Friday, February 27, 2009
Quick Cute Note
Last night after I changed her into her pajamas, as clear as day, I heard the sweetest thing I think I have ever heard from another person. Totally unsolicited she looked at me and in sweet toddler babble said I love you! Made Lisa and my heart melt.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Cell Tower
I forgot to post this picture last week. We were driving through West Bloomfield, Michigan last weekend and noticed the giant "tree" below which just so happens to be a cell tower in disguise. Sorry about the quality of the picture but it was taken on the fly in traffic. 
Living Room Overhaul
We finally did something about our pretty empty living room this weekend. We purchased two leather chairs and hung some pictures we purchased a few months ago. Now if I can only find a place for all the pink kids toys other than in the corners of the room and find a desk that works for the space I would be all set. I am still looking for a darker tone table for in between the two chairs but other than that, I think I like our purchases. 
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Stalker!
I don't typically use this blog to rant about things but this one has gotten under my skin a bit. It seems as though I have a stalker. I guy I once knew a long time ago; and by long time ago I mean he moved from my neighborhood in Cleveland to California back when I was 7 or 8 years old and I have seen him twice since, the last time being over 15 years ago for about 2 hours and the time prior probably when I was 10 years old. From time to time he would call my mom or sister but these calls were really sporadic and with long periods of time in between (read 6-7 years). The last time I spoke to him was probably 10 or 12 years ago and we didn't have much to say back then. Well all of a sudden this moron is beginning to call and leave messages on my answering machine. It's kinda creeping me out a bit. He tried to call my mom but since she moved, her phone number has changed. He tracked me down via the Internet yellow pages and won't take a hint. When he called me 3 days in a row and left messages and I didn't call, I would have thought he would have figured it out but two nights ago, he left a long message once again at 9:30pm while I we were trying to put the kids to bed. The message was down-right rude and went on about who he was, were he used to live, who my parent's were and the names of my sister and brother along with my old address and phone number. The dude is a freak! I may just have to call him back and tell him to have a nice life and take a long walk off the short pier. I think he may be licking windows on the short bus. Get a clue dude!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Valentine's Day Weekend
I finally starting feeling more like myself sometime late Friday evening after my bout with Ogre Fest on Thursday. Lisa and I had talked about maybe taking a road trip over the weekend with the kids and pretty much ruled it out but that all changed on Saturday morning. We packed up the kids and invited Bev and Ted to go up to, what seems like an annual trip, to Great Lakes Crossing for a bit of shopping. Great Lake Crossing, if you haven't seem my earlier posts an outlet mall north of Detroit in Auburn Hills. On the way up to shopping mall mecca, we stopped off at Original Gravity Brewery (yes, I got back on the saddle) for lunch. Original Gravity is a newer Michigan microbrew that was opened by a homebrewer. The feel of the place is similar to someones basement bar but with about a dozen or so fermenters behind the bar. The food consisted of basically sandwiches and snack food and the two beers I sampled weren't to my liking but other's probably found them pretty good. Ted tired the Porter, which I think was much better than the Pale Ale or the County Street Amber I had. I think I would go back to try the IPA that wasn't going to be ready until later this week.
After lunch, we checked into the hotel and then spent a good 3 hours or so wandering the mall. We really didn't buy much at the mall but did real damage at Kohls on Sunday morning. Friday, while looking for a place to eat, Katelyn decided it was time of a siesta and we didn't have the heart to wake her up so Pizza it was. Ended up eating pizza in the hotel room from a place called Papa Ramano's which ended up to be pretty good pie!
Sunday, we went to Kohl, stopped by the mall to let Shawn hang out at the video game room and then headed over to Ikea to wander around a bit. We did some damage at Ikea too. I ended up buying 40 wooden hangers to replace the wire ones in my closet, I need about 40 more, bought a bookshelf for Shawn's room, a couple of small display shelves for Shawn's room, a stuffed animal for Katelyn, some really cool rocks glasses and I'm sure some other items I'm forgetting. We also grabbed a bite to eat at their cafeteria. One more stop at Trader Joe's and then it was off for home.
Monday we took the day off since Shawn was off school for President's day and basically worked our tail ends off. Lisa and I cleaned, I vacuumed and mopped. Then upgraded Katelyn from her crib to her big girl bed. So moving around furniture and disassembling a crib pretty much took up most of the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon. Tonight we will bring the futon from the basement and put it in the toy room to replace the bed we took out of there for Katelyn.
Yesterday we visited the tax man; we are getting a decent refund and will pay off a bill or two with it. They did sock me with about $1100 in tax for the trip I won last year but I guess that's better than having to pay for the entire trip.
Beeriodic Table?
Kate playing peak at Original Gravity
Kate with crazy hair and her robotic kitty
After lunch, we checked into the hotel and then spent a good 3 hours or so wandering the mall. We really didn't buy much at the mall but did real damage at Kohls on Sunday morning. Friday, while looking for a place to eat, Katelyn decided it was time of a siesta and we didn't have the heart to wake her up so Pizza it was. Ended up eating pizza in the hotel room from a place called Papa Ramano's which ended up to be pretty good pie!
Sunday, we went to Kohl, stopped by the mall to let Shawn hang out at the video game room and then headed over to Ikea to wander around a bit. We did some damage at Ikea too. I ended up buying 40 wooden hangers to replace the wire ones in my closet, I need about 40 more, bought a bookshelf for Shawn's room, a couple of small display shelves for Shawn's room, a stuffed animal for Katelyn, some really cool rocks glasses and I'm sure some other items I'm forgetting. We also grabbed a bite to eat at their cafeteria. One more stop at Trader Joe's and then it was off for home.
Monday we took the day off since Shawn was off school for President's day and basically worked our tail ends off. Lisa and I cleaned, I vacuumed and mopped. Then upgraded Katelyn from her crib to her big girl bed. So moving around furniture and disassembling a crib pretty much took up most of the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon. Tonight we will bring the futon from the basement and put it in the toy room to replace the bed we took out of there for Katelyn.
Yesterday we visited the tax man; we are getting a decent refund and will pay off a bill or two with it. They did sock me with about $1100 in tax for the trip I won last year but I guess that's better than having to pay for the entire trip.
One other thing I though was cute and caught me completely by surprise. The other day, Lisa and I were driving with Katelyn in the car and all of a sudden, I hear this tiny little voice singing the entire alphabet song! I guess that $150 a week daycare bill is paying off in some way. Kate never ceases to amaze me as of late. Every day seems to bring a new word or phrase. I don't know where baby Kate went.
This would look good in my bedroom!
This would look good in my bedroom!
Beeriodic Table? 
Kate playing peak at Original Gravity
Kate with crazy hair and her robotic kittyFriday, February 13, 2009
Brewing Day
Well yesterday was the big day and I'm glad I had a designated driver because I would definitely ended up in a ditch somewhere or still at Mike's house.
Lisa has been feeling pretty lousy with a nasty cold for the past several days and on Wednesday it got worse. About an hour after work, she started to get a sharp pain in her ear. With her history of ear infections, she though it wise to go to the urgent care. About 2 hours later, prognosis correct...ear infection. Since this one seemed to be a pretty bad one, considering the doctor prescribed Tylenol 3 with codeine, I fully intended that I would be driving to brew by myself. I of course played the good Dad and ordered Pizza on Wednesday night while Lisa was waiting for a doc to see her. To my surprise, Shawn requested a 4-corner pizza from Jet's with pepperoni, fungus and the most bizzaro item an 7 year old could ask for...Anchovies! Yes you read it correctly. Salty furry tiny fish fillets. Thankfully I was also the smart Dad and ordered them on the side since Shawn could only choke down 2.
Lisa didn't sleep too well Wednesday but the idea of missing a day of Marc's hopping was too much for her to handle. The enjoyment that Lisa has wandering around the junk sections of Marcs is really hard to explain or to understand in my opinion. Lisa, Katelyn and I dropped Shawn off at school and met Bev and Ted for breakfast a Nick's and then off we went. Ted stayed back to pick Shawn up after school.
We picked Mike up about 11am and off to The Brew Kettle for some pre-brewing sampling. Unfortunately, The Brew Kettle didn't open til 11:30. So we waited....and pretty damn close to 11:30 I was sucking down one one of 24 beers they had on tap. And yes, I did have all of them! Mom and Ron showed up to visit and watch me brew about 1pm and I was already on my second 5-glass sampler. I wish I would have started with samplers instead of having a couple of pints first. The samplers were 5 ounces each and depending on the beer cost anywhere from 85 cents to $3.50 each. There were some really tasty beers on tap and most were over 8.5 ABV. They definitely taste better going down than they do coming back up which I will get to a bit later.
I ended up picking a beer called "Dead Poet'sImperial IPA" to brew. Online, the description was a big beer with Amarillo and Summit hops but much to my surprise, they only used those two hops when they were having a tough time getting their hands on Simcoe hops. This beer actually had 375 grams of Simcoe hops in it. Yes that is over 13 ounces of hops! And it had 6 1/2 liters of Light Malted Barley Extract. This beer is going to kick my butt!
The operation was really nice, I would love to have a couple of kettles like they have there. It was a blast from what I can remember of it. I pretty much lost most of the evening just before the last hop addition and my 24th sampler. The beer just kinda had a way of sneaking up on me. I do remember having a nice conversation with my mom and talking beer with Mike and Katelyn running around the place smiling up a storm.
I guess I was a regular ass on the way home. I kept messing around with the GPS and reclining my chair back and hitting Bev's knees (sorry again Bev, hope you recover from the bruises). Somewhere between Strongsville and home I decided it was time to get rid of all the beer back out the same hatch in went in. I would guess the truckers had a good time on their radios talking about the two women trying to undress the drunk dude on the side of the turnpike. I did a number on my shirt and the side of the car. If that wasn't enough, I kept a little beer in my body so when I got home the toilet also got its christening by me.
Make a note and learn from me, do not go to a tap house that is loaded with high octane beers and drink all day without eating more than just breakfast...major mistake! Needless to say, this morning was a bit rough and to boot, I had to call and apologize to everyone for being such an obnoxious drunken idiot. Once again, sorry Bev, Lisa and anyone else that I may have offended. I don't think I will be having a beer this weekend. One good thing about loosing all that beer is that I lost 5 pounds doing it; I'm sure it will be back soon.
Not sure what's in store for me and the family this weekend. Maybe a day trip somewhere. Here's a few pictures (crappy phone pictures). Have a Happy Valentine's day and a good Friday the 13th!
One of the Menu boards and half the taps
My kettle with 24 pounds of 2-Row dry grains
One of the Kettle lines
Bottling Stations (I will be kegging)
Lisa has been feeling pretty lousy with a nasty cold for the past several days and on Wednesday it got worse. About an hour after work, she started to get a sharp pain in her ear. With her history of ear infections, she though it wise to go to the urgent care. About 2 hours later, prognosis correct...ear infection. Since this one seemed to be a pretty bad one, considering the doctor prescribed Tylenol 3 with codeine, I fully intended that I would be driving to brew by myself. I of course played the good Dad and ordered Pizza on Wednesday night while Lisa was waiting for a doc to see her. To my surprise, Shawn requested a 4-corner pizza from Jet's with pepperoni, fungus and the most bizzaro item an 7 year old could ask for...Anchovies! Yes you read it correctly. Salty furry tiny fish fillets. Thankfully I was also the smart Dad and ordered them on the side since Shawn could only choke down 2.
Lisa didn't sleep too well Wednesday but the idea of missing a day of Marc's hopping was too much for her to handle. The enjoyment that Lisa has wandering around the junk sections of Marcs is really hard to explain or to understand in my opinion. Lisa, Katelyn and I dropped Shawn off at school and met Bev and Ted for breakfast a Nick's and then off we went. Ted stayed back to pick Shawn up after school.
We picked Mike up about 11am and off to The Brew Kettle for some pre-brewing sampling. Unfortunately, The Brew Kettle didn't open til 11:30. So we waited....and pretty damn close to 11:30 I was sucking down one one of 24 beers they had on tap. And yes, I did have all of them! Mom and Ron showed up to visit and watch me brew about 1pm and I was already on my second 5-glass sampler. I wish I would have started with samplers instead of having a couple of pints first. The samplers were 5 ounces each and depending on the beer cost anywhere from 85 cents to $3.50 each. There were some really tasty beers on tap and most were over 8.5 ABV. They definitely taste better going down than they do coming back up which I will get to a bit later.
I ended up picking a beer called "Dead Poet'sImperial IPA" to brew. Online, the description was a big beer with Amarillo and Summit hops but much to my surprise, they only used those two hops when they were having a tough time getting their hands on Simcoe hops. This beer actually had 375 grams of Simcoe hops in it. Yes that is over 13 ounces of hops! And it had 6 1/2 liters of Light Malted Barley Extract. This beer is going to kick my butt!
The operation was really nice, I would love to have a couple of kettles like they have there. It was a blast from what I can remember of it. I pretty much lost most of the evening just before the last hop addition and my 24th sampler. The beer just kinda had a way of sneaking up on me. I do remember having a nice conversation with my mom and talking beer with Mike and Katelyn running around the place smiling up a storm.
I guess I was a regular ass on the way home. I kept messing around with the GPS and reclining my chair back and hitting Bev's knees (sorry again Bev, hope you recover from the bruises). Somewhere between Strongsville and home I decided it was time to get rid of all the beer back out the same hatch in went in. I would guess the truckers had a good time on their radios talking about the two women trying to undress the drunk dude on the side of the turnpike. I did a number on my shirt and the side of the car. If that wasn't enough, I kept a little beer in my body so when I got home the toilet also got its christening by me.
Make a note and learn from me, do not go to a tap house that is loaded with high octane beers and drink all day without eating more than just breakfast...major mistake! Needless to say, this morning was a bit rough and to boot, I had to call and apologize to everyone for being such an obnoxious drunken idiot. Once again, sorry Bev, Lisa and anyone else that I may have offended. I don't think I will be having a beer this weekend. One good thing about loosing all that beer is that I lost 5 pounds doing it; I'm sure it will be back soon.
Not sure what's in store for me and the family this weekend. Maybe a day trip somewhere. Here's a few pictures (crappy phone pictures). Have a Happy Valentine's day and a good Friday the 13th!
One of the Menu boards and half the taps
My kettle with 24 pounds of 2-Row dry grains
One of the Kettle lines
Bottling Stations (I will be kegging)
Monday, February 09, 2009
Katelyn's Party
Not much to update on other that this weekends highlight which was Katelyn's party. Pretty laid back, no major items to note other than I think Katelyn had a blast!
Lisa stayed home today from work because she feeling a bit ill. She had a pretty good fever last night accompanied by a good ole fashion headache and this morning just wasn't feeling up to work. I think she's starting to feel a bit better but she also is developing a nice cough and chest congestion. I certainly hope that the kids don't end up with the bug.
This week we have a first communion parents meeting Tuesday and I have a date with The Brew Kettle to finally blow my father's day gift from last year brewing a batch of beer this week as well. I have decided on the beer they call Dead Poet's Imperial IPA; a supper bitter and high alcohol content beer. I can't wait. Lisa is going to drive over with her Mom, Katelyn and Me and will go shopping while Mike and I brew and sample some of the beers on tap this week. I guess I lucked out so my brother says because this week is Ogre Fest at the Brew Kettle. It's a fun name they gave to a two week long extravaganza of beers on tap from all over the country that are not for the faint of heart. I figured I needed a designated driver for the day to insure that I don't spend an unintentional evening somewhere between Strongsville and home being some dude named Bubba's bitch.. The only real problem with brewing so far from home is that I have to go back to pick up the finished product three weeks later. Just gives me another reason to sample a couple more beers I guess.
Lisa stayed home today from work because she feeling a bit ill. She had a pretty good fever last night accompanied by a good ole fashion headache and this morning just wasn't feeling up to work. I think she's starting to feel a bit better but she also is developing a nice cough and chest congestion. I certainly hope that the kids don't end up with the bug.
This week we have a first communion parents meeting Tuesday and I have a date with The Brew Kettle to finally blow my father's day gift from last year brewing a batch of beer this week as well. I have decided on the beer they call Dead Poet's Imperial IPA; a supper bitter and high alcohol content beer. I can't wait. Lisa is going to drive over with her Mom, Katelyn and Me and will go shopping while Mike and I brew and sample some of the beers on tap this week. I guess I lucked out so my brother says because this week is Ogre Fest at the Brew Kettle. It's a fun name they gave to a two week long extravaganza of beers on tap from all over the country that are not for the faint of heart. I figured I needed a designated driver for the day to insure that I don't spend an unintentional evening somewhere between Strongsville and home being some dude named Bubba's bitch.. The only real problem with brewing so far from home is that I have to go back to pick up the finished product three weeks later. Just gives me another reason to sample a couple more beers I guess.
Other than that, we seem to be having a spring like thaw! All I have to say to that is that I am so sick of the arctic weather I can't wait until the unofficial beginning of Spring (Opening Day) which is only 60 days away!
Let the party begin!
Look what my brother bought for me..a gift for himself!
I must take after my Dad!
Let the party begin!
Look what my brother bought for me..a gift for himself!
I must take after my Dad!
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Monday, February 02, 2009
Superbowl Weekend
This weekend pretty nice. We started on Friday heading out to pick up groceries for the weekend's festivities and grabbing a bite to eat at Applebee's using a gift card I got for my 40th (thanks Marsha and Ray). Later that evening I kegged my latest batch of beer which turned out pretty well. I was drawn to this particular beer due to the type of hop it had in the kit. I'm not sure that the Simcoe hop is my favorite any longer. This beer, while very drinkable, is my least favorite of the 3 I've brewed so far. I'm not sure what the issue is with this one but It's a bit more bitter than the double IPA I brewed last and not in a hop-head good way but not an entirely bad way either. I know I'm not making too much sense here and no, I haven't been hitting the keg at lunch-time either but I know what I'm trying to say.
Saturday, Lisa and I spent time cleaning up and preparing the food that we could prepare ahead of time for our Superbowl gathering at the house. We also ran a few errands, one to Hobby Lobby for a few items to finish my once a decade craft project and for some silk flowers for Lisa's arrangement for the foyer. I decided with the imagination of a very crafty young lady at work to try my hand at a decorative wine bottle lamp and it really didn't turn out too badly. I made one for Lisa and I using a bottle of wine from the winery I won my Key West trip (Menage a trois) and one for Lisa's mom, Bev, using a wine bottle I've blogged about in the past that we found in her father's basement after he passed away several years ago. Here are a few pictures of the finished product:
Sunday Lisa and the kids along with her Mom and Dad went to our Church's pancake breakfast while I dug out the driveway of the major drifts that developed overnight. The rest of the day was spent preparing for the party. Of course getting ready for the party meant throwing back a few homebrews and sharing with Bev and Ted. I set up a sampler of different beers to try which included my old favorite lager (Miller Lite), a new everyday favorite (Sierra Nevada Pale Ale) and one each of my homebrews on tap. Here's a picture of the samplers, can you guess which beer is which?
Sunday evening people arrived at 5 and we had our Superbowl feast consisting of: Homemade french onion dip, two different salsas, beef pinwheels, Sloppy Joe's, mini hot dogs wrapped in croissants, boneless chicken wings (plain, BBQ and Buffalo style) with homemade blue cheese dip, pasta salad, Tony Packo's chili Hungarian sausage (Toledo staple), cupcakes, brownies and you guessed it....beer! Homebrew of course!
Lisa and I garbaged up on Superbowl squares! Lisa won two quarters and I won two. We only played 25 cents per square but we ended up walking away with our money back and we made up for the squares we bought at work (didn't win anything) for a bit more money.
Watched the game with predicted results (I just hate when the Steelers win) and everyone was gone about 10 minutes after the game ended. Not sure if any of the commercials hit me as being outstanding this year but the 3-D commercial was fun. Bev picked up enough glasses for everyone and the two commercials in 3-D were pretty well done. I think we will watch the television show that is being broadcast 3-D tonight as well.
Joyce and Tom (Jill's parent) having fun in 3-D
The kids playing smear the queer
Saturday, Lisa and I spent time cleaning up and preparing the food that we could prepare ahead of time for our Superbowl gathering at the house. We also ran a few errands, one to Hobby Lobby for a few items to finish my once a decade craft project and for some silk flowers for Lisa's arrangement for the foyer. I decided with the imagination of a very crafty young lady at work to try my hand at a decorative wine bottle lamp and it really didn't turn out too badly. I made one for Lisa and I using a bottle of wine from the winery I won my Key West trip (Menage a trois) and one for Lisa's mom, Bev, using a wine bottle I've blogged about in the past that we found in her father's basement after he passed away several years ago. Here are a few pictures of the finished product:
Sunday Lisa and the kids along with her Mom and Dad went to our Church's pancake breakfast while I dug out the driveway of the major drifts that developed overnight. The rest of the day was spent preparing for the party. Of course getting ready for the party meant throwing back a few homebrews and sharing with Bev and Ted. I set up a sampler of different beers to try which included my old favorite lager (Miller Lite), a new everyday favorite (Sierra Nevada Pale Ale) and one each of my homebrews on tap. Here's a picture of the samplers, can you guess which beer is which?
Sunday evening people arrived at 5 and we had our Superbowl feast consisting of: Homemade french onion dip, two different salsas, beef pinwheels, Sloppy Joe's, mini hot dogs wrapped in croissants, boneless chicken wings (plain, BBQ and Buffalo style) with homemade blue cheese dip, pasta salad, Tony Packo's chili Hungarian sausage (Toledo staple), cupcakes, brownies and you guessed it....beer! Homebrew of course!
Lisa and I garbaged up on Superbowl squares! Lisa won two quarters and I won two. We only played 25 cents per square but we ended up walking away with our money back and we made up for the squares we bought at work (didn't win anything) for a bit more money.
Watched the game with predicted results (I just hate when the Steelers win) and everyone was gone about 10 minutes after the game ended. Not sure if any of the commercials hit me as being outstanding this year but the 3-D commercial was fun. Bev picked up enough glasses for everyone and the two commercials in 3-D were pretty well done. I think we will watch the television show that is being broadcast 3-D tonight as well.
Pretty much back to work today and looking forward to Kate's birthday party this weekend.
Skylar and Shawn 3-D
Skylar and Shawn 3-D 
Joyce and Tom (Jill's parent) having fun in 3-D
The kids playing smear the queer
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