Why did they switch it?

Quick. Put on your winter coat and take a look at the zipper. I'll wait ... *taps fingers* *whistles*. You done yet? Okay, on what side is the zipper? I bet it's on the right side isn't it? *sigh* Yeah, that's what I thought. On to the story...
When I first when to Valpo in 1993, I knew a good winter coat was in order so we got a nice one. Thirteen years later, that coat was going strong right up until the little metal thingies that you pull up to close the zipper were pulled off by a seat belt. Now, I love this coat. It is incredibly warm; it conforms to me pudgy white self just perfectly. I really don't want a new coat if I can avoid it. That's when I found out that cleaners can also do alterations like replace a zipper on a winter coat. While in Baltimore, I took the opportunity of warm weather to get that pesky zipper replaced. They did a nice job replacing the zipper; you would barely notice it's a replacement. It wasn't until later I had realized a minor little issue. The zipper is now on the left. I know this really seems minor, but it is quickly becoming a major issue. The contortions I have to perform just to get this zipper closed is obscene. Of course, I'm going to deal with it for 1 simple reason. I want to be able to look at Lauren and her friends when they talk about how old their new toys are, I can tell them that my coat is older then them.
It's the simple things that make me happy (and the endless embarrassment I get to cause Lauren ... anyone see a Father of the Year award for me in the future?).

Spasmodic Monkey Strikes Again

This morning, I thought I would try to give Lauren some cheer by dancing to some songs on the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Seconds after I started, she gave me a very perplexed look and stated emphatically "STOP!". She even did the palm facing me hand motion in case her statement was not clear enough. This next part was not verbalized, but I'm pretty sure it's what she was thinking:

"Look Whitey McWhiteWhite, knock it off because you have all the rhythm of a spasmodic monkey. Let's forget this little incident happened, but don't ever try to do that again lest I be forced to kill you for the embarrassment caused!"

I love you too sweetie!

How many relatives can you fit in one weekend?

The holiday weekend was a lot of fun, even if a bit overwhelming at times. Before I relate the goings on, I just want to remind you dear reader that we were visiting my family only. Also keep in mind that my family tree is .... complicated.
On Thursday, we had dinner at my cousin's condo complex. They rented out the party room, decorated it, and put football on the Big Screen Projector (not High def though). There were about 17 of my relatives there and we split into guys and gals tables. This actually worked pretty well because the guys tended to watch the game and talk sports while the gals chit chatted about something I had no interest on which to eavesdrop. Lauren had a great time playing with cousins Joey, Ivan, and Faith. It did take Faith some time to warm up, but once she did, she was very outgoing. Apparently, some pirates had infiltrated our holiday dinner and she enlisted the help of Lauren in trying to drive them out. I did learn that my 11 year old cousin Ivan is quite gifted at comic book history. We managed to get on this line of chatting when Spiderman 2 came on after football (unfortunately, that also meant all my female teenage cousins going all googly-eyed over Tobey Maguire). Ivan is a bit hyper, but ask him anything about the Marvel or DC Comic book world and he seemed to have it down.
On Friday, it was off to my dad's house (just remember, complicated family tree). There, we had dinner with 21 completely different relatives. That's right folks, we managed to fit in dinner with 38 relatives over 2 days even though we were only visiting my family. To say Debbie was bit overwhelmed would be like saying the Grand Canyon is a bit of hole. My dad's wife, Fina, is an amazing cook and she always has enough to feed an army. I believe the stats for the dinner were 2 turkeys (1 deep fried), a ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, some cholesterol raising side dish whose name escapes me right now, and a ton of other sides. I actually don't get to see dad's 5 sisters very often so I was lucky to have someone there who could discretely clue me in to who was who again. Thanks Drew! It was nice to reconnect with them, I just wish my sister Kayhla could make it. Alas, she was sick and unable to attend, so me missed seeing her this trip.
Saturday was laid back (finally) and we just hung around mom's house. We did venture to a Festival of Trees at the local armory which was nice. They had all these Christmas trees decorated with some theme. Most were beautiful, some ... well ... they can't all be winners. I will say the chocolate chip cookies I bought were quite good.
On Sunday, believe it or not, we managed to have lunch with 2 more relatives we had yet to see (my mom's youngest nephew and his wife). Well, since having a family get together of 6 seems wrong, some more cousins showed up who wanted to see us again before we left. So, we had an intimate family gathering of 11.
I was hoping to see my niece again, but my brother's family got hit with illness. Cindy had a double ear infection, Alexis (my niece) contracted the flu, and Scott got hit with an illness we call "Being Scottitis" :) He was kind enough to give us a call and we talked for a while. I was just hoping to see Alexis again before she turns 1 year old. With our next trip to Baltimore coming in August, I don't think that will happen.

Safe Travels

We are now back home safe and sound. I will write more on the actual events of the holiday later, but I wanted to pass on a little event that happened today.
We were waiting for the elevator at OHare to take us to the lower level with another gentleman. Both elevators show up, one full and one empty. The empty one's doors begin to close. I quickly hit the down button again forcing the doors open. The gentleman looks at me, smiles, and saves "Kick save ... and a beauty!" My first thought was he had a pretty good voice and could probably do some announcing. Once in the elevator, he turns and says "Everybody in?" It's at this point I realize something. I know that voice. I looked up and recognized his face. I was sharing an elevator with BRENT FREAKING MUSBERGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I pulled myself together for a second and asked "Are you ... um ... Brent Musberger?" He politely responded yes and we shook hands. In order to not become a blubbering idiot, I did not say much more and the ride was for 1 floor. *sigh* I was this (---> <----) close to become a screaming little girl, but I held it together. I couldn't help but smile for the rest of the drive home. *another happy sigh*. Stay tuned for scenes from our fascinating trip to Baltimore very very soon.

Sweet Surprise

On those morning when I have to head in early to work (read before 9), I like to stop by McDonald's for a quick breakfast. My usual is the bacon and cheese bagel without egg, hash brown (because how can you NOT get one), and an Ice Tea. It fills me up for a while and is pretty cheap as quick breakfasts go. The other day, I was again summoned into work early and made my usual stop. When I got to my desk and opened the bagel, I found out I was not given a bagel. Instead, staring from the center of the now opened wrapper was a bacon and cheese McGriddle sandwich. After the initial shock of not seeing a bagel subsided, I was moderately happy. I had been wanting to try one of these things, but just never had the gumption to change my usual breakfast meal.
My verdict: OMG!!!! I have no idea if I could ever order this again, but it was FANTASTIC!!! It's like a syrup filled pancake. My mouth exploded in an orgy of sweetness I was, quite frankly, not prepared to experience for breakfast. So, while I love the McGriddle, I think I'm going to stick to me bagel. There are some things in this world that are, in fact, too sweet for me. Especially at 8 in the morning.

Handymanny weekend!

The nerve of some people. I have a perfectly good post I've been wanting to write since Monday. Then these people come along and demand my time just because they give me a paycheck. Don't these people understand I have more important things to do than earn that paycheck? Now, on to my post ...

As Debbie alluded, I had a pretty handy Sunday this past weekend. I knocked out two projects that have been on my to-do list for a while, and one other project that popped up just this weekend. The newly added project involved fixing the guest bath tub faucet. Apparently, two screws had come loose and one of them was impeding the faucet handle, causing an occasional drip. I took off the faucet handle, tightened the screws and put the handle back. Well ... OK ... I did the handle thing twice because I put it on upside down the first time, but there's no need to go there.
The second project was to fix the sliding closet doors in the playroom. We have a patio door lock on them so Lauren can't get into the closet. This is required because we're pretty sure if Lauren wanders in there, she will be lost forever. Anyway, the lock was scraping the door leaving this wonderful silver line. This job required a screwdriver to remove the stopper from the door and a hammer to bang the living crap out of the lock to knock it back a few microns.
The final project involved insulation, I know you all are just wishing you were doing this instead of me. This was the final step in the Possum Entrance Elimination. When the little feller made his home, he made himself right at home in the insulation. With that, I felt it best to remove the old insulation and put in some new ones. This presented the opportunity for a new tool. I got myself a staple gun with the forward press trigger. I needed this to attach the insulation to the sub floor and keep it off the ceiling tiles. The insulation installation (ooh alliteration!!!) went very well and now, all aspects of the possum entrance project are complete. YEA!!!!

Sorry for the blog spam

Last night as I was making my post, Blogger gave me the option of upgrading to their beta version. I had been wanting this for a while so took the oppurtunity. Unfortunately, that resulted in every post I had made since September showing up as newly added in LJ. Sorry about the blog spam!

Party like its 2006!

What a weekend! On Saturday, we had Lauren's birthday party. Let's start with party preparation.
Unlike last year, Debbie and I were not nearly as prepared. I don't know what it was, but this birthday seemed to sneak up on us a bit more than usual. As late was Wednesday, we had yet to order the food or the cake. Can you imagine? Three days before the party and Mrs. Planner had yet to order these things!! (What ... you expect ME to do the planning? pbbt!) Fortunately, we knew what we wanted to by Thursday, 10 am, everything was ordered ... or so we thought.
Come Saturday morning, it was time to go pick up everything. Balloon and cake pickup went without a hitch (except I forgot to pick up the ice, but I blame Debbie for that ... I have yet to create a reason why, but I'm pretty certain she is at fault). Picking up the sandwiches provided some pre-party excitement. After announcing you are there to pick up a catering order, the last thing you want to see is a blank stare and a horrified look, followed by the question "When did you place the order?". As it turns out, they did not have the order and there were no platters waiting for me. This is why we schedule a pick up for 2 hours before the party. It allows enough time to correct a mistake like this one. In fact, they were able to produce 2 complete sandwich platters per my request in 15 minutes. Crisis averted.
Despite a little pre-party meltdown over balloons, Lauren was a gem the whole day. She took a little bit warming up to her cousins again, but once the play time began, she had a ball. For those who have not been to a child's birthday party, there is one important fact to know. There will be one present that brings the present opening to a screeching halt. It is the one toy that captures the attention of every child there and makes them want to have it opened immediately. That present this year was a tumbling Tigger. One squeeze of this orange ball of energy's nose would send it somersaulting down the rug all to a MC Hammer like tune. The best part was when the kids had moved on to other things, the adults all stood around this contraption marvelling at his mechanized acrobatic feats.
Everything else went pretty smoothly. Lauren was pleasant and cooperative opening the presents (except when she couldn't find her cookie). Everyone seemed to enjoy the food and there seemed to be enough for everyone without too much to create leftovers for a week.
That was a lot of writing just for Saturday so I'm going to end this post here. I'll talk about Sunday in the near future (hopefully tomorrow, but I'm not promising anything).

Sleep is for Rubes

Today marks a two year anniversary of sorts. It was two years ago that Debbie and I decided that being well rested was for rubes; being able to travel without moving half the house was just way too easy; and wearing outfits without spitup, snot, or other various body fluids was far too pristine a condition to tolerate.
That's right, Lauren turns 2 today! Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Lessons under pressure

I learned something about myself last night, something I am grateful to know. I, in fact, do NOT scream like a girl when taken by surprise. Let me say there is nothing more emasculating than to realize when scared, you sound like a 12 year old girl after her little brother drops a spider in front of her. Not only that, but I can actually keep my wits about me and devise plans to help me in the current situation.
I guess the question on all of your minds is how did I come to this realization? Last night, I was working on the computer in the basement when I felt something on my foot. I flicked my foot and looked down but didn't see anything. I just thought it was the heebee geebies and went about my business. I felt the sensation again, but this time around my ankle. I look down just in time to see a mouse drop off my sock and run behind my desk. I believe my exact words were "SON OF A BITCH!!!", but in a manly tone which indicates anger and disgust, not girly fright. They little guy actually peeked his head out for a bit, and I got a good look at him. He was kind a cute to be honest. He couldn't have been more than 2 inches long and he had a little round body with the pointy nose and long whiskers. I knew though, no matter how cute he was, the little fella had to go. We've had crickets in our basement before and I have a proven plan of capturing and releasing them (cricket guts are a real bear to get out of a carpet). I grab one of my 32 oz cups from a fast food place and a piece of paper. I cover the cricket with the cup, then slowly slide the paper underneath. This allows me to flip the cup and carry the cricket outside, where I try to dump him sufficiently far enough away that the sucker will get eaten before getting back to the house. My cool head and ability to think still intact, I realized a rodent with claws would probably make short work of the paper, so I grabbed a piece of cardboard Worked like a charm. Though, I did have to walk a lot farther and I was kinda nice as I dropped the little fella in a flower bed. He'll probably still get eaten before making it back, but I gave him a fighting chance.
So make that a warning to you all, there is no Twench screaming like a little girl. I may curse like a drunken sailor, but I will not scream ... just don't try testing me on this.