November 3: Winter is Among Us

Winterizing the house, the yard...it's rarely, if ever, a good time. Rather, it's a pain in the butt, if I may be so blunt as to put it that way. Especially when your lawn sprinkler system is set up in a way that requires you to blow out the spinklers from the basement via an old, rundown air compressor that's definitely on its last leg. You're getting a visual now, aren't you? Regardless, this past weekend, I begin the winterizing process with something simple - I shut-off the valves on the outside faucets from the basement. Unfortunately, in the process I came to realize that the front faucet, whose spicket had been replaced in July, was not working as it should. I was still getting a trickle outside. So, on Monday, I had called Mr. Handyman to come out and take a look; as they were the ones who replaced the aforementioned spicket just 4 months prior. Today, same guy came out to have a looksie at my shut-off valve. I felt good about the whole thing until he called me to the basement with a "we seem to have a bit more serious problem than we originally thought". Not a good way to gain the good graces of your customer. Turns out that not only is the shut-off valve to the faucet shot, but the shut-off valve down the line AND the valve that controls my main water line into the house. Translation, there's no way he can shut the water off to fix any of the valves. He tells me that we'll need a Plumber to come out and shut the water off "from the street", so that he can repair all 3 valves. He even knows a plumber who can lend a hand. The good news? Well, at least he didn't charge me the standard Mr. Handyman service charge for figuring all of this out. I guess what they say is true...you really can find something good in any situation.

November 2: Down Come the Halloween Decorations

Two days. That's all it took for all Halloween decorations, both inside and outside the house, to come down this year. That's a new world record in our household, as I believe the previous shortest time span was one week. Maybe it's because they went up so early this year that my wife and I were so motivated to bring them down so quickly. Not sure, but I'm not complaining. There's nothing worse than ghosts and witches adorning the front lawn as we're pulling out of the drive to visit family on Thanksgiving Day.

November 1: MHA Loans

With the interest rates being so low these days, my wife and I looked into refinancing our mortgage. Heck, even if we could save a couple hundred dollars a month it would be well worth it. So, I made the call today...just as an information-gathering effort. Unfortunately, the plummeting housing values didn't help much and a traditional FHA loan didn't offer us much in the way of savings. So, the mortgage rep to whom I was speaking to suggested a MHA loan might be the way for us to go. He explained what such a loan could do for us, and I kindly thanked him for both the information and his generosity (as he was actually pretty straightforward with everything). Then, I made a beeline to the Internet to research MHA loans; as I certainly wasn't going to make any investment in something I know nothing about. Despite what the Mortgage Rep said. MHA loans are part of the Obama Administration's "Home Affordable Modification Program" focused on helping struggling homeowners keep their homes. The goal is to reduce the interest rate or extend the mortgage term to make payments more affordable if someone has lost their job or perhaps has extensive bills that are impacting his/her ability to pay their mortgage. Of course, I'm thinking right away, "well, we don't really fall into that category, so why did the Mortgage guy suggest it?" What I didn't realize is that the legislation includes a provision for refinancing; a component specifically targeting individuals who are making their payments but who are not able to get a lower interest rate due to the loss of equity in their home due to the low-value housing market. We're considering it as an option, but we haven't quite made a final decision yet. Still can't shake that feeling that, despite all of the good things I've read about MHA loans, somehow the mortgage company is still going to screw us.

October 31: Halloween Trail

This was the first time in 2 years that we've been home for Halloween. The last 2 years, we went to my Mother-In-Law's house downriver, and the kids did their trick-or-treating there. But, this year, we decided to stay home. The last time we went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood, the kids were obviously younger, so our route consisted of a few houses down the block, the house next door and the house across the street, then we called it a night. Not this year though. The kids were ready to go, and go we did. In fact, we did our street and both of the drives along the way for a total of maybe 50 houses. More than we had ever done in the past. I know that because the kids' bags were so full that my daughter was dragging hers along the sidewalk , and I ended up carrying my son's as we approached home. Too bad their Mom won't let them eat all of that candy they earned...but somebody has to, right? We just can't let food go to waste, now can we?

October 30: Spider in the Coffee

Let's just start this little story by stating the fact that I absolutely hate spiders. I hate the way they look. I hate the way they move. And, I hate the fact that I also have a fear of them. Yep, I'll admit it, I'm afraid of spiders! So, the phone call I got from my wife while I was running an errand at the store today was all the more disturbing based on this aforementioned information. She called me because she was cleaning out the coffee pot, and in the process discovered a very large, very hairy type of spider carcass in the tray that holds the coffee filter. Meaning, of course, that over the course of God only knows how long, any coffee we've prepared, and we make a pot every morning (SA-FR), likely included this particular spider in the brewing process. Honestly, on the other side of the phone, I thought my wife was going to throw up while sharing her discovery with me. She asked me if I wanted her to keep the "carcass" in the sink until I got home so I could see it. I couldn't do it...I think that would have made it too real for me. Besides, had I seen it, I don't think I would have drank coffee in our house ever again. For the record, we have a new coffeemaker now.

October 29: The Roof

Six years we've been in our house. And, during those six years I've been obsessed with getting a new roof put on it. Today, thanks to a storm I've mentioned before in this blog, my new roof day finally arrived. In our first house, we had a roof installed, so this wasn't the first new roof I've had in a home I own. However, in our first house, the roof was part of the negotiations to purchase the house and, therefore, installed prior to us moving in. Today, seeing as I work from home, I was able to experience the entire process from inside the house. Loud. That's about the only way to describe it. On more than one occasion, I was convinced that a roofer would be crashing through my ceiling. Didn't happen though, and everything turned out as planned. A small price to pay for a 6-year dream, I guess.

October 28: A Little Sugar

Tomorrow, my son's class has their Halloween celebration. My wife committed to making 24 sugar cookies, which we are required to wrap individually in 24 sandwich bags. Not sure why, but that was the direction she received. So, tonight, the entire family chipped in to get the job done. This was the first time the whole family made cookies together from start to finish. My wife made the dough, I rolled it, the kids pushed down the cookie cutter shapes, and we all decorated each cookie with frosting. Afterwards, we were left with quite the spooky Halloween mess in the kitchen, but it was still a frightfully good time!

October 27: Oh, Canada!

Today, I had the privilege of beginning work on a project with my learning colleagues in Canada. Almost 3 years in my current role and not once have I had such an opportunity. Interesting how you can neighbor another country, yet not realize how different things are between you and them. Not just from a work standpoint, but in so many other ways, as well.

October 26: Porch Swing

When we first moved into our home, years ago, my parents bought us a porch swing. It's very fitting for our home, not to mention well used. In fact, one of my wife and kids favorite things to do is rock on the porch swing and just sort of take in the neighborhood on any given day. It's kept it's permanent position on our front porch - Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter - since my folks first gave it to us. Until today that is. With strong winds, allegedly in excess of 65 mph, headed our way, I had no choice but to take the swing apart. I basically just removed the swing and the cloth top from the base, then stored those pieces separately in the garage until the inclement weather passed. Better safe than sorry...at least that's what the front picture window suggested to me.

October 25: Spaetzel

My wife is from German descent, and this evening I both made and tasted spaetzel for the first time. For those of you who have never heard of spaetzel, it's a soft egg noodle commonly found in German cuisine. It really has a unique texture and taste to it as compared to, say, a spaghetti noodle. The amazing part is that my kids absolutely loved it; went crazy over it!

October 24: Mom's Spaghetti Sauce Seasoning

Trying saying that fast 5 times in a row! I've always thought that my Mom's spaghetti was the best I ever had; although, I have to admit, my Mother-in-Law's is extremely close. The secret to my Mom's spaghetti has always been her sauce. She used Spice Island Spaghetti Seasoning, and it always made the sauce simply delectable! I took the recipe with me when I moved out on my own, then shared it with my wife and it's become a staple for our spaghetti dinners ever since. Unfortunately, several years ago, Spice Island decided to stop make their seasoning, leaving my Mom, along with the rest of us enamored by her sauce, without the key ingredient. It was then that my Mom recreated the seasoning from scratch, and perhaps some help from the Spice Island reps whom she called to share her unhappiness and frustration regarding their manufacturing decisions. She provided us with our own personal bounty of the good stuff, and we've used it repeatedly over the years. When my Mom passed away in 2008, we discovered a jar of the seasoning she had put aside for her and my Dad, and, the other day, sadly, we used the last of it. It was then that my wife, the lovely creature that she is, found the recipe for the Spice Island Spaghetti Seasoning online; at the Spice Island website, no less. Apparently, we weren't the only ones a little bitter over the discontinuing of the product. You can find the recipe here if you're interested. Anyway, today, after buying all of the essential ingredients (even Savory, which I had never heard of), we recreated the seasoning ourselves. Not to toot our own horn, but it was pretty darn close to the original. And, so Mom's spaghetti seasoning lives on!

October 23: A Whole Chicken and Nothing but a Chicken

This past week, during our bi-weekly shopping excursion to Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, we opted to go with a whole fresh chicken, as opposed to the typical whole chicken already sectioned into wings, legs, thighs and breasts. As a result, somebody had to do this same cutting at our house. That someone ended up being me. My wife informed me that the thought of cutting up a whole chicken was something she found quite unpleasant. I get it...it's a little gross, but nothing I couldn't manage. And, manage I did. With a little online help, I completed the job with the precision of a meat-counter Butcher. I do like me some chicken, and tonight's entree was quite delicious!

October 22: Z

It's funny how you see yourself so differently than others see you. Case in point. This evening we attended the Greenfield Village Halloween event. It's cool. The kids get to dress up (last year my wife and I did too, but not this year) and they walk a trail through the village, trick-or-treating and seeing different characters and such. Well, when we first entered the park, we passed a gentleman and his family, and I noticed the guy staring at me as we passed. I looked back a second time and his eyes were still fixed on me. Then, from out of nowhere, I realized it was Dave Zauner; a guy with whom I attended high school. And, I haven't actually seen him since high school. I say "actually", because I have seen him in the media. See, Dave is the High School Basketball coach for the East Detroit Shamrocks. Thus, I've read articles about him and his team, and seen photos now and then. So, I went back and talked to him, met his family and it was a nice experience. But, getting back to the point I was making at the beginning of this blog entry, Dave was probably the best baseball player, maybe athlete in general, I've ever seen at my high school. And, while I knew him in school and through sports, in my mind, we were never really "friends", per se. I mean we never hung out beyond the walls of the school or anything. But here, the guy picks me out of a crowd of hundreds and recognizes me after 23 years. I must have made some impression, right? So, I'll say it again. It's funny how you see yourself so differently than others see you. Looking back, it would have been great if I had figured that out while I was still in high school.

October 21: Miserables or Miserable?

While waiting to drop my kids off at school this morning, I introduced my son to the music of the Broadway show "Les Miserables". Now listen, for those of you passing immediate judgement on my entertainment tastes, I can tell you that I'm not a big Broadway show fan. However, many years ago, a buddy of mine introduced me to "Les Miserables"; he had an extra ticket with his wife, and given that I was probably his only still-single friend at the time, he figured I would take it. Anyway, I loved the show! Since that time, I took my wife, then both my wife and parents on separate occasions. For the record, my wife doesn't care for the show at all. And, yes, I do like the music; I find it inspiring. So, I thought perhaps my son might take to it, as well. He didn't. It's not that he didn't like it, he just wasn't interested other than asking me what music it was. Probably for the best. Not sure I'd want my son going through the next dozen years of school bragging about his love for "Les Miserables".

October 20: PTO Meeting

Attended my first PTO meeting at my kids' school tonight. And, that's about the highlight of it. Move along, nothing else to see here.

October 19: Playing Chauffeur

My wife usually takes my daughter to her weekly acting class, as she picks up from school and they have to leave right from there in order to make it to class on time. Today, my wife had a work conflict, so I got to do both school pick up and take the kids to my daughter's class. It was cool! We basically just drop my daughter off, then pick her up when class ends. So, my son and I hit a local store and walked around for a while just looking at different things; mostly toys and Halloween stuff. If I was able to swing it with work, I wouldn't mind playing chauffeur like this again. I could get used to this particular gig!

October 18: ADT

For months now, my wife and I have been talking about getting our security system reactivated. The system was in the house when we bought it, but we never bothered to hook it up. Recently, we came across an ADT promotion, in the Sunday paper coupons no less, and we called about it. Today, they came to set everything up. Took the guy about 4.5 hours to do everything, even though they were utilizing the hard wiring of the previous system. But, in the end, I was guaranteed that our house was now fully secure. I'm always skeptical about any guarantee, but I'm hoping, on this one, we never have to put it to the test.

October 17: Progress

Baby steps. In my opinion, it's the easiest, and perhaps fastest, way to get someone to do something they don't want to do or that they're afraid of doing. Even more so when that person is a child AND your son. Today, I was so proud of the baby steps my son took during his swim class. At the end of each class, each child gets to jump into the pool from the side, and the swim teacher subsequently catches the child. Well, my son's teacher has been gradually encouraging my son to put his head underwater. For some reason, my son absolutely despises water in his face, much less completely submerged underwater. But, today, my son jumped in and went completely under the water in the process. I think he was a bit surprised that he went all the way under; I could tell by the expression on his face when his popped up. But, he didn't get upset, he didn't cry...he simply smiled a big smile once he returned to the pool side. I love that kind of progress. Especially when it's my kids making it...and enjoying their success in doing so!

October 16: Our Halloween Pumpkin

Seems like every Halloween, we take the kids to a local pumpkin patch where they are each able to paint a small pumpkin and we get one bigger pumpkin for the whole family. That's the one we carve for Halloween night. This year, we did the pumpkin patch, but they wanted 8.99 for their pumpkins. And, their entire selection was on the small side. Later in the day, we had to stop by Meijer for a few things, and they only wanted 3.99 for any size pumpkin. The sizes in their selection were much larger, as well, so we bought our pumpkin from Meijer. Can't say I've ever bought pumpkin from Meijer, as it's not the typical place you would think to buy such a commodity. But, hey, I can't complain....at least it makes for good blog writing.

October 15: Dragons

DreamWorks "How to Train Your Dragon" released on DVD today. And, yes, I was at Target shortly after dropping the kids off at school to pick up a copy for our family's collection. Loved this movie...maybe even more than my kids. Scary, huh?

October 14: There's more than 24 hours to any day

It's funny how any given day can seem just like any other day, until radio changes that for you. Okay, so radio isn't always the game breaker for a moment like this. It just happened to be the source this morning that made me realize that, even though October 14 holds no real significance for me, it may be a day to remember or forget for someone else. It was on the drive home from dropping the kids at school that I learned some things about October 14 that I had never known before...

Births - William Penn (1644), Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890), John Wooden (1910), C. Everett Koop (1916), Roger Moore (1927), Ralph Lauren (1939), Dave "The Hammer" Schultz (1949),
Harry Anderson (1952), Thomas Dolby (1958), Jim Rome (1964), Usher (1978)

Deaths - Errol Flynn (1959), Bing Crosby (1977), Leonard Bernstein (1990), Harold Robbins (1997), Captain Lou Albano (2009)

And here, I thought it was just another work day when I woke up.

October 13: Snails, part II

Sounds like a bad B Horror movie. It's not though...just our horror. See, It has been about 4.5 months since we spotted a snail in our fish tank. Last May, I wrote a blog entry about how snails had infested our tank and the planned actions we had for removing them. Well, we went through with the plan, however, over the past few weeks, we've seen the snails gradually return. With chemicals still not an option, I learned a few tips from our local PetSmart gurus that I think will at least make this turn with the snails a bit more tolerable. First, I was told that I could minimize the number of snails by putting lettuce or spinach leaves in the bottom of the tank each day; as the snails feed on it and I can simply remove the infested veggie from the tank with snails in tow. We didn't have any leafy vegetables, so I went with a cucumber slice. For the record, it does, in fact, work! Secondly, I was told to use only a pinch of food for the fish, as overfeeding will just provide more food for the snails, which, in turn, will increase their population. I'll have to see if that one holds true....get back to me in a couple of weeks for an update.

October 12: Siding

You may recall, that back in late August, we had a tornado rip through our neighborhood. Since then, I've had several conversations with the insurance company, their Adjusters, the home improvement company they put us in touch with, and the guy we're working with from the home improvement company. In the end, turns out we had damage to our roof and siding, as well as the shutters, trees and wires that were much more obvious following the storm. This evening, we met with our contact from the home improvement company and selected the tiles we wanted for the roof. In addition, and for the first time in my life, my wife and I selected vinyl siding. In the process, I found that there is much more to siding than I ever thought. Different styles, a lot more colors than I would have expected, and more to think about then them just slapping it up on our house. Anyway, looks like the new roof will go on in a few weeks, with the siding to follow a week or so after.

October 11: I Did It!

Well, my first ever attempt at replacing a mailbox was successful! It's up, it's stable, and it actually looks good! I was surprised at how easy the process was, but even more surprised at how patient I was. I didn't lose my temper once! Granted, I leveraged the old wood pole, just removing the arm and old mailbox. And, true, the assembly of the plastic combo was a piece of cake. But still, I'm proud of myself for being able to accomplish what I did. Now, I'm thinking, you know, I can probably put a new roof on the house myself. I'm kidding, that thought never once crossed my mind.

October 10: Mail's Here!

For months now, I've been stressing over our mailbox post out front. It's wood. It's old. And, it's in bad shape. Primarily, just the arm on it, as the post itself is still pretty solid. Still, I knew we had to replace it before Winter hits or else risk that it would just fall over in the snow one day and we would be battling the elements in an effort to put up a new one. So, we stopped by Home Depot today following the kids' swim class to purchase a new mailbox/post. Now, I've never bought a mailbox or post before and I had no idea what to look for in a new combination. So, I did what most normal guys would NOT do, I asked one of the Home Depot associates for help. And, in doing so, I learned a few things about mailboxes and their posts. First, I learned the store actually sells a wood mailbox post in the Lumber Dept.; I had no idea. Second, I learned that the aluminum or plastic combos you can buy, actually slide over the wooden post buried in the ground; again, I had no idea. I was thinking I had to dig up the old post, bury and cement a new post, then go from there. I also learned that there are far more mailbox choices than there really should be. I mean, how many do we need to choose from. In the end, but against my wife's preference, we went with the Rubbermaid Gentry series (in Mocha), which is a molded plastic mailbox/post all-in-one combination. And to think, buying it was the easy part...tomorrow, I have to put the darn thing up.

October 9: Apple Charlie's

My Mother-In-Law invited us over for dinner today, followed by a trip out to Apple Charlie's in New Boston. It's an apple orchard, and my wife shared with the kids and I that she and her family had gone there years ago. Apparently, it was a whole lot of fun! You can pick apples, they have a haunted house, a cider mill...the whole nine yards as Fall festivities go. I, myself, had never been, nor had the kids. So, we went down to their house early, had a wonderful home-cooked meal, then headed off for some fun at Apple Charlie's. Unfortunately, like most things, it seems the years have changed Apple Charlie's, and it wasn't quite the funfest that my wife and her family remembered. Instead, it was...well, just different. Different crowd. Different environment. Just different. There are carnival rides now, hay rides, still apple picking, and even a farm that included a live Ostrich. Strange place for an ostrich, but okay. The lone bright spot, aside from just hanging out with the extended family, was that the kids got to do pony rides; which was cool, as they love that kind of stuff! Other than that, not too much that was memorable. In fact, I think we stayed a total of 30 minutes, if that. The funniest thing was, as we were walking back to the car to go home, my wife, Mother-In-Law and Father-In-Law agreed, almost simultaneously, that it couldn't have been the place they remembered going to years before. If only they had remembered that an hour before, we could have all been saved the experience that is Apple Charlie's.

October 8: My Long Walk for Pie

There is an old saying in Michigan that we have two seasons: Winter and Construction. That's because 8 out of 12 months of every year features road work across the state; both major and minor. Locally, there's a mess a short ways from our house. Tonight, the gang decided they wanted pizza, which meant I had to head directly into the mess in order to secure the pie. Upon arriving to the construction area, I patiently waited 10 minutes for the traffic to advance far enough for me to turn left into the pizza establishment. Yet, when those 10 minutes came and went, I realized the road was blocked off before my turn. I didn't intend to wait another 10 minutes to pass through the upcoming intersection, turn around and head back in order to turn right into the pizza parking lot. Thus, I took a left into the final drive before that lane ended, which happened to be a bowling alley, and parked there. I then walked maybe half a block over to the pizza place, got our pie (and breadsticks, of course) and walked back to the car, food in hand. I have to admit, it was the first time I went to such lengths, ridiculous as they may be, to get a pizza. Should have just went with delivery like my wife wanted to in the first place. The capper? It was the worst pizza I think we ever had.

October 7: The 39 Clues

Yes, I've started my 4th book for 2010 this evening. It's "The 39 Clues" series. The series features 10 books, each written by a different author. The first book "The Maze of Bones" is written by Rick Riordan. He's the same guy that wrote the Percy Jackson series. Each book comes with a set of 6 cards that reveal clues about the Cahill family, who happen to be the central focus of the series. There's even a game that you can play online in which you can win prizes. Technically, the series is written for kids, however, I find the whole concept of a different author per book to be intriguing. Every author has his or her own style, and I imagine the task of continuing one theme, and ensuring each character stays in character, has to be a huge challenge. I'm actually quite excited to dive into this series. So much so, that I set aside "Breaking Dawn". Figure I'll wait for the movie on that one.

October 6: Room Dad

In a previous blog, I wrote about my wife volunteering to be Room Parent for my daughter's school classroom. Of course, she got the job and today was the first big event of the year: the teacher's birthday. Unfortunately, my wife could not arrange her schedule to accommodate this event, so I volunteered to step in for her on this one. Yes, I had to play "Room Dad". It was pretty simple though, mostly thanks to my wife who shopped for a gift, baked the cupcakes and scheduled everything with the teacher. Thus, all I had to do was deliver everything on time and intact. You're probably guessing I screwed up somehow and there is some funny story to follow, but, I'm happy to say everything went just like we drew it up. I showed up with gift and cupcakes in hand, the kids sang "Happy Birthday" to their teacher, she opened her gift, and everyone absolutely loved the cupcakes. So, to my lovely wife I say this...if all of them are going to be this easy, I'll be more than happy to stand in for you anytime you like!

October 5: Walk-off HR

I was listening to sports radio on the drive home from dropping my kids at school this morning, and they were talking about the MLB play-offs, which start this week. The topic of conversation was the "walk-off home run", and where the term originated. Apparently, the phrase was coined by Hall of Fame closer Dennis Eckersley. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, it represents a home run that immediately ends the game. Thus, the players can "walk off" the field after the winning run crosses home plate. Ironically, Eckersley is the pitcher who gave up the iconic walk-off homer by Kirk Gibson in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. It's believed that it was Gibby's homer that gave birth to the phrase.

October 4: Damon Done in Detroit

Today I learned that the Detroit Tigers will not attempt to resign Johnny Damon for next season. Any of you who know me, or who've read this blog before, know that this is a crushing blow to my baseball spirit, being a Damon fan for so long. My only hope now is he rejoins Boston for a year, but I doubt that's going to happen given the fact he rejected a trade to the Sox right before this year's deadline. Dark times, my fellow baseball fans, dark times, indeed.

October 3: Star of the Week

Tomorrow begins my daughter's journey as "Star of the Week" in her school classroom. It's something her teacher does throughout the year, with every kid getting an opportunity to be the star for a week. My daughter had several tasks to do today to prepare for her "stardom". First, she had to make a personalized T-shirt using paint and stamps to create something that showed off all of her favorite things. She really loved doing that one! She also had to select 8-10 photos of friends and family that will be displayed for the week in her classroom. She had to create her a book about herself that shared all of her interests, hobbies and favorite things (which she will read to the class on Thursday during a special celebration that her Mom and I will be attending). Finally, she was able to bring in a few of her favorite toys and books which she will leave in the classroom over the week. It was a lot of fun helping her pull all of this stuff together, although, in hindsight, we probably shouldn't have waited until the weekend to get started. Lesson learned.

October 2: Bounce House

My son was invited to a classmate's birthday party at the Bounce House. We've done the Pump It Up thing several times, but this was my first experience, and obviously my son's as well, with the Bounce House. Though similar in product, I found the two businesses to be quite different in many other ways. I don't think the Bounce House is quite the same caliber in terms of inflatables. There may have been the same amount, but, for whatever reason, I perceived the quality and variety to be much lower. On the other hand, the Bounce House had a whole line of arcade video game machines lining the wall, and they were all free! Yep, no tokens or coins required. That was definitely a nice touch! In the end, my son had a great time with his school buddies, I got to meet some of them and their parents, and we were able to participate in the birthday celebration. And, when all of those things happen in one event, I don't think the location really matters too much.

October 1: Comedy and Wall Street?

Did you know that Comedian/Talk Show Host/Actor/Political Satirist (choose your title), Jon Stewart (real name Jonathan Stewart Leibowitz) is the brother to Larry Leibowitz, the CEO of the New York Stock Exchange? My wife shared that with me. She had heard it on the radio during her drive to or from work. Not the biggest news, but still one of those eyebrow raisers; at least for me. Funny how the lyrics "It's a small world after all..." come to mind with news like this. Although, probably better than "It's a tiny, tiny world..." from "Family Guy". Here's a clip in case you missed that one (though not the best quality).

September 30: The Origins of SpongeBob

My kids are huge fans of the show "SpongeBob SquarePants", and I would be lying if I didn't admit I'm a fan, as well. Today, I heard a story about the show's creator and Executive Producer, Steve Hillenburg, and that he used to be a fry cook at a fast-food seafood restaurant just like SpongeBob himself! After looking into the guy a bit more, I also learned that he graduated from Humboldt State University in Arcata, Calif. in 1984 with a degree in natural-resource planning and interpretation, with an emphasis in marine resources. He then taught marine biology at the Orange County Marine Institute in Dana Point, California for 3 years, before pursuing a lifelong interest in drawing and painting. It seems at that point in his life, he decided to switch careers, and he went to study experimental animation at the California Institute of the Arts. So, SpongeBob SquarePants is essentially a product of all of his life interests and experiences. I thought that was pretty cool!

September 29: Cinnamon

I found out today that the spice, Cinnamon, comes from a tree. I overheard my wife explaining to my daughter that cinnamon is not from a nut, but a tree. Not really surprising, I suppose, but I guess I never really thought about its origin. As if it were made by cinnamon elves in the forest, bottled and magically displayed on grocery shelves across the world. Anyway, what I've learned is that cinnamon is from the inner bark of a genus of trees called cinnamomum. The spice is harvested by growing the tree for two years and then coppicing it. The following year, new shoots form from the roots of the tree. The outer bark is scraped and the branches beaten evenly to loosen the inner bark. The inner bark is then extracted out in long rolls. Only the thinnest inner bark is used. The outer, woody portion is discarded, leaving cinnamon strips that curl into rolls when dried. Once dry, the bark is cut into feasible lengths for sale. I also learned that cinnamon offers tremendous health benefits such as lowering cholesterol and increasing your memory. And, if that's not enough, there's even a well-known physical competition based on the spice called the Cinnamon Challenge. I haven't tried it yet personally, but I am considering adding it to my bucket list. Right up there with swimming with sharks.

September 28: Skinwalkers

Every now and then, my curiosity will get the best of me and I'll spend some time on the Internet researching the supernatural. You know...ghosts, aliens, cryptozoology, etc. I don't why. The stuff just fascinates me. The best is going on YouTube and watching some of the crazy videos that are out there. Small disclaimer...most of them are not real. But, even some of the fake ones can be kind of creepy. Maybe it's the "man-crush" I have on Josh Gates and his show Destination Truth. Or, maybe I'm just a bit odd. Anyway, during my last "expedition", I came across a creature I'd not heard of before: skinwalker. From what I researched, a skinwalker, according to Indian lore, is a witch who can alter his/her shape at will to assume the characteristics of certain animals. The witch, it is said, might wear the hide or skin of the animal identity it wants to assume, and when the transformation is complete, he/she inherits the abilities (i.e. strength, speed, cunning, etc.) of the animal whose shape it has taken. This creature is also known as the yee naaldlooshii to the Navajo tribe, which translates to “with it, he goes on all fours” in the Navajo language. According to legend, skinwalkers are able to read human thoughts. They also have the ability to make any human or animal noise they choose, such as the voice of a relative or the cry of an infant, and often use this tactic to lure victims out of the safety of their homes. Skinwalkers are also known to use charms to instill fear and control in their victims. If you get a chance, drop the word into Google and check out some of the results. It's really quite interesting. Especially, the mysterious Skinwalker Ranch in Utah. Or, if Internet time is not one of your commodities, tap into your Blockbuster or Netflix connection and rent the 2006 film "Skinwalkers". I'm guessing it's a pretty accurate representation.

September 27: A Matter of Urgency

My son has been sick, literally, since the end of August. Off and on, but, still, a kid his age shouldn't be going through this many viruses so close to each other; even with school now in session and germs aplenty. I know, I know. Kids' get colds. In fact, per the WebMD website, "Statistics show that preschool-aged children have around nine colds per year, kindergartners can have 12 colds per year, and adolescents and adults have about seven colds per year. Cold season runs from September until March or April, so children usually catch most cold viruses during these months." Still, 3 viruses in a matter of a month. Seems a bit excessive. So, this evening I took my son to his very first Urgent Care experience. We had seen his Pediatrician a week ago and they diagnosed him with the common cold. But, lately his cough seemed to be getting much worse, thus urgent care was our best option at 6:30 on a Monday evening. And, as it turned out, it was a good thing we followed our parental instincts on this one. Strep throat. Yep, so he'll be home again tomorrow and on antibiotics for the next week. Have I mentioned how much I love it when school starts?

September 26: Tractor Supply Co and the Moles

Every year we get a mole problem in our yard. I think they come from the field behind us. My wife thinks I overreact about their presence beneath our grass, but I've read about the damage those little buggers can do to your yard. The past few years I've called on Natural Way to come out and lay a product called Talprid in the ground to get rid of the gophers. Talprid are these rubber worms that mimic a favorite meal of moles. However, these worms are made of a toxic chemical. This year, the guy who cuts my lawn told me I could buy a similar product at Tractor Supply Co., but for a much more economical price. So, this afternoon, I stepped into Tractor Supply Co for the first time. It was...uh, well, interesting. The product I was told about is the same thing as Talprid, but just made by a different company called Montomco. So, upon returning home, I laid mole baits inside a few trails in the front yard. And, in a nutshell, not only did I visit a new store today for the first time, I also became a murderer. Nice.

September 25: Microsoft Outlook

I did the manual set up of Microsoft Outlook on our laptop this morning. Nothing groundbreaking here, as I've set up email on our Mac plenty of times. However, this was the first time I did it for Outlook and also the first time I've set it up on a PC. Thrilling stuff, huh?

September 24: Working Like a Couch Potato

The whole family has been going through a bout with some kind of virus or bug the past week or so. My wife and I are the latest to get it. So, when the kids went to school today, my wife called in sick (and for the record, she really was sick). She wanted me to do the same, but, unfortunately, I had some work tasks that couldn't wait until Monday. However, I only had a few meetings in the morning, leaving my afternoon focus on the aforementioned "busy work". So, we seized the opportunity. I took the laptop wireless, parked my butt on the couch next to my wife and we caught up on all of the television premieres that we recorded on the DVR while I worked. As a side note, we watched the premiere of "Detroit 1-8-7", and I highly recommend it to my fellow Michiganders. I didn't catch all of the authenticity in the show, seeing as I am not a Detroit native, however, it's just a good show regardless. And, to end on a humorous note, my wife spent the entire hour of the show trying to figure out what the "1-8-7" represents. She thought it was some kind of Detroit thing, but she couldn't figure out what. Afterwards, I had to explain that "1-8-7" is the police code for murder.

September 23: Red Day

My son's first big thing for Kindergarten is Color Day. Each month, his class focuses on a specific color. Color Day is the final day in class for the color, and they celebrate it. Each student takes home a bag filled with a snack and an educational item themed in the color. Each student also brings in a small, personal treasure within a brown lunch bag. The child thinks of 3 "clues" to share with the class about his treasure, and the class has to try and guess the identity of the treasure. Tomorrow is Color Day. Tonight we spent the better part of the evening selecting my son's treasure and helping him decide on the 3 clues. He picked one of his Spider-Man guys, and he thought of the 3 clues all on his own: "My treasure has webs. My treasure has white eyes. My treasure has blue pants".

September 22: The Doctor's Office

It's that time of year again! Leaves changing color, kids back in school and germs EVERYWHERE!!! Yep, it's the true season of sharing, as it relates to kids and germs. My daughter is feeling it firsthand, and, because of her asthma, I had to get her in to see our doc today; just to make sure things were all good. It was a doctor's visit unlike any I've ever experienced, and I'd like to share the enchanting tale with all of you here and now. All the way to the doctor's office, my daughter was frighteningly concerned with getting a shot. I'm not sure why, as she's had few shots there aside from vaccines. But, she was scared nonetheless. We get into an exam room, the nurse takes her temperature (fever, unfortunately), does the Pulse Ox, and all of the basics. Of course, my daughter asks if she will need a shot to which the nurse responds she "doesn't think so", but won't make any guarantees. Doc comes in, checks out my daughter and informs us that they need to give her a dose of steroids to assist with her breathing; which is not an unusual thing given my daughter's asthma. I warn the doctor against a liquid dosage, as my daughter doesn't like the taste and should her gag reflex kick in, it will not be a good thing. The doctor checks their supply of steroids for pill form and returns with 1/2 pill dosage and 1/2 liquid, as they didn't have a full dosage in pill form. We convince my daughter this is a good thing, as she only has to swallow half of the liquid dose she would normally be required to take. She takes the liquid first, and we use the pills to kill the taste; as, allegedly, the pills taste better. Yeah, right. Don't think that's very true, as no more than a few minutes after the doc leaves us, my daughter sends the liquid dosage back out into the room...and, all over the floor! I warned them, didn't I? I get the nurse, and she moves us to a new room. The doc returns and breaks the bad news that we still have to get a dose of steroids into my daughter. And, I don't think the liquid form is an option anymore. Thus, that leaves us with only one option...yep, you guessed it, the shot. I have to say, after all of that, I am so proud of my daughter! She took the shot like a pro, no tears. And, they even let her pick a little something from their toy box, which, of course, helped a ton. On the way back home, I treated her to a Slurpee and promised the next time we were at Target I'd buy her a Barbie, since the toy box was lacking one of those. After all that, it wouldn't surprise me if the next time we visit the doctor she asks for a shot. She's a very quick learner that way.

September 21: Book Club

Since my kids started school, even daycare, they've brought home these Scholastic Book Club flyers and order forms every month. This past year, the teacher's had informed us that we could even order online as opposed to writing out a check and sending it in to school with the kids. Today, I had my first experience ordering online from the Scholastic Book Club. I had been wanting to get the kids some new books, and after some research I found that the Book Club prices really are better than a local Borders or Barnes and Noble. Besides, for every 3 books I order, my kids' classrooms earn a free book; so everybody wins!

September 20: Atypical

A short while back, I got a few moles removed. Primarily because my wife battled melanoma last year and these couple of moles just didn't look right. Today, I got the lab results back and, thankfully, everything is cool. However, the lady from the Dermatologist's office did say that both moles were atypical, and that they were changing shape at the time of removal. That was a new experience for me, and a bit scary at the same time. She said the shape-changing isn't imminent that they would have turned into melanoma, but rather atypical moles have a higher probability to lead to that result if not removed as compared to normal moles. Jeez, to think just a year ago I didn't even know melanoma was as deadly a form of cancer as it is. You really do learn something new every day, don't you?

September 19: 2nd Grade Room Mom

This year, prior to school's first day, my wife and I committed to getting more involved in school committees and such; figuring it's a great way to meet the other parents and an even better way to have some say in the school's future direction. Of course, we didn't know what to expect or what we would be getting ourselves into, but we still felt compelled to be more transparent for our children's sake. Ironically, the only tip I had was one I took away from a class zoo trip for which I volunteered the year prior. That is, no Mother wants to be a Room Mom in 2nd grade because of the whole "First Communion" thing and everything involved with that particular milestone. Obviously, I was never going to be a Room Mom, but that advice stuck with me for some reason as a key point to remember. Unfortunately, I guess I never shared it with my wife. Because on Day 1, she went ahead and volunteered herself to be the Room Mom for my daughter's classroom, and, by golly, she got the job! So, what does this have to do with a new experience for me? Well, I can only guess that somewhere down the line my role in this matter is going to grow in some manner. I mean, my wife is already juggling family and career...I don't know how she can expect to take on more and do it alone. And, that's cool. I'm more than happy to help out however I can, whether it's calling parents, delivering things to the school or licking envelopes. It's definitely going to be a new experience, and I couldn't ask for a better partner with whom to experience it. Even though we were warned...

September 18: Slurpees

It's been a big Slurpee summer for my family. We've hit the local 7-Eleven more this year than we ever have. Maybe because the kids are older or maybe just because the darn things are so addictive. Today, on the ride back home, my daughter asked when the first Slurpee was created. And, I didn't have an answer because I had no idea what the history of the Slurpee is. So, for those of you who've had that same experience that left you speechless with your kids...this one's for you. The Slurpee concept was originated by a poor farm boy from Barnes, Kansas named Omar Knedlik. The idea came to him while owning a Dairy Queen when he began serving semi-frozen bottled soft drinks to customers since the establishment did not have a working soda fountain. As the drink became increasingly popular, he came up with the idea to create a machine to dispense his new-found invention. Working with a Dallas-based company, called the John E. Mitchell Company, he developed the first modern-day ICEE machine...yes, that ICEE. The company made and sold about 300 machines before order volume became unmanageable, at which time ownership elected to go in the direction of distributorships to grow the business. In 1965, 7-Eleven began buying the machines and called their version "Slurpees". And, there you have it...the origin of the Slurpee.

September 17: Hey, how about that?

Little thing here. One of those "boy, I feel stupid" moments, if you will. Today, I discovered a pair of nylon exercise pants, I've had for probably a year or more, have a zippered pocket on each front side, just below the open pocket. I had no idea. Nice place to keep the old wallet safe, though.

September 16: Playing Possum

Yesterday, my son is sick and misses school. Today, my daughter's school calls and she's....well, she allegedly had a stomach ache. Let me emphasize the word "allegedly". Here's how the whole thing went down. I'm sitting at my dentist's office and my cell phone rings. Of course, first thing I'm concerned with is how rude it is for a patient's cell phone to ring during his appointment. So, I glance at the number, silence the ringer and let it go to voice mail. However, something about the number is familiar. So, they take my X-rays, and, as they're finishing up, I realize the number is the kids' school. Of course, I'm thinking my son isn't feeling well and I have to go get him. Thus, I apologize and excuse myself to return a call to the school. The school tells me that my daughter came down to the office complaining she had a stomach ache. They say she's returned to class and if it's serious she will probably come back down to the office. Not exactly the most comforting statement to share with a parent. Thus, I leave my appointment and go to the school to pick her up. I walk into the school office and the minute my daughter and I catch each other's eyes, I can see that her "stomach ache" was simply a fable, if you will. Still, I knew there was something triggering her desire to go home, so that concerned me and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. As such, I decided to take her home...only 2 hours were left in school, anyway. And, it turns out she was just bored and wanted to come home because her brother got to stay home the day before because he was sick. How can you punish a kid for that? We talked about it, and I think she understands that she can't pull that kind of trickery again. At least I hope she does. Funniest part is it reminded me of my childhood when I used to put my head by the heater for about 10 minutes then call my Mom in my room and tell her I didn't feel good. They say everything you did as a kid comes back to haunt you when you have kids of your own. I guess there really is some truth to that.

September 15: Fish Food?

My son's been a little under the weather lately, and we decided it was finely time to take him in to see the doc. So, I kept him home from school today and scheduled an afternoon appointment with his pediatrician. The doctor's office has a huge fish tank in the center of the waiting room, and, of course, my son was drawn to it. I figured, better the fish tank than all of the germ-infested toys scattered around the waiting room. As we were watching the fish circle the tank, I watched something I'd never seen before amongst fish; and we have a fish tank at home. I watched a fish relieve itself of its feces while another fish trailed closely behind engulfing the feces as quickly as it hit the water. Apparently, the second fish thought feeding time was a bit early on this day, and had mistaken the feces for the standard Tetra tropical flakes. Gross, I know. Thankfully, my son missed the entire incident or else he probably would have announced to the facility what had just happened. But, twould have made for an even more interesting experience, I suppose.

September 14: Broadway Here We Come

Today was my daughter's first day of acting class. It was a little odd. We went in and the woman running it basically told us that we couldn't stay and to come back and pick her up in an hour. Apparently, if parents are around during class, the kids are hesitant to "act". I guess it's one of those"creative" things. Well, of course, we weren't just going to leave her there, so we sat out in the parking lot for an hour. So, this is what we're looking at once a week for the next 12 weeks. I wonder if Sandra Bullock's parents went through the same thing?

September 13: A Desk and 4.5 Hours

Tonight was the opening of Monday Night Football. Two games. One channel. And, thank God, too. As tonight I tasked myself with assembling a new 6-drawer dresser for my daughter's bedroom. It's a Target product, RE or Room Essentials brand. Pretty nice quality, in fact. Problem is, so many parts, so little time. Or, at least that's what I discovered, as it took me 4 and a half hours to put the thing together; and, I still had to attach the drawers the next day! I don't believe I've ever spent 4.5 hours putting together a piece of furniture. Nor do I ever want to do it again.

September 12: Shea

My wife was reading a food label and the ingredient "shea" was in the product. At which point, my wife informed my daughter that she couldn't eat this particular food item; indicating that shea is a nut-related product (if you recall, my daughter has a tree nut allergy). So, my daughter asked me to look up shea and write about it in my blog, thus here we are. Shea is actually in reference to the shea tree, which is a tropical African tree with fatty nuts that, when crushed, yield shea butter. Shea butter is a vegetable fat used in food preparation, and today quite frequently used in chocolate products as a substitute for cocoa butter. And, no, people with nut allergies should not ingest foods, or even use products such as soap, moisturizer or lip balm, that contain shea or shea butter.

September 11: Siren

I'm always happy to try a new beer. Today, it was Siren, which is made right here in Michigan. Traverse City, in fact; which I usually associate more commonly with wine. The website Beer Advocate doesn't give it a very high rating; Two Beer Dudes a little bit better, but I didn't think it was too bad. Kind of reminded me of the old Red Dog beer made by Miller; though I don't know why since they're two different styles of beers (Siren is an amber ale and Red Dog a lager). Maybe it's the red and white label, who knows?

September 10: Gushers Gone Wild

Disturbing. That's the only word I can think of to describe the Fruit Gushers commercial I saw on Nickelodeon this evening while watching "iCarly" with the kids. I'd never seen anything like it on, what is promoted as, a children's television station. It was even more disturbing to learn my kids had already seen this commercial more than once before. For those of you unfamiliar with the product, Fruit Gushers are a fruit snack made by Betty Crocker (or General Mills) that contain liquid inside the gelatinous skin that "gushes" out when bitten into. The commercial in question tells the story of Todd, a popular Jr.-high student who was born with a gusher in place of one of his eyes. Thus, he is able to provide his friends and fellow students with a quick "gusher"treat simply by spraying it in their direction via his "gusher eye". The whole concept is, well, gross to be blunt about it. And, being a former employee of the advertising business, I have a real hard time finding the connection between the product and the commercial. Judge for yourself by watching the commercial here, but I'm just not seeing it, sorry. If you have a different perspective, and you want more gushing, check out the website they've set up to support the TV ads. Whether I agree with it or not, I guess I'm the sucker here, as the commercial obviously triggered some emotion in me, and now I'm talking about it to all of you. Even pointing you out to the website. Just goes to prove that effective advertising doesn't necessarily have to be good advertising.

September 9: Twinkies

Somehow the topic of Hostess Twinkies came up this evening and my wife shared that the Twinkie does not actually contain any sugar. Of course, I thought her statement was ludicrous (and I don't mean the rapper). But, my wife stuck with her argument insisting that the proof of that lies in a book called "Twinkie Deconstructed", which she heard about on NPR. And, while her argument does not hold up as she presented it, as sugar is in fact a Twinkie ingredient, her overall point was quite valid. Upon a closer look, I was surprised by some of the things I learned about the make-up of a Twinkie. First, there are 39 ingredients in a Twinkie! Yes, 39. That's a lot of parts to such a small, spongy snack cake. Secondly, some of the ingredients are what you might consider unsafe to eat. For example, take corn dextrin. Sure, it's found in a lot of different food products. However, it's also that glue you find on postage stamps and envelopes. How about cellulose gum. Used frequently as a thickener for favorites like ice cream and low-fat salad dressings. Yummy! Also used in rocket fuel to give it "a slightly gelatinous feel". Yep, the core components of eggs, flour and sugar are considerably outnumbered by additives and artificial replacements. So, why would Hostess go and replace such natural ingredients with chemicals and other man-made products? Shelf life, plain and simple. Those natural ingredients do not provide the longevity a food manufacturer needs in order to turn a hefty profit by keeping the product in a ready-to-eat condition on a grocery store shelf for God knows how long. So, they replace eggs with emulsifiers and butter with artificial flavors and colors. There's an interesting article from ABC News from which I learned most of this stuff that you can read here. It's kind of sad when you think about it. And only leaves me wondering what would Twinkie the Kid think about all of this? His expression says it all.

September 8: Kludgy

On a conference call this afternoon, one of my business partners used the term "kludgy" in reference to an educational PowerPoint deck that the Instructional Designer for our project had developed. I'd never heard the term before, and she couldn't really define it clearly, but we all had a chuckle over her recurring use of it on the call. This evening, I decided to look the word up to see what it really means, and thereby determine whether or not I should be offended by her choice of words. Kludgy is in reference to a badly assembled collection of parts hastily assembled to serve some particular purpose. It's often used to refer to computing systems or software that has been badly put together. So, I guess I should take it as an insult, huh? Especially since the aforementioned PowerPoint deck was the proposed learning solution for about 5,200 bank associates. By the way, the first known use of the word was in 1962. If you want to learn more, I recommend this site.

September 7: First Day of School

Yesterday I wrote about preparing my kids for the first day of school. Like it or not, today it arrived. It was a landmark day of sorts in our household as today was my son's first day of Kindergarten! If it's possible, I was both proud and sad at the same time. Seeing him in that classroom, independent and eager to get the experience started warmed my heart, but I'll admit that leaving him there and realizing that, once again, it's just going to be me in the house, and that this is the first day of a routine that will continue for the next 13 years, it made me a little teary eyed. Of course, I told my wife that it was just the classroom being a bit dusty.

September 6: A First Desk

Tomorrow is the kids first day of school for the 2010-11 school year. We've been working hard the last couple of weeks to ensure we had everything ready - from clothes to supplies to their rooms. This year, we decided it would be best if both kids had a desk in their rooms and that they should do their homework each night at their desk, as a way to build some routine into homework and put them in an atmosphere in which they can focus on home work alone; no matter how minor or brief the homework might be at this age. So, today we bought and assembled my son's first desk. It's one of those Target deals, but it was on sale and about $30 cheaper than for what it usually sells. It's perfect for his room and his academic needs. However, it does make his room look much older, as if an older kid resides there. My little man is growing up...

September 5: BW3s and the Draft

I'm in a Fantasy Football keeper league, and every September, right before the NFL season kicks off, we get the owners together and have our draft. The past few years it's occurred at a number of different locations, from Shield's Pizza to our Commissioner's home. This year we drafted at Buffalo Wild Wings. I gotta say, the place goes all out for its fantasy football customers. Simply for having our draft there, each owner took home a plastic BW3 mug, a foam BW3 koozie, and a $10 off food voucher for your next visit. They also provided us with a draft board and player stickers to post after each owner's selection. Not only was this the first time we drafted at a BW3s location, it also happened to be the fastest draft we've ever had. We cruised through 15 rounds in approximately 90 minutes; that has to be some sort of record for any fantasy sport draft! Needless to say, it was a great time. It would have been even better had I drafted well, but leave it to me to ruin a good thing. Oh, well, there's always next year...

September 4: The Romeo Peach Festival

Every year around this time, my wife brings up the annual Peach Festival in Romeo; commenting that it would be something fun to do one of these years. Well, 2010 was finally that year. Yep, we loaded up the family into the Vue and headed north to Romeo to partake in some peaches and whatever else came our way! Apparently, every other family in Macomb county decided that 2010 was their year, as well, as the streets of downtown Romeo were packed. We managed to immediately discover a fair down one of the side streets and the kids, of course, had to go on at least one ride. Unfortunately, that's about all we found. There were a lot of booths up and down the main street selling a number of different peach-themed goods, but not too much else. So, we packed it in early, but decided to make a pit stop at Westview Orchards on the way back home. This turned out to be the big hit of the day, as they have a huge play area for kids that features several wood play sets, including a pirate ship, castle and tractor. We took a hay ride out to their 5-acre corn maze, then headed back to the main part of the farm to visit their petting zoo, huge hay stack, and 40-foot slide. We wrapped things up with some cider, donuts and, of course, a peach pie! Yes, it's still officially Summer, but today sure felt like a Fall day instead.

September 3: TJ & WF w/C&A

Our family has a bi-monthly routine of shopping Whole Foods Market and Trader Joes. It's bi-monthly because it's a 20-minute drive one-way to these stores and not typically the way we want to spend our time every weekend. So, we do it twice a month, traditionally on a Friday evening when the traffic isn't as heavy as it would otherwise be, say, on a Saturday or Sunday. We make a family event out of it, usually eating out somewhere prior to doing the food shopping. Anyway, with the upcoming Labor Day holiday just ahead, I decided to take today off and spend it with the kids to celebrate their final day of Summer freedom before heading back-to-school on September 7. Some celebration for them, as I ended up dragging them along with me to Whole Foods and Trader Joes in an effort to eliminate the need to make this trip over our long Labor Day weekend. This marked the first time that I had gone solo with the kids on this particular endeavor, and, to be honest, I really didn't know which kids would show up: the jovial helpers who follow Dad's instructions and listen intently OR the crazed wild bunch hellbent on creating mischief and doing whatever they damn well pleased. Luckily, it was more of the former and less of the latter in this instance. Though it took significantly longer with 3 of us than it usually does with 4, we successfully secured everything on our list (and then some) and knocked this one off of the weekend task list; giving us more time to do something a bit more fun! You gotta love when things just come together nicely.

September 2: Shoo Fly

Today, the biggest fly I, personally, have ever seen landed on our patio door. Seriously, this thing was the size of a penny. Not just large enough to fit inside the center of a penny, but the height and width of the entire penny. It was almost as if the darn thing was daring me to wave it away from the door. Spooky.

September 1: Blogging Bonanza

10 blog entries in one day! I have to admit, that's something I've never accomplished before. And, let's just hope I never, ever have to do it again.

August 31: Insurance is a Good Thing...at Least Today

The storm a few weeks back left three trees down, a broken fence and a snapped Invisible Fence. And, that's just the damage before I have the guys come out and take a look at our roof and siding. I know I've covered all of this in previous blogs, but I found it pivotal to summarize the history to this point as today when I opened the mailbox I found an insurance check sitting inside. This is the first claim we've ever filed since we've been in our current home, and only the second claim I've ever filed since becoming a homeowner in 2000. I have to commend the Insurance company on their speedy delivery of said services, as I figured it would take at least a few more weeks. Thankfully, we were dealing with just tree removal and some other minor things for now and not "Mayhem" from the new Allstate commercials! If you haven't seen these advertising gems, I highly recommend taking a look here.

August 30: Knowledge for the Journey Home

The final day of vacation is never a good day for me. The whole thought of leaving wherever it is you've traveled and returning home, only to have to go back to work and...well, it's not one of my favorite things. Though one expects the return home to be the same old routine, during today's shuttle ride back to the airport I learned something new. And, from the radio of all places. The driver was listening to NPR, with a segment on Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of the rock band Queen. I learned that Freddie Mercury was born in Zanzibar. His birth name was Farrokh Bulsara. He didn't begin to be called by the name of Freddie until he was 8. I did a little more research on his life this evening, and it's quite an interesting story. If you have any interest, or perhaps are simply a Queen fan, there's a pretty good biography here.

August 29: One Fish, Two Fish, Butter Beer is This Day's Wish

One of the nicest perks of staying on the Universal Resort is that we can enter the parks an hour before the general public has access. This morning, we awoke a bit earlier than we had been to take advantage of that opportunity. We returned to Islands of Adventure, specifically to do the Harry Potter Wand Shop experience; which was a 2-hour wait on our first day at the parks. Today, it was still 45 minutes, but we decided to wait. The experience has about 20 people enter the wand shop. There, the shop keeper selects one child from the audience for whom to find the right wand within the shop. The experience involves some unique special effects to recreate a scene right out of the Harry Potter films. After the wand attraction, we stopped in the street to purchase a Butterbeer. One word: awesome! The park's version is like a caramel/butterscotch Slurpee. I can only imagine the sugar content in one of these things. From there, we ventured back to the side of the park we had not yet visited and Seuss Landing. This was the first time my wife and I rode The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train, The Cat and the Hat, the Caro-Seuss-el and the One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish rides. And, it just happened to be my son's favorite attraction in the park! Which, of course, made the experience for my wife and I that much more fulfilling.

August 28: Universal Fun

Kids' choice today, and they elected to return to Universal Studios in an effort to hit the remaining attractions that we didn't catch during our short visit yesterday. Among them, several first timers for myself: Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast, Men in Black Alien Attack, The Simpsons Ride and Revenge of the Mummy. That last one I had to take on solo as the attendees working the gate advised that it's a high-speed roller coaster in the dark, and, therefore, it might be a little too intense for my daughter; even though she wanted to go on it with me. Of course, we also did the park favorites such as E.T. Adventure, the Animal Actors show and the Twister ride for a second time (my wife and daughter went and I stayed outside with my son). We were even lucky enough to catch a few characters around the park and get the kids' picture with them. Among the "stars" were Scooby-Doo and Shaggy, Woody Woodpecker, Curious George, Jimmy Neutron, Diego and the Madagascar gang (well, Alex the Lion and the Penguins that is). Coupled with the fact that yesterday we got pictures with Spider-Man, Wolverine and Sponge-Bob, it was setting up to a great experience for the kids. Once again, a few hours at the park left us tired and hungry, so we headed back the resort way for a bite to eat and another afternoon of swimming!

August 27: Adventure and Roller Coasters

We decided to do the Islands of Adventure theme park as the first stop on our trip. Primarily because it had the new Harry Potter attraction, and because it was a Friday and we figured there would be less people than on a weekend. So, after a quick continental breakfast at the resort, we headed out to the parks! We hit the Marvel Super Heroes area first, taking in the Spider-Man ride. From there, it was off to Jurassic Park for the River Adventure, which turned out to be a bit too much for my son; specifically the 85-ft. drop at the end. It's in water, but still quite a scare. Though very well themed, unfortunately, Harry Potter offered only a little excitement for us, as my son was too short to ride the main ride (and my daughter didn't want to), and there are only 2 other rides in the attraction. However, my daughter and I did ride the Flight of the Hippogriff, which is really her first authentic roller coaster experience. I have to say, she is now hooked! So much, that we had to immediately go again. The nice thing about staying at the Universal Resort is that your room key can be used as an Express Pass to avoid the long lines. Thus, we were able to hop on again within 5 minutes! After getting the lay of the land, we decided to hop over to the Universal Studios theme park. The kids were itching to go on the Jaws ride. But, first we did the Shrek 4-D attraction. After Jaws, my daughter and I went into the Twister attraction, although I don't think she saw any of it because her face was buried in my chest the whole time. Tired out from all of the excitement, we headed back to the resort for some swimming and snacking. Only 3 days left. Why do I spend valuable vacation time dreading the day we have to go back home?

August 26: Mears, Marmaduke and Many Other New Experiences

Travel day. We awoke about 4:30 am, departed the house about 6 am, arrived at my In-laws at 7 am, dropped off at the airport around 7:45 am, took a 10:05 flight and arrived in Orlando at approximately 12:45 pm. Needless to say, it had been a long day and it was only half over. Maybe that's why our experience with Mears Transportation, our shuttle service from airport to resort, wasn't all that I had expected. First of all, I thought that the shuttle was specifically for our family. Thus, when I was a bit surprised seeing strangers awaiting the next van to arrive. Secondly, we were given one of those buzzer things when we checked in at the Mears stand; you know, the ones they give you when you are waiting to be seated at a busy restaurant. Again, I expected to jump in the shuttle immediately and be on our merry way. Finally, we had to sit on the shuttle an additional 20-30 minutes at least while we stopped at various other hotels in the Orlando area dropping off the "stowaways" that hijacked our ride. Forty-five minutes later, we were dropped off at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort, which we would call home for the next 5 days. Thankfully, the rest of the day was much more enjoyable...we went down to CityWalk for a while, took a swim in the pool and ordered up an early evening snack to the room while watching the movie "Marmaduke" on the TV. That image alone of both kids in PJs, sitting on the edge of the bed, table pulled up to them, snacking on Mac and Cheese/Salad/Fruit, and watching a movie that hadn't even come out on video yet erased all remaining stress of the morning. I am so looking forward to the next 4 days!

August 25: Surprise!!!

With the kids summer nearing its end, my son starting at a new school, and my daughter absolutely dreading the return to school, my wife and I wanted to do something really special as a family to end the summer with a blast. So, this evening, we surprised both kids with the announcement that we were going to spend the next 5 days at the Universal Studios Resort in Orlando! We had booked the trip about a month and a half ago, but we kept the entire vacation a secret from the kids; often finding ourselves the culprits of several little white lies in the process (but it was well worth it!). Ironically, the kids didn't believe us at first. They just kind of looked at us like "yeah, right, Mom and Dad". In fact, it wasn't until we started packing after dinner that I think they finally realized we weren't just pulling a fast one on them. Even then, I think they still have their doubts we are going to Florida. I guess we'll have to wait until we arrive at the airport and board the plane tomorrow morning to see the reaction we were expecting this evening. Bummer.

August 24: Branch Tree Service to the Rescue!

Finally! Branch Tree Service arrived early this morning to begin the process of removing our fallen fir trees. Word of note, if you happen to visit their site using the link in that first sentence, crank up the computer volume as they have a rockin' little jingle! It's our first time using this particular company. I could wait only so long on our regular tree company before having to move on to greener pastures (literally). Anyway, it took the two guys nearly all day to trim down the trees to manageable pieces that they could toss aboard their truck for disposal. Luckily, they were able to save a major portion of our Red Maple, which has had one of the fir trees laying on it since last Thursday's storm. On the flip side, my Invisible Fence wire was split in the process, which now requires a visit from our Invisible Fence technician. Isn't it wonderful how life always balances itself out?

August 23: Fossilized Rock

The fallen trees still adorn the landscape of our backyard. It's starting to feel like they've been there forever...and that is NOT a good thing. I've been awaiting a specific tree company we've used in the past, as they are economical and they do a good job. However, they've decided not to return my calls. I'm sure they are very busy, and I'm sure there are other customers whose homes and yards are in much worse condition than ours. Still doesn't make it any more tolerable to look out the back window and see a small forest covering the ground. But, that's a blog for another day, I'm sure. Today's is about all of the cool things that come up from the ground when you have 3 big trees fall down. No, I don't mean the tree roots or the now exposed Invisible Fence wire. What I'm referring to is the fossilized rock I found while poking around the "crash site". The rock appears to have two small insects that have been fossilized into the rock, leaving only the impression of their once living form. I've never seen anything like that in my own backyard. My wife's immediate response was "I wonder if it's prehistoric". Unfortunately, I don't have the answer to that, as I know nothing about fossils or fossilization. The good news is that there are hundreds of sites that do. I haven't bothered to take the time yet to research it myself, but if you're interested you may want to start here at Discovering Fossils. Let me know if they reference anything about insect fossils.

August 22: BTS Shopping

Yes, we all know it's that time of year again! School is just weeks away from starting and today was our day to knock off the required supplies for the first day. This year marks the first time both kids had a specific list of school supplies; granted my son's list encompassed only a few items. So, we did Target, and went through the rigorous process of finding the notebooks, folders, #2 pencils and all of the other goodies. In the midst of all of this "excitement", the recollection of my own school supply excursions in year's past came rushing back to me in vivid color. I always liked the process of getting everything I needed for school a few weeks before it started. It's the rest of the whole school thing that I could never stand; you know, actually going. Unfortunately, neither of the kids share my sentiment about the school supplies component. Anyway, we were able to secure all required items and then some. It's going to be a good school year...I can feel it!

August 21: Mowing Again

The aftermath of the storm last Thursday left branches and leaves all over the yard (and the neighborhood for that matter). Yesterday, I attempted to clean up by rake and hand, but today I got smart. I mowed the lawn myself for the very first time this year! See, we have a weekly lawn service that doesn't do a great job, but still frees up the 3 hours I would invest weekly to do it myself. At the rate they're charging me, having that 3 hours to spend with my family is well worth it; for now at least. I'd forgotten how good it felt to do the job myself, not to mention the results. A lawn definitely looks much nicer when cut with a little pride and love and not just the sole purpose of earning a paycheck. You would think it would be the other way around.

August 20: The Crawl Brings Something New

The 6th annual Wyandotte Wine Crawl took place this evening in downtown Wyandotte. My wife, myself, and my In-Laws attended last year's event for the first time, so we decided to do it again this year. And, once again, it did not disappoint. Before we dove head first into all of the wine samples scattered across the city in various stores, we took in a quick meal at the Sports Brew Pub, just outside of the main event. This restaurant is actually one of my favorites in Wyandotte - beer, good food and plenty of sports ambiance. This time around, I decided to go for their "3 Pepper Burger" for the very first time - a delicious combination of tangy banana peppers, green peppers and jalapenos, all smothered under melted cheddar cheese. Man, was I glad I made this choice. In one word...AWESOME! After filling our bellies, we commenced to the wine sampling. They give you maybe an ounce at each stop, just enough to wet your whistle. By night's end, though, all of those ounces begin to add up. We capped off the evening with one final stop at DoHickeys Irish Pub. This is a place which I've passed many a times while visiting Wyandotte, but I've never actually been in the place. I skipped any additional wine samples and had a good, old-fashioned beer instead; risking the dangers of combining wine and beer and any potential bad outcomes as a result. Still, how can a guy go into an Irish pub and order a glass of wine? They would have run me right out of the joint!

August 19: You Say Tornado, I Say TorNOTo

Up until this evening, I'd never been in a tornado before. Not really the type of new experience I was hoping for when I signed up for this blog gig. But, nonetheless, it happened. About 6:45 or so, the family decided to make a Slurpee run to 7-Eleven. At the time, the sky to the North of us was getting a little cloudy, but not too bad. By the time we returned home, a matter of 5-10 minutes, the sky was much darker. Shortly there after, the sirens went off. At that point, we looked into the local weather for an update of what to expect, and we discovered a tornado warning for our area. So, we ventured into the basement, and within 5 minutes or so the worst of it arrived. We could hear hail slamming off the house, the wind swirling like mad, and eventually a big THUMP outside. It only lasted approximately 10 minutes, but it sounded pretty nasty. As I hit the top of the stairs, first thing I saw outside was that the patio furniture cover had been lifted off one of the chairs which was soaked in the still falling rain. Wish that had been the worst of it. A few more steps and I found the kids' swing set to be intact on one side of the yard, however, on the other side, 3 huge fir trees were now laying on the ground, stumps up! Obviously, we now were even more curious about the exterior of the house. As the neighbors began to slowly exit their homes to observe the damage, we found our shutters in the front, which we thought were made of wood but are actually plastic, riddled with holes. I have to think there is a better way we could have made that discovery. The shutters now look like we've been the victim of a recent drive by. Fortunately, that was the bulk of the damage. The house was structurally fine, just some minor cosmetic things here and there. The neighborhood looked like it had just been through a war zone - branches everywhere, piles of hail covering the ground, street flooded to your ankles because the sewage drains were blocked with all of the fallen foliage. But, everyone in the neighborhood was safe. News reports later confirmed that a tornado touched down nearby, thus ending any discrepancies as to whether or not we experienced a tornado. Remember the movie "Twister"? Well, in all honesty, it was nothing like that, but still enough to scare the dickens out of you (and Bill Paxton, too)!

August 18: Facts from a Team Meeting

Staff meetings are not typically one of the more exciting work events for anyone. Doesn't matter who's leading them, it's just one of those meetings that always seems to focus on process, routines and the tasks at hand; which everyone already knows. However, in a team meeting this afternoon, I learned some new things that had nothing to do with work. And, for once, my position on team meetings shifted from "urgh" to "wow, very cool". The meeting facilitator used some interesting facts, not to tie into a work-related event or issue, but rather to simply "break the ice" of the typical staff meeting format. These facts were:

• The term "Golf" originated from the sport's original perspective of "Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden". Unfortunately, like most staff meetings, all of the information you receive isn't always exactly true. In this case, the "Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden" theory is just an old wives tale. The true origin of the word "golf" is it derives from the Dutch word ’kolf’ or ’kolve,’ meaning"club". In the Scottish dialect of the late 14th or early 15th century, the Dutch term became ’goff’ or ’gouff,’ and only later in the 16th century ’golf’.

• The San Francisco Cable Cars are the only mobile National Historic Landmark. This one is true...somewhat. They are, in fact, a mobile National Historic Landmark, but the New Orleans' St. Charles streetcar line is the other. Thus making it two mobile National Historic Landmarks.
  

• It is impossible to lick your elbow. Well, not sure if it is fact or fiction, as I can't find any hard data on the topic. I know I can't lick mine, if that's any consolation. I guess give it a shot and let me know whether or not you have any success.
  

August 17: Honey, I Can't Believe We've Never Seen These Movies

Have you ever noticed that are certain movies that come back around from time-to-time and, when they do you, marvel at the fact that you've never seen them. Such was the case this past week with the Disney "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" (from 1989) and it's infamous sequel "Honey, I Blew Up the Kid" (from 1992). Today, we watched the latter, having seen the original for the first time last weekend. I have to say, the original was the better of the two. The kids liked both. They were mesmerized by the idea of being smaller than an ant and going on an adventure in the backyard, and tickled by the sight of a 50-ft. infant walking the streets of Las Vegas. While I was entertained by both concepts myself, even laughing out loud a few times, I couldn't escape two questions as I watched these films: (1) Why had I never seen these before considering they are 21 and 18 years old, respectively?, and (2) What ever happened to Rick Moranis, as the guy used to be in everything? I don't really have an answer to the first question, only that seeing I was 21 and 24 at the time, without children, I probably had interests beyond shrinking kids and growing babies. But, I was able to gain some insight into the second question. Rick Moranis is, in fact, retired from the acting profession, with his last "role" being the voice of Rutt the Moose in "Brother Bear 2". He did so in 1997, citing other obstacles in his life. These obstacles were a result of losing his wife to liver cancer in 1991, and being a single father. Moranis felt that the travel requirements of an Actor were just not conducive to his need to be with his family, therefore he chose family over career. He now runs a production company, and he released a country/comedy album in 2005 called "The Agorophobic Cowboy". Even though I loved him as an actor, I think I now respect him as a man who decided that, even though he had it all so to speak, his family was still the most important thing in his life. You would think that would be an easy choice for any man, but I bet you would also be surprised and how many choose the other path instead. I salute you, Mr. Moranis.

August 16: Steaz

Yes, another new beverage in the household. We're always in the market for the next best "healthier" alternative to soda pop. So, this time around it is Steaz. It's marketed as a sparkling green tea "made from the finest natural ingredients in the world". Funny, it still has 23g of sugar per serving, though. So, while it may be "natural", it's still very sweet; something we were hoping to keep around 10-15 grams. Don't get me wrong, I love sugar as much as the next guy; probably quite a bit more than the next guy. But, I've made a commitment to cut back on my pop intake, as my wife is convinced that an over-abundance of sugar leads to several different health ailments, including pancreatic cancer. I don't know whether or not that is fact, but I made a commitment. Anyway, Steaz is organic, reinforcing their "all-natural ingredient" pledge, and also available in a regular or low-calorie version. They have 4 flavors from which to choose: raspberry (which we tried), lemon-lime, root beer and orange flavors. The taste? Well, it's more like a fruit juice than a tea, but still refreshing when you need something cool to quench your thirst. Though not a long-term pop alternative, I still think I'd buy another 4-pack of Steaz to have on hand on a warm day. I guess 23g of sugar is still better than the 49g I'd get in a Coke.

August 15: Hedgehogs and Millipedes

The annual Township Art Fair rolled around this weekend, and today we decided to kill a few hours by taking a stroll through the event. The kids always seem to enjoy it what with the bounce house, inflatable slide and face painting. They also got to sit in a fire truck and participate in a safety "tour" run by the Fire Dept. There was a motor home split into 3 rooms - kitchen, living room (with fireplace) and a bedroom. We went from room-to-room and in each a gentleman instructed on the dangers that kids may encounter. In the final room, he even released smoke into the room and we got to climb out the window on a fire ladder. It was actually pretty cool and educational! That, however, was not the highlight...at least for me. Nope, it was the exhibit from the local Nature Center. Every year they have rabbits, snakes, usually a tarantula or such. This year they also had a small hedgehog, which the kids and I were able to pet. Now, you would think that a hedgehog would be prickly or sharp to the touch, but it's actually quite soft; provided you stroke its fur in the right direction. We also pet an African Giant Millipede, which was quite creepy. I always thought of millipedes and centipedes being one in the same, just with a different number of legs. But I learned the two are quite different. First, the millipede is a herbivore, while the centipede is a carnivore. The millipede moves quite slowly, whereas, we all know, the centipede travels very quickly. Finally, the centipede is actually venomous, as a result of poison glands in their limbs. And, here I just thought they were all legs and no bite. Oh, that was bad.

August 14: Caipirinha

Saturdays for us are typically about running errands early so we can simply enjoy the rest of the weekend as a family. That is, on Saturdays when we do not already have some event planned; which lately are few and far between. Today, the girls had a hair appointment a few cities away, so my son and I did the PetSmart shopping then met the girls afterwards. With a few more errands to run, we decided to "fuel up" first at the local Bahama Breeze. It's there where my wife discovered a most intriguing alcoholic beverage on their "specials" list. It's called a Caipirinha, pronounced (kai-pee-reen-yah). At Bahama Breeze, it's a concoction of natural cane rum, fresh lime and sugar cane juice. My wife suggested we split one, just to try. Given the ingredients, and it sounding like a piece of lime candy with some rum mixed in, I, of course, agreed wholeheartedly. Our expectations were exceeded after the first sip - it was refreshing, tasty and addictive. I can see where some people might easily order 3-4 of these things in one sitting, only to realize that, despite their delicious flavor, they also pack a punch! Upon writing this blog entry, I was curious as to the origin of this unique beverage. I found that it is a traditional Brazilian drink, which has become increasingly popular in the states over the past few years. In Brazil, it's served with cachaça, which is a liquor made from fermented sugar cane. There are several variations of the drink using various fruits, including tangerine, strawberry and passion fruit. Some prefer replacing the rum with a different alcohol to create new variation. There's the caipiroshka which uses vodka and the caipiríssima, which uses white rum. Whatever your tastes, I highly recommend the original. Keep it in mind for your next trip to Bahama Breeze.