Why do I feel like I am packing to go to a Browns game instead of an Indians game? Maybe its because we are supposed to get 2-5 inches of snow before the end of the day Monday. I have been looking all over town for a hooded sweatshirt with a zip-up front to wear under my coat for the game tomorrow, finally found one at MC sporting goods. You can’t believe how difficult it is to find a sweatshirt in April.

Dauber got into the trash again today, that is a nasty habit that he learned from his cousin Goliath. Lisa caught him in the family room with a corn cob in his mouth. Needless to say, Lisa gave him one hell of a beating and he retreated to the bedroom.

Shawn is into Thomas the Tank Engine (animated-like toy train that has videos etc.), Lisa found out that they have a life-sized Thomas that tours the U.S. every summer that you can take rides on him. Thomas is gong to be in Lost Peninsula, OH this summer during Memorial day weekend and guess who gets to go and spend the day with Thomas? If you guessed Lisa, Shawn and I....you are correct. We had to make reservations for tickets and I also made reservations to stay at the Embassy Suites in Independence Ohio. We will probably hang out with my parents and then go hang out with Thomas and the other 10,000 other pre-school children in attendance.

One last thing before I continue to pack for opening day in the snow....Lisa has fallen in love with these characters that you can buy from the gumball machines at the grocery stores. These loveable little characters are called “homies”. They are tiny figurines that are of typical stereotypical mexicanos...I can’t get out of a store without dropping a dollar for these things. I think that I will have to set up a village with graffiti on the building and use these things as the “towns people” or ghetto people!!! You can see why Lisa loves these things so much here.

Finally in keeping with the ethnic tradition that I have started I leave you with this......I be keepin it real in the 419....word up homies......

Okay, so I can't type so well!!! Sometimes I do need a light to tell me when to get in the can but it really has nothing to do with my car's tire pressure. I guess I will have to type these updates in word and spell check them from now on. At least Brad got a laugh out of my typos. Shawn, Lisa and I took about a mile walk through Swan Creek (the park Brad, not a walk in the creek). I just finished the budget at work today...that was an experience after I printed the reports out, it turned out to be about 200 pages long. I really learned a lot about excel in the process. Since the series of mergers and acquisitions took place in my company last September, we have gone from a company that was totally run on cash to a company that uses bank financing. In order to show the bank the information it requires, we had to develop a budget that drives a cash flow report and a balance sheet to develop the financial ratio information the bank needs to see and to check ourselves to make sure we are meeting bank covenants. Pretty strange having a budget...we never had a rigid published budget before. My next big project is working on getting ISO certified in at least one of our locations. I have a funny feeling ISO will take a while. Word to your mother...see ya on the flip-side.........

Not too much to report lately. They got me for $500 for four tires, an alignment and oil change. I guess I am also losing a ball joint as well. I got in the can on Monday and the low tire light went on...I didn't even know that I had a low tire light. I thought that I sprung a flat but only needed to reset the monitor (this of course caused some chice words to come out of my moouth as I was driving down the road to work). Lisa,Shawn, Bev, Ted and I went to a new pizza joint last night called Capers Pizza Bar. They have a really nice bar but no liquor permits yet (pretty strange). The pizza was really good (we have been looking for a mom and pop joint for a while) We had a white pizza which just had a little garlic/olive oil and four cheeses and a traditional sausage and Mushroom Pizza. The white pizza was great!!! We also saw 8-mile over the weekend and it was better than I thought it would be. Gotta get to work. Word out........

.Lisa is a poop-head. She thinks that it is too time-consuming to update this page. I will try and do it for her. Today I took Dauber to get a bath and we are getting ready to go and turn in the Carivan. It will be nice not having the extra car in the drive and I will get a refund for the insurance that I have pre-paid. We will also go and get new tires for my car (the present tires are original and have about 80,000 miles on them). Other than that, we will probably do the typical clean the house and do laundry thing this weekend. Only 9 more days until opening day in Cleveland which could only lead to a giant hang-over ( I can't wait for my annual day of excess--I could do without the hang-over though. By the way, everything that you have heard or remember about two-year olds is false.....it's much much worse. One more item of note...Shawn said his first swear word the other day (shit). He learns all those bad habits from his Mother, she has such a potty mouth!!! Have a good weekend!

This will be my last blog entry. I have decided to put an end to this web page.

Shawn's food consumption from 5pm-8:30pm tonight:

1 cup cheddar brocolli rice
24oz milk
1 lg can of mandarin oranges
1 taco bell soft taco
6oz of diet coke

This may not seem like a lot to you, but for this little man who would only eat fruit & drink milk last week, this is a victory

We tried to take Shawn to Penneys for his 2year picture & he wanted nothing to do with it. He was all dressed up cute & in a great mood, but when he saw the room, the moving backdrops & the table, he freaked out. He kept saying no & running out. They had me laying on the table & him sitting on me & he still wouldn't go for it. I think he thought he was at the doctors. I was really bummed. I'll try again in 6 months & see if he understands the process a littler better by then.

We are going to a surprise birthday party tonight for someone that I work with. We would rather just camp out at home, but we committed to going so we have to leave at 5:20 tonight.

I joined the OSU alumni association this past year. I just received my order form for 2 tickets to a home game. They assign you to a game by a last name rotation. I have the opportunity to go to a game on Sept 13th against North Carolina State. It is $99 for 2 tickets plus $7.50 for a parking pass. I would like to go & see the new stadium & take Tim to see a game, as he never has there. We'll see what he decides.

I head to Dearborn, MI on Thursday for payroll training. I will spend the night & head back on Friday. I then go back the following Thursday for 1 more class. I will take the 14th off to prepare for Shawn's party on the 15th. Hard to believe that he will be 2.