Because I Didn't Get To Do This Yesterday...

Too busy running around yesterday to get this done when I should have.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEX!!!!!!!


I love you son.


End of Demented Rambling.

Don't bug me!

Ok, it's been a couple of weeks since my last post... again. If any of you actively read this, I'm sorry.

This weekend has failed to be relaxing in any way. We found fleas on the cats, again, and decided to take drastic measures. 3 foggers and an evacuated house later, and we hope we've seen the last of our flea infestation. Had to spend a good chunk of Saturday at my parents' house while they were away in France (hope you guys are having fun!), with the cats confined to a single bathroom, and Lisa, Lex and myself enjoying the slaughter... I mean football game (Caleb & Cassandra were at the other house).

Sunday was largely spent trying to put everything back in place, wash, wipe-down, and vacuum the house. Lisa re-arranged the living room furniture... still not sure what I think of it, but she likes it and so do the kids, so I guess my opinion is over-ruled regardless!

That's all for now... I need to leave for work in a few minutes. Coming soon will be a review of the browser-based game Evony I've been playing for the last week or so!

End of Demented Rambling.

Ding, Dong, The Crib is GONE!!!

Not gone as in, broken or destroyed.

Gone as in, not in our bedroom anymore!

Yay!!!!!

Finally, Lisa and I might be able to sleep through night without Lex joining us in bed!!!

Seriously, if you don't understand the JOY this brings us, I think something might be wrong with you!

End of demented rambling.

Bad Me! No Doughnut!

Ok, ok... I admit it... I've been bad.

Here I PROMISED myself that after I started work I'd continue to write regularly here. And now it is August 15th (technically, since it's 1:21 AM as I type this), and my last post was on August 1st.

That is not writing regularly.

So I appologize to all of you who might read this blog regularly. I believe that makes... one of you. And myself, of course. Ah, fame... I wonder what it's like?

Now, I trust you will all forgive me if I make this post brief. Caleb has a birthday party starting in less than 12 hours, and I really should get to bed. The only reason I'm up this late is I've been working on a project for Lisa and I want to brag a little.

See, Lisa has this neat idea that Caleb should have to hunt down all of his presents with the aid of a "treasure map". This sounds like a lot of fun, since the theme for Caleb's party is "pirates". Of course, this required a map, and not just any map will do! It must look old, ratty, like something a real pirate might be using! Enter the roleplayer who has spent too much time in his youth trying to learn how to make cool props for his games! So tonight I've been aging a printout of our map to make it look authentic.

Ok, ok... I admit that clipart and inkjet printing isn't "authentic"... but if it makes you feel any better, the map has no sense of proportion whatsoever, and I suck at drawing on the computer so one MIGHT feel like I'd been drinking rum before I made it...

No? Screw it, there's a picture at the opening of this post. You be the judge (I really need to learn a way to position pictures somewhere else in my post!).

That's all for tonight. I'm tired, and there's partying (with cheesecake) to be done later today.

End of Demented Rambling.

One Week Down!

My first week on the phones at Safelite is done... and my day off is going too quickly!

I like the system they have for the computers. It walks you through, step-by-step, as you progress with a call. The system provides you with suggessted scripting so you never really need to be at a loss. It helps provide you with questions to verify that you're selecting the correct price and has numerous tools for helping you find more information if needed. The calls aren't bad. You have your usual experience with people. Some are very fun to speak with, others are short-tempered and quick to hang up. No taking it personal, you just move on. Sometimes the call volume is crushing, other times it is leisurely.

Right now my biggest problem with work is that I'm not used to leaving Lisa and Lex (Caleb & Cassandra are still gone for this part of the summer) in the morning. I'm used to having time to play with Lex or chat with Lisa. Many times when I'm leaving for work they're just waking up, so that's rough. I miss them while I'm gone. I know that as I grow used to this my missing them will effect me less, but right now its quite poignant.

Meanwhile, Lisa and I are prepping for Caleb's birthday party... and we keep meeting roadblocks. The pirate theme is surprisingly difficult to find decorations for. Lisa found some great ones on line, but shipping is insane; it costs almost as much as the actual price for the items themselves! We're ok with spending $50 for great decorations... but another $40 (or so) on top of that, just for shipping? Hell no! Unfortunately our local party supply market has real crap for pirate decorations. We're piecing things together as much as possible, but we won't be having the party (visually) that we wanted.

We also adopted a stray cat this week, the one we've been feeding for a few weeks now. We've named her Lugosi (Lugo for short), and we're positive that she's pregnant and in heat (cats can go into heat again during pregnancy). We have her blocked off in a bathroom so she has a little room to roam (it seemed kinder than keeping her in the cat carrier), but we can't let her near Bella, in case Lugo has any diseases that might pass on to Bella. We have a vet appointment with an old family friend, Emily Gabriel (it was Emily Buck when we were in preschool together... I still forget sometimes) for Thursday. Hopefully she'll be able to shine some insight on what we'll need to do to get ready for all of this.

I haven't had much time for writing. Getting used to work and the sheer SPEED that things move at there have left me exhausted when I get home. I'd hoped to work on something tonight, but my day off is just vanishing so quickly. Hopefully I'll get something do this following week. I'm working more hours this week (total of 40), but that will actually give me more breaks, so maybe I won't feel as wiped out at the end of it. (It's crazy, I'm scheduled for 8 hours, but it will be more like 6 hours and 50 minutes at my work station, as oppossed to the 5 hours and 40 minutes for when I was scheduled for 6 hours.)

That's all for now. We'll get more later.

End of Demented Rambling.

I'm Back!

I've taken a "few" days off from my blog recently. Between Lex's birthday party this past weekend (which was a great success) and starting my training classes at Safelite, I've just felt really busy.

As I said, the birthday party went really well. We had our whole family of five, both my parents, Lisa's mother and grandmother, and my one of my aunts & uncles at the party. Our theme was "mini" for this party. Our menu consisted of mini-cheeseburgers with "mixi-doodle sauce" (courtesy of Michael Chiarello), mini-bagel pizzas, fruit bowls, and an awesome cheese tray provided by my parents, plus a variety of those 8 oz cans of soda, also provided by my parents. We only furnished little cocktail plates, napkins, and forks, as well as plastic shot glasses for drinks. My father and uncle cheated, choosing to load a regular-sized plate rather than stick with the theme, but they both loved the food so I'll forvie them. My father picked up this great little device to grill 9 mini-burgers at one time, and it was fantastic. Made fixing 18 mini-burgers on the grill really easy, because we could flip 9 of them at one time. I'd recommend it by brand name, but all the packaging was gone.

Lex got a huge amount of "loot". We gave him a singing mailbox (no, I'm sure we won't regret giving him a toy that makes the noise), plus an alligator car, tugboat bath toy, and a new outfit. My parents gave him a car buggy that we push, and a Winnie the Poo spinner. Lisa's family gave him a singing train with alphabet parts, plus a lot of clothes. My aunt and uncle gave him a fantastic gift... Baby Mozart from the Baby Einstein videos, plus 2 Baby Einstein CDs. These are great because they calm him down almost IMMEDIATELY when he's screaming, saving our frayed nerves from further damage.

Took the kids to be dropped off at the other house after that. I'll leave that with only one other statement... I don't begrudge the other biological parent from wanting time with them... but I hate what this split Summer stuff does to Lisa.

Safelite is going well. I seem to be retaining all the information they're throwing at me, but we'll see how well that transfers to the call center when I'm let out on the floor. By an odd coincidence, my neighbor across the street just started there as well. He was in the training class before mine, so he's still in the "training" section taking calls.

Lisa and I have watched John Carpenter's "Apocalypse Trilogy" now, consisting of "The Thing", "Prince of Darkness", and "In the Mouth of Madness". I enjoyed all three movies, and I'm glad to have finally gotten to see all the movies.

We have a stray cat hanging around our house. He (we think its a "he") was very scrawny and emaciated to begin with, but we've been leaving food for "him" and he's started to fill out to a more healthy size. We're hoping eventually to adopt him, but it's slow-going. He still hasn't built up much trust for us, though he is getting better. If we do take him in, we're going to name him based on puns that link back to our other cat, Bella. If "he" really is a "he" we're going to name him Lugosi (Lugi for short). A girl will be named "Donna". Points if you get both jokes.

Ok. I'm out for the night.

End of Demented Rambling.

The Dangers of Wearing Your Helmet Too Tight!

You may end up looking like this!

Before the kids left on Friday we took them for one last bike ride, and gave Lex his first ride in the wagon!

Cassandra decided to be a goof for this picture... I warned her I'd show it to people... oh well, her choice!

They had a lot of fun, though Cassandra is still having trouble going uphill. She needs to work on developing muscles in her legs to push through those difficult spots. She's getting better though. Caleb did great, though he still needs some reminders to stand up when the going gets tough. No need for more leg muscles for him though, he peddled like a champ! Just a little more work on the concept of using the breaks, not his feet, to slow down, and he'll be ready to get those training wheels off! Lex loves going for walks, and he loved the wagon ride as well! We tucked a bottle of Gatorade in the front of the wagon in case anyone got thirsty... it must have slid backwards at some point, because I turned around and there was Lex trying to get it open! Little bugger loves Gatorade (and why not, it has a ton of sugar)!

I was going to post more pictures of the bike ride/wagon ride on here, but I can't figure out a way to do it that doesn't involve shoving all of them at the top of the blog. Since it's very hard to comment on them... well, I'm just not going to do it!

End of Demented Rambling.

Happy 4th of July... and other stuff.

Perhaps I'm a day late in saying this, but I hope everyone had a happy 4th of July! Hooray for American Independance!

Ordinarily we go to the City of Hilliard parade, but we didn't think we were going to have the kids, and figured Lex wouldn't appreciate the loud noises of the parades. Instead we scheduled for our friends Tom and Angie to come over and have a little 4th of July party, which then extended to including Angie's mother Artie (hope I'm spelling that right), and Lisa's mother and grandmother (the Marys).

The Marys came over Friday night to avoid the holiday traffic. Tom, Angie, Evie (Tom & Angie's 9-week old baby) and Arite got here somewhere between 1:30 PM and 2:00. They brought pita chips, hummus, and beer (mmm... beer). Well, and themselves of course. Can't forget that. The menu included grilled pizza with kielbasa, red & yellow bell peppers, fontina cheese, and a ricotta cheese mixture. We also had grilled corn, some of Mary's (or "Grams" as the kids call her) potato salad, some two-bite brownies and some angel food cake with red, white, and blue food colored icing (the deserts were store-bought).

The party was great fun. Great food, great company. Tom and I had an "epic" golf game on the Wii. It ended in a tie, +16 for both of us (yeah, we sucked... what can I say; golf apparently isn't our game). Evie was adorable, and is apparently capable of sleeping through hurricanes, because even at our loudest she didn't stir at all. Lex tried to steal the show, and did a pretty good job of it!

After the party I took the kids out for some fun with sparklers, while Lisa stayed in with a sleeping Lex and rested her abused feet. She was exhausted beyond belief! Caleb and Cassandra got to see some fireworks in the distance while they played with the sparklers. Then, of course, bed.

Today we went to the Montgomery Family Reunion, a reunion for my mother's side of the family. The family tree gets a bit... er, um... "tangled" together down that branch. See, my grandfather married my grandmother... that much should be taken as a given. Well, his brother married my grandmother's sister... which only sounds wrong if you don't take the time to explain why our family tree isn't just a trunk. The Montgomery's are my grandmother's family line.

Anyway, I've avoided going for a few years in a row now. When you get down to my generation the family ties are... well, let's just say that if our family ties were shoe laces, some poor sap would be tripping constantly. We don't really know each other (ok, the more accurate statement would be "we don't know each other, period"). So I really don't feel much of a need to go, other than to make my mother happy (sorry, Mom). Honestly, if it hadn't been an opportunity to let my aunts and uncles see the kids, I wouldn't have gone. But hey, we went, it wasn't too bad this year; I didn't get that "Who are you, and why do you know my name?" feeling I normally get. And my Aunts and Uncles got to see Lex walk a bit, plus the kids got to look at pictures of my Aunt Lois & Uncle John's family (including my cousin John, his wife Becky, and their kids Maddie & Cassie) trip to Disney World.

We got home, and Lex was exhausted. I ended up laying him down next to me in bed and we took a nice, long, nap. Then a quick trip to the store to pick up some stuff for dinner (Spaghetti, meatballs, garlic bread and peas). Now the family is sitting odwn watching The Tales of Despereaux, an animated book based on a children's story. We have the book for Cassandra, thought she'd want to read it more if she saw the movie first. So far it's enjoyable.

That's all for now. I need to get some more writing done, but I've been kind of been busy with stuff like the 4th of July party and Lex's birthday arty... which is only 2 weeks away (AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!). I'll get more down soon.

End of Demented Rambling.

Oh Happy Day!

Oh Happy Day, Oh Happy Day!

Lex, our youngest (for those not in-the-know, Lex will be 12 months in July), is finally wanting more solid foods rather than the strained-crud they serve as baby foods. No more formula, now he gets real milk!

Today we fed him Mac n' Cheese (from a box) and tuna salad... and he loved it! Tonight we had some orzo as a side, and he loved that.

This is great. Formula runs around $25 a week for Lex, and food for the week probably runs around another $10 a week (or more). Saving approximately $140 a month on our food budget is fantastic, and the fact that Lex is loving the food we're making is beyond fantastic; we shouldn't need to adjust our menus too much as he gets older.

Heck, at this point he's less picky than I am since he likes seafood!

The best thing is watching him take a bite of whatever we're feeding him, and then watch him smile, start nodding his head, and say "Good!"

Now we just need to get through all this stuff with his blocked tear duct (first appointment with Children's Hospital is Thursday) and we'll be set!

End of Demented Rambling.

I've Fallen Behind

I've fallen pretty far behind on this blog!

Wednesday was my last day on Jury Duty. I was released after that due to a slow week. Took some time on Thursday to just enjoy the family. Friday we dropped the kids off with the other house for the weekend. That night Lisa and I watched a couple of movies. The first is called Cthulhu, and I was expecting to really like it. The trailer made it seem that it was based on The Shadow Over Innsmouth, my favorite of Lovecraft's stories.

It might have been, but I'll never know. A short way in I realized that the story was actually "Successful gay man returns home and must deal with religious father who scorns his sexual orientation." I have nothing against LGBT film or literature, but I don't appreciate disguising it within something else.

The next film was called Asylum and it was HORRIBLE. It was full of horror-flick stereotypes and had a villain who was a poor rip-off of Freddy. I mean, the stereotypes were horrible too: Tough, defensive latino girl? Abused by her boyfriend. Pretty blonde chick who acts all slutty and sex-crazed? Sexually abused by her father. Annoying jock obsessed with his looks and physique? Formerly obese loser from an obese family forced to overeat by his mother. The story was just plain uninteresting, though they got some decent gore into the film. Just goes to show - movie covers can make a film look intersting, but sometimes they're just wrapping paper over crap.

Saturday I went down to Origins to meet up with the old Athens Wargamers crowd. Well, actually the big bar on the 2nd floor of the Hyatt is more accurate, since I didn't shell out the money for a convention pass. Got to catch up with my friend Chris who now lives in Bavaria while serving as a combat cameraman in the Army. My friend Ryan was there, who I haven't seen since he moved to the Toledo area. Bruce, another old friend who lived in Athens (and still does, plus he works for the University now), caught me up on the changes to campus (Holy Shit! Athens has a Chipotle now!). Larry was there and bought the first (and only) round of beer. Kelly was there, and I probably haven't seen him 3 or 4 years. A couple other Wargamers were around, but they were doing Con stuff, and I didn't get to see them. Met a few of the next generation of Wargamers too. Good fun. Paid too much for a "Philly" cheesesteak, even if it was pretty good.

Today we picked up the kids and did some grocery shopping. I tried out a new (to me) recipe from Alton Brown for a pork tenderloin marinated in lime juice, lime zest, garlic powder, honey and a bit of adobe sauce. Then cooked the sucker over the grill until the thermometer read 140 degrees.

I took two bites and tossed it in the sink. Very disappointed. I usually really like AB's recipes, but this turned out very disappointing. The pork had a strong lime taste around the edges, but nothing on the inside. I couldn't taste ANY of the other flavors in the marinade, which was surprising because after I made the marinade I tried a little and thought it was quite good. I was really looking forward to this meal, and it just sucked. Well, not the whole meal. Lisa makes great mashed potatoes, and the steamed peas were pretty good too. I ended up eating a rice cake with the peas and potatoes, and now I have a large portion of a tenderloin that I don't want to save. The kids said they liked it, but I don't really trust them when it comes to food. They ate it all - which is good enough, I suppose - but they'll often say something is good even if they hate it. Lisa didn't seem to care for it, said the lime was too strong. I have to agree.

I'm reading a bit more of Laurell K. Hamilton's The Laughing Corpse and I STILL can't tell if I like her series or not. I'm not sure why it isn't clicking (or failing to click) with me. The character... well, she seems like she has a lot of potential, and she has several intersting qualities... but she's overshadowed by things like the descent into trashy romance novel territory whenever she's around the master vampire of the city (I know, they're supposed to be "erotic thrillers" but still...), the obsession with proving that Hamilton is familiar with guns, and a slow pacing filled with unnecessary entries (we get that Saint Louis is hot... do you need to have her constantly moan about how uncomfortable she is wearing long sleeves to hide her gun?) that take away from some of the good parts. Hamilton also fails to explain a lot of things... a prime example is the fact that Anita Blake is on retainer with the St. Louis police department to help explain supernatural goings-ons... and apparently she can do forensics analysis too! Please... they give a plausible explanation as to why she would be considered a supernatural expert (she has a degree in the field), but not where her keen detective skills come from.

Whatever. We'll see where it goes.

That's it for now. It's late, and I don't feel like rambling any more.

End of Demented Rambling.

Save Ohio Libraries

Ok. Anyone who reads this has likely already recieved an e-mail from me regarding this issue, but it's important so I'm going to go over it again here.

Now I understand that the Governor has a tough job. A $3.2 billion hole in a budget is a big one to fill. You have to make tough choices, you have to make people angry, something has to suffer.

But this plan is idioitic. The proposed total reduction between the losses from our reduced economy and the cuts proposed by Strickland come to a 50% revenue loss for libraries state wide. Many libraries rely on state funding to keep their doors open.

So what happens when the libraries lose that money? Well you stop getting as much new material, meaning that the libraries become outdated and less-useful as a research tool. Operations are scaled back, meaning reduced staff, shorter operating hours. BRANCHES CLOSE, meaning MORE jobless competing in what is already a tough job market. And worse, valuable programs that help raise the literacy of children and adults go away.

Unacceptable.

Libraries are more than just a place to do research now. For those who haven't been able to afford a computer, they are a needed place to produce reports and papers. For those who might have a computer but either can't get or can't afford internet access, the libraries are their only gateways online.

We have an unemployment problem here in Ohio. We've lost something like 280,000 manufacturing jobs. The decline of the Auto Industry is hitting us hard. Changes in health care could hit like a ton of bricks since Insurance is one of the largest industries in Columbus.

Part of the answer is finding the jobs that are available, retraining where necessary, and keeping up to date on innovations in your field. Library internet access can help the unemployed gain access to job search boards or access to e-mail, which is almost a necessity for communicating with staffing companies. They provide research tools so that people can retrain themselves at low cost by doing research into new fields of employment. They provide access to industry journals and books that newly unemployed workers might not want to risk spending money on, but that will keep them at the top of their game while seeking new employment.

Take away libraries and it becomes much, much harder for the poor to find work. If they don't find work then the State is stuck with rising unemployment expenses and a loss of taxpayer revenue. This isn't a stop-gap. It's breaking a limb to take your mind off of pain somewhere else in your body. It's stupidity.

My children LOVE going to the library. Our son, Caleb, can read better than Cassandra was able to at his age, and he loves reading. The library gives him new material to read so he's not just memorizing the same book over and over, without adding to our strained budget. When we bring him home a stack of books, he doesn't care what's in them, he can't wait to read them to us.

Cassandra loves to get books. Right now she's reading a High School Musical book that we're using to continue her practice with reading comprehension during the summer. She bought the book at the last book fair West Franklin held. At the same time she is reading Coraline (recommended by James Patterson's youth reading program) for fun. She just got another pile of books Monday, though we're making her wait until she's finished reading one of the other books before she devours the new ones. Last night I noticed Cassandra using the kitchen timer, and I realized she was setting it for 20 minutes... Every 20 minutes of reading lets her fill in a bubble on the reading chart she got from the library for their summer reading program.

Lex can't read. He loves books though. Apparently they taste good... I wish I were kidding. And he loves to turn the pages. The library has benefitted him though. It was through the library that we were able to get some of the "Baby Einstein" videos to show him. They've exposed him to classical music, fun sights, and there have been many times when all it took to stop his cries (he hates being placed in the play pen) was showing him the video cassette, and then starting up one of those 30-minute videos. Instant quiet, focused baby.

Through the library Lisa was able to indulge her forensics and serial killer interests (I don't mean she wants to BE a serial killer, rather she enjoys reading about them). She has gotten to find True Crime novels to satisfy the void left after mysteries became too easy for her. She recently checked out an e-book of James Patterson's and fell in love with a favorite author again. She was upset when she had to wait for another e-book to become available, one that is letting her read a variety of authors.

Part of my writing goes into trying to get roleplaying adventures published. As I've said before, the idea of combining one of my oldest hobbies and my career thrills me. But to do that I need books, books that aren't exactly cheap. I've kept my library as full as possible. Amazon gift cards from rewards points can stretch pretty well for this, but I have to pick and choose. Often I don't know if I really want a book, and I don't order it because I'm afraid it will be a waste. The library carries some roleplaying books. Not all, but they have everything for the 4e D&D product line. It was thanks to those books that I knew ordering Monster Manual 2 or Adventurer's Vault would be money well-spent. It was also thanks to the library that I realized that while Dungeon Delve is a fund read, I wouldn't really get any use out of it. On top of that I've gotten to read The Warrior by Jim Butcher, and Turn Coat, plus Butcher's Codex Alera series all thanks to the library. I'm trying to decide if I like Laurel K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series right now, something I wouldn't take the risk on if I had to buy the books.

This is what the library means to my family. You want to take that away from us Strickland? You think this protects and serves the people of Ohio.

I think you're making a mistake. I think you're hurting Ohio, and my family. And I think if this budget goes through like this I'll stop being one of your supporters, and I've been supporting you since 2000.

You really want that?

Want to tell the Governor and your legislator how you feel? Check out http://www.columbuslibrary.org/save_our_library for ways you can speak out.

End of Demented Rambling.

Week Two Begins!

So my second week of Jury Duty begins today. As usual, I'm already up in the 5th floor Jury Assembly Room, waiting for 9:00 AM to roll around. I have no idea if they'll even call me this week. At this point my odds are slightly lower than they were last week, depending on how many things go to trial. Whatever, I've actually somewhat enjoyed my time here. It's been great creatively, and while I miss the family I don't mind the break in scenery (if Lisa reads this her jaw is probably on the floor and she's likely thinking "then why don't we go somewhere and get out of the house!").

The weekend was, overall, a good one. It started on Friday for me since I didn't need to report to the court house. Lisa's mother and grandmother (the Marys) came to stay the night Friday, so the kids were really excited. Lisa's mother (we'll call her "young Mary") bought the kids a small swimming pool, and they loved it. It looks like a whale and can spray them as they're in it if the water is hooked up. Lex loved it too, walking around like he owned the thing, trying to swim, etc. It was a good visit. They left at about 5:00 PM Sunday, and we were kind of at a loss for what to do next. We had planned ribs for dinner, but both Lisa and myself had forgotten to get them out of the freezer, so there wasn't an opportunity to thaw them and let the rub get in. Slight change of plans, and dinner was leftovers, which were still good since Lisa had made a double batch of her awesome Kicking Cajun Alfredo (courtesy of Guy Fieri) Friday night, plus some homemade garlic bread that was just as good cold as it was warm (despite what Cassandra thought).

Sunday was Father's Day, and it was a little bittersweet. I met my parents at their house and went to see my grandfather. After a couple of strokes right after each other at the end of February/beginning of March his mind has finally gone. Some days are good, some... well, some aren't. I hadn't been over to see him since getting the news. I've gone through one family member not knowing who I am, I don't long to experience it again. But this might have been the last Father's Day, and I know it was important to Dad even if he didn't say so (important to me too). My Aunt Sally and Uncle John were there, so we got to see them. Grandpa wasn't really with things however. They've upped his dosage on one medication and he fell asleep. I suppose that's ok... it avoided a potentially difficult situation. It was good to see him.

By the time I got home I was feeling ill. I don't know if it was from the visit, the heat, a drop in my blood sugar, or what. All I know is I was naseus and not feeling good in general. Lisa wasn't feeling well either. The kids made me Father's Day cards while I was gone, so that was a welcome treat (I had prepared my self for the Marys' visit to overshadow Father's Day). Lisa had helped Lex make me a card that had his very first hand prints on it, so that was great (not to take away from Cassandra & Caleb's cards... I just wasn't expecting one from Lex). Apparently Lisa had to stop him from trying to stick paint-covered hands in his mouth! That boy wants to eat everything in sight! What do they say about Cancers, they're ruled by their stomachs? Lex proves that one!

We were supposed to go to a Summer Solstice ceremony my friend Joe's Druid Grove was putting on. It started at 3 and by 2 I was still feeling ill. I looked at the temperature and realized it was supposed to reach 85 with a 52% humidity, and we decided that it just wasn't a good idea to go. Even if I handled the heat ok, Lex probably wouldn't, and the ceremony would take place right during his feeding time when he'd be guaranteed to be cranky. I was disappointed, but I think it was the right decision. Of course our dinner plans had been the potluck after the ceremony so we kind of messed up with that... but fortunately Pizza Hut is very forgiving. Lisa was thrilled when I suggested we order mediums instead of our usual larges... hey, every little bit to help lose weight, right?

I got a present for Father's Day. Sims 3, something I'd been looking forward to but Lisa was iffy about it. I had reservations about whether it would even run on the laptop (the processer isn't technically up to specs), but my fears were unfounded. The only issue I had was that my video driver was VERY out of date (it was an '05 driver!) so I had some .dll issues that forced me to restart the laptop a couple of times. Fortunately Intel had an updated '07 driver on their website that fixed the issues, and the game runs quite nicely now. I'll review it sometime after I've played some more, but in short I like it better than Sims 2 (which is Lisa's baby). It fixes a lot of the things that made me get bored with the previous versions... plus my first Sim is an Evil Insane Bookworm who is trying to become a professional author and now has 3 books to his name while he works part time at a bookstore!

(No, I didn't pattern him after myself... I just wanted to try the traits out and I had enjoyed writing books in Sims 2 instead of getting a career.)

I also got in touch with an old buddy from college through Facebook. I haven't seen him in years; he joined the Army as a Combat Documentation and Production Specialist, and he lives in Bavaria now (he says it makes Athens, OH look like LA). He's here for the week to attend Origins, so I think I'll try to find a time to go to dinner with him or have him over or something, depending on what his schedule will allow.

End of Demented Rambling.

I Survived Kings Island

Took the whole family (minus Lex, who stayed with Nana and Papa for the day) to Kings Island yesterday. Fun was had by all. We got there around 9:30 or 9:45 AM, before the park had even opened. We stayed until 10:00 PM so the kids could see the fireworks. So yeah, long day.

We started our day by taking a trip to the top of the replica Eiffel Tower. The kids were really impressed by the size (and even more impressed when I explained that the real thing was three times the size of the one we were on), and loved looking at the whole park. Cassandra kept trying to identify all the rollercoasters and figuring out which ones she could go on. Cassandra's 52 inches in height, which makes her able to ride all but 4 rides at the park. Caleb, on the other hand, is still only 43 inches. Which means he is not able to ride many of the rides outside of the Nickolodean area.

Next stop was the Backstage Stunt Coaster. The line was short, so it really wasn't a problem for Caleb and I to wait for Lisa and Cassandra to go on the ride. At one point the coaster goes through a tunnel that's pitch black, and it freaked Cassandra out a little. this was her first coaster, so we had wanted to see how she'll react. The line was still short, and I hadn't been on a coaster in years, so I pulled Cassandra back into line and took her on the coaster again. She had more fun the second time.

Our second real ride (I don't count the Eiffel Tower as a ride) was the Shake Rattle & Roll... otherwise known as one of those rides that wants to send you running for the Dramamine. Caleb rode with Lisa, and I rode with Cassandra. Cassandra and I had a good time, but Caleb was freaked out at first. He calmed down and said he loved the ride, and both kids insisted we go on the Scrambler next. I rode with Caleb, and he did fine on that ride; it doesn't send you into the air and isn't as fast. Unfortunately, my tolerance for those rides is low, and I insisted we find someplace where I could grab a bite to eat to help settle my stomach (plus it was around 11:00 AM at this point, so I figured we could use a bite of lunch). The kids weren't hungry for food, but Lisa persuaded them to get some ice cream. I stopped by a Skyline Chili booth and grabbed a cheese coney (Lisa doesn't really like Skyline, so I never get the chance to have them any more).

After our food (and a quick call to Nana and Papa to see how Lex's 11:00 AM feeding had gone), we headed out for more rides! After a quick stop for Cassandra and I to ride the bumper cars (Caleb was too short for these, and Lisa doesn't like them), Nickolodean was our goal, and we started our time there with Scooby Doo's Haunted Castle. The time predicted for the line was 45 minutes, but I'd say we were only in line for 15, maybe 20 minutes tops. Unfortunately, we had a group of obnoxious teens who Lisa reported were unconcerned about their backpacks hitting others, so Lisa was unhappy. Cassandra and I rode together. You get "flashlight guns" that you aim at targets to "scare away the ghosts" and your cart (or Mini Mystery Machine) keeps track of your score. I hit the high score for  both carts at 1020, while poor Cassandra only got 90. The kids loved it, and we discovered an actor in a Scooby costume outside. We had each kid take a picture with Scooby, and it looked like Caleb was never going to stop hugging the poor guy (or gal).

Our next ride was some sort of helicoptor ride... ok, if by helicoptor you mean "really boring mechanized helicoptor ride meant to appease toddlers". Caleb had fun, but the rest of us found it excrutiating. Then we went to the Fairly Odd Coaster. Caleb and Lisa got on, but Cassandra and I ended up losing our seats to a couple of brats (I want to use another name, but I'll refrain) who cut line. The attendants weren't helping sort the passengers or anything. I was furious. Cassandra and I skipped the next train so that Lisa wouldn't be worrying about what happened to us, so we never got to ride the coaster. She offered to let us go again (the line wasn't that bad), but I just wanted away from the attendants.

We split up briefly at that point. Lisa took Cassandra to ride the Runaway Reptar coaster (Caleb was too small, I refuse to do anything involving the Rugrats). I took caleb to some small kiddie cars that he road by himself. He had a great time and wanted to go again, but I decided to check on Lisa and Cassandra and see if they were still in line. If we'd had time I was going to have Caleb ride the Merry-Go-Round. Poor Caleb didn't get the chance; the girls were just getting on the coaster when we found the exit.

Since the kids hadn't really had anything to eat I insisted we stop and get real food in our systems. $40.00 later we had a corn dog meal (Cassandra), a hamburger meal (Caleb), chicken tenders meal (Lisa), and Chicken Club Sandwich meal (me). Lisa and I got one of the 46 oz Souvenier Jugs since you could refill it all day for only $1.99 (we figured that would save on the cost of liquids). Our timing for the meal sucked. We had purchasd tickets for an all-you-can-eat BBQ from 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM, and quickly realized that it was almost 2:00 PM. We put an end to the meal so that the kids would still be hungry, and left in search of new rides.

(We had made a discovery at this point; my cargo shorts have endless pockets. I'd been carrying a bottle of Power-Aid around since the ice cream in them, and now they were carrying both kids' apple juice bottles, a bottle of sun screen - more on that later - plus my keys, cell, and wallet, each in nice plastic baggies so they wouldn't get wet.)

We rode the Wild Thornberry's River Adventure ride next (I remember it as simply the Log Ride from my youth). We loved it. Caleb and I sat in the back of the log, with Lisa and Cassandra in the very front. We got wet, an animatronic elephant sprayed us... and we had fun! During the line I noticed that Lisa was getting a little red, and she realized she had slathered sun screen on her face, arms and legs (she had on a tank top and capris), but had missed the exposed portion of her chest. She has a sun burn now. Both of us burn like nobody's business, but I had kept the sunscreen on, so I am unmarked (a welcome departure from my norm).

We rode the train to Boomerang Bay next so we could get dry. Ok, picture this irony: to get dry, we TOOK THE TRAIN TO THE WATER PARK. The kids wanted to ride some water slides, but since none of had swimsuits we refused. After getting turned around a few time we walked back toward Kings Island proper and discovered Picinic Grove (where our BBQ was being held). It was just getting started so we hopped in. The food was pretty decent for an all-you-can-eat buffet-style lunch (and much better than what we had paid for inside the park). We made the kids eat more than what they wanted, since this was dinner and it was only around 4:15 PM, but rewarded them with more ice cream (ice cream sandwich for Caleb, and Cassandra initially refused ice cream, but quickly accepted the drumstick I brought back for her). We had one unfortunate incident at this point. A guy at the BBQ started screaming that his baby was having a seizure. It wasn't, because it showed no signs of shaking. But considering the temperature was probably mid-to-high 70's, and they had been pushing the baby around IN A STROLLER COVERED WITH A BLANKET, heat stroke wasn't out of the question We had to leave the BBQ at this point... Lisa was really bothered by this, but we were happy to see first aid attendents on this scene within a few minutes. Lisa couldn't get the event out of her head, so we walked back to ye olde log ride and rode it again, switching positions and getting even more soaked. We took pictures.

It was time for Cassandra's first REAL roller coaster. Now, when I was younger my family made a near-annual trip to King's Island, and my fondest memories are of riding the Beast with my father. I had insisted on taking Cassandra on the Beast, and that was where we went next. We rode in the front-half of the coaster, and she did really well even though I had to hold her hand and her head was bouncing all over the place. She kept saying "oh no" at every hill, and almost freaked when we hit the first tunnel, but over all she did really well! We met Caleb and Lisa outside the Vortex. Lisa had taken Caleb on the carousel and the Monster (another sick-to-your-stomach ride) while they waited for us. Lisa was going to take Cassandra on the Vortex next, but she wasn't ready for it, especially the loops, so they went on the Racer again while Caleb and I chilled out.

Next stop, the Viking Ship. Fun, but it always makes me queasy. Then we took a break because I was feeling extremely worn out. We got some refills and sat by the fountains while I recoverd, and the scouted out the souvenier shops so we could plan the purchases that we wanted to make later. I remembered that my grandmother who passed away in February always bought saltwater taffy when we went to King's Island, so I insisted that I buy some before we left in memory of her. I don't even remember if I LIKE saltwater taffy, but that's really beside the point. Some things you just do out of love, y'know?

We headed back to Nickolodean and rode the Scooby Doo ride again, but no one did well with the guns this time around. Then we let the kids ride the kiddie bumber cars. Caleb couldn't get the steering down and ended up spinning in circles. Cassandra was merciless and took full advantage of his troubles, nailing her brother into a corner. They had a great time. We put them on Little Bill's Giggle Coaster next, and ended up having pictures of them made into a key chain and a magnet. Caleb looks like he's about to poop his pants, and Cassandra is grinning. They took a second picture where Caleb had a better expression on his face (at least from what we could see while we watched them on the ride), but in the photo Cassandra's arm was at just the right angle to make it look like she was elbowing him in the eye. It was funny, but didn't make for a great souvenier.

Now let's get something straight. I like coasters, but I'm not a coaster-junkie. It had been 12 years since I'd been to an amusement park, and I hadn't really thought about them at all. Lisa is NOT the same. She's a junkie, and has no interest in going the rehab. It had been 6 years for her, but she'd talked about us going multiple times. The kids were too small at that point though, so we never went. Now that we were at a park, Lisa wanted a big coaster. Hell, she deserved a big coaster. Cassandra still wasn't up for the Vortex, but wanted to try Son of the Beast (we explained that the Vortex was slower and smaller, but the loops scared her). They got in line for Son of the Beast, and Caleb and I hung out outside the ride watching the Drop Tower and Thunder Alley rides.

They never got on the ride. Cassandra finally saw the first hill and that was that. But so what? There's always next year. We went to the Drop Tower next, and Lisa and Cassandra rode that. 27 stories high, dropping at 65 mph... looked like fun, but it was too much for Cassandra. Poor girl broke down into tears. Lisa and I decided that it was time to stop the rides for the day, and since it was 9:00 PM we would have needed to quit anyway.

We bought Caleb a sword that looked like a red lightsaber from one of the street venders. He was really happy. We went back to international street and got Cassandra a Princess Hat she had wanted. I got a coffee mug with The Beast logo on it. Lisa found a Native American-style bead bracelet she really liked. And I got my saltwater taffy. (Later I discovered that we had gotten a HUGE discount on the items... apparently the cashier hadn't actually scanned the hat or the bracelet; too late for us to do anything about it, but I'm sure the park didn't lose that much money). We bought some light-up rabbit ears for Cassandra outside, and Caleb got a similar set of devil's horns. Ice cream cones for Lisa and the kids, a root beer float for me, and we waited for the fireworks display, which the kids loved.

And then the drive home, which was NOT fun. Apparently going 70 mph on cruise control just isn't GOOD ENOUGH for most drivers until I'd been forced to brake to let them pass and then resumed my speed. AND THEN they wanted to go the speed limit! I started "editing" the words to the song on the radio to express my displeasure, and Lisa had trouble talking to her mother on the phone through her laughter. The kids were asleep in the back within 10 minutes.

A quick stop by Nana and Papa's to pick up Lex (thank you both again for watching im), and we were home. We imitated zombies for a while, and then hit the sack. It was a good, if expensive, day. Caleb's already talking about going back next year so he can be tall enough to ride more rides. I can't wait.

End of Demented Rambling.

Award Ceremony

We just got back from going to an award ceremony held for Cassandra's second grade class. Her teacher, Miss. Buchenroth, made awards with candy attached for the students. It was cute, and it looked like every student got one. Cassandra received an award for being a good assistant in the classroom that had malted milk balls attached.

We took Caleb and Lex with us. Caleb was full of questions (and seems to be convinced that Cassandra is going into middle school next year - the big goober head), and Lex was just loving walking on the VCT and showing off for the other kids at Cassandra's table.

I did my fatherly duty while there: I embaressed the hell out of Cassandra in front of her friends. Took some pictures of her (see the Facebook page if you want to view them), pointed out when she was blushing, asked her what "muic" was (she had to write her favorite memory and forgot the 's' when she wrote: "Going to music").

It was a good time. My only regret is that the biological father told her that he'd try to make it to the ceremony... even told us in front of the kids to make certain we sent him a copy of the paperwork so he'd remember to go (which we did)... and then he didn't show. And she wasn't surprised. She never even expected him to be there. Seriously, if you don't give a damn if your flesh and blood cares if you show up to things or are part her life, what's the point in calling her your daughter? I just don't get it.

Oh well. Guess it's a good thing I'm more than happy to step up to the plate.

End of Demented Rambling.

Back From Getting The Kids

We got the kids back early this weekend. Ryan & Lauren are moving to Howard, OH today and they didn't want to handle transporting the kids and unpacking at the same time, which I can understand. So we met Ryan in Washington Courthouse at 8:30 am this morning and then drove back home.

This was the first "long-ish" drive I've taken in the new Buick. It's nice having cruise-control now, but I'm concerned about the gas mileage. I set the trip odometer back to 0 when I filled up the tank last and it looks like we got 140 miles out of 1/4 of a tank. I can't do the math to figure out what our mileage is since I can't seem to find a listing of how large the gas tank is anywhere in the documentation that came with the car. Grrr.

We greeted the kids and told them about our trip to Kings Island that we're planning for the 6th. They didn't get too excited (maybe they didn't realize how soon that would be) so we teased them by saying that it sounded like they didn't want to go and we'd just cancel the trip. They didn't like that idea at all!

Lex was really happy to see the kids. He started giggling and laughing as soon as they got out of the car. Both Caleb and Cassandra  rushed over and started talking to him and making him laugh.

Oh and Lex said "kitty" and "big kitty" for the first time today! Very excited!

End of Demented Rambling.