Horse Manure Park

Experiencing a bit of Murphy's Law right now.  Nothing going on this morning and the perfect opportunity to sleep in.  Went to bed relatively early and my son decides this is not a good night to sleep.  Awake at 1:30.  Let him cry and cry.  Finally back to sleep by 2:00 AM.  Awake again at 4:30; this time he only cries for about five minutes and right back to sleep... Except now I'm wide awake. I don't think that boy has ever slept through the night.  Not sure what we've done wrong.  Ava didn't have this problem. So I laid in bed until 5:00 AM and now I'm up and at 'em.  Sort of.  Three more hours of sleep would have been wonderful.  I'm afraid it's going to be a long day. On the positive side, my sore throat seems to have finally exited the building.  It lasted three weeks.  It seems almost strange to swallow and not experience pain.  But I can live with it. I've reserved today to go birthday shopping for m...

How often do you have to buy a coffee maker?  It seems the average lifespan of a coffee maker in these parts is a little over a year.  We bought a new coffee maker in February 2010 and a couple weeks ago it started leaking all over.  It actually lasted about 14 months, which was pretty good. Beth and I are both coffee drinkers and we've estimated we go through at least three pots a day - often times more than that.  (Maybe if I didn't work nightshift I wouldn't drink quite so much - but I doubt it.  I just love coffee.  I got hooked in college and I've become a life-long junkie.  I guess if I'm going to drink like a fish, coffee is a better choice than whiskey.) Anyway, I reckon (I like that word, it needs to make a comeback) we go through roughly 90 pots a month.  Over a 14 month period of time, that's 1,260 pots of coffee (geez, that's a lot of urine, isn't it?).  No wonder that old coffee maker finally went belly up.  So the oth...

Since this is a (public) journal of the happenings in my life, I am going to make a quick entry.  Today was an exciting day for Ava.  She had her first swimming lesson!  Beth said she did really well and Ava was very excited about it.  She'll take lessons once a week for the next six weeks.  Here are a couple pictures... Learning to kick (she does that really well - no lesson needed!).  Ava is nearest the camera. Floating and kicking Ava learning to back float

Poof!  Just like that, there goes another weekend. It is kinda funny, in my last post I mentioned it was in the 70s and that "spring was officially here".  Since then, we got about a half inch of snow and it hasn't gotten above 50 degrees... or at least it sure hasn't felt like it.  Most of the snow has since melted, but depending on which forecast you choose to believe, more snow is on the way this week.  It might not hit us, though.  It might go further south and east.  I hope so.  I am ready to open the camper and get on with summertime. At least one person was happy about the new snow.  Ava making a "snow bunny." Sandy and Ray stopped by yesterday and gave the kids Easter baskets.  We had coffee, pie and chatted.  It was good to see them and a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  It sure beat working! Yesterday was the first time Beth and I had been home together in over a week.  It was nice while it lasted, b...

A beautiful day today.  It is still 71 degrees at 6:00 PM.  I think spring is officially here!  We still have some snow in our yard, but most of it is history.  So long, sucker. I woke up at 6:30 AM and commenced my "Leave No Turd Behind" campaign.  I scooped dog crap for an hour and I still didn't get it all.  My dog certainly didn't suffer from constipation during the winter months.  Good grief. Moving from dog sh*t to cookies... (there is just no nice way to transition the topic) My son has an unhealthy obsession for cookies (or as he calls them "coo-coo-cookie?" always phrased as a question).  I baked a couple dozen yesterday in my role as Mr. Mom and he wasn't pacified unless he could see the damn things constantly (with close adult supervision, of course.  Since an adult wasn't here, I had to suffice). Keeping his eyes on the prize.  Notice the cabinets are bungee'd closed?  Our house is a giant obstacle course. He...

Time to sit down and jot a note or two.  It has been a long week.  I've had a sore throat all week and a nasty cough.  I've been hacking up the most impressive thick, green, tasty salamanders ever to come out of a set of lungs.  (Yeah, I know - too much information).  I thought about even taking a picture of one of my loogies and posting it here, they were that impressive.  But that was too gross.  Even I have a certain amount of decency. So on Thursday night I felt crappy, but went to work.  It got to a point where I couldn't even take a breath without coughing.  On Friday morning I decided to go to Urgent Care to have myself checked out because I wasn't getting better - I was actually getting worse.  For me to actually seek out medical care means my ass is truly sick .  I certainly don't like to think of myself as a hypochondriac.  Even Beth knew something must have been up for me to actually make a doctor's appointment. ...

Just a quick note before my week starts.  It is going to be a long two weeks, actually.  All of these dumb classes Beth and I both have to take, plus our work schedules mean we don't have another day off together until April 17th.  On the bright side, it was like Christmas at my place today.  I ordered some books from Barnes and Noble and they arrived today.  I dove right into the first one: Red a brand new autobiography by Sammy Hagar.  It isn't nearly as long as I thought it was going to be (compared to Keith Richards' tome), but I am enjoying it.  I will have it read by Wednesday I'm sure. On deck is a biography on Mozart and two books on Sinatra because, quite frankly, I'm a little obsessed (pun intended).  Actually, he's just a really interesting character to me.  I'm looking for good biographies on Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr., but I haven't found any that seem worth reading. Well this will be short but sweet.  I'm tire...

I just realized it is April Fool's Day.  I haven't been duped yet, but it is early. Something happened yesterday that I just have to comment on.  Technology is a good thing; I like my Blackberry.  I enjoy the ability to text or call my wife or friends anywhere at anytime.  I enjoy the ability to go on the internet anywhere at anytime.  I enjoy to ability to share photos with anyone at anytime. But yesterday I witnessed what I could only call an obsession.  Or perhaps addiction is the better word? I took a class yesterday; the second of three eight hour classes we are required to take for work.  We are learning a new and rather complex electronic charting program.  We cover a lot of information at a very quick pace.  You need to pay attention. I sat next to a gal who had an iPhone.  And she could not put it down.  She could not leave it alone.  I was simply astounded.  I fact, I was nearly distracted by her because ...