Horse Manure Park

I spent the day at home with the Boy today.  He was sick and I wasn't all that well myself.  I got up with him at 2:00 AM; he was sitting in his bed crying for no apparent reason (which is highly unusual for him).  I knew there was a problem, but I didn't know what it was. Yet. It took him about an hour to "prime the pump" (so to speak) and he finally upchucked. I'll give him credit, he made it to the bathroom.  But he puked in the sink (he takes after his mother, but that's a whole other story).  No worries, however.  Nothing a little Liquid Plum'r couldn't handle. At 3:00 AM.   Blech. He seemed fine afterward, so back to bed we went and at 7:00 AM he seemed as spry as usual.  We ate breakfast, we loaded up the truck to go to school and... ...all of his breakfast came up in the back of the truck. Oh, the frickin' joys of parenthood.  A great start to the week.   Obviously, it had to be Monday. ~ ...

Time for a bit of a facelift, huh?  I guess it's my way of celebrating my favorite time of year, Autumn - although I've never figured out why there's an "n" in Autumn.  Sort of like that stupid "n" in damn. Damn. Well, I gone and done it.  I am the happy owner of a new truck.  Thanks to Dan's of Big Lake for getting us an outstanding interest rate on our loan and for a smooth-n-easy purchase.  I'll kind of miss the old Camry, though.  It was a terrific car, much like my Tercel.  Truth is, I've never owned a Toyota I didn't like, but I've also grown partial to Hondas.  And for those who think I'm a rat fink for not buying an American product, only 10% of my vehicle has "foreign parts content," which came from Japan, the rest is from U.S. and Canada. Gosh, there's really not much to yack about right now.  Ava is really enjoying kindergarten.  What a difference a year has made for her.  I think the new, structure...

It has been brought to my attention that I haven't updated my blog in over a week.  To be honest, I didn't think anyone was paying attention... Not much has been happening over the past week.  I did a couple of fantasy football drafts, which I know doesn't interest many people, but if it does you can read all about my passion for football at www.snotbubblefootball.blogspot.com .  We've also spent the better part of this week nursing a sick little boy.  Neil started spiking high fevers on Monday.  They would respond to ibuprofen, but as soon as it wore off the fever came right back.  He also had a very poor appetite for several days.  Then he broke out into a rash over his whole body.  Beth took him to the doctor on Thursday morning and he was surprisingly diagnosed with strep throat.  They never performed a test on him, so I it is just an educated guess on the doctor's part, but he was put on antibiotics and he definitely is responding we...

I haven't been the best at updating my blog lately.  I've been on Facebook, but I'm getting disgusted with it.  They are constantly changing the stupid thing and as soon as I think I've got it figured out, it has completely changed again and I have no idea what I'm doing.  It sort of reminds me of my job -- constantly changing.  I don't mind change as long as it is productive, but I get annoyed when things are being "fixed" when the ain't "broke." The weather really hasn't changed much since I last updated.  Rain.  Gray.  Cold.  C'mon, man .  So much for talking about the weather, eh? Ava got her flu shot yesterday -- or was it the day before yesterday?  I've been working all week and my days are totally mixed up.  Anyway, she did very well and got a Dairy Queen out of the deal.  I also promised her a trip to Fleet Farm (her favorite store) for a new toy horse if she was brave and got her shot, so we've got to do that ...

This has been the ugliest, most depressing autumn I can remember.  I usually love this time of year with the bright colors and sunny, crisp days. Not this year. Many of the leaves on the trees in our back yard are black and shriveled.  We had a hard freeze before anything had the chance to turn color.  Everything else is in drab shades of brown or dark yellow.  It's been cold and gray and cloudy and rainy (or snowy) almost every day since the beginning of October. I feel like I've stepped into a Tim Burton movie. Beth is sick, the kids have had colds and we are all getting stir-crazy from being inside so much.  Can one have cabin fever in mid-October?  It's going to be a long, long winter. At least the Vikings are winning.