Horse Manure Park

In what is becoming more and more a bi-monthly update to my blog, I guess I will get up to snuff here for anyone left out there who actually reads this... We spent Christmas weekend in Bismarck, hosted by the Baumann's.  Lots of good food, good drink and good conversation.  The weather was ridiculously warm.  There was not a flake of snow on the ground between our place and their place.  The keywords were Brown and Drab .  You always worry about driving conditions in mid-December in this neck of the woods, but not this year.  It couldn't have been more perfect - even if it was a little strange. And so it remains.  We are 72 hours away from the New Year and we don't have a single, solitary whiff of snow.  What very little that has fallen has quickly melted because the temperatures have been above freezing.  I just looked at the 15 day forecast through the first part of January and the majority of forecasted highs are in the mid-to-upper 30s.  January and February are th

Ava had her first official school Christmas program last night.  She sang loud and proud and knew the choreography by heart.  She thought that singing in front of an audience was "Awesome!" Afterwards, we made gingerbread houses (made out of graham crackers).  A good time was had by all! Singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" Me and my girl making her ginger bread house Construction zone... The finished product, rewarded with a well-earned glass of punch. Not sure why the gingerbread man is standing on the roof... but I like the chocolate chip "garden" around the house.

Here I go again, not updating in over a week.  I have my excuse ready this time - I came down with strep throat a week ago Thursday.  I haven't had it for 11 years.  I'm convinced God strikes me down with strep about once every decade just so I'm thankful for being otherwise very healthy.  Ugh.  Finally went to the doctor on Sunday when I became convinced my immune system was sending desperation signals for reinforements... not to mention the back of my throat resembled a science experiment gone terribly wrong.  A rapid strep test came back positive (surprise!).  He put me on Zithromax.  Within 36 hours I was already perking up.  Amazing what antibiotics can do, huh? Unfortunately I ended up missing four days of work.  I hate calling in sick to work, but when you're running 102 temperatures and all you wanna do is curl up in a ball and die, you're not much good to your place of employment.  Not to mention you are very contagious to your co-workers.  I guess th

Since it is the first of December, I'm trying to get into the Christmas spirit.  Of course, I have to do it in my own special way.  Usually putting up the Christmas tree is kind of a chore;  let's be honest, we do it for the kids. But here are a couple of trees I would only be too happy to help, er, "assemble." Take your pick: Grolsch or Heineken.  Both are fine by me!

Pictures are worth a thousand words... but the appropriate words here truly are: "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth..."

So I've started reading a new autobiography - I Am Ozzy by Ozzy Osbourne.  And without exaggeration, this is the funniest, most entertaining book I've read in the last 10 years. I can see why it won the "Literary Achievement" award. The book isn't for everyone.  If you are offended by the "F" word, I wouldn't recommend even picking the book up, but if you can get past that, there is a hilarious story on every page that will leave you laughing out loud.  It certain does that to me. I'm not sure if Ozzy wrote this book or if it was dictated and transcribed (Ozzy talks about his dyslexia and the fact that he can't write very well), but the book is undoubtedly in his "voice." The man is simply nuts.  In a good way. The introduction to the book is great: "They've said some crazy things about me over the years.  I mean, okay:  'He bit the head off a bat.' Yes.  'He bit the head off a dove.' Yes.  But t

Over the past week I have been enjoying my evenings reading a book that I've looked forward to for years - Kiss lead guitarist Ace Frehley's autobiography, No Regrets .  Not exactly the most original title, I know, but it is a fascinating read - and very well written (Ace undoubtedly had help from professional writers).  Still, the story is his and I am eating it up. Anyone who knows me (if you are reading this, I assume you know me) knows I am a huge Kiss fan.  In fact, next to the Beatles, I would have to say that Kiss is my all-time favorite band. I became obsessed with them at a young age and I remember drawing pictures of the band all over my tablet in fourth grade.  I clearly remember my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Greenwaldt, tell me "Okay, enough of this Kizz business."  I quickly corrected her, "It's KISS, Mrs. Greenwaldt." I don't think I was sent to the principle's office for that one, but it didn't keep me from drawing pictur

Ava came home from school today looking a little different.  And man, is she proud. Judging how loose the other tooth is, I am very confident this year's Christmas theme song will be, " All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth "...

Time to update quickly while the kids are asleep.  Soon it will be hi-ho, hi-ho... you know the rest. We had our first parent-teacher conference last evening.  Man, what a difference a year - and a new teacher - makes.  Not that Ava's preschool experience was negative, but Beth and I had been put on the alert that Ava had a "sensory dysfunction," which I had never heard of before. To me, she seemed like a perfectly normal, energetic kid, but we had extra testing done last year and one of the therapists thought she was in need therapy outside of school - and I won't go way into it, because it is moot point.  I haven't really ever discussed this on my blog because it is a very private matter... ...but long story short, Ava's new teacher told us last evening that Ava is right where she should be - even a little ahead of the game - and she is a perfectly normal five year old. We were dreading this conference going into it, and relieved coming out.  What a

I get so sick and tired of these morons wasting their time spouting off about the world ending today - 11/11/2011.  Why today?  They act as if this date has never happened before. One hundred years ago when this date occurred, 11/11/1911, I wonder if they thought the same thing? How about 200 years ago when it was 11/11/1811? The real doozy happened 900 years ago when it really was 11/11/1111.  I wonder if they had nut jobs predicting the end of the earth back then, or maybe they had more important things to be concerned about, like not contracting the measles or smallpox or some other disease which meant certain death. The point is this:  for some reason, we in the 21st century seem to think everything that happens to us is unique.  And it's not.  Time, a man-made concept in the first place, just keeps pushing forward and we keep coming up with excuses why the earth will end sooner rather than later.  When we entered a new century/millennium back 11 years ago, it was supp

So I got this letter yesterday from my insurance company telling me that an error had been made in the set up of both my health and pharmacy coverage.  They won't tell me what that error is or when it will be fixed, only that they are "in the process of correcting the error." Great.  I just can't wait to see where this is leading. But the best part is the last paragraph, which reads, verbatim : "If you have any questions you may call customer service, but be advised that they will not be able to provide complete information about your situation." Interpretation:  You can call us, but we can't help you. I've said this before - if I was this incompetent at my job, I would be unemployed. And with that, have a great weekend!

 We had a fun-filled Halloween evening.  Here are some pictures to share... Last Friday Ava dressed as a witch for her school Halloween party ...and for Halloween night, she was a leopard.  She even slept with her whiskers still painted on. Neil was Mater from the movie "Cars."  I've never seen him so excited! Ready for tricks and treats!  As you can see, Neil just can't contain his excitement. A little sampling of our night out... We stopped by the police department, where McGruff was there in person. We also stopped at the fire department.  My boy was obsessed with the fire trucks. One of the homes in Baxter is famous for going "all out" for Halloween.  With a front yard like this (this is just a small part of the display), it is no wonder this is a popular place!  The street was packed with trick or treaters. We had a lot of fun on our little Halloween outing.  Now for Thanksgiving... and snow, which they say is on the way.

It started with a few flakes, but by nightfall it was the heaviest snowfall I've ever seen in my life. And it was 20 years ago today. Yes, 20 years ago today Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play I experienced the biggest blizzard of my life (so far).  The Halloween blizzard of '91.  It was one for the ages. I was 22 years old then.  And I had work ethic back then, I'll tell you.  I was living in St. Francis, MN, in an apartment complex.  It was my senior year at the University of Minnesota.  I worked for the U of M Food Services, and my main job was running a little coffee shop Monday through Friday.  I had to open the shop early morning on November 1st. Yes, I actually attempted to drive the 40 miles to Minneapolis to do my job. I didn't make it out of the apartment parking lot, though. I remember waking up in the middle of the night and looking out the living room window and I couldn't believe how hard it was snowing.  I set my alarm an hour earlier t

We made a big move yesterday.  Neil's bedroom was officially moved to the upper level and his old room on the lower level (formerly known as the baby room or nursery) was transitioned into the toy room.  It was a lot of moving, a lot of stair climbing (and a lot of complaining about the moving and stair climbing) but it was well worth the effort. We also moved our big screen t.v. (an old rear projection set) into the toy room so the kids have their own little movie theater when they want to watch a movie. Best of all, the adults now have the upper level to themselves and the lower level of our house is now being used for something other than laundry and sleeping! The new toy room.... at long last! Playing a fishing game.  Bean bag chairs will be coming this Christmas. In other news, my iPod Classic had a massive stroke yesterday.  I've no idea what happened to it.  I plugged it into my computer Friday night, but iTunes would not acknowledge it - didn't even re

Neil woke me up again at 3:40 AM (the kid has an internal alarm clock).  He quietly pads into our room and flops on top of me every night/morning at the same time.  He is freezing cold, so I am thinking he wakes up because of that reason. I put him back to bed right away, tuck him in and he falls asleep very quickly. But I am not blessed with the ability to easily fall back asleep once I wake up.  In fact, once I'm up, I'm usually up for the day. So I started writing this entry this morning complaining about my lack of sleep.  But I found myself hitting the delete key.  Some times you've got to look at things differently. So here I sit on my couch on this chilly late-October morning trying to change my crappy attitude.  I've brewed a pot of strong really strong so-strong-it-is-illegal-in-the-State-of-California coffee (which will do wonders in changing said attitude).  The house is quietly sleeping.  And I'm finding some time to write. Therefore I won

 "I'm having just a horrible day. I just realized that my square-shaped Fiji Mineral Water bottle simply won't fit into the cupholder of my new Audi R8. It's just ridiculous."

Can you mag ne what l fe would be l ke w thout the letter " "?  t would be k nd of we rd, wouldn't  t?

:-, :-o :-O :-( ) >-* :-)

I've been watching a little news today.  The demise of Colonel Moammar Gaddafi Gadhaffi Qaddafi  ...or however you spell his name... has finally come to fruition.  Yet another dictator has bit the dust.  It interests me because it will certainly be recorded in the history books - Colonel Gaddafi Gadhaffi Qaddafi ruled Lybia for 42 years.  A total megalomaniac. But why did he remain a Colonel?  You would've thought he would have promoted himself to General of the Army or Ruler of All Mankind or something.  I've always wondered about that. But anyway, I haven't been "tuned in" to the news as much as I normally would be simply because I find these news channels - namely the personalities of these news channels - very hard to watch.  I can't stand their faux concern, their calculated facial gestures.  The whole damn thing is nothing more than an orchestrated stage show under the guise of "news." However, good ol' Wolf Blitzer of CNN gav

Blog.  Silly name, eh?  A contraction of "web" (as in world wide web) and "log" (as in a diary or journal of events).  Put it together and what have you got? Bibbidi-bobbidi- "Blog." Right now I am at an all-time low for blog entries.  I've only logged 68 entries since the beginning of the year.  I am determined to blog more often and fill these fake digital pages from now through the end of the year, just like an unforgiving Tolstoy novel.  Blog, blog and blog some more, I say!  All I gotta do is write.  Right? It may seem like a snap, but a couple of key things are involved in writing a blog: Time and inspiration. First, you gotta have time to sit and write.  This also includes time to gather your thoughts.  It used to be pretty easy for me.  Now, it is often impossible.  I keep having this delusion that once the children are tucked in their beds, I can relax with a drink and write for a while (because I love to drink write).  But in rea

Yesterday was a chilly, blustery autumn day, but the sun was shining brightly and it was a great day to carve pumpkins.  I caught some nice light coming through the dining room window and snapped a few pictures of the action: It's pumpkin carving time! Pumpkins guts are always gross, no matter what. No, she cannot contain her excitement.  Really, she can't. My boy on a sunny October afternoon. Showing little brother the ropes to pumpkin carving. Touching pumpkin guts for the first time.  Eeew! Ava decided to try to carve her own pumpkin.  She drew the face and started cutting away. "Stop taking pictures, Dad!  I'm trying to concentrate!" It got a little messy, but she didn't give up. Her first, official did-it-all-by-herself jack-o-lantern. Neil and Mommy

I recently finished my third biography on Frank Sinatra.  I'm the type of person where once I become interested in a subject - whether it's a type of music, a person, a sport, or whatever it may be - I immerse myself in it.  I'm not really much of a casual observer.  I'm usually all or nothing.  And you wonder why I don't gamble? I don't know useful stuff, like carpentry or plumbing or electricity or computers or cars.  You know, "guy stuff."  Knowledge that would make me handy around the house.  A "jack of all trades" I am not. I'm not big on politics (I think every politician is in it for their own personal agenda and none has the country's best interest in mind.  Those who are halfway honest are quickly corrupted or run out of office by an inherently corrupted system).  I know nothing about accounting, other than black is better than red.  Insurance confuses me - all I know is you gotta have it.  So with the few spare minute

We all have a morbid side and mine is manifesting itself in the form of casually following the Conrad Murray manslaughter trial.  It interests me for a couple reasons - first, it involves a drug that I have personally administered hundreds of times in my nursing career, propofol. But mainly because it involves the unusual and tragic death of the greatest entertainer of my lifetime - and perhaps of all time.  Yes, that's how I feel about Michael Jackson.  I admit that I probably wouldn't feel this way if I hadn't seen him live in concert, but I did on Friday evening, May 6, 1988.  I entered the Met Center as a curious observer and I left a convert.  I've seen everyone from Kiss to the Rolling Stones to Paul McCartney to Elton John and only Kiss has come even remotely close to the kind of show Jackson put on. That's not to say I don't think Jackson was a man without problems really screwed up,  because he obviously was.  But he could put on a show like no o

Just in case any of you might wonder why I don't update my blog as often as I used to, I'd like to give you a visual example: It is difficult to type with one hand and one eye.  It is equally difficult to concentrate with a boy's head smacking you in the chin.

Well I look in the mirror,  What the hell happened to me? All that I had has gone away I'm not the young kid I used to be So I brush the hair back out of my face. That's okay, I knew this would happen But I was hoping not today. Hey kids, I'm not running anymore, But I'm on my way. "I'm Not Running Anymore" by John Mellencamp