Ahhh, finally catching up on my blog entries. Yesterday was an interesting day. I got up and did the typical morning routine with the dogs. I started a fire in the wood stove to get things warm again in the house. I dragged my butt around the house, slowly putting things away from the trip to Chicago. I went through the large amounts of mail, including a package from Dawn, Tom, Emma and Molly. They sent us a card and some gifts. I will have to take a picture and send to Cheryl at some point today.
Next I made an effort to clear the driveway of snow. It took longer than I had expected and I took plenty of breaks. I came in for some coffee and had breakfast around 10am. Next I through in a load of laundry and went outside to play with the dogs. Looks as if we had some serious wind because some large tree limbs came down. I cut them up with a hand saw and put them over with the rest of the burnable wood. At around 11am, it was time to head out to the malls. I needed to take back something to Best Buy. I bought a car charger for my cell phone while in Chicago... well I tried to use in on the ride back to NH, but it didn't work. After returning the item, I browsed the store and picked up a couple more items.
After leaving the store, I was in the parking lot and got rear-ended. It wasn't too bad, certainly the damage didn't look too bad. We exchanged info and talked to their insurance guy on the spot. I drove the car home to get everything out of it and headed over to the Honda dealership. The car ran really rough, definitely something wrong underneath. I dropped it off at Honda, the other person's insurance adjuster was already there, I got a loaner (another CR-V) and left. I got back to the house and continued on with my day, playing with the pups, cleaning up the house, putting things away, doing more laundry, etc.
At around 5:30pm, I got a call from the dealership and the adjuster. They determined that there was major frame damage and the rear suspension was damaged too. It was close to being totalled, and I told them I preferred it would be totalled. After Cece's accident that should have totalled her car, they fixed it and it doesn't feel safe to drive. So at 6pm, I got to talk to Cheryl and we talked a bit about a car. It seems I made the mistake of not involving her in the CR-V purchase decision, so I was going to learn from my mistake and try not to do it again. I only have the rental car paid for for a few days, so I will have to make up my mind on short notice.
Oh please, have this vacation end soon, I don't think I can take much more of this. Looks like I will be spending at least one of my days looking for a new car. After talking to Cheryl, I popped in my latest Netflix and settled in with the dogs on the couch. At 8:30pm, the pups and I went for a nice walk. We cut it short because of Mr. Chance's paws. Because of the blizzard, they are dumping huge amounts of salt on the sidewalks again, here comes the joy of walking Tender Paws. We got back to the house and I had some 'chicken' nuggets for dinner, watched a little more TV, then headed to bed.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
12/28/10
This will be a short entry for a long day. I drove for 16.5 straight hours to get home to NH. I started out at 5:20am east coast time and pulled in the driveway at 9:30pm. Actually, I didn't pull into the driveway, there was a 3' high snow mound waiting for me. Seems the blizzard of '10 hit my driveway. I shoveled out a 6' opening so that I could back my car in. I let the dogs out in the backyard while I unloaded the car into the mudroom.
Everything will stay in the mudroom until the morning. I grabbed a few extra blankets (temp was 53F in the house) and went to bed.
Everything will stay in the mudroom until the morning. I grabbed a few extra blankets (temp was 53F in the house) and went to bed.
12/27/10
Last day at the Parker house. Cece went to work this morning, and Tim and Vic were also at work. I got up and played ball with the pups in the backyard for a bit. At some point, Chance and Clover knocked heads. Clover looked fine, but stopped playing and headed for the door. So we went in and relaxed a bit. I told Jim to keep an eye on Clover because of the accident. Jim went out a few times to run some errands for Cece (they are heading to Nashville in the morning).
Mid morning, Clover started to look worse and seemed to be out of it. Jim took her into the vet to get her checked out. Poor Clover had a mild concussion, the vet gave her some eye drops and a shot. When they came back it was time for the Brown's (Clover, Zoey & Star) dinner, so the Black & Whites (Reece and Chance) and I hopped in the car to head to the Chinese hot dog stand. Perfect opportunity to get out of the house and take part in the best part of Chicago, the hot dogs! I brought back some Jim and we sat in the back eating. Next we transitioned to the front room to watch a little TV and I fell asleep for a mid afternoon nap.
Later, I packed up all my stuff and loaded most of it in the car for the trip back. I was planning on leaving early tomorrow morning in order to make the trip all in one day. Vicki and Tim came over after work and we all had dinner together 'Like a Family'. This was the last night at the Parker house. It was fun, exciting, entertaining, with a few downers thrown in to. But I can't thank Cece and Jim enough for allowing me and my pups to come into their house and tear it all apart. It is almost impossible to Reece & Chance proof a house (Cheryl and I have been trying for 6 years and they still get into stuff), and to have Jim & Cece not get upset at me or the pups, it was more than I could ask for.
I will also miss hanging with Vicki and Tim. Though I need to spend more time with Tim, it was great seeing him. By the way, we really belted out some great duo hits on the karaoke machine, soon to be a YouTube virus... I mean viral hit.
Mid morning, Clover started to look worse and seemed to be out of it. Jim took her into the vet to get her checked out. Poor Clover had a mild concussion, the vet gave her some eye drops and a shot. When they came back it was time for the Brown's (Clover, Zoey & Star) dinner, so the Black & Whites (Reece and Chance) and I hopped in the car to head to the Chinese hot dog stand. Perfect opportunity to get out of the house and take part in the best part of Chicago, the hot dogs! I brought back some Jim and we sat in the back eating. Next we transitioned to the front room to watch a little TV and I fell asleep for a mid afternoon nap.
Later, I packed up all my stuff and loaded most of it in the car for the trip back. I was planning on leaving early tomorrow morning in order to make the trip all in one day. Vicki and Tim came over after work and we all had dinner together 'Like a Family'. This was the last night at the Parker house. It was fun, exciting, entertaining, with a few downers thrown in to. But I can't thank Cece and Jim enough for allowing me and my pups to come into their house and tear it all apart. It is almost impossible to Reece & Chance proof a house (Cheryl and I have been trying for 6 years and they still get into stuff), and to have Jim & Cece not get upset at me or the pups, it was more than I could ask for.
I will also miss hanging with Vicki and Tim. Though I need to spend more time with Tim, it was great seeing him. By the way, we really belted out some great duo hits on the karaoke machine, soon to be a YouTube virus... I mean viral hit.
12/26/10
Sunday morning at the Parker house. Vicki, Tim and I went out to their neighborhood for breakfast... scratch that, it was brunch. In their neighborhood, places don't open for breakfast until 11am, it is a brunch neighborhood. This place had some bite size samples of some of their plates, but I also had a waffle, yummy. Tim dropped me back off at Jim and Cece's and I hung out with the pups for awhile.
At some point in the afternoon, Jamie came over to visit. We were all sitting in the front room watching TV when some kid knocked on the door. Since Reece and Star (Jamie's dog) made a b-line for the door, I went over and grabbed Reece to bring her in the back of the house. At some point, Jamie opened the door and somehow Chance slipped past. Next thing I know Jim and Jamie are yelling at Chance outside. I grabbed my shoes and a leash and ran after. Chance was making a run for Montrose Ave. Somehow, Jamie was able to catch Chance while he stopped to pee. I can't believe it, another couple hundred feet and he would have been toast. It is one thing for Chance to get away in Barrington, but it is my biggest fear in Portsmouth and Chicago. Poor Chance wouldn't make it. I caught up to them and put a leash on the boy and we walked him back to the house. I still don't know what that kid wanted, but he took off when we ran after the dog.
Needless to say, when we got back to the house, the room was pretty quiet. After Jamie left, I played with the pups in the backyard a bit. At some point Jamie came back over with his kids and I took the pups in the basement until they left. The rest of the day was a bit tough, I think everyone was a little upset. I understand this could have happened to anyone, so I don't blame Jamie for Chance getting out, I just wish he didn't think he is always in control of every situation. I know I am not in control all the time, so I look for signs of a bad situation and try my best to avoid.
For the rest of the night, I stayed with the pups in the house. Vicki was sending me messages about getting the karaoke videos up on Facebook... looks like I was having a good time!
At some point in the afternoon, Jamie came over to visit. We were all sitting in the front room watching TV when some kid knocked on the door. Since Reece and Star (Jamie's dog) made a b-line for the door, I went over and grabbed Reece to bring her in the back of the house. At some point, Jamie opened the door and somehow Chance slipped past. Next thing I know Jim and Jamie are yelling at Chance outside. I grabbed my shoes and a leash and ran after. Chance was making a run for Montrose Ave. Somehow, Jamie was able to catch Chance while he stopped to pee. I can't believe it, another couple hundred feet and he would have been toast. It is one thing for Chance to get away in Barrington, but it is my biggest fear in Portsmouth and Chicago. Poor Chance wouldn't make it. I caught up to them and put a leash on the boy and we walked him back to the house. I still don't know what that kid wanted, but he took off when we ran after the dog.
Needless to say, when we got back to the house, the room was pretty quiet. After Jamie left, I played with the pups in the backyard a bit. At some point Jamie came back over with his kids and I took the pups in the basement until they left. The rest of the day was a bit tough, I think everyone was a little upset. I understand this could have happened to anyone, so I don't blame Jamie for Chance getting out, I just wish he didn't think he is always in control of every situation. I know I am not in control all the time, so I look for signs of a bad situation and try my best to avoid.
For the rest of the night, I stayed with the pups in the house. Vicki was sending me messages about getting the karaoke videos up on Facebook... looks like I was having a good time!
12/25/10
Sorry about the delay in postings, I have been pretty busy. I will try to catch up with some short blogs. Christmas day was all about cleanup and naps. I made an effort to help clean up the house after last night's party, but keeping an eye out on the pups was a bigger effort. For the most part, I hung around the house with Cece, Jim, Tim and Vicki. The dogs went out multiple times in the day to play ball, and I took the opportunity to take multiple naps throughout the day. I'm sure more things happened, but being 5 days behind on blogs makes it a bit fuzzy.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
12/24/10
Christmas Eve, lots going on at the Parker house. I tried to spend the morning helping Cece out on whatever I could. I cut up some salami and stuffed some shrimp in preparations for the food. Vicki and I took Chance and Reece for a long walk to the HIP mall, about a 3 mile round trip. When we got back, Vicki and I walked over to A's restaurant to have brunch. A's is too funny. They claim to have New Hampshire maple syrup. They have containers that must be 10 years old filled with the cheap syrup.
After brunch we came back to the house to help out a bit more. Next, I decided to take the pups downstairs in the basement with me so that I could take a nap before the big party. It was great, a 2 hour nap, I actually woke up after the party had started. I will keep all this short because we had such a great time during the party. First we played a game called 'Shut the Box', but made it a bit more interesting by placing a $1 on each game. Then I took the dogs out for a walk, and fed them their dinner around 5pm. Cheryl called via video chat for about 30 minutes and got to say hi to everyone. Next came the massive present unwrapping for all the kids. Then, the karaoke came out. I hope none of the videos of me make it on YouTube.
Anyway, to make a long night short, everyone left at around 11:30pm, then Vicki, Tim, Jim, Cece and I opened up presents to/from each other. Finally getting to bed around midnight.
After brunch we came back to the house to help out a bit more. Next, I decided to take the pups downstairs in the basement with me so that I could take a nap before the big party. It was great, a 2 hour nap, I actually woke up after the party had started. I will keep all this short because we had such a great time during the party. First we played a game called 'Shut the Box', but made it a bit more interesting by placing a $1 on each game. Then I took the dogs out for a walk, and fed them their dinner around 5pm. Cheryl called via video chat for about 30 minutes and got to say hi to everyone. Next came the massive present unwrapping for all the kids. Then, the karaoke came out. I hope none of the videos of me make it on YouTube.
Anyway, to make a long night short, everyone left at around 11:30pm, then Vicki, Tim, Jim, Cece and I opened up presents to/from each other. Finally getting to bed around midnight.
12/23/10
First full day in Chicago at Jim and Cece's house. The dogs and I got up and went outside before anyone woke up. Next they came in and I fed them breakfast in the basement. We pretty much mulled around the house all morning, which was fine with me as I felt I needed more sleep. At 11am, Jim and I headed to Mudbug's for lunch. We got there and hung out with Lou, Weston, and Jamie. Jamie's brother-in-law was in town, so they were coming for lunch as well. After lunch, well by this time it was late afternoon, I caught a ride home with Weston and Jamie.
I stopped in to Jamie's house for an hour or so to see the kids. Next, Jamie and I headed back over to Jim's. I let the pups out of the basement, they were down there while I was gone to help keep the stress level down. The rest of the night, we watched some TV and rested in the front room. At some point, Cece made some pizza and Chance decided to help himself to a few extra slices that were left a little too close to the edge of the counter.
I am told that I was having a conversation with Vicki and Cece about the pizza situation, but I can't remember talking at all. So I brought the pups down in the basement and we went to bed.
I stopped in to Jamie's house for an hour or so to see the kids. Next, Jamie and I headed back over to Jim's. I let the pups out of the basement, they were down there while I was gone to help keep the stress level down. The rest of the night, we watched some TV and rested in the front room. At some point, Cece made some pizza and Chance decided to help himself to a few extra slices that were left a little too close to the edge of the counter.
I am told that I was having a conversation with Vicki and Cece about the pizza situation, but I can't remember talking at all. So I brought the pups down in the basement and we went to bed.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
12/22/10
Travel Day. Woke up at 2am, loaded the car with all the stuff going to Chicago, then loaded in the dogs. Finally left NH at 3:20am. Big events include stopping in Erie, PA as usual for an Arby's lunch that included a fantastic jamocha shake. Because I started out so early, I made it half way through Indiana before the sun set. I made it to Chicago around 7:30pm. Cece and Jim had everything ready for me and the pups. We went to sleep around 10pm, well deserved.
12/21/10
Happy Solstice! I won't spend too much time on this blog because I am a day behind in my writing. The dogs and I got up and did our typical morning routine. We went out for our morning walk as usual, nothing too exciting to report. When we got back, I had a bowl of cereal and then went off to work. I was able to close out a bunch of outstanding tasks at work before I left for vacation at noon.
On the way home, I stopped off and got a haircut. At the house, I started a fire in the wood stove and then spent some time outside with the pups. I cleaned up the house a bit and packed for my trip to Chicago. I went downtown to drop some paperwork off, then to the bank, then to the tailor to pick up my big blue puffy jacket with a new zipper. When I got home, I watched my latest Netflix movie, then finished packing.
The dogs and I went out for our evening 1.0 mile walk. For dinner, I made a pizza and watched some TV before heading to bed around 8pm.
On the way home, I stopped off and got a haircut. At the house, I started a fire in the wood stove and then spent some time outside with the pups. I cleaned up the house a bit and packed for my trip to Chicago. I went downtown to drop some paperwork off, then to the bank, then to the tailor to pick up my big blue puffy jacket with a new zipper. When I got home, I watched my latest Netflix movie, then finished packing.
The dogs and I went out for our evening 1.0 mile walk. For dinner, I made a pizza and watched some TV before heading to bed around 8pm.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
12/20/10
Monday morning. Another week started, only 9 more before Cheryl gets off the ice. The dogs and I got back into our typical morning routine. First we were outside for the dog's 'business', then back in for their breakfast. I had some coffee and blogged for 15 minutes. I started putting things away and cleaning up the house a bit, then it was time for the dog's morning walk. We did the 1.0 mile loop and everything was fine. The dogs were good and nothing exciting happened. When we got home, I made an egg and cheese breakfast sandwich for me. Next I got ready for work, cleaned up and headed out the door.
Work in the morning was typical, I was in a meeting for 2 hours for the Alaska job. It was a pretty interesting meeting regarding the proposed tank we want to install up there. Once that was over, Aaron and I were headed down south of Boston to do a quick survey. We left during lunch, but stopped off at the house to let the dogs out first. I also had forgotten my gloves at the house, so I was able to pick those up too. Then we were off, the drive down was pretty good, about half way we started to see snow flakes and they continued the rest of the way. We stopped off at Kelly's roast beef for a late lunch. Very good upscale version of and Arby's, the sandwich was fantastic.
We got to the site at 2:30pm and finished our survey around 3:45pm. I had figured this would give us plenty of time to get back to Portsmouth before 5pm. Well, the snow hadn't let up and we were stuck with everyone else trying to get out of Boston. We finally made it back to the office at 7:30pm. I invited Aaron to spend the night at the house because he would still have another 2 hour drive home (he lives 80 miles north in Maine). So I headed home to let the dogs out, Aaron headed to the mall for some gifts for his wife.
I let the pups out and fed them a late dinner and then started a fire in the wood stove. Next we went for a quick walk, only 0.6 miles. I didn't want to go too far because of the snow in Chance's paws. Next I started dinner, pasta and 'meat' sauce. While waiting for the water to boil, I went out and shoveled the driveway. That's right, I enjoyed for the first time in 5 years, the joy of shoveling snow on asphalt. It was like a dream, so smooth and clean. No digging the shovel into frozen rocks or chunks of frozen ground. Plus, it took me less than 5 minutes! I love my new driveway, best gift to myself EVER.
I ate my dinner around 9pm, then settled in with the dogs until Aaron came by. He ate dinner while we talked a bit. For awhile we sat downstairs by the fire warming up. Unfortunately since it was a late start to the fire, the house was a bit cold. I cleaned up the futon for Aaron and around 11:30pm I headed to bed with the dogs.
Work in the morning was typical, I was in a meeting for 2 hours for the Alaska job. It was a pretty interesting meeting regarding the proposed tank we want to install up there. Once that was over, Aaron and I were headed down south of Boston to do a quick survey. We left during lunch, but stopped off at the house to let the dogs out first. I also had forgotten my gloves at the house, so I was able to pick those up too. Then we were off, the drive down was pretty good, about half way we started to see snow flakes and they continued the rest of the way. We stopped off at Kelly's roast beef for a late lunch. Very good upscale version of and Arby's, the sandwich was fantastic.
We got to the site at 2:30pm and finished our survey around 3:45pm. I had figured this would give us plenty of time to get back to Portsmouth before 5pm. Well, the snow hadn't let up and we were stuck with everyone else trying to get out of Boston. We finally made it back to the office at 7:30pm. I invited Aaron to spend the night at the house because he would still have another 2 hour drive home (he lives 80 miles north in Maine). So I headed home to let the dogs out, Aaron headed to the mall for some gifts for his wife.
I let the pups out and fed them a late dinner and then started a fire in the wood stove. Next we went for a quick walk, only 0.6 miles. I didn't want to go too far because of the snow in Chance's paws. Next I started dinner, pasta and 'meat' sauce. While waiting for the water to boil, I went out and shoveled the driveway. That's right, I enjoyed for the first time in 5 years, the joy of shoveling snow on asphalt. It was like a dream, so smooth and clean. No digging the shovel into frozen rocks or chunks of frozen ground. Plus, it took me less than 5 minutes! I love my new driveway, best gift to myself EVER.
I ate my dinner around 9pm, then settled in with the dogs until Aaron came by. He ate dinner while we talked a bit. For awhile we sat downstairs by the fire warming up. Unfortunately since it was a late start to the fire, the house was a bit cold. I cleaned up the futon for Aaron and around 11:30pm I headed to bed with the dogs.
Monday, December 20, 2010
12/19/10
An early sunday morning. Got up with the pups and did our weekday morning routine so that I would be able to get to basketball by 9am. The pups were great on our morning walk, though Chance is still going through his 'pick up everything off the ground and eat it phase'. I hope this phase ends soon, I can only stop him from so much. Though, Reece decided to take part this morning. She actually found a chicken bone midway through our 1.0 mile loop. I didn't yell 'chicken bone' as I usually do, but I was a bit slower than normal getting my hand down her throat because I had mits on. All is well though and the remainder of the walk was fine.
When we got back, I got my stuff together and went to the gym to play some basketball. We played 3 games of 3-on-3 on the small court, then a full court 4-on-4. I stopped playing after 1:45, getting home just at 11am. I took the dogs out in the backyard and we played ball for 20 minutes. When we came in, I started a fire in the wood stove, then took a shower and got cleaned up. Next I did a little construction work in order to make a bed in the car in preparation for the trip to Chicago. Hopefully it will work fine. I made a flat platform in the back, and by sliding the front seats up, I get a little more than 6 feet of lay down space. This will come in handy when I need a break from driving, I can nap while Chance drives.
At 1pm, I made some buffalo chicken tenders and headed upstairs to watch some football. Pretty much for the next few hours I didn't leave the couch, I needed the rest after playing basketball. Each half-time and end of game I went outside with the pups to play ball for 10-15 minutes. At 7pm, the dogs and I went for our evening 1.0 mile walk. It was interesting this evening, as I passed the funeral home on Broad St., I heard power saws coming from the basement. Now, I don't want to speculate, but it was pretty creepy. I'm sure someone was just making a picture frame or something down there. The rest of the walk was not as creepy, and the dogs were great.
When we got back, I had a bowl of cereal for dinner and sat down to watch the Patriots game. I hate it when they play the night games because it doesn't start until after 8pm. Anyway, I made it to the start of the 4th quarter. Watching the Pats defense was agonizing, I turned the TV off as the Packers got to the goal line. I took the pups outside for their last 'outside' and headed to bed. As a side note, I'm excited to see after I turned off the TV and went to bed, the Pats came back to win, I must be bad luck.
When we got back, I got my stuff together and went to the gym to play some basketball. We played 3 games of 3-on-3 on the small court, then a full court 4-on-4. I stopped playing after 1:45, getting home just at 11am. I took the dogs out in the backyard and we played ball for 20 minutes. When we came in, I started a fire in the wood stove, then took a shower and got cleaned up. Next I did a little construction work in order to make a bed in the car in preparation for the trip to Chicago. Hopefully it will work fine. I made a flat platform in the back, and by sliding the front seats up, I get a little more than 6 feet of lay down space. This will come in handy when I need a break from driving, I can nap while Chance drives.
At 1pm, I made some buffalo chicken tenders and headed upstairs to watch some football. Pretty much for the next few hours I didn't leave the couch, I needed the rest after playing basketball. Each half-time and end of game I went outside with the pups to play ball for 10-15 minutes. At 7pm, the dogs and I went for our evening 1.0 mile walk. It was interesting this evening, as I passed the funeral home on Broad St., I heard power saws coming from the basement. Now, I don't want to speculate, but it was pretty creepy. I'm sure someone was just making a picture frame or something down there. The rest of the walk was not as creepy, and the dogs were great.
When we got back, I had a bowl of cereal for dinner and sat down to watch the Patriots game. I hate it when they play the night games because it doesn't start until after 8pm. Anyway, I made it to the start of the 4th quarter. Watching the Pats defense was agonizing, I turned the TV off as the Packers got to the goal line. I took the pups outside for their last 'outside' and headed to bed. As a side note, I'm excited to see after I turned off the TV and went to bed, the Pats came back to win, I must be bad luck.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
12/18/10
A beautiful saturday morning, at least that's what the dogs said to me to get my butt out of bed. It was still pretty cold, the house temp got down to 58F over night. So, first thing was to start a fire in the wood stove, then we went outside for a few minutes for the dogs to do their thing. They came in and I fed them breakfast. I skipped blogging in favor of playing around on the internet. After an hour on the internet, and eating my bowl of cereal for breakfast, I got dressed and decided to take the pups on a nice long walk.
We went for a 2.0 mile loop downtown to see what was going on. It was such a nice and sunny day, it would have killed me not to walk further. It was the first time in a couple months that I have taken the pups downtown, it felt great to have them walking around, plus I could finally see the completion of the State St. construction. When we got back to the house, it was cleaning time. I cleaned both the bathrooms, top to bottom, then vacuumed the house. I used the little cordless vacuum for the first time, it worked really well. Considering the fact that I hadn't swept the house since the poker night, there were hair balls the size of large cats everywhere. The little vacuum handled them very well. I had to empty the thing often, but if I vacuum a little bit every few days, it should work out better. Plus the battery lasted long enough for me to vacuum the entire house.
Next I decide to wrap some presents upstairs while watching the TV. This may have been a mistake because I got only two presents wrapped and fell asleep for a nap while watching TV. I also indulged in eating half a bag of veggie straws as my lunch. After watching a second movie, I decided I had to get up and make use of this beautiful day, I put on my running clothes foe the first time in 5 weeks and went out for a 3.0 mile run. It felt great to get back out there, I really love my loop that I run. When I got back, I played with the pups in the backyard for 20 minutes while I cooled down. Next I took a shower and got dressed again. We played a little more ball in the yard, then I fed the pups their dinner.
I did some research online for a bit longer, had a 30 minute video chat with Cheryl, then made myself dinner. I tried a shrimp and pesto pasta thing that looked good. I don't know, it tasted fine, but for the 540 calories, I expected a bit more. After I ate, the dogs and I went out for an early walk, we did our 1.0 mile loop. Nothing exciting happened, so we just got home and re-positioned ourselves on the couch upstairs. It was a couch full of snuggling, I couldn't believe it. Chance was the first one to snuggle, then Reece came up. This is big because Chance never sniggles with me on the couch, it was a big step for him. We watched a little TV, I watched some more TV online from what I missed last week. Finished up around 11:30pm and headed to bed.
We went for a 2.0 mile loop downtown to see what was going on. It was such a nice and sunny day, it would have killed me not to walk further. It was the first time in a couple months that I have taken the pups downtown, it felt great to have them walking around, plus I could finally see the completion of the State St. construction. When we got back to the house, it was cleaning time. I cleaned both the bathrooms, top to bottom, then vacuumed the house. I used the little cordless vacuum for the first time, it worked really well. Considering the fact that I hadn't swept the house since the poker night, there were hair balls the size of large cats everywhere. The little vacuum handled them very well. I had to empty the thing often, but if I vacuum a little bit every few days, it should work out better. Plus the battery lasted long enough for me to vacuum the entire house.
Next I decide to wrap some presents upstairs while watching the TV. This may have been a mistake because I got only two presents wrapped and fell asleep for a nap while watching TV. I also indulged in eating half a bag of veggie straws as my lunch. After watching a second movie, I decided I had to get up and make use of this beautiful day, I put on my running clothes foe the first time in 5 weeks and went out for a 3.0 mile run. It felt great to get back out there, I really love my loop that I run. When I got back, I played with the pups in the backyard for 20 minutes while I cooled down. Next I took a shower and got dressed again. We played a little more ball in the yard, then I fed the pups their dinner.
I did some research online for a bit longer, had a 30 minute video chat with Cheryl, then made myself dinner. I tried a shrimp and pesto pasta thing that looked good. I don't know, it tasted fine, but for the 540 calories, I expected a bit more. After I ate, the dogs and I went out for an early walk, we did our 1.0 mile loop. Nothing exciting happened, so we just got home and re-positioned ourselves on the couch upstairs. It was a couch full of snuggling, I couldn't believe it. Chance was the first one to snuggle, then Reece came up. This is big because Chance never sniggles with me on the couch, it was a big step for him. We watched a little TV, I watched some more TV online from what I missed last week. Finished up around 11:30pm and headed to bed.
12/17/10
Another end to the work week, which means pastries at work. The dogs and I got up and went outside, then back in for their breakfast. I sat with some coffee and blogged. That is really the most excitement that I get in the morning, pretty dull. Once I posted the previous day's blog, I got dressed and took the pups for their morning walk. Luckily I am getting use to the cold mornings. We had two days last week where the morning temp was in the high 40's or low 50's, that makes it so much worse for the rest of the days. I can say I am finally used to the high teens and low 20's... but please don't get any colder.
The morning 1.0 mile walk was pretty much the same as usual. The only thing that changes is the number of kids walking to school. If it is above 25F, there is probably 30 kids, below 25F and it goes down to maybe 4 or 5. Unfortunately, one kid is always out, no matter how cold. Wouldn't you know it has to be the kid on the skateboard. Chance really doesn't like this kid. This time the kid came very close to us and Chance almost got a piece of the board. The question is, is this kid bright enough to stay away now, or will it encourage him to try and get closer?
Anyway, back at the house, I got ready for work, then headed out the door at 7:45am. I was suppose to get down to Dorchester to survey with Aaron, but because he got stuck in Nashville, it will be an office day for me. And what an office day it was. One of our employees decided to bring in donuts for everyone (at the expense of the company), somehow there was confusion because someone else was asked by management to get Dunkin Donuts for everyone as well. This is not the first time we have had a double order of donuts on a friday. Because of this predicament, I tried to do the best I could to take one (or three) for the team.
I had a morning meeting about the Nashville job, then pretty much the rest of the day was like normal. Because I had a half day today, I worked an extra hour through lunch to get a good step ahead on some shop drawing reviews. At 1pm, I left for the day. On the way home, I dropped off my big blue puffy jacket to the tailor for a new zipper. I broke the zipper last year right at the bottom. This year I have been wearing the jacket, but with an additional coat over it that zips up. Hopefully it will be as good as new on tuesday. Next I went home and let the dogs out to play in the backyard. I started a fire in the wood stove, then played some ball with the dogs.
Next we piled into the car and headed to the bank to deposit a check, then over to T-mobile to try and find a car charger for my phone (too packed so I left), then over to Target to return some things. When we got back to the house I went upstairs and did my workout while the pups watched. I took a shower, then back outside with the dogs for some more ball. I fed the pups a little early (4:30pm), then made myself a late lunch, early dinner. I heated up my left over Xin Ping and played on the internet for about an hour.
Next I went upstairs and put in my latest Netflix movie and sat down to relax. About 3/4 through the movie, my stomach was letting me know it did not like the reheated Xin Ping... Reece had a hard time snuggling on my stomach listening to all the gurgling. After the movie, the dogs and I went out for a short walk around the block. When we got back, we watched a little more TV, then climbed into bed around 11pm.
The morning 1.0 mile walk was pretty much the same as usual. The only thing that changes is the number of kids walking to school. If it is above 25F, there is probably 30 kids, below 25F and it goes down to maybe 4 or 5. Unfortunately, one kid is always out, no matter how cold. Wouldn't you know it has to be the kid on the skateboard. Chance really doesn't like this kid. This time the kid came very close to us and Chance almost got a piece of the board. The question is, is this kid bright enough to stay away now, or will it encourage him to try and get closer?
Anyway, back at the house, I got ready for work, then headed out the door at 7:45am. I was suppose to get down to Dorchester to survey with Aaron, but because he got stuck in Nashville, it will be an office day for me. And what an office day it was. One of our employees decided to bring in donuts for everyone (at the expense of the company), somehow there was confusion because someone else was asked by management to get Dunkin Donuts for everyone as well. This is not the first time we have had a double order of donuts on a friday. Because of this predicament, I tried to do the best I could to take one (or three) for the team.
I had a morning meeting about the Nashville job, then pretty much the rest of the day was like normal. Because I had a half day today, I worked an extra hour through lunch to get a good step ahead on some shop drawing reviews. At 1pm, I left for the day. On the way home, I dropped off my big blue puffy jacket to the tailor for a new zipper. I broke the zipper last year right at the bottom. This year I have been wearing the jacket, but with an additional coat over it that zips up. Hopefully it will be as good as new on tuesday. Next I went home and let the dogs out to play in the backyard. I started a fire in the wood stove, then played some ball with the dogs.
Next we piled into the car and headed to the bank to deposit a check, then over to T-mobile to try and find a car charger for my phone (too packed so I left), then over to Target to return some things. When we got back to the house I went upstairs and did my workout while the pups watched. I took a shower, then back outside with the dogs for some more ball. I fed the pups a little early (4:30pm), then made myself a late lunch, early dinner. I heated up my left over Xin Ping and played on the internet for about an hour.
Next I went upstairs and put in my latest Netflix movie and sat down to relax. About 3/4 through the movie, my stomach was letting me know it did not like the reheated Xin Ping... Reece had a hard time snuggling on my stomach listening to all the gurgling. After the movie, the dogs and I went out for a short walk around the block. When we got back, we watched a little more TV, then climbed into bed around 11pm.
Friday, December 17, 2010
12/16/10
Another fantastic morning with the dogs. I can't say enough about how much I enjoy waking up to them. Then being thrusted from a nice warm bed to the great cold outdoors. Some may say it is invigorating, not me. Anyway, the temp read 16F when we started our morning routine. After feeding the dogs, I had some nice warm coffee while blogging. Next came getting dressed for work, heading out with the pups for our 1.0 mile loop. After getting moving around, the chill outside wasn't so unbearable. The walk went well and we all had a good time. When we got home, I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast, got cleaned up and headed into work.
As usual, work was pretty much the same. Since Aaron is in Nashville at the site, I actually had a lot less to do for that project. Though Aaron identified the contractor making another mistake that needed corrective action while inspecting on site. It has been probably 2 months, but Dennis ran the Xin Ping bell today. I have to admit, it took me a full hour of mental arguments before my will broke down and I ordered some. I had the honey chicken lunch deal. Midway through the lunch break, I headed home and played with the dogs in the backyard.
I noticed that our neighbor's to the left (Michael and Knate), their friend were moving into the apartment next door. I am somewhat happy about this because the people that lived there before was a single mom with 3 kids. I know it is difficult raising 3 kids on your own, but the kids would constantly launch things over the fence, then come in our backyard to find it. The worst was that the kids would throw chicken bones into our backyard. I'm sure they thought the dogs would like it, but not the best for a dog. Anyway, hopefully I will get to meet the new neighbors at some point.
After lunch, headed back to work where I continued to work. Nothing spectacular happened in the afternoon, so I will skip to after work. I made it home, started a fire in the wood stove, let the dogs outside and played ball until Chance demanded to go in. I fed them their dinner, then got my upstairs ready for my workout. Cheryl call from Antarctica, so we chatted for almost 30 minutes. She is sad because yesterday a bunch of people she made friends with left. That is why it is my policy to not make friends, it's easier.
After talking with Cheryl, I did my workout routine upstairs. Today was a recovery day, so I mostly did stretching and deep muscle exercises. I put everything away, then talked with Aaron on the phone. He didn't make his flight out of Nashville, took over 2 hours to get through security. So our day of surveying tomorrow will be postponed. Next, the dogs and I went out for our 1.0 mile evening walk. I was surprise, even though it was 25F out, I was quite comfortable and warm all bundled up. The walk went fine, nothing interesting to report. When we got back, I had a package on the front step.
I had got a new vacuum! Now this one is not replacing the old one which died during the last basement flood. This is a cordless unit that I can use to quickly pick up the clumps of dog hair throughout the house. I know I am being lazy because I could just sweep, but I can't stand sending all the dust into the air while sweeping. Since this was $35, I figure I would give this a try before making the leap to a Roomba. I figure I will wait for Cheryl to get back before making the purchase of a new plug-in vacuum.
After checking out the vacuum, the dogs and I went upstairs to watch a little TV. I'm not sure when I fell asleep, but I woke up to Jay Leno. So I turned off the TV and headed to bed. The nice and warm comforts of the bed.
As usual, work was pretty much the same. Since Aaron is in Nashville at the site, I actually had a lot less to do for that project. Though Aaron identified the contractor making another mistake that needed corrective action while inspecting on site. It has been probably 2 months, but Dennis ran the Xin Ping bell today. I have to admit, it took me a full hour of mental arguments before my will broke down and I ordered some. I had the honey chicken lunch deal. Midway through the lunch break, I headed home and played with the dogs in the backyard.
I noticed that our neighbor's to the left (Michael and Knate), their friend were moving into the apartment next door. I am somewhat happy about this because the people that lived there before was a single mom with 3 kids. I know it is difficult raising 3 kids on your own, but the kids would constantly launch things over the fence, then come in our backyard to find it. The worst was that the kids would throw chicken bones into our backyard. I'm sure they thought the dogs would like it, but not the best for a dog. Anyway, hopefully I will get to meet the new neighbors at some point.
After lunch, headed back to work where I continued to work. Nothing spectacular happened in the afternoon, so I will skip to after work. I made it home, started a fire in the wood stove, let the dogs outside and played ball until Chance demanded to go in. I fed them their dinner, then got my upstairs ready for my workout. Cheryl call from Antarctica, so we chatted for almost 30 minutes. She is sad because yesterday a bunch of people she made friends with left. That is why it is my policy to not make friends, it's easier.
After talking with Cheryl, I did my workout routine upstairs. Today was a recovery day, so I mostly did stretching and deep muscle exercises. I put everything away, then talked with Aaron on the phone. He didn't make his flight out of Nashville, took over 2 hours to get through security. So our day of surveying tomorrow will be postponed. Next, the dogs and I went out for our 1.0 mile evening walk. I was surprise, even though it was 25F out, I was quite comfortable and warm all bundled up. The walk went fine, nothing interesting to report. When we got back, I had a package on the front step.
I had got a new vacuum! Now this one is not replacing the old one which died during the last basement flood. This is a cordless unit that I can use to quickly pick up the clumps of dog hair throughout the house. I know I am being lazy because I could just sweep, but I can't stand sending all the dust into the air while sweeping. Since this was $35, I figure I would give this a try before making the leap to a Roomba. I figure I will wait for Cheryl to get back before making the purchase of a new plug-in vacuum.
After checking out the vacuum, the dogs and I went upstairs to watch a little TV. I'm not sure when I fell asleep, but I woke up to Jay Leno. So I turned off the TV and headed to bed. The nice and warm comforts of the bed.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
12/15/10
Midway through the month of December, how exciting. This morning I was greeted by Reece as usual. We went outside first thing, back in for their breakfast and I had coffee while writing in my blog. Next I got dressed and we went out for our morning walk. It was a chilling 20F when we left the house, but it didn't feel too cold. The dogs were good, they were happy as clams. Nothing too exciting happened and we made it back to the house a little early. I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast and went online for a few minutes.
At 7:45am, I headed off to work. I was able to get the Alaska conceptual drawings completed for Chris in the morning and off my desk. The rest of the day I worked on multiple projects and continued field issues with our Nashville job. At lunch I went home and played with the dogs int he yard for 10 minutes, then went upstairs and did my workout program, took a shower and back outside with the pups. I just had a banana and some crackers for lunch. On the way back to work I stopped off at DD for a vanilla chia. Normally I don't get DD food or drinks, but I got a $10 gift card from the Toyota dealership awhile back, so I'm trying to use it up.
The rest of the afternoon at work went fine, I had a teleconference meeting with the project team for our NC job. Most of the team is on-site. After work, Matt and I went out for some dinner at the Gas Light Co. We had some chicken wings for apps and BBQ chicken pizza. It was a lot of fun to talk with Matt outside of work, though we seemed to talk about work a lot. Unfortunately, I am not a very interesting person. Since my life revolves around work or my dogs, when I talk to people, they get to hear about my work or my dogs.
I got back home around 7:45pm, immediately fed the dogs then took them out for a walk. About a quarter mile into the walk, I realized I forgot to grab poop bags. Of course I realized this as Reece was going. So we rushed back to the house, got bags and headed back out. On the way I picked up Reece's first load. We didn't do the entire 1.0 mile loop because of the first attempt, and I think the dogs were happy about that (at least I was). When we got home, I grabbed the mail and found that we got the 2011 Emergency Evacuation calendar, woohoo! This calendar gives emergency routes for if the nuclear plant blows. Which for us is an interesting task. Our route is to head to Maine over the bridge that is intermittently closed (50/50 chance of it being closed) due to repairs. Not to mention that we are within the first 30 miles and probably toast before we can get to our cars anyway. But, its a free calendar! Turned on the TV and watch for about an hour then headed for bed.
At 7:45am, I headed off to work. I was able to get the Alaska conceptual drawings completed for Chris in the morning and off my desk. The rest of the day I worked on multiple projects and continued field issues with our Nashville job. At lunch I went home and played with the dogs int he yard for 10 minutes, then went upstairs and did my workout program, took a shower and back outside with the pups. I just had a banana and some crackers for lunch. On the way back to work I stopped off at DD for a vanilla chia. Normally I don't get DD food or drinks, but I got a $10 gift card from the Toyota dealership awhile back, so I'm trying to use it up.
The rest of the afternoon at work went fine, I had a teleconference meeting with the project team for our NC job. Most of the team is on-site. After work, Matt and I went out for some dinner at the Gas Light Co. We had some chicken wings for apps and BBQ chicken pizza. It was a lot of fun to talk with Matt outside of work, though we seemed to talk about work a lot. Unfortunately, I am not a very interesting person. Since my life revolves around work or my dogs, when I talk to people, they get to hear about my work or my dogs.
I got back home around 7:45pm, immediately fed the dogs then took them out for a walk. About a quarter mile into the walk, I realized I forgot to grab poop bags. Of course I realized this as Reece was going. So we rushed back to the house, got bags and headed back out. On the way I picked up Reece's first load. We didn't do the entire 1.0 mile loop because of the first attempt, and I think the dogs were happy about that (at least I was). When we got home, I grabbed the mail and found that we got the 2011 Emergency Evacuation calendar, woohoo! This calendar gives emergency routes for if the nuclear plant blows. Which for us is an interesting task. Our route is to head to Maine over the bridge that is intermittently closed (50/50 chance of it being closed) due to repairs. Not to mention that we are within the first 30 miles and probably toast before we can get to our cars anyway. But, its a free calendar! Turned on the TV and watch for about an hour then headed for bed.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
12/14/10
Woke up this morning with the pups, took them outside first thing, then feed them their breakfast. Sat down with some coffee and wrote in my blog. Afterwards, I had a little extra time to spend doing stupid dog tricks with the pups and hanging out in the house. Next we went for our morning 1.0 mile loop. We left a little earlier than usual, so there weren't any kids walking around yet. The dogs were great and nothing too exciting happened. Chance is spending more time picking up sticks and either eating them or trying to hide them for later.
When we got home, I made an egg & cheese breakfast sandwich with some orange juice while checking a few things online. I got cleaned up, dressed and headed out the door to work. Work started a little early for me, I had some things I really needed to get done and wanted a few extra minutes in the morning. Usually the hour between 8-9am is the toughest to get things done. People tend to stop by to just chat about their home lives, I also check in on a few people to see how there evenings were. I think it adds a personal touch to work, but must definitely be limited. I continued to work on multiple projects throughout the day. At some point, I was asked about some site drawing for the Alaska project. Two weeks ago I was told the drawings needed to be done by the end of the month... today I was told they need to be done tomorrow morning :)
At lunch I went home to be with the pups. We went outside and played ball, I made a turkey and cheese sandwich and had some veggie chips on the side. We played for 25 minutes or so. It's interesting because we got so much rain the previous two days and today won't get above freezing, so the ground is all puffy because the saturation of the soil is freezing. Anyway, afterwards I headed back to work where I continued on getting things crossed off my list of action items, hoping for the time being that new items don't get added.
After work I went home, started a fire in the wood stove, took the pups outside to play ball for 15 minutes, then brought them in for dinner. I went upstairs and did my workout routine for about an hour, took a shower and got dressed again. The dogs and I played some more outside, then we took a trip to the grocery store for some staples. It took me a few minutes to put everything away when we got home, then we went for our 1.0 mile evening walk.
It was pretty uneventful until I almost got in a fight with a runner. The dogs had just pooped, I had them in a sit-stay on the sidewalk, picked up their business and in the process of giving them their treat when a runner came up from behind and ran into the side of me. I yelled at him "Hey, watch it", he turned around and told me to watch it and kept on running. This is what troubles me about some runners. Admittedly, I was taking up most of the sidewalk, however as a runner, if I was coming up on someone (a pedestrian) I would run around them, not through them. Pedestrians have the right-of-way on the sidewalk. I am somewhat disgusted by the guys actions, what if I had been blind with a seeing eye dog? Runners, people on bikes and automobiles should always yield to pedestrians because they are moving much slower. Anyway, the rest of the walk went great, we got to walk along side a couple dogs and the pups were good (not great).
After our walk, I made myself a manicotti meal and sat down to watch some TV before bed. After my dinner, I had a bowl of chocolate pudding for desert. Around 10pm I made my way to bed.
When we got home, I made an egg & cheese breakfast sandwich with some orange juice while checking a few things online. I got cleaned up, dressed and headed out the door to work. Work started a little early for me, I had some things I really needed to get done and wanted a few extra minutes in the morning. Usually the hour between 8-9am is the toughest to get things done. People tend to stop by to just chat about their home lives, I also check in on a few people to see how there evenings were. I think it adds a personal touch to work, but must definitely be limited. I continued to work on multiple projects throughout the day. At some point, I was asked about some site drawing for the Alaska project. Two weeks ago I was told the drawings needed to be done by the end of the month... today I was told they need to be done tomorrow morning :)
At lunch I went home to be with the pups. We went outside and played ball, I made a turkey and cheese sandwich and had some veggie chips on the side. We played for 25 minutes or so. It's interesting because we got so much rain the previous two days and today won't get above freezing, so the ground is all puffy because the saturation of the soil is freezing. Anyway, afterwards I headed back to work where I continued on getting things crossed off my list of action items, hoping for the time being that new items don't get added.
After work I went home, started a fire in the wood stove, took the pups outside to play ball for 15 minutes, then brought them in for dinner. I went upstairs and did my workout routine for about an hour, took a shower and got dressed again. The dogs and I played some more outside, then we took a trip to the grocery store for some staples. It took me a few minutes to put everything away when we got home, then we went for our 1.0 mile evening walk.
It was pretty uneventful until I almost got in a fight with a runner. The dogs had just pooped, I had them in a sit-stay on the sidewalk, picked up their business and in the process of giving them their treat when a runner came up from behind and ran into the side of me. I yelled at him "Hey, watch it", he turned around and told me to watch it and kept on running. This is what troubles me about some runners. Admittedly, I was taking up most of the sidewalk, however as a runner, if I was coming up on someone (a pedestrian) I would run around them, not through them. Pedestrians have the right-of-way on the sidewalk. I am somewhat disgusted by the guys actions, what if I had been blind with a seeing eye dog? Runners, people on bikes and automobiles should always yield to pedestrians because they are moving much slower. Anyway, the rest of the walk went great, we got to walk along side a couple dogs and the pups were good (not great).
After our walk, I made myself a manicotti meal and sat down to watch some TV before bed. After my dinner, I had a bowl of chocolate pudding for desert. Around 10pm I made my way to bed.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
12/13/10
Start to another week, the dogs and I got up and went about our normal routine of going outside, back in for breakfast, some coffee while writing the blog. I spent more time on the blog this morning because I had 3 days to make up. Then I took a shower, got dressed and headed out the door with the pups for the morning walk. We did our 1.0 mile loop. It was great because we threaded the needle between rain storms, but got to take advantage of the 51F temperature. Beyond that, nothing too exciting happened during the walk. We got home, I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast and then headed to work.
Work was pretty much the same today, though we had a new electrical engineer start. The work day was pretty normal, seems like new things keep coming up making completion of scheduled tasks that much harder. I did get in the mail a temporary license to practice engineering in Massachusetts, while the board reviews my application. At lunch I went home and played int he backyard with the pups. I made a turkey and cheese sandwich for lunch with some veggie chips. We played in the yard for 25 minutes or so, again threading the needle between rain showers. We came in and I washed some dishes before getting back to work.
The remaining half of the day was much like the first, slowly tackling old items while dealing with new. At the end of the day I gave my boss a ride to the Toyota dealership to pickup his truck, then got home to play with the dogs. I started a fire in the wood stove, then fed the dogs dinner a bit late, then made it back in the yard to play some more ball. I got to talk with Cheryl on the phone for 20 minutes while making my dinner. Cheryl is not sure of the date she gets off the ice (either Feb 20th or 25th). I made nachos for dinner, not the healthiest, but made use of a few ingredients I wanted to get out of the house.
After dinner, I took the dogs out for the evening walk, still 48F out and the rain stopped just in time for the walk! We did our 1.0 mile loop. The dogs were very good, even when they unexpectedly got to meet another dog. This other dog was being walked by a young guy (early 20's) without a leash. He clearly didn't have his dog under voice control. Luckily all the dogs got their sniffs on and things worked out. We made it back to the house at 8pm, and the dogs and I made our way upstairs to watch TV. I didn't make it past 8:45pm when I fell asleep. I woke up around 9:30 and headed to bed.
Work was pretty much the same today, though we had a new electrical engineer start. The work day was pretty normal, seems like new things keep coming up making completion of scheduled tasks that much harder. I did get in the mail a temporary license to practice engineering in Massachusetts, while the board reviews my application. At lunch I went home and played int he backyard with the pups. I made a turkey and cheese sandwich for lunch with some veggie chips. We played in the yard for 25 minutes or so, again threading the needle between rain showers. We came in and I washed some dishes before getting back to work.
The remaining half of the day was much like the first, slowly tackling old items while dealing with new. At the end of the day I gave my boss a ride to the Toyota dealership to pickup his truck, then got home to play with the dogs. I started a fire in the wood stove, then fed the dogs dinner a bit late, then made it back in the yard to play some more ball. I got to talk with Cheryl on the phone for 20 minutes while making my dinner. Cheryl is not sure of the date she gets off the ice (either Feb 20th or 25th). I made nachos for dinner, not the healthiest, but made use of a few ingredients I wanted to get out of the house.
After dinner, I took the dogs out for the evening walk, still 48F out and the rain stopped just in time for the walk! We did our 1.0 mile loop. The dogs were very good, even when they unexpectedly got to meet another dog. This other dog was being walked by a young guy (early 20's) without a leash. He clearly didn't have his dog under voice control. Luckily all the dogs got their sniffs on and things worked out. We made it back to the house at 8pm, and the dogs and I made our way upstairs to watch TV. I didn't make it past 8:45pm when I fell asleep. I woke up around 9:30 and headed to bed.
Monday, December 13, 2010
12/12/10
Sunday! I got up early to get the day rolling. The dogs and I went outside first thing, then I fed them breakfast while I had a bowl of cereal and coffee. I took them out for their morning 1.0 mile walk, which was an adventure. It had rained overnight, then the temperatures dropped to below freezing. The sidewalks were like skating rinks. I just had the dogs pull me like sled dogs. We were almost hit my the lady who delivers newspapers (we see her every morning). Apparently she is allowed to do U-turns at every intersection and pedestrians in the crosswalks have to give way to her. I was seriously surprised that she yelled at me and the dogs while we were in a crosswalk (slipping all over the place too.).
We finished our walk and I got ready for basketball. 15 minutes before basketball, almost everyone backed out. I gave Jeff and Alexis a call to let the know. I headed over just in case and found out Nick was there, so we spent about 1.5 hours shooting around hoping to get more people to play a 3-on-3 or something. The game never materialized, so we headed out. I got home and changed into street clothes, loaded the pups up in the car and headed to the Home Depot in North Hampton. I got three window shades (2 for the dinning room and 1 for the loft near the fireplace). On our way home, I stopped off at Fresh Market to inquire about those Ian's Buffalo Chicken Nuggets again. I put in an order request, I may get more than I bargained for. I may have to by two cases... how many are in a gross???
We got home and I had a banana and yogurt for lunch, I did some of my old back exercises that I stopped doing a few months back. Then I went over to Lowe's and Target. I actually never made it into Lowe's, I picked up some Christmas gifts at Target as well as some food and a few ideas for window treatments of the loft windows. When I got home I played with the dogs in the backyard, which is turning into a mud pit, definitely time to bring in some more wood chips. While watching some football, I installed the one window shade in the loft and temporarily installed the shades for the south facing windows in the loft and bedroom. I cleaned up my mess and then headed downtown.
Seth was preaching today at church, so I wanted to go see him. I showed up a little late, but made it to hear his message. I had a good time and it was good to see and hear Seth. Most of the guys on the basketball team were there, I even got updates as to the Pat-Bears score. Jim, if you read this, sorry the Pats dismantled the Bear at home... they can't help being that good. I got home to watch the second half. When I got home, I noticed Chance had found the Netflix DVD, eating the envelope once again. Looks like I will have to call them again and get the address to ship the DVD to. Though I was upset at him, I still fed the pups their dinner. I made a pizza for dinner, took it down with some beer. At some point I fell asleep on the couch, waking up at 8pm to take the dogs out on their evening walk. It was a good walk, though I was a bit upset at the sideways spraying rain. It was quite gusty and not very pleasant. We settled in for the night and I went to bed around 10pm.
We finished our walk and I got ready for basketball. 15 minutes before basketball, almost everyone backed out. I gave Jeff and Alexis a call to let the know. I headed over just in case and found out Nick was there, so we spent about 1.5 hours shooting around hoping to get more people to play a 3-on-3 or something. The game never materialized, so we headed out. I got home and changed into street clothes, loaded the pups up in the car and headed to the Home Depot in North Hampton. I got three window shades (2 for the dinning room and 1 for the loft near the fireplace). On our way home, I stopped off at Fresh Market to inquire about those Ian's Buffalo Chicken Nuggets again. I put in an order request, I may get more than I bargained for. I may have to by two cases... how many are in a gross???
We got home and I had a banana and yogurt for lunch, I did some of my old back exercises that I stopped doing a few months back. Then I went over to Lowe's and Target. I actually never made it into Lowe's, I picked up some Christmas gifts at Target as well as some food and a few ideas for window treatments of the loft windows. When I got home I played with the dogs in the backyard, which is turning into a mud pit, definitely time to bring in some more wood chips. While watching some football, I installed the one window shade in the loft and temporarily installed the shades for the south facing windows in the loft and bedroom. I cleaned up my mess and then headed downtown.
Seth was preaching today at church, so I wanted to go see him. I showed up a little late, but made it to hear his message. I had a good time and it was good to see and hear Seth. Most of the guys on the basketball team were there, I even got updates as to the Pat-Bears score. Jim, if you read this, sorry the Pats dismantled the Bear at home... they can't help being that good. I got home to watch the second half. When I got home, I noticed Chance had found the Netflix DVD, eating the envelope once again. Looks like I will have to call them again and get the address to ship the DVD to. Though I was upset at him, I still fed the pups their dinner. I made a pizza for dinner, took it down with some beer. At some point I fell asleep on the couch, waking up at 8pm to take the dogs out on their evening walk. It was a good walk, though I was a bit upset at the sideways spraying rain. It was quite gusty and not very pleasant. We settled in for the night and I went to bed around 10pm.
12/11/10
Saturday morning. The pups let me sleep in a bit. I wanted to get a few things done around the house this weekend. One big thing is to get shades on the upstairs windows. Since I have been doing workouts upstairs, I have been putting bed sheets over the windows for privacy. Last year I put shades in half my windows, it cost over $250, so I have bee waiting to shade all the others.
I made a fire in the wood stove to get the house back up to temp. The dogs and I went for our 1.0 mile morning walk, nothing too exciting happened, just the usual walk. When we got back I made some french toast and morning sausages for breakfast, did a little looking online for things then got dressed to get the day moving. I went to Home Depot to purchase some shades, but their cutter was broken so they couldn't do custom sizes. I went over to Lowe's to see what they had. The brands were different, and they would have clashed. I did have them price out shade for our odd sized windows (48"w x 24"h)... $117 ea!!!! Those will have to wait.
So, I went home empty handed. Got home and played in the yard with the pups and grazed on food for the rest of the day. At some point I sat down and watched some TV. Around 4pm, I got the upstairs ready and did my workout for about an hour. I took a shower and got cleaned up. I fed the pups their dinner and made a mac & cheese, adding cut up bits of chicken sausage left over from the other night. The pups and I went out for our evening 1.0 mile walk, just before the rain arrived. Poor Chance, he picked up a stick near the end of our walk but couldn't find a good place to hide it before getting to the house. He had to deal with leaving it at the base of the steps in the driveway.
The rest of the night the dogs and I cuddled up on the couch to watch TV, finally getting to bed around 11pm.
I made a fire in the wood stove to get the house back up to temp. The dogs and I went for our 1.0 mile morning walk, nothing too exciting happened, just the usual walk. When we got back I made some french toast and morning sausages for breakfast, did a little looking online for things then got dressed to get the day moving. I went to Home Depot to purchase some shades, but their cutter was broken so they couldn't do custom sizes. I went over to Lowe's to see what they had. The brands were different, and they would have clashed. I did have them price out shade for our odd sized windows (48"w x 24"h)... $117 ea!!!! Those will have to wait.
So, I went home empty handed. Got home and played in the yard with the pups and grazed on food for the rest of the day. At some point I sat down and watched some TV. Around 4pm, I got the upstairs ready and did my workout for about an hour. I took a shower and got cleaned up. I fed the pups their dinner and made a mac & cheese, adding cut up bits of chicken sausage left over from the other night. The pups and I went out for our evening 1.0 mile walk, just before the rain arrived. Poor Chance, he picked up a stick near the end of our walk but couldn't find a good place to hide it before getting to the house. He had to deal with leaving it at the base of the steps in the driveway.
The rest of the night the dogs and I cuddled up on the couch to watch TV, finally getting to bed around 11pm.
12/10/10
Friday, here is a quick description of what I did on Friday... I seem to be a few days behind on my blog.
Did my morning routine with the dogs, including a morning 1.0 mile walk. I got cleaned up and headed to work. Work was the same as usual, nothing too exciting going on. We had a staff meeting and since it was pastry day, I took advantage. At lunch I went home and played with the pups in the yard. I had a banana and yogurt for lunch. I left early to head over to a tailor to see if they could sew on a new zipper for my winter jacket. They are a week out, so I made an appointment to drop off my coat. Back at work, nothing of excitement to write about.
After work I went home, played with the pups and started a fire in the wood stove. I did my workout upstairs, then took a shower. The dogs and I went for our 1.0 mile walk a little earlier than usual. After the walk, I got dressed up and went over to my neighbor's house for his Christmas party. I had a good time mingling, spent most of the time talking with Pat & Meg and Dexter & Ellen. I had a great time and left at 9:30pm. I got back to the house and let the dogs out for one last 'outside'. Went to bed around 10pm.
Did my morning routine with the dogs, including a morning 1.0 mile walk. I got cleaned up and headed to work. Work was the same as usual, nothing too exciting going on. We had a staff meeting and since it was pastry day, I took advantage. At lunch I went home and played with the pups in the yard. I had a banana and yogurt for lunch. I left early to head over to a tailor to see if they could sew on a new zipper for my winter jacket. They are a week out, so I made an appointment to drop off my coat. Back at work, nothing of excitement to write about.
After work I went home, played with the pups and started a fire in the wood stove. I did my workout upstairs, then took a shower. The dogs and I went for our 1.0 mile walk a little earlier than usual. After the walk, I got dressed up and went over to my neighbor's house for his Christmas party. I had a good time mingling, spent most of the time talking with Pat & Meg and Dexter & Ellen. I had a great time and left at 9:30pm. I got back to the house and let the dogs out for one last 'outside'. Went to bed around 10pm.
Friday, December 10, 2010
12/9/10
Thursday morning, outside with the dogs, brought the recycling to the curb, then inside to feed the pups breakfast. I had some coffee and blogged for 20 minutes. Next I got dressed, picked up the house a bit and took the dogs out for our morning walk. We did the 1.0 mile loop. So far, cold morning of the year 15F out. Nothing exciting happened during the walk, and the dogs were pretty good. We got home and I made a bowl of cereal for breakfast, brushed my teeth and then I was off to work.
Work was pretty much the same. Though today was a bit more trying than most days. By lunch I had just dealt with one of our field guys in Nashville that had to put work on hold because some electrical drawings were sent out without a review and there were conflicts with the foundation of a building. Frustrating. So Aaron and I went out to lunch to unwind, we went to Wings Your Way, I had the Tony Saprano press, very good. It doesn't help my weight, but very tasty.
The second half of the day was much better than the first, but I didn't get everything done that I wanted because of getting pulled into meeting. There is always tomorrow. Because I didn't go home at lunch, I didn't turn the heat on in the house, so I knew it would be a bit cold when I got home. I left work at 5pm and it was 57F in the house when I got home. I started a fire in the wood stove and took the pups out to play ball in the yard for 15 minutes. We came in and I fed them dinner.
I got my workout area ready, then took the pups out again for another 15 minutes. At about 6pm, I started my workout upstairs. I finished and took a shower, it was almost 7pm now. I by-passed eating dinner because I was still full from lunch. I took the pups out and played ball again for 15 minutes. Then we went out on our evening walk, we did the 1.0 mile loop again. The dogs were good, and I didn't seem to mind the 20F temps too bad. We got back to the house and I got to the couch and watched an hour or so of TV, then off to bed.
Work was pretty much the same. Though today was a bit more trying than most days. By lunch I had just dealt with one of our field guys in Nashville that had to put work on hold because some electrical drawings were sent out without a review and there were conflicts with the foundation of a building. Frustrating. So Aaron and I went out to lunch to unwind, we went to Wings Your Way, I had the Tony Saprano press, very good. It doesn't help my weight, but very tasty.
The second half of the day was much better than the first, but I didn't get everything done that I wanted because of getting pulled into meeting. There is always tomorrow. Because I didn't go home at lunch, I didn't turn the heat on in the house, so I knew it would be a bit cold when I got home. I left work at 5pm and it was 57F in the house when I got home. I started a fire in the wood stove and took the pups out to play ball in the yard for 15 minutes. We came in and I fed them dinner.
I got my workout area ready, then took the pups out again for another 15 minutes. At about 6pm, I started my workout upstairs. I finished and took a shower, it was almost 7pm now. I by-passed eating dinner because I was still full from lunch. I took the pups out and played ball again for 15 minutes. Then we went out on our evening walk, we did the 1.0 mile loop again. The dogs were good, and I didn't seem to mind the 20F temps too bad. We got back to the house and I got to the couch and watched an hour or so of TV, then off to bed.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
12/8/10
Woke up this morning with the pups, another great morning. We got up and made our way outside for a couple minutes, then I fed the dogs. Drank some coffee while blogging, nothing out of the ordinary going on. After blogging, I took a shower, got dressed and the dogs and I went for our morning 1.0 mile loop. It was a little chilly, 23F so I elected to go with the mittens instead of the gloves. Nothing too exciting happened on the walk today. When we got home I made myself a breakfast sandwich, brushed my teeth and was off to work.
Work was the same as every other day. I am getting into a routine without a lot of excitement in my day (personal and work related), so I fear my blogs are getting boring. Even Cheryl has stopped reading. So, I went through the morning at work doing my typical work related activities. Today we had a 'chow and chat' to discuss the Portal with our IT guy. Free food and a discussion of our electronic filing system, usually would have been enough for me to go. But, with only 1 hour of daylight per day that I can use for personal time, I'm not going to miss spending it with the dogs outside.
So, I went home for lunch and had a turkey and cheese sandwich for lunch. The dogs and I played in the backyard for 20 minutes or so. As I left for work, I turned the heat on in the house. We will be going through a cold spell here, I'm going to try using the electric heat in the house from 1pm-6pm only. From 6pm to when I go to sleep, I will burn in the wood stove. And when I say I'm going to heat the house with the electric, I'm talking about heating it to only 60F.
After lunch I headed back to work. I continued on some outstanding tasks (let's go Alaska project) and then had a series of meeting to close out the day. I headed home, started a fire in the wood stove, took the dogs out in the yard to play, then fed them dinner. Between 5:30 and 6:30pm I did a little workout upstairs, then took a shower. Next I made myself two chicken sausages with mustard and relish for dinner. At 7:30pm, the dogs and I went out for our evening 1.0 mile loop. Again, nothing of note worthy happened. When we got back to the house, I put in my new Netflix movie and settled in on the couch. I got to bed at around 10:30pm.
Work was the same as every other day. I am getting into a routine without a lot of excitement in my day (personal and work related), so I fear my blogs are getting boring. Even Cheryl has stopped reading. So, I went through the morning at work doing my typical work related activities. Today we had a 'chow and chat' to discuss the Portal with our IT guy. Free food and a discussion of our electronic filing system, usually would have been enough for me to go. But, with only 1 hour of daylight per day that I can use for personal time, I'm not going to miss spending it with the dogs outside.
So, I went home for lunch and had a turkey and cheese sandwich for lunch. The dogs and I played in the backyard for 20 minutes or so. As I left for work, I turned the heat on in the house. We will be going through a cold spell here, I'm going to try using the electric heat in the house from 1pm-6pm only. From 6pm to when I go to sleep, I will burn in the wood stove. And when I say I'm going to heat the house with the electric, I'm talking about heating it to only 60F.
After lunch I headed back to work. I continued on some outstanding tasks (let's go Alaska project) and then had a series of meeting to close out the day. I headed home, started a fire in the wood stove, took the dogs out in the yard to play, then fed them dinner. Between 5:30 and 6:30pm I did a little workout upstairs, then took a shower. Next I made myself two chicken sausages with mustard and relish for dinner. At 7:30pm, the dogs and I went out for our evening 1.0 mile loop. Again, nothing of note worthy happened. When we got back to the house, I put in my new Netflix movie and settled in on the couch. I got to bed at around 10:30pm.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
12/7/10
Woke up this morning to the dogs giving kisses. I got up and took them outside, then fed them breakfast. I made coffee and blogged for 20 minutes. Afterwards I went upstairs and did some of my stretching exercises, took a shower and got dressed for the day. The dogs and I went out and did our 1.0 mile loop, it felt warmer than it actually was, the dogs seemed to have a good time on the walk. We got home, I made myself a bowl of cereal for breakfast, brushed my teeth and then it was off to work.
Work was the same as usual. I am currently working on a conceptual site layout of two facilities in Alaska. One facility is in Headhorse (a.k.a. Prudhoe Bay) which is at Lat. 70 degrees. The other facility is in North Pole, Alaska (just north of Fairbanks). This gives me something that I can devote large blocks of time too. It appeared there was a Monday Night football hangover at work today. Many people came in late, there were a lot of droopy eyes. At lunch time, I went to the grocery store to pick up lunch meat, I couldn't help but get some of the chicken tenders from their wings bar. Then I went home to eat my lunch and to be with the dogs.
We played in the backyard for 20 minutes or so, I talked with Michael and Knate next door for a few minutes. Looks like one of their friends is moving in the other apartment in their building in the next week. Next I brought the pups inside and I was off to work again. The rest of the afternoon at work was the same. I got pulled into other projects throughout the day, but the majority of my work was on the Alaska job.
At 5pm, I headed home. I started a fire in the woodstove, then I let the pups out and we played in the yard for 15 minutes. I brought them in and fed them dinner, then I washed the dishes and cleaned up the house a bit. I was setting the upstairs loft up to start my exercise again. Cheryl called around 6:30pm and we talked for 25 minutes. She is very excited to have the most expensive cheeseburgers in the world tonight... Apparently McMurdo Station has run out of burger meat (I'm nervous that if they can run out of that, what's next?). So they had sent a special flight to the South Pole to deliver their reserve burger meat back to McMurdo Station. Thank you american taxpayer for flying burger meat all over the Antarctic because people can't take inventory.
After talking with Cheryl, the dogs watched me do my exercise routine for about 30 minutes. Afterwards, I took the pups out for their 1.0 mile evening walk. All went well, plus because I was still a little hot from my workout, it was the perfect cool down. We got back right at 8pm, I had a bowl of cereal for dinner while watching some TV. Went to bed around 10pm.
Work was the same as usual. I am currently working on a conceptual site layout of two facilities in Alaska. One facility is in Headhorse (a.k.a. Prudhoe Bay) which is at Lat. 70 degrees. The other facility is in North Pole, Alaska (just north of Fairbanks). This gives me something that I can devote large blocks of time too. It appeared there was a Monday Night football hangover at work today. Many people came in late, there were a lot of droopy eyes. At lunch time, I went to the grocery store to pick up lunch meat, I couldn't help but get some of the chicken tenders from their wings bar. Then I went home to eat my lunch and to be with the dogs.
We played in the backyard for 20 minutes or so, I talked with Michael and Knate next door for a few minutes. Looks like one of their friends is moving in the other apartment in their building in the next week. Next I brought the pups inside and I was off to work again. The rest of the afternoon at work was the same. I got pulled into other projects throughout the day, but the majority of my work was on the Alaska job.
At 5pm, I headed home. I started a fire in the woodstove, then I let the pups out and we played in the yard for 15 minutes. I brought them in and fed them dinner, then I washed the dishes and cleaned up the house a bit. I was setting the upstairs loft up to start my exercise again. Cheryl called around 6:30pm and we talked for 25 minutes. She is very excited to have the most expensive cheeseburgers in the world tonight... Apparently McMurdo Station has run out of burger meat (I'm nervous that if they can run out of that, what's next?). So they had sent a special flight to the South Pole to deliver their reserve burger meat back to McMurdo Station. Thank you american taxpayer for flying burger meat all over the Antarctic because people can't take inventory.
After talking with Cheryl, the dogs watched me do my exercise routine for about 30 minutes. Afterwards, I took the pups out for their 1.0 mile evening walk. All went well, plus because I was still a little hot from my workout, it was the perfect cool down. We got back right at 8pm, I had a bowl of cereal for dinner while watching some TV. Went to bed around 10pm.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
12/6/10
The cold weather is here, 23F this morning. Woke up, did the standard morning routine with the pups. It was 60F in the house, I really don't want to go out and deal with the cold... the dogs agree that we should move to Florida. I sat down and blogged a bit while having some coffee. Next, the pups and I had a little time to sit on the couch for some pets. I did some morning stretches and push-ups. It has been over 3 months since I stopped doing my back exercises, and I think I better start them up again.
At 6:45am, the dogs and I went out for our 1.0 mile walk. By then it had warmed up 2 degrees. The dogs were good and nothing too exciting happened. Got back to the house and got ready for work, made myself an egg and cheese breakfast sandwich. At work, I continued on with a few action items that I had left over from last week. Nothing of great interest happened throughout the morning. I went home for lunch and played some ball with the dogs in the backyard. I made another taco, finally using up the last of the taco meat from poker night! The rest of the afternoon at work was pretty much the same, nothing too exciting going on.
After work, I headed home and played with the pups outside for 15 minutes, brought them in for dinner, I had a yogurt to tide me over. Next I talked with Cheryl for 20 minutes on the phone, she is excited because a certain scientist who had been very creepy around her is finally leaving. I did enjoy hearing her stories of all these 'highly educated' (Phd's)... walking around the station with fully concentrated hydrochloric acid and not know it's dangerous. I asked Cheryl if she is allowed to ask the scientists to their face if they are stupid.
After our conversation, I took the pups our for an early walk, we did the 0.6 mile loop. When we got back, I got ready for tonight's post-season basketball game in Maine. Got dressed, packed a bag and off I went. Unfortunately, we only had four guys to play 4-on-4... no breaks, no subs. We were also playing probably the best team. We were down 12-2 within the first 2 minutes, but held our own until halftime only being down by 10. The second half fell apart, we had some good 2 or 3 minute time frames, but eventually lost by 30. Tough loss, but at least it was fun.
Afterwards we went over to Sam's house in Maine to watch the Pats game. I got to meet Sam's wife and the four of us guys watched the dismantling of the Jet for 3 quarters. We all took off at 10:50pm. I got home, let the dogs out one last time, then watched the remainder of the game... 45-3 shellacking. Crawled into bed at midnight, tomorrow is going to be rough.
At 6:45am, the dogs and I went out for our 1.0 mile walk. By then it had warmed up 2 degrees. The dogs were good and nothing too exciting happened. Got back to the house and got ready for work, made myself an egg and cheese breakfast sandwich. At work, I continued on with a few action items that I had left over from last week. Nothing of great interest happened throughout the morning. I went home for lunch and played some ball with the dogs in the backyard. I made another taco, finally using up the last of the taco meat from poker night! The rest of the afternoon at work was pretty much the same, nothing too exciting going on.
After work, I headed home and played with the pups outside for 15 minutes, brought them in for dinner, I had a yogurt to tide me over. Next I talked with Cheryl for 20 minutes on the phone, she is excited because a certain scientist who had been very creepy around her is finally leaving. I did enjoy hearing her stories of all these 'highly educated' (Phd's)... walking around the station with fully concentrated hydrochloric acid and not know it's dangerous. I asked Cheryl if she is allowed to ask the scientists to their face if they are stupid.
After our conversation, I took the pups our for an early walk, we did the 0.6 mile loop. When we got back, I got ready for tonight's post-season basketball game in Maine. Got dressed, packed a bag and off I went. Unfortunately, we only had four guys to play 4-on-4... no breaks, no subs. We were also playing probably the best team. We were down 12-2 within the first 2 minutes, but held our own until halftime only being down by 10. The second half fell apart, we had some good 2 or 3 minute time frames, but eventually lost by 30. Tough loss, but at least it was fun.
Afterwards we went over to Sam's house in Maine to watch the Pats game. I got to meet Sam's wife and the four of us guys watched the dismantling of the Jet for 3 quarters. We all took off at 10:50pm. I got home, let the dogs out one last time, then watched the remainder of the game... 45-3 shellacking. Crawled into bed at midnight, tomorrow is going to be rough.
Monday, December 6, 2010
12/5/10
Woke up this morning a little later than I wanted. Got up at 6:55am, took the dogs out and fed them breakfast. I made some coffee and by-passed the blog writing to do later in the day. I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast then headed out on our morning walk. The mornings are getting colder on the walks, but still not too bad. The dogs were good, Reece is so good with the gentle leader on. When we got back, I got ready for sunday morning basketball. I was out the door at 8:40am, I wanted to get to the gym early in order to get a membership. Since a membership is $14/mo. and if I go and play on a sunday it costs me $5, it will pay for itself after 3 visits.
When I got there, the lady said it would take awhile and that I should do the membership after working out. So, I went down to the bball court and played a five games. Jeff came by to play, which worked out great! We played 3 games of 3 on 3 and then two games of 4 on 4. I went upstairs to do the membership thing and Jeff stayed to play some more. The lady was right, it took almost half an hour to type in my information. Anyway, went back down to shoot around and talked with Jeff a bit after his last game ended. I invited him back to the house for lunch, tacos! Jeff had to get home though.
I got home, took a shower and made a taco for lunch. I then did a load of laundry, hung it upstairs and started a fire in the wood stove. I cleaned some dishes, then took the dogs outside to play ball in the backyard. Next I decided to relax on the couch and watch a little football on TV. At 4pm, I took the dogs out for an early walk... I noticed a few little flakes of snow falling. When we got back, I went to the grocery store to get the weeks worth of food. Got back to the house, played with the dogs again, and watched some more TV. I got to talk with Cheryl on the phone for 20 minutes, she has officially started the countdown for leaving Antarctica... and today marks the half-way point... 11 weeks down, 11 to go. During half time of one of the games, I fed the dogs and made myself another taco from leftovers. At 8pm, I took the dogs out on their evening 1.0mile walk, then we were in for the night. I watched a little animation domination before heading to bed at 9:30pm.
When I got there, the lady said it would take awhile and that I should do the membership after working out. So, I went down to the bball court and played a five games. Jeff came by to play, which worked out great! We played 3 games of 3 on 3 and then two games of 4 on 4. I went upstairs to do the membership thing and Jeff stayed to play some more. The lady was right, it took almost half an hour to type in my information. Anyway, went back down to shoot around and talked with Jeff a bit after his last game ended. I invited him back to the house for lunch, tacos! Jeff had to get home though.
I got home, took a shower and made a taco for lunch. I then did a load of laundry, hung it upstairs and started a fire in the wood stove. I cleaned some dishes, then took the dogs outside to play ball in the backyard. Next I decided to relax on the couch and watch a little football on TV. At 4pm, I took the dogs out for an early walk... I noticed a few little flakes of snow falling. When we got back, I went to the grocery store to get the weeks worth of food. Got back to the house, played with the dogs again, and watched some more TV. I got to talk with Cheryl on the phone for 20 minutes, she has officially started the countdown for leaving Antarctica... and today marks the half-way point... 11 weeks down, 11 to go. During half time of one of the games, I fed the dogs and made myself another taco from leftovers. At 8pm, I took the dogs out on their evening 1.0mile walk, then we were in for the night. I watched a little animation domination before heading to bed at 9:30pm.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
12/4/10
A lazy saturday. The dogs and I got up and we spent some time cleaning the house a bit and doing dishes. The dogs had their breakfast and we went for a 1.0 mile walk. Off and on throughout the day I was on the computer, then I would take a break and watch a movie. I watched 3 movies throughout the day and took a couple naps. At lunch I had a couple of leftover tacos from last night.
We went outside a few times to play ball. Not much else going on. At 8pm, the dogs and I went for another 1.0 mile walk. Finally I was in bed around 10pm.
We went outside a few times to play ball. Not much else going on. At 8pm, the dogs and I went for another 1.0 mile walk. Finally I was in bed around 10pm.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
12/3/10
Pastry day friday! I got up with the dogs and we continued on with our morning routine. Made some coffee, took the pups outside, back in for breakfast, sit down with the coffee to write in my blog. This morning though was a bit different since I am prepping for the poker game tonight.
I cooked up some ground beef in the morning for tacos. It was Cheryl's idea to cook up some food earlier and just finish cooking as people arrive. The rest of the morning I went around and picked up the house, trying to clean as best as possible. Then the dogs and I went out for our morning walk, the 1.0mile loop. When we got back, I continued picking up things in the basement and by-passed the cereal.
Work was pretty much the same as usual, except for the fantastic pastries brought in by Lynda. At lunch I went home to play with the pups in the backyard. I also took the opportunity to try and vacuum the couches. Unfortunately, an item that represents Cheryl and my love may have finally kicked the bucket. The vacuum was a wedding gift, over 8 years ago now. The vacuum was let on the basement floor, and suffered in the flooded basement a couple weeks ago. I tried to let it dry out, using it for the first time since the flood. This vacuum has lived through hundreds of attacks from the dogs (missing much of its front plate due to these attacks), a ripped power cord and other numerous minor catastrophes. But I think it finally had it with the last flood. But since Cheryl is a master of bringing dead electronics back to life, I have confidence that she can fix it when she gets back. So in the mean time, I vow to not clean the house.
After cleaning a bit more, and using my little handheld vacuum to get the dog hair out of the couch, I made a ham & cheese sandwich which I ate while playing ball with the dogs. Next I was back off to work, not a whole lot to talk about. After work I stopped off at the store for some fresh sour cream, then home to get ready for poker night. Aaron came by early to help me prepare. We had everything ready about 15 minutes before people were to arrive, so we played with the dogs out in the yard until people showed up. I put the pups in the basement and then the party began.
We had Aaron, Jeff, Alexis, Seth, Nick, Sam, Tyler, and Frank. The tacos were a success, I think I had a pretty good spread of munchies as well. Tyler brought some canolies that his wife made that were great. Slowly people started to leave, but we got a second wind when Chris came by around 11pm. The games ended around 12:30am after Chris started betting on everything, betting on bets. Anyway, a quick cleanup to get the food out of the dogs reach, then a late night (or early morning) walk with the dogs... in bed at 1am.
I cooked up some ground beef in the morning for tacos. It was Cheryl's idea to cook up some food earlier and just finish cooking as people arrive. The rest of the morning I went around and picked up the house, trying to clean as best as possible. Then the dogs and I went out for our morning walk, the 1.0mile loop. When we got back, I continued picking up things in the basement and by-passed the cereal.
Work was pretty much the same as usual, except for the fantastic pastries brought in by Lynda. At lunch I went home to play with the pups in the backyard. I also took the opportunity to try and vacuum the couches. Unfortunately, an item that represents Cheryl and my love may have finally kicked the bucket. The vacuum was a wedding gift, over 8 years ago now. The vacuum was let on the basement floor, and suffered in the flooded basement a couple weeks ago. I tried to let it dry out, using it for the first time since the flood. This vacuum has lived through hundreds of attacks from the dogs (missing much of its front plate due to these attacks), a ripped power cord and other numerous minor catastrophes. But I think it finally had it with the last flood. But since Cheryl is a master of bringing dead electronics back to life, I have confidence that she can fix it when she gets back. So in the mean time, I vow to not clean the house.
After cleaning a bit more, and using my little handheld vacuum to get the dog hair out of the couch, I made a ham & cheese sandwich which I ate while playing ball with the dogs. Next I was back off to work, not a whole lot to talk about. After work I stopped off at the store for some fresh sour cream, then home to get ready for poker night. Aaron came by early to help me prepare. We had everything ready about 15 minutes before people were to arrive, so we played with the dogs out in the yard until people showed up. I put the pups in the basement and then the party began.
We had Aaron, Jeff, Alexis, Seth, Nick, Sam, Tyler, and Frank. The tacos were a success, I think I had a pretty good spread of munchies as well. Tyler brought some canolies that his wife made that were great. Slowly people started to leave, but we got a second wind when Chris came by around 11pm. The games ended around 12:30am after Chris started betting on everything, betting on bets. Anyway, a quick cleanup to get the food out of the dogs reach, then a late night (or early morning) walk with the dogs... in bed at 1am.
Friday, December 3, 2010
12/2/10
Another morning waking up to the dogs. This morning we continued on with our routine... a routine that I am sure once Cheryl gets back will be broken and Chance will wig out. Chance loves schedules and routines, he becomes a different dog, snuggling more and accepting more pets. Anyway, the morning was very typical, nothing exciting to write about. I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast before heading off to work.
At work, much of the same. For lunch I went home and played with the dogs in the backyard while having a ham & cheese sandwich. The dogs got about 30 minutes of outside time before I had to get back to work. The rest of the afternoon was pretty typical. I am now having a late afternoon tea each day. I got a Chia Tea with spices, it seems to relax me a bit at work.
After work I went home and played ball with the dogs. After I fed them their dinner, I started cleaning the house for tomorrow's poker game. It took me almost an hour to sweep the house. Cheryl called and we talked for 20 minutes or so. She is doing well, hanging in there... reminded her that this sunday marks the half-way point of her adventure, only 11 weeks to go. ext I went to the store to pick up some more food for tomorrow. Now I know what Cece feels like when she is having a party and running around saying "Do you think I have enough food?" I have no way to judge how much food is needed, I hope I have enough.
Got home, put away the food and sat down to watch an hour of TV to relax. I had a bowl of cereal for dinner while watching TV. The dogs and I went for a late evening walk around 8:30pm. After the walk we sat down and watched more TV. I went to bed around 10pm. I know this is technically the next day, but at 1:30am friday morning I was woken up by Chance yakking all over the house. After all the clean up I did... I cleaned it up and stayed up with him until 2:15am when he stopped yakking. Poor boy, he was very nervous about his episode. Come to find out, he ate the entire bar soap in the bathroom. Looks like the bathroom door needs to be shut during the day too.
At work, much of the same. For lunch I went home and played with the dogs in the backyard while having a ham & cheese sandwich. The dogs got about 30 minutes of outside time before I had to get back to work. The rest of the afternoon was pretty typical. I am now having a late afternoon tea each day. I got a Chia Tea with spices, it seems to relax me a bit at work.
After work I went home and played ball with the dogs. After I fed them their dinner, I started cleaning the house for tomorrow's poker game. It took me almost an hour to sweep the house. Cheryl called and we talked for 20 minutes or so. She is doing well, hanging in there... reminded her that this sunday marks the half-way point of her adventure, only 11 weeks to go. ext I went to the store to pick up some more food for tomorrow. Now I know what Cece feels like when she is having a party and running around saying "Do you think I have enough food?" I have no way to judge how much food is needed, I hope I have enough.
Got home, put away the food and sat down to watch an hour of TV to relax. I had a bowl of cereal for dinner while watching TV. The dogs and I went for a late evening walk around 8:30pm. After the walk we sat down and watched more TV. I went to bed around 10pm. I know this is technically the next day, but at 1:30am friday morning I was woken up by Chance yakking all over the house. After all the clean up I did... I cleaned it up and stayed up with him until 2:15am when he stopped yakking. Poor boy, he was very nervous about his episode. Come to find out, he ate the entire bar soap in the bathroom. Looks like the bathroom door needs to be shut during the day too.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
12/1/10
Another month gone, welcome December. As part of something I do each first of the month, I review my energy usage for the previous month. So this morning I gathered all the data I have been collecting, I used 353kWh this month (173 from PV system, 180 from the meter). This is a bit higher than previous months (247 average over the last 6 months), but I also turned the electric heat on for the first time this season. When compared to November of last year, 530 vs. 353! So I reduced my consumption by about 6kWh per day! Anyway, I have a million spreadsheets of data that I could talk about, but I'll move on.
We got up and did our typical morning routine of going outside, feeding the dogs breakfast, checking the meter, blogging and coffee. Since I finished blogging a bit early, we went on our morning walk a bit early and did our 1.5 mile loop instead. It was another fairly warm morning so I didn't need gloves. In case you are wondering, and if I haven't already said, walking the dogs with gloves makes life more difficult. The hoops in the leashes are small, so If I have to switch hands the leashes get more and more tangled. Plus when I have to pick up their business, it adds another layer of complexity. Anyway, the walk went well, the dogs were good and we got back to the house with plenty of time for me to get ready for work. I ate a bowl of cereal, got cleaned up, and then I was off to work.
Nothing too exciting happened at work today. Same as work always is, just kept plugging away at crossing action items off my list. At lunch I went home to be with the pups, we played in the backyard for a bit. I made a ham & cheese sandwich for lunch and ate it on the back porch with the dogs. We played some more ball, then I had to get back to work. The rest of the afternoon was filled with meetings, so time actually went by a little faster than usual.
After work, I came home and started a fire in the wood stove. Then the dogs and I played outside for 10 minutes before feeding them dinner. We played a little more outside before the rain started coming down, then I made myself nachos for dinner. We sat upstairs watching TV until 7:30pm and then we went out for the evening walk. There was a break in the rain, so I jumped at the chance to get the walk in without rain. Midway through the 1.0 mile walk, the rain started. We made it back without getting too wet. I dried off the pups and we all settled in to relax upstairs and watch TV. At around 10pm I went to bed.
We got up and did our typical morning routine of going outside, feeding the dogs breakfast, checking the meter, blogging and coffee. Since I finished blogging a bit early, we went on our morning walk a bit early and did our 1.5 mile loop instead. It was another fairly warm morning so I didn't need gloves. In case you are wondering, and if I haven't already said, walking the dogs with gloves makes life more difficult. The hoops in the leashes are small, so If I have to switch hands the leashes get more and more tangled. Plus when I have to pick up their business, it adds another layer of complexity. Anyway, the walk went well, the dogs were good and we got back to the house with plenty of time for me to get ready for work. I ate a bowl of cereal, got cleaned up, and then I was off to work.
Nothing too exciting happened at work today. Same as work always is, just kept plugging away at crossing action items off my list. At lunch I went home to be with the pups, we played in the backyard for a bit. I made a ham & cheese sandwich for lunch and ate it on the back porch with the dogs. We played some more ball, then I had to get back to work. The rest of the afternoon was filled with meetings, so time actually went by a little faster than usual.
After work, I came home and started a fire in the wood stove. Then the dogs and I played outside for 10 minutes before feeding them dinner. We played a little more outside before the rain started coming down, then I made myself nachos for dinner. We sat upstairs watching TV until 7:30pm and then we went out for the evening walk. There was a break in the rain, so I jumped at the chance to get the walk in without rain. Midway through the 1.0 mile walk, the rain started. We made it back without getting too wet. I dried off the pups and we all settled in to relax upstairs and watch TV. At around 10pm I went to bed.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
11/30/10
Another day at the Reece and Chance household. It was a typical morning, outside with the dogs, back on for breakfast, coffee and blogging. I took a shower, then we went on our morning walk. We did our 1.0 mile loop, it was actually fairly warm out so I didn't need gloves. Nothing of too much excitement happened. When we got back, I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast, picked up a few items around the house and then I was off to work.
As always, work is pretty much the same. Today I was pulled in so many directions, I felt like I wasn't getting much done. For lunch, Dennis, Aaron, Carl H and I met up with Josh B at the Redhook. We haven't seem Josh in along time, so we caught up a bit. It may be the last time eating lunch at Redhook, they are always so slow with the food, they must think people have 1.5 or 2 hour lunches. We ordered at 12:20 and didn't get our food until 12:55. We actually asked for the check before we got our food. Back at the office was the same as the morning, nothing too interesting to talk about other than a potential job in the North Slope of Alaska. We've been talking about doing this job for 2 years now, so not sure how realistic it is.
I got home around 5:20pm, made a fire in the wood stove and then played with the pups in the yard a bit. I brought them in for dinner and talked with Cheryl on the phone for 10 minutes. Next we went out and played some more ball. At 6:30pm we went to Dick's, I wanted to get some real basketball shorts. I have been playing in my running shorts which are too short for basketball. The dogs waited patently in the car for me, I was in and out in no time. We made it back to the house and we went out for our evening walk. It was still pretty warm out, seemed warmer than the inside of my house.
Nothing exciting happened on the walk, there were a few other dogs and owners out but the pups were very good. When we got home, I made a Kashi microwavable dinner for dinner. I wanted to try them out, compared to the Amy's dinners... Kashi wasn't bad, but I liked the Amy's better. The dogs and I went upstairs and watched some TV until bettime.
I forgot to post this picture of Reece from Sunday. She had such a long day of napping that she needed to take another nap while I folded laundry. Aw, the cutest.
As always, work is pretty much the same. Today I was pulled in so many directions, I felt like I wasn't getting much done. For lunch, Dennis, Aaron, Carl H and I met up with Josh B at the Redhook. We haven't seem Josh in along time, so we caught up a bit. It may be the last time eating lunch at Redhook, they are always so slow with the food, they must think people have 1.5 or 2 hour lunches. We ordered at 12:20 and didn't get our food until 12:55. We actually asked for the check before we got our food. Back at the office was the same as the morning, nothing too interesting to talk about other than a potential job in the North Slope of Alaska. We've been talking about doing this job for 2 years now, so not sure how realistic it is.
I got home around 5:20pm, made a fire in the wood stove and then played with the pups in the yard a bit. I brought them in for dinner and talked with Cheryl on the phone for 10 minutes. Next we went out and played some more ball. At 6:30pm we went to Dick's, I wanted to get some real basketball shorts. I have been playing in my running shorts which are too short for basketball. The dogs waited patently in the car for me, I was in and out in no time. We made it back to the house and we went out for our evening walk. It was still pretty warm out, seemed warmer than the inside of my house.
Nothing exciting happened on the walk, there were a few other dogs and owners out but the pups were very good. When we got home, I made a Kashi microwavable dinner for dinner. I wanted to try them out, compared to the Amy's dinners... Kashi wasn't bad, but I liked the Amy's better. The dogs and I went upstairs and watched some TV until bettime.
I forgot to post this picture of Reece from Sunday. She had such a long day of napping that she needed to take another nap while I folded laundry. Aw, the cutest.
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