Last week was really nice. Lisa's brother was in town for Thanksgiving and we had a great time hanging out, eating, catching up and drinking beer. As Brad says, everything's better with more beer! Thanksgiving day consisted of traditional deep fried turkey (I didn't start a fire this time around) and it turned out as it has in the past. Of course the weather was the same traditional horribly cold day that makes deep frying oh so enjoyable. But as Brad put it, everything is more tolerable with beer. Eating on thanksgiving also gave way to the traditional go hide somewhere and take a nap. Of course the nap was aided by....you guessed it....BEER!

Friday I left for work early (two hours early) so I could battle the absolutely insane people that stand in lines all night waiting for the stores to open the day after Thanksgiving. My choice as my first store stop was Menards for a $3 Barbie Doll for Katelyn. Of course she's too young to know what a Barbie doll is but she'll thank me in a few years. I then went to Home Depot where the crowd was more manageable (there were only about 30 people in the entire store). At Home Depot I picked up a screwdriver set Brad wanted and a propane fueled patio heater. The heater was on sale for $99 which is a steal. The least expensive price I have ever seen on comparable heaters was nearly $300. After the Depot, I wandered around a few more stores and then went to work about an hour earlier than usual.

Saturday, I decided to try my culinary hand at a what people around here call a hobo dinner. I used my 30 quart turkey fryer pot and put a steamer basket in the bottom of it. Then I filled it with fresh kielbasa, bratwurst, Boston butt roast, a small ham, green beans, cabbage, corn, onions, carrots, red skin potatoes and shrimp. Then I poured about....you guessed it again....a quart of beer and some water into the pot. The trick seemed to be figuring out when to add certain ingredients. The end result was both way too much food but it was all really good! I will definitely do it again. By the way the best part of cooking was hanging out on the patio under the new patio heater drinking......yes beer.....and getting all liquored up.

All the beer caused a shortage right before the hobo was put on the fire so off Brad and I went to the not so great state of Michigan (actually the western part of the state is nice but anywhere near Ann Arbor or Detroit should be avoided at all costs). We ended up with another quarter barrel of icy cold Miller Lite.

Sunday was a day of rest and watching another great Brown's game. Is it too early to jump the playoff bandwagon?

Work is starting to pick up. Starting my 11 hour days and missing hanging out......you guessed it.....drinking beer!!!!

Have a great week!

Go Browns!!

OSU-Michigan Friday
(good guys won!!)

Turkey Day

Turkey didn't want to fit

Doing what I do best cooking and drinking beer!

Minutes after dunking

Finished bird (one hour 15 minutes)

Nice leg

Uncle Brad and Katelyn


Hobo steaming

Finished Hobo

Like Father like DaughterSomeone had too much beer

I love my sister

Really the more you drink, the better we look!

Been awhile since I updated so this one may be all over the place.

Last weekend, we did our usual running errands and cleaning up around the house. I also finally got around to installing a battery back up sump pump which is the first step in the basement remodel process. The installation of the back up pump was much easier that I thought it would be and it really only took about 90 minutes....not too bad for never installing one before. Total cost for the added security and piece of mind; about $425!

The rest of the week was pretty much a blur. Started Monday with a fever and stomach ache, felt better on Tuesday, followed by what I am guessing is a migraine headache all of Wednesday and Thursday. If you don't have migraines, I hope you never develop them. It was so bad it hurt to even try to sleep. I finally took some over the counter migraine meds and all better. Nothing was working to help the headache, not Tylenol, not Ibuprofen, not aspirin or sinus medication. I was even taking double the recommended dosage and nothing was helping. Excedrin Migraine is a miracle drug!

Between the sickness and the headache Lisa and I met up with my Mom, Sister and Brother and went to an awards dinner that my Dad's last employer holds to recognize years of service to the company. At the end of the awards ceremony, they unveiled a plaque they are hanging in their call center dedicated to my Dad. They dedicated the call center as the "Tom Ruff Memorial Call Center". It was a really nice thought. Everyone Dad worked with are really nice people and are all still feel his loss. It was nice to see that Dad had such an impact on so many people that he worked with. I have posted a picture of the plaque below (sorry about the bad quality but the picture came from my cell phone with really bad lighting in the room).

This weekend brings kids pictures and who knows what. Have a great weekend!!

Sleeping Beauty and the Beast

Just your typical crazy week coming to an end. Halloween was fun this year. Shawn and I ran around like mad men trying to hit as many houses as possible this year. I can't believe how many regular size candy bars he got this year. It was also very nice to have decent weather for the first time in what seems like forever. One of the funniest houses we went to was the home of a local college football coach that will remain nameless to protect the guilty. Shawn went walking up to his house and through coach's dining room window you could see coach sitting there looking out the window for unsuspecting kids. As the kids would walk up to the door, coach pushed a remote control to make a jack-o-lantern fart! Then coach could be seen laughing hysterically. Now this doesn't seem too funny but have you ever seen a grown man weighing in at at least 350 to 400 pounds laughing his head off over a fart machine? It was a sight to be seen. What a blast!

Lisa and I went to parent teach conferences yesterday and the review went very well. Shawn's teacher has a reputation for being a mean woman so Lisa was a bit apprehensive going into the meeting but once the teacher said Shawn was gifted about 5 times, Lisa changed her tune! The teacher was worried that Shawn was bored (which he is at times) and told us that we should enroll him in art classes because she thinks his artwork is advanced for his age. She also said he is reading well beyond his age. Overall, a great meeting!

That's really all I have to report for now. Here are a few new pictures of Halloween and the "Pirate's Booty" we found going door to door. Sorry about all the pictures but there were so many decent ones I had to post them all!