February 27: The Water Heater

I'm not sure who this "Murphy" fella is, but his law is beginning to slightly bug me. We all know the widely-accepted meaning of Murphy's Law is that "anything that can go wrong will go wrong." For me, personally, this law usually goes into effect shortly after some other big event has occurred in my life; thereby adding additional, though unwelcomed, stress into my life. Case in point, yesterday I made the decision to invest a significant amount of money into a new laptop computer and a new camcorder. Not a foolish decision, but certainly one in which the "want" outweighs the "need". The fact is, we could have went on with life as normal without those items, but isn't the whole goal of working your tail off for your employer to be able to provide for your family and yourself both the things that you/they want AND need? Yes, I say. But this evening, oh, this evening, one day later if you will, I experienced a situation in which the "need" definitely far outweighs the "want". An entirely new experience for me involving our water heater. Let's take a little stroll through the night, shall we? My wife and I were about 30 minutes into "Paranormal Activity". And, I kid you not, I just asked her if she thought we should take it out. Not because I was scared, I hadn't reached that point YET, but because I have this strange superstition that if I bring things like that into my home, it opens up a door of some sort to let things like that enter and stay. No sooner did we agree to continue viewing, when my wife says to me "What's that sound?". Of course, I think she's just trying to spook me and respond with a rhetorical "what sound, honey?" But then I hear it too. I don't even know how to describe the sound because I've never heard anything quite like it. I leap to my feet and quickly identify that it's coming from the basement. So, I proceed down the stairs cautiously to discover that the valve at the bottom of our hot water heater is spraying water across the basement floor. I immediately become convinced that we've gone and welcomed some entity into our home as a result of watching the movie (and I'm still not convinced we haven't) and it's now decided to reveal itself by turning on the valve on our water heater. Clearly, I'm not thinking rationally at this point! Well, there's water everywhere, so I begin soaking it up with the Shop Vac. But, I notice that the valve continues a slow, steady drip. So, I'm concerned now. After a few trips out back to empty the Shop Vac canister, I decide to call my Brother-In-Law, Steve, who is extremely gifted when it comes to home improvement, appliances, repairs, etc. And, Steve helped me out immensely. Basically, my water heater is on it's way out, and the valve spraying the water was likely the result of a worn washer as opposed to the devious work of some supernatural spirit. So, instead of awaking tomorrow and enjoying a leisurely morning with the family before heading to Church (we're definitely going to Church), I now have to visit Home Depot for a new water heater...Murphy's Law. You know, there should be a law outlawing Murphy's Law! Try saying that fast fives times.

February 26: My Name is Scott and I'm a PC

I previously posted how we had some issues in my home with our Mac desktop computer. Well, over the past few weeks, the issues have continued. The latest? I'm not able to upgrade our camcorder. "Well, Scott,..." you might be saying, "...what does that have to do with your Mac?" Too much, unfortunately! You see, today's camcorders, at least the model I want, run on flash memory (we still have an old Mini DV model that's just not doing the job). Flash memory requires certain criteria to exist within the computer to which you are downloading the video. A minimal processor speed, specific amounts of RAM, and, of course, the latest versions of iMovie and iDVD - to create then burn the movie to disc. As a result, my only option down the Mac avenue is to go out and purchase a brand new Mac computer for $1,000+. Let me tell you, I've never owned anything but a Mac. Over the past 10 years, my wife and I have invested in at least 3 Mac computers that I can think of. Not to mention the one we inherited from my parents. We still have 3 of the 4 , as I speak. Unfortunately, every one of them is obsolete when you weigh them up against today's technology and the things we need them to be able to do. Puh-lease! So, I've had it. I've had it with constantly spending my hard-earned money to stay ahead of the curve as Apple continues to introduce their next big thing. And, I've had it with buying Mac computers! So, today, after weeks of research and lengthy consultations with my wife, I went into Best Buy on my lunch hour and purchased a Toshiba Laptop PC. While I was there, I also picked up the JVC camcorder to which I had a burning desire to upgrade! I mean what the hell, right? If you're going to go all in, you go all in! Besides, we recently came into some extra money as a result of employer generosity, and we figured we might as well invest some of it into something that the entire family will use. And, I'll tell you, it felt good. The buyer's remorse afterwards not so much, but in the moment...it was like winning Olympic Gold! We went with the Toshiba Satellite L505. It was an affordable price point for all of the features with which it's equipped - Intel dual-core 2.2GHz processor, 3 gigs of RAM (expandable to 8), a 320 GB hard drive and more! I'm sitting here right now typing this blog entry on this baby, and I'm lovin' it. Which, I should mention is the other primary reason we wanted a laptop - so that we can do the work, research, video editing, blog writing, etc. that we need to do without being trapped in the office away from the family. You know, there will always be a part of me that is connected to Apple/Mac; I know I'm never giving up my iPod. But, maybe it's my age, maybe it's my curiosity or maybe it's just that I'm so damn frustrated with Apple right now that I could scream...but, I'm really enjoying being a PC for a change.

February 25: Bullying

Bullies are everywhere. They come in all forms, shapes and sizes. The bigger school kid who picks on the smaller one. The corporation that intentionally sets up shop in a neighborhood in an effort to drive all Mom-and-Pop establishments out of business. And, since bullying is everywhere, we can't hide from it, but rather we need to become effective at managing it. All of us have a hand in that, but most of us just don't know how to go about it in an effective manner. I received my first lesson his evening when I attended a (mandatory) "Bullying Workshop" at my daughter's school. The Guest Speaker was Dr. Marcia McEvoy, a licensed Psychologist who has worked in a variety of settings in three states; including public schools, community mental health, a child guidance clinic, and two universities. She is an expert in the area of violence prevention, including the prevention of youth suicide, and the author of Preventing Youth Suicide: A Handbook for Educators and Human Service Professionals. I actually learned a lot from this experience. For example, I was always of the philosophy that bullies are children who come from a home in which they themselves are bullied or abused. Not so. Dr. McEvoy claims that bullies typically come from two types of backgrounds: (1) Kids with too much freedom and not enough love and/or structure at home. She says these bullies are usually forthright with their aggressive/mean behavior, as opposed to concealing that behavior under a mask of deceit like the other group...(2) The "narcissistic" home in which the parents are grooming little princesses and princes. These kids typically bully their parents from a young age forward in order to get their way and the materialistic things they want. Another tidbit I picked up is that girls tend to bully within their friendship circle, while boys tend to bully outside of that circle. And, finally, bullying requires the act to be intentional, repeated and involve an imbalance of power between the parties involved. Thus, it goes well beyond the physical component, including gestures, body language, and verbal attacks. And, it's amazing to me how statistics show that when "bystanders, those kids standing around watching the bullying occur, actually intervene how dramatically the bullying behavior stops versus when those children say nothing or walk away when they see it. Like I said, I learned a lot from this event. Unfortunately, the biggest thing I learned is how much I fear for the safety of my children while they're in school; a place where we expect our kids to be safe and nurtured. Sure, I remember my school days and, of course, we had bullying. There was name calling, shoving and the occasional fisticuffs after school. But, I never once witnessed a child beat another child so severely that he had to go to the hospital. It's a shame that we live in a time in which aggressive behavior in children has become so extreme, that it frightens even me as an adult.

February 24: Just To Prove I'm Right

This past weekend, while gallivanting around town (and the local Ikea) my wife and I entered into some friendly banter on various topics - 3 in fact - that eventually ended up as minor debates. Still friendly, though, always gotta keep 'em friendly. Here were the topics:

1. The age of actor Vince Vaughn. We had recently rented "Four Christmases" via Netflix and planned on watching it that evening.
2. Whether or not singer/songwriter Chris Daughtry, of the band Daughtry, was still married to the woman who was his wife back in 2006 when he appeared as a contestant on American Idol.
3. The mortality of the legendary Issac Hayes, whose voice is best known for the theme from "Shaft" and as Chef on "South Park".

So, this evening, after wrapping some loose ends for work, I decided to enlighten myself with the answers to these questions. I figured in the process I could ease my burning curiosity, gain some useless knowledge, and, most of all, PROVE I'M RIGHT! So, without further adieu, here are the results:

1. Vince Vaughn - younger or older?
   Moe said "around 32". Scott said "in his 40s".
   The answer: He will be 40 on March 28
   Advantage - Scott
   
   
2. Daughtry - still married or divorced?
   Moe said "divorced". Scott said "still married".
   The answer: He has in fact been married to the same woman since November 11, 2000.
   Advantage - Scott
   
   
3. Isaac Hayes - alive or deceased?
   Moe said "deceased". Scott said "alive".
   The answer: Isaac Hayes passed away on August 10, 2008 at the age of 65.
   Advantage - Moe

Okay, so it wasn't the clean sweep my celebrity gossip ego had hoped to attain, but in the words of Meatloaf, "two out of three ain't bad".

February 23: From the Mouth's of Babes

My daughter was home sick with me for the second time in the past 3 weeks. Of course, when she's sick I inevitably get a 2-for-1 deal on kids as her brother is not about to go to daycare if his sister's staying home; not without a battle, at least. So, I caved in and they both spent a day at the Counsell Spa...or so the way the two of them usually see it. However, today, I was lucky enough to get an ear full of wisdom from my daughter that actually taught me a few things about myself. It began when she decided to share her observation of "if you eat slowly, you can save the taste of food." My initial reaction was "huh?". But, after she repeated it, it made sense. If you eat fast, you really don't get to enjoy the flavor of what you're eating, right? And then a light bulb went off atop my head and I seized this opportunity to get her perspective on some other things in life. I asked her how I could prevent myself from getting angry at silly things. She said "if you're angry, you can either hold your breath or count to ten or go dance." Translation: Distract yourself from the source of your anger. I asked how I can I stop worrying. She told me "to stop worrying, if somebody's about to do something bad, don't run, just walk and tell them not to do it. But if someone' falling, that's a reason to worry". Translation: Don't worry about the little things in life; save it for the big things. I asked how I can overcome my fears. She advised "If you're afraid of something, just keep saying I'm going to be fine, nothing's happened to me before." Translation: Think positive to conquer your fears. Finally, I asked about the key to happiness. She responded "If you don't like your job, make sure that you don't get hired and go find another job you like." Wow, that last one spoke volumes about my fine line between home and work. Translation: Stop complaining about your job, Dad, and do something about it. I said earlier that all of her wisdom taught me a few things about myself. Ready? Basically, I make simple things complex, I worry too much, I see the negative before the positive, and I may never find happiness as an employee. Translation: At age 7, my daughter has more wisdom than I've acquired in my 41 years.

February 22: Shortcut to Happiness

It sounds like some newly-discovered wisdom that I shall now impart on all of you. Unfortunately, it's not. Shortcut to Happiness is a 2007 film that I just happened to stumble upon on Starz this morning as I was awaiting to see whether or not my daughter's school was to be closed due to the winter weather (which it was). I know, I know, you could say that watching any movie that I had not previously seen qualifies as a new experience. However, this was one of those situations in which I had not planned on watching a new movie, identified using a movie as the feature for a blog entry, nor expected to catch something of such interest on TV at 5:30 on a Monday morning. The film stars Alec Baldwin, looking more like the young, suave and cool Baldwin, as opposed to his current Jack Donaghy. The supporting cast includes Anthony Hopkins (who is always fantastic), Jennifer Love Hewitt, Dan Akroyd, and Kim Cattrell. It is a film adaptation of the Stephen Vincent Benet classic short story The Devil and Daniel Webster, with Baldwin playing down-and-out aspiring writer, Jabez Stone, who foolishly exchanges his soul with the Devil (played by Love Hewitt) for success. He soon discovers the kind of meaningless success he has been granted is nothing compared to the success that one earns through passion, hard work and desire. Eventually, Daniel Webster, played by Hopkins, comes to his rescue and battles the Devil in a film-ending trial; complete with a jury of famous, deceased authors. Making the film even more interesting is that it was actually shot in 2001, but never released by a movie studio. In 2006, it was re-edited, re-named and finally released. It seems Mr. Baldwin was highly opposed to the release of it in 07, even going so far as to remove his name as Producer and Director. Funny. In my opinion, it's no 30 Rock, but I still found the film to be very good and quite entertaining. And, I still would recommend it if you're looking for something other than the latest New Releases.

February 21: Something Old, Something New

Today was a day when I consistently seemed to find new discoveries in old routines. For example, I installed a reading light (from Ikea, nonetheless) to the bed post of each child's bed and I actually did it without once having a meltdown because things weren't going exactly the way I had planned them in my head. Or, my wife and I were able to have breakfast out, just the two of us, at our local Orange Peel. I've had their scrambled eggs a few times but never with smoked kielbasa like I had them on this morning. My wife and I also had to pick up a few things for our upcoming Florida vacation; first at Kohls, then the Mall. And, I actually bought some new things for myself instead of just planning on wearing the same old shirts and shorts I wear year-after-year. Finally, I didn't have a chance to update my blog entries and I didn't stress about it. And, for those of you who know me well, know what a different experience that really is for me. Given that things seemed to be falling into place so nicely following this pattern, I decided to play the lottery, half-expecting to take home a few million in the process. The end result? Actually, I'm kidding about that last one...regardless of any type of karma, playing the lottery always ends up the same way for me and it's definitely not on the winning end.

February 20: Ikea

There's an episode of "Family Guy" that always comes to mind whenever I hear the name Ikea. The episode is titled "Hell Comes to Quahog" . It focuses on a new, behemoth of a superstore (conveniently called Superstore USA) that opens in the city in which the Griffin family resides (Quahog) and proceeds to suck up the city's power supply in order to keep the store running. The family's dog, Brian, describes it as a "big, evil corporation". Well, my feelings towards Ikea are nowhere along those lines, basically, because I'd never been in the store before. But, I have been curious to see what all the "hub-bub" was about. With the kids having a sleep-over at their Ahma's house, my wife and I decided today was the day we would pledge Ikea and become a Fraternity brother and Sorority sister to this worldwide enigma! So, we took the 1-hour drive from our house out to the lone Ikea location in the surrounding metropolitan area. For us, a feat in itself! Upon arriving, we found the parking to be simple and easy; thus, we started off on the right foot. Unfortunately, from there, it all went South....or as Little Nicky would say "the deep south"! We entered the facility and, quite honestly, had no idea what to do or where to go next. There were carts and bags to our right, an up escalator directly in front of us, and what appeared to be an entrance to another area of the place in the back left corner. Luckily, there were 2 very unhelpful Ikea associates doing the meet-and-greet with shoppers who were surprisingly able to point us in the direction of the "showroom" (which is up the escalator for those of you Ikea virgins out there planning your first experience). The showroom, we soon discovered, is basically everything the store sells on display. Ironically, you can't buy any of it from the showroom, but rather you must take down it's location in the marketplace on the first floor below and then locate it yourself once you've completed the showroom journey. And, I'm not kidding at all about that. It's literally a journey - one way in, one way out; and that way out is at the end of the yellow brick showroom road. Here's the best part, towards the end of the showroom there is a cafeteria conveniently placed for those hungry shoppers who've just had to travel the winding showroom path that is the equivalent of 3-5 miles, in my mind. Here you can dine on a delectable assortment of meals and/or snacks at a remarkably cheap price. I opted for the Swedish meatballs, being that Ikea is of that same origin, and I was presented a plate of approximately 15-17 meatballs, a dollop of mashed potatoes and some lingonberries (whatever those are). All for the low, low price of just 4.99; beverage included. Then, it was onward to the Marketplace, where everything is labeled by it's Swedish name. Which is real fun for a Polish/English guy and his Italian/German wife. Again, it took us a millennium just to wind our way around to the Warehouse where all of the RTA furniture is stored. Make sure you jot down the aisle and bin numbers on a piece of paper if you're seriously considering furniture, as once you get this far it's impossible to find anything without that information (or heading back up into the showroom with Gilligan for another 3-hour tour). In the end, Ikea is just too big. Sure, it's an interesting ride and there's a lot to look at. But, so was Dollywood when we stopped in there a few years back. And, I don't plan on going back there anytime soon.

February 19: Our Snowman

With the weather starting to warm back up after our big snowfall last week, the kids have been itching to get back outside and play in the fluffy stuff. Although by now, the fluffy had become slushy; not the right texture for a sled ride through the yard but great packing for a snowball fight or, better yet, a snowman! A few years back the kids and I had attempted to construct a man of snow, but that project never quite prospered. Instead, we were left with basically a one-lumped amoeba like creature with no head upon which to place button eyes, a carrot nose and corncob pipe. And in the front yard of all places! Not a real site for neighbors and passerbys. But, today, oh today, it was a much different story. First, we elected to build in the backyard to avoid acquiring a reputation throughout our subdivision. And, the kids are 2 years older now so I knew I wouldn't have to tackle this one alone. Unfortunately, I soon discovered that 2 years a difference does not make regarding the attention span towards snowmen. Their interest was still not anywhere near the same level as mine. Sure, they started out with a bang, highly engaged in rolling the ball that would serve as the base for our new friend. But, they quickly found the swing set to be much more fun and bailed on me shortly after we had wrapped up our ground level. Like a trooper, I forged ahead despite the mutiny I was seeing in the ranks. After getting the little guy assembled, and I do mean little - our snow buddy is about 3" tall, I recruited the kids back into the project with the attractive offer of allowing them to add the eyes, nose and mouth; as well as a snow cap and scarf to give 'em a little personality. We couldn't locate any buttons big enough for eyes, so my wife was able to secure some foam shapes that did the job. We used one for the mouth, as well, and used a short carrot as the final piece for his happy face! Shortly after getting a few pictures with the kids on either side, my son wanted to knock the poor fella down. So much for trying to establish some pride in the end-product of hard work. Thankfully, my son has a quite a few more years before he'll be going out to secure his first job in the workplace.

February 18: Idiot

My friends and family know my passion for the game of baseball. I played it over 10 years as a kid. I love everything about it...America's pastime. There's a couple of lines in "Field of Dreams", spoken by Shoeless Joe Jackson (or Ray Liotta), where he says "It was the game... the sounds, the smells. Did you ever hold a ball or a glove to your face?...It was the crowd, rising to their feet when the ball was hit deep." The game has always had that kind of magic for me. I am a lifelong, die-hard Red Sox fan. My closest friends and family can further attest to the fact that I am a huge Johnny Damon fan. My wife refers to it as my "man-crush", but, honestly, I just like the way the guy plays the game. I've been a fan since he came into the league back in 1995 with Kansas City; even more so when Boston signed him to be their CF from 2002-2005. For those if you who follow Major League Baseball, you're well aware of the JD free agency saga and the good chance that he might sign with our hometown Tigers! Needless to say, I'm fairly ecstatic to see him manning the outfield at Comerica Park! Ironically, shortly after the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004, a season in which Damon coined the phrase "we're just a bunch of crazy idiots" in reference to the team's light and carefree attitude, he co-authored a book by the same title, "Idiot". My wife had purchased that book for me as a gift in 2005, but until this evening I had never cracked it open to give it a read. There was one year that I took it down to Florida during vacation, as we had Spring Training tickets to see the Yankees take on the Reds and I thought I might be able to snag a pre-game autograph using the book to grab Damon's attention. Unfortunately, he wasn't even at the ballpark that day. In hindsight, I probably should have selected a location other than the bed in which to do my reading, as about 25 pages in my heavy eyelids indicated that sleep was going to be the priority this evening. Not a result of the book itself, but rather a general lack of sleep over the course of the week. Although, truth be told, I have a bad habit of starting books, but never finishing them. Among those on the list: "Life of Pi", "My Booky Wook", "Faithful", "Final Rounds", and "The Last Lecture". All good reads, probably much better than "Idiot". But, I think I'm going to stick with this one for a while. At least until Damon decides whether or not Detroit will be the next stop in his career. If not, well, this one's going back on the shelf with the the others!

February 17: Palm Oil

My wife is convinced that food is going to be the death of us all. Not obesity or an allergic reaction to food, but rather all of the unhealthy ingredients that food manufacturers hide inside their products and the negative affects of those ingredients on the human body. Her latest mission is minimize the sugar intake in our house; she's even gone so far as to resort to scare tactics, telling me that the other day she heard that drinking more than 2 sodas a week can lead to pancreatic cancer due to the sugar levels inside of a 12-oz. pop. God love her for caring so much about our family's well-being (especially me...Sugar Man himself), and for being so astute as to the health implications of the food we eat. However, her commitment to staying on top of these things has also lead me to be more aware of what I'm eating...good for my body, bad for my appetite. I now find myself second guessing that can of Coke, piece of candy or Oreo cookie that, in the past, I never hesitated to devour, much to my delight. Which leads me back to our topic of Palm Oil. As I sat on the couch this evening about to indulge in the Twix bar that my kids selected for me on a recent trip to VGs, I took special note of the ingredients; partially because my wife was seated next to me and I wanted to impress her by taking interest in what I was about to put inside of me. The ingredient Palm Oil jumped out at me, as I seem to see that same ingredient on a lot of different foods. I had no idea what Palm Oil really is so I figured I would learn something new and find out a little bit more about this popular ingredient. I discovered that Palm Oil is "an edible plant oil derived from the pulp of the fruit of the oil palm" or so Wikipedia says. Basically, it's a form of vegetable oil, however, unlike some of it's oil siblings, it is higher in saturated fats and low in polyunsaturated fats. According to some sources, such as the U.S. Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), it can lead to a higher risk of heart disease. not to mention the production of it is contributing to the destruction of rain forests in SE Asia (where I guess oil palm trees grow aplenty). Yet others, like the American Palm Oil Council, believe that some of the primary nutrients in Palm Oil actually reduce one's risk of heart disease; even some forms of cancer. Yikes! In my quest to become a little more knowledgeable, I had instead stumbled upon a worldwide Palm Oil controversy! Although, in my opinion, it's just one more debatable topic for people to spend significant chunks of time arguing about without any type of resolution in sight. I don't know who's right or who's wrong on this one, but I do know that there's one philosophy that's served me well through my 42 years in life, and that's "everything in moderation" I don't know who coined the phrase, but my wife certainly likes to use it; especially when referring to food. And guess what, she hasn't been wrong yet.

February 16: A Virus You Say?

I mentioned that I was recently forced to overcome some computer issues with our old dinosaur of an iMac. No, it's not one of those neon-colored deals from about 10+ years ago, but it's still pretty much obsolete. Although for Macs, obsolete is pretty much what your computer becomes immediately after you remove it from the box. Our issue began with a simple Internet visit. My wife was reading an article on Yahoo! when a pop-up informed her that we were running a virus and we needed to remove it immediately; a screen I have never seen before. It appeared we had an option of "Cancel" or "Continue"; the latter to which I assume would have linked us to a solution o some sort for removing the nasty bug. However, before making a selection, the screen quickly jumped to another window that resembled the look of a Windows computer running some form of diagnostic on the hard drive. Thankfully, my wife just quit the browser all together before anything further evolved. I was at the store during the whole incident, so, upon returning home, I had to see it for myself. Of course, I got the same warning, which prompted me to take the same action as my wife. Now, those of you who know us, realize that we can get kind of paranoid over certain things, this being one of them, and, from time-to-time, perhaps react irrationally. Again, this being one of those times. For fear that someone had hacked our system and our bank accounts would be drained within the hour, I completely removed the Internet connection. And, there our iMac sat...all night, all the next day, no Internet connection. During this process, I journeyed over to the local Apple store with the intentions of actually buying some antivirus software for the first time in my life. Over 15 years I've been a Mac User and never once even considered antivirus software. See, there's this idea amongst Mac people that Mac computers are impervious to any kind of virus. The statistics support that Macs do experience far fewer virus incidents, however, I was quickly convincing myself that the statistics were going to fail us in this instance. The associates at the Apple Store ensured me that what we saw was merely a hoax; someone attempting to scare us into clicking a link to some antivirus software promotion or some other site that would do further damage to our machine. I guess this particular hoax is not all that uncommon. I was told that buying antivirus software would be a waste of my money, so, of course, being the technological sheep that I am, I did not make the purchase. Instead, I went back home and in the evening began switching out our old iMac with the one we inherited from my parents. I figured we'd never be fully comfortable using the old system going forward, so why not just make a complete change. Although, sitting here now, 6:00 am the next morning, waiting impatiently for my files from one machine to copy over to the other, I'm starting to think we should have just rolled the dice on the whole virus thing and continued forward status quo. Bummer.

February 15: The Village

M. Night Shyamalan's experience in creating his village wasn't such a good one, as those of you who paid the $7 box office ticket price might recall. Fortunately, the one that me and my kids built on this day was much more successful. Being a bank associate, I'm lucky enough to be able to have President's Day as a paid holiday. Throw in the fact that my daughter is home from school this week for Winter Break, and you have the recipe for something fun and crazy. So, we seized the day! We went into every applicable closet, searched every last nook, and we pulled out all of the super heroes, Barbies, LEGOs, Lincoln Logs, building blocks and anything else we could find and we assembled an entire universe through the halls and bedrooms of our upstairs. Our own "village" if you will, minus the crazy elders wearing strange monster-like attire in an effort to scare the younger generation (see M. Night Shyamalan reference in the opening). It took us a few hours to put it all together, but the end result was pretty spectacular! Beginning in my son's room, we had the Pirate community and the the super hero genre, which extended out into the hallway.



There, we slowly transitioned to the doll house community and several Barbie vehicles traveling down, what we deemed as, "main street"; which ended in the captivating Barbie castle high atop the hill.



Continuing past the royalty, we created our own zoo from Lincoln Logs and building blocks; complete with a Thomas the Tank Engine LEGO train!


Of course, by night's end we had to take the whole thing down. Still, building it with my kids, and playing for the bulk of the evening, was well worth the hour of labor required to clear the hallway and return the upstairs to just an upstairs again.

February 14: Soup Party

To this day, whenever I think about soup I think of the old "Seinfeld" skit featuring the Soup Nazi ("No soup for you!"). Maybe that's why the idea of attending my first soup party at my sister's house gave me chuckle. Don't get me wrong, it's a very unique idea and perfectly fitting for the month of February, especially in Michigan. But, I didn't quite know what a soup party would look like, and I was still skeptical that soup alone would fill everyone up. Not to mention, the thought of 5-6 kettles of soup brewing across my sister's counter top did seem a bit comical...in my head at least. However, this was not my sister's first soup party, so I put those minor details aside and placed my trust into her capable soup-cooking hands. Now for those of you who are not familiar with the concept of a soup party, basically, all guests are asked to bring a crock pot full of a soup of their choice (and some good bread or a soup accessory, such as cheese, if you like). All soups are placed out and each party attendee has the privilege of sampling the various options. However, I'm getting way ahead of myself, as the first step in this experience, if you're not hosting the event, is actually transporting a crock pot full of soup to the party location; a task that, for us, was easier said than done. To minimize the amount of sloshing and spilling during the journey, we decided to place the crock pot on the floor of the front passenger side so that my wife could monitor the situation. Not a great choice, as we quickly came to discover. See, an abrupt stop, a sloping road or the standard Michigan potholes, large and small, can disrupt the calmness of a traveling soup. Thus, all the way over to my sister's abode, cries of "soup, soup", which was our code word for warning each other of a potential soup hazard, rang out through the confines of our vehicle. So many times, that I'm surprised my children did not make up a song about it. Finally, we arrive...an hour early! Yes, my mistake. I thought my sister had indicated a 2:00 start time, when in reality it was 3:00. So not only are we battling soup at this point, we also must carry the burden of being those people that show up so early to the party. My sister was cordial, though, ensuring us that she was glad we came early as she could use the extra hands; so it wasn't too bad. At last, all guests arrived - my Aunt and Uncle, cousins and their families - and, just like I imagined, there were the crock pots aligning my sister's stove top. But, I have to say, what a pleasant experience this soup party was. All of the soup selections, which included two types of chilis as well (yummy!), were very delicious. My sister topped the whole thing off with a chocolate fountain for dessert, much to the delight of the younger party guests; complete with all of the dippins' from pound cake to pretzels to strawberries to marshmallows. So, here's my advice to all of you. If you're ever invited to a soup party, definitely make sure you go despite any images of the Soup Nazi playing through your head. Just make sure you pack an old blanket upon which to place your crock pot during travel, like my cousin did, so you avoid doing the "soup, soup" shuffle all the way there.

February 13: Coconut

Ahh, the mysteries of the universe. Who's responsible for crop circles? Is there intelligent life on other planets? What happens when you die? And, of course, is a coconut a fruit or a nut? Perhaps not one of life's great mysteries, but it's still a valid question. Particularly to my daughter who's been asking that a lot recently. I've mentioned in previous blog entries her nut allergy. As a result, she's very skeptical of coconut. And, unfortunately, it's quite amazing how many food products out there contain coconut oil. Thus, when we hand over the ingredients for her to read, so that she can be assured what she is about to ingest is in fact safe, we always hit a roadblock with the dreaded coconut oil. So, this day I set out on a mission to find out "the truth about coconuts" (sounds like a bad film featuring Uma Thurman and Janeane Garofalo).. thus being able to either ease my daughter's tensions or confirm her fears. What I came to discover is that, depending on how you look at a coconut, it can be considered both, as well as a seed. Weird, huh? There's a whole scientific explanation about it that you can read here if you have the time (and attention span), but to keep things simple it is what is called a drupe. What is a drupe, you might ask? A drupe is a fruit with a hard stony covering enclosing the seed and comes from the word drupa meaning overripe olive. All drupes, have three layers: the exocarp (outer layer), the mesocarp (fleshy middle layer), and the endocarp (hard, woody layer that surrounds the seed). So, bottom line, and to my daughter's joy, a coconut is officially a fruit; even though it grows on a coconut palm tree. There you have it. Now, I also learned several other interesting facts about the coconut, that I will not go into detail about here for the sake of time and blog space. But, if you're interested in these little tidbits, I highly recommend checking them out here.

February 12: Play it again, Samuel

I believe in one of my earlier blog entries I had established that I love beer. As a result, I've found myself wanting to try new brands and new styles beyond Budweiser, Corona or Heineken. On Friday night, I think I may have discovered a new favorite seasonal beer. While on a run to the corner liquor store for a bottle of Kendall Jackson for my wife to enjoy after a long, horrendous week of work, I spotted a 6-pack of Samuel Adams Noble Pils amongst the regular selection of brews. Of course, it piqued my curiosity. I'm a big fan of Sam Adams Boston Lager, and through the years I've also sampled their Summer Ale, Octoberfest, Winter Lager and Irish Red. All delicious! If that wasn't enough to convince me, the promotional text on the carton further drew my interest; particularly the statement "reminds us that the warm weeks of Spring are just a few weeks ahead". Given that Jack Frost just dumped a ton of snow on us and Spring Training is less than a week away, I thought it a fitting beverage for the evening. My wife cordially poured me a glass to enjoy with dinner and it was love at first sip. It was light, flavorful and refreshing. Now, I'm no beer connoisseur, so I can't speak eloquently to barley, wheat and hops, but in layman's terms...it was good! So good that I ended up having two. That Sam, he always knows the key to this man's heart. I mean that in a completely platonic manner, of course.

February 11: Dance Solo

My daughter's Thursday evening dance classes have quickly become a regular routine for us, as she prepares for he first ever dance recital in June. I have to admit that some Thursdays, after working all day, it's difficult to muster up the energy to take her all the way over to the studio and sit there for an hour waiting; especially since her class starts so late. But, as parents we go the extra mile for our kids and, since she is so passionate about this dance thing, it's really not much of a sacrifice, on the part of my wife and I, when you put things into perspective; now my son might have a different outlook on that since he's required to stay occupied the entire hour. I'll get his take next week. On this Thursday night, I decided to be the thoughtful I guy I am, and give my wife and son a 1-week reprieve. I did so because my wife has been sick for a few days and my son seemed to be starting to come down with a similar ailment. I received no complaints from my son, but afterwards my wife ended up giving me some grief because the dance teacher allowed the parents to watch the last 5 minutes of class. How was I supposed to know, right? Unfortunately, this evening at the dance studio did not start very well. First, I really wanted to make a pit stop at Starbucks on the way, as I needed a little caffeine boost to make it through the hour. However, we left a bit late so I had to settle for a French Vanilla coffee out of a machine from 7-Eleven. Not quite the same thing, to which you coffee drinkers can probably attest. Although some people seem to have a different opinion on that. Next, upon arriving at the studio, because we were later than usual, all of the lobby tables but one were already occupied. The one that was still vacant happened to reside directly in front of the room in which there are back-to-back aerobics classes on Thursday nights. Needles to say, this was quite uncomfortable as I felt like the 30 women who take those classes were thinking I parked myself there to watch them work out; which was really not factual at all. So, given that I had forgotten the work I planned on doing while I waited but forgot in a rush to leave the house, I spent the next hour flipping through an old "Parents" magazine, staring at the walls and scribbling on a scrap of paper to prove that my interest in selecting this spot was purely due to limited seating options. I can confirm that this was the first and last time I want to do the dance thing solo, as I, obviously, missed the company of my wife, but I also found I missed the restless antics of my son...his begging, whining and boredom included.

February 10: Snow Day

This will be the last entry about snow. I promise. I guess it's true that snow slows down every thing, even new opportunities! Anyway, Wednesday officially became the first snow day for my kids since my daughter began attending school. Thank goodness my wife decided to stay home or things could have gotten really crazy between work, shoveling and the kids. Not to mention a day of home arrest did her good since she's been battling a nasty cold that's stolen her voice the past few days. Seeing my daughter's school scroll across the TV news brought back memories of my own childhood and the joy of staying home after old man winter unleashed his fury across the area. I fondly recall awaking early, sitting aside my Mom with eyes glued to the television just praying that Berkley schools were on the list of closings; while my poor Dad readied himself for another journey across snow-covered roads in his UPS truck. Poor guy never had the opportunity to enjoy a snow day at home with the rest of us. I, too, still had to work this day, but luckily, working from home, I was able to grab brief moments here and there with my kids, now wired with new found energy, as they pranced about the house trying to decide what they wanted to do next, if anything, since they were free from the classroom for an extra 24 hours. That alone definitely confirmed for me that snow days are a beautiful thing...at any age.

February 9: The New Age Shovel

You're likely going to see a theme here over the next several days. Let me give you a hint....it's February, it's Michigan and it has to do with a bunch of little white flakes. Any guesses? No, it's not dandruff due to the dry air. Why, it's snow, of course! And, we got a lot of it. I would say 4-5". Nothing groundbreaking, compared to say Washington, Philly, New York or the rest of the Mid-Atlantic region, but still the most we've seen this season. In preparation for our winter storm, as the snow started falling this morning, I journeyed over to Home Depot, kids closely by my side, and we proceeded to invest in a second shovel; mainly so that my wife could join me in our shoveling festivities. The one we have is a dinosaur, but still does the job. Though, anyone who uses it from my wife to my Father-In-Law, complains that it's too heavy. Wimps! I like it, and I refuse to switch to a different model until the old boy snaps in half. Besides, I inherited it from my Dad, thus continuing my streak of never actually going out and purchasing a shovel. I love hand-me-downs! You know, Home Depot is smart. They have all the versions of shovels they sell lined up at the door where you enter the facility. There was approximately 4-5 different models from which to choose. As a result, it took me about 15 minutes to carefully select the right one, in much the same manner as a samurai warrior would select his sword. More time than what was really necessary, and far more time that was tolerable for my children. They kept grabbing these adjustable shovels and dueling with them. Anyway, in the end, I selected one of those ergonomic, bent-handle deals that are supposed to be easier on the back. I've always wondered if that was in fact true, and now I plan in finding out! I figure either it will work wonders on the usual back aches I return indoors with after shoveling or I'll be bed-ridden for the next few days with even more severe back pain. Either way, I'm a winner!

February 8: Snow Job

Local news announced today that we're expecting our biggest snowfall of the season beginning this Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday. It was this news that finally lit a fire beneath me to load our Craftsman snow thrower into the back of the car and take it over to the Sears repair shop. I'd been having major problems with it starting with our first snowfall back in November 2009. Basically, it doesn't throw any snow...at all! As a result, I've just been manually shoveling the 1-2-inch increments we've been seeing here and there since then. The plain truth is I've just been too lazy to take the darn thing in to find out what's wrong with it; other, higher priorities in life right now. But, with the news of a potential dropping of 7-10 inches in our part of town, I figured I'd better get off my keister and do something about it. Upon arriving at a nearby Sears store, my immediate concern was the wait. I'd never dropped off a product for repair and I didn't know what to expect. Fortunately, no one else was waiting, and it took less than a minute for the service guy to come out and begin the process. Now, we bought this snow thrower back in 2005, shortly after moving into our current house. So, I was expecting to pay something out-of-pocket in order to get my snow thrower back in working condition. But, that's when the scales of justice kicked into full balance for me and my beloved snow thrower. The service guy promptly gave me the good news first, which is that we happened to invest in an extended warranty at the time of purchase, meaning the cost to me would be zilch! However, before I could break into the "happy dance", out came the bad news. It seems that the earliest I can get my newly repaired snow thrower back into my garage is 7-10 days. As Shaggy would say..."zoinks!" I guess I should just be thankful that my snow thrower will soon be working again, despite a short wait, and that it won't cost me a dime to make that happen. In the meantime, I suppose a little shoveling never hurt anyone. Then again, ask me that same question tomorrow. After digging out of 7-10" of snow, I may have a different opinion.

February 7: Gator Tag

My son's birthday is just around the corner, and being that it is his 5th, a milestone in our house, we want to do something special for him this year! For my daughter's 5th, we had her celebration at Tea Party Castle , and her closest friends and cousins were able to attend. We're not trying to "out do" that, but we still want my son's 5th to be memorable, as well as something to which he can invite his friends from school. Given that there is not a "Super Hero Castle" anywhere in town, we had to be a little more creative in our thinking. So, on Sunday, February 7, we made our first visit to the Joe Dumars Fieldhouse (JDF) that's located in our neighborhood. We wanted to get a feel for the environment, as well as talk with one of their party planners about our options. Unfortunately, the party planner to whom we were supposed to speak, was not at work yet, so we did our own tour as a family. We had already researched the potential activities that would be available for a child's party, and we had the opportunity to see some of them firsthand. The biggest concern was Laser Tag, or as it's known at JDF...Gator Tag. See, the fun center at JDF is an area known as "The Bayou"; so you can see how "Gator Tag" got its name. We were not sure how my son would respond to the dark arena and the concept of a bunch of people running around with the sole goal of shooting one another. We thought he might be a little timid, perhaps afraid. Boy, were we wrong. He absolutely loved it! Granted, the facility was not busy on this morning, so this game was just our family of four. But still, he took to it immediately. I have to be honest, this was my first Laser Tag experience and I loved it, as well. In fact, both my wife and daughter told me afterwards that I took it a little too seriously. I guess next time I'll have to leave out the vaults, back flips and shoulder rolls.

February 6: Egg Hunt

If I were writing this post in April, or even late-March, it probably would not classify as a new experience. But, given that it is early-February, and that Saturday was a slow day in the "new experience" category, it seems a fitting topic. For some reason or another, my kids recently re-discovered these Twist & Read Word Family Eggs from Lakeshore Learning, that, up until that moment, had been buried in the playroom with a hundred other toys they probably don't even realize they have. So, we decided to have an egg hunt, Peter Cottontail style! I scattered all the dozen eggs throughout the upstairs - bedrooms, bathroom, playroom - and the kids began their search. And, let me tell you, they've gotten a lot better at this game since last Easter. Within the first 5 minutes or so they were able to collect about 75% of the those little oval rascals! However, Dad's ingenious hiding tactics led to a bit more of a challenge for the final 25%. My favorite locations - I hid one inside my son's ball cap that was hanging from his closet door and another inside the stack of paper cups that sit atop my daughter's "Hello Kitty" mini water cooler in the playroom. I hid 'em so well that even I forgot where they were. It took us another 10 minutes or so just to locate those final two. Of course, the conclusion of the hunt was followed up with begging and pleas to engage in another, but time was of the essence, as we had reservations at PF Changs in Dearborn to celebrate my Mother-In-Law's 70th birthday! In an effort to turn the kids' frowns upside down, I promised them that on Sunday we could celebrate Independence Day early with a barrage of sparklers, firecrackers and bottle rockets. Anyone know if those fireworks shops out on the Michigan/Ohio border are open in February?

February 5: Something Saucy

Friday night dinners at our house are always interesting. After a long week of work and school, we usually do something quick and easy. If we're cooking, things like leftovers (if we have any), sandwiches, frozen finger food (i.e. chicken tenders) or frozen pizza top the list. If we're bringing in, we occasionally do the McDonalds things for the kids or pick up a pizza from a local pizzeria. And, sometimes we just go out to eat. Surprisingly, this Friday evening was a little bit different. Thanks to my wife, we had a Friday meal with some substance: pasta noodles and sauce. Before leaving for work that morning, my wife smartly removed some leftover homemade spaghetti sauce that we had frozen a short while back. And, shortly before the troops arrived home late that afternoon, I begin warming the sauce and boiling our healthy whole grain noodles, courtesy of Barilla. Being that we had already used the spaghetti noodles, I solicited my son's opinion on his choice of either rotini or penne, with which we had just recently stocked our cupboard (love that Costco!). He promptly selected penne and we were on our way. Of course, the remaining spaghetti sauce was not nearly enough to feed a hungry family of four, so my wife heated up the Trader Joe's Puttanesca sauce that had been sitting in our pantry the last few weeks. Now, my wife loves Puttanesca...the traditional dish with spaghetti noodles. Me, I've never actually tried it. But, apparently the sauce is a sort of traditional tomato sauce with olives, capers, peppers, garlic and either anchovies or tuna mixed in. When researching the basic recipe, I also came to find that, interestingly enough, the dish is referred to as "whore's pasta", thanks to this little entry on the MediterrAsian.com website. Not sure who is making that reference, but it seems to be a lot of people out there, as the same fact popped up on more than one website. If I wasn't curious about Puttnesca before, this little tidbit certainly did the job. And, I was pleased with the taste of it over my penne on this evening. It has a slight hot/tangy aftertaste to it, which I enjoyed, and the blend of spices with the tomato base was enticing. I would certainly recommend the sauce for your next pasta meal, as well the traditional Puttanesca dish next time you dine out Italian. If you can't wait that long, as I just know this blog entry has left your taste buds longing for Puttanesca sauce, try making your own. This recipe looks inviting.

February 4: Game Face

Video games seem to be one of those things that parents pass down to their children as they reach a certain age. Typically, this introduction is the result of a parent excited to see the child's face light up upon witnessing such grand technology or because the parent simply needs some time for themselves and the TV just isn't cutting it anymore. Often, some combination of both. In our house, it was more of the former. I was, and still am, a video game junkie. I love everything about them - the graphics, the story lines and, of course, the challenge. And, until recently, I've been a strong advocate of there being no connection between video games and a negative affect on a child's brain and/or behavior. I mean, I grew up playing video games - Atari, the original Nintendo, Playstation (1 and 2), and now the Wii. So, for me, it seemed harmless when I first allowed my kids to experience video games sometime last year. But, last night, while waiting for my daughter at her dance class, I had a different sort of experience with video games. My son asked me to help him with a part of the "Super Hero Squad" game for his Nintendo DS that Santa brought him last Christmas (thanks, Santa!). I obliged and it was quickly "bye, bye Scott". Immediately, I was absorbed in the game, neglecting my son's pleas to return it to his hands; even found myself irritable at his request to hand the game over because I had already been sucked in and winning was now my sole focus. It was like a drug. Luckily, my wife broke my trance and reminded me how foolish I was being, and she captured the moment in photo so I could see how foolish I looked. For the first time in my life, I was able to see my face when consumed by a video game. It isn't pretty! Here, you can see me lost in concentration, followed by a good shot of my son, annoyed, as he attempts to reclaim what is rightfully his (poor guy):


Now, I'm thinking the video game thing is not such a good idea for my kids. Not yet. Don't get me wrong, both kids enjoy playing, and they've gotten pretty good at it. But, like me, my son seems to become obsessed with it. If he's not asking to play the Wii, his face is buried in his DS. To compound the situation, we're seeing a change in his behavior immediately following a video game excursion - he's more aggressive, impatient and sometimes downright mean. Looking back at my own video game days, I can remember getting quite upset when the game wasn't going my way and lashing out at my parents as they tried to explain how ridiculous I was being. Yikes! It appears I may have passed down more than just an interest in video games. And, it's not like these photos just put the light bulb over my head. We've been seeing the signs for a while, and we've already implemented some changes. First, we've cut back the game time considerably, and, secondly, our goal is using the video games as more of a reward for good behavior. But, I guess it's true that "seeing is believing", as seeing myself in that light definitely changes the way I see video games and their affect on both children and adults alike.

February 3: Strange Eats

We're back to food again. Last month, about a dozen days into my blogging here, my sister commented that "everything seems to be about food". Since then, I've made an effort to focus my new experiences on everything but dining, eating or cooking. But, food does play a significant role in my life, in all our lives. So, here we are again, back to food. With a bit of a twist today, however. For some reason, over the last few days, my mind has weighed heavily on the topic of odd combinations of food that people like to consume. For example, a traditional favorite for pregnant women, the old pickles and ice cream! I've never tried it, but how can 1 million pregnant women be wrong (or 50,000 Elvis fans for that matter)? Truth be told, I don't know why this particular topic has been occupying the corners of mind lately, but, since it wasn't going away, it seemed like I had an opportunity here to experience something new. After some initial research into some of the combos I might sample, I quickly discovered that people eat some very, very odd things...and enjoy the taste of them! And, while I wasn't ready to go whole hog and start working through this list, 1-20, I was in the mood for a snack and I wanted something different. So, I selected two suggestions that sounded like they would NOT be part of a Survivor food challenge, and for which I assumed we had the ingredients on-hand here in the house. Keep in mind, the strategy here is to start small and build your way up to the more extravagant duos. The first concoction: cheddar cheese and peanut butter. It wasn't bad - nothing notable; neither delicious nor disgusting. The second concoction: apple sauce and cottage cheese. Again, simple yet different. This one gets a slight nod on the satisfaction scale, although I've never really enjoyed the lumpiness of cottage cheese. In the end, my belly was full for bedtime, and I was able to try something new from the kitchen. It's funny, all those years my Mom served beets and horseradish with our Christmas ham, and I never thought twice about whether or not that was normal. One final note, you would be amazed at how passionate people are in their desire to share their suggestions for unique food combinations. Personally, I find that to be much weirder than anything they're recommending.

February 2: Change

Today, I experienced change in action. I know that's kind of the point of this entire blog, but this change was different than, say, trying a new food or parking on the opposite side of the parking lot where you always park at your local PetSmart (which, for the record, is also something I did today). No, this change had a greater affect on my daughter's health - both physically, mentally and spiritually. How often can a parent boast that sort of accomplishment? I've spoken in past blog entries of my daughter's nut allergy. It has greatly affected her behavior in school, and elevated her anxiety level towards school significantly. Simply, she's terrified that she will be exposed to a nut and suffer the same horrible reaction that welcomed this entire situation into our lives. This fear has greatly affected her relationships with other students, as her worrying has been misinterpreted by some classmates as rudeness or bossy-ness; an easy mistake to make when you're only 6 years old. My daughter's gone so far as to have told certain classmates that they cannot eat their snack during snack time because it contained nuts, then telling on the student to her teacher. So, needless to say, it's gotten a little out-of-hand. Well, I'm very pleased to announce that, as of February 2, after repeated conversations with both her Teacher and the Vice-Principal, my daughter's classroom has been designated a nut-free zone (although her lunch room is still open for nut business; however there is a nut-free table)! I have to deliver a special "thank you" to her Pediatric Allergist, who was kind enough to draft a letter to the school suggesting that my daughter should be in a nut-free environment. Now, I know that there are naysayers out there who get huffy over this sort of thing because the other children in my daughter's classroom are now deprived of their nut-based granola bar or Keebler chocolate chip and walnut cookie. Believe me, I used to think the same way; that is, until we discovered my daughter's allergy. Perhaps if those people watch their own child struggle to take a breath because their throat is closing up as a result of ingesting a nut, they might have the same epiphany I had over this whole debate. So, there you have it. Change in action. It may not be the type of ground-breaking change that affects the lives of millions, but it certainly does affect one very important life for us. As it's our hopes this nut-free environment alleviates my daughter's anxiety and re-energizes her with the same excitement over school that she once demonstrated prior to our nut debacle.

February 1: Me, Myself and iTunes

One day, I will brag to my kids that I was part of the original iPod revolution. In fact, I'm still the proud owner of my 3rd generation iPod Classic that my wife surprised me with years ago! Of course, when my kids are old enough to even comprehend this feat and even care, they'll likely be using iPods that link to your TV, get your slippers and pour you a Slurpee at the same time. But, I was still there when all of this "iPod-ness" began. I'll admit, my relationship with my iPod is an odd one. It's like my best friend - it has to be involved when I exercise, mow the lawn, engage in "busy work" for my job, and pretty much anything else I do that involves a task of some sort. I have over 1,950 songs in my iTunes library, and approximately half of those have been purchased from the iTunes store over the years. Which, if you do the math, at 99 cents per song, indicates some poor spending habits on my part. But, I'm sure American Express is thankful for those habits every time they receive my iTunes invoices (for those of you unfamiliar with iTunes, you need a CC to purchase items from the iTunes store). To be honest, though, most of the songs have been purchased via an iTunes Gift Card. that was either given to me or that I purchased using some other type of gift card (i.e. Target, Best Buy). If I think about it, I've never actually bought an iTunes gift card for myself. So, this first day of the month, as I entered CVS to pick up some dog food, I decided that I would also pick up a $15 iTunes gift card. See, there's some music I've been wanting to get, but I've also been focused on keeping the AMEX balance at, well, nothing. So, I was torn. The gift card seemed like a logical solution - I get my music, the credit card doesn't get involved. Everybody wins! So, I did it. And, it felt good. It didn't even feel like I was spending money; which is ironic because one usually feels that way after using a credit card. Go figure.