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?