Yesterday was the day Jesus Christ became a zombie. Just kidding. Happy Easter everyone! Yes, I suck at Easter.
My Easter morning began with a little egg hunt. As it was a little cold during the morning, we decided to hide some eggs for our two year old daughter (Briana) within the house. For me, it was cute watching Briana searching for eggs. When she found one, she would yell "Egg!" and hold it up in the air for both Karen and I to see. It's those little things that crack me up.
Following the hunt, Karen and I along with our newborn (Bridget) and Briana were invited over to my favorite sister-in-law's (Janine) for brunch. It was good to see the in-laws. There may have been an initial rigamarole with the brunch because Janine lost her list detailing who was bringing what, but in the end it all worked out.
My nephew (PJ) cracked me up. In an effort to make some money (to buy a robot), he was asking everyone if they wanted their cars vacuumed for a paltry $2. "I want my $2." That was a reference to the classic movie, "Better Off Dead". Mental note: make sure to get your car vacuumed first. PJ seems to lose focus after the first vacuuming.
Needless to say, PJ is one step closer to getting that robot. My niece (Kaleigh) also wanted in on the action, but she had yet to figure out what she could do to earn money. I was going to suggest babysitting only because she does a great job playing with Briana. I then thought better of telling my niece that suggestion since then she would probably demand that I pay her whenever she played with Briana.
All in all, it was good to see my in-laws, Janine's BFF (Gretchen) and PJ's relatives. Sadly, I did not get to see my father on Easter. Apparently, my father spent Easter alone after telling me that he had plans for Easter while my mother was away. Turns out, my father's plans were shorter than expected. As a result, he was home alone for the entire day. Thankfully, the neighbors brought him over an Easter dinner. I thought that was very nice of them.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Saturday, April 7, 2012
I Suck At Seeing My Friend
Today started off with a pleasant surprise. My friend (Jen) stopped on by for a visit this morning. Now, I suck at seeing my friend. With the seemingly vast time-suck of raising two children, I don't get to see Jen all that often. So it was definitely a nice surprise when she called asking to stop on by.
Jen has been a little stressed of late, having to deal with some family medical issues. Thankfully, the medical issues are resolving themselves, which is nice.
Among the other topics of conversation that came up were Dancing with the Stars, the Hunger Games, and a book from a mutual acquaintance that we know. For anyone curious, we were discussing Urkel's apparent feud with his instructor, Kym. Apparently Jen and I have been reading Yahoo news.
As for the Hunger Games, Jen is currently reading the book. And naturally, since I like all things teeny-bopperish, I too am curious about the book. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the book is at least better written than that god-awful dribble known as Twilight. "I shouldn't love you... but I do." And then repeat the line exponentially throughout the book.
Speaking of Hunger Games, my friends (Marc and Kelley) mentioned the seemingly similar Japanese version, Battle Royale. I am quite curious about that as well, if only because there is supposed to be more blood. I'm easy to please that way.
As for the other book by our mutual acquaintance, I must say that I am mildly interested. Don't get me wrong, I think it's awesome that he got his work published. Sadly, the premise of the story seems awfully corny as it involves vampires and the post office. Hence, the mild interest. So I'm not sold on it just yet. Although if the lead character were a hot blonde, I may reconsider. Just kidding.
Anyway, the rest of the day was rather ho-hum. Karen and I got some flowers for our son (Braden) who passed away in 2008. Incidentally, today was the first time our newborn daughter (Bridget) got to meet her older brother at the cemetery. So that was nice. Other than that, today was pretty uneventful.
Jen has been a little stressed of late, having to deal with some family medical issues. Thankfully, the medical issues are resolving themselves, which is nice.
Among the other topics of conversation that came up were Dancing with the Stars, the Hunger Games, and a book from a mutual acquaintance that we know. For anyone curious, we were discussing Urkel's apparent feud with his instructor, Kym. Apparently Jen and I have been reading Yahoo news.
As for the Hunger Games, Jen is currently reading the book. And naturally, since I like all things teeny-bopperish, I too am curious about the book. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the book is at least better written than that god-awful dribble known as Twilight. "I shouldn't love you... but I do." And then repeat the line exponentially throughout the book.
Speaking of Hunger Games, my friends (Marc and Kelley) mentioned the seemingly similar Japanese version, Battle Royale. I am quite curious about that as well, if only because there is supposed to be more blood. I'm easy to please that way.
As for the other book by our mutual acquaintance, I must say that I am mildly interested. Don't get me wrong, I think it's awesome that he got his work published. Sadly, the premise of the story seems awfully corny as it involves vampires and the post office. Hence, the mild interest. So I'm not sold on it just yet. Although if the lead character were a hot blonde, I may reconsider. Just kidding.
Anyway, the rest of the day was rather ho-hum. Karen and I got some flowers for our son (Braden) who passed away in 2008. Incidentally, today was the first time our newborn daughter (Bridget) got to meet her older brother at the cemetery. So that was nice. Other than that, today was pretty uneventful.
I Suck At Coloring Easter Eggs
On Friday, Karen and I were invited to my friend's (Andrea) to color Easter eggs. More specifically, our daughter (Briana) was invited to Andrea's. Our other daughter (Bridget) was also able to tag along. Being a little over one month, Bridget can't really do many things yet... like color an Easter egg. Needless to say, I suck at coloring Easter eggs.
For almost a decade now, Andrea has hosted an annual egg coloring event for children. From what I have been told, people used to drop off their children at Andrea's for a few hours to paint eggs. The only requirements were that the kids had to be three years of age and potty trained. I have to hand it to Andrea. I don't know how she did it in the past with all of those kids. I have trouble just taking care of two children at home.
Anyway, Andrea has been a little more lax in her requirements. After all, Briana recently turned two and is definitely not potty trained. I can attest to her stinky diapers. So it was a pleasure to be invited. And with it being our first time, we got to experience the whole new world of egg decorating.
I must say, egg decorating has come a long way from when I used to decorate eggs. I remember using the wire spoon to dip the egg in the dye. Now, there are brushes and whatnot. There was this device that spun the egg in a container with coloring. To me, the device reminded me of a Tupperware salad spinner with the only exception that instead of a crank, there was a button to push that made the inside spin. Now that I think of it some more, there is a toy turtle that Briana likes to play with at my mother-in-law's that is also like this egg coloring device.
I was actually quite impressed. All the children there did an amazing job of decorating their eggs. They looked great. You can tell Andrea is a pro at this. She had egg cartons labelled with the child's name on it, the plastic table cloth, the bowl of a gazillion hard boiled eggs, etc. As a side note, the thought of egg salad did dance in my mind. I am one of a select few people that I know who actually enjoys the taste of egg salad. I may have also eaten a little too much egg salad at one time in my life. (Yes, there is a story behind that.)
All in all, it was great time. I think Briana enjoyed it as well. Thanks Andrea!
For almost a decade now, Andrea has hosted an annual egg coloring event for children. From what I have been told, people used to drop off their children at Andrea's for a few hours to paint eggs. The only requirements were that the kids had to be three years of age and potty trained. I have to hand it to Andrea. I don't know how she did it in the past with all of those kids. I have trouble just taking care of two children at home.
Anyway, Andrea has been a little more lax in her requirements. After all, Briana recently turned two and is definitely not potty trained. I can attest to her stinky diapers. So it was a pleasure to be invited. And with it being our first time, we got to experience the whole new world of egg decorating.
I must say, egg decorating has come a long way from when I used to decorate eggs. I remember using the wire spoon to dip the egg in the dye. Now, there are brushes and whatnot. There was this device that spun the egg in a container with coloring. To me, the device reminded me of a Tupperware salad spinner with the only exception that instead of a crank, there was a button to push that made the inside spin. Now that I think of it some more, there is a toy turtle that Briana likes to play with at my mother-in-law's that is also like this egg coloring device.
I was actually quite impressed. All the children there did an amazing job of decorating their eggs. They looked great. You can tell Andrea is a pro at this. She had egg cartons labelled with the child's name on it, the plastic table cloth, the bowl of a gazillion hard boiled eggs, etc. As a side note, the thought of egg salad did dance in my mind. I am one of a select few people that I know who actually enjoys the taste of egg salad. I may have also eaten a little too much egg salad at one time in my life. (Yes, there is a story behind that.)
All in all, it was great time. I think Briana enjoyed it as well. Thanks Andrea!
I Suck At Remembering Things
It should come as no surprise to my friends that I have selective memory. I guess you could say I suck at remembering things. And I guess it's probably a good thing that I have this blog so that I can look back at previous posts to jog my memory.
On Thursday, Karen and I hung out with my friends (Marc, Kelley, and Andrea) for our weekly get together. Andrea was kind enough to do hosting duties for the week, so all of us met there. Karen and I were actually game time decisions because neither of us have been getting that much sleep lately due to our newborn's (Bridget) habit of waking up every few hours during the night. Luckily for us, Bridget and our two year old (Briana) were cooperating with us on Thursday, so we were able to get together.
Anyway, on the agenda for the night was the latest episode of Community. I simply find that show hysterical. After all, what show can give us things like the "All Tomato"? Needless to say, the episode was quite enjoyable.
While at Andrea's, I had a conversation with my old drinking buddy, Kelley. We were discussing how tired I have been, to which I commented that Bridget has been more of a sleep-depriver than Briana at that age. Briana is an angel... or so I thought. It wasn't until Kelley mentioned that I seemed pretty exhausted with Briana back in the day that I started to think that perhaps I do have selective memory. (Hence, the I suck at remembering things... thing.)
Regardless, the conversation intrigued me because it got me thinking about the past and my recollection of it. Interestingly enough, Kelley is also known to have memory lapses. She used to forget things that happened minutes prior. There were times when we were watching "Lost" that she would have these "wouldn't it be cool if..." something happened moments... only to have already watched that something happening minutes prior to asking like she did not remember watching it minutes prior.
One of the other topics of conversation for the night that I remember was about Andrea's new car. For anyone curious, Andrea got a new car; a Nissan Rogue to be exact. It's a very nice car. She recounted her sweet deal in getting the car. And a sweet deal it was.
All in all, it was great night to hang out with friends and have a few laughs.
On Thursday, Karen and I hung out with my friends (Marc, Kelley, and Andrea) for our weekly get together. Andrea was kind enough to do hosting duties for the week, so all of us met there. Karen and I were actually game time decisions because neither of us have been getting that much sleep lately due to our newborn's (Bridget) habit of waking up every few hours during the night. Luckily for us, Bridget and our two year old (Briana) were cooperating with us on Thursday, so we were able to get together.
Anyway, on the agenda for the night was the latest episode of Community. I simply find that show hysterical. After all, what show can give us things like the "All Tomato"? Needless to say, the episode was quite enjoyable.
While at Andrea's, I had a conversation with my old drinking buddy, Kelley. We were discussing how tired I have been, to which I commented that Bridget has been more of a sleep-depriver than Briana at that age. Briana is an angel... or so I thought. It wasn't until Kelley mentioned that I seemed pretty exhausted with Briana back in the day that I started to think that perhaps I do have selective memory. (Hence, the I suck at remembering things... thing.)
Regardless, the conversation intrigued me because it got me thinking about the past and my recollection of it. Interestingly enough, Kelley is also known to have memory lapses. She used to forget things that happened minutes prior. There were times when we were watching "Lost" that she would have these "wouldn't it be cool if..." something happened moments... only to have already watched that something happening minutes prior to asking like she did not remember watching it minutes prior.
One of the other topics of conversation for the night that I remember was about Andrea's new car. For anyone curious, Andrea got a new car; a Nissan Rogue to be exact. It's a very nice car. She recounted her sweet deal in getting the car. And a sweet deal it was.
All in all, it was great night to hang out with friends and have a few laughs.
Friday, April 6, 2012
I Suck At Power Washing
On Wednesday, I did probably the most productive thing all week: I worked on the house. I am currently in-between jobs. I don't start my new job until Monday. And I left my previous place of employment on Friday. So I have been off the entire week. Unfortunately, the work never stops when you are raising a two year old (Briana) and a newborn daughter (Bridget).
This past Wednesday, my mother-in-law came down for a visit. Luckily for me, she decided to take Briana out for a walk around the neighborhood. Consequently, that left me ample time to finally do something productive this week: power wash the house. Now, I suck at power washing.
My house desperately needed a good washing. Dirt and green slime were beginning to climb up the vinyl siding. Heck, my friends (Dolores and Loser Tom) even noticed the filth that was on the outside of the house when they had visited on Saturday.
It's weird how raising two children seems to suck the time away. Needless to say, with the free time thanks to my in-laws, I power washed the house. It felt fantastic to actually get something accomplished other than changing dirty diapers, doing laundry, giving baths, or getting breakfast, lunch and dinner ready for the kids. Granted, I was absolutely soaked from washing the house. Mental note: wear a rain jacket the next time. As well, do not spray the hose upward above your head because the water will come back down.
All in all, it was a great day.
This past Wednesday, my mother-in-law came down for a visit. Luckily for me, she decided to take Briana out for a walk around the neighborhood. Consequently, that left me ample time to finally do something productive this week: power wash the house. Now, I suck at power washing.
My house desperately needed a good washing. Dirt and green slime were beginning to climb up the vinyl siding. Heck, my friends (Dolores and Loser Tom) even noticed the filth that was on the outside of the house when they had visited on Saturday.
It's weird how raising two children seems to suck the time away. Needless to say, with the free time thanks to my in-laws, I power washed the house. It felt fantastic to actually get something accomplished other than changing dirty diapers, doing laundry, giving baths, or getting breakfast, lunch and dinner ready for the kids. Granted, I was absolutely soaked from washing the house. Mental note: wear a rain jacket the next time. As well, do not spray the hose upward above your head because the water will come back down.
All in all, it was a great day.
I Suck At Church
For those who know me, they know that I am not a big fan of religion. Don't get me wrong. I appreciate what religion has to offer. Idioms like "Thou shalt not kill" are pretty good words to live by. At the same time, the hypocrisy of religion frustrates me. And more often than naught, I find that the hypocrisy far outweighs the good of religion.
On Sunday, I attended church with Karen and my daughters (Briana and Bridget). Now, I suck at church. It just so happens that on Sunday, the local church was having an Easter egg hunt for the children. Truth be told, it was a nicely organized Easter egg hunt complete with Easter bunny. (I'm assuming a bloody Christ figure would not go over too well with children looking for eggs.)
For anyone curious, Easter... is actually Eostre or Ostara. Those pagans had it first and they celebrated the event with signs of fertility. Hence, the bunny and eggs.
Anyway, like I said, I'm not churchfolk. I have not tasted the Kool-Aid. But, I would expect that people who are churchfolk would be kind and courteous, especially right after a church mass. Needless to say, I was a little disappointed during the Easter egg hunt. Parents were mowing other people down so that their child could get a plastic egg filled with candy. There were children with bags overflowing with eggs. To me, it was like a Greedfest. Don't get me wrong. Not everyone was that bad. There was this one nice family. The father made his son give his eggs to other children who were not as fortunate as he was in collecting eggs. I thought that was nice, and really what the event should have been about. But that's just my opinion.
Naturally, while I was taking a mental tab of yet another reason why religion is chock full of hypocrisy, Briana was having fun just watching the Easter bunny. She would walk only so close to the Easter bunny... and just stare. Then when the bunny walked away, she would sort of follow... and then stare again. It was interesting.
Easter egg hunt aside, the rest of Sunday turned out to be a family day as we were invited over to my in-laws for dinner.
On Sunday, I attended church with Karen and my daughters (Briana and Bridget). Now, I suck at church. It just so happens that on Sunday, the local church was having an Easter egg hunt for the children. Truth be told, it was a nicely organized Easter egg hunt complete with Easter bunny. (I'm assuming a bloody Christ figure would not go over too well with children looking for eggs.)
For anyone curious, Easter... is actually Eostre or Ostara. Those pagans had it first and they celebrated the event with signs of fertility. Hence, the bunny and eggs.
Anyway, like I said, I'm not churchfolk. I have not tasted the Kool-Aid. But, I would expect that people who are churchfolk would be kind and courteous, especially right after a church mass. Needless to say, I was a little disappointed during the Easter egg hunt. Parents were mowing other people down so that their child could get a plastic egg filled with candy. There were children with bags overflowing with eggs. To me, it was like a Greedfest. Don't get me wrong. Not everyone was that bad. There was this one nice family. The father made his son give his eggs to other children who were not as fortunate as he was in collecting eggs. I thought that was nice, and really what the event should have been about. But that's just my opinion.
Naturally, while I was taking a mental tab of yet another reason why religion is chock full of hypocrisy, Briana was having fun just watching the Easter bunny. She would walk only so close to the Easter bunny... and just stare. Then when the bunny walked away, she would sort of follow... and then stare again. It was interesting.
Easter egg hunt aside, the rest of Sunday turned out to be a family day as we were invited over to my in-laws for dinner.
I Suck At Touch A Fire Truck
Saturday has been quite the busy day. Granted, I woke up late at 9:00 AM thanks in part to my non-sleeping newborn daughter (Bridget).
Anyway, the day began with a little visit to the public library, which only seems fitting since I am running to be on the Board of Trustees for the public library. Nevertheless, the public library was having a family event called "Touch A Fire Truck". Too bad I suck at Touch a Fire Truck.
For anyone curious, the name of the event says it all. The town's firefighters would be at the library, complete with an actual fire engine for kids (and adults) to see... and touch. The fire fighters provided little plastic fire helmets and balls to the children to play with. I wonder if my BFF (Kerry), who apparently seems to know all things firefighter related, knows the fire chief. Just kidding.
Needless to say, Karen and I ended up taking our two year old daughter (Briana) and Bridget to the event. We also ended up taking my nephew (PJ) to the event as well to give him a little break from going shopping with his sister and mother, which I'm sure is thrilling. Briana, incidentally, did not seem that into the event. She was more into the sugar cookie at the refreshment stand than the fire truck.
It was good hanging out with my nephew. We ended up taking him and our daughters to Chipotle too for lunch. It was the first time he had ever eaten at Chipotle and he appeared to enjoy it. For anyone curious, we ended up at the Chipotle at the Derby Shoppes in Hingham because there was a family event for Easter that we also wanted to attend. Yes, Saturday was family event day.
At the Derby Shoppes, Briana did a craft project involving making bunny ears. There was also an obstacle course, but Briana seemed more interested in... you guessed it... food. This time, it was the chocolate eggs that caught her fancy.
Anyway, with all the family events complete, my friends (Dolores and Tom) stopped on by for a visit. They wanted to do a little meet and greet with Bridget, which is commonplace these days. It was good to see Dolores and Loser Tom. I haven't seen them since our little excursion into Boston for the dietitian summit between Karen, Dolores, and my friend (Hot Amy). Dietitians Unite!
Among the topics that came up were the show "Once Upon a Time", playing Jenga with my chimney, and a Bobcat. Dolores and I share similar interests. Among them, besides "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", are other shows like "Once Upon a Time". As well, it turns out that we both also want to own Bobcats. And by Bobcats, I am not referring to the furry animal. I mean the company that creates construction equipment like a loader, excavator, etc. Of course, I have no idea where I would even store a Bobcat, but just owning one would be pretty cool in my book.
As for Jenga with my chimney, that topic came about because we were discussing with Loser Tom, who is a handyman on the side, how to remove a chimney. Our house used to have a chimney stack that ran straight through the middle of the house. When we renovated our house and added a second floor, the chimney was rendered inoperable. Instead of carrying the chimney through our second floor and consequently through the roof, we had the heat vented directly out the side of the house instead. Unfortunately, the bricks that made up the chimney remained on the existing first floor, enclosed behind a wall column. So, we were discussing with Loser Tom how to remove those bricks. Hence, Jenga with my chimney.
All in all, it was a pretty busy day. It was great to spend time with the family, and it was great to see friends.
Anyway, the day began with a little visit to the public library, which only seems fitting since I am running to be on the Board of Trustees for the public library. Nevertheless, the public library was having a family event called "Touch A Fire Truck". Too bad I suck at Touch a Fire Truck.
For anyone curious, the name of the event says it all. The town's firefighters would be at the library, complete with an actual fire engine for kids (and adults) to see... and touch. The fire fighters provided little plastic fire helmets and balls to the children to play with. I wonder if my BFF (Kerry), who apparently seems to know all things firefighter related, knows the fire chief. Just kidding.
Needless to say, Karen and I ended up taking our two year old daughter (Briana) and Bridget to the event. We also ended up taking my nephew (PJ) to the event as well to give him a little break from going shopping with his sister and mother, which I'm sure is thrilling. Briana, incidentally, did not seem that into the event. She was more into the sugar cookie at the refreshment stand than the fire truck.
It was good hanging out with my nephew. We ended up taking him and our daughters to Chipotle too for lunch. It was the first time he had ever eaten at Chipotle and he appeared to enjoy it. For anyone curious, we ended up at the Chipotle at the Derby Shoppes in Hingham because there was a family event for Easter that we also wanted to attend. Yes, Saturday was family event day.
At the Derby Shoppes, Briana did a craft project involving making bunny ears. There was also an obstacle course, but Briana seemed more interested in... you guessed it... food. This time, it was the chocolate eggs that caught her fancy.
Anyway, with all the family events complete, my friends (Dolores and Tom) stopped on by for a visit. They wanted to do a little meet and greet with Bridget, which is commonplace these days. It was good to see Dolores and Loser Tom. I haven't seen them since our little excursion into Boston for the dietitian summit between Karen, Dolores, and my friend (Hot Amy). Dietitians Unite!
Among the topics that came up were the show "Once Upon a Time", playing Jenga with my chimney, and a Bobcat. Dolores and I share similar interests. Among them, besides "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", are other shows like "Once Upon a Time". As well, it turns out that we both also want to own Bobcats. And by Bobcats, I am not referring to the furry animal. I mean the company that creates construction equipment like a loader, excavator, etc. Of course, I have no idea where I would even store a Bobcat, but just owning one would be pretty cool in my book.
As for Jenga with my chimney, that topic came about because we were discussing with Loser Tom, who is a handyman on the side, how to remove a chimney. Our house used to have a chimney stack that ran straight through the middle of the house. When we renovated our house and added a second floor, the chimney was rendered inoperable. Instead of carrying the chimney through our second floor and consequently through the roof, we had the heat vented directly out the side of the house instead. Unfortunately, the bricks that made up the chimney remained on the existing first floor, enclosed behind a wall column. So, we were discussing with Loser Tom how to remove those bricks. Hence, Jenga with my chimney.
All in all, it was a pretty busy day. It was great to spend time with the family, and it was great to see friends.
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