomly utter that oath some time...
Karen's latest movie in her Netflix queue arrived today. That movie: Food, Inc. which is fitting for Karen who is a dietitian. Too bad I suck at Food, Inc.
(The following video is from Food, Inc.)
For anyone curious, the movie takes a look at the food industry and its detrimental effects on our health and the environment. I enjoyed the movie quite a bit. Unfortunately, I now have a feeling of frustration and contempt for the food industry... not that my impression of the food industry was ever favorable to begin with. (For anyone curious, I always believed that our food system was partially responsible for the growing number of diagnosed health issues.)
Needless to say, after watching the movie I felt like becoming a vegetarian... which is ironic seeing as how I had just cooked and ate chicken on the grill for dinner. (Yes, even with the snow outside, I grilled the chicken.) Unfortunately becoming a vegetarian would not help my cause because our vegetables are also affected by the same food industry.
It seems like a no win situation for the average consumer, especially considering the fact that to reform the food industry means taking on large corporations and their political ties with the government. (Ever wonder why junk food is so cheap? The cheap price of junk food is the result of government subsidies for the crap. In essence, the government is paying companies to make you fat.)
Anyway, the movie does offer suggestions on how to change the food industry. The reform, however, would probably require everyone to become more vigilant about the food they consume which is difficult. But if everyone forced the tobacco companies to reform, I don't see why the same thing can't happen in regards to the food industry.
Needless to say, I did enjoy this movie a lot and would recommend it to anyone who is interested. I am now also curious to read Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation and Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. Hopefully I can remember to add those books to my reading list.
Tonight, Karen and I watched the next movie in her Netflix queue: Four Christmases.
Now, I suck at Four Christmases. To be honest, I am rather surprised that this movie had a "very long wait" attached to it when placed in the queue because the movie is not really that good. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad. It's just... okay.
(The video below is a trailer for Four Christmases.)
The movie is basically about Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon having to spend four Christmas with each of their character's divorced parents because their original vacation plans get changed.
As usual, Vince Vaughn plays... well... a character much like himself. Despite the all-star cast, the laughs were few and far between. Plus, the couple played by Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon, in my opinion, were somewhat annoying. They were like the couple who can't get enough of each other... always saying they love each other, holding hands, finishing the other person's sentences, whatever.
All in all, the movie was rather blah. I didn't hate the movie. I didn't like it either. It was just... blah.
With the never-ending snow, this past weekend was very uneventful. In fact, I spent much of Saturday and Sunday shoveling snow. Too bad I suck at shoveling.
When I was not shoveling, I spent my entire time home-bound. Unable to go anywhere with the snow (even after shoveling a couple of times), Karen and I decided to just stay at home and watch some movies.
The movies we watched: the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy... the extended DVD version. Nothing quite passes the time like an extended version of a movie... or three. I had received the extended version of the trilogy as a present a few years ago. I had never watched them... until now. In fact, I was somewhat inspired to watch them because TNT was airing the Lord of the Rings trilogy on consecutive nights during the weekend.
Needless to say, I love the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In my opinion, the Lord of the Rings is the best movie trilogy ever. That may be my inner geek talking, but it's true. After all, what other trilogy can provide wisdom like the following:
"Always after a defeat and a respite, the Shadow takes another shape and grows again." "I wish it need not have have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."
Too bad the Bible was not based on the Lord of the Rings. That would be cool... and probably blasphemous. Frodo 3:16!
Regardless, the extended DVD versions of the movies were great. Even though the extended versions made each movie so much longer (each movie is broken into two discs), I think it provides the viewers a more complete journey. Needless to say, I loved every minute of it. I would watch it again right now if I could.
I suppose the only good thing that even came out of my shoveling of snow was that I got to meet the new neighbors across the street. My neighbors apparently just moved into their new house on Wednesday. And interestingly enough, they were waiting for their furniture to arrive during the snow storm.
I just happened to be shoveling when my neighbors (Jeff and Corey) came over to introduce themselves. Jeff's girlfriend also lives across the street, but I did not get to meet her. All three of them are originally from Scituate.
To be honest, I am slightly jealous of Jeff. Jeff is 24 and part of a family business located in Scituate. He is actually very nice.
The reason as to my jealousy is because he accomplished at 24 what I did at 27: he purchased a house. Unbeknownest to many, I had always dreamed of purchasing my own home ever since I was little. My dreams were not a result of any bad relations with my parents or anything like that. Quite the contrary. I love my parents.
My parents, in their attempts to Americanize my brother and I by doing all things American, instilled in me some portions of the American dream. For me, that meant buying a house. From my first job out of college I began saving for a house. Eventually, I was able to save enough on my own for a down payment on a house. And luckily for me, I married someone like Karen who is equally good at saving money.
Regardless, I think it is rather remarkable for a 24 year old to buy a house. I just hope they don't party too much... those young whipper-snappers. Just kidding.
Too bad I suck at New Year's. In years past, Karen and I have spent New Year's Eve in the All-American city known as Lowell. ("All-American city" is another slogan provided by the propaganda machine known as the city of Lowell. There is, after all, a lot to like about Lowell.)
On the actual day of the new year, the four of us generally spend the day shopping. In keeping with tradition, this year was no different.
We headed off to the land of no taxes: New Hampshire. Live free or die! The infamous store known as the Christmas Tree Shop used to offer big savings on New Year's day. Sadly, those days are gone. Damn this economy. You know the economy must be bad when the Christmas Tree Shop can't even offer sales on its own stuff.
Anyway, our shopping excursion was rather lackluster. We did not have any big purchases. Nothing. I didn't even buy a brand new pair of running shoes like I usually do on New Year's day. The highlight of my shopping experience is purchasing a small belated Christmas present for Karen.
Following our lackluster shopping, the four of us had lunch at the Olive Garden. The Olive Garden was very enjoyable. Interestingly enough, I enjoyed the eggplant more at the Olive Garden than I did at the Chateau. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-O" sound.)
Also interestingly enough, Karen noticed that on the stone wall of the Olive Garden were a set of five bricks... just randomly mixed in on the wall. Naturally, we had to inquire about the seemingly randomness of the five bricks. It turns out, the wall of that particular Olive Garden was created to match the look of the Olive Garden's Culinary Institute in Tuscany, Italy. So apparently the masons in Italy just ran out of stone at some point.
Regardless, the meal at the Olive Garden was delicious. It definitely made up for a lackluster shopping experience.
For the past ten years or so, Karen and I have been going to Lowell for New Year's Eve. After all, there is a lot to like about Lowell... or so the city will have you believe. Personally, I'm still not convinced about the city's slogan.
Unfortunately, I suck at New Year's Eve. In keeping with tradition, however, Karen and I visited the city of textile mills this year. For anyone curious, we did actually break tradition last year, as we attempted to deal with the loss our son (Braden). We went on a cruise just to get away from reality for a while. The cruise was great. Thank you again to everyone who had surprised us with a little present on the cruise.
Anyway, this year was a return back to tradition. Karen and I visited Karen's cousin (Karlene) and her husband (Tommy), who are Lowell-ites... or Lowellians? I'm not sure what the term is. Needless to say, it was a fun time. Karlene was gracious enough to make dinner for all of us. Karen and I had brought some Chinese food to make as well, but the food did not appear to cook well without a steamer. Oh well.
During dinner, we had some random topics of discussion. Karlene and Tommy were quite surprised that I told them that I did not want Squashy to have any electronic video games or game consoles until he/she was a teenager. The reason for their surprise was because they know that I am quite the video game aficionado.
And for anyone curious, "Squashy" is the current name that I have given to our unborn child. Every week, Karen and I visit a website that explains what to expect during a certain week of pregnancy. The website generally says the child is about the size of some type of vegetable. This week just happened to be a squash. Hence... "Squashy". Prior to Squashy was "Carrota", after a carrot.
The reason why I do not want my child to have any video games until they are a teenager is because I do not want my child to be dependent on video games. I have seen all too often children wanting to do nothing else but play video games, even when company is over, because they are bored or whatnot. It's only natural. Heck, when I get bored that's all I want to do too. I just want my child to have fun and interact with other people. That's just my opinion.
And while I'm sounding like an old person, the four of us also had a discussion about phones. In particular, we had talked about the constant need for people to take out their cell phones to check for messages or play with apps or whatnot. It absolutely drives me nuts when people take out their phones while at a social gathering. In fact, I find it pretty rude. I'm guessing not a lot of people agree with my point of view because it is a common occurrence. To me, it's just common courtesy.
Anyway, new year's eve was a fun time. In addition to dinner, Tommy tried his hand at bar tending. Tommy had gotten Karlene a Disaronno gift set... because Karlene is apparently quite the boozer. Just kidding. The only thing I knew about Disaronno was that the company advertised on television not too long ago. The commercials, however, never said what kind of alcohol it was. (For anyone curious, Disaronno is a brand of amaretto.)
Needless to say, Tommy made a pretty delicious drink consisting of amaretto and grape juice. He even went the extra step and threaded grapes through a plastic straw. All in all, the drink was very good. I would definitely drink it again.
In addition to the drinks, we also played a game that Karlene and Tommy recently received: Disney Th!nk Fast on the Wii. The game is basically a game show hosted by Aladdin's Genie. Each round of the game consists of different activities or trivia. (For anyone curious, Karlene and Tommy are very big fans of the mouse.) In years past, we had played certain Disney themed games. So this year was no different.
And luckily, because I like to talk trash, the outcome of the game was similar as in years past. Much like my challenges with my friend (Hot Amy), I ended up winning the game each time we played. Perhaps Karlene and Tommy have the same genetic predisposition to losing as Hot Amy. Just kidding.
Anyway, the game was rather entertaining... and I don't say that because I laid down quite the beating. (I am a video game aficionado after all.) When the dust settled, we were able to enjoy the rest of the night and watch as the ball dropped in New York.
Since being on vacation for the holidays, I seemed to have lost track of time. Lately, I don't remember what day is what anymore. Plus, I have been sleeping in late. It's a very peculiar feeling.
Nevertheless, Karen and I hung out with my friends (Marc and Kelley) on Wednesday. Like Karen and I, Marc and Kelley are off during the holidays. Similarly, my friends (Cass and Ellen) were also on vacation for the holiday break. Since the six of us were off, Marc tried to get all of us together to hang out for the day.
The destination: Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. As it turned out, Cass and Ellen could not join us for the day trip. So it ended up being the four of us for the trip.
Needless to say, the ride down was fun. While we were heading down to Connecticut, the topic of public access television came up. In particular, we were trying to think up of a show that we could create for Quincy's public access television station.
One of the possible suggestions that came up was a show similar to "Three Sheets to the Wind" starring Zane Lamprey. For anyone curious, the premise of "Three Sheets" is that the host basically gets inebriated at various international locations while learning the local customs and whatnot. In our Quincy public access version, Kelley and I would basically get inebriated at various locations around Quincy. And luckily, Quincy does have a lot of Irish bars.
My favorite suggestion for a show was a reality television series to get Cass elected as mayor of Quincy. The first season would feature all of us in our attempt to convince Cass to run for mayor. (For anyone curious, Cass does not want to become mayor... yet.) And hopefully by the end of season one, Cass can be convinced. From there, season two could be the actual process of our attempt to run a campaign for Cass as he runs for mayor.
It would be interesting to find out if it would be possible to run a campaign based solely on public access television. Plus, the show would actually give me the opportunity to use the slogan "Don't be a Koch-head". Koch (pronounced like the soft drink, Coke) is currently the mayor of Quincy. I am not a big fan of Mayor Koch, and I'm not even a resident of Quincy. Perhaps the reason for my dislike is his awful hair...
Anyway, those were but some of the ideas that we came up with during our ride down to Mohegan Sun. Another idea that I came up with was to have a bunch of Native Americans sitting atop the Mohegan Sun tower just raining arrows down upon the cars as they approached. I figured that the arrows would give the place a more authentic feel... than just simply a gambling casino.
Needless to say, we arrived at Mohegan Sun (sans the shower of arrows) and walked around a bit. Truth be told, I was a little nervous for Karen because I knew there would be smoke in the casino... even in the non-smoking section. Karen did not seem too concerned about the smoke and her pregnancy. Hopefully things will still turn out okay.
Eventually, we decided to eat at Bobby's Burger Palace. Now I suck at Bobby's Burger Palace. I have never eaten at Bobby's Burger Palace. Plus, I have never even heard of the place until this trip to Mohegan Sun. As it turned out, the place is actually inspired by Chef Bobby Flay, and not just some random person named Bobby.
And I must say... the burger was absolutely delicious. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-O" sound.) I had the L.A. Burger, which is a burger topped with avocado relish, watercress, cheddar cheese and tomato. It tasted fantastic. I might have to be a fan of Bobby Flay now. It was that good. Karen and I also shared a dark chocolate milkshate and sweet potato fries... so good! It goes without saying that I thoroughly enjoyed the meal.
Following the Bobby's Burger Palace experience, the four of us walked around... had a few drinks at a bar named Lucky's (which had a pretty good Jolly Rancher martini)... and even tried our hand at some gambling. Well, I should say Karen and Marc tried their hands at gambling. I'm not a big gambler. (Well, neither are Karen or Marc for that matter.)
Sadly, we didn't win anything. Of course, it's probably tough to win big when the games that were played were the slot machines and video poker. That reminds me, I still want to learn to count cards. Perhaps some day, I'll learn how to do that.
Anyway, after our fun trip down to Mohegan Sun, we headed back to Marc and Kelley's to watch... Star Trek.
(The video below is a trailer for Star Trek.)
Karen had the movie in her Netflix queue. I must say, the movie was awesome. Of course, I probably should have expected the movie to be good. The movie is a J.J. Abrams movie, and he has done a lot of things that I have enjoyed... like Alias, Cloverfield, and Lost. Even Mission: Impossible 3 was decent for a Tom Cruise movie. I am even tempted to watch episodes of Felicity... but then I think about how lame the show seems.
Perhaps I was channeling my inner geek. The movie Star Trek was great. It was a great way to end the day. All in all, the entire day was absolutely fun. I'm glad that Marc organized the get together.
