Farewell To My Son Scott

Scott 11 years ago

Other than pictures, I've not posted on my blog in quite some time as I really haven't had anything much to say. These past couple of months I've been thinking a lot about my son Scott heading off to college. Midnight approaches and there's no way I'll be able to get to sleep as my mind is racing a mile a minute because my son Scott heads off to college tomorrow. So, I figured I'd write a little about it.

This evening his mom, his brother and sister, and I took him to the Golden Corral for a farewell dinner. We've never been there and we were all surprised how good the food was; much better than Fire Mountain up the street. We had a very nice time together and then they dropped me off here and headed over to his moms house. I wish I could have spent a little more time with him but he had friends coming over to his mom's.

It's been a busy few weeks getting everything ready for him to go but he's all packed up and will be departing tomorrow morning around nine o'clock. I procured several weeks of staple foods and bought him some new clothes, plus I gave him and his brother Chris, who is returning for his senior year, some extra money for expenses.

This will be the start of a new chapter in Scott's life and I wish him all the best. I'm very proud of him for being accepted to the Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago. I'll miss him more than I can possibly relate using mere words on a page.

I remember many years ago coming across my mother one evening sitting in her chair by the window crying silently. I sat down by her and asked her what was the matter. She mentioned she was missing my brother Rick who moved out of the house several weeks earlier quite a bit and it was making her very sad. Being in my teens and thinking I knew everything I mentioned I could not understand why that would make her so sad. With tears running down her cheeks she gave me a big hug and said you'll never be able to understand it unless you have children of your own one day; when they leave home for the first time you'll know exactly what I'm feeling.

I patted her hand, gave her another hug, and went off to watch TV. How many years later do I again recall this conversation with her as I did when my son Chris went off to college. And once again I am reminded of the words she spoke, and how true they were.

In closing, To my son Scott, know that your dad loves you with all his heart, cherishes the times he had with you, and wishes all the best for you. Your mom and I and will always be here if you need us. Part of me wishes you and your siblings could always stay with us, yet it's your time to go out into the world. I know this can be scary, but I have no doubts whatsoever that you'll do well! Fare thee well, my son!

The Day After Mother's Day

Chicken and Shrimp Kabobs

Yesterday was Mother's Day and I offered to host a dinner for the X, our kids, and the X's parents, who to me will always be Mom and Dad.

My goal was to make an excellent meal worthy of my culinary acumen, and stay within my budgeted calories for the day. Of course, I also wanted everyone to enjoy themselves!

I started preparing Saturday night cutting skinless chicken breast and marinating it overnight in a mildly spicy southwestern style marinate. I also processed jumbo shrimp in this manner.

I made a mixture of 92% ground beef and ground round, plus some spices and shaped 8 nice 5 ounce burgers and these too were refrigerated.

I then cut and sliced 2 quarts of Strawberries and put them in the fridge with a cup of Splenda. Smaller portions of Blueberries and Red Raspberries were bagged with Splenda as well.

Sunday morning after a 12 mile 70 minute workout on the exercise bike, I got cleaned up and began making Kabobs. I cut up onions and red pepper, and along with cherry tomatoes and small button mushrooms I built the Kabobs pictured above. It took about 90 minutes to make a total of 12.

I made a nice salad with cucumbers, lettuce, onions, and tomato, and I baked corn on the cob, which I prefer to boiling. I sliced onions and tomato for the burgers, and plastic wrapped these plates and left them in the fridge.

We all sat down and had an excellent meal of the Kabobs and about an hour later I made a round of Cheeseburgers, grilling onions on the grill at the request of the X and her folks.

For dessert I mixed the berries and served them with sugar free cool whip. For those not watching their weight there was also whipped cream and Ice cream.

Everyone enjoyed the food and had a great day. After every left except for Scott and Danielle, Danielle and I enjoyed an hour of Left 4 Dead on expert mode.....fun stuff!

On and off during the day, I kept thinking of my Mom, and how much I missed her. I tried to dwell on happy childhood memories of her which helped. Hard to believe she has been gone for 18 years!

The X sent me an e-mail this morning thanking me for such a nice Mother's Day, which really made my day.

Sorry

Sorry for the lack of posts which will continue for the foreseeable future. Scott is going through a tough time at school, involving a bad break up enforced by the girls parents who had the audacity to visit the X's house and make assorted threats if he did not stop seeing her. They've forbid her to even talk to him at school.

Needless to say Scott has been hit hard by this, I had to take him to the Doctor's today because he was having chest pains and trouble breathing. largely anxiety they said...he is miserable and it pains me no end for him to grow up and gain maturity in this manner. He's such a good kid and does not deserve this BS!

anyway there won't be any additional posts until we get this situation stabilized. I'm off to bed for some needed sleep.

Weekend Update - The Prime Rib Dinner

As my son Chris pointed out to me via a comment on Facebook, one event I omitted from the weekend (that he took umbrage on) is that I took him and his siblings to dinner at Texas Roadhouse.

Hey! I forgot! I hardly ever see him! He was home four four days I saw him an hour for dinner! I thought it was a dream! I was so happy I figured I must have dreamed it!! My back was hurting so bad when I wrote the post I forgot! Honest! I ran out of gas! I, I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts. IT WASN'T MY FAULT, I SWEAR TO GOD. (Who can name the movie the latter part of this quote came from after Honest...?)

Seriously though my son Chris, I do apologize! It was one of the high points of my weekend, and I am sorry I omitted it.

It was a great dinner. The kids were all well behaved, no one said anything nasty, no feelings were hurt, everyone was in a great mood, there was a lot of laughter and such, and it was one of the best dinners I've had with my three kids in a long time. And I did indeed enjoy purchasing $$$ prime rib for all of us....and I still marvel how my kids, thanks to the X, came to expect Prime Rib and take it for granted!

When I grew up we rarely had steak let alone the choice cuts, and I do not ever remember eating it out with my folks. When we had steak t was always the low end Sirloin grade from the Grand Union food store on Bloomfield Avenue in New Jersey and my mom cooked it under the broiler on the stove....ugh! Of course back then it was a treat! That Grand Union that I grew up going to with my Mom, and later on my own for her, became a large liquor store. Useless trivia you want to know for sure!

So, my kids if you are reading, be thankful that you have parents who can provide you with Prime Rib, and, more importantly, that you never went to bed feeling hungry because there was not enough food in the house to go around. When I was growing up we ate Pasta two or three times a week, and things like Macaroni and Cheese and Hamburger Helper. One night a week we had bologna sandwiches or Turkey if it was on sale. Sure, there was the occasional pot roast..once every month or so, but there were other lower cost things like Liver and Onions. Our not liking something was simply not tolerated at all. If you don't eat it, you go to bed hungry. End of story.

I know kids today do not want to hear about how it was in 'olden' times that their parents grew up in, but, I think they have much to be thankful for.

I'd like to think my kids though are aware of these facts, and, while not overly generous with the thanks (I had to fake cough like i was clearing my throat after we exited Texas Roadhouse to get the boys to thank me. Danielle, bless her heart, did so right outside the door. I don't think a thank you is too much to ask, and perhaps some deeper understanding of how rough things could be, particularly in these times of economic instability.

OK, I am climbing down off my soapbox now......

Random Weekend Thoughts

The past weekend while in the 40's was raining, violently in some cases with very loud thunder.

Danielle had her boyfriend (yes boyfriend!) Jason over....that begs a discussion on the subject of my 14 year old daughter dating.

Evidently her ages definition of dating is someone you spend time with hold hands with but have no other physical contact with, such as hugging, kissing, etc. Sure different from my definition since my X and I would not permit the latter with our daughter only being 14. So, for now she has a boyfriend, who seems very nice and we share some interests in the technology space which is good and playing video games. Danielle has been told that if this progresses any further it will be over......but for now I am content for them to spend time in public places like the mall or in my house or the X's.... As his foster mom will not drive him anywhere on the weekends, I have to transport him him to and from here and the mall and such to his house.

Danielle and I watched The Golden Compass Sunday night when my 17 year old son went to the movies with a 21 year old gal pal......(yes, a 21 year old girl!). I had a bit of a conversation with Scott as to how his girlfriend, who is his age, would feel about this. He said she would be OK with it, I implied he has a lot to learn about women....though she could be one of the rare ones who would be OK with this. I often had issues with the X having lots of male friends at assorted points in our relationship. I pretty much did not worry after we were married.

The kids and I watched a lot of The Critic episodes over the weekend and played Left 4 Dead alone and together.

I spent considerable time making sure all data was moved from my old HTPC to the new one, and I even played some Left 4 Dead on the new PC which sports better graphics than the xbox 360! Whoo Hoo!!

Other than hurting my back tripping on the basement stairs Sunday night when putting kitty to bed, nothing else major went on over the weekend.

Fried Pasta - The Fifth Generation

As I've posted before I remember growing up as a child having pasta with homemade sauce twice a week, and, on the occasions there was leftover pasta, it would get put in a bowl with some sauce, and then sometime later in the week it would be fried in olive oil, garlic, basil, and topped with grated cheese.

This was a very cheap and very tasty meal and I remember one of my parents staying their parents remember getting this served to them when they were growing up. Both my parents are gone but this tradition lives on.

SO, last night I fried up some for Danielle and I, adding in a small amount of meatball, pepperoni, and sausage from the left over sauce and it was awesome. Scott ate lomein from down the street. Sigh! He does not like fried pasta.......I wonder what that mailman was doing around the house on weekends I was supposed to be working.....

Danielle has been eating fried pasta for some time...she is the fifth generation (that I know of) in my family that has enjoyed this simple but delicious meal.

Tonight is pasta, garlic bread, sauce and meat from the batch I made Sunday. It promises to be quite the delicious meal....and somewhat affordable since I got three (maybe four if there is left over pasta tonight....) meals out of it.

Buon Appetito!

A Very Nice Weekend

Sorry for the lack of posts, been tied up with new system working a couple of issues, so that's been taking most of my free time, or playing Left 4 Dead with the kids, or watching TV with them, and frankly how many times do you really want to read about that???

SO, this past weekend.....normally Scott and Danielle would have gone back to their Mom's house Friday evening but she was traveling so I had them until Saturday. We had planned on watching the new Futurama movie Friday night but Scott had plans with his friends. I picked up Danielle at school after video game club and we stopped at Pizza Hut on the way back home. Scott dislikes Pizza Hut but Danielle and really I enjoy their stuffed crust pizza. and had not had it in ages. I ordered the pizza to go as she did not want to eat in. I returned to the car where Danielle was talking on her phone and we got into an amusing back and forth while she was talking. I returned to the interior of Pizza Hut, nabbed our Pizza and we enjoyed it while watching Ugly Betty. We played some Left 4 Dead and then each spent time on our computers. Scott came home around 10:30 and we watched a couple of The Critic episodes off of DVD before retiring.

Saturday after getting up, riding the exercise bike, and doing some house cleaning, I took Danielle to pick up her friend Jason, and we came back to the house. I ordered us lunch from Jimmy John's, and we settled in to watch watch the new Futurama movie Into the Wild Green Yonder. This is the fourth of four direct to DVD movies planned for the series which was canceled awhile back. There are no definite plans for another but fans can check out the link above for some possibilities going forward.

Saturday was my friend Suresh's 40th birthday so I sent an e-card and an Amazon gift Certificate. Turning 40 is a noteworthy occasion! I used to work with Suresh and the X and I were very close with him and his wife Indu.

A phone call from the road told me the X was close to home, and as I knew she had back pain and was tired from traveling, after Danielle and I dropped Jason off I ordered food from China Garden for the three of them, and picked it up on the way to dropping off Danielle at the X's house.

I spent the remainder of the evening with Tails watching TV and working on the new computer. I had not realized how much data and programs I had to transfer. This is a good opportunity to clean house somewhat so the transfer process may take several weeks of my free time.

Sunday I went out at 8:30 after getting up to shop for dinner. I went to Forest Hills Foods and bought what I needed to make homemade spaghetti sauce with sausage, meatballs, and pepperoni, as well as a loaf of Italian bread and the ingredients to make Garlic Butter.

I made the sauce and meatballs and had everything simmering by 1 PM for a planned dinner time of 5 PM. That also allowed about 4 hours for the garlic butter to pickup the flavors from the fresh garlic and spices I used.

Scott showed up around 3 PM wanting to spend some extra time with me and we played Left 4 Dead on expert level and got all the way the the finale. We failed three times and I had to get cleaned up and finish dinner, but we still had an awesome time, yelling and screaming when failed to get to the end of a level by a hairs breadth. It was a lot of fun.

Dinner was awesome! I had tried a radical variation on my meatball recipe and it was great! I think one or two more tweaks and I will have achieved meatball nirvana! After eating and cleanup the X, Danielle, and I watched Meet Dave which was an awesome movie. I was in bed early at 10 PM as I've been trying to get more sleep lately (though I ended up having a very restless nights sleep for some reason.

YAW! (Yet Another Weekend)

Saturday I woke up, expecting snow. The forecast had been screaming for days that Saturday would be this snow and wind filled extreme weather event. At 8AM when I awoke, there was nothing.

I got up, and started the Operating System load on the new HT PC. At 8:30 that was going well, and the snow had started. By 9:30 when I was ready to ride the exercise bike the ground was covered and the wind was blowing. A check of the Weather Channel showed the storm had merely been delayed a few hours. I rode the exercise bike and Danielle got up.

She was a bit distressed because she had wanted me to drive her over to a friends house, pick up the friend, come back here so we could play Left for Dead, and then take the friend home afterward. I told her I was just not going to take the Mustang out onto slippery roads. The visible snowfall was somewhat misleading as this snow was some of the finest flakes I had ever seen, almost powder-like in consistency. So while often looking out the window it appeared it was hardly snowing, the snow accumulated on the ground.

See below for a recap on Saturday's Storm, particularly on road conditions. I feel justified in not venturing out.



The majority of the day passed quite nicely, I did some additional work on the new PC, plus played Left 4 Dead with Danielle and watched TV with and without the kids depending on what they were doing.

We were all supposed to go to dinner with Chris that evening but his friends hijacked him and fed him earlier. The X asked if we wanted to go out anyway and while I would not venture out in the Mustang the X's vehicle is much more bad weather worthy...though I myself would still not have gone out.

I went outside and shoveled out a space large enough for her by the front door so the kids and I would not have snow in our shoes. While there was about 5 inches of snow, it was HEAVY! It was so very fine and thus very dense.

The X picked us up and we went to Ming 10 around 5:30. Surprisingly, with the storm raging outside, the place was very crowded. We had quite a view of the weather outside form our table. Two of the walls forming the Corner of Ming 10 are glass, so you get a real view outside, and it is a raised view as it is on the second floor. As we ate and darkness fell, the storm increased in it's ferocity, and the snow fell more heavily and the wind was blowing faster. I love watching nature like this and I was constantly looking out the window.

Scott was disappointed because they were not making lo mein this evening, they had run out and only had already made vegetable lomein. He still manged to eat a good amount of food, even going after some the vegetable lo mein.

The X outlined some upcoming business travel, which is good for me since it means some extra time with the kids which is always a good thing, I just wonder how they feel about it. I of course agreed to the extra time in support of the X's business pursuits.

We finished dinner and departed, I was chilled just on the very short walk back to the X's car, which was already covered in snow as it if had been sitting there for hours. The ride back home was a little bit slower than the ride out.

She dropped us off at my house around 8 PM and we spent the rest of the evening, together, in pairs, or alone, playing Left 4 Dead, F.E.A.R. 2, talking on the phone, and watching TV. It was still snowing when I went to bed around 11:30.

***

Sunday - I awoke to a very bright room and subsequent examination showed bright sun and blue skies interspersed with fluffy white clouds. There was also quite a lot of snow that had to be removed!

After riding the exercise bike, Danielle and I had fun trying to print out the driving directions to her friend's house. Google Maps was misbehaving. At first I thought it was because I was using the beta of Windows 7, so, I rebooted back into XP and the same thing happened, though Danielle and I got a laugh as when XP loaded a coupon I had queued to print several days ago printed.

Finally after expending almost half an hour I just did a screen grab of the Google page with the directions and the map zoomed on the destination.

I went out and cleared the snow. As Scott's car was there I had to adjust my snow removal strategy as his car was in the way.

Once the snow was clear I stepped into the front hall, switched coats, and Danielle and I, carrying all the empty boxes from the HT PC build slated for the garage. departed.

The roads were well cleared and except for the side roads by her friend's house we had no trouble. The local roads were badly cleared but at least the ground was level so other than slow going we made it OK.

I dropped them off at the mall and headed home, driving through McDonald's around 1:30 to get Scott some lunch, and me a snack, to hold us until what I perceived to be a later dinner. I had given Danielle $20 to spend at the mall, after teasing her about asking for money after I recently bought her the Netbook, so I knew she would at least snack while out.

Scott and I ate and watched a couple of episodes of the Simpsons off DVD before his disappearing downstairs to await the arrival of his friends who showed up and remained as Scott got into his Left for Dead costume. They have been dressing as the four main characters of Left for dead and then delight in freaking people out as they act like the characters in public places. Now note these firends of his are all male, and one of the characters is a female....I refused to look at the friend playing the girl......you would just not understadn why without a picture......

Once again I reminded Scott of my "Have fun but the Police better not call me to come get you!" rule, and his friends headed out. I worked on importing my FireFox, IE, and Roboform data into the new System, copying items from the old system to removable storage, and watching some TV until 4 PM rolled around and it was time to pickup the kids at the mall.

The trip went uneventfully and soon Danielle and I were back home as I raced to get the chicken stock for soup heated so I could add the spices, onions, olive oil, and carrots to the pot tand get it simmering.

I removed the old HT PC from the entertainment system and installed the new one it's place. The old one, for now, resides on the dining room table, connected via WiFi. This is in case I missed some data needed on the new PC. Tails of course jumped into the shelf as I was putting the new (Heavy!) unit into place, and I had to hold it with one arm as I shooed her out of the opening.

Scott arrived home early and we passed the time in the usual manner. After a couple of hours had passed I added the chicken to the soup pot, and after 45 minutes put the soup pasta on to cook in another pot. I drained that, added it to the soup pot and let it sit another 15 minutes. We ate around 7 PM. On Sunday's we eat not later than 5, I was glad I got us a snack earlier.

The soup was delicious and we watched a couple more Simpsons. Danielle and I started watching City of Ember, which turned out to be a really good movie. Bill Murry played the mayor of the forgotten underground city which made it even more enjoyable.

All in all, it was a very good weekend. My only complaint would be that it was too short! There is a half a pot of soup leftover in the fridge which will make a most enjoyable dinner Tuesday night!

The Weekend

The weather has been above freezing all weekend and the majority of the snow has melted including most of the huge ice dam above the front door.

Saturday was the first day since last Sunday I felt up to exercising after feeling sick all week with heavy cold symptoms, so I rode the exercise bike. The kids and I headed out around 1 PM stopping at their Mom's so they could pick up items for the week and feed he Guinea pigs.

We had lunch at noodles and company, Scott having the usual pasta with marinara sauce, Danielle their Wisconsin Mac Cheese, and I had a trio with Indonesian with spicy peanut sauce, beef, and a small side Ceaser salad.

We walked over to Game Stop and then drove over to Costco where we picked up some giant packages of Candy for the kids, mini chocolate chip muffins, batteries, and some whole grain crackers for me.

We came back home and played some Left 4 Dead and watched some TV. Danielle got dressed for the Swirl dance at school and left for her friends house a bit before 6. Scott and I watched TV and I made him some Ramon soup around 8 PM. He got dressed and drove over to the dance around 8:45.

While the kids were gone I made myself some spaghetti and sliced pepperoni for dinner and Tails and I watched the Friday night episode of Battlestar Galactica which like all of this season was awesome. I also continued with the setup of the Netbook for Danielle.

The kids, with Scott's friend Alex in tow arrived back home 15 minutes ahead of midnight. Danielle was tired and went to bed. I played a little more left for dead before retiring around 1 AM after cautioning Scott and Alex to be quiet and be in bed at 1:30 AM.

Sunday I was still feeling a bit off but still did my exercising. My throat was so raspy I could barely talk. I finished the setup of the Netbook, relaxed a bit, of course played Left 4 Dead, and then went out to do some shopping.

Because it is Sunny and close to fifty I have decreed the return to Sunday afternoon cooking with fire! We will be having Delmonico Steaks and Niblets corn, hopefully within the hour! It shall be the first grilling since before thanksgiving! The front of my shirt is covered with drool in anticipation of charred beef! Maybe that's why I got so many strange looks at the store.

So, the X, who was away in Ohio for business, arrived a bit after four, the grill was heated, the steaks trimmed and seasoned, and the Niblets corn prepared. Soon we sat down to a most excellent steak dinner. The four of us then camped out in the living room and watched two episodes of Supernatural.

The X headed out, the kids and I watched a couple of Simpsons episodes off DVD, and then Scott headed off to play Left 4 Dead downstairs. Danielle was in the thrall of her Netbook, alternating between that and text messaging on her phone! She and I also watched this weeks episode of Ghost Whisperer. I played a few levels of Left 4 Dead on expert setting and then watched an episode of WKRP. Bed was at 11:30 PM.

More Daze

Here's a recap of the week thus far.....

Monday:
Well, after about 9 days of NO snow, we had a couple of inches overnight. Not enough to really fire up the mega snow blower, but enough where I will need to go out and shovel it before the kids get home from school.

It is actually 30 degrees here, the warmest it has been in weeks where temps have ranged from 5 below zero, to single digits, not going above 20 degrees. So, this is like a heat wave, and the sun is shining as well.

Some additional sporadic snow is expected over the next few days, we shall see what the weather brings.


Tuesday:
It was the X's night to take the kids for dinner. She arrived early so we could go over their edline reports because both Scott's and Danielle's grades have been slipping. Each have promised improvement this quarter, which will be good. Do well and get rewarded! Do poorly and expect loss of privileges!

The X asked if I wanted to accompany them to dinner, and I did, with us ending up at Red Robin. There was no parking in our usual area and I was blamed as I had said "There will be no parking in our usual area" as it was dinner time. We cruised nearby areas and found a place that though a bit further away as the crow flies was actually closer because we could walk places cars could not drive.

It was a bit windy and bitterly cold, the X was really missing the balmy weather in Las Vegas. She remarked that will it was cool for Vegas at around 60 degrees, people out there were bundling up in heavy coats like we were wearing in the 12 degree cold!

We gladly arrived, it was god to be out of the cold, and we were quickly seated. I limited the fries I ate, had water with dinner, and did not request a side of mayo as I usually do (for the burger and fries). So, while this was really out of bounds for the diet, I had behaved during the day and did not go crazy at dinner.

It was even colder on the way back to the car and it was snowing lightly. We topped at "Play and Trade" so Scot could get a job application, and then headed over to Hobby Lobby as Danielle needed some school supplies. There is no such thing as a quick trip to that store with the kids, so I looked around as they were looking for items.

Danielle ended up just getting a book for drawing in as their prices for school type supplies are too high. The X suggested Staples and Danielle and I started walking that way, only to discover it was closed. We drove a mile or so up the road stopping at a Staples where I was able to procure the supplies Danielle needed, along with a journal for her.

Back to the X's house we went as Scott needed my old camera which was there, and the X wanted me to look at her furnace to see where the filter goes. They had changed it since I lived there, replacing the old slot with an extra wide one that takes $$$ filters. I told the X if she ordered the filter we could figure out how replace it, as you have to setup the filter inside this suitcase-size container.

The kids and I headed back to my house and enjoyed some TV, including new episodes of our favorite comedy show Scrubs, before retiring.

Wednesday
Scott, who had been feeling fine in the morning came home from school looking like one of the Zombies in Left 4 Dead. He had a terrible sore throat to the point where he said during the day he felt like it was closing and he could not breath, I told him next time something like happens to have the school call us instead of trying to stick the day out.

Danielle was at her friends house, so around 5:15 PM I headed out, armed with the Family Video Game and DVD returns Scott was supposed to take back. It was, of course, snowing and the roads were slippery. I picked up Danielle and when we were almost back in my neighborhood I called First Wok and ordered Chinese food for dinner which we picked up after dropping off the rentals.

We watched TV and had an enjoyable dinner, though Scott was still feeling bad. Whatever he had was most infectious and virulent; right after dinner my throat started hurting which was accompanied by a pounding headache. By bedtime I was all congested and feeling terrible.

It was hard sleeping and it seemed minutes after I feel asleep it was time to get up as Danielle was knocking on my door. She had a bad sore throat and a bad headache!

So, the three of us stayed home. The kids went back to bed and I got up to login to the work network and begin my work day.

Around 11 Danielle got up and I took a lunch break at noon making some doctored Ramon soup. Discarding most of the packaged seasoning (while is LOADED with sodium) I added chicken, no sodium chicken broth powder, and other spices and soon had a steaming pot of soup. Scott got up, and we all had a nice bowl of soup. At 1 PM I resumed work.

By the afternoon we were all feeling somewhat better. I went out around 5 PM because snowing or now, sick or not, I had to drive into the office to perform some tasks in support of our Long Island facility and the kids would be going back to the X for her week with them.

I made some packaged Velveeta and Shell dinner (using the 2% reduced fat version) and around 7:30 the kids and I headed out.

The 3.5 ride into work was nightmarish, but I made it OK, and headed home which took about 4 times as long as the drive usually takes.

I had a snack, and went to bed. Of course it was still snowing..........

Sunday

Sunday started the same way as many mornings, got up, released and fed Tails kitty, puttered on the computer (e-mail and more Windows testing) and rode the exercise bike.

It was barely snowing and we even had some patches of sun, and since I found out that the X was leaving a day early for her business trip, I knew I would need to snow blow before the kids arrived sometime after 5 PM. I'll have the kids the whole week while the X is away, which is great for me since she had to travel on her week with them.

Around 4 PM I took a break from my computer activities and began cleaning the house which I had not done after the kids departure Friday. I took all the trash, a surprising amount, out with me when I went to snow blow.

There was easily 6" of snow to remove and I was pleased to see my next door neighbor had done my sidewalk up to my driveway yesterday. The snow blower made fast work of the driveway and I went inside to await the arrival of the kids. Scott had asked if Alex could come over and the three of them showed up shortly after 5.

Scott wanted to go out to dinner but I was comfortable and had no such plans in mind but I did offer to order Vitale's pizza which everyone agreed to.

Scott and Alex were playing Left 4 Dead in the family game while I continued watching the two part season finale of Sanctuary. The Pizza arrived shortly after 6 and then we played some Left 4 Dead using both XBOX systems as Scott's friend Greg had left his game disk here last Sunday. As Scott had misplaced one of my controllers Danielle and I alternated the controller up here in the living room taking turns playing.

Speaking of Greg he arrived and we switched from cooperative play to verse mode where you take turns playing the survivors and the attaching boss type zombies.

I was humbled as I got my zombie tail beaten soundly to the laughter from the kids below; I rock as a survivor, as a zombie I am sub par. After almost an hour of this humiliation I opted to go back and finish watching Sanctuary. I will have to work on honing my zombie skills at a later date!

Scott's friends left while I was watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull which I never got to see as the kids did not have an interest. I wish they would have watched with me, it had comedy, action, drama, and adventure. I really enjoyed it and I think they would have too.

After the movie, it was off to bed around 11:30 PM. I asked the kids to be quiet in the morning when they get up for school but as I may post later that was a wasted conversation!

The Week in Review

It's been a hectic week. I had been creating posts daily and saving them for when I had time, but between sick kids, work, snow, more snow, I never had a chance to post it, so here is the past week in review.


Sunday 1/11/2009
Sunday..........Saturday night Scott had asked if he could have friends over to play Left 4 Dead. I arose early enough to clean the kitchen, living room, dining room, ride the exercise bike, and get cleaned up. Two of Scott's friends arrived around 12:30 PM bringing with them an additional copy of Left 4 Dead which was used in the XBOX 360 in the family room.

Scott, Danielle, and I stayed up in the living room using the XBOX there while his two friends played in the family room downstairs giving us our own four player game. For the next five and a half hours severe insanity resulted as we played on the Expert setting trying to finish the No Mercy campaign. Scott wanted an award that you got for completing any campaign on the Expert setting which is next to impossible as we found out. From time to time I handed my controller to Danielle and let her play a bit since she enjoys the game too. Scott was constantly yelling commands down to his friends and they were yelling other things back. It was most amusing and fun to be a part of their game.

Around 2:30 we took a pizza break as I had ordered cheese pizza, bread sticks, and antipasto from Vitale's. After chowing down the gaming continued amidst much yelling, screaming, and amplified sound thanks to the surround system in the living room.

Scott and one of his friends got the award while the other and myself died moments before the rescue, thus robbing us of the achievement!

A bit after 6 PM the friends departed and we settled in to enjoy the rest of the evening, enjoying some left over chicken soup which I had made Saturday night.

Of course it started snowing again and around 8 PM I get a call from the X who has been sick for several days now. My older son Christopher was supposed to be heading back to college and his car would not start, so, she wanted to know if I could follow the tow truck down to the car repair place since AAA towing has a policy stating they can't just drop a car there without the owner being there to insure it is safely locked if the business is closed.

The roads were in bad shape but we made the trip to and from there with no incidents and I returned home to relax for the rest of the evening.


Monday 1/12/2009
Danielle was so dizzy and had such a bad headache she stayed home from school. Scott had a major sore throat, headache and was all congested so he stayed home as well. I wonder if he caught the bug his Mom had Saturday night when he went to her house to try jump-starting Christopher's car.

Since both kids were home and feeling so bad I opted to work from home so I could take care of them when they got up. I took a lunch break and rode the exercise bike around 11:30 AM and afterward as both kids were up I made them some quick pancakes for lunch before returning to work.

After work hours were over I snow blowed the driveway and headed off to Forest Hills Foods for some provisioning, and no sooner after arriving home and getting out of my wet clothes the phone rang, the X wanting to know if I could take Christopher to pickup his car, which I did, after suiting back up for the cold. Timing is everything!

Arriving back home I watched some TV with Scott and Danielle, and then made Kraft Velveeta Shells and Cheese for dinner which they really love. Everyone was in bed at 10:30 PM, and looking outside my window before I retired I saw the snow was once again falling down.......


Tuesday 1/13/2009
It never ceases to amaze me the way they decide if the schools should be closed. Close to half a foot of snow fell last night and it was still falling when I got up. School was not canceled and there was not even a two hour delay! There have been other mornings where the roads were not half this bad and school has been delayed! Making sure Danielle and Scott were up and able to go to school I headed out, clearing off Scott's car and a path to it before departing.

Enjoying a haphazard ride to work because the roads were terrible, I managed to arrive In one piece and began preparing for my first meeting of the day. My phone rings and it is Danielle informing me Scott's car won't turn over! Timing is everything!!

I headed out onto roads that were already worse in condition then my trip into work. I got home and picked up the kids, heading slowly and carefully to their school. I did not just want to jump start Scott and send him on his way because i was 99% sure he needs a new battery and I did not want him to be stranded at school later.

The traffic was terrible and there was a huge line of cars waiting to turn left on a hill at one point. Of course the Mustang does not like hills in the snow....but we managed to get up it, and I dropped the kids off at school about 10 minutes past the start of their first class.

I headed home figuring I could join the meeting I was already late for from my house. This would get me into the call and webex a good 20 minutes sooner than if I went all the way back to work. I was that thrilled on the prospect of that since the roads were really bad now and it was still snowing.

At one point while not driving too fast and while being careful, coming out of a turn I slid into the oncoming traffic on one of the larger roads. The Powers That Be were in my camp as I missed colliding with anything and was able to come out of the slide and quickly get back on the right side of the road, though I was quite shaken!

I joined my meeting about 15 minutes late, and during a break in meetings at 11 AM I went out, chiseled open the ice and snow encrusted hood of Scott's 98 Plymouth Breeze, and managed to get the charger on it. THUNK! said the meter of the charger as it pinged on the 12 AMP draw mark of the meter!

During my lunch break at noon I rode the exercise bike and then called Costco to see if they have a battery for Scott's car; they do, so we will be heading over there around 3:30 PM.

I went out and snow blowed around 3 PM, and I also started Scott's car and ran it long enough to heat it up and melt the ice on the windows and wind shield. After Scott and Danielle got in from school we headed out. The sun was shining (quite the contrast to the stormy start of the day) and the temperature was barely 20 degrees.

When I called Costco I neglected to ask the $20 question, "Do you install car batteries", the answer to this was "No". Scott's car has a very weird battery mount and you actually need to take off the front tire on the drivers side of the car to replace the battery. Due to the cold weather and lack of heated garage I chose to opt out on doing this myself.

We went down to Sears where they do install the battery and after selecting the sensibly priced battery with the 3 year warranty we headed off to dinner. Since there were people in front of us and it was going to take at least 90 minutes for his car to be done, we had dinner at Red Robin and then did some shopping at the mall. We got Scott's car and he headed back to my house while Danielle and I stopped at Steak and Shake to get the X some dinner since she was still sick. We dropped that at her house and were back home by 7, We then watches Run, Fat Boy, Run which was most enjoyable. It's a story of Boy meets girl, gets her pregnant, abandons her at the alter, and five years later tries to get her back. This was followed by two new episodes of Scrubs.


Wednesday 1/14/2009
The overnight temperature according to the weather report was -4 in my area. A couple of inches of snow fell, as it is so powdery and fluffy because of the cold I left it where it is figuring the wind may take care of most of it!

In retrospect I hear in Minnesota the temperature in some spots hit -44, so, while my weather may feel cold to me and alarm my friend David on the West Coast, I can put the cold here in greater perspective, but, really one must wonder what kind of person lives in an area that gets that cold!?? I'm having enough trouble with the few degrees below zero and single digit temperatures.

After work the kids and I played some Left 4 Dead, while Scott and Danielle finished up after Danielle and I had played I made a quick pot of pre-packaged Ramon soup for us, omitting some of the supplied (high! Repeat HIGH! in sodium) spice packets with my own salt free mixture. I also added about a pound of frozen boneless skinless check breast meat.

We enjoyed that, and a bit later we watched the new Futurama episode Bender's Game which was excellent. Lord of the Rings fans will not want to miss the parody of that epic saga that is done by the Futurama characters!

Scott and I played a little more Left for Dead after the movie while Danielle talked on the phone, and then we all retired.


Thursday 1/15/2009
A Balmy -1 degree temperature overnight, it was warming nicely and was about 4 degrees when I left the house.

After work Scott came home and wanted to watch an episode of The Simpsons before he went to work which we did. I also loaned him my heavy ski gloves since it was only 5 degrees out and his job has him outside a fair portion of his 4 hour shift. He departed for work and Danielle and I played a campaign of Left 4 Dead before heading over to Meijer to pick up some supplies. Forest Hills Food does not have the fat free powdered Cheddar cheese we like to use on popcorn or the dry cat food and treats that Tails likes. Danielle also wanted a CD by The Fray for the song she and her friend were going to sing in the talent show, but they did not have it.

We stopped at Wendy's for dinner and then headed home. Scott got home around 8:30 with an order of lo mein for himself and the three of us watched Worst Week which is an excellent comedy series. I ordered the CD Danielle had wanted off of Amazon and then Scott I played a campaign of Left 4 Dead after which we all retired.


Friday 1/16/2009
Danielle was knocking on my bathroom door early this AM as I was getting ready for work, evidently she needed some 'supplies' from her Mom's house since she ran out at mine. As the local store was still closed we had no choice.

Because of the -2 temperature and the ice crystals in the air a rare treat for the eyes awaited us; all light sources were reflecting straight up! It was most spectacular and I sight I've only seen once or twice before!

I waited in the car while Danielle went into her Mom's house and then we headed back to my place where I finished getting dressed (imagine my state of undress in this cold weather if you will because we had to rush to get back home in time for her to ride to school with her brother!) and I headed off to work.

The weather says a warming trend is upon us. It will not drop below zero this night but stay nice and toasty at 6 above, with temps in the teens tomorrow, and 30 by Sunday! Break out the Sandals and shorts my friends!

After work, I went home and relaxed a bit, watching some TV and puttering about on the computer. Danielle had gone to a friends right after school and would be dropped off at her Moms since it is the start of the X's week.

Scott arrived home around 5:15 PM upset because he did not get a document signed for work at school. Periodically he has to have the school certify that he is attending school regularly. He can be dismissed if he does not have it done. Of course, he could have easily done this...but you know how teenagers are. I am thinking if he explains he simply forgot they will give him a chance Monday at worst case not let him work this weekend.

Scot and I watched an episode of The Simpsons and I made sliders (mini cheeseburgers) for my dinner using lean ground beef and 2% cheddar cheese slices. They were very good.

The X called at 6:30 because I had told her Danielle was getting dropped off around dinner time (so I thought Danielle had said). I had also told Danielle to tell her Mom where she was going and details since she would be in her Mom's custody that evening.

Well, 7:30 PM and Danielle was not answering her cell (it was obviously off since it was going straight to voice mail) and we could no find the current school directory at either house (evidenced at my residence by drawers hastily dumped on the floor to reveal contents, etc.) and we did not have a home phone number for her friend in this age of cell phones.

I was able to find a Google maps printout from the first time I took Danielle to her friends house (I stand by my philosophy of not throwing things out! It's not laziness! It's forward planning!) and giving the address to the X she was able to gt a hold of Danielle by looking up the phone number based on the address.

Danielle's phone was low on battery so she had turned it off in direct violation of the "You've got a cell phone whose primary purpose is for communicating with Mom and Dad!" accord of 2008. The X and I were steamed and I suggested we remove text messaging from Danielle's phone since that's all she does with every free moment, even walking down the snow packed street one day in front of my house!

Suggested removing I say because the phone is on the X's service. It it was my service texting would be gone already.

Anyway, Danielle located, I tried to settle down for the remainder of the evening enjoying some TV and time on the computer, which I re-partitioned in preparation for installation of Windows 7.

Bed was not until 1 AM as I decided around midnight to pickup the mess my earlier search had done, and do a sink load of dirty dishes since the kids were gone and it would not fill up again with just myself at home.

Saturday and Snow

I arose around 8:45. It appeared no more snow had fallen and the temperature was 25. I got on the computer before riding the exercise bike and saw that more snow was on the way and would be hitting soon and falling most of the daylight hours.

Of course! I had promised Scott a trip to Costco today as he needs tires. Earlier in the week one of his tires failed completely with what looked like dry rot, and now the remaining tires are suspect. The X, whose car is better in the snow, had graciously agreed to take Danielle to the hospital for her CT scan while Scott and I attended to his car.

Danielle was up around 9:30, just close to the 'no food for four hours before the scan' deadline so she was able to have some mini-muffins for breakfast. She then disappeared to talk to friends on her Ceil phone. Got to love those free weekend minutes!

By the time I got off the exercise bike snow was falling. I got cleaned up, woke Scott about 10:45, and after my hair was dry we headed out in both cars as I decided to see if I could get some better rear tires for the Mustang because it is totally a piece of CRAP in the snow!

The roads were barely passable for me though Scott had no trouble and seemed amused by the way I was sliding in one of he intersections on the way in spite of my low speed and careful handling of the car.

We got to Costco and of course the tires for the Mustang were special order. I had hoped the drive home would be safer than the drive out. Scott was lucky on the other hand the tires for his car were in stock and half the price of the ones for the Mustang.

Upon examination and condition report of his remaining tires I decided they all needed to be replaced, and I offered to pay for half of them which Scott of course readily agreed to. We shopped around Costco, then bundled up, headed outside, and started walking across the parking lot. The storm was now pretty heavily in force and the parking lot was barely plowed. We arrived at Noodles & Company without incident and had a nice lunch. Scott having the large portion of the pasta with marinara sauce and I having their trio which is a small noodle dish (I got Indonesian peanut butter) with your choice of meat and a salad. So, I opted for chicken and a Cesar salad and we had a very nice lunch.

Knowing we still had time to kill, we once again braved the storm and journeyed further across the complex to GameStop in case they had a decently priced used XBOX game. They did not and we braved the return to Costco.

Entering the tire area we were asked if wee had Spare keys to Scott's car as they locked them inside. I chuckled because Scott has done that several times. We did not so they called a locksmith, but one of the guys in the garage was able to get it open before he arrived.

We picked up a couple of items at Costco, paid for them and Scott's car was finished.

I cleaned of the Mustang which was completed encased in snow and some ice after sitting there for two hours, and we began the slow journey back to my house. The roads were much worse and the Mustang doing badly, I went slow and steady with Scott following me in case I got stuck. Other than some slipping and sliding, a few fishtails and such we arrived back home without incident.

I enjoyed the time with Scott, though the activity itself was far from what I would call fun. We talked about a variety of subjects and had some pleasurable, amusing, and open conversation.

Scott's friend Andi arrived around 1:30 PM and we watched several episodes of Scrubs. The X and Danielle should be back soon, and I just put the makings for homemade chicken soup on the stove at 3 PM so it should be ready by 5:30. Scott has to work this evening so a nice bowl or two of homemade soup will do him good, and he'll be dropping off a container at the X's house on his way to work for her.

The snow is still falling, all in all with what fell yesterday there's about 6 inches on the ground right now.

The Weekend

Friday was the first day back to work for the New Year. Lots of people had taken the day off so it was relatively quiet on the work front. I was pleased to head home though at 3 PM.

Danielle arrived around 4:30 PM and we watched some TV and, can you guess it, played some Left 4 Dead.

Scott called a bit before 6 and asked if he could come over with a couple of friends, I said fine so long as they did not expect dinner as Scott has opted out on that earlier, supposedly he was not supposed to be at my house till 8 PM or later.

I ordered Vitale's, Danielle having spaghetti and meatballs, and I having Chicken Parmesan. Since Scott was not eating with us we got cheesey bread sticks as Scott does not like them so we rarely order them.

Food was good, the evening was spent watching TV and playing Left 4 Dead culminated by Scott trying to finish the Dead Air champagne as he was trying for one of the many achievements. Try as he and his sister, and I myself a couple of times, did, he could not survive the final battle with the skill level set on Advanced. Around 12:30 AM I announced a halt to the festivities and we all headed to bed.

Saturday - I arose around 8 AM, rode the exercise bike, and busied myself on the computer. After both kids got up and we played some left for dead, I took them to First Wok for Lunch, Danielle and I having the luncheon special and Scott the usual chicken lo mien without vegetables.

After lunch we came and watched the new animated Resident Evil Degeneration movie. We all enjoyed it, and we all got a real kick out of the 'bloopers' where they took scenes from the movie and recorded funny dialog instead of the original content.

The kids left a little after 3 PM and I spent the rest of the day working on the installation of my new AV receiver (there will be a post about that when I have time.

Around 8 PM Scott called and wanted to know if he and Alex could come over here. Alex was sleeping over at his mom's but Christopher was there so they could not use his xbox. I said sure and they were here from 8:30-11:30 PM before heading out.

Sunday morning after riding the exercise bike I looked out the front door. The driveway was entirely covered by a sheet of ice! Conditions must have been perfect last night for this to occur. The street too was encased in a frosty covering of slick ice! I was glad that I had no plans of going anywhere just yet!


I finished the setup of the new receiver and programmed my multifunction remote. Finally around 2 PM I noticed the driveway has melted, and I headed off to Forest Hills Foods to pickup some supplies.

I came home and started cleaning up some of the mess caused by the install of the new receiver. After wrenching my back picking up the old receiver to box and store it, took it easy the rest of the day watching TV and such, with Tails for company.

New Year's Eve Through Midnight

Tails and I continued to watch TV and relax. As it got closer to 8 PM when people would be arriving I started getting the cold appetizers ready. I made a big platter adding the imported dried salami after slicing it and removing the peppercorns. To this I added two rows of crackers and assorted cheese cubes (Swiss, Colby. and Cheddar). I put out bowls of Potato Chips, Peanut M&M's, Mini Tortilla chips shaped like little bowls and spiced with just a hint of Jalapeno, Cheddar Goldfish crackers, a box of assorted truffles, and several things for dipping/spreading including double cream spread, spinach dip, and sour cream with onion soup.

Scooby Snax got nothing on these

Sadly, because of the way he was feeling Mom and Dad could not make it, and my older boy, as expected, was going out with friends. So that left myself, Scott, Danielle, the X, Kevin, Lili, and Lucy.

Once everyone had arrived I had also finished off my quick version of Chili Con Caso dip. I basically take some prepared taco ground beef (several companies sell this in little plastic tubs at the store) and heat it until it is warm. I then add some cubed Velveeta cheese and heat again until the cheese is melted, and then stir. Everyone (except Scott) loved this dip and it went pretty fast. There was a lot of the aforementioned dips and such left over but the Con Caso went pretty fast.

Uncle Kevin is very allergic to certain pet dander, and one of his eyes had swollen up alarmingly! I heard how he had sat for hours in the X's office using her computer. I asked how he could sit in a room with a cage of Guinea pigs being allergic to them....his reply was that he had work that had to be done....I would have moved the pigs or the computer! He looked awful and I felt bad for him as it was plain it was really bothering him during the course of the evening.

Ewwwww! Someone's been around the Guinea Pigs!!

Everyone partook of some snacks and while conversation was going on I showed Kevin the program I use to store and track my DVD collection. He was quite impressed because you can view the collection it a list, or by DVD cover images, you can search for titles by Movie Name, Actors, Genre, and a lot of other criteria, and once you've selected a movie you can also see full color pictures of the front and back covers along with detailed information on the movie, actors, description, and all this is populated for each DVD automatically via the UPS Bar Code of each DVD.

The others came wandering into the living room and we settled in to watch Eagle Eye which I though was excellent! I have been doing pre-installation work pulling old cables for my new AV receiver, which is supposed to arrive today. At the time I thought I had accidentally pulled off one of the wrong wires because the sound from the computer (which I used to play my DVDs from) was terrible. It turned out that while moving things around I had changed the audio processing options of the current receiver by pressing one of the recessed buttons. Funny how it only affected the computer and the the fiber optic TV service. Anyway, we ended up watching the movie off the XBOX 360 using the speakers on the plasma display for sound. Nowhere near as good as the sound from the AV receiver, but, more than usable in a pinch!

Posed pictures of the kids do just not work!!

I was also having some trouble getting used to having an XBOX game controller control the movie. This was the first time I have ever used the XBOX as a DVD player, so a few times I overshot chapters accidentally. I did what I could, such as providing funny squeaky voices as I fast forwarded to get to the right point.

About halfway through this week took and intermission where I started the hot appetizers (four types of mini egg rolls, Jalapeno and cream cheese poppers and breaded chicken and bacon nuggets. For Scott i made a bowl of Ramon, and then one for Lili after I mentioned there was more once she had seen Scott's. I was pleased I had chop sticks to offer her which she prefers.

Lili enjoys a steaming bowl of Ramon Noodles

Once the hot appetizers came out of the oven we filled out plates and returned to the movie which everyone enjoyed the movie and even Scott got sucked in. He had started by sitting on the couch playing his portable Nintendo. I like that about Scott, even if what we are doing in the living room is not to his liking most often he will come and sit with us anyway while he plays his portable game system.

We finished the movie a bit shy of midnight and so then we started going through the various networks looking for something to watch. Some teen heartthrob boy band was playing on all the networks which really rubbed the musical appreciation of our older viewers the wrong way! Unable to find anything to watch in the interim I put it on mute and everyone made fun of the band by providing their own vocals and sound effects.

The X had brought a bottle of sparkling lemonade which my daughter had wanted to we watched the countdown and the ball dropping in Times Square and toasted in the New Year with that particular beverage!

A bit after midnight, every one headed out. Tails and I stayed up until about 1:30 AM before returning.

Here's hoping for a Happy, Safe, Joyous, and Prosperous New Year for us all!

SaturdayorThe Fog

If you've never seen either the original or remake of The Fog, you can't understand how foggy it was almost all day yesterday! We went from below freezing temperatures to the 40's in a matter of hours overnight. It started raining and ended up in the 50's yesterday. This made for some world class fog conditions. Virtually all the snow is gone except the remnants of big piles from snow removal, and I think the majority of the huge ice dams on my roof are gone as well.


It was a surrealistic look out the windows of the house after I got up. I let Tails out of her room and instead of her usual being cute and cuddly behavior she began running around the family room in a very agitated manner, stopping inside the fireplace and meowing. Thinking she's found a mouse or something I went over to discover water dripping down the chimney! Not a lot, but water none the less.

A quick checked showed the infamous basement steps dry (thank goodness!) and the 'control' crack in the furnace room was leaking slightly. For details on the leak and repair of the basement steps see these older posts from 2006 here, and here, which will open in a new window. Wow, have I been blogging that long??

Tails and I went upstairs and I ascertained the leak in the fireplace downstairs was coming from the runoff of the one directly above it in the living room. Some ice must have worked its way down the chimney and with the big thaw underway it was melting. I kept a watch on it while I used the PC for the next couple of hours and by the time I finished my session on the exercise bike it had stopped.

I talked with the X about dinner as I had invited the family over this evening for leftover lasagna but did not know if they had accepted. The X stated they had so we set a time and I headed out into the fog which was quite the experience! It was very unreal and downright spooky driving the wipers had to be n constantly because of all the moisture in the air and I had to repeatedly roll down the windows to keep them clear. It's only a half a mile to the grocery store! Halfway there I could not see the light from my street or the one for the store, that's how thick the fog was. I was reminded of scenes from The Mist which I quickly put out of my head!

I picked up extra peperoni because Kevin likes it so much and as some got eaten on Christmas there was not a lot left. Since I would be making garlic bread I got two loaves of bread and garlic so I could make my special garlic butter. Arriving home after another spooky journey in the fog I started cooking the pepperoni and then went outside to take a few pictures.

A bit later I made the garlic butter which consisted of one stick real butter, an equal amount of margarine, some olive oil, a LOT of crushed garlic, paprika, basil, oregano, and a touch of freshly ground black pepper. This then sat for two hours before making the bread to allow the flavors to mingle and permeate the butter.

Scott does not like lasagna so for him I made some spaghetti and I made one and a half loaves of garlic bread warming half a plain loaf for mom and dad who are not big on the garlic. Mom can't eat it at all without getting sick so whenever she will be eating my spaghetti sauce I substitute onion power for garlic....not as good...but an acceptable substitute.

To round off the meal I made a nice garden salad and got a new flavor of Kraft dressing, their light version of Traditional Italian. It was surprisingly good! I put out ranch too because the kids love it.

Christopher does not like pasta in any variety and he had plans anyway for the evening so the nine of us sat down to a most excellent dinner which everyone enjoyed. Uncle Kevin bested me by an extra helping of lasagna, and that was impressive considering we both had multiple pieces of garlic bread and pepperoni. I don't know how he did not explode!

After dinner which thankfully I had to do very little cleaning up from I headed into the living room. I noticed my little fiber optic tree looks quite colorful in a dark room as this picture shows:


I asked Kevin to join me in some Left 4 Dead on the easy skill setting. It was a bit comical; Kevin has not gamed in years and he was having a bit of trouble with the X & Y axis controls on the xbox controller. Danielle sat next to him and started giving him 'helpful' hints and after a bit I gave her my controller. Everyone sat down and was watching us play.

After a few levels I put on the Christmas Episode of Night Court entitled "Let it Snow" and we all watched that. Afterward I started up Get Smart.s The Nude Bomb as I figured everyone was leaving. It turns out mom and dad really like Don Adams and Get Smart so they stayed along with Kevin and Lili which was nice because I had company until after 9 PM and that was quite enjoyable.

The rest of the evening was spent watching TV and in research mode shopping for my new AV receiver which I planned to utilize my Amazon Gift Certificates to purchase.

Friday

Not much to say, I had to work so after rising I headed into the office. The temperature was still below freezing, though predicted to rise to the upper 30's. The roads were not too bad but there were some slick spots so I took my time.

Work was like a ghost town! I swear I saw tumbleweeds roll by my cube several times. I am in a division of GE that provides IT services, so, even though I sit in Grand Rapids as I did when we were Smiths, I am not part of the Grand Rapids company which is a different division. So, while they kept the same holiday schedule Smiths had, which gives them off from Christmas to New Years, my division does not have this.

When I pulled into the lower parking lots, there was only one other car, and by the sheer amount of snow and ice on it, it had been there for days, maybe even since that first big storm a week ago.

After a fun day at work, I came home, relaxed with Tails until about 5 PM when mom picked me up and brought me over to the X's. Friday was Kevin and Lili's anniversary; in fact, they were married out here in Grand Rapids on a previous trip!

We were going to our favorite Chinese place, the First Wok for dinner, but, mom told me they were delayed at the mall...not an unusual occurrence where Lili is involved. If ever there was someone born to shop, it is Lili; she loves a good session at the mall.

After confirming via a call phone call that the X and company were on the way, we headed down to the restaurant. We had an excellent dinner, some of us sharing our dishes with each other. It was nice to have all of us together (and Scott's friend Ben...the X said there was a story behind this but I forgot to ask her) and it was a very enjoyable dinner. I was quite impressed by the way Kevin and Lili's daughter was so polite, saying "Please" and "Thank you". I asked Kevin, sotto voce, if she could give my kids some politeness lessons!

Afterward, mom and dad dropped me off at my house as some of them were going to the movies (more than one movie actually, depending on preference, I was so beat I just wanted to relax.

Tails and I watched some TV, and I was in bed around 12:30 AM. All in all, other than work, a relaxing day.

Friday Part II

Since Scott had to go to work Friday at 6:30 the driveway had to be cleared. Again the weather forecast impressed me with it's accuracy (or blind luck!) as shortly after 1 PM the snow stopped.

We had been snug and warn inside and spending the majority of the day watching TV specials and playing video games. At 4 PM I gave Scott my Xbox 360 and he took my place int he game Danielle and I were playing, and I headed out.

There was a foot of snow on the ground. And as this snow was so very fine, it was very heavy! I started up the snow blower and began easing through it. I have a good 5 horsepower machine but even on the lowest forward speed setting it was having some trouble. I took it slow and easy. My next door neighbor has one of those snow thrower machines, and he did my sidewalk up to my driveway, I thanked him, though I could have done the job quicker with my machine it was a nice gesture! If I beat him out there today I shall do the front walk on his house!

One of my neighbors across the street always shovels his snow. Today he accepted defeat and came over to borrow my unit to finish clearing his property, particularly the bottom of his driveway! You can just see my snow blower on the left side of this (size greatly reduced) panoramic show I made looking from the bottom of my driveway towards the cross street.

I worked on clearing the snow off of Scott's heavily encrusted car (see picture below) so he would not have to before departing for work.

Scott left for work and Danielle and I gamed for awhile before watching TV. A bit later I headed to China Garden to pickup some takeout food for Danielle and I. The rest of the evening, even after Scott's arrival home, consisted of more of the same; TV and Video Games. We all had an early bed time of 11:30 PM.

Weekend in review (and Monday too!)

More spine-tingling excitement from the Falco clan!

The major fun Saturday was the washing of the kids bed linens and pillows, 7 loads of wash required for this and it ran for a good part of the day. LOADS of fun...pun intended!

I also went online and did all my Christmas shopping for the three kids, and all this via Amazon.com. Being a member of their prime service is certainly worth it, particularly around the holidays. All 2 day shipping is free, and overnight shipping upgrades are available for $3.99.

Sunday I took the kids to the mall, making them get up early, so we could be there for the 10 AM opening. This is the fourth year I have done 99% of all my Christmas shopping on line. This year due to financial constraints I won't go into here, only family, I am very sad to say, will be getting presents. (Note though in my spirit of giving I am happy to take your presents!) So anyway, unlike their Dad, the kids still need to have a trip out to procure some or most of their items.

So, I had no problem with this, but did not want to have to deal with crowds just so they could sleep in as is their habit. So, Danielle was awakened at 8:45 (her choice so she could straighten her hair) and Scott around 9:00, so we could be out of the house on time.

Scott still groused a bit about the early wake up call, adding that people would still be in church at 10 AM, but I hate crowds at the mall, and having to wait in line to pay for purchases, so, we went. We arrived about 10 minutes before the stores opened so we used the time to part and walk to the first store we would be shopping at.

The mall was indeed not crowded at all, I don't know if this was due to people being at church, the economic state of things, a combination of the two, but for whatever reasons we got in and out rather quickly, even having time to stop for a pretzel at Auntie Em's before heading out. Total time in the mall was less than two hours!

Sunday the weather warmed up and the temperature rose into the low 40's. It has also risen to about 35 on Saturday. While the driveway pretty much lost the inch of ice it had the roof only shed about half of it's icy covering.

I made homemade chicken soup for dinner Sunday, timing it to be ready after Scott's friend Alex had departed, and because the X had been sick for a couple of days, I made her a container and ran it over to her. She was most pleased, and Scott tells me she had the second serving for lunch on Monday. Scott, Danielle, and I had it for dinner last night too. It was delicious!

I had Monday off of work for personal reasons I won't go into, but I did go out and do the majority of the staple shopping for Christmas dinner. Since I painted myself into a corner I will be making Lasagna and Turkey for 10 people, I think I am going to make the Lasagna Christmas Eve day or there is no way I can pull this off, particularly with my small stove! I planned on getting the turkey too, but I wanted a Butterball, and the only ones that had were either too small or too big.

Danielle and I watched the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie, and I was quite surprised how much better this was than I had anticipated. We did not go to see it, and I am very pleased we watched it. Great viewing for kids of all ages, particularly older ones like myself who remember the cartoons and Christmas albums. Note the link above takes you to a history of the Chipmunks but has links to the cartoons and movie.

Danielle continued to impress me with her video gaming. She and I have moved from Easy to Moderate difficulty on Left 4 Dead and have been having great fun over the weekend and last night playing it.

The Great DVD Giveaway

I have quite a few DVDs in my collection. Last year I bought a program to automate the tracking of this and even procured a cheap bar code scanner so I can just scan a DVDs UPC code and the program automatically looks it up and populates the database entry.

Over the past two years I have been having random DVD giveaways at work. The reason behind this is because I end up with duplicates. Reasons for this include, but are not limited to:

• I might get an HD-DVD or Bluray version of previously owned DVD title.
• I was stupid and forgot I had a DVD and did not discover it until after I could have returned the duplicate.
• I had one movie from a trilogy and later I bought the boxed set of the trilogy
• A new special edition was released, like this years remastered special edition of "A Charlie Brown Christmas.

So, because of these reasons I periodically have spare DVD's.

Rather then saving them for a garage sale or trying to sell them by other means, I bring them into work and I wait until a point in the day where most people would be in, and I send out an e-mail detailing the DVDs that are free for the asking.

The rules are simple, reply back with your choices in order of preference. You can only get 1 DVD each time I do this, and yours must be the first reply I get back for the given title. When I have half a dozen or more DVDs this generates quite the flurry of activity considering I mail this to 30 or more people. I've given away around 40 DVDs in this manner.

So, it is a nice thing I like to do, and until yesterday all I received in return were some thanks, which really is all I required. I really do like giving more than receiving, though it took me a long time over the years to realize it truly is better to give than to receive. Please don't get me wrong though, anyone who wants to send me an Amazon Gift Certificate this year to help me replace my failing AV receiver is more than welcome to!

One of this weeks movies, the first Jurassic Park movie, was taken by my friend Brian. Yesterday he told me when he brought home the DVD I had given him he told his young son Brandon, that Mr. Chris (my nickname at work) had given him Brandon's all time favorite movie!

Dad! How did Mr. Chris know this was my favorite movie?? his son had asked, and then excitedly ran around the house brandishing the movie which he then settled down to watch.

It made my day! It made my week!! In fact it was the best thing that has happened to me this week!