Napoblomo comes to a close

November 30th means two things... my mother-in-law's birthday and the end of Nablopomo, or National Blog Posting Month.

First of all, I'd like to say a very happy birthday to Gloria. May you be blessed with many, many more birthdays. You've been so very kind and generous to Debbie, the kids and me since I got here over seven years ago. Thank you for everything! :)



At the end of October, a friend of my wife and mine said she was going to commit to blogging every day during the month of November to celebrate Nablopomo. My wife decided she'd take up Leanne's challenge and also commit to writing a blog every day during the month. Debbie is an excellent writer and I was so glad that she was going to start writing again. Judge for yourself how well she writes here. I'm really proud of her for sticking to her commitment... I know there were some days when she wanted to just forget it and go to bed.

A few years ago, I had a blog that I really enjoyed writing, so I too decided to take up the challenge and write a blog entry every day for the thirty days between October 31st and December 1st. At times it was easy and fun... some of the blogs just flowed. At other times, I started and erased and started and erased and started and erased and started and erased and started again. That was frustrating. Some nights I was so tired and thought I'd just forget about blogging, but my wife encouraged me to keep going because I'd be glad at the end of the month. I am... it's been pretty rewarding and has gotten me back into writing, which is something that I really do enjoy doing. Thanks for all the encouragement, Debbie. And thanks for the challenge Leanne... congratulations go out to you for completing the challenge too. Leanne's blog is a good read... see it here. I consider her my blog mentor!

As I said, I've really enjoyed this and I plan on continuing. There won't be any pressure on me unless I put it on myself, which I probably will do from time to time. I probably won't blog every day, but I hope to write three or four times a week. Thank you for reading it and especially for the comments you left. There were many times that I thought no one was reading it and the comments were quite welcome. Please keep checking for new entries... it's much easier to write for an audience.

And finally, remember that blog spelled backwards in golb!

Cyber Hoarding!

I'm a saver... a cyber saver, that is. I save things that I find online. I'll probably never use most of the things I save, but it really doesn't matter since it really doesn't cost me anything to be a cyber saver. I mean, it's not like I'm cluttering up my garage saving online stuff or causing my family problems by my cyber saving and I definitely don't think I'm a candidate for the television show "Hoarders" because of it. I'm organized and keep my saves in properly labeled folders in a very organized file system. Those who know me wouldn't expect any less.

So what do I save? Have a look:

 

I found this a few years ago while surfing and thought it was a great photo, so I saved it. Simple!

I saved this because my nickname is crickett. I might need to communicate with someone who can't read someday, in which case, this will come in handy.

This is a photo from 1940 of the public dock on St. John in the USVI. I love St. John... so far, it's my favorite place in the world and I love old photos. Why wouldn't I save it?

This is my car... well, not actually my car, but a photograph of the car that I drive. I love my car, so why wouldn't I want a photo of my car. Actually, I have four more.

This is a photo of an old White Castle hamburger restaurant hat looks like the one my family and I went to from time to time in New Jersey. This photo brings back wonderful memories. 

This is just very cool graffiti... I had to save it.

So maybe my cyber saving doesn't make sense to anyone but me. It doesn't have to... I like the things I save... they make me happy. So until there's a television show called "Cyber Hoarders", I'm okay. Hmmmm, I think I'll save a copy of this blog!

Mission Purple Purse

Yesterday morning my wife and I went out for breakfast at the cafe in the Charlotte Street Arts Center here in Fredericton. The Arts center is an old elementary school which has been converted into visual and performing arts classes. When we walked in, the halls were crowded with young mothers and fathers waiting for their young children there for ballet lessons. It's a really cool place.

After we ordered, I realized that I needed something from my wife purse which was left in the car. I walked back through the halls past all the young mothers and father standing around waiting for their children, out the door and to the car to get my wife's purse. Now, I am not a man's man by any means... I have no problem with the role reversal that often occurs in my marriage and in my house. I have no problem picking up feminine products at the store for my wife and daughter and I even like to do chick flicks with my wife.

I'm very confident with who I am, but when I got to the car and picked up my wife's purple purse, I suddenly felt self-conscious about carrying it back through the halls of the old school past all the young parents. Okay... how would I carry it? I didn't have a jacket on, so i couldn't hide it. I could sling the whole thing over my shoulder, but that might look contrived and besides, if everything started falling out as I was walking in, I'd not have saved myself any embarrassment at all. I could put it over my shoulder and maybe I could get away with carrying  it like a briefcase... but who would I be kidding, no one carries a miniature purple briefcase, especially with big silver buckles. There had to be a way for me to get this thing past all the young parents with dreams of their children performing Swan Lake with the Royal Ballet in London. I could try to hide it behind my back and slowly bring it around front as I pass people, but there were way too many people for me to pull that off. By this point, I was getting paranoid... and it was cold outside. I could just carry it... but no, that was just the thing that I was trying to avoid. With the thought of my breakfast getting cold and my wife thinking that maybe a pack of hungry moose got me, I decided what to do. I grabbed both handles in my right hand and squeezed them tightly like it was the wild animal that I just killed and was bringing home as a prize to my family for dinner. I held my breath, swung open the front door of the center and stomped through the hall one more time with a scowl on my face, showing no mercy to any of the young parents or even younger ballerinas in the making. I made it... I got through the hall with purse in hand and none of my masculinity compromised. I sat down at the table, handed my wife her purse and let out my breath. I was safe once again... mission accomplished!!

My wife took the purse, reached in and pulled out some Splenda from her purse and I put it in my chamomile tea... hey, I'm watching my figure, you know.

To market, to market, to buy a fat pig!

Debbie and I did our usual Saturday ritual this morning... we got up early and went to the market, The Boyce Farmer's Market here in Fredericton. I love the market. It brings back a simpler time... there's so much great food and merchandise there... we get up and are out of the house early and it's once a week that I get to spend a couple of hours with my wonderful wife alone. It's our Saturday morning date time. 

The market is so different during the different seasons, and I can't really say that I like any one time over another. Winter has set in here and it's Christmas season at the market right now. Other than the food vendors who cook and sell their food then and there and are in the same spots all year round, most of the outside vendors are gone. But, because it's Christmas, there are half a dozen or so vendors selling trees and wreaths and other evergreen decorations. There's a great holiday feel to the market this time of year that and I love spirit of the market.

After Christmas, the market slows down. It's quieter... easier to find a parking space and definitely doesn't take as long to go through, but it's nice to peruse with less people there. I love the quiet and slowness of the winter market.

Once the days start to lengthen, the mornings are a bit warmer and the earth is yawning in the spring, the market also starts to wake up. Slowly but surely, old vendors return selling plants, garden furniture and other fun things and new vendors come with the idea of selling me something that I have to have. The promise of spring also brings the promise that the market will return to its vim and vigor. I love the new growth of the spring market.

The long hot days of summer brings lots of freshness... no not the kid threatening his mother buy him a hot dog or he'll sell his baby sister... the freshness of fruits and vegetables. It starts off slowly with the early summer fruits and vegetables and ripens to stand after stand of a rainbow of colors. The colors of fresh... yellow and green and red and orange and blue and purple. I seem to eat better during this time simply because it's easier to. It's more crowded and harder to find a parking space, but that's okay because I love the freshness of the summer market.

As the circle of the season closes again, so do the seasons of the market. I think the autumn is my favorite time for market going. There are still lots and lots of vegetables and fruit being harvested and being sold and the change of the seasons is showing. I enjoy seeing the gourds and pumpkins and squashes... squishes... squash... and autumn crafts. The briskness in the air makes me want to wear a sweatshirt and the leaves blowing around makes me realize that the circle is completing. It's time to buy a pumpkin or two and get ready for the holidays. I love the nip in the air of the autumn market.

I guess it doesn't matter what time of year it is... the seasons of the market are all interesting and fun. I guess it's because I love my Saturday morning dates with Debbie which cause me to love the market.

Old Black and Whites

I love old photographs... all old photographs. Here are a few of my favorites:

This is my dad when he was in the army during World War II. He wasn't a very driven soldier and ended up doing KP a lot. The army actually lost his papers for a few months and he never spoke up that he needed something to do! He was actually demoted from PFC back to a Private.

This is some of my family in front of the Brownstone in Brooklyn, NY that my Uncle Willy and Aunt Emily owned. My Aunt Emily is the second from the right holding her daughter, my cousin Joanne. My Uncle Ralph is the one in the Army uniform. He must have been on leave during World War II.

This is a photo of my Aunt Ann. She was married to my dad's brother. I really like how shiny my uncle's car was and love the reflection of the people on the side of the car.

My mom and six of her friends were looking out the back window of a Newark, NJ city bus while someone took this photograph. My mom is the one in the very center. She must have been about sixteen years old. I love how the telephone numbers can still be seen. When I was a kid, the first two letters of a telephone number was first two letters of the exchange. The exchange in Newark was HUmboldt. It was my exchange too. This is my favorite old photograph.

My sister and I were dressed up for something here; I'm not sure what it was. The car that we were standing in front of was my dad's 1957 Ford Fairlane... it was a cool car. We lived in a four family house on a street in Newark, NJ with connecting yards. I used to ride my bicycle through the yards and hit the clothes on the clotheslines as I went through them. I remember the smell of the freshly laundered clothes and I remember getting yelled at by the little Italian women in the houses for riding through their clothes. I guess I was about six years old here, so that would make it about 1962.

Thanks for looking at some of my favorite old photographs. I always get such a sense of history when I look at any old photograph. I love to imagine what was happening at that instant in time when the photographer clicked the shutter. It is a moment in history. I'll share more as I keep blogging.

La la la la la la... Me me me me me me

My wife blogged today about being in her car when an old favorite came on the radio and how she sang alone in the car with wild abandon. You can read her blog post here and see what she had to say. I'll wait while you do. La dee dah... bum, de bum bum.. bah doo doo doooo... bam de bam bam bam. Okay, so now that you know what she had to say, I'll go on. I can definitely attest to the fact that she couldn't carry a tune "even if it had comfy handles", which is a saying that I've never heard, but I've come across many different sayings that are foreign to me since I crossed the border six and a half years ago. Anyway, she really can't carry a tune at all, but what she lacks in tonal quality, she certainly makes up for with enthusiasm. In fact, and I hope I am not sorry that I am publicly confessing this, I really do enjoy listening to Debbie sing when she's going at it full force as her enthusiasm is heart warming. She doesn't do it too often in front of me, but sometimes when we're in the car, she'll just let down her guard and bellow like an elk who found a mate for the first time in its life. I don't think she's let go while in the presence of our puppy, who has already let us know what she thinks of Seldon joining the band and learning the trumpet, but I think that the puppy will have the same reaction to Debbie's singing.

I too like to sing, but I rarely let go like Debbie does. I often sing along to the radio or a CD, but it's usually low enough to not drown out the music playing. I don't think I can sing very well, but I do okay. I've often wondered if I'd have been a decent singer if I had had some training. Deep in the recesses of my soul, I am a rockstar and I play a very mean air guitar, air drums and air keyboard.

I imagine I'll be hearing a lot more of Debbie's singing after she reads this blog, but I can handle it... I love her and I think that when you love someone, you think the things they do are a little sweeter to you than to others. Sing it Deb!!!

Happy Birthday Sadie

Happy Birthday mom!
Today she's 83... a very young 83. I know everyone thinks their mom is the best mom in the world...heck I guess even Charles Manson thought his mom was the best, but I really do think my mom is the best mom anyone could have. Small in stature, she's a four foot- six inch Italian woman with a heart as big as the moon. She really is very sweet, as anyone who knows her would say.

I'm so very fortunate to have been raised by two great parents and I have great memories as a kid. Sadie, my mom, is a great cook and an excellent baker. We always had home cooked meals growing up and we always ate together as a family which is something my family does now most every night. I learned many things from my mom growing up and now that I have a family of my own, I realize what an awesome giving woman she was.

I miss my mom a lot... I wish I could have been in New Jersey today to celebrate her birthday with her. If I had been, we probably wouldn't have done anything too special, but I would have spent time with her... very precious time. Happy Birthday mom, I love you.!

Balloons, Pumpkin Pie and Christmas Lights

This is Thanksgiving week in the United States. I find myself getting homesick this week every year and I miss living in the US more this time every year than any other time. Yes, we have Thanksgiving here in Canada, but it's celebrated on the second Monday in October and it's not nearly as big a holiday as it is in the US. It's just not that big a deal here.

This whole week is so festive where my family is... grocery stores are buzzing with people buying Thanksgiving Day supplies... stores are prepping for Black Friday... it's a three day work week for lots of people... one can feel the energy in the air. There's simply lots of anticipation as the beginning of the holiday season is here. I always remember enjoying being at work this week; it seemed like everyone was. I used to make sure I watched the news on Wednesday night to see the coverage of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade preparations. It was always fun to watch the giant balloons come to life as they fed them with helium through what look like super-sized straws. Thanksgiving morning always meant a big breakfast and time in front of a television to watch the parade; it's something I always did as a kid. And then there's dinner... what can I say... what I wouldn't give for a piece of my mom's pumpkin pie right now.

I think the thing that makes Thanksgiving so different in the US is that it really is the official start of the Christmas season. Christmas lights seem to magically appear on houses and trees as dusk sets in on the third Thursday of November. As a kid, I loved driving home from my Aunt Emily's house, belly full of good food, seeing the Christmas lights on for the first time that year.

I'm missing being in New Jersey this week again this year. I wish my family had the chance to experience it as I did... I'm sure it would be fun for them too. Maybe next year we'll be able to go home and be there... we'll see. Until then, I'll just dream about the pumpkin pie.

Winter... blech!

Today reminded me why I hate winter. It snowed in Fredericton today... not just a few flurries, but enough to cover the car so it had to be brushed off... enough to make the roads slippery enough to show who the knucklehead drivers are... enough to freeze up the windshield wipers so that they only cleared two small strips at the very top and very bottom of the windshield... enough to cause me to fall flat on my gluteus maximus and hurt myself... enough to cause me to hate winter just a little more than last year!

It's cold and messy and slippery and... well, it's just not something that people should have to deal with. Yes, it's pretty... for a very short time and maybe if I had a job that was canceled when it snowed, I'd like winter and snow a little more than I do. What I'd like is to live in a place where the weather is about 68 degrees all year long and sunny everyday. I wouldn't mind some snow... it could start at about 8:00pm on Christmas Eve, stop by midnight and be melted by the day after Christmas when the temperature rises back up to 68 degrees. Is that too much to ask?

It's going to be a long winter... hopefully we all make it through with no injuries or car accidents and once again the weather will warm, the snow will melt and spring will show itself. Only 120 days to go and I can't wait.

Push button to activate vaporizer

On the highway today, driving to Seldon's basketball games, I was faced once again with my biggest, by far, pet peeve. The general rule of the road is to keep right and pass on the left. Simple enough, one would think, as most of us have learned our rights from our lefts by the time we're ten or eleven. I understand that some people have a problem telling their right from their left, but this is a very small sampling of drivers on the road.

I'm fairly certain that at some point in the testing for a drivers license, it's made known to every driver that on the highway, we keep to the right or the passenger side of the road, and pass on the left or the driver side of the road. While driving, nothing gives me road rage... nothing that is except having to sit behind a car in the left lane that isn't passing... or trying to pass. It's the left lane knucklehead... it's the PASSING LANE... the lane in which you move YOUR vehicle faster than the one beside you in the right lane... the lane you don't just cruise down the highway in unless you're about to pass ANOTHER FLIPPIN CAR THAT'S IN THE RIGHT LANE. IT'S EASY... RIGHT LANE FOR CRUSING... LEFT LANE FOR PASSING SAID CRUISING CAR.

Ahem... excuse me and accept my apology for letting my emotions get the best of me in the above paragraph. Now I'm not a reckless driver by any means and I usually stay at or slightly above the speed limit... most of the time. It's just that when I'm driving down the highway (in the right lane, I might add) doing the speed limit or slightly more than the speed limit as I said, and I come up on a vehicle going slower than I, I want to be able to move safely into the left lane and pass the car. This just isn't an option if the FLIPPIN KNUCKLEHEAD CRUISING IN THE LEFT LANE, WHICH IS MADE FOR PASSING, DOESN'T SPEED UP OR MOVE INTO THE RIGHT LANE WHICH IS MEANT FOR CRUISING. BOY THESE PEOPLE MAKE ME MAD!!!!!! Ahem... my apologies again.

I think the the car manufacturers should add a vaporizer option to their vehicles which would give a driver the power to vaporize the vehicle in the left lane standing the way of passing. I realize that in the wrong hands, a vaporizer could be used for less than honorable purposes, but my plan would filter out the drivers who cruise the left lane and don't keep right. Strict rules and testing to weed out those who wouldn't use it responsibly to only vaporize the drivers who deserve it, would be put into place. I'm sure this will help to alleviate the problem which plagues highways all over the world and I look forward to the day when all left lane cruisers are eradicated from the roads and my only pet peeve is no longer an issue.

Next stop... 2110

Time travel... the idea that a person has the ability to leave one time dimension and arrive in the same place at a different time... is so very fascinating. Imagine being in a place that you're very familiar with, at a time you're very familiar and comfortable in. Now imagine being able to travel in time.... either forwards or backwards to that same place in a time very foreign to you. I think it would be awesome... it'd be scary and exciting at the same time. I'd travel into the past to parts of the city I live in and to the other places that have been a part of my life. What fun that would be. The Back to the Future movies made in the 1980s have always been some of my favorite movies. I've always thought the concepts in those movies were very creative. It's hard to believe that the first of the Back to the Future movie was made over 25 years ago.

I've also always thought time capsules were interesting. It's a way to get a glimpse into the past through a few items that were consciously and deliberately grouped together by someone or a group of people so that they would be found at a later date. I don't think time capsules are left to provide significant historic information as they are to give a glimpse into the culture of the people who leave it. There are time capsules that were buried during the 1939 and 1965 New York World's Fairs in Flushing Meadows that are meant to be opened in the year 6939. Wouldn't it be amazing if it did manage to make it five thousand years and be opened. There were time capsules buried by the government before the breakup of the Russian state, and there are time caspsules that have been put in space. In fact, there is an organization called the International Time Capsule Society.

"The International Time Capsule Society (ITCS) is an organization established in 1990 to promote the careful study of time capsules. It strives to document all types of time capsules throughout the world. The group is headquartered at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia."

Their website is very interesting. It can be checked out by clicking here. One time capsule that is definitely not on their records is the one that Debbie, the kids and I buried last April. As we were building walls in our basement in preparation to make it finished living space, we decided to build ourselves a time capsule and fill it with some items that are part of our everyday lives.
Some of the items we put in it are:

1. Savanna's old iPod (it was broken)
2. a newspaper from that day
3. some Canadian coins dated 2010
4. a US dollar bill
5. some of Seldons collector cards
6. a small photo album of our house and family
7. an Olympics year collectible metal coke bottle
8. an old cell phone
9. a personal cassette player
and a variety of other items.

The sides are engraved with some words including the date it was buried. We put all the items inside and screwed the top on. It fit between two studs in the wall and we sheet-rocked over it. It's now buried in a wall of our almost finished basement that hopefully will be found sometime in the future. I have ideas... make that fantasies... of a family finding it in a hundred years or so. I think it'd be so neat if they traced back to us and found a future family member to give it to.

It was lots of fun to do even though at times I felt like it was pulling teeth to get Debbie and the kids into it like I was. "Man crickett, this is lame!" In the end, they all pulled through and gave me lots of good items to put in and we all enjoyed sealing the box and putting it into the wall and covering it up together. It was a great family time for us that I think the kids will appreciate more someday when they're older and they remember what we did.

 

Now what in the world did I do with my wallet??

First Times Three

First

It's been a long day... but it's been a good one. Savanna played her first two games of basketball as a Leo Hayes Lion today and it was a day of firsts for her. She's a pretty good basketball player... she could be very good if she gave it her all and lived the game, but she doesn't and that's very okay. She has lots of other interests and she's a pretty well rounded kid. She was pretty aggressive on the court as evidenced by the four fouls she was called on in the first half of the first game. Needless to say with the reffing as it was, she was called with number five late in the third quarter and history was made with first number one... she fouled out of a basketball game. That's never happened to her before. I was proud of her... it showed an aggression on the court that she often lacks and needs to play a good game. Hopefully she can do that more often without all the fouls.

Second

Very late in the fourth quarter of the second game, Savanna got hit, went down and stayed down. She just layed there and I heard her crying, which she never does on the court, so after she was down about a minute, I went out to see what happened. She got the wind knocked out of her when she was hit by two other girls from both the back and the front. Her second first of the night as she never had this happen to her and had no idea what it was or how to deal with it. I coached her through it and she was fine. I, on the other hand, had another gray hair as a prize.

Third

She caught her breath just in time to shake hands with the opposing team and line up for the player of the game announcements when number 11 was called as player of the game for the Lions. I was thrilled... as I imagine she was since this was the first time ever that she was to get player of the game. First number three and the best was definitely saved for last.

She played good basketball tonight... learned a couple of things and was rewarded for a good job on the court. She's a great kid and a pretty good basketball player and I'm very proud of her. And, I'm definitely her number one fan on and off the court!

The 6:45 to the other universe

Is there anything better than a chocolate chip cookie... a homemade chocolate chip cookie loaded with chocolate chips... a freshly baked hot chocolate chip cookie loaded with sweet melted chips in every bite? I don't think so and I speak from experience... immediate experience... as I just finished a couple of freshly baked cookies with a hot cup of tea. When I walked in the house after puppy class tonight, the wonderful aroma of freshly baked cookies attacked my nostrils causing me to lose all control of my senses. My wonderful wife spent the evening baking cookies for the kids and me.

I have a very big sweet tooth... in fact, I think it's probably more like I have one salt tooth and all the others are sweet teeth. If I could, I'd probably have a sweet dessert of some kind every night, but I watch what I eat and limit myself to the good stuff and eat lots healthy stuff. It's the right thing for me and I like knowing I'm treating my body right. At least that's what I think I'm doing. I know in a parallel universe, fried chicken, french fries and cole slaw with a huge piece of chocolate cake for dessert will be a healthy meal while a salad with an apple for dessert will be thought of a the meal that will kill you someday! Until I'm able to book my trip there on the shuttle, I'll keep limiting my desserts and fat intake... except when I open the door to my house to that wonderful delightful smell of freshly baked cookies. Then all rational thought on eating healthy goes out the window... any window in my house that's open!

Give this artist a hand!

art (ahrt) - noun

1. the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.

 

They say that art is in the eye of the beholder... or in this case in the hand of the beholder. I'm constantly on the internet at work searching for graphics, photos and clip art for my job and came across these photos. I think they're pretty cool... creative and in my eye.... definitely art. If you've never seen them, enjoy them... if you have seen them, enjoy them again!

If you like these, there are a few more here... and lots on the web if you google hand art.

And now, MY list!

My wife wrote an awesome blog last night; I was very impressed by it. She turns forty in fourteen months and made a list of the forty things she wants to do before then. Some were small things that are very accessible are easily accomplished in a couple of hours, while others will take some work and persistence. It's an inspiring list that I'm sure Debbie will work hard at enjoying the process and results. I'm glad I'll be a part of many of her list items.

  

There is quite a difference in Debbie's and my age and while my list would be a bit more extensive, I've decided that I too need a list like hers. I'll be fifty-five on April 22nd. As with hers, some will easily be accomplished, while others will probably take more time and effort.

That said. Here is my list of fifty-five by fifty-five:

1. Finish the basement so the the kids have a hang out place with their friends.
2. Spend a Christmas shopping weekend in Maine with Debbie and the kids.
3. Go downhill skiing with my family.
4. Learn a video game to play with my son.
5. Blog twice a week.
6. Read once a week instead of watching TV.
7. Visit the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton.
8. Organize my old photos and scan them.
9. Get a tattoo.
10. Have a murder mystery party.
11. Wire all the video and audio components to work properly.
12. Get an iPad.
13. Volunteer for something.
14. Lose fifteen pounds.
15. Bake bread.
16. Take my wife on a date once a month.
17. Make an old family recipe for dinner.
18. Watch a movie a week.
19. Kijiji stuff in my Kijiji stuff pile.
20. Make muffins.
21. Eat muffins.
22. Make it through a night without having to pee three times.
23. Get up in the morning.
24. Go to work.
25. Work.
26. Eat lunch.
27. Work more.
28. Go home.
29. Eat dinner.
30. Try to not fall asleep by 9:15.
31. Make it through a night without having to pee three times.
32. Remember things my wife tells me for at least an hour.
33. Try not to repeat myself or tell stories over and over.
34. Try not to repeat myself or tell stories over and over.
35. Make it through one shopping trip at the grocery store without having to pee.
36. Make it through a night without having to pee three times.
37. Reduce my daily pill intake to thirty.
38. Try not to repeat myself or tell stories over and over.
39. Try not to repeat myself or tell stories over and over.
40. Stay awake at my desk for an entire day.
41. Remember to wear shoes.
42. Make it to work without having to run in and pee before even saying hello to anyone.
43. dry cleaners
44. get oil changed
45. bread
46. milk
47. eggs
48. lettuce
49. cucumber
50. yogurt.
51. butter
52. peas
53. Make it through a night without having to pee three times.
54. Finish what I star...

Click here to place order

I just got back from shopping... it's pretty cold here today, but I went shopping in just sweat pants, a tee shirt and socks... yup, socks, no shoes just socks and no jacket. I'm not losing it, I was shopping online. I love online shopping... I'm warm and comfortable in a recliner while watching television and I've got a better selection than anywhere in Fredericton.

I bought two pair of jeans, a shirt, a pair of sweatpants and a coat for Debbie from Lands' End... got 30% off the regular prices and free shipping. Not a bad deal considering i would have paid the regular prices for the items as I like Lands' End products a lot. Their customer service is far above any other company I've dealt with. Their reps know the merchandise extremely well and are great to deal with and returns are easy. What's not to like?

Another of my favorite online stores is Amazon. They started out as an online book store and have become an anything store. whenever I'm in the market for something, I usually check Amazon first to see if it's available and the price. Quite often it's the cheapest out there and much of their merchandise qualifies for free shipping.

I use eBay a lot but mostly for new merchandise and it's not always cheaper than regular stores and online stores. We buy our k-cups online and get them for a great price from a couple of different sites. I've bought tires online... I've bought audio and video cables for half the price I would have paid in a store here.... I've bought a new laptop battery very cheaply... I've bought video games and video game players... DVDs and printer ink. I bought four laptops online configured exactly as I wanted... I've bought things for the house, the car, for me, my wife, the kids. As I said, I love shopping online and will continue to shop in my socks until something better comes along!

Amazon
Lands' End
Kenoza Coffee
Coffee for Less
eBay
Tire Rack
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Matt who??

Some videos are funny... some are inspiring... some videos are sad... others are heartwarming. People do all kinds of crazy things in videos as evidenced by America's Funniest Home Videos. People dancing in videos is very popular... some people can dance really well, while others have more of the proverbial two left feet. This video features a guy named Matt who dances. He doesn't dance well, but it's been viewed 30,000,000... that's 30 million... times. I love it... it's definitely one of my favorites... it makes me smile.

I tried to upload the video, but had trouble, so just click on this link to see it.

play on the dancing 2008 video

This is his third video filmed around the world and he's working on number four. You can get the story behind it and follow his progress at the website. It's a pretty cool story!

Hey man, wanna buy some...

Savanna went to the mall today. Savanna is my fourteen year old daughter and a teenager in every way... except maybe one. At the mall, she got a couple of shirts, a cardigan and some "Crest 3-D White" toothpaste and "Crest 3D White Multi-Care Whitening Rinse." Now, while most teenagers would be excited about the clothes she got while shopping, Savanna wasn't. What SHE was excited about, was the "Crest 3-D White" toothpaste... yes, the "Crest 3-D White" toothpaste. She talked about it, extending it's virtue to us in conversation. After we cleaned up from supper, she asked, with all the enthusiasm of a child asking if they could have their dessert now, if she could go upstairs and use her "Crest 3-D White" toothpaste and "Crest 3D White Multi-Care Whitening Rinse." I told her she could, and off she went, dancing and singing "3-D Cresssssssst White, 3-D Cresssssssst White, 3-D Cresssssssst White... upstairs to brush and rinse."

I have to wonder if this is something that all her friends are doing and if they are, is there something more to it than whitening teeth. Maybe they figured out an alternative use for "Crest 3-D White" toothpaste." 

I googled: "what can you do with Crest 3-D White toothpaste." 

The answer: brush and whiten your teeth. 

I googled again: "can you get high on Crest 3-D White toothpaste?" 

The answer: "no, you can't get high on Crest 3-D White toothpaste."

I googled again: "Are you sure?"

The answer: "Yes"

I googled one more time: "Are you a Crest 3-D White drug dealer?"

The answer: "Narc... run!!!"

This leads to all kinds of questions. Are there sinister looking kids standing on street corners in downtown Fredericton whispering "Psssst, want to buy some Crest 3-D White?" Are kids passing tiny bits of cellophane wrapped Crest 3-D White toothpaste around in the bathrooms in school and whitening? Are there Crest Houses where addicts go to hang out and "whiten"? Are there Mexican Crest cartels stealing and killing for Crest 3-D White toothpaste? Will Police Departments start doing Crest 3-D White toothpaste stings? I'm afraid... this might be the new recreational drug epidemic that could turn into a 21st century scourge. Millions and millions of kids addicted to the worst thing to have hit the streets in decades. I guess amidst all the sadness and wasted lives, there is one bit of sunshine... at least they'll all have white teeth!

Everyday should be the weekend

Four day weekends are the best, and I am in the middle of one. Yesterday was Remembrance Day, which is a statutory holiday here and today was a Glenn holiday... just a personal day off. I worked in the basement today... I painted. Tomorrow I'll paint some door jambs and then I'll be putting flooring down. I love to work around the house like this... it's relaxing for me... it's me time. I could very easily quit working at my paying job and stay home. I'd stay busy... very busy... probably busier than I am now at my paying job.

I'm like my dad... he always kept busy around the house. He usually had at least one project on the go. My dad also built and flew radio control model airplanes, so he always kept busy with these. He retired at about age 62 and never was bored after that. Some people retire and have nothing to do... they get bored and waste away. I'm glad that didn't happen to my dad and I feel confident that it'll be the same way for me. I look forward to the beginning of my retirement and hope that it can begin in the near future. Until then, I'll take the occasional three or four day weekend.

Bazinga

Sheldon wears the coolest tee shirts. Sheldon, in case you don't know, is a character on the television show "The Big Bang Theory." It's one of my favorite shows. His shirts are colorful and bright with great graphics. I'm sure that I don't even know what half the graphics are and I imagine they all symbolize something.

I love tee shirts... I have quite a few of them and I am unnaturally attached to them. By that, I mean that I have a hard time getting rid of them. They get worn out and tattered, but I still want to keep them. Most of my shirts are from places I've been and are reminders of great vacations and fun times. I love my tee shirts and I wear them all... well, I wear most of them. Some just sit in my closet and are part of the collection. I'm sure they'd be missed by the others if they were thrown away! I just can't do it. My oldest tee is a Woodstock tee from 1969 (it's literally older than my wife). My youngest tee is from The Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival held here in Fredericton every September. A tee I got in St. John in the USVI is from my favorite place in the world. One can see why they'd be so hard to part with.

So Sheldon and I share something... a fondness for tee shirts. If you want to see Sheldon's, watch The Big Bang Theory on Thursday nights or go to Sheldon's Shirts. If you want to see mine, I'd be glad to show them and explain the story behind them to you.


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Why won't you wear the bribbon?

Tomorrow is Remembrance day here. By here, I mean Canada. It's a public holiday in most provinces, including New Brunswick. Although it's celebrated on the same day that Americans celebrate veteran's day, it's more of a Memorial Day holiday. Remembrance Day is observed on November 11th to recall the official end of World War I on that date in 1918, as the major hostilities of World War I were formally ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice. It's important here; Canadians take great pride in remembering their war dead.

Poppies are the symbol of Remembrance day and they begin to appear on jackets of Canadians in early to mid October and seem to multiply on their own as days go by. The red poppy has become the symbol of Remembrance Day because of the poem "In Flanders Field". I hardly ever see any of the Royal Canadian Legion members taking donations in exchange for a poppy, and yet I see them on almost every jacket and coat everywhere I go. I think that when jackets are put in closets at night, the poppies breed and multiply jumping onto other jackets like fleas jump from dog to dog! I didn't buy MY poppy, but there's one on my jacket. I have no idea when or how it got there, it just appeared one morning.

I'm intimidated by the poppy... I don't wear one because I necessarily want to, I wear one because I think I have to. It's not the law or a rule of any kind, but somehow I wonder if people would shun me if I don't wear one. I wonder if family would feel disgraced by me if I'm not seen with a poppy on my jacket. I wonder if dogs will bark at me and cats hiss at me as I walk by with my poppyless jacket. Homeless men might spit on me... cashiers refuse to serve me... the horror might be endless and yes, I wonder if I might even be sent back over the border if I don't wear the little red poppy. So I wear the poppy... on the left breast of my jacket over my heart. I'm scared not to. I'm scared to think what might happen if I don't wear the poppy.

So tomorrow is Remembrance Day and Veteran's Day... a day to remember. I'll be remembering those who were killed during service to two countries... my home country, the United States and my adopted country, Canada. War doesn't know borders and death isn't limited by nationality. I'll remember the veterans who proudly served and take a moment to be thankful for them and the peace I enjoy daily because of them.

And I'll wear the poppy... because I want to!

Not now, but maybe some day

 
Our puppy is away for the night... by away, I mean she's spending the night at the vet's after being spayed today. It's quiet in the house... there's a definite presence missing. 

My family had been "hounding" me (pun very much intended) for about four years to get a dog and for the four years, I said "no, the time isn't right". We had blended into a family only a few years before and I really felt that we... or maybe me more than we... needed more time to get used to living together. I didn't want a dog... they're messy and just wouldn't fit in with our... okay, my lifestyle. Beside that, I am allergic to many dogs and I was afraid that if we got a dog that I was allergic to, it'd be very difficult for Debbie and the kids to have to give it up. I wouldn't have a problem though; I didn't want a dog. I really just didn't think we were ready to bring another member into this family.

We had talked about dogs and decided that we would get a Shih Tzu or a Maltese if we were to get one... and that was a HUGE if. I just didn't want one. Both breeds are hypo-allergenic which would probably alleviate the allergy thing. Hmmm... one less issue to keep me from giving in to getting a dog. My power to say "no, not yet" was waning. In September, 2008, Debbie started studying for her Master's degree which took any extra time that we had away... again, it wasn't the right time. I'd have to spend a lot of the time taking care of the dog and I didn't even want one. That bought me some more time. Twenty-two months later and two days after Debbie got home from Halifax having finished her work for her Master's, she showed me a picture of a little black Shih Tzu puppy on Kijiji  for sale. Uh-ohhh... I was backed into a corner and I'd certainly end up in the doghouse (I had to) if I didn't at least say we could check it out. We were leaving the next morning for New Jersey to visit my mom for a week... certainly this would blow over by then. I didn't want a dog!

We got home from NJ the following Sunday evening. All traces of sensibility must have left me and the next morning, all five of us (my mom was here with us for three weeks) were saddled up and taking a ride to some far into the woods place in Chipman, New Brunswick. I'll argue now that I think I was drugged into this as we were going to meet this little black Shih Tzu and her breeder. I didn't want a dog. We spent about an hour there talking to the breeder and playing with two of the puppies. When it was time to go, I said, "let's go gang... maybe we can come back and visit again some time." Well, I don't know how it happened, and I imagine another drugging took place, because the return trip had six of us in the van... the newest addition being a 4 pound black Shih Tzu puppy newly named, ZuZu.

As I said, it's quiet here... a member of the family is away for the night. No one is milling around under my feet... no one is tugging on my pant leg wanting me to play ball with her... no one is barking at me because the world isn't revolving around her at that moment and no one is pestering me that she wants to go outside. I miss her tonight... she's definitely a part of this family now. I can't wait to pick her up in the morning and bring her home. I sure hope she's not scared tonight... I'm sure she's fine. But then, you know, that I didn't want a dog!

Aisle 3A, Row 2, Box 5B-7,

I often wonder if certain traits that we possess are part of our DNA or not. I'm not talking about having a big nose or being 6' 4" or even having a second tow longer that the big toe... I often wonder if things like organization are learned or not. I am a very organized person... much to a fault sometimes. My home is orderly... my desk at work is always neat as can be... my workshop is labeled and could rival the National Archives in Washington, DC's cataloging system. If you asked my neighbors, some might say that my garage is the most organized on the block... if not the city. Skills are thought to normally be taught and learned, and I have organizational skills... although, no one ever taught me these. I never took a class in school on how to be organized... I never read a self-help book on being organized and when I watch Home & Garden TV shows about organizing, I see how it can be done better.

So where did I get my organizational skills? As far back as I can remember, I've been neat and organized. I always had a neat room of my own doing and my drawers and closet were always organized. My desk at school was never the jumbled mess of papers, crayons candy wrappers and leftover tuna sandwiches that my friends desks were. I was organized. When I was of single digit age, I loved electric trains and cars. We didn't have video games or videos to watch  and I collected HO gauge cars and trains. Just recently, I dug out a few dusty boxes that I had stored in the corner of basement with these miniature automobiles and railroad cars in them. They were taped securely and when I opened a box, I didn't find it looking like a miniature town in Kansas after a tornado. There were no rats nests of wires and controllers and track with small parts strewn throughout, it was lined with small boxes that were neatly stacked, each full with track and railroad cars and accessories. Each  box was layered like lasagna with paper towel mozzarella protecting what to me was precious cargo. What I had there was proof that organizations skills must be inborn and not learned.

Where is this information stored in our bodies and where does it come from? Is there a gene in me that is stacked neatly and precisely labeled with these skills in it? Did my great, great, great grandfather learn these skills harvesting grapes in the hills of Italy and at that point it became part of my family's DNA? I have my ideas, but I guess I'll never know... or wait, I think I'll add this to my list of God questions!

(ps. the photo isn't my garage, but I consider the owner of it my hero)

And the sign said long haired freaky people need not apply...

Protest - n. proh-test

1. an expression or declaration of objection, disapproval, or dissent, often in opposition to something a person is powerless to prevent or avoid.

 

Someone is always protesting something... and the one thing that all protests have in common are signs. Rectangular pieces of cardboard or plastic attached to a stick of some kind and held to graphically enhance the point of the protest. I personally have never held a protest sign, but if I did participate in a protest, I think my sign might read like one of these! 

 

I have to give my cousin Paul credit for these... thanks cuz!

Who, What, Why, Where and How?

I've always had a curious nature. I have questions... special questions... not like "what's for dinner?" or "who took the last cookie that I was saving for later?" I mean BIG SPECIAL questions... questions to which no one has an answer. They're not questions that require long detailed answers. They're not questions that require an answer from someone who is highly trained in any special area. They're not hard questions... they're just special questions that I know I'll never get the answers to... never during my brief stay on this earth at least. I call them my God questions.

You see, I have a mental picture of the sequence of events that will happen after I die. I'm sure it's nothing like anyone else on earth's idea of dying and going to heaven, but  I think this is the way it'll happen to me. I'll stroll through the pearly gates as most envision the start of their heavenly adventure, and once on the other side, I'll be walking along a white sandy beach with crystal clear azure water. It won't be too hot... there'll be a slight breeze... sort of like the beach I love on St. John in the Virgin Islands. Enter God... holding an ice cold Boddington's beer just for me. Now, I don't drink a lot of beer, but I thoroughly enjoy a "good" beer from time to time, with Boddington's being my favorite. I think when Debbie does the pearly gate walk, she'll probably walk the same beach as I, but God will probably have a big ice cold glass of diet Pepsi. She'll have no worry over the aspartame in it and can drink as much as she wants unlike she should here on earth because she's going to grow a third arm out of her head with the crazy amount of diet Pepsi with aspartame in it she drinks now and is going to die early and leave me a widower with two kids to raise... STOP, I seem to have gotten sidetracked here. Sorry for that... let's rewind and not read that totally run-on ranting last sentence. Love you baby!

Anyway, it's at this point that I'll sit on a nice comfortable rock (Hey, it's heaven, rocks are going to be very comfortable) with the Almighty and finally have that question and answer session while we sip our beers. Yes, our beers, God will definitely be having an ice cold Boddington's with me. Mind you, I'll  have lots and lots of these God questions, but these will probably be the 10 most important on my list:

1. How did I do?
2. How's my dad?
3. Is there anyone not here that I expected would be?
4. How big is the universe... I know it's big, but I mean, like... how big?
5. Is there life on other planets? Are any of them like the Klingons?
6. Who killed John F. Kennedy? Why?
7. Did OJ kill his ex-wife and that other guy? How come the glove didn't fit?

8. Why do hot dog buns come in packages of 8 but hot dogs come in packages of 10?
9. Why did I only get a B in Math 305? 
10. Got any pretzels to go with this beer? 

When there's nothing you can do

I watched Oprah today. I've watched Oprah before, have been entertained before... but was really impressed by her show today... more than any other show of hers I've seen. Her audience was made up of 200 men... just men, with one thing in common... one very big thing in common. They were all sexually abused as children. It was emotional to watch men of all different ages, that I assume were from all over the United States, that were all brave enough to sit in her audience on national TV. They were all men we meet and see every day... our fathers, our brothers, your husbands, our teachers, our bosses... and I'm sure it was incredibly tough for every one of them to sit in that audience!

When I look back at my childhood, I realize how incredibly blessed I am to have grown up with two wonderful parents who truly loved me unselfishly, protected me and simply wanted what was best for me. They both grew up during the great depression... my dad in a one parent home after his dad died when he was 9 months old, and my mom growing up in a less than perfect family with an alcoholic father. But they made a choice... a choice to raise my sister and me the right way. I learned from them and try to raise my children the same way.

I find it so hard to understand how people who are supposed to be protecting children... in many cases their OWN children... can betray them. It's sad... it's disheartening... the sad feeling I had during the show almost got the best of me... I felt myself feeling becoming despondent about life because this show was reminding me of all the wrong in the world. After this feeling started to pass, I realized that I'm glad to have felt this... glad to NOT feel complacency... glad to not just pass this off as "a part of life". I don't know what I can do to help. I guess all I can do is protect my children and show them what a dad is supposed to be. I'll do my best!

Bravo Oprah!

Crack a Rat

Okay, let's go back to a time when we were younger. Nope, not our twenties when we were starting out as adults... and not to our late teens when we were having fun with our best friends forever in high school, and not when we were in middle school and began to discover the thrill of seeing that person that made our heart flutter. Let's go back to a time when our carefree spirit made us laugh and laugh... at what? Well, at a fart. There I said fart... a word that my mother hated and taught us not so say. I'm not sure why she hates that word, but she still does. I guess it rubbed off on me as I really don't like that word either. I choose to say "toot" in our home and try to get the kids to say that too, so I'll refer to the bodily process of passing gas as that. Remember when you were a kid and the most innocent of toots would set a whole group of friends laughing and carrying on? It would happen every time and with no less laughter than the 25th time before that. Fart, toot, barking spider, gas-passing... all words to describe the same thing... in fact one website I found had 261 synonyms for the word.

We were fascinated by toots and we'd invent ways to let them go in fairly creative ways. Everyone has said "pull my finger"... c'mon, you know you have! I've done that as recently as a few months ago with success and a few times since with not so successful results. I'll never forget the first time I did that to my son, Seldon, when he was about six and he just laughed and laughed... the look on his face was priceless and we had quite a dad-son bonding moment over it. I'm pretty sure there is no better way for a man to bond with his son that by sharing a tooting moment. Even my 14 year old daughter, Savanna, still laughs at toots. You'd think she'd be completely grossed out by it, but just last night, I was passing by her room at the end of the day... she was getting ready to settle down... I said good night, turned my bottom side towards her and... well, I tooted at her. Instead of yelling at me to "GO AWAY" or "THAT'S SO GROSS", she started to laugh and laugh. I guess I'm still her hero... a tooting hero, but a hero nonetheless!