I Suck At Savers

Today was errand day.

Generally speaking, I find it difficult to complete a bunch of errands while raising multiple children. In my case, my children seem to monopolize parental unit time. Consequently, it seems that either Karen or I can complete any given errand at a time... never the both of us simultaneously.

Thus, if Karen needs to do something, it's easier if she does it while I watch the kids and vice versa if I need to do something. You'd think splitting the children up would be easier... but no.

As a result, the list of to-do's take a lot longer to complete. Most of our errands are done either during the early mornings while the children are asleep, or during one or the other child's nap time. Today, however, my mom offered to watch the kids so that we could do a few small things.

Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity. And truthfully, I think we got a lot accomplished today. Granted, the list of to-do's contained relatively small items... but every little to-do adds up.

One of the main errands for today was Savers. Now, I suck at Savers. I have never been to Savers until today. The place opened a while ago. And for anyone curious, I believe this Savers donates to an epilepsy foundation.

Anyway, the reason why we were at Savers was because Karen was donating some items. With the new year coming, we have been trying to tidy up the house a bit. She is a much quicker organizer than I am. I must say though, Savers was a lot bigger than I originally thought... and they practically take any donation. I was quite impressed.

Of course, we did run into a little snafu earlier when we tried to go to Savers pre-lunch. The area had lost electricity, so we couldn't go in as the store had to temporarily shut down. Speaking of lunch, we ate at Not Your Average Joe's. Yum! I had a coupon for a free birthday meal. Salmon... delicious! But following lunch, the electricity was back up and running.

All in all, it was a good productive day.

I Suck At Installing A Ceiling Light

Wednesday was home improvement day. On the agenda for the day: fix the ceiling light in the room with the fireplace. It's probably been over a year since the ceiling light stopped working in that room. Our temporary solution at the time was to use table lamps at night... which we did... for over a year.

But since I was on vacation, I figured that now was a good time as any to finally fix the ceiling light. Funny thing is, my initial diagnosis of the cause was that the ceiling light needed new CFL specialty bulbs. The light had worked... then didn't... then flickered on sometimes... then didn't... then turned on... then didn't.

When I had removed the dome to the light, I had noticed that the CFL bulb was essentially black. So naturally, I went to the nearest home improvement store (Home Depot) to get new CFL specialty bulbs. And for anyone curious, Home Depot recycles old CFL bulbs. Sweet!

Anyway, upon returning home, I installed the new bulbs in ceiling light and flicked on the switch. Initially, I was thinking that this was probably the easiest project I had to do. Why did I wait so long to change bulbs?

Lo and behold, the lights did not go on. Then I thought... hm... maybe that's why I waited so long. Needless to say, I started uninstalling the existing ceiling light to get at the wiring. Based on my high tech testing... of attaching a working light to the wires... I concluded that the wiring was good and that the light fixture itself was bad. This was similar to the issue my BFF (Kerry) had at her house.

So off to Home Depot again to get a new ceiling light. After careful deliberation, I decided to go with a ceiling light similar in size, but different in the bulbs it uses. Instead of using specialty CFL bulbs that are pricier, the light would use the standard type of CFL bulbs.

And after getting the light home, all I had to do was install it. Now, I suck at installing a ceiling light. Okay, so maybe I don't. It didn't take too long to install the light. Karen's grandmother came over for a quick visit. Before she even left our house, I had the light installed and working. If only I had looked further into the light a year ago...

I Suck At Christmas

I had a great time on Christmas. Too bad I suck at Christmas. Like my two year old daughter (Briana) said this year, "best Christmas ever". Okay, so maybe it's not the best ever.

As a father though, this year was really nice because Briana simply enjoys Christmas. Even though she seems scared stiff of Santa, she seems to understand that he brings gifts to the good girls and boys and all of that. So needless to say, she was quite excited on Christmas morning.

This year, Karen and I hosted Christmas. It was a small gathering, consisting of our respective parents. But it was a good time. I think both of our parents enjoyed seeing Briana and my ten month old (Bridget) playing with their toys.

Later that night, we headed over to my favorite sister-in-law's (Janine) to celebrate Christmas with her and her family. And by we, I mean my family and Karen's parents. Luckily, I didn't have to kick my parents out on Christmas to make Janine's.

Needless to say, it was an interesting time at my favorite sister-in-law's. I got to school my little niece (Kaleigh) in Just Dance 4. Yep, I have moves. Or perhaps I can only bust a move to "Call Me Maybe" because I got schooled in subsequent dance offs against Janine and Karen. I think Karen may be addicted to the game now. Or maybe she's just a dancing machine.

I Suck At Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was the day I got to see my friend (Jen). Too bad I suck at Christmas Eve.

In the morning, Karen and I met up with Jen and my BFF (Kerry) for breakfast at Stars on Hingham Harbor. Christmas Eve breakfast has practically become a tradition now amongst all of us. I think all of us have been doing it since college. Sadly, this year my friend (Joanna) could not make it.

Joanna lives out in Oregon. And this year, she wasn't coming back to Massachusetts for the holiday. Bummer. She cracks me up with some of her stories.

Anyway, breakfast was delicious as usual at Stars. I ordered the low carb breakfast. The low carb dish was chock full of meat... eggs... and cheese. Basically, a protein dish. Normally, I don't care for low carb dishes primarily because I consider the term synonymous with dieting... and I don't diet as obviously from my svelte figure. (That's sarcasm.)

It just so happens that I did not eat much protein at all the day before. So come Christmas Eve morning, I had a craving for protein. And I devoured the low carb plate. Yum! Food aside, it was good to see Kerry and Jen even if most of my time was spent trying to get my two year old (Briana) to sit and stay in her seat during breakfast.

And as luck would have it, I got to see Jen again later that night. For some time now, Karen and I have hosted Christmas Eve for our families. This year, however, we decided to switch things up a little and host Christmas day instead. So doing the hosting duties for Christmas Eve this year were my mother-in-law and my father-in-law.

I have a feeling that my mother-in-law has been wanting to host for some time. So it didn't take much to convince her to host Christmas Eve... not that she needed convincing. Regardless, Jen happens to live near my in-laws. So she and her brother (Bill) came to Christmas Eve dinner too (after they themselves hosted for their family).

Needless to say, Christmas Eve was a good time.

I Suck At Celebrating Birthdays

It's been great being on vacation.

This past Saturday, my friends and I celebrated some birthdays for those of us who were born in the month of December. Now, I suck at celebrating birthdays. I particularly suck at celebrating December birthdays because the month is just too busy with the holidays.

Luckily for us, we eventually did plan a date to celebrate birthdays for my friend (Ellen), my BFF (Kerry), and me. Karen and I hosted a little pot luck for the celebration. The theme for the pot luck: stuffed things. My friend (Andrea a.k.a Rachel) thought that was a neat ploy to get her to make her coveted stuffed mushrooms, which are very delicious. And perhaps, that thought did cross my mind when I threw up the stuffed theme to Ellen.

Also joining in on the shindig were my friends (Marc, Kelley, Cass, Garv, and Leeann). As usual, it was great to hang out and see everyone. Plus, Andrea made stuffed mushrooms... Yay!

Sadly, I can't remember any topics of conversation that came up that night as I am writing this. I think I may have been a little preoccupied with hosting duties and my two year old (Briana). Oh well.

I Suck At The Registry Of Motor Vehicles

With today being the end of the world (if you're a Mayan), I decided to renew my driver's license. I had tried to renew my license online. Unfortunately, I did not qualify for online renewal. I think I may have renewed it online the last time. I can't remember.

Needless to say, I had to go in person to the Registry of Motor Vehicles. Too bad I suck at the Registry of Motor Vehicles. Interestingly enough, today was the first time I have been to the RMV since it moved to Braintree in 2008. And surprisingly, the wait was not that bad. I think the drive to the RMV took longer than the wait.

Anyway, I had a nice time at the RMV. Granted, my new license picture is terrible... but I'm sure everyone says their picture is terrible. I wonder if they would have allowed me to make a funny face for the picture. Oh well. I'll have to ask the next time I go... hopefully in 10 years.

I Suck At Celebrating My Birthday

Yesterday, was my birthday. Too bad I suck at celebrating my birthday. If you were to use the same earth revolutions as my friend (Andrea), I turned 27 yesterday. For anyone curious, Andrea's earthly revolutions run a little slower than the normal calendar. And by slower, I mean it stops after a certain age. So 27 it is.

Anyway to celebrate my birthday, Karen and I took our kids to the Abington Ale House. It has almost become an annual tradition that I eat at the Abington Ale House on my birhtday... because I usually don't go there otherwise. It's not that the food is bad. Quite the contrary. I enjoy the food there. I just don't venture down to Abington, or think about venturing down to Abington, all that often. The only time I really think about going to the Abington Ale House is on my birthday.

Needless to say, the food there was delicious. I had the sirloin which was very good. And naturally, the meal was free... because it was my birthday. And free is good.

One of the more interesting things that happened during my birthday meal at the Abington Ale House, aside from discovering that my driver's license expired... and Karen's for that matter... (hers expired back in October) was that sitting at the table directly across from us were two women with a toddler. The fact that they were women was not the interesting part. The interesting part was that the toddler's name was Braden, the same name as my son who passed away.

It was just one of those interesting coincidences because I don't consider Braden that common of a name. And to be seated directly across from a Braden was nice, especially on my birthday. And as odd as this sounds, it really felt like my son was really looking down at me and did what he could to celebrate my birthday with me.

Following the Abington Ale House, I spent some time watching the kids while Karen went to the Registry of Motor Vehicles to renew her license. Both of us attempted to renew our license online, but unfortunately we did not qualify for online renewal. So off she went to renew hers.

Anyway, before I knew it, the day was almost over. I still had one last thing that I wanted to do with my family on my birthday before it got too late. And that was... the Millis Wonderland.

Karen had heard about the Millis Wonderland from work. I'm not normally interested in things like the Millis Wonderland. My two year old daughter (Briana), however, seems to be all into lighted decorations. There is a tree in our neighborhood that has lights on it and she has to see it every night. In fact, I have to drive by the tree at night whenever she is in the car.

So naturally, I wanted to surprise Briana with a trip to the Millis Wonderland before it got too late. The good news... getting to and from Millis was not bad. It was definitely an interesting ride. I got to drive through so many towns: Medway, Medfield, Dover, Walpole, I'm sure there are more that I forgot. Heck, I even got to see some department store named Lords in Medway. The store looks so antiquated from the outside that it seems almost amazing that it is still around.

Anyway, the bad news: the wait to see the Millis Wonderland. It took almost as long to get from my house to Millis than it did to wait to get into the wonderland. And interestingly enough, the Millis Wonderland is just someone's house. It's weird that people would wait so long in line to drive through this person's house (the person happens to own a car dealership). Don't get me wrong, the lights were nice and some of the displays were nice... but worth the long wait? In my opinion, probably not. But Briana seemed to enjoy it.

When we were going to Millis, we told Briana that we were going on a mystery ride. Her reaction was funny when she saw the lights at the Millis Wonderland. Briana had exclaimed "We solved the mystery, Mommy!" I don't even know where she got that from. Needless to say, Briana wants to do "mystery" rides weekly now. Great...

All in all, it was a fun birthday celebration. I had a great time with my family.

I Suck At CVS

Tuesday turned out to be super-deal-Tuesday.

In the morning, I made a trip to my local CVS. Now, I suck at CVS. It turns out that I had some reward dollars (also known as ExtraCare Bucks) expiring on Tuesday. And sadly, there really weren't any items on sale this week that Karen and I needed.

Luckily, I had received an email with a coupon for Colgate Advanced toothpaste. Coincidentally, Colgate Advanced toothpaste happened to be on sale at CVS, which involved getting back ExtraCare Bucks. I was quite ecstatic because I knew that was the perfect opportunity to get rid of my expiring ExtraCare Bucks.

When all was said and done, I was able to get the Colgate Advanced toothpaste for free. (And free is good!) To get the toothpaste for free, I used up all of my expiring ExtraCare Bucks with the coupon, and received the additional ExtraCare Bucks for the exact same amount of my expiring ExtraCare Bucks. In essence, I just delayed the expiration of my ExtraCare Bucks while getting the toothpaste for free with coupon. Sweet! I was pretty excited about that.

Too bad I have more expiring ExtraCare Bucks soon. Hopefully I'll be able to turn those around as well.

And if one deal weren't good enough, I also took part in another rather interesting deal later that day when my mother stayed for dinner. My mom had gotten me an ice cream cake for my birthday. Since she did not anticipate seeing me on my actual birthday, she brought it over on Tuesday.

Anyway, we did not exactly have anything set for dinner, so I decided to see what was available. Lo and behold, we decided upon Bertucci's. It turns out, Bertucci's has an online deal where you can get $10 off your first online order of $20. That's a pretty good deal considering they are running specials where you can get two individual pizzas for $15 and two small plates for $7.95... which is what I did. Needless to say, dinner was delicious. Dinner ended up being a butternut squash theme with the pizza and small plate. Yum butternut squash!

So all in all, I had a good Tuesday.

I Suck At Santa

I suck at Santa... probably because there aren't too many Asian Santas out there. Luckily for me, I don't have to be Santa.

For the past several years, Karen's father has donned on the big red suit, big black boots, felt bag, and sparkly key for children of all ages to see. He says he enjoys seeing the kids look at him with wonder and awe, particularly his grandkids for whom he has been entertaining the past years.

Yesterday, however, I'm not so sure he quite enjoyed the experience. Karen and I invited our friends (Cass, Ellen, and Meredith) over to our house for a special Santa visit. Their respective children are around my two year old daughter's (Briana) age. My parents, and my in-laws also came over to share in on the fun.

Briana is actually the oldest of the bunch. One probably would not have guessed that she were the oldest, based on her reaction yesterday. After all, of all the children there, Briana was the only one who broke down in tears when she saw Santa. Granted, none of the other children were that keen on seeing Santa either. They were all pretty much scared of the man in the big red suit.

They loved the presents of course... just not the person pulling out the presents out of the bag. Anyway, it made for an interesting Santa experience. I'm curious as to why some children are afraid of Santa. I think my nephew and niece were also afraid of him when they were around Briana's age as well.

On the plus side, it was fun hanging out with Cass, Ellen, and Meredith. It was like a play date of sorts.

I Suck At Holiday Parties

Tonight was my BFF's (Kerry) birthday. Happy birthday Kerry!

Tonight also happened to be Kerry's annual holiday party. Now, I suck at holiday parties. This was not just any annual holiday party. Tonight was Kerry's 10th annual holiday party... and according to Kerry, her last holiday party.

So in a way, this was Kerry's annual holiday party to end all holiday parties. And for a final farewell party, I had a great time.

Of course, I was a bit late to the party. I ran a quick errand to Staples to pick up some batteries, which would be free after getting Staples Rewards. Little did I know, when I did arrive to Kerry's party, I would be the topic of conversation.

The topic was about coupons and my apparent obsession with them. Personally, I don't think I have an obsession. I happen to enjoy items that are free. And most of the items that I get for free are a means to an end.

For example, prior to tonight's party I made a trip to my local Target. I needed to reach $50 at Target to get a $10 gift card. It just so happens that I could get floss for free thanks to some coupons. Now, I don't technically need floss. But in this case, the floss was my means to an end. I needed to purchase $50 worth of items, and the floss helped me do that... and after coupons they were free. So they served a purpose by helping me get that $10 gift card.

For anyone curious, I didn't keep the floss. I gave them to my mom who was watching my kids tonight while Karen and I attended the party. She also ended up with some deodorant... which was another topic of discussion because I haven't been as diligent in finding a new home for the free deodorant. Sadly, Karen and I have about 12 things of deodorant. Even if Karen and I do smell and stink up the joint, that's still a lot of deodorant to go through.

Needless to say, my friends got some big laughs over my coupon abilities. Joining in on the festivities of Kerry's party were my friends (Marc, Kelley, Cass, Ellen, Garv, Leeann, Andrea, Samantha, Steve, Jen, and Hot Amy) and my favorite sister-in-law (Janine). It was definitely good to see everyone. I had a good time.

Karen is still threatening to write a blog about living with me and my seemingly bizarre habits, which was another topic of discussion. I'd definitely be curious to read that. So we'll see if that ever comes about.

Anyway, it was a nice party to end all holiday parties. Hopefully Kerry had a good time and enjoyed her birthday.

I Suck At Grocery Shopping

With Karen having her library meeting tonight, I took the kids (Briana and Bridget) out for some grocery shopping fun. Now, I suck at grocery shopping. And truthfully, I probably wouldn't normally write a post about grocery shopping.

Tonight, however, I had a fun time. And really, what's not to like when your two year old daughter pushes around a miniature shopping cart and places random things inside the cart while your nine month old is strapped to you in a carrier? By the way, many thanks to the young woman who found Briana's dropped glove and returned it to me. That had potential meltdown written all over it.

But really, what actually made me decide to write a post tonight was my experience at the checkout line at the first grocery store I went to tonight. I had purchased four boxes of chocolate chip cookie mix and two bags of Good Food Should Taste Good chips. The amount came to under $2. Both the cashier and the bagger were so amazed that I was able to get all of that for under $2.

In fact, the cashier joked and said "as far as I'm concerned, you just robbed the store". I thought it was a comical quote. Or as Nathan Fillion would say, "that would make a good tweet". I only mention Nathan Fillion because I just watched an interview where the self-proclaimed nerd was named Entertainment Weekly's 2012 Tweeter of the Year. And in the interview he said that whenever he is hanging out, he tweets things "that would make a good tweet". So there is hope to my friend's (Garv) cockamanie idea about podcasting.

Anyway, all in all, it was a fun daddy-daughters night tonight.

I Suck At Tree Trimmings

Saturday was Christmas tree Saturday.

In addition to Karen and I putting up our Christmas tree, we attended a tree trimming party hosted by our friends (Marc and Kelley). Too bad I suck at tree trimmings. Joining in on the festivities were also my friends (Andrea, Cass, Ellen, Garv, Leeann, Steve, Sam, and Amy the Czar) and my BFF (Kerry).

It was definitely a fun time as usual. At least this time around, I have a recollection of the tree trimming party. Just kidding. Anyway, I would have to say that the most memorable discuss of the night was the series Homeland.

Garv and Leeann seem to watch a lot of television. If they aren't pushing Game of Thrones... it's Homeland. Interestingly enough, I am somewhat curious about the series. Perhaps I'll give it a chance... when I have time of course. I guess you can say they sold me on the show.

Another topic of discussion that briefly came up was my 20th high school reunion which took place over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. It seems like everyone who attended had fun. From all accounts, it seems like there was a lot of imbibing done at the reunion. Maybe some day I'll convince myself to attend one. We'll see.

Anyway, it was a fun time.

I Suck At Christmas In The Square

I normally don't have big plans on a Friday night. Tonight, however, Karen and I planned on bringing our two year old daughter (Briana) and our nine month old daughter (Bridget) to Hingham for the town's annual Christmas in the Square. Now, I suck at Christmas in the Square.

For both Karen and I, it was our first time going and we did not know what to expect. I must say, the entire downtown area was flooded with kids. Absolutely flooded. It definitely was a nice family event.

Briana and Bridget got to see the Festival of Trees. Briana gave Frosty the Snowman a hug. And of course, they both got to see Santa arrive on a fire engine. It was a nice time.

Interestingly enough, Christmas in the Square was just a precursor of the loads of fun to follow on Friday night. After the arrival of Santa, we headed back to our place. By that time, our kids were quite famished.

My BFF (Kerry) soon came over to do a spontaneous craft day of sorts. Now, I've never been into crafts. But I must say, craft night tonight was a blast. In fact, the crafting ended some time after midnight.

Apparently, Kerry and Karen had the idea of creating wreaths made with coffee filters. They had come upon the idea and felt like trying it out. So for most of the night, the two of them folded coffee filters and hot glued them to rings.

For Kerry, this may be the craft to end all crafts. I'm not sure if she'll craft again after tonight. After all, she initially had troubles with her crafting project. But through rugged determination and many hot glue burns, she managed to forge ahead and finish it. The wreath actually came out very nicely when it was completed.

When all was said and done, the crafting project took over four hours. For me, it was just a blast hanging out with Kerry and talking about random things... like recounting how Kerry knows the password to our security system. Other topics came up too, like fake versus real Christmas trees, her Christmas party, fundraising for the library, family and Facebook.

Anyway, I had a lot fun tonight... and I don't even craft.

I Suck At Target

In addition to getting a new pair of prescription eyeglasses yesterday for a whopping $9.90, I came upon a coupon for Target where if a purchase of $50 was made at the store, Target would provide a $10 gift card. Naturally, I thought it was a great coupon.

Unfortunately, the coupon expires this Friday which also happens to be a day that I have plans. So my outing to Target either had to be today or nothing if I were to use the $10 gift card coupon.

So off to Target I went with my two year old (Briana). Too bad I suck at Target. Truthfully, I had a great shopping day at the store.

Not only did I get the gift card (because diapers alone are pretty expensive), I got some other items for free thanks to some other coupons. And free is always good. Needless to say, I was pretty pleased with my trip to Target. Heck, even Briana was very well behaved in the store. So all in all, it was a good time all around.

I Suck At Wild Willy's Burgers

Tonight, I met up with my friends (Marc and Kelley) and my BFF (Kerry).

On the agenda for the night: dinner at Wild Willy's Burgers in Quincy. Now, I suck at Wild Willy's Burgers. Interestingly enough, Marc, Kelley, and Kerry had previously been to Wild Willy's within the week. Kerry was just recently there not too long ago.

Anyway, the food was delicious as usual. I had the Stampede burger, which is a burger with chili on it. I must say, I am tempted to try all of the burgers on their menu... not all at once of course. They should give t-shirts away to patrons who have consumed one of each of their burgers... much like how the Union Brew House in Weymouth does it, except that there are a lot more drinks to buy at the Brew House than there are burgers to buy at Wild Willy's.

It was fun hanging out with Marc, Kelley, and Kerry. Like most outings of late, the majority of my time was spent taking care of Briana, who has become rather attached to me. So partaking in conversations and whatnot can be difficult, which naturally lead to everyone poking fun at how I like to pay attention to things.

After Wild Willy's, all of us headed back to Kerry's. Apparently, she had a bunch of catalogs for us to look at. And by "us", I mean Karen. It was good. Heck, I may even have a date for Target this Friday.

I Suck At Dartmouth Medical Equipment

Last night, I was checking my credit card account online. I have a habit of routinely checking my online account to make sure everything transaction looks good. After all, one can never be too safe with the increasing rate of identity thefts.

Anyway, I came upon a charge on my account that was definitely out of the ordinary. The charge, which was posted yesterday, was from Dartmouth Medical Equipment. Now, I suck at Dartmouth Medical Equipment.

I haven't been to the doctor's office in quite some time. So the charge was rather intriguing to me. So naturally, I contacted my credit card company to inquire about the charge. And I must say, the credit card company was very great and cooperative during my inquiry.

The credit card company was able to contact Dartmouth Medical Equipment to conference them into a call. After speaking with the representative from Dartmouth Medical Equipment, it turns out that the charge posted to my account yesterday was for the breast pump that we purchased from South Shore Hospital when my youngest daughter (Bridget) was born.

Normally, that would not be anything out of the ordinary... except that Bridget was born in February. It was just comical that Dartmouth Medical Equipment took so long to bill me. (For anyone curious, I did check my past transactions. Sure enough, we were never billed by them.)

My credit card company also got a chuckle from the conference call. Like me, they were completely surprised that the company took so long to charge my account. In fact, they told me that was a first that they heard a company take so long to charge an account.

Needless to say, it was an interesting time yesterday. I was relieved to know that the charge was legitimate. At the same time, I was puzzled at the length of time that elapsed before Dartmouth Medical Equipment charged my account. Oh well.

I Suck At Pseudo-Christmas

Today was the annual family event known as Pseudo-Christmas. Too bad I suck at Pseudo-Christmas. I should probably clarify things a little. Today was Karen's annual family event. And with that fact, comes the usual slogan of "There is a lot to like about Lowell", because Pseudo-Christmas is held in likable Lowell. Prior to Lowell, Pseudo-Christmas was held in Quincy, the city of (red) lights... where every intersection has a red light. It's a no-win situation either way.

For the past several years, Karen's family has done a Yankee swap on Pseudo-Christmas. This year's swap actually featured some quasi-rules on the fly that let people pick out of order... as well as awarding a late entrant to get the second to last pick. I guess it's a good thing that the swap contains bizarre presents.

All in all, it was an interesting time today. It was nice seeing Karen's relatives. The food was delicious too. And my two daughters (Briana and Bridget) seemed to have had a good time... probably because they received a lot of attention.

I Suck At Video Games

Surprisingly, I did not have any plans this past Saturday. My entire day was free, or so I thought. "So I thought" is the key word. It turns out, I had quality father-daughters time on Saturday as Karen went to my niece's (Kaleigh) hockey game.

Normally, I enjoy spending quality time with my two year old (Briana) and my nine month old (Bridget). As far as quality time goes, Saturday probably was not one of my more favorite times.

In what could probably only happen to someone like me, my nine month old incapacitated me for probably a good minute or two. Luckily, nothing happened during that time period to my daughters other than my writhing around in extreme pain.

Bridget has recently discovered eyeglasses. She's quick to swipe them off my face. Normally, I don't think anything of it when she grabs my glasses off of my face. And like a ninja, she did just that on Saturday. At the same time, she somehow managed to get the earpiece of the eyeglasses caught in my ear during her ninja move, which then actually proceeded to enter my ear and stab me.

Needless to say, it was quite painful. In fact, as of today, my ear still feels like it's going to explode at times. I suppose the good news is that there is no blood and I can still hear.

Anyway, to make the day better, I decided to indulge myself and play a video game in the wee hours of night when everyone was fast asleep. That video game: Resident Evil 5, which I have yet to finish. Too bad I suck at video games. My skills are definitely a bit rusty since I haven't played a video game in ages.

Suffice to say, the video game about killing zombies made my day.

I Suck At Blogging

Yep, I suck at blogging. I think it's been about two weeks since I last posted something. Without a doubt, time seems to pass by at an exponential rate when raising children. I remember other parents telling me that way back when when I had my two year old (Briana). It's so true. After taking care of the kids, writing a blog post seems like the last thing I want to do especially when there are other chores to do as a result of raising kids.

Anyway, I figured I'd chain myself to the laptop tonight to write something before it gets way too late. As it is, it's been about two weeks. So here is a recap of all the things I had sucked at for the past two weeks:

Wreck-It Ralph: Awesome movie. My friends (Marc and Kelley) organized a movie night to go see Wreck-It Ralph in the theaters in Randolph. My BFF (Kerry) and my friend (Andrea) also attended. I absolutely loved the movie.

UFC 154: That same night, Marc and Kelley invited us back to their place to watch the UFC pay per view. The pay per view featured the return of Georges St-Pierre (also known as GSP). The main event definitely did not disappoint. It was a great match between GSP and Carlos Condit. Of course, my measuring stick for matches correlates to the amount of blood spilled... and there was plenty of it. Blood aside, it really was a great match between the two. (For anyone curious, GSP won.)

Pre-Thanksgiving dinner: On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, my parents invited us to their place for a "pre-Thanksgiving dinner". In addition to Karen's parents, my cousin (Betty) and her son (Marvin) attended. It was good seeing Betty and Marvin. I still can't believe Marvin is a Junior in high school. I remember when he was a newborn baby, Karen and I took him and Betty to the airport. At the time, they were leaving for Hong Kong with hopes of returning in several years. They did return several years later, but it seems like yesterday that I recall going up the escalator with Betty and Marvin. As a side note, the food at my parents was delicious.

Thanksgiving: This year was the first year that Karen and I hosted Thanksgiving. Joining us for Thanksgiving were Karen's parents, Karen's grandmother, my parents, and my friends (Marc, Kelly, and Andrea). It was definitely a neat experience to cook a turkey. I had the pleasure of taking the innards out of the turkey. All in all, I think the day went very well. I think everyone enjoyed the turkey and the side dishes. I also made one of the side dishes (green beans), because Karen thought there should be at least one green dish. The only downside of the day was that I had a headache for most of the day. I hardly ever get headaches... or sick for that matter. I think, however, that stress may have been a contributing factor on Thanksgiving as I had such a headache with massive neck pain. And truth be told, I don't really stress that much... consciously anyway. I suppose subconsciously I do.

Black Friday: The day after Thanksgiving, Karen and I took our nine month old (Bridget) to get pictures done at Sears. Briana had pictures done when she was young. So in all fairness, and to avoid the neglected youngest child syndrome, we took Bridget for her pictures. Aside from that, the only real shopping that I did on Black Friday was to purchase an air compressor. I've been wanting one for quite some time now. I figured it was time to just bite the bullet and get one... with hopes of actually finishing some projects around the house. Of course, now I need the nail guns to go with the compressors. Baby steps.

6th Annual Black Friday Dinner: Black Friday would not be complete without dinner at our friends' (Cass and Ellen). This year, there were many attendees. In addition to Karen and I (and our kids), my friends (Adam, Aimee, Andrea, Marc, Kelley, Garv, Leeann, Scott, and Ofelia) and my BFF (Kerry) came. There were definitely a lot of laughs that night. As usual, it was a great time hanging out with everyone. Plus, it was a good way to get rid of our leftovers from Thanksgiving.

Memorial Mass: On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we attended an anniversary mass for Karen's grandfather (her father's father). Surprisingly, Briana and Bridget were very good during the mass. If not being Catholic were bad enough, I may have gotten some stares from parishioners for not standing up during the appropriate times, which normally isn't too bad but I happened to be in the very front pew. The way I look at it, I wasn't about to get up and down numerous times with a two year old draped all over me. So I opted to just remain seated. I guess that's my original sin working.

Quincy Parade: On Sunday, I begrudgingly attended Quincy's holiday parade. And nothing says fun like trekking a two year old and a nine month old out to stand in the freezing cold during a parade. To me, it almost seems like cruel torture to have kids stand outside in cold weather for a couple of hours. But it's crazy what people do for "tradition". Surprisingly, Briana loved it. I'm going to have to work on that.

Cookie Swap: Following the Quincy parade, my friends (Jen and Bill) had everyone who attended the parade back to their place for a cookie swap. I must say, some of the cookies were very delicious. Granted, I only tried three cookies there: Karen's, Kerry's, and Jen's aunt's. Needless to say, it was good to see Jen and Bill. All in all, it was interesting seeing everyone there.

And lastly, that brings me to today, where I attended a factory tour: My coworkers and I went to our neighbors in Norwell at Zildjian for a little tour. I must say, the tour was great (free t-shirts aside). The history of the company is quite fascinating. Zildjian (which roughly translates to son [ian ]of a cymbal [zil] maker [dj]) had its roots in alchemy. As well, Zildjian has ties to Quincy because one of the sons, who had worked for a candy factory in Quincy, said that he would take over the family business if the company came to the US. As a result, the first Zildjian factory was in Quincy. I thought it really was a great tour to see how the cymbals are made. Plus, Travis Barker's drums are there. Yay Blink-182!

So that's pretty much the highlights of everything the past two weeks. Hopefully it won't take another two weeks for another post.

I Suck At The Library

Tonight, I had my monthly Board of Trustee meeting for the local public library. Too bad I suck at the library.

As far as meetings go, this one was actually informative compared to past meetings. At the same time, the meeting was quite frustrating. The frustration stems from the lack of support that the local library receives from town officials. It's almost mind-boggling.

Being elected to the Board of Trustees for the library this year, I had initial visions of making a difference for the community. Perhaps it's my own naivete for having optimism. After today's meeting, however, I feel like the library is in a war it can never win.

The town of Norwell likes to pride itself on having a great school system. I, personally, can not vouch for the school system, but I do know it has that reputation. Naturally, one would normally think that going hand in hand with education is an establishment that fosters learning, like the public library.

Unfortunately, the library is like the black sheep of Norwell. It is beginning to make sense as to why the library is viewed as such because none of the elected officials use the library. Consequently, they do not see the value of the public library which is really a shame in my opinion. If any of them were actual patrons of the town library (or any library for that matter), I'm sure they would see the intrinsic value that the library has on its community. And unfortunately, they happen to control the lifeline of the library: the budget.

To be honest, I would not be surprised if the Selectmen hope that the library loses its accreditation due to its budgetary constraints. After all, it was not too long ago that they considered having residents use the library of nearby towns instead. Needless to say residents balked at that idea. Yet here we still are, facing the same problems.

It's just frustrating.

I Suck At CVS

Woot! Free stuff is always a cause for celebration.

Today, I was informed about a coupon opportunity at CVS. Now, I suck at CVS. But a coupon is a coupon... and like many drugs, they are addictive.

Speaking of which, the coupon was for a free 24 count of Advil ibuprofen tablets. Granted, I avoid medication like the plague. I don't like to take any type of medicine unless I really have to. Heck, I don't even get an annual flu shot. Go antibodies!

Okay, so perhaps I may have too much pride in my antibodies. They have served me well thus far since I rarely get sick unlike my constantly sniffling friend (Hot Amy). I didn't get perfect attendance in high school based solely on my good looks. Just kidding.

Anyway, the highlight of the day was my trip to CVS for the free Advil. Granted, I'll most likely give the ibuprofen away to my parents. But hey, it's free... and free is good.

I Suck At Birthdays

On Sunday, Karen, my two year old daughter (Briana), my eight month old (Bridget), and I celebrated my father-in-law's birthday. Also joining in on the festivities were my favorite sister-in-law (Janine), my niece (Kaleigh), and my nephew (PJ). My mother-in-law, who we were not certain would be attending, was also there. She had been feeling a little under the weather the night before.

Anyway, I suck at birthdays. In celebration of my father-in-law's birthday, we went to Quan's Kitchen in Hanover. Needless to say, it was a good time at Quan's. The staff at Quan's just absolutely loved Briana and Bridget. Briana managed to even get some special treatment from her peeps by getting additional fortune cookies.

Like I said, Quan's Kitchen was a good time. Following Quan's, everyone headed back to our house for presents and cake. And I must say, the Friendly's ice cream cake was delicious. Yum! I think I'm going to have to request it when my birthday comes around. Mark your calendars. Just kidding.

I Suck At Anniversaries

This past Saturday, Karen and I attended an anniversary party. Now, I suck at anniversaries. It just so happens that my neighbors (Helen and George) tied the know fifty years ago. As a result, their family threw them a surprise party.

Fifty years is a long time. In regards to my friend (Andrea/Rachel), that would have meant that my circle of friends changed at least seven times. Karen and I have about forty one more years to go to reach that number. Fifty years of marriage is quite a milestone, so congratulations Helen and George!

For anyone curious, the party was held at the Norwood Elks... in Norwood. Karen and I had quite the time trying to find the place. It was borderline comical, both getting to and from there. But one interesting note: Karen and I drove by Andrea's place of employment.

While at the party, Karen and I actually hung out with a couple of other neighbors who were also invited. It almost felt like we were crashing a party because we knew so very little people there. Speaking of which, I think I'd like to add that to my bucket list: crash a wedding party. Some day.

Anyway, Helen and George were absolutely surprised by the party. The look of surprise on their face was priceless. Needless to say, it was a nice celebration for a great couple. We're lucky to have them as neighbors.

I Suck At Target

Last night I had a hot date with my friend (Andrea). The previous night, Andrea had mentioned wanting to go to Target and CVS to pick up a few things. And as luck would have it, I needed a few things as well from the same places. Lo and behold, we ended up going out to run those errands Friday night.

For me, it was definitely a welcomed break. Raising a two year old (Briana) and an eight month old (Bridget), I don't get to out very often. So it was definitely great for my sanity to be able to just get out of the house even if it were for a little bit of time. And it was especially good to be able to spend some time with Andrea.

Nothing too exciting happened on our errand run. We started off at CVS, where it turns out that the item I was looking for was sold out. For anyone curious, I was looking for the ever exciting product known as Scope mouthwash. CVS was out of the product. Interestingly enough, Target did not have the product either. Who knew there was such a high demand for Scope mouthwash?

Speaking of Target, I suck at Target. One of the more interesting things that happened at Target was that we ran into our friend (Samantha). I guess like us, Sam didn't have much going on a Friday night. So coincidentally, we ran into each other and had a quick chat... about yogurt.

For anyone curious, I poke fun at Sam because she "loves" everything. Yogurt and blueberries, however, are apparently excluded. Although now it turns out that Sam is changing her tune on yogurt as she recently discovered a type that she enjoyed. So apparently she is now on the fence with yogurt.

Anyway, we didn't chat too long at Target. As it turned out, I misplaced my recyclable bag somewhere in Target. So Andrea and I had to retrace our steps to hunt the bag down. Luckily for me, Andrea found the bag by the bikes.

The trip at Target was fun. In my quest to be dad of the year, I picked up what I was looking for: training toothpaste... and not just any training toothpaste, Thomas the train training toothpaste. Thomas the train happens to be one of Briana's favorite characters at the moment, which isn't hard because she has a bunch of favorites. As well, I learned that Target has a clearance section for video games thanks to Andrea. I was quite pleased by that.

From there, we decided to grab a bite to eat at Chili's. I haven't been to Chili's in quite some time. Needless to say, it was a filling meal. We decided to have the $35 dinner for two. I had the sirloin. Yum! I think it goes without saying that I'm not as young as I used to be. What normally was easily consumable when I was in my hey day, wasn't so much last night. I felt absolutely stuffed after the meal.

Tummy aside, it was good to hang out with Andrea. We got to chat about many topics, such as her shady Notre Dame Academy past. For me, I think one of the more memorable conversations was about friendship... primarily because I keep joking that our seven year run is almost up. It so happens that five years ago on Friday, a bunch of us (Andrea included) went on a vacation trip to Ireland. So there's about two years left, if you believe in the seven year rule. Just kidding.

Anyway, even though we essentially ran errands, it was a fun night with Andrea. I'm thinking that I need to do it more often.

I Suck At Remembering Things

With both of our daughters (Briana and Bridget) under the weather, Karen invited our friends (Marc, Kelley, and Andrea) and my BFF (Kerry) over for our weekly get together. Unfortunately (or fortunately), we didn't have anything planned for the night in terms of television viewing. So it turned out to be more of a hanging out night than anything else.

One of the topics of conversation that came up was the hypothetical list of actors/actresses that we have crushes on. One of the more surprising entries was fellow new kid, Donnie Wahlberg, for Andrea. The entire topic came about as a ruse of sorts, as Karen wanted to figure out Kelley's list for a possible joke gift.

Another topic of discussion that came about was Thanksgiving. One of the drawbacks of being known for having a selective memory is that people, friends included, automatically think I can't remember things. I guess you can say that people think I suck at remembering things.

Apparently, the subject that I was supposed to have remembered was that Andrea is planning to have people over her place on Thanksgiving night. From everyone's account, this topic has been discussed numerous times before tonight. Funny thing is... I don't believe it was. Naturally, people chalk it up to my memory which can be very frustrating at times.

While I do not dispute that I do not have the best memory, I think the more likely scenario is that I was too busy taking care of my children when the topic came about. So while I may be in the vicinity, I'm not actually a part of things. It's a very frustrating feeling at times.

At first, I thought it was just my memory. But then I started thinking about my friends (Cass and Ellen) and about a discussion I had with Cass about how usually one or the other parent is busy taking care of the children when we are in groups. It was good to know that other parents were experiencing a similar issue.

Needless to say, it was an interesting night. Making it more interesting was that we ended up watching part of a show called Moonshiners and a little of the Goonies movie.

I Suck At Power Washing

I'll admit it. On Sunday, I was feeling a little selfish.

It goes without saying that Karen is more of the social butterfly than I am. More often than naught, she will have plans, leaving me to watch the kids. As much as I love my two wonderful daughters, I do occasionally need a break from them and Sunday was that break... of sorts.

On Sunday, Karen had plans for lunch. Rather than watch the kids, I asked if she could take them to her parents for a little while. After all, I wanted to do something that I had been putting off for some time: power wash the house. I guess you can say that I suck at power washing.

One of the things that I have learned while being a parent is that time just disappears. By the time I come home from work, feed the kids, give them baths, get them ready for bed, etc., the day is over. The only free time I generally have is in the morning before the kids wake up or the wee hours of night after they sleep (and hopefully stay asleep).

So most likely, running a motor to power wash a house is probably not going to happen in the morning or in the wee hours of night unless I want to be "that neighbor" that no one likes.

Luckily for me, Karen's parents were available on Sunday to watch our kids. As a result, I was able to power wash the house while Karen maintained her lunch plans. Not only was I able to power wash the house, I was able to clean the grill, rake the leaves, do laundry, and vacuum the house. Sure, these tasks seem so trivial. But when time disappears and the house plummets into disarray, every little thing helps.

Needless to say, despite my selfish behavior on Sunday, I felt good having accomplished so many things around the house. Granted, the state of cleanliness will most likely last only a few minutes (until my children return), but nonetheless it was good.

I Suck At Halloween

Due to Hurricane Sandy, the town of Norwell rescheduled its celebration of Halloween to Saturday. Too bad I suck at Halloween.

Truth be told, it was actually pretty nice to celebrate Halloween on the weekend. After all, the rescheduled date allowed for Karen's cousin (Karlene) and Karlene's husband (Tommy) to venture down from the always likable city known as Lowell to see their godchild, my eight month old daughter (Bridget).

In addition, my friends (Cass and Ellen) came down to celebrate Halloween. Cass and Ellen's daughter was sick on the actual date of Halloween in her city. Consequently, we had invited them down to partake in the trick-or-treating that she had missed.

Needless to say, it was a fun Halloween. This year was the first year that my two year old daughter (Briana) actually went around the neighborhood to trick-or-treat. The previous times, we had just taken her to our next door neighbors. But this year was the year... and she did great.

Dressed as a frog, she actually went door to door around the neighborhood. Granted, she only made it down one block before she got tired and wanted to go home, but it was a start. I know she definitely enjoyed getting candy to fill her little pumpkin.

Following the trick-or-treating fun, all of us headed back to our place where we just hung out for a little while. Briana did something she had never done before: show Cass and Ellen's daughter her room.

All in all, it was a good Halloween.

I Suck At Halloween Parties

On Saturday night, my friends (Marc and Kelley) invited Karen and I to their Halloween party. Too bad I suck at Halloween parties.

It's not that I dislike Halloween. I've just never really been into celebrating Halloween or getting dressed up. The last time that I can remember actually celebrating Halloween is when I was in fifth grade. For me, it was memorable because I got to have a shaving cream fight with one of my classmates while trick-or-treating. Good times. Good times.

Being a parent now, however, I feel obligated to enjoy Halloween a lot more by dressing up in costume. So like I told Karen, come midnight on Halloween I'm going to start planning ahead for a costume for the next Halloween. Hopefully, I can remember that.

Regardless, Marc and Kelley's Halloween party was fun. Joining in on the fun were my friends (Cass, Ellen, Garv, Leeann, Andrea, Steve and Samantha) and my BFF (Kerry). There were definitely some great costumes. Marc and Kelley actually awarded prizes for the top three costumes. For anyone curious, third place went to Steve for his Captain Hammer costume, second place went to Cass for his Psy "Gangnam Style" costume, and the grand prize went to Marc for his Magnum P.I. costume.

As usual, it was good to hang out with everyone and have some good laughs. Among some of the more memorable topics of discussion were Rachel, Friday Night Lights, Thanksgiving, and Taylor Swift

The whole Rachel thing wasn't really much of a discussion. Marc's sister (De) thought Andrea looked like a Rachel. She previously thought Steve looked like he should be named something else as well. Regardless, I have been contemplating calling Andrea Rachel now.

As for Friday Night Lights, that topic came about because I jokingly said that my backup costume idea was Jason Street from Friday Night Light. Little did I know, that would lead to other people volunteering to be other characters from the show. Surprisingly, no one offered to be Tyra Collette. (Blonde... shiny... yay!)

And along the whole dress up theme, the discussion of Thanksgiving this year came up. I thought it would be fun to have everyone dress up as either a Pilgrim or a Native American. I thought it would be cute to see my daughters dressed up for yet another holiday. We'll see how that goes. Andrea/Rachel has already offered to dress up as influenza.

Lastly, the topic of Taylor Swift came up. How could Taylor Swift not come up when her number one fan over the age of 40, also known as Garv, was present?

All in all, it was fun party. It was good to see everyone and have a few laughs.

I Suck At Cafe Fleuri

On Saturday, Karen and I went into town to celebrate Karen's birthday. For anyone curious, Karen's birthday was actually yesterday. For her birthday, she wanted to partake in the chocolate bar offered by Cafe Fleuri at the Langham in Boston.

I guess you can say that I suck at Cafe Fleuri because I've never been to the chocolate bar. And I'll admit it. I was quite intrigued by the prospect of devouring nothing but chocolate for hours. So like any good husband, I made reservations for Saturday to celebrate Karen's birthday.

Needless to say, the chocolate bar was outstanding. I practically devoured mounds upon mounds of delicious chocolate within the first few minutes. It wasn't until later that Karen and I decided to pace ourselves and actually split some of the chocolate desserts. After all, the desserts were pretty large to begin.

After some time, however, we had to take a little break from the chocolate. So naturally, we devoured their home-made chips which were also delicious. And for anyone curious, there were actually some vegan desserts too. The vegan fruit cobbler was so good that I had two.

Following some more chocolate desserts, we ended our chocolate bar experience with... chocolate ice cream. Yum! It was definitely a great way to end the chocolate bar.

Afterwards, we took a little walk around town. It felt pretty nostalgic, since I hadn't been in town for quite some time. As an interesting side note, during our walk around town, we saw Ms. Colombia. Decked out in a red dress with a huge tiara, she was getting her picture taken by Rowe's Wharf. I tried to get Karen to use her birthday as a means to get Ms. Colombia to let her wear the tiara, but Karen wasn't too keen on the idea.

All in all, it was definitely a fun time. And I think Karen enjoyed the day as well, which is really what matters.

I Suck At Gymboree

This past Friday, Karen and I took our two year old daughter (Briana) and our eight month old daughter (Bridget) to Gymboree. For the four of us, it was our first time at Gymboree. I guess you can say that I suck at Gymboree.

Anyway, Gymboree was having a Halloween party for kids on Friday. Our friends (Cass and Ellen), who have a daughter that goes to Gymboree, organized the outing. So in addition to them, my friend (Meredith) and her son also attended.

Needless to say, it was quite the fun time. Of course, it seems like any outing on a Friday night would be a fun time. I almost forgot what it feels like to go out on a Friday night since we seldom do it any more.

I think the kids enjoyed it as well. Well, I think Briana enjoyed it. Bridget still isn't walking yet. So how much fun can an eight month old have crawling around and watching other kids run around? And I must say, the staff (of two) at Gymboree is very good. They did an excellent job entertaining the gazillion (or maybe twenty) children that were there.

And following the Halloween party, all of us headed back to Cass and Ellen's to hang out. Cass and Ellen were gracious enough to make dinner for everyone which was quite nice. I think for some, it was a good time to hang out and chat about parenting. And in some ways, it was good to hear that some of the challenges that Karen and I faced are common challenges faced by other parents.

All in all, it was an enjoyable family outing.

I Suck At Facility Tours

It's not often that I get to do something different at work. And by different, I mean something other than sitting in front of a computer all day creating software solutions for clients. But it just so happens, Monday was that day.

On Monday, I was one of a select few in my team chosen to go on a company facility tour. Too bad I suck at facility tours. Truth be told, it was my first facility tour... ever.

The facility is located in Braintree. It was the company's first waste facility. As the company has grown, there have been other larger facilities. But Braintree was the first.

Interestingly enough, I grew up on the South Shore. I never knew that there was a waste facility in Braintree located near the Quincy shipyards. I must have driven by it many times growing up. And truth be told, the street signs for the facility are so hidden that unless you're looking for it, you probably wouldn't even know it was there to begin with.

Needless to say, it was an interesting tour particularly because it gave me insight as to one of the many things that my company does. Having context is great, especially for a software developer such as myself. I get to understand the reasons why an application is designed as such.

The most interesting part of the tour was when a group of us were led into a bay containing drums upon drums of hazardous waste. If seeing drums of waste weren't interesting enough, there was a facility worker in the adjacent room about 10 feet away. The worker was decked out from head to toe in protective gear, gas mask, gloves, etc. He was quite visible as there were no doors... just a door way. But there he was, doing something with a drum in his protective clothing. And there we were, dressed in regular clothes with nothing but a hard hat and goggles.

Of course, we were assured that we were completely safe. Regardless, it just looked odd. If we were exposed to radiation of some sort, I am hoping to get a cool super power. We'll see.

Super powers aside, it was a nice informative tour.

I Suck At Hotel Transylvania

On Sunday, Karen and I took my nephew (PJ) out for his birthday. For several years now, Karen and I have take our niece (Kaleigh) and nephew out for their respective birthdays instead of giving them material gifts. After all, there's only so much collective junk that a kid can get at such a young age, right? And it just so happens that Sunday was the day for PJ.

Incidentally, my favorite sister-in-law (Janine) wanted to do the same thing for our daughter (Briana). Let's just say, I think that plan may be on hold since Briana's birthday was back in March... and it's now October.

Anyway, PJ wanted to watch the movie, Hotel Transylvania in 3-D for his birthday. Now, I suck at Hotel Transylvania. For Karen, it was her first time watching a movie in 3-D. And I must say, I thought the movie was cute. In fact, I would say the film is definitely one of Adam Sandler's better movies, which isn't saying too much considering Adam Sandler's recent string of movies. Needless to say, Hotel Transylvania was an enjoyable movie.

From there, we headed over to the nearby Hanover mall to feed PJ's addiction to "the claw". For some reason, PJ is addicted to claw machines. For anyone curious, he did not win anything from the claw machine. He would have gone to the arcade at the mall too, were it not for the fact that he had an ice cream in his hand. The arcade at the mall does not allow food or drinks.

I was quite surprised that PJ was actually willing to dump his hardly eaten ice cream just to go to the arcade. To me, that is such a wasteful mindset. Hingham (shake fist). Needless to say, we did not go to the arcade.

Anyway, following the mall, we ended up back at our house where Janine and Kaleigh were watching Briana and our seven month old daughter (Bridget). They ended up staying for dinner too... a nice home-made dinner (hint Karlene... just kidding).

It was quite fun as we watched a few video clips on YouTube on our smart television. It turns out Kaleigh is into One Direction. In fact, she seems to know a lot of pop music these days. They grow up so quickly. Regardless, it was a nice time and I think PJ enjoyed the day even if he didn't win anything at the claw machine or go to the arcade. Perhaps next year.

I Suck At Kid Parties

This past Saturday, Karen, my two and half year old daughter (Briana), my seven month old daughter (Bridget) and I were invited to a kid party located in the boonylands known as Methuen where our friends (Kristine and Rick) live. Now, I suck at kid parties.

Nothing says fun like attending a kid party full of parents and kids where the only person you know are the parents of the birthday child. This is probably the one time that I'll shake my fist and say curses to Briana. After all, it wasn't until Briana was born that Karen and I got invited to these kid parties. It's funny how that works.

Regardless, the theme for their son's party was Star Wars. Kristine did a nice job organizing the party. I know the highlight for Briana was probably the bouncy house. And really, what's not to like about bouncy houses?

Anyway, after the kid party fun, we ended up visiting Karen's Lowell-loving cousin (Karlene) and her husband (Tommy). Lowell, as there is a lot to like about the city, is not that far from Methuen. So we met them for dinner.

Karen's aunt (Denise) jokes that Karlene and Tommy never cook dinner whenever we visit. And interestingly enough, they did not cook on Saturday. Instead, we opted to grab take out from a restaurant called Good Thymes. It just so happens that Good Thymes claims to have the best haddock in Lowell. Naturally, I had to put that claim to the test by ordering their haddock bella vista.

Let's just say, if Good Thymes has the best haddock in Lowell, then I think other cities may have better haddock. The haddock was ok. I would not say the meal was outstanding. But really, I wasn't expecting too much because Good Thymes seemed to me like a place where the majority of patrons are senior citizens.

Nevertheless, it was fun to just hang out and visit Karlene and Tommy. Among some of the topics of conversation that came up were the two-handed handshake (to which I am not a fan of), swinging, and Karlene and Tommy's new Keurig machine. For anyone curious, Karlene knows someone who may/may not be into swinging. Lowell... there's a lot to like about Lowell.

Aunt Denise and Uncle Paul also stopped by for a visit while we there as well. They recently came back from a trip to Disney. So it was good to see them while we were up there. All in all, it was a long day, but a fun time.

I Suck At Flu Shots

I've been slacking off of late. I haven't written a post in quite some time, mostly because I have been lacking the time to do so. But today, I just had to make time for a post because something comical happened to me today.

Before I write about today, however, I'll quickly recap all of the things that I had missed since my last post.

Wednesday: (at least I think it was Wednesday) Karen, my two year old daughter (Briana), my seven month old daughter (Bridget) and I went to Wild Willy's Burger located in Quincy. My friend (Marc) apparently had been craving Wild Willy's. So he, my friends (Kelley, Andrea, and Sam), and my BFF (Kerry) went to satisfy his cravings. As usual, the food there was very delicious. I had the "all natural" burger, which was a burger made from cows fed a vegetarian diet. It was quite delicious! Probably the most memorable part of the night was my attempt to give Bridget a strawberry allergy by giving her a taste of my strawberry shake. For anyone curious, she was fine... no allergy... yet. Aside from that, the only thing I really remember from that night was heading back to Marc and Kelley's afterward and possibly scaring Andrea by mentioning she may have a ghost in her basement... her dark basement... which wouldn't be scary otherwise were it not for the fact that she could possibly be alone in the dark basement with the ghost. (Yes, I'm a jerk... but it's almost Halloween.)

Saturday: My friends (Garv and Leeann) decided to have a whiskey/fire pit night. The original idea came about as Andrea really wanted Garv to host a night to show off the fire pit. Interestingly enough, Andrea could not attend the shin dig that she was instrumental in cajoling. Attending the party were my friends (Cass and Ellen), Marc, Kelley, and Kerry. As usual, it was a fun time, if you throw out the part of where I got lost driving to Garv and Leeann's. I knew I should have taken that left turn at Albuquergue. Oops. Regardless, it was a fun time even if most of my time was spent with the ever active Briana.

Sunday: Completing my Marc and Kerry weekend was breakfast at Stars on Hingham Harbor in... Hingham. As usual, the food there was delicious. Truth be told, I was not even sure if I were supposed to go to breakfast that Sunday. Originally, Karen told me that her, Kerry and my friend (Jen) were meeting there for breakfast. Thus, I wasn't sure if it were a girls' thing or not. Luckily for me, Marc was also invited (on Saturday night). So I figured it was an open invite. Needless to say, the food was delicious as usual, and it was good to hang out and see Jen.

Following breakfast, Karen, Briana, Bridget, and I went to my favorite sister-in-law's (Janine) to celebrate my nephew's (PJ) birthday. The theme for the party was sharks. It was an interesting party. I'll leave it at that. I've never been good at being fake around people, especially people who I may have grudges against. I usually don't hold grudges, but sometimes I just can't let it go when it relates to my son (Braden) who passed away. Luckily for me, I don't have to see them all that often.

Yesterday: Last night, Marc and Kelley had us over for our usual weekly get together. Joining in on the fun were Andrea and Kerry. We basically just hung out and had some laughs. One of the topics of conversation that came up was my stellar fashion sense. For those who don't know, I will wear something until it literally falls apart. I've never been big into clothes as evident from my t-shirt/shorts attire. The topic came about because I was wearing a t-shirt that is older than most teenagers. Eventually, that led to my regimen of wearing certain dress clothes on certain days... which only has been restarted since my current employer has a business casual dress code. It should be noted that I dislike dress codes. After all, I'm a t-shirt and shorts type of guy.

Anyway, all of that has led to today where my daughters had to get a flu shot. Too bad I suck at flu shots. In fact, I suck so badly that I have never had a flu shot as an adult. Yes, I put a hefty price on my antibodies.

Needless to say, Bridget was not a fan at all of the shot as she immediately started crying. Briana, on the hand, was one tough cookie. The needle didn't faze her at all. So in celebration of flu shots (Yay flu shots), we went out to Bertucci's in Hingham for dinner.

And it was not until I went to the bathroom at Bertucci's did I realize... I had a big gaping tear in my dress pants. The tear was from the inseam across one of the butt cheeks. I have no idea how long the tear was there. The pants were fine this morning. The pants were fine when I got home. Either the tear happened at the doctors' office or at Bertucci's. Either way, I'm sure someone got a nice look at my styling boxers. Good thing I wasn't going commando.

Anyway, I got a good chuckle when I got home to see just how big the gaping hole was. I guess now I can introduce a new pair of pants into my stylish wardrobe routine for work.

I Suck At Wakes

Today has been a long day... with my seven month old daughter (Bridget) waking up at 4 in the morning... to my two year old daughter (Briana) waking up at 5 in the morning... to now, having finished looking into a "bug" for work in the wee hours of night. That said, I'm sure the feeling is not as bad in comparison to my friends (Jen and Bill) whose father recently passed away. Their father's wake was held today. Too bad I suck at wakes.

The service was nice, if not longer than I expected. I think I would have liked it more had the priest not thrown in the schpiel that Jen and Bill's father should have gone to church more frequently than he did. It almost reminded me of my friend's (Hot Amy) wedding where the priest mentioned the four horsemen of Apocalypse. I sometimes wonder what the men of the cloth are thinking when they say these asinine things. Of course, that's easy for me to say because I'm not religious.

Regardless, I wish Jen, Bill, and the rest of their family the best. I can't even begin to imagine how it must feel to lose a parent. Sadly, I know what it's like the other way around in losing a child. Trust me when I say it is not fun.

I must say, however, that one of the more interesting things of the day happened at the wake. My BFF (Kerry) and I were hanging out before the service. As is customary in some wakes, there is a book to sign when you first walk into the funeral home. Someone who looked familiar to Kerry came to the wake and signed the book. Curious as to whether or not she knew that person, Kerry wanted to see if that person's name rang a bell.

Having already signed the book myself, I couldn't think of a way to discretely walk up to the book to see the name that was signed. Lo and behold, Kerry pulled it off by walking up to the book to grab a prayer card from the stack located near the book. I thought that was pretty smooth and quite impressive. Heck, I was so impressed I told her that I'd write about it.

Following the wake, Jen and Bill's mother had everyone come back to her house. It has been quite some time since I was there. Apparently, the last time I was there was for a Flag Day cookout, where I was lucky enough to see the rain barrel.

It's weird how wedding and funerals serve as venues toward seeing people whom you haven't seen in awhile. At Jen and Bill's mother's place, I got to see my friend (Carlos). It was good to catch up with him again. As well, I was able to see my friend (Pam), who is training to be a hair stylist. She apparently does some waxing as well, although waxing the hair from butt cracks was not one of those things she is willing to do. (I asked out of sheer curiosity.)

Anyway, from there I headed off to Kerry's who had invited a bunch of us over for dinner. Joining in the festivities at Kerry's were my friends (Andrea, Marc, and Kelley). For me, it was definitely a great way to end the night.

We just hung out and had some laughs. Heck, we even were able to catch a few episodes of the first season of Arrested Development. Prior to today, I've never seen the show. I must say, it's a funny show.

Some of the silly topics of conversation that came up at Kerry's were Andrea's new television, the worst movies we ever watched, and Halloween costumes. For me, there are a lot of terrible movies... only because I'll watch practically anything. As for Halloween costumes, that topic led to all sorts of laughs as we contemplated costumes based on puns.

In addition to the laughs, Kerry made apple crisp for dessert. Yum! Apple crisp! Yom yom yom yom. Truth be told, I like any crisp. Needless to say, the dessert was absolutely a great way to end the night. I had a great time.

I Suck At The Library

Last night, I attended the monthly Board of Trustee meeting for the public library. Too bad I suck at the library.

I think being elected to the Board has ruined my fondness for the library. I used to enjoy going there as a patron. Now, I sometimes dread going to the library. I think the turtle-like pace of government with its rules and regulations is what frustrates me about being on the Board.

Of course, it also may be the fact that my opinion seems to count very little on the Board. To say I'm the most technically savvy member on the Board is an understatement considering my day job involves developing web applications and the rest of the Board is in public education. Yet somehow, my thoughts on the possible redesign of the library website had fallen on deaf ears because my perspective was considered too technical.

For anyone curious, I had suggested that the public library site be redesigned to be "responsive" to the device viewing the site. Thus, viewing the site on something like a mobile device would not be a pain for users (like it currently is). At the time of my suggestion, I was told that my perspective was too technical.

Interestingly enough, during the meeting last night, the topic of the site redesign came up. Lo and behold, someone mentioned that another library had a site for mobile devices. Shocker. Someone beat us to the punch.

Anyway, the meeting was status quo. The main highlight last night at the library, was not the Board meeting, but the actual surprise I received at the library. The library director had told me that someone had made a donation to the library in my son's (Braden) name. For anyone curious, Braden passed away four years ago. His birthday was near the beginning of the month.

As part of the donation, the following books were inscribed with dedication to Braden: "Garden of Dreams" by Richard Wainwright; "How do I love you?" by P.K. Hallinan; "If you give a moose a muffin", "If you give a pig a pancake", and "If you take a mouse to school" by Laura Joffe Numeroff.

The donation came from Karen's cousin (Karlene) and Karlene's husband (Tommy), who reside in the great white north known as Lowell. There apparently is a lot to like about Lowell. I was pleasantly surprised by the news and it meant a lot to me. So thank you, Karlene and Tommy. As an extra bonus, I got to be the first one to take the book out of the library.

Needless to say, the donation was very touching and it made my day. I had no idea that Karlene and Tommy even made the donation. Thank you again.

I Suck At Apple Picking

This past Sunday, Karen, my two year old daughter (Briana), my six month old daughter (Bridget) and I went apple picking. Sadly, I suck at apple picking.

We ended up going to C. N. Smith Farm located in East Bridgewater. It actually turned out to be a family outing as well since my mother-in-law, father-in-law, my favorite sister-in-law (Janine), my niece (Kaleigh), and my nephew (PJ) went too.

Truth be told, it probably took us longer to get there than to actually pick apples. Of course, we took an extended route since... I knew I should have taken that left turn at Alberquerque. (By the way, Route 123 intersects Route 18... who knew?) Nevertheless, traffic getting into the farm was a little busy.

The picking of the apples did go by pretty quickly. For a while, it looked like Briana would only pick one... and only one... apple, but she ended up picking a few more as the day went on. I think it helped that I sat her on my shoulders for the first time to pick those hard to reach apples. Of course, Briana was probably jealous that I had Kaleigh on my shoulders to pick apples at one point as well.

Anyway, it turned out to be a good day to pick apples. As an interesting side note, we ran into our friend (Jenny) at the farm stand. The farm stand was tiny, but it had a cow, sheep, and chickens milling about. It is also located near the family photo area where you can stick your head through the hole for pictures.

It was actually there where we saw Jenny and her family. It was nice seeing her. Jenny used to own a day care, but she recently gave it up to work for Early Intervention. She seems to be enjoying her job, which is good.

All in all, it was a fun family day at C N. Smith Farm.

I Suck At Yard Sales

There's a lot to like about Lowell, or so Lowellians would have you believe. Today, Karen and I woke up our two year old daughter (Briana) and our six month old daughter (Bridget) early in the morning to head toward the big white north known as Lowell. On the agenda for the day: yard sale.

Now, I suck at yard sales. Luckily for me, Karen's cousin (Karlene) and Karlene's husband (Tommy) organized a yard sale for this morning. Joining in on the yard selling fun were a couple of their friends as well. So all in all, there were a lot of items being sold today at Karlene's yard sale.

I must say, I do find it interesting as to what sells and what does not sell at yard sales. I would think that the never-been-opened items would sell quicker than the slightly-used ones. Interestingly enough, that is not the case.

For me, the main things that I was looking to get rid of were my Dell keyboard (which was never used because I use another keyboard), a 300 piece poker chip set, and this awful tree face thing that I received in the family "ghetto" swap.

I was quite ecstatic to see the keyboard go. Interestingly enough, the tree face thing was sold. Hurray! And it turns out, no one in Lowell plays poker. Just kidding. Sadly, I was not able to sell the poker set (also from a joke swap). Two out of three isn't bad.

I think the most memorable sale for me occurred later in the day when a group of young girls came to peruse the stuff. One of them was quite excited about this Asian sun umbrella that I had received from a friend's wedding. Technically, Karen received the umbrella as it was given to all the women at the wedding, but it was my friend getting married.

Anyway, the girl wanting the umbrella insisted that I take more for what was charged since she thought it was worth so much more. Granted, the cost was not that much more. But still, it was a nice gesture on her part (so much so that it obviously sticks in my mind). These young whipper snappers... Just kidding.

Needless to say, to see how excited she was about this sun umbrella was really nice. The sun umbrella was going to have a new home where it would be cherished more and used more, and I liked the thought of that.

Needless to say, it was a good yard sale. It was probably better for Karlene and Tommy's friends as they got rid of a lot of their items. One of her friends got rid of her items early on as one buyer scooped up her stockpile of toys. It turns out that the buyer donates the toys by shipping them to kids in Portugal.

Anyway, following the yard sale, we celebrated our meager profits by going to where else: Kimball Farm in Westford. A trip to Lowell would not be complete without a trip to Kimball Farm for ice cream. Yummy! I had the apple crisp with pumpkin ice cream. Delicious! In my opinion, there is no better place for ice cream.

All in all, it was a great day. The kids were great too, which is always a plus. If anything, the only thing that detracted from today was the traffic on the ride home. We generally hit some form of traffic heading south whenever we head anywhere north. Today's ride home was just awful. I think it took almost one and half hours to get home. But like I said, all in all, it was fun today.

I Suck At Installing A Ceiling Light

Some time ago, my BFF (Kerry) asked if I could help install a ceiling light in her dining room. It turns out that it has been almost a month that Kerry has gone without a ceiling light in her dining room. It's amazing how time flies. I guess you can say that I suck at installing a ceiling light.

It just so happens, however, that today was Kerry's lucky day. Karen was gracious enough to take care of our girls, which was not an easy task considering the fact that my two year old daughter (Briana) was having a meltdown before I left. Nevertheless, it was definitely good to get out of the house.

Anyway, it turns out that as I was arriving at Kerry's, my friends (Marc and Kelley) were leaving. They were pretty exhausted. I was told that Kelley was on the verge of falling asleep. So it was good to see them even if were for a brief moment. Apparently, Marc and Kelley helped move Kerry's bed from one bedroom to the other. So for Kerry, this must have seemed like a big home improvement day with the bed project and my ceiling light project.

Speaking of which, we did have an interesting time installing the ceiling light. Kerry had previously purchased a chandelier that she wanted to use for the dining room. The light looked nice. The only problem: the chandelier wasn't going to fit without some major reworking of the electrical outlet. So plan B it was.

Plan B involved making a trip to the local Lowes, returning the chandelier, and purchasing a whole new light altogether. I learned an interesting fact today about Kerry. It seems that she dislikes ceiling lights. And she is definitely not a fan of lights that look like breasts. As a side note, we used to refer to the lights in my friend's (Joanna) kitchen as boob lights. Good times. Perhaps it's because I am a guy, but I like ceiling lights... boobs and all.

Anyway, Kerry purchased a light that would work within the confines of the existing electrical outlet. And together, we installed the light in her dining room. Naturally, I made a mess of her place as I fiddled around with the drywall in her ceiling. Drywall just gets everywhere. Truth be told, I think it took more time to put the light together than actually installing the light.

When all was said and done, I think Kerry was happy to have a functional light in the dining room. It was just one more thing to cross off of her to-do list for her home improvement.

And afterwards, we hung out under the new ceiling light discussing various things. Among those things were her other home improvement projects and politics. I don't discuss politics much, mostly because the political system is a farce in my opinion. Nevertheless, the topic did come up.

All in all, I had a very enjoyable time hanging out with Kerry. It actually reminded me of the times she used to have her own room at the bed and breakfast known as our house. This of course, was before her room was given to Briana. But we'd just hang out... watch an episode or ten of Veronica Mars. It was fun. And today reminded me of that, just without the episodes of Veronica Mars.

I Suck At Comcast

Apparently, Comcast is going through a digital migration where they are "upgrading" their devices. Now, I suck at Comcast. Truth be told, I dislike Comcast. My past experience with Comcast has not been too favorable. Thankfully, I don't have Comcast as a provider, so I don't have to deal with their terrible service.

Unfortunately, my parents still have Comcast because the city of Quincy seems to have some deal with the devil (Comcast). And naturally, the dutiful son that I am, I am usually the first person contacted whenever my parents have an issue. It's a frustrating burden at times especially when I have time constraints while raising two kids. I sometimes can see now why my older brother moved to another state.

Luckily for me, I just so happened to have some time available on Sunday. So off I went with my two year old daughter (Briana) and my six month old daughter (Bridget) to visit my parents. My parents were absolutely thrilled by the visit.

Anyway, I connected the devices (as part of the digital migration) to the televisions in the house. It turns out, these devices have to be "activated". What a pain. What happened to the days of just hooking up the box and voila!... cable? And since my parents do not have access to the internet, that meant activation by contacting Comcast customer service. Fun.

Needless to say, two of the three devices were up and running. One of the devices, for some reason, was not working on one of the televisions. The customer service response: bring the device back into the store and swap it out. Why the brand new device wasn't working to begin with? I have no idea... and apparently neither does Comcast customer service.

So now my parents will have to swap out the device, which will probably mean that I'll have to find some time to visit them again. And of course, there is no guarantee that the swap of these digital devices will even work. Frustrating. But at least my parents got to spend some quality time with their grand children. So that's always a plus.

I Suck At Hanging Out With My Friends

This past weekend was a rather quiet weekend for Karen and I. Aside from the usual chores that we usually end up doing on the weekends, we really didn't have any plans. Interestingly enough, the weekend still went by very quickly for not having plans.

Regardless, my BFF (Kerry) had contacted us on Saturday to see if she, or any of our friends, won the library raffle prize of spending a little vacation time in Wellfleet because the drawing was held that day. Unfortunately, neither Kerry nor any of our friends won.

But what resulted was a spontaneous plan to hang out with my friends. Now, I suck at hanging out with my friends. Luckily for me, some of my friends were already gathered together because Kerry along with my friends (Marc, Kelley, and Andrea) were taking a day trip up north. And it just so happened that they were all together when Kerry inquired about the raffle.

Anyway, everyone stopped by our place to hang out. As usual, it was good to see everyone and just be silly. One of the topics that I remember from the night was Andrea's purchase of hooker boots while up north. At least now, should Andrea change careers to become a streetwalker, she will have the proper attire.

After the brief discussion about calf muscles and boots, the topic of changing careers came up to which Karen wondered what she would do if she were not a dietitian. One suggestion was to write a book about Golden Girls trivia, to which Kerry quipped that the title should be 50 Shades of Grey Hair. Oh yes, Kerry was on Saturday night.

Like I said, it was great hanging out with everyone Saturday night. Even though we did not do much, it was just fun to be together.

I Suck At Wild Willy's Burgers

This past Thursday, Karen, my two year old daughter (Briana), my six month old daughter (Bridget), and I went to Wild Willy's Burgers located in Quincy. Too bad I suck at Wild Willy's Burgers.

The occasion was the usual get together with my friends (Marc, Kelley) and my BFF (Kerry). There was, however, a special appearance made by our friend (Steve) who happened to also be in Quincy.

Anyway, the food at Wild Willy's was quite delicious. I ordered the Outlaw burger since it's totally like my persona: bad ass. Just kidding. Joking aside, the burger was very good. And the service was excellent. Needless to say, I would definitely recommend going back.

As well, it was good to see everyone at Wild Willy's. Following dinner, all of us (except for Steve) headed back to Kerry's for some merriment and all around fun. As a side note, it turns out that Kerry is getting rid of one of her many tables. I only note that as of interest because it just so happens that Karen and I have been contemplating getting a new table/desk for our computer.

We have been toying with the idea of moving the current location of our computer for some time since the current location is a little overkill for a laptop. The other idea that we came up with was to create one ourselves. So we'll see how that goes.

Anyway, most of my time at Kerry's was spent in the bathroom. For those curious, it was not I who needed to go to the bathroom, but my darling daughter, Briana, who we have been trying to "potty" train. To be honest, I think she just wanted to visit the bathroom because there was a ladder in Kerry's bathroom that she wanted to climb. Plus, there was soap. Briana likes washing her hands. No OCD there.

All in all, it was a great night hanging out with everyone and having fun.

I Suck At Creating A Shelf

The good news: I created a shelf today.

The bad news: I suck at creating a shelf.

For some time, I have been wanting to organize the cable monstrosity contained within my storage closet. In my closet resides the router and some other device used to send information about my solar panels. In addition, there are cables upon cables (ethernet, coaxial, etc.) because there is a panel located in the closet just for... cables. I had added that panel because, being the stupid tech person that I am, I wanted to network the house.

Anyway, what bothered me the most was the fact that the Verizon FiOS router that was given to me by Verizon was too large for the panel. From the beginning, the router has always been large. The router literally just dangled within the panel that houses all of the cables. And then with our recent addition of the solar panel device (which also has been dangling), I said enough is enough. Enter the shelf.

Needless to say, I made a brief pitstop at my favorite sister-in-law's (Janine) to use their drill press today. A few holes later and voila: shelf.

Truth be told, it's not the greatest floating shelf. I actually need to make the shelf deeper, but for now, it will do until I make a newer one to replace it. All in all, I don't think the floating shelf was that bad considering it was my first time making one. But at least now, the cables are more organized and the router can rest on the shelf instead of dangling within the panel.

Of course, this probably now opens up a whole slew of other home improvement projects...

I Suck At Celebrating Nana's Birthday

On Sunday, my in-laws celebrated Karen's grandmother's birthday. Nana, as she is more commonly known as, turned the ripe old age of 90. Granted, she turned 90 several weeks ago. The party, however, was moved to this past Sunday to accommodate Karen's southern relatives. And as it turns out, none of the southern relatives could make it anyway. So moving the date of the celebration was... well... in my opinion... pointless.

That is just my opinion. I guess you can say that I suck at celebrating Nana's birthday. The celebration was nice. It was good to see my in-laws.

Truth be told, I don't really remember any topics of discussion. Of course, it didn't help that I was seated away from everyone because my two year old daughter (Briana) wanted to sit at a specific spot. That spot was on the other side of the room...

One of the things I do remember, of course, is taking Briana to "potty" at the nursing home where the birthday celebration was held. I remember it only because I think the same thing every time I am in the bathroom at Marion Manor: don't touch anything. Of course, I think that at most public bathrooms but nursing homes and hospitals more so.

You can probably imagine the cringe I feel when Briana attempts to use the potty at the nursing home.

My bizarre germ behavior aside, it was a nice celebration. I think Nana enjoyed seeing everyone there. Happy birthday Nana!

I Suck At Merrimack

On Saturday, Karen and I celebrated my son's (Braden) birthday by taking my two year old daughter (Briana) and my six month old daughter (Bridget) out. Had my son survived, he would have been four.

Unfortunately, things did not go according to plan and Braden passed away. And as a result, we started taking our children out to honor his birthday around this time of year. Two years ago, it was Plymouth. Last year, it was Norwell's Picnic on the Common. This year, it was Merrimack.

Too bad I suck at Merrimack. On the agenda in Merrimack: the Anheuser-Busch factory. Sure, it seemed odd to take a two year old and a six month old to a brewery. Truth be told, we didn't go for the beer. We went for the clydesdales.

Briana was hesitant at first when she saw the horses. But after a while, she came to absolutely adore the majestic horses. We got to see the trainers give the clydesdales baths after their workout. And all Briana would say afterwards was how she got to watch them give the horses a bath. Needless to say, she loved it.

Of course, the fun was not done after the brewery. Right around the corner from the brewery is the Merrimack Premium Outlets, which is essentially the Wrentham Premium Outlets... only in Merrimack. The one major difference, aside from the food choices, is that Merrimack has a Disney outlet. Naturally, we bought a few things at the Disney store. Truth be told, I enjoyed the Merrimack outlets. It was our first time there and even though the place is smaller, I liked it more than Wrentham.

Anyway, the fun did not stop there. As we were in the great white north, we decided to stop by and visit my favorite cousin-in-law (Karlene) and her husband (Tommy) in Lowell. We hadn't seen them in some time. And as everyone knows, there is a lot to like about Lowell... or so they will have you believe.

Interestingly enough, I found out that Tommy was in the hospital for hurting his back. As a result, he can't do many activities like lifting. Hopefully, physical therapy will help him. And as I like to joke, it just goes to show that after the age of 40 the body breaks down. So I'll probably be doomed in a couple of years.

In addition to hanging out with Karlene and Tommy, we ended up at our favorite ice cream place, Kimball Farm. Kimball's was definitely a great way to end the day before driving home in the torrential downpour.

For some time, Karen has been wanting to try dinner at the Outdoor Grill and Seafood Shack located at Kimball Farm in Westford. Luckily, Saturday provided us the opportunity. Needless to say, the food was quite delicious. I had the fish and chips. And I must say, the fish was nicely breaded and cooked. It was not greasy at all. And it tasted really good.

And of course, we ordered ice cream afterwards. I had the apple crisp with pumpkin ice cream. Yum-O! Of course, I may have overeaten... but it was so worth it. Like I said, Kimball's was definitely a great way to end the day.

All in all, the day was long, but quite enjoyable. I had a great time and I think everyone else did too. Thank you, Little B. I hope you enjoyed watching over us. I love you forever and ever.

I Suck At Celebrating My Son's Birthday

Had my son (Braden) not passed away, he would have been four years old today. Happy birthday Braden! Too bad I suck at celebrating my son's birthday.

It's amazing how quickly time goes by. There are times where it seems just like yesterday that I held him in my hands. And before I forget, I wanted to thank my friend (Jen), my favorite cousin-in-law (Karlene) and her husband (Tommy), and my BFF (Kerry) for their thoughtful wishes today.

I don't expect people to remember Braden's birthday. So it means a lot to me that they were thinking of him on his special day. I'm lucky to have thoughtful people in my life.

I wish I could have said today was a great day. Unfortunately, my two year old daughter (Briana) and my six month old daughter (Bridget) weren't exactly on their best behaviors today. Regardless, I was pleased that Briana went with Karen and I to visit Braden at the cemetery amid the pouring rain.

I thought the cemetery visit was nice. As Karen and Briana were heading back to the car, I stayed to say my goodbyes to Braden. With umbrella in hand, I knelt down, kissed my hand and placed it on Braden's grave marker. When I turned around, there was Briana standing right in front of me with a big smile. It was pleasant surprise and a touching moment for me. If only she were good the rest of the day.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed your birthday Braden. Mommy and Daddy love you and miss you!