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.