Saturday, April 09, 2011

man cave

I want a space of my own -- either in the basement or outside. I have some ideas.
I'd like an outdoor TV and fridge. A brick oven for pizza baking and a deep fryer. I'd like a urinal somewhere in this house too. Maybe the basement would be the easiest and cheapest!

The things we do for our children

Alex is five. he is truly ready for Kindergarden. His only issue to overcome is his shyness around strangers.
Today is the first truly nice day of the Spring. 70 degrees outside. Josh was playing with Drew when he decided that he wanted tennis balls. I told him that the easiest way to get them was to go to the local ACE hardware. Thankfully, he though of it before he set off, he needed money. He volunteered to clean three toilets for $3. He cleaned the toilets and received his pay. He and Drew set out for the hardware store. I realized that Heather was hesitant to let her first born travel the city alone, so I got in to her car and followed far behind them. Alex chose to come with me. We found the boys near the park. We passed them and parked at the Chrysler dealership. We sat on a bench across the street from the ACE and waited for the boys to catch up.
In adequate time they came around the corner and went in to the store. We waited for them to come out before getting back in to the car to follow them back home. They spied us on the way back, and tried to catch a ride back but I would not allow them. I stopped at the corner one corner away from the house and let Alex out to walk home on his own. I drove home and parked. Moments later my two success-filled boys arrived. I hope to show my boys how they can live independent while making positive choices for their future.

Saturday, April 02, 2011

Brothers and Sisters

Diane came to visit today. She got here before we did since we were travelling from Peoria. She called us 5 minutes before we arrived (it's uncanny how often she does that). This time she called to inform us that the cats had dumped a pot of tamales off the stove and started eating them from the floor while we were gone. Both Heather and Alex replied "were they having a fiesta while we were gone?" and "were they wearing sombreroes?" I rewired the house once again so that I could once again receive signals over the air. Rich Koz's 32nd year of Svengoolie will be nationally syndicated, but it was moved to one of WCIU's digital channels tonight. My cable company does not offer MeTV (26-3) so in order to watch it, I must use the antenna. Maybe a switch to AT&T's U-verse wll allow me to watch the Rush on NFL network, svengoolie on MeTV and get an iPhone for journaling.

The end of the break

We woke up around 8:00 and left the hotel by 11:00 am. We traveled to Jim's grave, giving the boys the "when we were in college" tour. We started driving home around 11:30. The boys and Heather were all asleep by 1:00pm. We stopped in el Paso for lunch and in DeKalb to drop off the movie I rented for the trip. Once again I must say I love RedBox! I got one disc in Algonquin Wednesday for the drive down on Thursday. I returned that in a Peoria box Thursday and picked up a different title for the return trip. That one now lives in a box in DeKalb.
On this trip I saw that one of the Peoria Blockbuster stores was being closed. I popped in and bought $10 worth of discs for old time sake. The sad man behind the counter started at Blockbuster just after I did in 1994. He sounded sad to think that his job would not be around fir much longer. He has worked for the company for 17 years. His first inevitable question was, "do you miss it?". I told him that I did sometimes and that I was sad to see the concept go away. I did not share with him some of my usual discussion when the issues comes up. "when was the last time you walked in to a video store?" "Why would you want to collect store-bought video when you can stream Anything?!" All I could think of was the messages in Kevin Smith's Clerks movies. Those were some of the best times of my life.

Friday, April 01, 2011

Spring break

Spring break 2011.
We checked out of our hotel around 10:30 am. Josh and Alex got a chance to play on the cousin's farm for a second day. They fed chickens, dogs, cats, horses, goats, and guinea hens. They collected 4 eggs from the guinea hens.
Mean while Heather, Pat and I primed and painted three rooms in Pat's house. I'm glad Heather taught me how to paint years ago. Now I can be her gopher on her painting projects.
We didn't get done before dark, so we checked back in to the hotel or a second night. I just wanted to tell the desk clerk we were checking out April Fool!

Green Acres

Josh and Alex spent the day on a cousin's farm. When I pulled up to retrieve them, Josh was on an immobile horse. They loved it so much, they're ready to go back today. It's April 1st, and baseball's opening day. Once again I find the sport dull but the pagentry of the annual rebirth exciting. Thinkgeek is offering their annual list of things I would buy -- if they existed. Lightsaber Popsicles being the most likely to be produced for next year. And it's free t-shirt day too.