Just a quickie post. With some heavy coxing from a couple of co-workers, we sent this movie (the top one) of Katelyn into American Funniest Videos. We'll see if it's as funny as everybody thinks it is. We also booked a quick vacation to see my Aunt and cousins in the Nashville area. I haven't been there in years and I think Lisa and the kids will enjoy visiting and seeing the area. I'm sure it will be beastly hot and the drive will be all so pleasant.

Shawn completed a little survey about me for father's day. I really got a kick out of the answers.I had a really nice father's day weekend. Saturday, I fulfilled my end of a birthday present and went to a neighborhood garage sale with Lisa. I really don't enjoy looking at other's garbage but it wasn't all that bad. Saturday evening Jill, Todd and the Kids came over for a cook out and we took a ride over the boarder and bought about $5o worth of fireworks (all fountains). The video of Katelyn below was from Saturday night. Todd and I also indulged in a few Irish car bombs which are definitely my favorite shots. Irish car bombs consist of a half shot of Jameson's and a half shot of Bailey's dropped into a half pint of Guinness. You have to chug the drink before the Bailey's starts to curdle with the beer. If you down it quick enough, the mixture tastes like a chocolate milkshake....delicious!

Sunday, we took Shawn for his 7 year old pictures a few month late. Of course, since we were taking pictures, I jumped in with Shawn and Katelyn, Lisa took a picture with the kids and we took a family picture as well. Overall the pictures turned out well; I can't post the pictures here since Lisa hasn't mailed them out yet. I got a few really cool gifts this year that took me by surprise. From Katelyn, I got a neat framed poem with her footprints painted on it, from Shawn I got the cool survey posted above, a Cleveland Brown's logo 25 foot tape measure and a $150 gift certificate from the Brew Kettle in the Cleveland area to brew my own beer.

My Brew Kettle certificate will pay for me to brew at least (72) 22 ounce beers. I think I will brew a IPA and have it put into a keg. Unfortunately, the earliest opening The Brew Kettle has to brew is in January. Oh well, it's something to look forward to!

The past week also was Lisa's birthday. We celebrated with T-bone steaks with her Mom, Dad and the kids. She got a few nice things that she picked out and I bought her an I-Pod Nano (8Gb) and a JBL docking station.

The next two weeks are pretty busy with work. I get to travel to Columbus for a seminar, Chicago for a trade show and I have a Mudhens' game with a vendor. While in Chicago, I'm going to have a little more time to kill than I usually do and will probably hang out with Lisa's brother Brad for the day on Saturday. Lisa will arrive in Chicago later in the week to attend classes while I work the trade show.

We are also in the process of finalizing a trip in July to see my aunt and cousins in Nashville. I've been there once 14 years ago but don't remember too much about the city except the people were really friendly and there were some fun and interesting places to see. Of course it will probably be 105 degrees everyday we're there. Traveling in the car with Katelyn will more fun than a full frontal lobotomy.

Just a quick video post of Katelyn's reaction to some fireworks:

It's been awhile since my last post so I will just ramble a bit.

We've been pretty busy with getting the yard back in order but I think we are about 90% finished planting for the year. I do have a small area in the back near the patio that could use some help but other than that area, I am pleased with the results. I ended up planting a King Crimson Maple in the back yard. I figure that in about 8 years or so I will have evening shade in the patio area. The leaves got a bit burned out in transit from the store but it seems to be rebounding nicely. I've been meaning to plant a tree and finally got off my rear and did it. The other fun plant I have in my garden this year is basil. Lisa loves Pesto and considering Basil goes for about $25 a pound, I figured I would try my hand at growing it. I hope it grows well.

Labor day, we went to Jill's parent's lake house for a couple of days. It's pretty peaceful there. It's a good size house on a smaller no wake lake; I think its relaxing but I think Lisa gets a bit bored. I think if Katelyn was a bit older, Lisa might have enjoyed it more. We basically hung outside all weekend, I fished (didn't catch more than a few small bluegill) and took a few boat rides in between having a couple of beers.

This past weekend, we had a birthday party to take Shawn to and I played golf for the second time this season. And I played pretty well. Just seems like there's not enough time in the week to play very much anymore.



Tomorrow is Shawn's last day of school and of course he is so excited he can hardly contain himself. I'm sure that after about 2 weeks, he will be ready to go back because he will be so bored. Yesterday he went to the zoo, today he has a field day and tomorrow is the end of the year party in which Lisa is working. Seem like just yesterday that school started for the year.

Not much happening this weekend that I know of yet so maybe I will get a few things done around the house. Maybe we will finalize vacation plans or no vacation plans for this summer. We've tossed around going to Nashville to see my Aunt or to Minneapolis to take in The Mall of America. Either trip will be a bare because we would end up driving and Katelyn is an absolute miserable car traveler. Just scheduling the trip is tough enough due to the weekends filling up fast this summer and I the fact that I will be gone for work a few extra times this year. I still need to schedule a time to get the the Cleveland area too to see Mom's new place and Mike's new apartment.

Here's a video of Katelyn helping Dad water the flowers and taking a shower in the process:

Here's a few more pictures:Katelyn and Dad relaxing in the yard

Cheese!Check me out in my glasses!
Saturday morning fun!New Tree

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!