It's been a pretty busy week. I got my additional 3 yards of Mulch on Monday and spread about 2 yards or so and now I'm trying to figure out where to dig another planting bed. I can't win estimating the amount of mulch to buy or the method the landscaping company measures it by may not be very scientific. It's a good think I like to work in the yard.

Lisa is having a garage sale with her friend Jill at Jill's house today and Saturday so most of our free time has been dragging our garbage from the basement and loading it into the car to take to Jill's. I can't believe that after selling so much last year at their sale that they have filled an entire three car garage and a good portion of the driveway with "stuff". There's so many kids toys; just think of all the money that was spent on a three car garage full of toys!

Last night we had to run over to the funeral home to pay respects to the husband of one of our coworkers. He had a form of dementia that rapidly called Frontotemporal Dementia; he was only 56. I can only hope that no one else I know has to struggle with this form of dementia. The disease doesn't have a cure and there aren't drugs that do much to stop or slow down the progression. Pretty sad all the way around. From diagnosis to death is anywhere from 2 years to 10 years, he made it 5.

Of course with all the talk about death the past couple of days, Shawn melted down last night. He was crying pretty much uncontrollably and saying that he misses his Grandpa and his dog. I wish I could take the pain away from him. It's just so frustrating trying to comfort a seven year old dealing with loss when you don't understand it yourself at 39.

Tonight Lisa and I are working the beer tent at our church festival. I've been practicing a lot lately pouring the perfect draft beer in my garage. I'm sure we will hang a bit after our shift is done.

Lisa and I took the day off today to do some yard work. The mulch wasn't arriving until 11am so we dropped Shawn off at school,Katelyn at daycare and went to breakfast at Mayberry dinner. Since we had time to kill, Lisa bribed me to going to a neighborhood garage sale (garbage sale). She of course found things to buy.

When we got home, we spread the 5 yard of mulch I ordered and I'm 3 yards short. The front flower beds are now half done and I can't get mulch until Monday. Oh well, the house will look like a family of short bus riders live there for a couple of days. I don't know what I was thinking when I ordered 5 yards.

We finished spreading mulch and cleaning up just in time to take Katelyn to her 15 month appointment. All is well other than the fact she had to get two shots. She weighed in at 26 pounds, 12 oz and was 32" tall. She is in the 90-95 percentile for her age. Lisa sure seems to grow them big!

Last night I had some squid that I had to use up but I didn't feel like breading it and messing around with the deep fryer so I got inventive. I took olive oil, onions, garlic and sauteed for a bit. I then added the sliced squid, salt, pepper and oregano and cooked a while longer covered. I then added some cooking sherry and salsa and cooked about 10 minutes over low. The result is what I call Squidward Mexitaliano. I should have served it over rice or noodles but ate it all by itself. There's a picture below; it tasted much better than it photographed.

"Squidward Mexitaliano"

"Katelyn playing with the stainer"

My brother came for a visit this past weekend. We really kept it pretty low key but had fun nonetheless. Friday, we had dinner, watched the Cavs game, had a few beers and indulged in some Jameson Irish whiskey. Once we were in party shape, we went to a bar nearby with my friend Todd called Andy and Barney's. The bar just so happens to be located in a shopping complex called Mayberry! Pretty small bar but it had a decent crowd and a couple of fun bartenders who shared a shot or two with us. We had a couple of beers and a couple of shots and called it a night.

Lisa really didn't feel well all weekend so Katelyn went to stay with her Nana while Lisa relaxed and Mike and I did our thing. So Saturday, Mike wanted to go to The Maumee Brewing Company. So we headed downtown and had a bite to eat at The Blarney. We both had a great grilled marlin sandwich which came with an order to homemade potato chips. The chips were some of the very best I have ever had and they were served with a side of blue cheese dressing for dipping. Fat city but delicious. I wish The Blarney was in my neighborhood, I would like to eat there more often. Once we were finished with our food and had a couple of pints, we headed down to Maumee Brewing. We were extremely disappointed to find out that the place didn't open until 4pm....on a Saturday! We then went on a mission to find a bar in Downtown Toledo that was open before 4pm and the only one that we could find was Easystreet cafe. We had a couple more beers there and then headed home to watch the derby and have a mint julep (I'm not a big fan I found out).

Saturday evening, Lisa still wasn't feeling too well but did manage to drag herself out to try and eat. We ended heading to Sidelines with Jill and Todd. After dinner, Lisa went to bed and Mike, Shawn and I ended up all falling asleep in the family room watch television. We were all sawing wood by 9:30.

Sunday we had lunch at Elephant Bar and then Mike headed home. I finished the day by mowing the lawn, grilling steak for dinner.

This morning I ordered 5 cubic yards of black gold (mulch) which will be delivered Thursday. Time to get the landscape back into shape.

Happy 32nd Birthday Mike!

Mike's Cake on the cool cake stand Lisa foundKatelyn's new do!